Page 16 - Growth and Contingency Planning Toolkit

GROWTH & CONTINGENCY PLANNING
4. Succession Planning:
What if your manager or an executive left suddenly? Is your organization prepared to replace
a major player on your team? While “missing” them is one thing, making sure your organization
continues to grow beyond their departure is crucial to your overall success. To make sure you
don’t skip more than a beat, you need to beef up your succession planning process.
Succession planning, however, needs to be more than just naming a successor for major com-
pany positions. A strong succession plan creates opportunities for both managers and succession
candidates.
With a developed successor in place, managers are primed to move into new positions and pursue
opportunities when those arise as well. Therefore, succession candidates must be groomed,
developed and prepared to step into a new role when the opportunity arises so that the multi-
shift can happen simultaneously as needed (not to put off until candidates are “ready”). You won’t
experience that lag time trying to figure out who can take over their responsibilities and continue
on your path to growth without wasting time or additional resources.
The Planning Process—Non-Negotiable to Long-
term Success
Whether or not you utilize an open-book management style at your company, implementing a
strong and consistent process for financial, strategic, contingency and succession planning will cre-
ate a strong foundation for your business as well as set your company up for sustainable business
success. These four key planning processes mean to set your organization up for high levels of
growth and success, a goal that just about every business has in common.
16 2020 The Great Game of Business, Inc. All rights reserved. All material protected by U.S. copyright
law and may not be reproduced or distributed without express written permission. law and may not be reproduced or distributed without express written permission.
GROWTH & CONTINGENCY PLANNING
Expect the Unexpected
CONTINGENCY PLANNING
Plan A
A plan devised for an outcome other than
Plan B the usual (expected) plan. It is often for risk
management when an exceptional risk that,
though unlikely, would have catastrophic
consequences.
Too many organizations get into trouble because they don’t have a proper planning structure.
Even companies with a planning rhythm often only plan for what they expect to happen and the
business they expect to deliver. In our experience, life (and business) is “like a box of chocolates”,
you really can’t be sure what you’re going to get next!
So, how do you prepare for the unexpected? What’s your backup plan?
In business, you need to prepare for surprises in the marketplace by having a robust, proactive,
and continuous contingency planning process. By business contingency planning, we mean a
proactive process of planning for both the short-term and long-term security of your company.
Our definition of contingency is a product or service that has already been researched, developed,
and cost-justified, and can be activated on very short notice. It’s a key part of your sales planning
process.
So, what would you do if 10% to 20% of your revenue suddenly disappeared at this moment?
Would you be ready to activate contingencies—a plan B?
Benefits of Controlling Sales with Contingency Planning:
In a perfect world, your sales or revenue line wouldn’t fluctuate; it would grow consistently and
evenly according to plan. But we’ve rarely found that to be the reality in the organizations we’ve
worked with. Most sales or revenue lines resemble roller coaster rides, caused by unexpected can-
celed orders, customers going out of business, new competitors starting up, difficulties in meeting
orders, etc. In order to manage your business successfully, you need to have as much control over
your sales line as possible. Here are the benefits you can see from controlling sales and actively
planning with contingencies:
2020 The Great Game of Business, Inc. All rights reserved. All material protected by U.S. copyright 17