Over the weekend, I was talking with an attorney about their firm’s lack of a formal planning process. I wasn’t that surprised, because we recently conducted a survey of managing partners and found that a significant percent of the surveyed firms, also, had no structured planning process.
Given the speed of change, the saying that “any road will do if you don’t know where you are going” is true today more than ever. You may not be happy with where you end up, however. You can either be surprised by the future or take advantage of it. You need to know where you are going. You need Objectives. Objectives are temporary targets based on estimates about the future in view of your capabilities and opportunities.
If planning is to work, the planning plan must be to change the plan to fit changing circumstances. Thus, the planning document is dynamic, a means of agreeing and a means of communication. Excellent firms are not guided by a bound narrative type of planning document. They are guided by a playbook using shorthand words and phrases in a form that facilitates continual updating. Planning is a dynamic process. It affects day-to-day decisions and day-to-day decisions shape the plan itself.
The excellent firm must have a structured plan for planning. Like sports, there must be a playbook that all players know if the organization is going to work together and make decisions in harmony. Typically, the planning process involves a cycle of long-term or strategic planning followed by a period of operational planning and budgeting. The plan is shaped by the formal process as well as by day-to-day decisions. Effective planning requires structure because definition is often 90% of the answer. Planning is a discovery process. Sometimes it is a search for the obvious. The major topics of a structured planning process include the following:
• The nature of our business or activity
• The Environment–labor availability, competition, government controls, etc.
• Capabilities and opportunities (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities & threats)
• Assumptions about the future
• Objectives–strategic objectives
• Policies and procedures changes needed
• Strategies and programs to achieve the objectives
• Priorities and schedules
• Organization and delegation
• Budget and resources needed
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Filed under Management, Planning by Tom Collins