How to kick-off a new year (Product Leader edition)
A new year always feels like a good time to take stock and reset. This year especially. There is something about the new year and associated downtime that always compels me to reflect on the year that was, and fills me with optimism that I can be a better version of myself for the coming year.
I’ve been thinking through my framework for kicking off a new year — thought I would share here in case it is helpful. Would love to hear about other practices that help to set you up well to hit the ground running.
I call my framework the 3Rs approach — Recharge, Reflect and Re-hire.
First and foremost — need to Recharge. I always try to take some time off at this time of the year — usually to travel, but this year just for a staycation. Can’t say that I have always been successful with completely disconnecting from work (my work in security and my wife’s work in e-commerce tend to make this a relatively important time of the year for the family). Still — we have downtime, and this year I read Obama’s new book and binged on Madam Secretary (how did I not know about this till now — awesome show, highly recommended, especially if you’re a political junkie like me).
I also use the down-time to Reflect on the year that was. We rarely get the opportunity to do this during the year, so the ending of the year can serve as a good trigger moment to do this important work. A few key questions to think through:
- What were some of the highlights from the year — both thematically, and in terms of specific results?
- What could you (and the team) have done better?
- What were some of the headwinds you had to face down and what (usually who) were some of the tailwinds that helped you on the way?
(Life Pro Tip — typically a good idea to share this reflection with your boss as well)
Finally, my personal favorite: Re-hire yourself. This is a more positive psychology angle on the “Fire yourself” approach — a popular framework in management circles and my personal favorite. I was inspired by this article in HBR — which basically argues for letting go of preconceived notions and approaching the job with a fresh perspective. Think about what made you interested in this job in the first place and if you were to apply for this role — what would you tell the hiring team about what needs to change, what unique stamp would you put on the area? A few more specific questions to think through:
- What are the areas of highest leverage?
- Do you have the right team?
- Is your team structured appropriately?
- Where do you need to spend the most time on vs. where can you delegate ?
- Do you have the right management system in place?
- What skills and competencies are needed to be successful in this role? Do you have them? Who can help you sharpen your skills (mentors)?
- What changes you need to make based on above reflection ?
A lot of this reflection and thinking should feed into OKRs for the new year; including key initiatives for the year and big boulders / imperatives for the team.
Share, share, share — create some content (docs, slides) around your learnings from reflections, thoughts on next years strategy and share with all key stakeholders. This includes your team, stakeholders, senior management etc. Could use various formats — all-hands with the team, emails, meetings with key stakeholders, customer advisory councils etc.
Finally, on a personal note — may make some sense to include some personal goals (New Years resolutions?) as well. Learning a new skill, thinking about financial planning, group pursuits of various types can a great conversation to have as a family.
What else do you do to plan for the new year?
