Written By: Holly LaBoda | Oct 14, 2020 12:00:00 AM
By Holly LaBoda, Partner and Co-Founder, Luminaries Consulting
Whose 2020 plans worked out the way they intended? Anyone? Bueller?
Yes, this is a weird one, but if we are honest, aren’t they all in some way? Now we are inching up on 2021 and you might find yourself wanting to skip the whole planning process. Why plan when the future is so unknown?
Here’s why: without a plan, you and your team will spend your time fighting fires, potentially working in different directions based on the issue that’s in front of them. At best, you’re working harder for less and missing opportunities. At worst, you’re losing ground in the marketplace.
When it comes to annual planning in transportation and logistics, most organizations we talk to fall into one of two camps:
Both leave something to be desired in the bang-for-your-buck category. Yes, your planning process needs to be about more than budgeting, or you are definitely leaving opportunities for growth on the table. But it also does not need to be a big “event” that pulls expensive and important people out of the game for days on end. This traditional approach crams all the strategic thought into a short window and even the best planned sessions tend to leave participants feeling more exhausted than invigorated. With the current pace of change, and travel restrictions in mind, we invite you to consider an alternative.
We have found this 8-week planning process to be highly effective at getting a sound plan together with short sprints of strategy over a period of time. Here’s how it works:
| Timeline |
Process |
Outcome |
| Week 1 |
Present key data: each team member shares internal and external data that impacts your organization. The intent is not to debate or analyze, just gain clarity on current state. |
Shared perspective |
| Week 2 |
Reactions & Implications: after having considered last week’s information, each team member brings questions and insights. Letting it sit for a week helps individuals process and prioritize more effectively than the group reacting in the moment. |
Insights and assumptions |
| Week 3 |
Revisit your strategic direction: review your mission, vision and values, does anything from the last two weeks impact your overall direction? |
Updated strategic direction |
| Week 4 |
Place your bets: what are the most important areas for you to focus over the next 12 months? What will move the needle? What big, hairy business result are you aiming to achieve? |
Annual focus |
| Week 5 |
Define the targets: determine clear parameters for the business outcomes you are targeting. Where are you now? Where should you be in the future? |
Success Measures |
| Week 6 |
Build the path: There is a reason you haven’t achieved these goals before. What might be stopping you? What must happen to succeed? These barriers and critical success factors will help shape your initiatives. |
Initiatives |
| Week 7 |
Garner the resources: Initiatives take work. Decide the resources and the budgets associated with each effort. Adjust for gaps. |
Action Plans |
| Week 8 |
Review: Go back to your assumptions and direction, will this plan get you where you need? Make any changes and determine the approach to roll it out! |
Final Plan! |
Breaking up the effort of your planning process like this allows you to not only reduce the time (and cost) of planning, allowing your brightest minds to also spend time on their day jobs throughout the process, but it will lead to a better outcome because you won’t be rushing the process with drained participants.
What is your experience with annual planning? Would an approach like this help?
One final note: regardless of your approach, it often helps to have a guide through this process. A partner to lead the work in the direction you want, allowing you to fully participate in the process. If you need help there, we’ve got you.
Want to keep learning? If you registered for the 2020 TMSA Virtual Conference, be sure to check out their on-demand session "Future-Proofing: A Winning Approach in Uncertain Times." OR Join Luminaries Consulting for their on-demand Logistics Sales Academy: Accelerating Virtual Sales Success. Learn More
Tags: Strategy
