Short-Term Business Planning

Preparing for ‘Business as Unusual’

Questions to Consider

What are the immediate priorities of your organization?
What are the urgent issues that need to be addressed this today? Tomorrow? This quarter?
Are your customers still there? What’s changed?
Who are your competitors now? Who is left?
How will staffing impact your ability to restart?

Where You Are Today

The landscape for businesses in Alberta has never been more challenging and uncertain. With commerce grinding to a halt, what we once thought we knew about our industries, suppliers, customers, and competitors has changed.

In the face of this challenge, businesses have been quick to implement changes in order to shore up cash and mitigate risks. But what’s next? As the pandemic continues to evolve, it may seem difficult to think about anything besides the daily fires that pop up and the immediate actions needed to put them out.

But as history has taught us, this crisis will eventually end, as all crises do. Then what?

Where You Need to Be Tomorrow

When the crisis has passed and your customers or clients are ready to ramp back up, you must be ready to respond quickly and effectively. Planning may seem like a pipedream at this point, but the reality is that thinking about what your new normal may be and preparing for how your business will remerge is a critical first step.

While most have some version of business plan to guide the organization annually, the likelihood that these plans will apply for the rest of 2020 is small. This is where short-term business planning becomes critical.

The uncertainty of this economic climate is proof enough that you need to design a flexible and nimble strategic plan to get through the coming months. You need processes that can help inform the new day-to-day priorities and drive clear and focused engagement across your team through a shared understanding of your updated direction and goals.

Short-Term Planning to Move Forward with Confidence

Planning within a 3- to 6-month time frame
Address urgent issues now and plan for ones down the road
Develop or review contingency and scenario planning
Shift and prioritize goals and objectives based on short-term needs
Review and address impact of budgetary and staffing changes on plan
Create engagement, understanding, and alignment among team members
Develop a focused and tactical plan, complete with action items and measurable goals to support planning and track progress

Accountability Sessions

Once the overall strategic plan has been set, Incite is available to meet with your leadership team to monitor progress around initiatives and ensure accountability. Incite will be responsible for: