Part 2 No time or resources for strategic planning? Try an interim plan for clear direction and peak effectiveness.
Sometimes the best strategy is to streamline your strategy. Refining some planning and assessment activities could help ensure your to do, to think, and to evaluate lists are doable. Other times we just need a practical way to begin or make progress – without biting off more than we can (or should) chew. Either way, look no further for some sensible alternative routes to your goal.
Table of Contents
1. Overview
2. Why Opt for an Interim Plan
3. Creating the Interim Plan
4. What's Next
Key Takeaways
An interim plan is a playbook, not an explanation of all the issues and all the solutions.
Interim planning is akin to a good interim executive because both are action oriented and limited in scope and timing.
Opt for an interim plan if you need a reality check, if time or capacity is limited, or in the event of unanticipated or large-scale challenges.
Overview
Successful management is not just about what you do, but how you do it. For this reason, we are looking at how to refine your approach, including opportunities to streamline your practices. While this series is not about “hacking” your business or time, it is about the ways thoughtful approaches can help you take the most direct steps to your goals.
Last time we distinguished goals from priorities. We discovered how the distinction can help us make better decisions about what we say yes to and give us power to intentionally shape what yes means.
This is definitely worth knowing! You can find Part 1 here.
This time, we look at planning well even when you don’t have capacity to include all the bells and whistles. A really good example is the interim plan.
Why Opt for an Interim Plan?
One of the best ways to define an interim plan is to understand it in terms of its main features: a limited scope and timeframe. In this way, an interim plan is a specific roadmap for performance. It provides succinct opportunities to assess a situation, develop an approach, and timely execute a plot necessary to achieve a specifically defined goal.
A good comparison is that of a successful interim executive. In the best cases, interim executives assess the needs and health of an organization, take decisive action in collaboration with key stakeholders, and lead the organization to achieve incremental successes towards a final transformation.[1]
Interim plans are a less traditional but often much more effective way to focus your efforts on a specific goal (such as a priority) or component of a larger plan. This can occur at the organizational level, the department level, the team level, or even as part of an individual’s own productivity process. Interim plans are infinitely adaptable and totally accessible.
Let’s look at some reasons to opt for an interim plan.
1. Reality check.
Where are we now? Are we on the same page? A good time to use an interim plan is when you need to align people, processes, ideas, or operations. This could be a plan for a review process to gather status updates, feedback, or outcomes data. This could even be a transition plan defining what needs to happen or be in place for one person to step down and another to be selected and step in.
2. Time or capacity limits.
There are often times when our intentions don’t line up with our reality. When time or resources prevent you from pulling together an extensive plan, you can still plan comprehensively and even strategically one priority at a time. Perfect doesn’t have to be the enemy of good.
3. Unanticipated or large-scale challenges.
Change can come in many different forms challenging our forward momentum. These are ideal times to plan with a limited scope. An interim plan can diffuse disorder and stabilize operations in the event of environmental shifts such as leadership or regulatory changes. Resource shifts such as funding availability and human resource allocations also could benefit from the grounding force of an interim plan. Consider, for instance, updating a fundraising plan or developing an interim marketing plan to help clear hurdles. Also, rapid response scenarios are good opportunities to create plans that operate as stop-gaps or address critical issues that would benefit more from structured time sensitive or directive frameworks.
Creating the Interim Plan
Let the interim plan be your playbook, not an explanation of all the issues and all the solutions. Keep this action oriented, brief, and tight in scope.
Here is a familiar framework to create a targeted and achievable interim plan.
Why + What + Who + When + Where + How = The Plan
Why: State your objective(s)
Describe what brought you here and what you hope to achieve. Keep the objectives narrow. No more than a few should do it.
What: Baseline
Explain the gaps, needs, and resources involved. These are the people or networks, funds, tools, infrastructure, and capacity available or unavailable to accomplish the task.
Who: Relevant participants
Describe who are the relevant staff and stakeholders. Explain their roles & responsibilities. Connect their work to the outcomes needed.
When: Timeline
Define the timeframe in which the plan and any action takes place. Identify major or pivotal benchmarks (or priorities!) and decisive indicators of success.
Where: Environment
Consider the environment in which any stakeholders or operations will be that could impact the approach or the outcome. Identify the external circumstances, including the industry niche, political or social climate, community, and ecosystem where the work (both the planning and the action) will or should happen.
How: Approach
Draw up the to do list.
Tie each activity to the gap, need, or resource it will use and provide.
Identify who will be involved and how.
Define and calendar all activities.
Consider who else and what else is at stake and how they may fit into planning, operations, or outcomes. If people you haven’t already, engage them in the methods. Then cross check and update the plan.
Hit go.
Endnotes
[1] InterimExecs. “The 4 Key Parts of Strategic Plan Execution and Why Interim Executives Excel at Them All.” Interim Executives, 2 May 2023, interimexecs.com/plan-execution/.
What’s Next
Consider
Where could a plan like this fit in for you?
Are there specific triggers in your work that could or should engage an interim plan periodically?
Test
Take it for a test drive. Use an interim plan the next time the sky is falling, you are short on time, or you just need to get clear on what the game plan should be.
Stay Tuned
Watch this space for more ideas on how to refine your approach. Up next, we discuss three things to focus on when you don’t have time or resources for a full scope evaluation.
This post is part of the “Refinement: Success in the Streamlined Approach” series.
If you need ideas or support to streamline or improve your processes, please reach out. From decision-making frameworks to goal setting, action planning, and board assessments, I’ve seen it and done it. Let me know how I can help you achieve your values-oriented goals. If you would just like to chat or partner, I’m here for that too!
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