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Article
HOW'S THAT PLAN WORKING OUT?
By
Dennis Sullivan
Chairman & CEO
As the first quarter and March Madness come to an end, last fall’s
strategy sessions and annual planning process become a fleeting memory.
The planning documents, great discussions, and group commitments are
lost in today’s crises, market shifts, and “new” corporate agendas. Try
another approach; align your plan with your first-quarter budget results
and compare it to what you are doing today.
Have your objectives changed? Why, and to what degree? Are you where you
expected to be with projects? If not, why? How can you get back on
track? How does the budget look? Do you need more resources to help a
sagging project? Use your plan, work it, tweak it, and redirect it.
Things may have changed since last fall, but challenge yourself to stay
the course, and you will:
 | Provide your team with a consistent message so the set goals are
followed in times of chaos. |
| Discover a new tool to help guide your decisionmaking. |
| Become consistent in your management practices and better at
building annual game plans. |
There are external forces in business that make change a
requisite, but having a well-thought-out game plan allows you to
more easily adjust and give you a better grasp of how change will
affect deliverables, budgets, and goals for the year. A careful plan
is the foundation of your performance during any given period,
because you will need a point of reference when evaluating changes
and project adjustments.
Your 2011 plan should be a living document continually used to
measure your team’s performance and to review budgets. Start with
the corporate strategic plan and review it quarterly with the Board
and senior executives; this should include your goals. Carry it down
to each department, so they can evaluate their progress of the
strategic plan's key initiatives.
In addition, you should make sure the management monthly reviews
are more than an accounting of “budget versus actuals” and variance
reporting, and keep your eye on the business objectives and goals
you set last fall to be sure to stay the course. By demonstrating a
commitment to follow-through, you will soon find a greater level of
engagement and buy-in from your employees. In turn, they will become
the owners of the plans and the results, and your annual
planning process will live up to its true potential. |
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