Technology is a beautiful thing. It allows people to seamlessly engage in business interactions from thousands of miles away. It helps strangers grow real, meaningful relationships. It bolsters professionalism and deepens client/company relations.
However, we find it can leave you feeling like something’s missing.
After almost 50 years in the biz, we've learned a thing or two about banking. And since most of our employees have spent time in the industry, we know the heavy hitters that keep bankers up at night.
That's why we designed our business around one specific goal: giving our clients one less thing to worry about.
Running a successful business, like anything worthwhile in life, is difficult. Of course, the same can be said for operating a bank or credit union.
There's never enough time in a day to get everything done. The amount of work per number of hands to accomplish it isn't equitable. The number of new regulations versus training bandwidth is not even close to on par.
"It was a very informative two days. It was also helpful to learn different ways to navigate through the tabs and fields in the Compass program."
We had nine bankers in our office last Thursday and Friday attending our first 2-day event, and what a success it was! We had a great group ranging from new clients, new users, and more established veterans, banks from $240 MM to $1.6 B in assets, men and women from diverse backgrounds, traveling in from near and far. The group was excited to share thoughts and ideas, and interested in ways we can help them enhance their understanding of the planning concepts and models.
“It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.”
- (Not) Charles Darwin
It’s true.
Although this is a pretty great quote, Darwin never actually said it. It was an attempt by Dr. Leon C. Megginson, Louisiana State University Professor of Management and Marketing, to capture the essence of Darwin’s seminal “On the Origin of Species” for a 1963 speech to the Southwestern Social Science Association. The text of the speech was subsequently published in the Association’s quarterly journal, and the rest is quote-misattribution history.
We’ve all been in meetings that weren’t exactly productive. You know how it goes…
Only part of a successful strategic plan lies in the plan itself. A good plan, just like a recipe, is important. But any good chef will tell you, choosing the right ingredients is only half the challenge. The rest lies in executing the recipe properly.
So, how can your bank or credit union make a better strategic plan?
Here are some simple tweaks to the ingredients and execution of your strategic planning recipe.
I was playing golf the other day and, of course, while I’m playing I’m thinking about work, which is a bad idea since I should be concentrating on my game. But I’m always thinking about ways to make planning more effective. My thoughts today were on variance analysis. Everyone uses variance analyses in their board reports to check progress against plan and it is certainly a good check. At board meetings we review our current position relative to last month, year-to-date and last year-to-date, etc.
As a company passionate about the value of planning, we have our own strategic plan. Like most, we would gather for a few days every year to review our mission and vision, discuss our market opportunities, develop objectives, determine action plans, and assign responsibilities. But, I am ashamed to admit, just like many companies we never really executed as well as we should for a number of reasons.
We’ve heard these questions hundreds of times. “Why do we need a strategic plan? We already have a budget.”
Instead of developing a plan for their organization, many banks and credit unions operate using their budget. The budgeting process is already in place, line items are easily moved from one year to the next with minor changes based on anticipated revenues and initiatives.
So why isn’t this a good idea?