Weaver Vale Housing Trust
Annual Planning
The Organisational Activity Model
Philosophy
Strategy
Projects
Routine Operations
Why have annual planning and
where to start?
It is important to develop an annual planning
process to convert strategies into activities at
organisational, departmental, team and
individual level but……
Why have annual planning and
where to start?
….it is vital to do this in a structured way and
it certainly does not happen overnight.
Timeline and Timeframe
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Strategy
Chief Executive’s Appraisal
Corporate Plan
Directors’ Appraisals
Directorate Annual Planning
Senior Management Appraisals
Teams’ Annual Planning
Individual Appraisals
Communication
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Staff Away Days
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Ask Steve
Where To Start Year One
• Prepare a register of teams that need
annual planning sessions
• Be proactive and plan dates
• Have one contact point to request a
facilitator, if possible
• Give facilitators a good mix of teams
Facilitators
• Key to running the sessions
• Need common approach
• Pre-prepare general flipchart e.g.
- Corporate Projects
- Strategic Priorities
- What is a Project
- What is a Routine Operation
• Think
carefully about prompts
• Keep up to date re corporate projects
Pre-meeting with Manager
• Running order with aid of UIC manual
• Any sensitive issues
• Leader speaks - brief, succinct and relevant
• Prompts
• Teams or pair work
• Tools and techniques
• Partial projects
• Grid plus action list
• What happens next
• Review of meeting
Post meeting with Manager
Facilitator Tips
• Prepare a running order template
• Have one for yourself and one for the manager
• Consider timeframe
• Prepare a flipchart with the teams or pairs on
Annual Planning Year One
No previous plan so where to start?
How to identify projects?
The Annual Planning Session
• Arrive early and prepare the room
• Leader welcomes everyone
• Introduce yourself and explain your role
• Round Robin of introductions
• Leader Speaks
• Facilitator takes over
The Annual Planning Session (cont’d)
Prompt 1
What projects have you got now, as a
team, or are you involved in as individuals?
Round Robin
This will help to consider overall time and
resources.
You need to be realistic.
The Annual Planning Session (cont’d)
Prompt 2
What is working well?
Round Robin
- this brings everyone together and starts on
a positive
- all can see and hear
- all can input
The Annual Planning Session (cont’d)
Prompt 3
What isn’t working as well as it should? or
What makes your job or the job of your team
more difficult than it should be?
- if a large group split into teams
- if small group split into pairs or even a round
robin
- it may be useful to give the teams a sheet of
paper with ideas on to consider, such as :-
Ideas to Consider
• What
processes need sorting out
• What do internal customers comment on
• What do external customers comment on
• Any communication issues
• Are there any key issues facing the team that
need addressing
You can tailor these to suit the group
Cluster
• Ask
the teams/pairs to cluster their comments
and give each a heading
• Ask each team/pair to report their findings to
the group
• Allow comment
The Annual Planning Session (cont’d)
Prompt 4
What can we do to improve this?
This is the hard part.
Take over to help the group convert these
findings into projects or actions.
Complete post-its for what can be done
The Annual Planning Session (cont’d)
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Ask the group to ‘must’, ‘should’ and ‘could’
Then look at ‘total’, ‘partial’ and ‘no’ control
Mark on the post-it to identify categorisation
Look at the ‘musts’ with ‘total’ control first
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Complete the grid
Consider whose name is being put down, do
not overload one person
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Record actions that are not projects on a
separate flipchart
The Annual Planning Session (cont’d)
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Next the ‘musts’ with ‘partial’ control
- if a big ‘P’ then these are fed back up to
management for a decision
- if a small ‘p’ the group may be able to
approach other teams themselves
The ‘shoulds’ and ‘coulds’ are recorded for
reference and should be reviewed from time
to time as capacity becomes available
The Project Steering Grid
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Remember the grid is a working
document and things may change
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Initial timeframes may seem unrealistic
and need amending
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Review progress at team meeting of
both the grid and the action list
The Annual Planning Session (cont’d)
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The leader will explain what happens
next - writing remits
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The facilitator will do a round robin of
reflections
Annual Planning Year Two
This year you will have a starting point as
you will have an annual plan to review :
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what has been completed
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what needs carrying forward to the new
year
My Tips
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Preparation is key
Prepare a register of all the teams that
need annual planning.
This can then be used each year
Have one contact point to request a
facilitator
Have pre-prepared flipcharts with your
key information
My Tips (cont’d)
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Must have a pre-meeting with the leader
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If having teams put these on a flipchart
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Plan the time you want to take for each
exercise
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Help with the definition of a project
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Work with the groups to best advantage
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Allow sufficient comfort/tea breaks and
if lunch booked keep to time
The whole process can be tiring
and draining for all.
You will be nervous
The End