Case Study: Strategic Planning, in Playbook Form

 When a traditional planning process became an NFL-style playbook, this manufacturer nailed their fiscal plan and turned seasonal downtime into full production.  

The Client

Quanex Custom Components (QCC) is a leading manufacturer of engineered materials and components, specializing in custom solutions for fenestration and industrial markets, with a focus on performance, efficiency, and innovation. 

The Scene

 QCC knew it had a chance to step up during a time the company needed it most. Quanex was in the process of acquiring a new company while managing the rapidly changing ways of the world. The president of QCC wanted to empower his whole team to "just win, baby." 

The Plot Twist

 The business leaders wanted a five-year plan, that increased EBITDA, and everyone could feel they had a part in developing. 

The Action

We started pushing the boundary with our client’s executive leadership team – six folks in total. Through a half-day discovery session, we explored non-traditional ways to rally the larger team (40 in total). Of the themes explored, the one we settled on was a playbook concept, modeled after the approach an NFL team would take to designing a strategy for the upcoming season.

The trust the client had didn’t stop at us – it extended to the whole team. We organized an offsite planning meeting to dedicate the majority of a day to tap into the 40-plus team members to populate the book with plays that aligned to the company’s upcoming core objectives.

For the day we mirrored an NFL team. The executive team were ‘coordinators’, leading their groups in discussions to brainstorm ways the company could tackle the upcoming challenges and opportunities…but also do it in a way that was visual and scalable so the whole organization felt they had a part in it.

The Victory Lap

• Before: Low engagement. Unclear on company objectives.
• After: High involvement and participation. Increase exposure and buy-in to objectives.
• Bonus Win: New market and product ideas from participating team members.

The Last Word -- John Sleva, president, QCC

 “Strategic planning is often a difficult process to engage key leaders across an organization to achieve buy-in and organizational alignment. Quanex Custom Components partnered with Ben Brugler and the Akhia team to create a fun, interactive offsite strategic planning session involving leaders throughout our organization. Ideas were white boarded and translated into a concise “playbook” that serves as the strategic roadmap for our organization over the next 5 years. Ben did a great job facilitating our strategy session to ensure everyone’s ideas were heard. We now refer to the “playbook” in our planning and communications so that everyone knows where we stand against our plans and their role in helping us achieve success.” 

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