It’s time to put your team at the heart of strategic planning 

As the end of the Financial Year rapidly approaches, it’s a good reminder to take a step back and look at the progress and success of your team. Regardless of whether your organisation sets its clock by the Financial Year or a different schedule, this halfway point through the calendar year is a great marker for some change. 

Something that many organisations do at this time is engage in strategic planning for the new financial year, or even the second half of the calendar year. 

How do you engage your team in strategic planning? 

Planning usually happens in a few different ways. Whether directives come from the top down or there are overarching company objectives that are planned towards, there’s often a common theme between these processes where leaders decide to come up with plans themselves, without truly engaging their team in the process of brainstorming, idea sharing and modelling options. 

This kind of planning fails to acknowledge teams and draw from their valuable ‘on-the-ground’ knowledge. and This approach can leave teams feeling as though they haven’t been a part of the process at all. When this happens, difficulties can arise: 

• Teams can lack enthusiasm and motivation to get behind the plan. Selling it into the team and down through the organisation can become harder.

• It can become difficult to hold individuals accountable to the milestones and goals associated with the plan. Team members may have an attitude of ‘I wasn’t involved in this plan, so why should I be held accountable to these goals?’.

• If there are problems along the way as a strategic plan is being implemented , it can be easier for teams to point fingers and blame leaders, rather than there being a natural ‘sharing of the load’. Teams can learn a lot from failure and bumps in the road, but it is more effective if the failure is taken on as a team, rather than as individuals.

• If a plan is successful, leaders may selfishly celebrate the success themselves, patting themselves on the back without sharing the celebration with the team. 

The solution is simple – strategic planning must be undertaken with input from teams at multiple points. Without their knowledge and input, leaders run the risk of creating plans that do not resonate with the team and make success more difficult to achieve. 

Remote work is no barrier to collaboration 

It’s all too common to hear leaders citing remote working arrangements as a limitation to collaborating whilst planning. Instead, managers need to be using the technology at hand to stay creative to ensure they include their whole team, whether they are physically in the office or working remotely. 

It’s time for all leaders to bring their team along on the planning process to ensure they get powerful insights and can create goals that drive the whole team to success. 

Has the end of the Financial Year got you thinking about planning? People Make the Difference can help you bring your team along in the process. To find out more, visit www.pmtd.com.au or call us on 0412 333 415. Try our online leadership training videos – $99 for complete access. Great value if you’re committed to growing your leadership potential.