Systematizing Your Shut Down Routine For The End of the School Year

I really want to hit home the importance of making planning and goal setting a part of your end of the year shut down system so that you can hit the ground running in August. I know goal setting is not something new. But so often, we may miss the mark on just how important reflection and planning for goal setting is. Usually we set goals at the beginning of the year and tend to not look at them again. In the beginning, you wanted those goals, you could taste them, you could feel them. You were, like, bring it on; this is what I’m going to do. And now at the end of the year, you might have even forgot what goals you set if you’re not looking at them weekly or daily and especially at the end of the year. Did you even set the right goals and do you even know what they mean and how they can be measured? Some of those goals you set may not even interest you. They might not bring you joy. Now, that doesn’t always mean you change them. It means you change your perspective. That is where the end of year shut down system comes in. This is a chance to recalibrate. This is a chance to get stuff done, wrap things up, but also look back at your goals. The shut down system is a system that will eventually be automated so that you will never have to start from scratch again. It is a system that includes the annual year end to do list but it goes so much deeper than that. It is also a system that requires you to reflect, notice progress on goals that were set at the beginning of the year, reflect on what worked and what didn’t, set your plans for moving forward for next year, set new goals, and determine your vision statement. In this shut down system, you get really clear on the work that happened this year and the goals that were set and remind yourself why you set them in the beginning of the year. You start to develop templates to automate your shut down routines and you do what you need to do to get ready for the end of this year and the beginning of next year. If you have a solid shut down system that includes all of these things, next year you won’t even recognize yourself at the end of the year, because you’ve blown your own mind with how much you’ve accomplished and how good you feel.

Let’s talk about how you set up a shut down system for your year so that it is systematized, forward moving, and vision driven.

Step one: Set up a google doc with your shut down routine. This google doc will act as a dashboard with hyperlinks to templates that you will begin to create so that it is all in one place and you don’t spend hours looking for files or documents.

Step two: The first section on your google doc is your annual year end to do list. Now our end of the year checklist actually begins in March with staffing, timetables, etc. However, everything such as to do lists, step by step instructions, templates, schedules, etc. are hyperlinked to that original google doc that I had you set up in step one. Things that may be on your to do list are:

• ordering for next year
• budget
• EA and Teacher hours
• Scheduling
• Year end celebrations
• Teacher awards
• Clean out office
• Student awards
• Planning for August PD

Step 3: Create templates for anything on your to do list that you can. The to do list really is endless! And yes, we need to do all of these things to shut down our year. However, the thing that is different is that you want to start to create templates for everything that you can on this ‘to do’ list that will help you do these things more efficiently the following years. Next, you will hyperlink all of these templates you create to the original google doc. And yes…this will take some work the first time you do it. However, think about how you are setting yourself up for years to come so that you never have to start from scratch again! The next year, you simply make a copy of your google doc dashboard from this year and click on the templates that are already done and do the steps. No more searching your mind for remembering what you have to get done each year. No more looking for the templates, docs, or files because they are all in one place. No more remembering what you have to include to get that job done because it is written out step by step for you. Another bonus to creating templates for everything is that you can delegate to someone else! Just simply hand them the step by step template and they can follow that vs. you have to go through it all and explain it all.

Step 4: The next part of your original google doc that you will include after your hyperlinked to do list, is a list of the goals you had set at the beginning of the school year. In this section, you will have the goals listed and then you will list the actions you took. You may even want to hyperlink docs or templates too so you have everything in one place. It is so important to take a deep look at your goals and be honest with how they really went. If you can’t admit to yourself where you’re at, what it looks like, then you’re just walking around, not making progress. And you’re only hurting yourself. So this is where we need to be willing to be honest with ourselves so that we can grow, we can learn, we can move forward, and we can meet those big goals you set for yourself. Next, you will document the time and effort it took to accomplish this goal or action. List out the efforts that you’ve been taking toward your goals. So if you look at each of the goals and you are able to give yourself some kind of measurable of how far you’ve come, think what have you done to get there? Once you have looked at each goal you will list what worked and what did not.

Step 5: Reflect on your goals with your team in order to set yourself up for next year. This part is where you have a conversation with your team with the intention to set goals for next year. Now, I like to have mid year checkins so I always set up a reflection milemarker that is 6 months from now to keep my end line a little closer. Some questions that you could discuss with your team are:

• What did you love working on in the last 6 months?
• What did you have to STOP doing to make the next 6 months one that you love?
• If you could wave a magic wand and not fail at anything in the next 6 months, what would you work on?
• What are your non-negotiables for the next 6 months?
• What was difficult this last 6 months?
• What was your biggest traction in the last 6 months?
• What your least traction in the last 6 months?
• How much progress have you generated in the last 6 months?
• How do you need to show up so you can look back and not even recognize yourself due to what you’ve accomplished in 6 months?

The goal here is to reflect on the good, the bad, the ugly and….dream about the future. It is so important to have an understanding of your metrics at certain milemarkers. Otherwise, why set goals at all? It is only onward and upward from here my friend!

Step 6: Have a ‘Plan Moving Forward Section’ on your original google doc that you set up in step one. Choose 3-7 goals to focus on per year and always make sure the goals are measurable. In fact, I always make sure I have some sort of a number inside of my goal. So for me, this year, my goal is to set up ONE communication system for my team leads that is not through email. My goal is to look into the app called Slack and get my team to start to use it so that it takes down the amount of email they receive and the emails that get lost in the muck. Notice that I used the number ‘one’ in my goal instead of saying, get better at communicating with our team. This goal is not near as clear as the goal with the actual number in it. So make sure that your goals are clear and measurable. While you are setting your goals, be sure to base them on this year’s results. Think what goals missed the mark and then trouble shoot these goals. Next, always make sure you put deadlines into your goal setting. Deadlines create a sense of urgency and make things actually happen.

Step 7: Lastly, create a 6 month Vision Statement. I got this idea from Amy Porterfield and Michael Hyatt. Now that you have your to do list, your goals, your reflection, and your plans moving forward, make a promise to yourself. Again, this template for a vision statement came from Amy Porterfield.

“The next 6-months will be wildly successful as I help [fill in who you will help] accomplish [fill in how you will help]. My leadership will flourish from the results I get by completing [fill in the projects you will work on]. I will make [insert measurement number] because [fill in your motivation]. As I achieve my leadership goals, my personal life will flourish through [insert personal goals].”

Alright so there you have it! A shut down system that is systematized so that you never have to start from scratch again, gets things done, reflects on progress, and sets you up for the next year! Remember, the first time you set up your shut down system will take some hard work and time but it will last for years to come so just think how good you are going to feel next year when all you have to do is fill in the blanks. I do have a free guide to help you set up a system for shutting down your year if you would like a template to curate and make your own. You can download it here! Happy systematizing!!!

Be sure to share ideas of your own shut down system in our private facebook group called Principals and Leadership!

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