We have our annual EOS® planning session coming up in a month, but our VP of Sales just resigned and our VP of Operations is on parental leave. Should we postpone the offsite until we have a full, stable leadership team, or should we move forward with a skeleton crew?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Never postpone your annual planning session. The health of your business depends on maintaining a consistent operational pulse. Postponing the offsite sends a message to the rest of the organization that your vision and strategy are secondary to temporary tactical disruptions.

Move forward with the offsite using the leadership team members you currently have. If you have an interim manager filling the VP of Operations seat, invite them to the session, but establish clear rules. They are there to contribute to the strategic vision of the company, not just defend their temporary department.

For the vacant VP of Sales seat, the Integrator or Visionary must step in to represent that seat's perspective during the strategic discussions. Use the V/TO® (Vision/Traction Organizer®) to guide your decisions, and focus heavily on defining the exact GWC™ profile for the permanent replacement as one of your primary Rocks for the upcoming quarter.

An annual offsite with a skeleton crew is actually an excellent opportunity to pressure-test your Accountability Chart. It forces the remaining leaders to look at the business as a whole rather than retreating into their departmental silos. Keep the pulse, run the session, and use the empty seats as motivation to get the right people in the right seats quickly.