Plan the Plan Sessions: A Route to Meaningful Change

For meaningful and lasting improvements, manufacturing organisations must align priorities across all levels—from strategic leadership to frontline operations—ensuring that:

• Senior management has a clear line of sight on how shop floor improvements drive long-term business success.

• Frontline managers can balance daily output pressures with structured improvement activities as part of routine operations.

• Frontline personnel actively contribute to performance improvements by systematically addressing unplanned events and inefficiencies.

  • Engaging them in resolving recurring issues for as little as 5% of their time has been shown to deliver an ROI of 15-25% per annum.

The key to achieving this alignment is a Plan the Plan session.

What is a Plan the Plan Session?

A Plan the plan session brings together cross-functional leaders and key specialists to design the 12-month leadership agenda to:

• Confirm the need for change – Identify performance gaps and high-impact improvement opportunities.

• Assess Capability to Deliver Change – Evaluate current systems, skills, and processes.

• Map Out Actionable Steps – Develop a practical, results-driven improvement roadmap.

By engaging cross functional stakeholders in this way, the Plan the Plan approach fosters:

• Leadership in improvement

• Breakthrough thinking

• Cross-functional collaboration

• Data-driven decision-making

• Shared ownership of improvement actions

This process also works well when dealing with complex business challenges like how to embrace smart technology or how to enhance performance in new markets.

Assessing Readiness:

Before launching an improvement programme, it is essential to lay the foundations for success by taking stock of:

• Strengths & Weaknesses – Identify areas where improvements will yield the greatest impact.

• Best Practices – To be able to build on existing successes rather than reinventing the wheel.

• Performance Management – Establish links between Total Manufacturing Costs and performance drivers across people, processes, and procedures.

• Barriers to Progress – Identify roadblocks preventing change.

• Business Drivers & Priorities – Align improvement initiatives with strategic objectives.

This readiness assessment ensures that Plan the Plan sessions focus on the most critical improvement areas and provide a clear agenda.

Designing the Plan the Plan Agenda

The review outputs identify gaps, barriers and opportunities for improvement. This sets the agenda for the Plan the Plan session which can include awareness topics and data from the review to help delegates to explore and define how to approach key questions such as:

1. Review & Action

   • What will be prioritised to improve future performance?

2. Improvement Roadmap

   • Where does current performance stand against industry benchmarks?

   • What hidden losses should be targeted?

3. Problem Prevention

   • Where are the high-risk failure points?

   • What corrective actions are needed?

   • How will effectiveness be measured?

4. Skill Development

   • How will compliance be assured?

   • How will feedback be used to make tasks easier to execute correctly?

5. Policy Deployment

   • What is the current level of operational capability?

   • What are the next steps for scaling improvements?

6. Performance Analysis

   • How effective are current work routines?

   • What areas need attention?

Delivering Tangible Business Impact

The structured approach of Plan the Plan sessions enables organisations to craft an improvement roadmap that drives operational excellence through:

🔹 Robust frontline work practices – Reducing waste, improving workflow, and eliminating non-value-added activities.

🔹 Proactive maintenance transformation – Shifting from reactive repairs to a resilient, reliability-centred approach.

🔹 Enhanced project specifications & execution – Driving higher value from improvement initiatives, ensuring flawless day-one operations.

The Power of Pilot Projects

For organisations new to Plan the Plan sessions, starting with a focused pilot project in a high-priority area can accelerate engagement and demonstrate impact.

Why Pilots Work:

• Quick Wins & Deep Insights – They deliver rapid improvements while exposing underlying systemic issues.

• Learning by Doing – Hands-on problem-solving helps teams align priorities and develop lasting solutions.

• From Fixes to Sustainability – Beyond short-term solutions, pilot projects identify and remove the root causes of recurring issues.

Scaling Success

To embed improvements across the organisation, the lessons from pilot projects are deployed through a structured roll-out cascade covering:

• Strategic Leadership Alignment – Ensuring that improvement priorities drive business development.

• Execution Excellence – Equipping cross-functional teams with the skills and systems to integrate improvements into daily routines.

• Sustainable Improvement Roadmaps – Establishing structured processes to remove barriers, systemise work routines, and leverage data & smart technology for enhanced operational performance.

Why Plan the Plan is a Game-Changer for Manufacturing Leaders

By engaging teams in a structured, data-driven improvement process, manufacturing leaders can:

• Align shop floor activities with long-term business goals

• Drive ownership & accountability at all levels

• Unlock measurable performance gains

• Ensure sustainable, scalable improvements

This is not just about short-term problem-solving—it’s about embedding a culture of continuous improvement that drives long-term competitive advantage.

Would you like to discuss how we can tailor Plan the Plan for your organisation? Let’s connect.