As 2024 winds down, it’s an ideal moment to pause, reflect, and plan for the coming year. In our recent webinar, Team KatAnu shared their passion for retrospectives and outlined a six-step process to help individuals and teams retrospect on the past year while creating a vision for a successful 2025. Here’s a breakdown of their approach to reflection, goal-setting, and actionable planning.
Reflecting on 2024
Before planning for the future, understanding the past is crucial.
Here are several questions to connect with 2024.
· What was your professional high for 2024?
· What was your personal high for 2024?
· What was your professional low for 2024?
· What was your personal low for 2024?
· What part of your role brought you the most joy in 2024?
o Reflect on the activities that energized you and prioritize them for 2025
· What caused you migraines in 2024?
o Identify sources of stress (“migraines”) and consider ways to mitigate or avoid them.
Retrospecting on 2024 using The RETROS Framework – A structured six-step retrospective process:
Step 1: Reflect and Reconnect
On a scale of 1 to 10: Rate your 2024 on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being awful and 10 being amazing. This can help you gauge your overall experience of the year.
Step 2: Explore the Data
Using The Ghost of Christmas Retrospective: Inspired by Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, this technique considers:
Past: Lessons learned and regrets to avoid repeating.
Present: Gratitude and pride in current accomplishments.
Future: Aspirations and wishes for 2025.
Step 3: Talk About & Group your like items together
Step 4: Rank Priorities – look at everything you’ve added in Step 3. Are there any trends emerging? Are there a couple of priority items that need to be done differently in 2025?
Step 5: Outline Actions – Based on your priorities create an Action Plan for the items you plan to do differently.
Step 6: Summarize and Close – Describe 2024 as a Journey: Compare your year to an experience, like hiking Everest, relaxing on a beach, or bouldering. Was it a solo or collaborative journey?
Planning for 2025
After reflecting, it’s time to envision the future. The Team KatAnu planning process uses powerful analogies and goal-setting techniques:
The Jar Analogy: Visualize your goals using a jar filled with:
Boulders: Big strategic goals.
Rocks: 90-day milestones.
Pebbles: Weekly or bi-weekly tasks.
Sand: Daily minutiae.
Water: The essential elements of self-care and life outside work.
1. Brainstorming Your Vision: Use words, images, or vision boards to represent your aspirations for the year.
2. Defining One-Year Goals: Referring to your vision, also consider the following questions.
· What is 1 new thing / new idea / new skill / new project you want to undertake in 2025?
· What is one thing you’ve been putting off that you want to prioritize this year?
· What did you add as action items from your 2024 retrospective?
· How can we mitigate some of the migraines from 2024?
· What would success in 2025 look like for you?
3. Breaking Down Goals: Make goals achievable by segmenting them into:
· 90-day boulders
· 30-day rocks
· Weekly or bi-weekly pebbles
Focus on a few meaningful goals, creating clear, actionable steps with deadlines.
4. Staying Accountable and Focused
Accountability and visibility are key to achieving your goals:
· Accountability Partner: Find someone who will keep you on track.
· Visibility: Keep your goals and vision board in a visible spot to remind and inspire you daily.
Whether your 2024 felt like scaling a mountain or navigating calm seas, the lessons learned can set the stage for a fulfilling and successful 2025.
By applying these insights, you can create a meaningful retrospective of 2024 and a clear, actionable plan for the year ahead. Let’s make 2025 a year to remember!
What’s your biggest takeaway from 2024, and how will you use it to fuel your 2025 goals?