First let us say that we believe a "B" plan with "A" execution will almost always beat an "A" plan with "B" execution. No matter how well your organization thinks and how well your organization plans, to succeed your organization must execute well during the implementation phase.
There is a difference between business planning and project planning. Here I will address business planning. Business planning usually involves three levels of plans:
Your strategic plan followed by
Your tactical plan followed by
Your annual budget plan
You can, if you so choose, integrate your tactical and budget planning into a single level of planning. There are pros and cons to doing this. I usually prefer to have the tactical plan and budget as two separate levels of planning as that provides another opportunity to test the validity of the tactical plan.
It is easy to say your tactical plan needs to flow from your strategic plan. That is a correct statement. But how do you accomplish that? The first step is to avoid treating your planning processes as if they exist to provide financial information. Certainly financial information will come from the processes but if you start with a financial focus, you will miss the steps of planning where you test the credibility of the plan. You cannot effectively manage numbers. You manage the actions that result in numbers.
The strategic plan answers the question “where do you want to be at the end of the time horizon (usually five years). The tactical plan answers the question “what needs to be accomplished in the next two years in order to be on track to reach the five year target”. The budget answers the question “do I believe I can execute the first year of the tactical plan within an expense expenditure that is acceptable to the company”.
If you want to discuss your planning with an objective third party, visit the contact page and reach out to us.
There is a difference between business planning and project planning. Here I will address business planning. Business planning usually involves three levels of plans:
Your strategic plan followed by
Your tactical plan followed by
Your annual budget plan
You can, if you so choose, integrate your tactical and budget planning into a single level of planning. There are pros and cons to doing this. I usually prefer to have the tactical plan and budget as two separate levels of planning as that provides another opportunity to test the validity of the tactical plan.
It is easy to say your tactical plan needs to flow from your strategic plan. That is a correct statement. But how do you accomplish that? The first step is to avoid treating your planning processes as if they exist to provide financial information. Certainly financial information will come from the processes but if you start with a financial focus, you will miss the steps of planning where you test the credibility of the plan. You cannot effectively manage numbers. You manage the actions that result in numbers.
The strategic plan answers the question “where do you want to be at the end of the time horizon (usually five years). The tactical plan answers the question “what needs to be accomplished in the next two years in order to be on track to reach the five year target”. The budget answers the question “do I believe I can execute the first year of the tactical plan within an expense expenditure that is acceptable to the company”.
If you want to discuss your planning with an objective third party, visit the contact page and reach out to us.