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A client recently asked me, “How should I be approaching strategic annual or quarterly planning differently now that AI is in the mix?”
Developing a strong annual plan that the team is fully aligned on and accountable to is critical for a successful year. AI, when used strategically, should help you enhance the planning process and make it easier—and more enjoyable!
Think of AI as one of your highly-paid executives, able to share thought-provoking insights and suggestions. At the same time, be careful not to abdicate the entire planning process to AI, or trust it to make critical decisions for you. That would be like asking one of your executives to build the plan for everyone without their input. This takes ownership of the plan away from the rest of the team, radically decreases buy-in, and most likely sets you up for failure.
At Rhythm Systems, we have given AI a seat at the table. Rhythm Intelligence now takes your strategy and execution history into account, then recommends priorities for you to review, discuss, debate, and decide on. It can even generate a four-quarter “flyover” of priorities aligned to annual initiatives so that you can visualize the entire year’s journey.
Incorporating AI into planning is exciting, but it can feel overwhelming. Here is a five step process that remains a proven method for creating a winning plan—now with AI incorporated at the appropriate steps and in the most strategic ways. Let AI streamline your process and spark quality conversations that inspire and excite your team as you craft the plan together.
5 Steps to Build a Winning Strategic Plan - with Help from Rhythm Intelligence
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Reflect on Your Current Strategy & Check in on Progress
Where is the company headed five years from now? Ten years? Fifteen?
During your annual planning meeting, revisit your company’s BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goal) and make sure it still rings true. Most BHAGs have a financial element, but they also have an inspirational, purpose-filled element that unites your team. Here are a few examples:
- Become the #1 workflow automation platform for small businesses, achieving $150M in annual revenue while improving efficiency for 75,000 customers.
- Expand to serve 5 million patients worldwide and cut the cost of accessible healthcare by 30% through technology-enabled care.
- Achieve 40% year-over-year growth while helping 100,000 underserved students gain job-ready skills through free digital education.
Struggling to get the wording right? Ask Rhythm Intelligence (RI) to come up with a few suggestions based on your ideas. Choose what you like and edit until it rings true for the team.
Next, review your Winning Moves—those 3-5 year strategic growth goals that will enable you to hit your next big milestones on the way to your BHAG. Are you nearing completion on any of these initiatives? Is it time to craft a new Winning Move? Have any current Winning Moves actually turned out to be Losing Moves, and should they be retired?
Ask RI to help you review significant changes in the marketplace; use this data to develop and evaluate the best Winning Moves for the current moment. This process will help your team reorient around the right long-term goals, drawing attention and energy back to the most important projects.
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Set Strategic Priorities and Targets
Next, decide on 3-5 clear, strategic priorities for the upcoming year. Staying focused on a manageable list of priorities helps the team avoid overwhelm, enabling them to dedicate ample time and energy to what truly matters.
Ensure that all your priorities are SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, time-bound); use Rhythm Intelligence to help you get the wording and Success Criteria right.
Next, assign an owner to each priority. Although these priorities will likely be collaborative efforts, having a designated individual responsible for reporting on the goal and moving it forward prevents confusion and delays. Goal ownership increases accountability, ensuring that each target has a dedicated advocate working to advance it.
Consult AI to call out possible risks with each of the priorities you set. Here are a couple of questions you can ask:
- What are the likely risks that could prevent us from being successful with this goal?
- What current market conditions might challenge or accelerate the completion of this goal?
Next, prioritize your list based on strategic impact and urgency. This step is crucial so that you can allocate enough resources to the most critical projects, guaranteeing that efforts are placed where they will drive the greatest results.
Make sure to also assess your metrics: Do your KPIs accurately represent the targets for the upcoming year? Aligning these numbers with revenue and profit expectations will be essential to achieving financial growth. Setting targets that are ambitious yet attainable creates a culture of accountability and motivation.
If you are struggling to decide what to track or cannot determine the right leading indicators, consult RI for ideas. Ask for the “why” behind each KPI and how it can be used to drive the right behaviors on your team.
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Align Teams and Resources
Alignment is a critical element in your plan’s success. If you do not have the proper resources allocated to the right areas, you will fall flat on your face. Plus, resentment and blame will build within and among different departments.
A few days after you have crafted the priorities, go back through the list with your team. Does everyone understand what they are responsible for? Are there misaligned expectations, unaddressed dependencies, or holes in the plan?
Empowering your team to speak up at this time is critical. If they keep quiet about potential red flags, the plan can be put at great risk. Call out potential issues and ensure that each team member has adequate resources to successfully execute their part of the plan.
After this conversation, team leaders should conduct their own planning sessions to design departmental priorities that support the company’s overall objectives.
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Develop Clear Action Steps
Once priorities are agreed-upon, begin designing an action plan for each one. This phase of planning clarifies the “how”, empowering team members to take focused, productive action.
This usually happens towards the end of your planning process; everyone is tired and has that “I just want to get home” feeling. You can streamline this process by consulting Rhythm Intelligence for a list of action steps and/or milestones for each of your priorities. Once you have agreed upon the appropriate tasks, set deadlines and assign appropriate owners.
Remember: Make sure your plan is adaptable enough to respond to unexpected changes and challenges. Circumstances may shift, and without flexibility, the team risks becoming “stuck” on a path that no longer aligns with current conditions. Allow space for agility so the team can pivot and continue progressing.
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Monitor, Evaluate, Adjust
As you begin the new year, establish a system for regularly monitoring progress over the next twelve months. This will be essential to maintaining alignment and addressing issues before they become obstacles. Regular check-ins create opportunities for small adjustments that help keep the team on track toward achieving the overarching goals.
Status your priorities and KPIs on a weekly basis, using a Red Yellow Green system to create a heat map that draws the team’s attention to problem areas. Anytime you see a goal falling off track, work with the team to make necessary changes to get back on the path to success. If you’re stuck, ask AI for a few ideas to get your mental wheels turning.
The more disciplined you are about your weekly rhythms, the more skilled your team will become at making timely corrections.
Drive Performance with Your Annual Plan
By following these five steps, you will create a robust annual plan that supports your long-term strategy and helps your team stay focused, aligned, and accountable throughout the year. And when AI has a seat at the planning table, your session will be more fruitful than ever before. The time and energy saved with AI can be invested in your most important conversations, giving you the mental space you need to create your best plan yet.
A System Made for Strategic Planning
Need a planning tool that goes beyond spreadsheets and seamlessly incorporates AI? You’re going to want to check out Rhythm. Planning may never be easy—but Rhythm makes the tedious parts easier so that your team can use their brainpower where it really counts.
The journey does not end with planning. You will not see results unless you do the work, which means achieving the commitments you have made. This is what separates great companies from just okay companies: follow-through. Stay tuned for an upcoming blog on how Rhythm Intelligence can help you out-execute your competition!