056- Out of the Box Approaches to Annual Planning

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New year business planning has become so routine, it's value has greatly diminished.  In some cases, the process is skipped entirely.  This episode discusses ways to ignite the planning process and learn new things about your business.

:45      Introduce episode:
The new year has elicited almost a pavlovian response to business planning (evaluation, goal setting, etc).  So much so that much of the real insight from this process has evaportated.  Like many daily routines that people can do by going-through-the-motions, many compabies either put their planning process on remote control or skip it all together, preferring to update last year's plan and run with it.
 
1:15   Who benefits from this show?
Today, we're going to expose the weaknesses of traditional planning and suggest some different ways to learn about your business's performnce.  People in senior roles or positions of responsibility for bottom line results will get lots of good ideas from this show.
 
2:00   Talking points: (8:00 mins)

1. Why has traditional annual planning failed?  (timing, quality data, whose involved, limited knowledge outside the building
2. What should business people be paying attention too?  (info that conveys perceptions- customer service, employee engagement, market awareness)
3. What's it like to work for you?  Really!!!

 
10:00 Tips for improving in this area or overcoming this problem: (7:00 mins)

1. Assume your data is incomplete and make sure it's updated.  GIGO
2. Spend time interviewing your customers and employees
3. Take an, 'I know nothing and want to learn everything' attitude
4. Give all ideas and recos consideration but default to 'NO' if they don't merit support.

17:00 Final Take-aways: (2:00 mins)
Planning should provide a clear path to what you want to focus on and accomplish.  It should cover all the important areas of your business's development and growth.  It should avoid wide spread projects and distractions.
 
20:00 Show ends
 
Resource Information:
            https://www.forbes.com/sites/quora/2018/02/16/everyone-tells-you-to-think-outside-the-box-heres-how-to-actually-do-it/#2918eb78674e