14 Business Experts Discuss Top Tips for Q1 Planning

With the end of 2022 fast approaching, many businesses are already deep into planning for 2023. And while a new year offers a chance to try something new, market instability and the looming threat of a potential recession are increasing the amount of pressure felt by business leaders. Luckily, they don’t always have to start from scratch when it comes to finding fresh ideas.

Looking back at the successes and failures of the current year can offer insight into what initiatives would be best to explore or where an organization can pivot if something isn’t bringing in the desired results. However, it’s also key for businesses to keep a close eye on markets and customers because they too can provide guidance. To offer further insights, 14 Newsweek Expert Forum members share additional tips for business leaders as they continue planning for Q1.

1. Do an Assessment of the Previous Year’s Successes

It’s important to embrace and take inventory of your successes from the previous year. As leaders, we tend to focus on the next milestone or challenge in front of us. Reflecting on your achievements is empowering and reminds you that success is a journey, not a destination. Giving yourself permission and having the discipline to reflect enables you to achieve greater professional and personal success. – Renée T. Walker, RENEE WALKER & ASSOCIATES

2. Ensure Employees Are Properly Resting and Recharging

Put your employees first and make sure they are taking the time they need around the holidays to rest and recharge. Ask your employees what they would like to see your company do better in the upcoming year. It is important to take a look at your business accomplishments holistically as well as create an action plan for where opportunities lie personally and professionally. – Paul Miller, Miller & Company LLP

3. Look at the Bigger Picture

Continue to invest in what is working while setting new, attainable goals to advance the organization. Leaders must remind themselves of the bigger picture and plan for the year ahead accordingly. However, today’s changing business environment requires leaders to be nimble. Solidify your base and then identify areas to innovate, reinvigorate or add value. – Faisal Pandit, Panasonic Connect North America

4. Conduct a PEST Analysis

The first step of any strategic plan starts with knowing your market. Conduct a PEST (political, economic, social, technological) analysis to know the global factors that will influence your business. Meet with your team and ask what shifts or changes in political power, the world economy, social circumstances, generational feelings or new technologies we should consider as we plan and execute our early projects. – Loren Margolis, Training & Leadership Success LLC

5. Talk Directly With Your Customers

Sit down with as many customers as you can right now to understand how they are thinking about business going into next year. It’s a tumultuous time, and it would be a big mistake to take others’ word for what they think is happening or rely on forecasts. You need to sit with your customers now more than ever to talk through scenarios and really understand what is and isn’t keeping them up at night. – Jack Kang, SiFive

6. Align Your Value Proposition With Customers’ Needs

The most resilient companies are those that can quickly adapt and scale up or down, depending on both customer needs and the economy. Given the 2023 recession forecast, prepare for Q1 by ensuring your value proposition aligns with customer needs. Company leaders should plan for best- and worst-case scenarios. Every decision—from staffing to strategy—must be made with long-term gains in mind. – Frank Fawzi, IntelePeer

7. Take the Economic Forecast Into Consideration

Make sure to factor the volatile economy into everything you’re doing in the first quarter of 2023, from recession-proofing your business and preparing for a downturn to considering how this financial dip may impact your sales and marketing messaging. It’s very important to not appear oblivious in your communications and to carefully consider the state of the world and market. – April White, Trust Relations

8. Foster Authentic Connections and Creativity in the Workplace

Rather than just focusing on the numbers and concrete goals, think about how you are going to model and encourage connection and creativity within your teams. Productivity suffers when authentic collaboration and psychological safety are not encouraged and driven by leaders. What boundaries will you set? How will you improve your listening skills? What tough conversations do you need to have? – Leah Marone, Corporate Wellness Consultant

9. Implement Inclusive Goals Using Staff Feedback

Establish Q1 goals. However, be inclusive of those who will contribute to the plan’s implementation. This will allow for a more diverse and equitable platform that will encourage the best ideas and aid the team’s ability to accomplish the Q1 plan in a sustainable manner. – Raquel Olivier, The Olivier Incorporated

10. Leverage the SSC Method

Use the SSC (start, stop, continue) method to make sure you don’t take on too much. In planning, it is easy to add new ideas, but it’s also key to consider where the capacity to accomplish them will come from. Be sure to adequately plan by looking at new things to start doing and by considering current things that aren’t working or driving impact and things that are. – Krista Neher, Boot Camp Digital

11. Prioritize Joy

Understand what brings you joy and remove the barriers that inhibit it. As we organize our time around joy and our passions in work and life, ideation flows and innovation results. – Elizabeth Hutt Pollard, State of Oklahoma

12. Cultivate a Culture of Enthusiasm and Passion

Bring excitement, enthusiasm and passion to what you are doing because we know that these emotions are contagious and trickle down to impact the organization positively. If these emotions are absent, it might be good to revisit your mission or purpose and see what is missing. – Lisa Lundy, Lisa A Lundy

13. Make a Plan for Optimizing IT Spending and Efficiency

Given the current economic uncertainty, it is imperative that organizations recognize the need to optimize their IT spending and get more efficient. This is fundamentally different from cost-cutting. Organizations that can get efficient and redeploy resources to build their niche in an uncertain economic climate will be the ones that don’t just survive, but thrive. – Rahul Subramaniam, CloudFix

14. Determine How Realistic Plans Are Using Data

Evaluate if your business plans are realistic, what kind of financing you may need and any potential shortfalls that you might encounter. Financial projections can also translate your company’s objectives into more specific targets. Data is integral to any modern-day business in order to understand trends. – Dr. Kira Graves, Kira Graves Consulting