It’s nearing the end of February, and I know some companies haven’t set clear plans for the year. Planning is one of the routine processes that both drives growth and builds resilience in an organisation. Quarterly planning sessions allow the team to recognize success and respond to challenges with agility.
It helps if the business leadership has explored the possibilities for the future and set a clear vision for the organisation, then backed this up with a strategy to reach that vision. Many people become confused by all these terms so it might be easier to look at the model below:
As business leaders you might not revisit your Vision for 5 years, and some of your Strategy may take 2-3 years to realise in the form of various projects within the business. It is the Planning activity that should be done regularly to keep you on track with your strategy or adjust it in response to a changing environment.
It’s Not Always Easy
Sometimes when we are caught up in the day to day, we get stuck writing To Do lists instead of Plans. We even find ourselves too busy to plan! Facilitated sessions bring you and your team back to the Vision and Strategy, and take you forward to the Actions required to reach it.
As the old expression by Benjamin Franklin goes – “Are you failing to plan, or planning to fail?”