The Problem
The President of this company was disappointed in both the growth of the company and its bottom line. He had confidence in his leadership team, but he was tired of hearing all the excuses for missing key targets. They had had some planning discussions in the past, but nothing seemed to come of it.
The Solution
Formalizing a strategic business planning process serves two key purposes:
- Builds clarity and buy-in to the company’s vision, goals and strategies; and
- Creates an actionable plan that can be used to track progress and address surprises on a timely basis
As an experienced facilitator and planner, I guided the President and his leadership team to clarify and confirm the company’s vision, mission and goals. I posed candid and challenging questions as internal and external capabilities were explored. Realistic strategies were identified and tested by financial plans. An action plan was developed with buy-in to task responsibilities and completion dates. Action plans are worthless without accountability, of course, so agreement was reached on the frequency of status meetings.
The Result
The energy of the leadership team visibly improved, knowing they could achieve the goals for which they were each accountable. The President began seeing the improved bottom line and growth, as he had hoped.
The President noted: “Having a formal planning process means I’ll stop wasting time on fighting the same fires over and over.” And a leadership team member said: “It feels so good to know that I can meet the targets I’m expected to.”