If you are going to be close to gold renewal,you do a tier point run to get over the line
If paid travel just about renews silver and some of this paid travel is paid for by work,consider saving yourself some money by using your avios for your leisure trips as you'll have silver for the year anyway
During your silver step down year you can see about earning enough tier points to retain silver or reach gold if your paid travel pattern allows
Thats the usual strategy