As the year winds down, many leaders are sprinting to close projects, finalize budgets, and prepare for the holiday slowdown. But the best leaders know that how you finish the year determines how you start the next one.
This is the season to pause, take stock, and deliberately reset the team for greater effectiveness, execution, and engagement in the months ahead. It’s not just about reflection, it’s about preparation, alignment, and momentum.
Here are the top three things every leader should do with their team as the year ends to set the stage for success in the new year.
1. Conduct a Team “After-Action Review” Not a Performance Review
Before you rush into goal setting for the new year, take a collective look back. Facilitate an open conversation about what worked, what didn’t, and what can be improved.
Unlike individual performance reviews, this discussion is about team dynamics and collective learning. Ask:
• What accomplishments are we most proud of this year?
• Where did we fall short, and why?
• What behaviors, processes, or habits helped or hindered execution?
• How well did we communicate, collaborate, and adapt?
This type of honest reflection fosters psychological safety and shared accountability. It helps the team own its story, both the wins and the misses and use that insight to recalibrate together.
2. Reconnect Purpose, Priorities, and People
End-of-year fatigue can erode connection to purpose. Leaders should take time to reconnect the “why” behind the team’s work, revisit key priorities, and ensure everyone understands how their role ties to the organization’s mission.
This is also the ideal time to:
• Realign team goals with evolving business priorities.
• Clarify roles, decision rights, and interdependencies.
• Celebrate key contributors and moments of impact.
A purposeful reconnection renews energy, re-centers motivation, and builds engagement heading into the new year.
3. Build a Forward-Focused Action Plan
Reflection without action is wasted insight. The most effective teams translate learning into specific, measurable commitments for the next year.
Hold a working session to co-create a 90-day action plan that defines:
• The top three strategic priorities for Q1
• Success measures and key deliverables
• Behavior or culture shifts the team commits to sustaining
This process shifts the team’s focus from “what happened” to “what happens next,” turning insight into momentum.
Consultant’s Role: Facilitating the Reset
This year-end reset can be difficult for leaders to manage from the inside. That’s where Impact Performance Consultants can be your best partner.
As an external performance consultant, I help teams:
• Design and facilitate end-of-year team effectiveness sessions that surface honest dialogue and build alignment
• Diagnose cultural and behavioral barriers to execution using tools like Hogan, DISC, and Korn Ferry Competencies
• Co-create leadership development and engagement roadmaps for the coming year
These sessions are not simply “meetings”, they’re strategic interventions that strengthen trust, focus, and collective ownership. The goal is to enter January with clarity, commitment, and cohesion.
Leaders who invest time and resources to reflect, realign, and reset before the calendar flips don’t just start stronger — they build teams that sustain high performance all year long.
Now is the perfect time to ask:
“What do we want to carry forward, and what do we need to leave behind?”
The answer to that question may determine how your next year begins.
Click here to schedule a discussion to allow Impact Performance Consultants to help you plan your year-end team activity.
About Dr. Ollie G. Barnes III
Dr. Ollie G. Barnes III is an organizational performance consultant, keynote speaker, and author of Diagnosing Toxic Leadership: Understanding the Connection Between Personality Disorders and Toxic Leader Behaviors. As the founder of Impact Performance Consultants, he brings over 25 years of experience helping organizations transform workplace culture, improve leadership effectiveness, and build psychologically safe environments. Learn more at ImpactPerformanceConsultants.com