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Guessing is not a strategy: How to build decision velocity with AI and real-time data
June 10, 2026 | Live Webinar
In the Northern hemisphere, we’re going into hibernation mode. The weather might be getting colder but the deadlines are hotting up as we approach year end. It’s always the same: leadership teams trying to get projects done before the end of the year, often for no real reason other than it’s an arbitrary date and it lets everyone start fresh in January.
However, if your financial year finishes in December, there could be good reason for trying to get everything done.
At this time of year there are also other distractions: people taking time off for holidays and the festivities. Here are 6 practical strategies that you can start using on your project to finish the year strong.
- Plan for the holiday exodus
Map out who’s away and adjust your project timelines early. One of the problems I have found on projects is that I am not always told who will be on holiday because the individuals working on the project do not directly report to me. Check in with their line managers or ask each individual directly about their plans to be away over the holiday season.
- Freeze your scope
Literally. Stop adding features or deliverables! When you get change requests, put them on the back burner until the new year. That will protect the capacity in the team in order to complete the work that you already have in your work stack.
- Front-load work
Get critical tasks done before festive chaos hits. Even if you are not expecting chaos, you could still be caught off guard by key stakeholders being out of the office or decisions taking longer because decision makers are not around.
Try to get decisions documented and agreed as early as possible so that your team is not held up.
- Automate handovers
Prep notes, shared docs, and checklists. If you have anything to hand over this season, make sure you're doing the prep work for it now. That also means making sure your project filing and archiving is up to date. Saved down any attachments from emails tidy up your SharePoint channels and make sure everyone is using the document storage the way that it should be used.
- Celebrate early wins
Bring in treats or plan some virtual thank-yous for the team. This year my project team is celebrating in November because December is too busy and it's hard to get people to have the opportunity to meet up. If that feels like it will be the same for your team, consider moving any festive celebrations earlier in the year or pushing them to January. January often has the benefit of being cheaper as well!
- Plan your restart
Schedule a January reset meeting before everyone disappears. Whether that is a lessons learned from a project before you will forget what happened, project scoping or a quarter one planning session, book the time now before all those recurring meetings start dropping into calendars. While you are at it, set up your steering meetings, any other governance meetings, regular project team meetings and anything else that needs to be in the diary on a recurring basis so that your team project sessions have protected time as you go into the new year.
What else do you do at this time of year that helps you keep everything on track to end the year in a good place?
Posted on: December 11, 2025 12:00 AM |
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