Three Tricks for Breathing New Life into Annual Planning
2022 planning season is officially upon us. To kick things off, vice president Jennifer Kohanim sat down with FleishmanHillard in Boston colleagues to hear how they breathe new life into annual planning.
Watch as FleishmanHillard’s Jaclyn Petros, senior vice president and partner, Seth Bloom, senior vice president and senior partner and Alyson Karoly, senior vice president and partner, share valuable advice on getting ahead of the late-December craze, building your creative muscles and how to prevent your team from falling into familiar patterns.
Plan Ahead As Best As You Can
As counselors, we are commonly tasked with bringing big, bold ideas to the table around this time of year, and yet, the planning season can sneak up on us. What can we do to plan for planning?
Jaclyn Petros recommends building a parking lot of inputs and adding to it on an ongoing basis. She believes the best ideas are informed by research and recommends getting into a habit of regularly monitoring the market trends at the macro level. When it comes time to presenting ideas to the client, you’ll be equipped with the data and insight to make an impact.
Strengthen Your Creativity Muscle
It is a common misconception that you are either born creative or not, but the reality is creativity is practiced. Seth Bloom says everyone has the capacity to be creative, and while it may show up in different ways for every person, find what works for you and never discount whatever it is that allows you to think big.
Alyson Karoly suggests lifting your gaze beyond the day-to-day and infusing ideation into the operation. She believes this process keeps teams accountable and thinking big.
Break Old Patterns
In our field, maintaining longstanding relationships with clients is a measure of success. But that longevity also comes with a deep understanding of our clients’ limitations, which can easily stop us from sharing new ideas, says Alyson Karoly.
Don’t lose sight of what we, as experts, know best, Alyson advises. It’s important to bring stretch ideas forward. Ground those bold ideas in reality, but never stop pushing.
