Interdepartmental Planning is the process an organization uses to identify initiatives and prioritize limited resources to win as an enterprise.
As companies grow and organize into departments, it’s common for them to fall into a siloed mentality where they only see the needs in front of them and do not consider the needs of the company as a whole. This leads to challenges with planning and knowing how best to allocate resources. The Interdepartmental Planning Process helps leaders overcome those challenges by providing a means to weigh the needs of their departments against the other needs of the company. In this way, leaders from various departments can come to a consensus about what needs to be prioritized for the benefit of the organization.
The result of Interdepartmental Planning is an Operational Plan—a clear set of initiatives to be accomplished by the organization over a specified period of time. (The Operational Plan is distinct from the Strategic Plan, which is developed as part of the Business Model and drives overall direction for the company.) Ideally, an organization should have at least a 1-year Operational Plan. For larger organizations, it can be beneficial to have an Operational Plan that looks ahead 2 years.
There are four steps to Interdepartmental Planning:
Step 1 – Department Initiatives Identification
Step 2 – Cross-Functional Teams Prioritization
Step 3 – Organizational Prioritization
Step 4 – Operational Plan
Step 1 –Department Initiatives Identification
The Interdepartmental Planning Process begins with individual departments identifying initiatives that are important to their functional area.
Each department focuses on what initiatives will help it fulfill the department’s mission—a concise statement summarizing the department’s purpose, including what it does, the value it delivers, and who its customers are (both internal and external). Initiatives that align with the department mission will position the team to successfully serve the organization through its specific functions. The initiatives they identify may be completely contained within the department or may go beyond the department’s function and involve other departments. Either way, the initiatives should fall within one to two years into the future. All the department initiatives to be considered for the Operational Plan are then compiled into a consolidated list for the next step.
Step 2 – Cross-Functional Teams Prioritization
In the second step of Interdepartmental Planning, cross-functional teams are formed by members of the management and leadership teams. The cross-functional teams are configured to include members from multiple departments in each one. These cross-functional teams will review the list of initiatives from all departments to be considered and begin the prioritization process.
At this point in the process, the team members are trading in their department silo perspective for an Enterprise Mindset, prioritizing initiatives to best use the organization’s limited resources. Each participant works with the rest of the cross-functional team to determine which initiatives will help the organization meet the milestones laid out in the strategic plan, live up to its brand and core values, and ultimately live out its mission in pursuit of the company’s vision. Each cross-functional team delivers its recommended prioritization of the initiatives to be considered across the enterprise.
Step 3 – Organizational Prioritization
In the third step, the management and leadership teams come together as a single group to conduct the final round of prioritization of initiatives. The previous evaluations performed by the various cross-functional teams are aggregated into an overall score which serves as a starting point for this round of prioritization. Initiatives that were rated highly in the prior step are given greater consideration in this round, which must narrow the initiatives to be included in the Operational Plan.
Understanding that limited resources require them to make concessions, the management and leadership teams work together to prioritize the initiatives that will help the organization meet the milestones laid out in the Strategic Plan, live up to its Brand & Core Values, and ultimately live out its Mission in pursuit of the company’s Vision.
Step 4 – Operational Plan
In the fourth and final step, the management and leadership teams organize the initiatives previously selected to form the Operational Plan.
This involves taking the selected initiatives and beginning to answer tactical questions, such as: Who will lead this initiative? When will it begin and be completed? What is the budget allocation?
The completion of this step concludes the Interdepartmental Planning Process, with the leadership and management teams having identified the priorities that will be included in the Operational Plan, guiding the organization for the next one to two years.
The standard cadence for Interdepartmental Planning looks like this:
During the fourth quarter of the calendar or fiscal year, the organization conducts the Interdepartmental Planning process to develop the upcoming year’s Operational Plan. The plan is finalized before the end of the year.
At the end of Quarters 1, 2, and 3, the management and leadership teams review the Operational Plan to confirm it reflects current realities. The quarterly process takes much less time since it focuses on reviewing the initiatives already selected for the Operational Plan to confirm priorities have not changed and to gauge progress on the Plan.
The annual Interdepartmental Planning process begins anew in Quarter 4.
Depending on the size of the organization and the industry, companies may find that fewer than three quarterly reviews are needed. Regardless of the review frequency, it’s critical to establish a cadence, which creates an enduring structure for the organization, allowing for annual alignment of operational activities and an opportunity to adjust mid-year based on current realities.
The concepts from this article were taken from Interdepartmental Planning: Focusing resources beyond department silos. Available through The ReWild Group and Amazon, the book explores in-depth this and other concepts while providing illustrations to help business leaders incorporate the ideas into their organizations. Get your copy today, and don’t forget to download the free workbook that serves as a companion guide to the book.