Team-based forecasting

Use the team-based forecasting when your view of the future is fairly certain. Usually, you have corporate guidance and the team needs to focus on your customers and align around a specific goals. Each year, you update your assessments, forecast for the next few years, and prioritize to prepare your budget.

Key words

Planning, forecast, alignment, resource allocation, positioning, core competencies, programming, budgeting, implementation, analysis, competitive advantage, balanced score-card, activity-based management, cross-functional coordination

Characteristics

Working to achieve the vision, the mission or purpose of the firm is well understood, innovation is usually incremental. The emphasis is on using the funds available to offer the best portfolio of products and services to customers. The core team of strategic thinkers and implementers want to educate the entire company about their concept. Usually, they want the teams to focus on a short range planning horizon of up to two years.

Bottom-up initiatives compete, with difficulty, with core high margin products and services to reach the Corporate C Level for consideration.

Strategic Planning Process

This strategy formulation process is more formal; teams throughout the organization formulate implementation strategies to align to the corporation's grand vision. Consensus evolves from figuring our how to achieve the goals, goals usually determined by top management. Most MBAs will have had training in this process during their masters study.

Top-management in small firms often learn to think strategically using this process.

Bottom-Up In a Large Corporation

First Team Meeting