Making Team Strategic Planning Days Work: Don't Forget to Prune

A couple of years ago, when we first moved back to Bedford in the UK, I was quite excited about going to London for the day to catch up with a friend whom I hadn't seen for years. We had a lunch planned at the V&A Museum, a mooch around the galleries and lots of tea and chat - my idea of a pretty perfect day!

When I arrived home, I noticed there was something amiss at the front door. My daughters answered the door shouting, "Mummy, Daddy's hacked your favourite rose down! There's nothing left!"

I was speechless. The beautiful climbing rose had indeed been obliterated. Dermot appeared and calmly explained that it needed to be "pruned" as it was getting a bit "straggly". Straggly? It was stunning! It was the reason we bought the house, I reminded him... (Slightly exaggerating...)

It became a running joke that whenever I went out for a whole day, another plant would be "pruned", with me safely out of sight! A holly tree, a rosemary bush and many other roses for starters... And so our roles in the garden became delineated. I provided more plants and flowers, Dermot would prune. You need both, it seems.

When I work with teams on their strategic planning days, "pruning" is often the part of the process that is the hardest. Precisely because it can feel like "hacking": we've invested energy in previous projects or we don't want to risk putting a brake on something or course correct.

Furthermore, when planning, the temptation is to take on more and more. Do more, evaluate more, plan for more. "More" feels productive, exciting and energising.

However, we need to use this opportunity to do the pruning.

Like every good gardener knows, it is vital to make space, revitalise growth and conserve energy.

If you're planning with your teams for the next quarter, where can you "prune"?

But how can you avoid it feeling like "hacking" and creating unnecessary drama?

Where can you conserve and refocus energy?

Just by making room for these questions, you’ll find solutions. By slowing down the planning process, you can create the right conditions for pruning - as well as growth.

If you'd like an external facilitator for your Team Strategic Planning days, do get in touch with me for a chat. I'm now taking bookings for September onwards.

In the meantime, I'll share with you the famous pink rose... now in its prime.

Ps It’s not Jasper, but his best friend, Tilly!