What about the business plan template?

Gareth was serious about getting his whole department focussed and delivering.

“OK, so I’ve got the input from my team on the future of the area, so now I need to actually write the plan”.

“Yep” I replied.

“The Strategy area sends us a template each year, should I use that?”

“I’ll ask you this.  When was the last time you got out the most recent plan you wrote using that template?”

Gareth laughed.  “The day I sent it in.  So about 8 months ago.”

“Exactly.  But that’s not the Strategy area’s fault.  We often don’t understand the purpose of that template.  It’s to allow your CEO and anyone else to see all the work occurring in the business in a consistent format.  The Strategy guys help her with this by collating, making sure there’s a similar look and pointing out any inconsistencies.”

“So it’s not for figuring out the actual plan?”

“No.  That’s what whiteboards, walls and post-it notes are for.  The template is what you submit at the end for the purpose of corporate integration.”

“And what about the plan that my people see, what they actually use?”

“Well that needs to be something that they’ll actually see, and that they’ll actually use!”