How companies increase the resilience of their business planning

The highly dynamic markets and the rapid pace of change mean that conditions for business planning and forecasting are becoming more difficult. In today’s world, it is not possible to predict and plan things reliably over a longer period of time. As a result, annual planning and rigid structures are no longer effective. They require a lot of effort, make planning processes complex and lengthy, and lack the necessary agility. Instead, companies today are required to plan in shorter time frames and to review, redefine, and evaluate their own goals more frequently.

NextGen Planning: Greater resilience with integrated corporate planning

Shorter planning cycles for greater robustness

The fact that organizations are feeling increasing pressure to adapt their planning and forecasting to market dynamics in terms of processes, models, and structures is also confirmed by the latest BARC study, “Resilient planning in volatile markets: Building flexibility and speed into forecasting and planning to navigate uncertainty.” In it, 60% of the companies surveyed state that they have to adjust their planning and forecasting once or even several times a year so that they can continue to fulfill their purpose for corporate management. Companies are increasingly looking for approaches and methods that strengthen the robustness of planning and forecasting. Continuous adaptation to changing circumstances is necessary in order to achieve defined goals and take the appropriate measures to do so.

Features of modern planning: Flexibility and automation

Modern business planning must be flexible above all else. Companies ensure this by, for example, enabling the business department to make adjustments independently using user-friendly software solutions. Planning with scenarios and simulations makes it possible to be prepared for various future developments and to respond to them more quickly. This means that companies are no longer taken by surprise by events and can reduce uncertainty.

A higher degree of automation speeds up planning processes and reduces the workload for employees. In order to make reliable, data-driven decisions, it is necessary to improve the quality of the underlying database. After all, decisions based on data can only be correct if the data itself is correct. Access to external data such as market developments and economic indicators also plays a role in obtaining a holistic picture of the business environment. Decisions based solely on internal data are no longer effective in a highly complex world.

Focus on the key drivers

Resilience has become a strategic priority for many companies and is an important prerequisite for long-term business success. According to the BARC study, almost 50% of companies are currently still in the process of modernizing their business planning or have not yet taken any measures in this regard.

How can the resilience of planning and forecasting be enhanced? Increasing frequency plays an important role. This goes hand in hand with the need to significantly increase the speed of the planning process. By focusing on the truly relevant business drivers, companies are able to simplify and accelerate their planning. Scenario analyses and simulations are also indispensable tools for comparing different future developments and taking them into account in corporate management.

AI adds value to planning and forecasting

Companies hope that artificial intelligence (AI) will add significant value to planning and forecasting. AI detects anomalies, deviations, and risks. It also increases speed through automated forecasts that can be repeated in short cycles. As digital colleagues, AI assistants are able to effectively support users from the business department in natural language. Overall, the quality of planning and forecasting results increases with the use of artificial intelligence – although here, too, the need for an optimized database comes into play.

Conclusion: Greater resilience through modernization of planning

Most companies have recognized that planning and forecasting need to become more resilient. The next step is to implement appropriate measures to achieve this goal. Here are a few recommendations: The use of modern, user-friendly planning software enables the business department to operate largely independently and not be permanently dependent on IT. To increase the speed and agility of the planning process, planning models should be kept lean and limited to the essentials.

Integrating planning at all levels provides management with a trustworthy and reliable decision-making aid. It is also essential to evaluate how artificial intelligence can be incorporated into planning and forecasting in order to accelerate processes, reduce the workload on employees through a higher degree of automation, and improve the quality of results. With the right measures, companies can take their planning processes to a new level.