The design has been approved, accountability defined and resources allocated, everything is set to implement IBP…wrong! In reality the muscle memory of most organizations is an overwhelming force which will not be changed without direct intervention. In most cases, the formal IBP reviews become incorporated into existing meetings with a promise of ‘doing IBP’. Leadership commitment to IBP results in a fervor to proclaim the term or validate data as coming from IBP. In fact, most legacy meetings continue unabated and the IBP reviews become an appendage to the established protocol. The possibility of redesigning the agenda so to capture the intent and purpose of the IBP review becomes near impossible, even a relatively minor course correction is met with vehement resistance. The change challenge rapidly becomes overwhelming when the forums to enact the process are closed. Those accountable for implementation struggle to establish review agendas, coach teams on the key metrics and establish the appropriate accountability. Meanwhile senior leaders are waiting to see value from their investment.
From bitter experience, using brute force to inaugurate each review is painful, demoralizing and thankless. It’s imperative the business leader is an advocate of the process and more significantly has an appreciation of the information and insights coming from the process. Your role as an IBP director is to encourage and coach the business leader to expect the right information and insight to be presented at the Management Business Review. This expectation will be the single greatest inspiration for those who are accountable for each preceding step to embrace IBP and modify existing meetings. Sounds easy enough; get the business leader onboard and it’s done! Not so; there are two further challenges which present obstacles to implementation a) until such time leaders witness the right information coming from the process there will always be a tendency to have parallel processes b) the expectation that IBP will manage short term, operational decisions.
These two impediments often combine and present powerful negative synergies; functional leaders expect operational issues to be coming through the IBP process, warranting weekly, if not daily decisions. Obviously, these decisions do not align with a monthly cadence, nor is the IBP process intended to drive operational outcomes. Such short term, operational issues significantly inhibit leaders’ ability to lift their heads out of the weeds and see the trees and forest before them. Step reviews are myopically focussed on today’s, short-term issues, the IBP management business review (MBR) therefore replays the monthly operational decisions thereby failing in its intent and purpose. Alternatively, the IBP management business review remains steadfast to the intent and purpose of reviewing the business outlook verses strategic objectives and functional leaders’ are perplexed why pressing operational decisions are not being reviewed. When the time comes for functional leaders to take accountability for what comes to the MBR, the role of the IBP director is coach and quarterback. As a coach to continually encourage the right conversation and quarterback to lead the offense, calling the play. It’s the quarterback who almost always throws the forward passes.
