The Thesis:

 

 

An annual plan,  organized on 1-page, will prove invaluable as your organization prepares for the coming year. This 1-page approach requires the leadership team to articulate the vital few efforts that will provide the highest impact for the resources applied. The pragmatic plant manager suggests this is feasible

 

 

This article will discuss the components of the 1-page annual plan, present a sample template  and provide methods for pulling it all together.

 

Simplicity:

 

Annual plans for a manufacturing facility can be very complex. There are many functions with competing goals and objectives - at least the perception the goals must compete with each other. If the operation is part of a larger corporation, the complexity is compounded. There is a financial plan, productivity goals, long-term capacity plans, material cost out initiatives, quality improvements, delivery requirements, safety objectives, training and development plans, scrap reduction initiatives, capital investments, repair and maintenance - the list goes on.

 

How could one make sense of all these activities, simply, so the organization clearly understands the priorities? The pragmatic plant manager presents the annual plan on just 1-page. This 1-page is the primary input to develop annual performance plans for each function and employee of the organization. This 2-step process assures limited resources are leveraged to maximize success.

 

If you read other articles in this Pragmatic Plant Manager series  you have already envisioned the format. You have correctly assumed alignment with the three pragmatic leadership principles.

 

The Priorities:

 

The pragmatic plant manager remains consistent with the three principles: PROTECT the team, the customer and the shareholder.

 

" best efforts, people charging this way and that way without guidance of principles, can do a lot of damage."  -  W. Edward Deming

 

He/she maintains focus on the 5-disciplines that respect these principles: People, Safety, Quality, Delivery and Cost. Presenting the annual plan in this context reinforces the pragmatic journey you are pursuing.

 

Time Horizon:

 

The pragmatic plant manager has found three time horizons to be appropriate. The first is a backward look at the prior year recognizing what has been accomplished. The challenge for the coming year is to maintain the momentum of these successes. This likely requires resources, or at least monitoring the new behaviors to assure they become habits in the coming year. Here you are looking to identify what must be SUSTAINED to assure another successful year.

 

The second is the coming year itself. To meet stated business objectives resources must be applied to define, analyze, plan and execute improvements prior to year-end. These are projects you will LAUNCH in the coming year to realize results and impact the fiscal year's performance.

 

Finally, it is likely resources of time, people and finances need to be applied in the coming year for longer term endeavors. The effort here is to DEVELOP the project plans and begin appropriate activities to assure results are realized in future years.

 

These three time horizons, Sustain-Launch-Develop, are near enough to the organization's frame of reference to maintain perspective and see the value of the efforts that must be applied.

 

 

The Template:

 

The 1-pager is a 3x5 matrix with the 5-disciplines defining the rows and the 3-time-horizons defining the columns. Within each “cell” there can be multiple projects.

 

The pragmatic plant manager’s 5-year experience with this planning method has found 3-5 projects per cell to be appropriate. 3 per cell would suggest 45 priorities (3*3*5), 5 per cell would suggest 75 (3*5*5).

 

Too many priorities suggests you do not have priorities.

 

The Plan:

 

The plan itself is 1-page. The pragmatic plant manager is encouraged to prepare the organization for the annual performance planning process by identifying the likely resources that will be called upon to participate in each activity. This is policy deployment 101. This is likely not new to anyone reading this article. It's the simplicity of the plan that differentiates this from past efforts.

 

A second matrix, listing the projects as rows and your personnel as columns has proven an effective tool to communicate individual's expected contributions. Simply fill the cell where a person and project intersect.

 

You could be a bit more detailed identifying primary and secondary resourcesRegardless of the method, this matrix clearly identifies expectations as your team prepares their goals and objectives for the coming year. It assure no one individual  is overwhelmed or underwhelmed.

 

This exercise may require the leadership team reconsider the priorities. This second matrix may highlight a lack of resources to accomplish all projects that have been prioritized.

 

 

The Method:

 

A pragmatic plant manager that has followed the 3-principles and 5-disciplines consistently for a few years finds this exercise routine. The projects are obvious and therefore collaboration is not critical. For those just starting their journey a facilitated brainstorm session may be warranted. If the journey is new, it is suggested the pragmatic plant manager craft the first draft and present it to the team for discussion. The following year would be a facilitated planning session, the 3rd year could be delegated to team members.

 

A Living Document:

 

Consider the plan a living document.  The priorities you establish are appropriate given the information you have available to you at the time of planning. As you enter the year, new or more current information must be considered. Do not abandon the plan, revise it. Communicate the revisions to the organization and assure goals and objectives are revised as well.

 

Efficiency is doing things right. Effectiveness is doing the right things.- Peter F. Drucker

 

Remaining disciplined with this 1-page format throughout the year, keeping it relevant to current information will assure your limited resources are used effectively.

 

Summary:

 

This policy deployment approach is not new. The simplicity of a 1-page document organized around the 5 pragmatic disciplines and the 3 time horizons likely is.  Try to organize your own thoughts in this format. If you cannot, you are not ready to expose the rest of your organization to this method. Read the other articles of the Pragmatic Series to better prepare yourself and your organization.