Keep Your Business Plan And Planning Process Alive and Thriving
The annual business planning process can be a great exercise. It can also be a huge waste of time. The quality of the planning outcome and the experience of creating it depend on a lot of things. A great plan is one that powerfully aligns, energizes and helps the organization to achieve solid results, no matter what circumstances the year ahead brings.
A plan that’s effective stands the test of time. It prepares a team or company to adapt, yet stay on target for the long-run, even if the short-run requires adjustments planners might not have foreseen.
To make sure your plan stands the test of time, follow these basic steps:
1. Create a shared vision2. Understand current circumstances3. Create a plan to close the gap4. Implement the plan5. Measure and monitor progress6. Pause regularly to review, reflect, adjust, recharge
1. Create a shared visionA strategic vision is a clear, compelling picture of the future that people are committed to create together. Document it in a way that’s meaningful to the group who will use it. For example, they may to use a large picture or design, a phrase, a theme song.
An effective vision engages the whole group and helps to strengthen them, as a team. I once worked with a manager who was an avid tennis player. His group was 100% focused on Star Wars. He tried to force tennis on the Trekkies. You can guess what happened: it didn’t fly. When they could see the conflict, the manager and team selected a third metaphor that worked for all of them.
2. Understand current circumstancesStart by looking honestly at the successes and failures of the past year. Review customer feedback to learn how well you’re currently meeting customers’ needs, such as quality, cost, timeliness, and other requirements. Consider, also, how your most essential business processes are working. Gather and evaluate information about your market and customer opportunities, as well as information about your competitors.
3. Create a plan to close the gapFocus on two to three large goals a year. Agree on the actions that you believe will lead to the achievement of your goals. Look, also, at the causes of performance gaps you are trying to close. Plan how you can eliminate the causes of those gaps most easily and completely. Then assign resources to the plan. Design an implementation process that will work at your company, and in your culture. Remember, what works at one company might fail at another.
4. Implement the planHold a series of meetings to communicate and discuss the plan. Help employees in all parts of the company to understand the plan, and feel part of the overall process. Let employees each know how their work and good performance support the plan and your long-term goals. Schedule regular follow-up meetings well ahead of time so people understand how progress will be tracked and managed.
5. Measure and monitor progressUse visual tools for this, whenever you can. A high percentage of people - up to 65%, according to many sources - are visual learners. Well-designed visual displays, such as charts, graphs and similar tools help employees to quickly understand how well the plan is working.
6. Pause regularly to review, reflect, adjust, rechargeFinally, follow up, when and as you said you would, as a team. Many companies supplement quick, regular update meetings with more extensive progress reviews once a month or quarter. As part of this follow-up process, revisit your vision. Review progress compared to the plan. If all is moving along well, this follow-up meeting goes quickly. If something is not progressing as desired, this meeting helps the team to decide how they will address the problem so they can move on most easily.
Take some time to reflect on what’s going well, and what can be improved in the way the team is working together:- Is everyone meeting their commitments?- Are people well-suited to the roles they were assigned to fill?- Are communications clear, timely and well-managed?- Does the team need encouragement, or to celebrate a milestone they’ve reached?
A well-designed “review, reflect, adjust, recharge” process helps to keep many teams focused and moving forward well together, through good times and bad.
Use these key steps and keep your plan alive and thriving, all the way to your ultimate goals, as a company or team.
Author: Jan Richards
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