Business Planning Series and How to Use it For a Project

September 8, 2017

There are many aspects to business, and projects certainly are one of them that contribute to company innovation and success. Yet many times the implementation of a project falls short because of poor business planning. You know the saying:

“Failing to plan is a plan to fail.” Benjamin Franklin

Real World Example

G-pix International was rolling out a new product in South America at the start of the new year. In the midst of the Thanksgiving holiday, two of their top team contributors, including the team lead, left the company leaving a huge hole in the delivery team. G-pix needed all hands on deck in order to meet their launch date and set themselves up for the sales goals for the new year. To characterize the situation as chaotic would be kind.

Although they had four additional staff members at their disposal, these additional team members spent the majority of their time idle and looking for direction. There was no documented project plan to help the new team members understand what success looked like, what objectives they could contribute to, what strategies were being used, nor what action plans had yet to be completed. Everyone appeared to be just running as fast as possible towards what they thought the end goal would be. Still wonder why business planning is necessary for a project?

Business Planning

To complete your business planning for your project, I like to use The One Page Business Plan®. Here’s what an example might look like. Your Vision statement would most likely come from an Objective of the organization or your department.

Vision: Product X is fully marketed online with a social media plan by March 10, 2018.

Mission: Increase online presence and sales.

Objectives:

Increase visits to product website from 1,000 to 2,000/month by 7/2/17.
Increase online conversion rate from 30 to 40% by 10/1/17.
Operate within budget of $50,000 through 2017.

Strategies:

Utilize SEO expert to maximize website, blogs and social media.
Utilize retargeting and real-time bidding, FB, LI, blogs, and e-newsletters.

Action Plans:

Establish Project team by 2/10/17.
Identify SEO expert consultant by 2/30 and in contract by 3/10/17.
Complete initial assessment by 3/30/17.
Review proposal and acceptance by 4/13/17.
Implement testing by 4/15/17.
Document and implement final actions by 5/1/17.

Conclusions

Sharing a plan such as this with any new team member gives them a clear picture of the project and how they can contribute. It also allows you to manage the project easily through established timelines. This project should go off without a hitch and make the team all look like shining stars! Now the question becomes, why don’t you have a plan for every single one of your projects?

If you are ready to’ dive all in’, of course buy the workbook here or send me an email at lzettler@coreimpactcoaching.com to inquire about private planning sessions or sessions for your team. Otherwise, there is one more post coming for Tips for Business, Department and Project Success!