Reviewing the Year

We would like to offer this conversation for reviewing the year. It may be done in association with planning for the coming year..

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Situation
Your organization, department, or team has just reached its year-end. Your staff is ready to refine plans for the next year based on this year’s performance. You want to reflect on the journey of the whole year with its ups and downs.

Rational Objective
Harvest what the group has learned from the experience of the past year and apply them to the year ahead.

Experiential Aim
Appreciate and affirm the year's journey and the group’s wisdom.

The Beginning Point
The concrete beginning point for this conversation is the past year, as it happened. The group must begin with objective information; the facts and events of the past year.  It may be helpful to review any relevant, objective data you have on the year, such as information on finances, statistics on sales or services, data on customers or staffing.

The Conversation

The Opening

Before we plan for the coming year, it would be good to reflect on the last year—a year full of victories, challenges and great learning experiences.

Objective Questions

• What have been some of the key events for you in the past year? (Go around the       room.
• What major projects have we have worked on?
• What minor projects?
• What other events do you remember—important conversations or discussions or       decisions made?
• Is there any event that you would like explained a bit more?

Reflective Questions

• Describe the dynamics of this year—what was it like for us? Was it more like an earthquake, a bear, a squirrel, or a cactus, or what?
• What was the big surprise of the year?
• When were you most frustrated?
• Which events made a big difference to you—changed how you thought or felt?
• Which of the events mentioned had you forgotten about?
• What were the low points?

Interpretive Questions

• What did we learn from this year?
• What did we learn from the things that went well?
• What did we learn from the times where we struggled?
• As you reflect on all of this, how would you talk about what we have accomplished this year?

Decisional Questions

• As you think ahead to the next twelve months, how will our experience of this year and our learnings affect what we do in the coming year?
• What are we saying we want to do differently?

Closing

This has been a fine reflection on the year. I’ve gained some new insights into our experience, as I am sure we all have. I’ll get these learnings and the other insights from the conversation typed up and circulated to everyone.

Hints

Add or take out questions for information that is specific to your group. For example: a Board of Directors may focus on its own performance and roles; a team may include more on how the group worked together.

Other Applications

This conversation can be used for any group that needs to reflect on its experience.  It can be used as a personal reflection as well.

This conversation is adapted from a conversation in "The Art of Focused Conversation" by Brian Stanfield. It has over 100 sample conversations and is available in the ICA Bookstore.