Where to start when you’re cleaning up a planning & reporting framework
I recently received some questions from a client who is a new CEO in his organization, and is in the process of clarifying strategic direction for their organization and bringing in more active and modern planning and reporting frameworks. This can be an overwhelming experience, but think it through and do one thing at a time. Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither will your planning framework.
I believe when implementing new direction, there are three major areas to address:
1) Make the plan operational
When rolling out direction to employees, a good rule of thumb is to involve more of your people the more operational you get. The tends to increase overall commitment to and understanding of the plan. The bottom line is that you have to get this done, or the plan will not hit the ground. Year 1 for any new process is always challenging so err on the side of simplicity when starting off. Putting too many hoops in front of people can result in lower commitment to the process.
2) Create a forum to regularly dicuss progress
This is one of the greatest simple tools to increase accountability and focus on the plan. Consistently come back to the plan and discuss progress as well as looking aheead to the next key activities. Have the lead for each activity give a verbal update for progress, discuss challenges, and what’s coming up next. This will keep everyone accountable, keep the focus on the plans and increase everyone’s knowledge as to what is happening. The other benefit is that you will have plenty of course-correction time prior to the less frequent reporting that goes further up the management chain.
3) Update your reporting system
Begin by asking yourself what you want your board, executive, management and teams focusing on. Then, look at your reporting systems. If you want a strategic company, you need to maintain a focus at all levels on issues that are strategic to the company. The would be little point in rolling out a strategic planning system that measures issues and metrics not strategic to the company.