Strategic Planning in a Time of Uncertainty:  A Guide for New Managers
Photo by Cas Holmes on Unsplash

Strategic Planning in a Time of Uncertainty: A Guide for New Managers

It’s the annual planning season, and if you’re a new manager, that means creating a plan and delivering on it. This can be very stressful as it’s likely the first time you are responsible for someone else’s delivery. You’ve probably been handed a template, some KPIs, and – if you are lucky – instruction on how to write clear objectives.? But you may have little training on how to enroll your team, manage uncertainty, or create accountability.

It’s reasonable to believe the next few years are going to be as turbulent as the last few. Uncertainty can make planning feel futile, but developing a strategic plan for the year ahead is essential. Done well, strategic planning is the first step in developing a team capable of coordinated autonomy – a team that can stick together and stay focused on the broader goal. Continue reading to figure out how to develop coordinated autonomy in your team.

Enroll Your Team

A good planning process includes enrolling your team.? If you announce the plan to your team without involving them, you won’t have the same kind of commitment as you would if you create the plan together.?

There are many different ways to effectively include your team in strategic planning. At Salesforce, planning starts at the top and then cascades down to every VP, director and individual contributor. Their process is Vision, Values, Methods, Obstacles, and Measures (V2MOM). It promotes accountability and agency because each person creates their own V2MOMs, updates them regularly and makes the plan available to the rest of the organization. The V2MOM process creates strategic alignment in which leaders have the agency to run their departments while maintaining alignment with the organization’s core strategy.?

Furthermore, every individual knows how they fit into the organization’s goals. They know what they are committed to, and they can learn what other leaders are prioritizing simply by referencing their V2MOM documents.?

“The V2MOM enables me to clarify what I’m doing, and then communicate it clearly to the entire company.”
Salesforce Employee

??To apply the V2MOM process with your team, adapt whatever template you are using for everyone on your team. Schedule time where everyone can work on their plans. This time of year things can get very hectic; don’t neglect planning and accidently end up with your team putting in hours outside of normal work. Make planning a priority.?

Managing Uncertainty

In order to stay together while things change, teams need a clear purpose and a shared vision of the future. If you have a clear understanding of where you want to go and why you’re going there, it's a lot easier to figure out what to do next if your plan falls apart.?

At LUMAN, we manage uncertainty with a process we call the Four Pillars: Purpose, Vision, Portfolio, Progress.

—Purpose: We define purpose as a measurable transformation that has meaning to us. With your team, create a short sentence clarifying your “why” or your team’s north star. Siemens purpose is “We make real what matters”.? The Digital Industry Software group at Siemens has the purpose, “We take what the future promises and make it real for our customers today.”? It is clearly aligned with the larger purpose but more specific for that group.?

— Vision: An emotionally connected picture for the year (or the quarter). A vision statement produces a shared understanding of what it will look like and feel like to work and create together.? This is not about the “how,” but who you will be on the other side of the journey. Vision statements are a bit like a great sauce; a well crafted vision statement can transform a dry strategy into a compelling narrative.?

— Portfolio.? Your portfolio is a tool you’ll use to clarify the strategies you’ll use to achieve your outcomes.? A strategy is a set of reinforcing decisions, or a hypothesis on a set of actions that will achieve a result.? A well defined portfolio clarifies what you are doing and what you are not doing.??

In a time of change, it is best to think about your portfolio as a pipeline –? What strategies can you have at the ready depending on different scenarios throughout the year?? Or put differently, what are you testing? If that works, what are you testing next??

? — Progress. These are the metrics you will use to know if you’re heading in the right direction. Here is a useful article explaining the difference between a KPI, an OKR and a metric .? One part of your portfolio might be user signup campaigns directed at a particular group, while the progress measurement might be the number of new users.?

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Photo by Marek Piwnicki on Unsplash

Create Accountability

You can create accountability by having a plan and naming who is in ownership of execution. We use the method ARO, which stands for Awareness, Responsibility, Ownership as a simple way to identify who is involved and how. The goal of ARO is to bring structure and clarity regarding the roles that stakeholders play within the plan.

Here is an explanation of the method:?

— Awareness: Awareness is for people who need to be informed or coordinate in order to achieve outcomes.??

Responsibility: This is for the individuals who are actually getting things done. They own the tasks and ask for support when they need it.??

— Ownership: The individuals who may do some of the tasks but ultimately they manage the process and are in the position of final decision making and ultimately in ownership for delivery.

ARO is a simplified version of the RACI model (responsible, accountable, consulted, informed).? We find that at most organizations, there is little clear distinction between consulted and informed.?

Once you’re clear about who is responsible and who is in ownership of all areas of the portfolio, set your retrospective cycle.? Retrospectives are the times when you check out how things are going, what’s complete, and whether you need to evolve your portfolio or ARO method to achieve your goals.?

Creating a strategic plan doesn’t have to be scary. With the right tools, you can create trust with your team and a plan that withstands the uncertainty of the future. Learning how to hold each other accountable and pivot your plan even just a little to accommodate changes will set you on the right course towards coordinated action and flexibility.?

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