Louise Quenzer is Head of Content, Organic Performance at Brave Bison Performance.
Louise has worked in the business for over 10 years and the wider industry since 2008. She is also a certified coach, helping to develop people by giving them space to thrive.
The new year brings a sense of renewal.
The new year brings a sense of renewal.As festive sounds give way to Teams calls and Slack pings, it’s time to refocus, redefine strategies, and lay the foundation for a successful 2025.
After time off, regaining momentum can feel daunting. Many feel pressured to return rested and ready, but time away often sparks reflection and change. January is no stranger to shifts – with ‘Divorce Day’, ‘Blue Monday’ and resignations.
Stepping back from daily routines allows you to switch off and recharge. Returning to work after this pause can be challenging, especially when faced with a blank page. Where do you begin?
Helpful prompts or frameworks can make all the difference. Start by cultivating curiosity. Shift your energy intentionally, making time and space to spark ideas.
Here’s how to conquer the blank page and kickstart your 2025 planning with confidence.
Give the Stop, Continue, Start method a go!
The Stop, Start, Continue framework is an effective tool for feedback, reflection and development – business, personal or otherwise. It can help to provide clarity and focus on a specific area of improvement. Its simplicity means it’s accessible to all. It’s also action-oriented and balanced, addressing challenges alongside positive reinforcement.
What do I need to stop doing?
- Identify strategies, actions, processes or behaviours that are unproductive, ineffective and should be discontinued.
What do I need to start doing?
- Highlight changes, new actions, and things to be implemented to improve outcomes or achieve goals.
What do I need to continue doing?
- Recognise what is working well and should be maintained, supported and strengthened.
These open questions create the space for reflection and learning, to help set clear goals, refine strategies and focus on areas of growth for 2025. Either run this on your own or get together with your team of relevant stakeholders and see what this unlocks.
Use the below the get you off the blank page and start effectively planning for 2025:
STOP: Identify inefficiencies and evaluate strategies that are no longer effective
Questions to surface learning:
- What’s currently not working?
- Which processes or initiatives are draining time and energy?
- What strategies are not delivering results?
- What actions or strategies are we delivering that are not aligned with goals, objectives and vision?
- Where are we no longer adding value?
START: Introduce new initiatives that focus on innovation, opportunity and growth
Questions to surface learning:
- What opportunities are there?
- How can we enhance new opportunities
- What have we overlooked?
- What is one thing we’ve been meaning to try but haven’t yet started?
- What is one area where you feel your business/client could grow significantly with the right effort?
CONTINUE: Strengthen our successes for scalability (and consistency)
Questions to surface learning:
- What’s working well?
- Where are the strengths?
- Where are we seeing success?
- What is currently delivering strong results?
- How can we scale and build on what is working?
This framework is a great structured springboard to get you going with your strategic planning. But you can also start with some broader reflection to begin your discussion. It’s all about effective questioning to shift your mindset from frazzled to future focussed.
Things to keep in mind:
- Avoid leading questions, keep it open.
- Go deeper, use follow-up questions to explore further.
- Keep it actionable, make sure you’re working towards outcomes.
The blank page shouldn’t be seen as a challenge; it’s an opportunity—a chance to rethink what’s working, what’s not, and what’s next. By using the Stop, Start, Continue framework, you can approach 2025 with clarity and focus, ensuring every action is purposeful and aligned to specific outcomes.
Now is your chance to embrace planning for the year ahead and go from planning paralysis to strategic momentum.
