5 challenges for effective scenario planning
If recent events have taught us anything - COVID, climate change, political instability across regions - it’s that planning for the unlikely can help organizations become more resilient. For example, while the potential for global lockdowns can feel like something of the past, exploring how you may react in the future can make you resilient to both likely and unlikely outcomes.
Scenario planning is markedly different from strategic planning, which prepares for the predictable, such as preparing for economic change. Preparing for the predictable is much like betting on the favorite, the pay-out is minimal, whereas if you prepare for the unlikely, you know you can be far ahead of the opposition if it occurs. When all your bases are covered, you can be sure that your organization can weather any storm and always operate with confidence.
With business climates becoming more and more entropic and unpredictable, creating resilient operations is becoming a necessity for many businesses. We are going to discuss how scenario planning and automation can work together to build operational resilience in your organization and how Unit4 can help bring about effective scenario planning.
Prepare for both growth and change
Growth and downturn are two extremes of the same spectrum, by simply preparing for one you can often apply the same strategies to the other. For example, when an economic downturn occurs, many organizations will batten down the hatches and hoard their cash, hoping to rise again when the economy bounces back. But many businesses don’t realize that a period of economic instability can be the best time to invest. Organizations that choose to invest during downturn will bounce back as the economy does, while those who choose to hold back will take longer to reach previous heights.
With Unit4 you can use downturn to catalyze change, we can help make your smaller operations more efficient and this can allow you, during downturn, to focus on the weaker areas of your business. Our human capital management (HCM) solutions can allow you to build stronger relationships not only with your current customers but your current employees creating relationships that will remain stalwart in the bad times and thrive in the good times.
Functional software creates scalable operations and with Unit4’s fit-for-purpose software we allow low-code configuration, meaning we adapt to your unique operations as you see fit. This means that you don’t have to concede efficiency when dealing with outdated systems. As growth occurs, we allow your operations to scale easily, as legacy systems can often curtail or delay growth through their rigidity. As new operations arise, we can easily subsume them into an already efficient system meaning that growth can be uncapped.
Make informed decisions when they matter most
The cloud has proven itself time and time again to be an incredibly efficient server that has become a huge part of our daily lives. When your phone breaks, you know you can easily buy a new one and migrate all your data to a new device in minutes. So why don’t we treat our business operations with the same efficiency? Why settle for less with localized data of spreadsheets that can take much longer to analyze?
With Unit4’s cloud-based FP&A service the data you need is at your fingertips and can be accessed in an instant. When the unpredictable occurs, you can easily access the relevant data to make the correct and informed decisions with confidence.
Moreover, by automating the repetitive financial tasks such as data entry and invoicing this can free up time for financial professionals to plan for the unpredictable and make more creative and explorative projections that can usefully contrast your more strategic projections. With both standard and ad-hoc reporting in our FP&A service, the scenario planning process has never been easier.
Make holistic projections with accuracy
Unit4 integrates all your operations within the cloud, so, whether financial or based in human resources, you can make projections that take everything into account. While you can scenario plan in any situation, if these projections don’t account for all your operations they can fail. By having breadth to your data, as well as accuracy, you can make projections that breed resilience within your organization.
In addition, you can gather data from multiple departments quickly allowing for projections to be swift and effective. With this bird’s eye view of your operations, you can be strategic, but this comprehension of your operations allows for creative projections and scenario planning that would take much longer with legacy systems.
Through scenario planning in strategic management, an organization can build resilience that allows them to scale with growth, and catalyze change when downturn occurs. To create organizational resilience and accurate forecasting, invest in automation with Unit4 today, so that you can build organizational resilience where it counts and embrace scenario planning that will remain out of reach for those who rely on fragmented legacy systems.
Book a demo with Unit4 today to invest in your operations and build organizational resilience.
