My first task then is to meet with the CEO and chair and negotiate a simpler agenda for the day. Invariably, I end up boiling the process down into a list of very simple questions:
- Where are we now?
- Where do we want to get to?
- Where are we actually going?
- How do we change where we are going into where we want to get to?
Where are we now?
Organisations collect data. Bigger ones collect a lot of data. Some organisations spend a huge amount of their resources collecting data. Many (if not most) collect data they really don't need. While Steven Covey was right to say what can be measured can be managed, he didn't mean us to measure everything we manage.
There are a few broad headings, under which we can place the most important and useful information.
1. Financial:
Most of what needs to be discerned about an organisation's financial health can be gleaned from the balance sheet, its profit and loss (income and expenditure) account and its cash flow forecast.
2. Capability:
Does the organisation have the capacity to deliver its programme (people, cash)?
Are its people sufficiently competent to do this?
Are people working efficiently?
Is the organisation effective in meeting its goals?
3. Governance:
How is accountability managed?
Are the right people on the board?
How does the organisation record and manage risk?
Where do we want to get to?
It almost goes without saying, but an organisation without clear goals is unlikely to be effective. This goes beyond the mission statement. What are the short, medium and long term objectives? How specific are the objectives? Do they specify measurable outcomes? Are they realistic? What time scales are specified and are these attainable?
Having a clear plan does not tie the organisation down. It gives it direction and purpose. Most importantly, it provides focus for its people and the means of measuring success.
A word of warning, however. Don't overload your people with key performance indicators (KPIs). Too many indicators will dissipate energy and lead to management by numbers. Distill these down to a small number of critical areas that relate directly to current goals.
Where are we actually going?
Like an aircraft following its course, organisations rarely progress directly towards their destination. Events will blow you off course, and you will need to make a series of adjustments to correct for these. Timescales change, resources fail to materialise, key people leave. Unless projects are regularly monitored, it can be easy for timescales to slip or spending to exceed budgets. Taking stock of the current travel of the organisation as a whole, the direction in which it is heading and the predicted results of current activity is invaluable. This also needs to be set against a scan of the environment to ascertain whether the external context is changing and to re-evaluate opportunities and threats. A PESTLE analysis can help you with this.
How do we change course?
Planning is pointless unless it leads to action. The end point of the planning session should be a set of agreed tasks. Each person should know which tasks they are responsible for and by when these should be completed.
In 'Simply Brilliant' Fergus O'Connell lays out the key reasons why things don't get done:
- confusion - people didn't know they were meant to do something or precisely what it was they were supposed to do.
- over-commitment - they knew they were supposed to do it, but they didn't have the time
- inability - they didn't have the expertise, experience or training to do the job.
- Make sure each task is allocated to someone
- Make sure each person understands their tasks
- Make sure people have the time to complete their tasks within the time scales or can rearrange other priorities to make time
- Make sure you choose people with the right skills or experience (and authority) to complete each task
- If people need support, identify from where or by whom this will be provided
How will you know that the agreed tasks have been carried out? Set out dates before the deadlines fall due to review progress. These don't necessarily have to be meetings. You might ask for progress reports or verbal feedback by telephone. You might choose to set dates at regular intervals or to coincide with important phases in the action plan.
The important thing is not to let things slide. Circumstances might change, plans might have been based on inaccurate information, the wrong assumptions might have been made. There are many reasons why plans might need to be revised. The important thing is not to wait until the due date before being made aware of this. This is particularly important where tasks are linked; where one or more tasks are contingent on another being completed.
Last word
Planning should be a continuous process, not an event. If an organisation is too busy to regularly sit back, review its work and set new plans it will quickly run off the rails. I hope after reading this article you will appreciate that strategic planning doesn't have to be complex and that a few simple questions can help to get your organisation back on course.
