How to Be More Grateful By Changing One Word (Work Management Roundup)
Friday is finally here, and with just one week left before Christmas/Winter Holidays, we're bringing you the Work Management Roundup filled with articles not just regarding productivity and working smart, but also thankfulness and team-building. Thanks for coming back every week to read our roundup. It's our privilege to share our favorite links and advice with you. Enjoy! Show Your Appreciation by Changing Just One Word (James Clear): 'Tis the season to be thankful! A really short read by entrepreneur James Clear on how to exercise gratitude. It may just change your (work) life. Why I Don’t Want My Startup to ‘Go Viral’ (Observer): Laura Roeder shares a common problem she sees in startups: thinking that a viral loop can be planned. Doesn't work that way. You have to put in the hard work and find the right marketing to grow your user base. The Ultimate Guide To Winning Your White Elephant Gift Exchange Using Game Theory (FiveThirtyEight Life): Since it's holiday party time, chances are you're having some type of gift swap game. Thanks to Ben Casselman, here's a surefire decision-making system that will allow you to get (or steal) the best gift every time. 8 Team Building Exercises That Rock (Slideshare): And just in case you feel the gift swap is too outdated, you may want to peruse our Slideshare for 8 team games that you can play at the holiday party this year. How I Learned to Suck Less at GTD (Todoist): If you've ever tried the Getting Things Done productivity system and failed to maintain it, you may want to try these two tips that were written for the average disorganized Joe. 5 Ways to Winterize Your Cubicle (Payscale): It's cold, we know! (At least it is for us here in northern California!) But there are concrete steps you can take to make your work area much less wintery and much more comfy. Our favorite tip: sip hot water to keep you warm. More Work Management Reads Think About This: The Startup Framework to Validate Your Idea Before You Spend $1 (Medium) Information Overload Causes Fatigue Among Smartphone Users (Infographic)(Adweek) The 9 Email Mistakes That Make People Ignore Your Messages (Fast Company) Drinking Alcohol Will Not Help You Feel Warmer (Mythbusters) Go Try This: How to Work From Home Without Losing Your Mind (Entrepreneur) 9 Ways to Start a Conversation With Someone at a Networking Event (Hustle + Grind) 9 Ways to Make Sure You Run Effective Meetings (Infographic) (Wrike) How To Sleep Better: 16 Proven Tactics You Can Use Tonight (Mintfull) Browse The Work Management Roundup on Flipboard If you use Flipboard on your mobile device, then you can check out these links via The Work Management Roundup magazine. View my Flipboard Magazine.
Effective Brainstorming (Video)
Brainstorming project ideas can be challenging. Some ideas get lost due to disorganization or louder voices override quieter ones – as a result, brainstorming sessions can devolve into chaos. Check out our video on how to effectively organize and run your brainstorming sessions and maximize productivity.
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3 Proven Ways to Keep Your Customers Happy
How can you achieve customer service so fine that clients actually comment on it and spread the word about your company? Learn from the benchmark experiences of other companies, and benefit from the latest technologies to facilitate your work. So, what are client management tools? , a leading provider of Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), has been offering a variety of robust, cost-effective EDI solutions since 1991. Projects of 123 EDI are typically complex and require coordination between sales, accounting and programming departments to ensure the company meets and even exceeds customers' expectations. According to Bernie Murciano, President at 123 EDI, the following principles, supported by Wrike's features, help to achieve top-notch customer service: Attention to detail Being thorough in performing clients' requests, minding the details, no matter how small they are, is crucial on the road to customer satisfaction. But can you take the load of remembering too many things off your brain and still deliver everything and more to your clients? Yes, you can! Wrike project management software stores all the short-term and long-term commitments of 123 EDI, providing "a view of the big picture without losing sight of the many details" says Bernie. Thus, 123 EDI stays ahead of the game and ensures that even minor customer needs are not overlooked. "Positive customer feedback doubled in a couple of months after we adopted Wrike," shares Bernie. Seamless collaboration To achieve excellent customer service, a unified effort of all the organizational departments is required. 123 EDI chose Wrike for teamwork with its enhanced collaboration features: real-time discussions, handy ways to follow tasks, and a cross-project newsfeed to track progress with ease. What makes Wrike especially convenient for collaboration is easy data-sharing on project progress with everyone involved. If you wish to connect remote teams, external partners and clients to the project, you can easily do so – the number of external viewers is unlimited. Bernie confirms: "Wrike's user-friendly web application keeps everyone on the same page." Commitment to timelines When you deliver a project on time, customers appreciate it and come back for more. With Wrike's automatic reminders about tasks and updates, you never miss a deadline. Scheduling tasks is simple and can be done from list, table and timeline views in real time. Bernie Murciano values this ability "to more effectively prioritize tasks by revising due dates." Thus, 123 EDI quickly reacts to the ever-changing business conditions, so that no customer is disappointed by a missed deadline.
Say "No" to Downloading: Edit Your MS Office and Open Office Files Right from Your Tasks in Wrike
Goodbye to the habitual 5-step process of collaborative file editing! The tiresome “download-open-edit-save-upload” routine has had its day. Today, Wrike project management software breaks the last barrier to seamless document collaboration by letting you edit your MS Office and Open Office files online without downloading them. Removing the “download” and “upload” steps from the file editing procedure, Wrike makes it incredibly easy for you and your team to update files attached to tasks. You can see it for yourself! The next time you need to update an MS Office or Open Office file attached to a task in Wrike, just click on it, and it immediately opens without downloading to your computer. The file opens in the appropriate program, be it MS Office or Open Office, depending on which one you use. When you are done with editing, save changes and close your file. That’s it - the new version is automatically created! Your freshly updated document instantly appears right at the top of the file versions list. All the previous versions are also conveniently stored in Wrike, so you can easily track the history of changes by downloading a particular file version when needed. The new light-weight editing process saves you dozens of precious seconds and clicks and helps you overcome many challenges of unsynchronized communications in project management. Now all these pesky fails — like “I didn’t receive it” or “Which one is the final version?” — become obsolete. Your team members always stay on the same page as they effortlessly get access to the latest available file version. This fantastic new feature lets you combine the convenience of editing your documents in the familiar MS Office program with opportunities for storing and sharing your docs in the cloud. Whether you are in the office, on a business trip or working from home, your files are always at your fingertips. We literally fell in love with this new way of editing documents online, so we decided to make a grand tutorial video leading you through the main steps of updating documents. But this new feature is just so easy and intuitive that the video is only a couple of minutes long. Enjoy!
UK Businesses Are Struggling to Close Productivity Gap with Their European Counterparts
Over the last year, the number of IT tools and apps used at work has increased for nearly half of people working in offices across the UK, and the majority now juggle between three and six different types of desktop software, web applications, and mobile apps. This trend among UK workers however, falls well short of that seen among its Continental neighbours France and Germany, where adoption of digital tools has grown much more substantially. According to the Wrike Digital Work Report 2016, the number of apps being used in British businesses may be rising, but outdated work practices mean UK companies aren’t necessarily being more productive as a result. In addition, our report reveals that using more apps also correlates with greater stress level for nearly 70% of respondents. Organizations need to start paying attention to where their productivity is dipping, and using an operation efficiency formula to investigate how it can be improved. Digital working - blessing or curse? While half the UK respondents in the survey say apps and other IT tools help in performing tasks by making work easier and more efficient, in France and Germany these perceived benefits were much higher (77% and 64% respectively), perhaps reflecting their more enthusiastic uptake for IT solutions. Similarly, respondents across all three countries said that digital tools made it easier to work remotely and made access and sharing of information more reliable. However, for over a fifth of UK workers (22%), apps were said to hinder or be detrimental in helping perform work tasks. Overall, productivity levels among French and German workers has risen over the past year (by 53% and 47% respectively), compared with just 26% among UK workers. The fact that app adoption levels have not been so prolific and that the UK appears to lag behind the times when it comes to new ways of digital working might go some way towards explaining this disparity between rising productivity levels: Collaboration tools – which make it easier to work on projects together and have central access to information – are only used by 15% in the UK, compared to nearly a quarter in France (24%). Conferencing is used by 17% in the UK, but nearly three in ten in top-ranked Germany (28%). There is a similar picture for project management software (UK 17%, France 28%, Germany 25%.) Email is the biggest productivity zapper While email is still the most widely used IT tool by far, over a third of UK respondents say email curbed their productivity (37%). Too many ineffective meetings, having too many tasks to juggle and prioritise, and too much admin work were next in line as the major culprits affecting productivity. This survey shows how reliant the modern workplace has become on technology to manage everyday tasks, but also how much room for improvement there is in terms of how we use that technology to best effect. Our firm belief is that technology can only ever be part of the solution. Managers, especially in the UK, need to make sure their businesses are using the right tools for the job to help employees manage their tasks productively, without inadvertently adding unnecessary workload or stress. If these tools are used properly, they should make people more efficient; allowing them to do a better job, and ultimately help them feel confident in the knowledge that they can properly ‘switch off’ knowing nothing will fall between the cracks. The survey was conducted by OnePoll in August 2016 among 3,000 office workers, with 1,000 respondents each in the UK, France, and Germany.
How to Throw a Killer Office Holiday Party Your Team Will Love
Holding an office holiday party? You don’t need a huge budget or lavish event to make your team feel special! All you need are a few creative ideas. Here are our tips for throwing a holiday bash your team will rave about all year long.
5 Virtual Documentation Mistakes You're Making
Your bank is trying to get you to do it. And so is your insurance company. It sometimes feels like the whole world is trying to save trees (a good thing) and trying to get you more organized by making documentation virtual. But virtual documents are no more helpful than packets of real paper if you don't do it right — and can be one of the pros and cons of working from home. Here are 5 mistakes that many people make with virtual documentation and how to fix them by storing documents the 2014 way. Mistake 1: Not storing documents in the cloud What happens when documents don't live in the cloud? They die with old hard drives. They're accidentally deleted from personal computers. You can't access them once you leave the office. If you save work-related documents in a cloud software such as Google Drive, Dropbox, or Box then your important documents won't be dependent on the existence of your computer. If your hard drive crashes, your documents live on. If you leave the office but suddenly need to look at that customer-related file, you can check it from your phone. Putting documents in the cloud means your work belongs to you, not to your computer. Cloud Storage Suggestions: Google Drive, Dropbox, Box Mistake 2: Exchanging documents through email Manually attaching a document to an email leads to a host of problems: the file size is too large, the email gets lost in the recipient's inbox, old file versions can't be deleted out of inboxes and people still reference them after they're outdated. This tip goes hand-in-hand with keeping files in the cloud. Sharing documents online is easier than ever, so there is no reason to resort to email exchanges. Instead, give your colleagues links to easily-updated, cloud-hosted files and avoid all those email challenges. Mistake 3: No standard file organization methods Just because your documentation is virtual doesn't mean you stop worrying about where your files are stored. Virtual documents are just as easily lost as slips of paper. Virtual files are slightly easier to find if you're willing to put in the search-and-rescue work, but you can prevent wasting that time altogether with a little bit of planning. Set up a logical folder structure to store documents (e.g. a "Customer-facing" folder split into subfolders for specific types of files), and make sure everyone knows how to navigate them. If only one person understands how to document everything correctly, files will still get lost. Creating a standard method of organizing files — and teaching everyone those standards — means you won't worry about losing your customer NDAs. Software Suggestion: cloud project management solutions with file attachment capabilities help you store and organize your files into project folders Mistake 4: Process documents aren't immediately updated If you're part of a company that doesn't document processes, this point may not apply. But for companies that document workflow and development processes, failing to properly implement change management can trip you up. When processes change, updating the relevant documents must happen concurrently. People responsible for maintaining documents should be involved with process update meetings from day one. As soon as final decisions are made, those documents need to reflect the new changes before the decision is officially rolled out to the company. Mistake 5: Old versions of documents aren't deleted Are you a file packrat? When documents become outdated, they either need to be replaced or deleted completely. Leaving old documents in your cloud storage or project management tool creates room for mistakes. People will inevitably reference old versions of your file and make mistakes based on outdated knowledge. If you need to be able to reference old versions, collaboration software can track document changes or allow you to version your documents. You'll be able to keep previous versions around for reference and simultaneously understand which file is the most recent. Use cloud file-storage or project management storage for better virtual documentation What other virtual documentation mistakes has your team made, and how did you fix them? Teach everyone a new thing or two in the comments.
How to Avoid Poor Communication Skills at Work
Poor communication skills in the workplace often lead to missed project deadlines, unproductive teams, and client complaints. In this article, we’re giving you a cheat sheet you can use to identify and avoid poor communication skills at work. Help both your teams and your stakeholders succeed with these practical solutions to common miscommunications outlined below. Afterward, keep reading to learn more about how Wrike’s project management tool makes staying on top of communication effortless. What is miscommunication? Miscommunication is a type of communication breakdown that occurs when one party can't provide the proper information to another party for any number of reasons. It’s not always obvious when a miscommunication occurs. Sometimes the realization happens in the moment, so the person can correct themselves. But more often than not, one or both parties don’t realize the error until after something has gone wrong. What are the different types of miscommunication? Mistakes: Think typos, incorrect information, or simply forgetting to CC another team member on an important message. Bad writing: Overly verbose messages and complex words or phrases often create more problems than they solve. Time changes: Employees in different time zones need clarity around deadlines and meeting scheduling that other teams normally wouldn’t. Cultural differences: One person’s email may seem professional and direct to someone from one culture, yet cold and rude to someone from another. Language barriers: If you have native speakers and non-native speakers working together, chances are there will be a mistranslation from time to time. Unspoken expectations: Lack of clear vision or communication of everyone’s responsibilities can lead to finger-pointing down the line. Over- or under-managing: Leaving employees to fend for themselves and micromanaging their every move are both counterproductive to healthy communication. Lack of transparency: Giving team members access to big-picture progress reports and related data is important to effective communication in project management. Assumptions: Even small assumptions, such as thinking an employee will definitely be present and on the clock next week, can cause common project management challenges once you find out you’ve planned a major deadline on the same day as their PTO. Workplace customs: For example, in some offices, the longtime employees know that arriving to a meeting five minutes early is expected, while others may be used to more lax timing. What are the common causes of poor communication? From the top down, good communication is key to attracting and keeping good employees. Unfortunately, many leaders are not as good at communicating as they should be. The good news is that managers can easily adjust their actions to better align with their goals by following this simple communication red flag checklist: Ignoring interpersonal conflicts Whether it’s an office romance turned sour or an environment in which employees simply don’t like one another, interpersonal communication plays a large role in project success. Even if your team doesn’t have natural chemistry, it’s leadership's job to help them get along. Not sharing the big picture It's powerful for businesses to have goals and objectives, as they help employees focus on achieving desirable results. The issue is that many organizations fail to provide clear and consistent direction to their employees. Forgetting to give praise and constructive criticism Feedback is often provided by a project manager to help people understand their performance. It provides vital information to make important business decisions in the future. Top performers regularly utilize feedback to improve their work performance. Point out good behaviors to employees too so that those actions become habits for them in the future. Not prioritizing employee morale When employees lose interest in their work, they are often considered demoralized. This can lead to an employee becoming irritable and unproductive, which can affect companywide performance. Restoring employee morale involves reevaluating the culture and thinking about how to create a conducive environment for employees to thrive. Failing to acknowledge differences As more people choose to work in diverse environments, this has raised the potential for communication issues. For instance, one person from a certain background may relay a message differently to another person from a different background. HR training and mediation are key for solving these miscommunications before they get out of hand. What are the consequences of a lack of communication in the workplace? The consequences of a lack of communication in the workplace are challenging to measure because there are lots of direct and indirect ways it will impact teams. Circumstances matter too. But in general, what we know for sure is that poor communication skills at work are never positive. According to USA Today, “28% of employees cite poor communication as the reason for not being able to deliver work on time”. Imagine creating the perfect project plan, avoiding and minimizing roadblocks, only to discover completely preventable issues such as miscommunication have derailed your team. Removing the possibility of poor communication from the equation improves project delivery, but it also makes dealing with those other issues so much simpler. Another study by SHRM pointed out that miscommunication within projects was one of the most costly mistakes a business can make. Their research showed “the average loss per company of $62.4 million per year because of inadequate communication to and between employees”. There may already be examples in your projects of this happening on a small scale. Issues such as incorrect orders, waiting around for other people to make decisions, and even missing a single client email can cost hundreds of dollars for the smallest of businesses. If there’s an issue with your profits, chances are it can be traced back to poor communication in some form or another. And last but not least, one of the biggest consequences of a lack of communication in the workplace is the destruction of employee morale. A Gallup Journal article pointed out that growth and revenue largely depend on communication between companies and their employees. In fact, “74% of employees have the feeling they’re missing out on company news because the internal communication department is non-existent or doing a poor job.” And when employees feel disconnected from a company’s purpose, they are often disengaged, unproductive, and unmotivated. Examples of poor communication in the workplace Poor communication planning Bad business communication occurs when a company doesn't have a system in place to deal with incoming orders. Without communication with the customers, the company is likely to lose business. One-way streets A one-way street in this context is when a member of the team only contacts their business associates when they need a favor or some ideas. This behavior undermines their communication skills and breeds distrust or resentment among the rest of the group. Cold shoulders A cold shoulder is the equivalent of ghosting someone in the workplace. It typically looks like a person intentionally or unexpectedly declining to respond to calls or emails sent by another team member, manager, client, or stakeholder. Passive-aggressiveness Team members who are passive-aggressive deliberately avoid interacting with their co-workers. This behavior can be caused by intentionally avoiding a co-worker or making off-color remarks that undercut someone else’s efforts. Outright aggression Intimidation tactics can create a toxic work environment. Examples include ultimatums, placing blame on others, and threats to an employee’s financial livelihood. Not only is this unethical, but it also leads to high turnover rates. Placing blame on others A failure to accept responsibility for one's actions shows a lack of responsibility. Believing that others are responsible for their actions shows a lack of compassion and understanding. Neither is productive in the workplace. Poor listening skills Leaders and employees who fail to listen to others are not only disconnected from their conversations but are also engaging in poor communications. In general, these behaviors can have a negative effect on how people feel about their colleagues and team leaders. While many of these scenarios aren’t too difficult to avoid, they can add up over time. Some of these actions may not be considered offensive or aggressive on their own. But letting them pile up can create hostility among collaborators over time. Even if you can’t micromanage every email, text, and call, you can put tools in place that make communication streamlined and transparent. How to avoid miscommunication in project management Agile development is a favorite among modern software-development teams that want to avoid miscommunication altogether while managing multiple projects. Agile tools such as Wrike help groups work together seamlessly and deliver results faster than those that follow other methodologies. One of the ways it does that is through clear project planning. Wrike enables you to structure and manage your work in Agile using visual data representations such as graphs and charts. Tools like ours will help you prioritize your backlog and set up sprints, manage your meetings, and report on progress. This allows individual users to organize their own personal workflows and prioritize their backlog for sprints ahead of time. Wrike also simplifies the process of updating team members. Its activity stream offers a live feed that shows all project updates. Other features such as automated notifications make keeping up with project developments seamless. Want to improve communication between clients and your team? Wrike’s work-intake forms are designed to help teams organize and manage incoming requests. They also help teams plan and collaborate on shared projects, finding opportunities for overlap whenever possible to save on resources. When it comes to getting work done, Wrike makes it possible for teams to stay organized. Individuals can update their workflows and share them with others. Doing this makes it easy for management to keep track of progress across the entire team. It also clears up any confusion around roadblocks, project updates, and the occasional PTO. Wrike also helps teams communicate with stakeholders. For example, users can submit bug reports to external stakeholders who can help solve the problems. Management can adjust settings into project plans so that partners have a peek into progress without seeing any information that is too sensitive. Even if you only use Wrike’s predefined workflows and dashboards that help monitor your progress, it’s a lot easier to avoid poor communication at work when you use our tool. Ready to streamline operations and improve productivity teamwide? Start your free two-week trial of Wrike today.
Announcing the Winners of Our Awkward Collaboration Caption Contest
You commented, and we noticed! Over the past couple of weeks, we've posted photos of awkward collaboration moments on social media and asked you to fill in the captions. We went through all the submissions and selected the funniest, most outlandish, and cleverest captions for each photo. Congrats to all the winners!
Can't We All Just Get Along? How to Collaborate with Relatives on Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is that time when families come together to give thanks for all the good things that happened throughout the year. There's turkey, conversations, overflowing food, and, boy, can there be drama. For many of us, it seems like the minute you need to collaborate with your relatives on a project as major as Thanksgiving dinner, friction appears. So how do you deal with this? How do we all just GET ALONG? We previously posted about how to project manage Thanksgiving dinner, so check that out first for some solid tips on making sure the dinner is successful and pleases all stakeholders. What we want to underscore however, is that there are concrete ways to ensure smooth collaboration, even among the prickliest of in-laws. Our tried-and-tested tips: 1. Over Communicate Details and Expectations. Communicate the important dates and times: which days and what times people are arriving, what time you're serving the food on the day itself, etc. Include your expectations for the type of menu you want to serve. But remember, make sure you communicate that this is a suggestion only. Because if you want to avoid friction you need to pay attention to tip #2. 2. Don't Micromanage! Collaboration is about each person bringing in their ideas and contributing to a whole. This means: allow your collaborators to chime in with their ideas for food, decor, music, whatever else you need. Don't dictate what they bring. Allow it to come from them. Even if it doesn't fit with your idyllic vision (e.g. someone just volunteered to bring chicken curry for a themed Italian dinner), don't shut them down. If they're dead set on bringing it, you'll only create ill will by blocking them. Simply remind them about the suggested theme, but in the end, let them bring what they want. Hold on. Are you frothing at the mouth already because your vision for a perfectly themed dinner won't be fully realized? Then you need #3. 3. Accept the Chaos Gracefully. Thanksgiving dinners will always generate a small percentage of havoc. It's part and parcel of the family experience, of people living far apart coming together. People might bring weird desserts. In-laws may make comments about your shabby decor. Or about one another's inferior cooking techniques. Or about Aunt Emma's affair. Smile! Be gracious! And if needed, there's a bottle of Chardonnay in the back of the cabinet that you can use to soothe your nerves. 4. Look at the Silver Lining. In the end, it all boils down to how you choose to perceive the final product. You have a home full of loving (though maybe sometimes exasperating) people gathered about you, and a feast that would feed several starving nations twice over. Even if it doesn't go according to the plans in your head, you've come up with a product (the dinner, the experience) that still somehow pleases its intended audience (your family, loved ones, in-laws, out-laws). And THAT, my dear friends and blog readers, is what it's all about. Cheers, and happy Thanksgiving! IMAGE CREDITS: Kenny Louie on Flickr. Some rights reserved.
The Ultimate Guide to Creating a Strategic Annual Plan
The first step to achieving goals is to come up with an annual plan. A strategic annual plan makes it easier for managers, team leaders, and company owners to execute their vision for growth. Not only does creating an annual plan give you time to reflect on past accomplishments, but it’s also a great way to make ideas actionable. Keep reading to learn more about what annual planning is and how you can create one that has a significant impact on your organization. What is an annual plan? An annual business plan is a set of goals and milestones that guide a company's operations for the year ahead. It helps guide employees and investors in the right direction. For many people, this year's new year begins with a review of their previous year. They then set goals and make plans for the coming year. Annual planning is a combination of two other important elements: a business plan and an annual plan. A business plan is a document that a company or organization uses to set goals and improve performance. It's similar to a belt-tightening exercise. An annual plan is a strategy that a company uses to set goals and expectations for the coming year. It helps employees visualize where they are headed and how they can get there. The annual plan also sets out a company's long-term goals and helps guide how it will reach these targets. An annual business plan helps workers set goals and holds them accountable for achieving those goals for the upcoming 12 months. Then, there’s strategic planning. A strategic planning process helps an organization identify its mission, vision, and strategic goals. The strategic plan combined with the annual business plan are two key components of a successful strategy. The former provides a framework for the company's goals and intentions, while the latter provides the necessary tools and processes to execute those goals. Overview of a strategic annual plan Here is what is typically included in a strategic annual plan: Analysis of past performance. Reviewing your goals can help you identify areas where you can improve and become more productive. Budget estimations. Financial projections are often included in budget planning. They help you plan for the coming year and identify the right course of action for your projects. A clear vision statement. Expectations must be clearly stated, as well as responsibilities and clear OKRs. Having these elements in place can help keep teams on track and motivated. SMART goals. Set specific, measurable goals and deadlines for your company. This will help you measure how far you've come in terms of meeting the key results. Buffer room. A well-written annual plan should include space for emergencies as well. Having a contingency plan can help avoid unexpected expenses. In a nutshell: the annual plan is a strategy used to plan and execute the organization's goals and objectives. It is usually composed of three phases which are strategy, projects, and timing. The importance of an annual plan Annual planning helps define what's important to achieving goals and driving performance. An annual plan also helps keep the workforce united and can be used to motivate and retain employees. A well-written annual plan can help you set the direction for your company while providing the team with a sense of direction. Examples of annual strategic planning Here are some ideas to get you started with your own strategic annual plan: 1. Coca Cola HBC 2020 Integrated Annual Plan Coca-Cola's 246-page report details all aspects of their business. They start by celebrating their wins with statistics. They also include photos of actual customers and partners. Their CEO writes a letter to their stakeholders sharing their biggest accomplishments over the past year. Then they go through their vision. Throughout the strategy, you can see that they are using the pillar method for goal planning. Key areas of focus include leveraging existing business, continuing to win the beverage marketplace, making competitive investments, focusing on employee growth, and expanding their licensing. The overall report is designed well and is reminiscent of a well-crafted white paper. Because the CEO's letter was addressed specifically to stakeholders, we know that this is a tool for increasing investment as well as project planning. Because of this, a lot of the content within it answers the question, “why should I invest in you?” Throughout the rest of the annual plan, each pillar gets its own section. At the top of each section, there is a list of accomplishments from the past year and priorities for the coming year. They also summarize risks, stakeholders, and KPIs. This makes the packet easy to skim but also easy to remember. 2. pep+ (PepsiCo Positive) PepsiCo recently announced that their new 2022 initiative will revolve around “the planet and people.” While this is a long-term process for the brand, the launch will mark the core of their strategic annual plan for the foreseeable future. Their keywords include positivity (hence the “+”), sustainability, and “a fundamental transformation of what we do and how we do it.” On their dedicated landing page, readers can dig deeper into their annual plan. Also well designed, this presentation shows what the future looks like for PepsiCo through refreshed branding and imagery. Symbols such as smiling farmers and healthy, green fields drive the message home. To achieve these new goals, the company will focus on supply chains, inspiring consumers, and driving sustainable change among all its product lines. They link several documents throughout the report, including a comprehensive list of goals which is a great example for your own annual plan template inspiration. This three-page chart names pillars on the left-hand side and targets or actions with due dates on the right. If their goals have numerical metrics, they include data from past years, along with key benchmarks they hope to reach by the end of the year or in the future. Otherwise, their goals are measured in actions. For example, as part of their sustainability pillar, they plan to “develop and deploy disruptive sustainable packaging materials and new models for convenient foods and beverages.” This task is specific and clear, despite the fact that it’s not as quantifiable as some of their other goals. 3. Nestlé Global’s Annual Report Their annual plan is not public but they have shared an annual report on past wins from 2020. In addition to a financial review, Nestlé also shares a new strategy. Starting with important facts and figures the company highlights statistics from organic sales growth and more. They also visualize data about which types of products are selling most and where in the world the company has grown over the past year. As Coca-Cola did, Nestlé also includes a letter to shareholders. They discuss ways in which they plan to grow in the coming year. This includes what product areas they will invest more in and where they will pause or halt efforts. They also emphasize a new product area which will be the focus moving forward in the short term. In this section, Nestlé touches on long-term strategies and how these short-term goals will affect them. In general, their annual report focuses on the word innovation. It mostly has to do with developing new products and revamping old ones. Like PepsiCo, they are using sustainability as a pillar as well as e-commerce. The report goes on to elaborate on each strategy individually. Nestlé lists action steps and provides clear evidence as to why each is important. They also highlight statistics for growth in key areas and name even bigger numbers for where they hope to be in a year. Throughout the report, they include images from ad campaigns that demonstrate the change they wish to continue implementing as part of their marketing plan. Again, branding imagery makes a big difference when creating your own strategic annual plan. It sets the tone for what's written on the page and can help visual learners better understand what you're going for at a glance. Although Nestle's strategic annual plan is designed more like a white paper than a chart, this layout is the most magazine-like by far. It serves as a great example of how you can organize ideas on the page in a way that is interesting and attention-grabbing. One of the most notable aspects of their annual plan is the Materiality Matrix. They use this chart to visualize key areas of interest and prioritize them according to stakeholder values. Within each box, they’ve listed bullet points of business areas this value will impact. It’s a great method for summarizing goals that cover a wide variety of departments and business engagements. Understanding strategic planning best practices Everyone has their own way of thinking about annual plans. Regardless of what you’re trying to achieve, the following strategic planning best practices will help you get there: 1. Use SMART goals A variety of SMART goals are commonly used to help guide and motivate people. They help set realistic benchmarks and are designed to help teams achieve success. It will also help you plan for the ups and downs of your business. To reach your goals, divide them up into smaller goals and set specific deadlines. These goals will help you measure how successful you are at reaching them. 2. Include contingencies For example, having an emergency financial reservoir is a good idea to prevent a potential financial disaster. It can help your company navigate slower seasons while still sticking to your annual plan. 3. Build in flexibility Even minor shifts in external factors can significantly impact on how effective you are at creating and implementing your strategic plan. Never forget that, while we are creating our annual plans in a vacuum, the world will undoubtedly go through more changes this coming year. Even though we can’t predict the future, we can make our plans foolproof by being flexible now. What is an annual plan template? An annual plan template is a document or tool that can be utilized repeatedly to outline the various stages involved in creating an annual plan. Its purpose is to provide a clear understanding of the annual planning process by specifying the actions to be taken and the timeline to follow in order to develop an effective business plan. By utilizing the annual planning template, individuals or organizations can ensure that they have a systematic approach to reaching specific goals, and can enhance the quality of their business plans. Using Wrike to assist with an annual plan template Wrike’s project management software can help you keep track of all your company-related information in one place. It can also streamline your work and help you stay on track. It can also help you keep track of your annual plans and develop a strong strategy. Start by using last year as a reference. By understanding the issues that affected the previous year, a company can improve its performance in the following year. Draw reports of time spent per project and see where your team went over or underestimated. Then look at which tasks tend to drain resources the most. Determine whether or not the ROI is worth it moving forward. Next, set realistic goals. Reflect on last year's statistics from Wrike Reports and put together a plan with a realistic metric for improvement. After, break down big plans into individual steps. Start by focusing on the business goals of the company then outline your key objectives that align with those. Make sure that everyone knows who is responsible for executing and approving each task. Draft a Gantt chart that includes each step broken down into relevant tasks. Remember to add deadlines to every action to keep teammates accountable and keep to realistic deadlines. Then, delegate tasks according to strengths and weaknesses. Use project reporting and individual job performance to assess team members. You may find that those with specialized talent are being tasked with unskilled work when they could help solve major problems elsewhere. Don’t forget to involve the whole team. Start early, plan ahead, and keep everyone involved in the process. Doing so will make it easier to overcome obstacles once the projects are underway. Additionally, ask them for direct feedback on your ideas for the next year. You will learn from the front line what obstacles they may be facing that will affect the timeline. Another bonus of getting your team involved is that it creates more transparency in the workplace. Using Wrike as a part of the process is not only helpful, but the team also keeps learning how to use the system more efficiently as they go. Having a work management platform that enables you to plan and execute annual plans is a good idea. Plus, it's also a good idea to use tools that allow you to collaborate and manage complex processes. Create an effective annual plan today with Wrike’s free trial.
E-mail Is Dead…Long Live E-mail! from Enterprise2Open
My session was not meant to be just a regular speech. I wanted to create a discussion and share the stage with other E2Open participants. That is why many of the slides in the presentation contain questions to the audience. Email Is Dead... Long Live Email! from Wrike I thought it would be a good thing to continue this discussion here, in this blog. Please tell me what you think about the role of email in the day-to-day life of business users. Do you think email should be merely replaced by the new tools? Is there an opportunity to leverage email and integrate it with the Enterprise 2.0 applications?