Getting where you want to go requires a roadmap. The strategic plan, budget, business plan or whatever it is called within your company, is your roadmap.
For this conversation, I will use the term business plan. The business plan is a communication tool to owners and your team. To be effective it must be a living document, measured weekly and redrawn if business conditions require it, with accountability to make it real.
Too often the task is relegated to an accounting exercise. Something to put on the shelf with past business plans or filed away on the server after a presentation to prove it was completed.
A business plan should engage the entire organization, using the opportunity to analyze what drives business profits, where the company should be positioned within the industry, how business will be captured, define organization responsibilities and determine resource allocation.
Several important outcomes from the business planning process should include:
- Organizational ownership of expected results
- KPIs measurable weekly and monthly
- Accountability to meeting agreed results
Consequently, when you are well into the fiscal year and results are not as expected, your team should already be working the problem. Corrective actions should already be in place to drive to expected results.
Let’s keep our team focused on the roadmap, committed and engaged.
