Creating a cross line-of-business planning framework

Situation: 

An internal team reorganisation in a global bank gave an opportunity to re-evaluate annual and day-to-day planning processes with the aim of reducing duplication of activities, better serving the needs of stakeholders and justifying projects by business relevance.

Approach: 

Interviews with key staff were carried out to understand the current processes and requirements for planning, project prioritisation and its fit to strategic goals. Also identifying where duplication, lack of clarity and unfocused briefs have led to wasted time and budget. Our analysis led to the creation of a set of planning tools that provide both long and short term planning processes, as well as project justification tools to evaluate the business worth and urgency of each request.

Outcome: 

The team implemented the tools and created a proactive planning structure closely linked to business strategy. The 2 year long term plan created a greater sense of team stability and credibility within the organisation. Time and resources were used more efficiently and to greater effect and rolling the tools out across the international structure consolidated its consistent use.