BUILDING A REALITY-BASED BUSINESS PLAN TO DRIVE RESULTS 

Planning and plan governance is a critical part of a firm’s leadership infrastructure: a framework that keeps the entire team aligned and focused.

 

WHY WE NEED TO PLAN

Five Clients with Five Unique (but common) Stories

The Emotional CEO (with A.D.D) The Reluctant & Introverted CEO The Beer Garden Dreamer The CEO Atop the Rocket The Rocket That Ran Out of Fuel

THE PLANNING PROCESS IS TAILORED TO THE SIZE OF THE ORGANIZATION

LEADERS LEAD

ENTREPRENEURS HYPOTHESIZE & TEST

SCALING COMES LATER

HypothesisPlan

Identify Critical

Assumptions

Prove or Disprove

them

Establish new data

set

Develop New

Strategies

New Hypothesis

Plan

Identify Critical

Assumptions

Prove or Disprove

Them

Establish New Data

Set

PLAN FORMAT (COMPANY, FUNCTION, DEPT.)

EIGHT FUNDAMENTALS LEAD TO SUCCESSFUL PLANNING.

Its not really about “the plan”. It’s the planning and the governance that pays big dividends.

1. THE TOP SETS DIRECTION

2. CRAFTING LEADS TO A SENSE OF OWNERSHIP

3. VISIBILITY TO ALL LEADERS

4. BOTTOMS UP CAPABILITIES CONFIRMATION

5. MEASUREMENTS

6. INSURE SUPPORT FOR DEPENDENCIES

7. THREE PHASES

8. GOVERNANCE BEGINS

BUSINESS PLANNING GOALS

• All leaders learn to plan.• The CEO learns to drive the

process.• An operations focused leader

learns to guide the process.

Learn

• Get the planning done quickly, while leaders can focus on it.

• Be diligent in the planning, uncovering the likely problems.

• Balance speed with diligence, through coaching and CEO support.

Balance

BUSINESS PLANNING GOALS-2

• This process is only for the most important priorities.

• Identify projects and work that should NOT be prioritized.

• Clarity on priorities means that departments will work together.

Prioritize

• Strategic or operational debates must come to a head.

• Decisions must be made so teams can execute without hesitation.

• No decision must mean no execution.

Decide

BUSINESS PLANNING GOALS-3

• Targets must be set and committed to.

• KPIs must be date bounded.• Organizations new to planning

should focus on the striving for a target, more than target attainment.

KPIs

• Projects must have deadlines.• They must have one

responsible party (the plan owner).

• They must be broken down into written steps for project management.

Projects

PLAN GOVERNANCE

Expect what you inspect. Monthly team reviews at each level of leadership in the organization delivers exposure and visibility, allowing for appropriate rewards (or discomfort) that drives focus and innovation.

PLAN GOVERNANCE

• The plan review meetings must be set in advance, creating pressure to update scorecards and progress reports. These plan reviews are never skipped—only rescheduled if required.

Scheduled

• Each plan owner must present their results.Presented

• Targets are not adjusted during the plan review phase. We hit them or we miss them.Targets

• Each plan owner must record their results each month, and compared against targets and prior year (if available).Recorded

PLAN GOVERNANCE - 2

• The meeting must be facilitated, to insure it stays at a high level, that there is broad engagement, and that all plan reviews are completed in the allotted time for the meeting.

Facilitated

• An escalation roster (ER) of issues needing deeper discussion must be created, with the responsible party noted (to insure follow up).Escalation

• Any issues uncovered that require the entire team’s participation can be worked once the plan reviews are concluded, if there is time.Big Issues

• Displeasure on the part of the leader should be expressed at these meetings only with careful forethought.Forethought

OUR WORKSHOP BEGINS

COOKING UP STRATEGIES

AN EXAMPLE

VISION

MISSION

STRATEGIES

OBJECTIVES

ACTION PLANS

TEN POINT ACTION PLANS

WORDS COUNT: CLEAN UP THE PLAN

www.ceotoceo.biz – R.Sher@ceotoceo.biz

Who We Are and How We Help CEO to CEO, Inc. improves the skills of the leadership team of mid-market companies who are navigating major shifts in their business or marketplace. We help these CEOs and their top teams rapidly elevate their game and lead their companies to the next level and beyond. 

We work with the senior-most executive at companies or divisions with revenue from about $20 million to $500 million that are facing significant opportunities and challenges. Our clients are very talented CEOs who nonetheless feel they are still learning their craft; realize their company’s performance depends on improving their own performance; and want to enhance their skills rapidly and on the job.

About Robert SherRobert Sher is founding principal of CEO to CEO, Inc. and an online columnist for Forbes and CFO Magazine. The author of “The Feel of the Deal” and Leading in the Middle: Overcoming the Seven Silent Growth Killers of Midsized Companies (due September 16, 2014). Robert was CEO of a publishing company for more than 20 years before launching CEO to CEO in 2007.   

Robert has worked with the CEOs of more than 80 mid-market firms including hyper-growth skin-care firm Rodan + Fields, Atlanta based Cellairis and the San Francisco law firm Hanson Bridgett. From 1984 to 2006, he was CEO of privately held, Bentley Publishing Group, which he grew into an industry-leading art publisher.