While the end of the year is a time for planning and decision-making in personal life, the same applies to companies. As highlighted in a report published by Portal Exame, this is the time for managers to project the direction for 2012. Therefore, Exame.Com consulted experts who provide guidance on what information should be included in business planning for the coming year and how to put projections into practice.
The first suggestion is to plan the results. The material warns that it is important to clearly keep in mind the company's objective for the year. With this direction defined, it becomes feasible to analyze which path to take to achieve the goal, by tracing a strategic plan. As Dariane Castanheira, a professor from the Company Development Training Program at the Fundação Instituto de Administração (FIA), mentioned to Portal Exame, although strategic plans usually cover a horizon of 3 to 5 years, this annual review is valid and can assume, for example, the launch of new products.
Financial planning, or business budgeting, is pointed out as another fundamental step. According to Dariane Castanheira, it is the strategic plan translated into values and dates and is the best way to know if the projections will be viable. The professor recommends that the financial plan be prepared in December, starting with the definition of operational and financial assumptions for the execution of the planned actions. The financial projection should also include sales, cost, and investment budgets, and forecast cash flow and financial statements.
Team involvement is also paramount in the analysis of the experts interviewed by Exame.Com. Informing the teams in the various sectors of the company about their goals and asking each one to analyze what can be done to achieve the results is fundamental. Another point to be observed, in the view of consultant and managing partner of Blue Numbers, Márcio Iavelberg, also interviewed in the article, is the definition of incentive policies. The adoption of variable compensation practices, according to the achievement of goals, for example, is a good measure to increase team involvement.
Iavelberg and Dariane Castanheira recall that it is important to take into account impacts caused by occasional scenarios. The company's reaction to possible negative influences from factors such as rising inflation can be predicted. Depending on the area of operation, the manager must consider seasonal factors. Dariane recalls that 2012 is an election year, which can be a positive factor in the planning of companies whose operations may involve the election.
With information from Portal Exame
