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Who’s responsible for what structuring your strategic plan..

Creating a structured strategic plan is essential to the success of a planning process. But, creating responsibility at each level of the plan is absolutely pivotal to the success of a plan.

One of the most frequent questions we coach our clients through is, “how do I structure my plan and who should be responsible for what?” While the answer is usually unique to each organization, we’ve broken down the planning elements and organization structure to give you a handy visual to help guide you to structure your plan and create accountability for plan creation and execution throughout your organization.

Now that you have the overall view, let’s take a deeper dive into the elements.

CEO and Executive Team

The CEO and executive team play a big role in setting the foundation of a strategic plan by creating guiding organizational principles, articulating the strategic areas of focus, and creating the long-term goals that guide the organization to create aligned goals and actions to achieve its vision of success. The executive team is responsible for:

Mission, Vision, & Guiding Principles – These are the core foundational elements to your plan that tell your organization who you are, where you’re going, and how you’re going to operate. These principles encompass your organization’s ethos and help serve as the foundation to your long-term strategy to achieve your vision of success. These are updated every 5 years and reviewed by the executive team annually.

Strategic Priorities – These are the long-term areas of strategic focus that are designed to achieve your vision of long-term success. These create the different pillars of your plan and articulate the focus for each area. These are updated every 5 years and reviewed by the executive team annually.

Organization-Wide Goals and Performance Indicators – These are the long-term goals and performance indicators that begin to put action to paper to help achieve strategic priorities. These goals and actions have a lifespan of 3-5 years, but are reviewed and adapted annually.

Managers/Department Leaders

Managers and department leaders don’t have as much responsibility during the plan creation process, but drive your organization to create the annual department goals that support the organization’s goals and performance indicators. Managers and department leaders are responsible for:

Annual Goals – Department leaders and managers create and execute the annual department goals that align and support the organization-wide goals and performance indicators. These goals are established annually.

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Individual contributors.

Individual contributors are your soldiers on the ground tasked with helping drive your strategy from the ground up. They play an essential role in your day-to-day operations, but also in the creation and execution of your strategy. Individual contributors are responsible for:

Supporting Action Items with Milestones – Individual contributors create the supporting action plans with milestones that drive the day-to-day focus on strategy. Each of these action plan milestones tally up to achieve your annual goals. These action plans are completed annually.

Final Thoughts

As you work through building your strategic plan at every level of your organization, it’s important to remember that every player at the table is a key puzzle piece to your plan. Individual contributors play just as big a role as someone on the executive team – and the cascaded responsibility and execution of a plan is what makes strategy execution possible.

Thank you for the highly useful information.

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How to Write a Job Description for a Business Plan [Sample Template]

Are you in the process of writing the job description section of your business plan? Or you need a sample job description template? Then I advice you read on. Here, you drive home the point that not only do you know what you are doing or where you are going, but that you have the right mix of talent and experience to actually make it all happen.

You will need to highlight key members of your management team ( which may be only you for the time being ) as well as external service providers such as lawyers, accountants, and contract professionals. Also, include your advisors or board members ( if you have any ) as well as the positions you will be looking to hire in the near future.

While planning your business, one of the most important steps that you shouldn’t skip is writing a job description for every position that you are planning to hire an employee for. This may not be important if you have no plans to hire employees.

A job description is an important tool for hiring and managing your employees, as it helps them understand their roles and responsibilities even before they start working with you. It tells them what they need to do, how they need to do it, and what they will be held accountable for as soon as they assume their duties. It also reveal to investors who-is-who in your proposed or established business. In addition, a job description does the following:

4 Benefits of a Job Description in a Business Plan

• It helps you attract the right employees
• It gives a detailed description of an employee’s job or position
• It serves as a basis for outlining performance expectations, career advancement, job training, and job evaluation
• It provides a reference point for compensation decisions as well as unfair hiring practices

Writing a Job Description for a Business Plan – Sample Template

A job description should be clearly written, accurate, and very practical. It must effectively define your needs as well as what you expect from your employees. To write a good job description, you should start by analyzing the important facts about a job, such as:

The individual tasks involved

What are the tasks that the employee must complete on a periodic basis? Outline daily tasks, weekly tasks, monthly tasks, and quarterly tasks required of the employee. To be practical enough, outline the duration and requirements of each task as well.

The methods for completing each task

If the tasks outlined can be handled using more than one method, outline which methods you can afford to provide your employee (but for optimal employee efficiency, make provisions for the best method available).

The purpose and responsibilities of the job

Outline how the role played by the chosen candidate would contribute to the business. Also, outline what the employee would be held accountable for.

The relationship of the job to other jobs

Outline how the chosen employee would work with other employees within the company.

Qualifications needed for the job

Outline the relevant qualifications that each candidate must have. Also state the number of years for which the candidate must have gained working experience in the same position.

The Outline of a Job Description

A job description typically includes the following:

• Job objective or overall purpose statement
• Brief of the general nature and level of the job
• Detailed description of the wide scope of the position
• List of duties or tasks to be performed that are critical to success
• Key functional and relational responsibilities (listed in order of significance)
• Description of the relationships and roles within the company, including the supervisory roles, subordinating roles, and other working relationships

In addition to the above listed, the following items may be added to the job description if deemed necessary:

• Job requirements, standards, and specifications
• Job location where the work will be performed
• Equipments available to be used for the job
• Salary range

5 Tips to Note When Writing a Job Description

• Always use verbs in the present tense.
• For the purpose of clarity and adding meaning, use explanatory sentences telling why, how, where, or how often whenever necessary.
• Delete any unnecessary articles such as “ a ”, “ an ”, “ the ” or other stop words to make the description easy to read and understand.
• Be unbiased in your use of pronouns. Use the “ he/she ” approach or construct your sentences in such a way that you won’t have to use pronouns.
• Avoid the use of adverbs or adjectives that are subject to additional explanation and interpretation; such as some, complex, several, occasional, frequently, etc. Rather than use them, use clear sentences that define your intent.

What to Avoid When Writing a Job Description

Don’t be rigid with your job description, as this may make you miss out on many diligent employees who can become great assets to your business. Jobs are subject to change for personal improvement, organizational development, and evolution of new technologies. A flexible job description encourages employees to grow within their position and contribute over time to the growth and development of your business.

In conclusion , a well-written job description can make all the difference between a successful business that grows over the years and one that remains on the same spot after several years. The right employees, if chosen for your business, can help propel your business to great heights within a short period. Only with a good job description can you hire such.

• Go to Chapter 8 Part E: Planning your Business Legal Structure

More on Business Plans

How to Write the Management Team Section of a Business Plan + Examples

Written by Dave Lavinsky

Over the last 20+ years, we’ve written business plans for over 4,000 companies and hundreds of thousands of others have used the best business plan template and our other business planning materials.

From this vast experience, we’ve gained valuable insights on how to write a business plan effectively , specifically in the management section.

What is a Management Team Business Plan?

A management team business plan is a section in a comprehensive business plan that introduces and highlights the key members of the company’s management team. This part provides essential details about the individuals responsible for leading and running the business, including their backgrounds, skills, and experience.

It’s crucial for potential investors and stakeholders to evaluate the management team’s competence and qualifications, as a strong team can instill confidence in the company’s ability to succeed.

Why is the Management Team Section of a Business Plan Important?

Your management team plan has 3 goals:

• To prove to you that you have the right team to execute on the opportunity you have defined, and if not, to identify who you must hire to round out your current team
• To convince lenders and investors (e.g., angel investors, venture capitalists) to fund your company (if needed)
• To document how your Board (if applicable) can best help your team succeed

What to Include in Your Management Team Section

There are two key elements to include in your management team business plan as follows:

Management Team Members

For each key member of your team, document their name, title, and background.

Their backgrounds are most important in telling you and investors they are qualified to execute. Describe what positions each member has held in the past and what they accomplished in those positions. For example, if your VP of Sales was formerly the VP of Sales for another company in which they grew sales from zero to $10 million, that would be an important and compelling accomplishment to document.

Importantly, try to relate your team members’ past job experience with what you need them to accomplish at your company. For example, if a former high school principal was on your team, you could state that their vast experience working with both teenagers and their parents will help them succeed in their current position (particularly if the current position required them to work with both customer segments).

This is true for a management team for a small business, a medium-sized or large business.

Management Team Gaps

In this section, detail if your management team currently has any gaps or missing individuals. Not having a complete team at the time you develop your business plan. But, you must show your plan to complete your team.

As such, describe what positions are missing and who will fill the positions. For example, if you know you need to hire a VP of Marketing, state this. Further, state the job description of this person. For example, you might say that this hire will have 10 years of experience managing a marketing team, establishing new accounts, working with social media marketing, have startup experience, etc.

To give you a “checklist” of the employees you might want to include in your Management Team Members and/or Gaps sections, below are the most common management titles at a growing startup (note that many are specific to tech startups):

• Founder, CEO, and/or President
• Chief Operating Officer
• Chief Financial Officer
• VP of Sales
• VP of Marketing
• VP of Web Development and/or Engineering
• UX Designer/Manager
• Product Manager
• Digital Marketing Manager
• Business Development Manager
• Account Management/Customer Service Manager
• Sales Managers/Sales Staff
• Board Members

If you have a Board of Directors or Board of Advisors, you would include the bios of the members of your board in this section.

A Board of Directors is a paid group of individuals who help guide your company. Typically startups do not have such a board until they raise VC funding.

If your company is not at this stage, consider forming a Board of Advisors. Such a board is ideal particularly if your team is missing expertise and/or experience in certain areas. An advisory board includes 2 to 8 individuals who act as mentors to your business. Usually, you meet with them monthly or quarterly and they help answer questions and provide strategic guidance. You typically do not pay advisory board members with cash, but offering them options in your company is a best practice as it allows you to attract better board members and better motivate them.

Management Team Business Plan Example

Below are examples of how to include your management section in your business plan.

Key Team Members

Jim Smith, Founder & CEO

Jim has 15 years of experience in online software development, having co-founded two previous successful online businesses. His first company specialized in developing workflow automation software for government agencies and was sold to a public company in 2003. Jim’s second company developed a mobile app for parents to manage their children’s activities, which was sold to a large public company in 2014. Jim has a B.S. in computer science from MIT and an M.B.A from the University of Chicago

Bill Jones, COO

Bill has 20 years of sales and business development experience from working with several startups that he helped grow into large businesses. He has a B.S. in mechanical engineering from M.I.T., where he also played Division I lacrosse for four years.

We currently have no gaps in our management team, but we plan to expand our team by hiring a Vice President of Marketing to be responsible for all digital marketing efforts.

Vance Williamson, Founder & CEO

Prior to founding GoDoIt, Vance was the CIO of a major corporation with more than 100 retail locations. He oversaw all IT initiatives including software development, sales technology, mobile apps for customers and employees, security systems, customer databases/CRM platforms, etc. He has a  B.S in computer science and an MBA in operations management from UCLA.

We currently have two gaps in our Management Team: 

A VP of Sales with 10 years of experience managing sales teams, overseeing sales processes, working with manufacturers, establishing new accounts, working with digital marketing/advertising agencies to build brand awareness, etc. 

In addition, we need to hire a VP of Marketing with experience creating online marketing campaigns that attract new customers to our site.

How to Finish Your Business Plan in 1 Day!

Don’t you wish there was a faster, easier way to finish your business plan?

With Growthink’s Ultimate Business Plan Template you can finish your plan in just 8 hours or less!

Click here to finish your business plan today.

OR, Let Us Develop Your Plan For You

Since 1999, Growthink has developed business plans for thousands of companies who have gone on to achieve tremendous success.

Click here to see how Growthink’s professional business plan consulting services can create your business plan for you.  

Other Resources for Writing Your Business Plan

• How to Write an Executive Summary
• How to Expertly Write the Company Description in Your Business Plan
• How to Write the Market Analysis Section of a Business Plan
• The Customer Analysis Section of Your Business Plan
• Completing the Competitive Analysis Section of Your Business Plan
• Financial Assumptions and Your Business Plan
• How to Create Financial Projections for Your Business Plan
• Everything You Need to Know about the Business Plan Appendix
• Business Plan Conclusion: Summary & Recap

Other Helpful Business Plan Articles & Templates

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A guide to defining roles and responsibilities (with template)

When determining what makes a successful project, a lot of different aspects might come to mind — a clear vision, defined outcomes and expectations, known goals, etc. However, each of these has clarity as a common denominator. Everyone needs to be on the same page regarding what should happen, why, and how it will impact the product and/or the business.

Team members need to know what they need to do in any initiative, so the deliverables are clear. To achieve this, the easiest thing to do is to define roles at your inception meeting and then follow through on your agreements. What are the roles that need defining? Are all of them always needed? Keep reading to find out more!

What are roles and responsibilities?

Before we get started, it’s important to remember that the role in any given initiative isn’t the same as the position you’ve been hired for. Of course, this doesn’t mean that you might be a high-level manager assigned to deliver fresh coffee and pizza to the development team every morning. Quite the opposite!

This is an opportunity for anyone to step up and demonstrate talents that qualify this person for a different, even higher position! Every team and project will be different and will pose a unique set of challenges. Before we focus on building your optimal team, let’s first look at a typical set of roles that will appear in most of the IT projects in an agile environment.

Core agile roles

There are three core roles as defined by the  Scrum Guide  — developer, product owner/manager, and scrum master.

Developer (team member)

Developers create the product that your team delivers. Depending on the product, developers might include designers, writers, or programmers. They follow guidance and work towards a specific product goal.

Product owner/manager

The product owner is the person running the show at the high level. They’re responsible for what the project needs to accomplish and has the final say in all matters that involve facing the end user. A successful product owner focuses on maximizing the value that a product can deliver.

Scrum master

The scrum master watches over the team’s efficiency and ensures optimal use of the agile scrum framework. I often say that the ultimate goal of any scrum master is to find that the team no longer needs them and it’s time to move on to another group.

Supporting roles within developers

Now, let’s circle back to the developer/team member role and break it down to all the possible variations of it.

Project manager

If a product manager/owner is responsible for deciding what to do, then the project manager is tasked with making sure that the work goes according to plan. This role will also monitor, visualize, and report progress so that everyone can see whether the project is proceeding as planned.

Program manager

A program manager is an external project manager who helps the product owner/manager navigate the organization and identify what teams are needed to complete the initiative. Picture an old-time telephone operator who connects the cables to make calls happen. This person makes sure the right connections are kept and reports progress.

Code architect

While most projects will simply require you to sit down and code with a little bit of planning, in larger organizations such an approach can have disastrous results. An architect can step in and ensure that the coding is done in a responsible, unified, and standardized manner. They also try to reuse as many existing components as possible.

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Data/business analyst

This role helps the team define how the tracking for the project should work. An analyst then crafts the right impact hypothesis and tracking dashboard in the tracking suite of choice. This person should have a deep understanding of how tracking works and how to best implement an experiment to be able to tell whether it was successful or not later down the line.

Designer/UI engineer/UX engineer

This role works on designing an attractive interface, but also optimal, intuitive flows to make sure users can easily navigate the software. They make sure users can easily move from one screen to another and find the solutions to their needs.

Quality assurance engineer (QA)/tester

Individuals with this assignment make sure the project is delivered to its specification, free of bugs. This might mean manual testing or overseeing automated testing tools and seeking additional ways of delivering the highest quality of the project.

Copywriter/translator

Good copy can make or break a product and a poor, half-baked translation can leave the user feeling not cared for. Sadly, this was one of the greatest challenges with Skype , especially the Polish copy. Because of this, it’s vital to ensure someone on the team will focus on choosing the perfect words for your user-facing aspects of the product.

Integration engineer

Integration usually refers to someone who integrates new code into the codebase and makes sure it all works. Integration engineering may also be a role, where one verifies whether the new project fits the whole product in terms of design and language, as well as that all the documentation, manual, and training videos are up to date.

Release engineer

Very often the process of releasing a new increment presents a challenge. Sometimes it’s about the technology, sometimes about the process (i.e. getting approvals from Play/App Store), and other times about crafting the right marketing copy and screenshots. Either automatically or manually, this needs to be done and done with care and might require a dedicated person.

Roles and responsibility template

You might be thinking to yourself, do I really need all these roles on a project? The short answer is no. The selection and availability of roles will differ substantially depending on the organization.

I have worked at small startups where I felt like I was handling these roles myself, but also at large organizations that had decided departments for each function. As the product manager, make sure that you identify the roles that you absolutely need and communicate the required headcount.

You can do this during a project kick-off meeting . It might be easier if you use this template I prepared for you.

How to select the right number of roles for any given project?

Try to determine the minimal number of people needed to deliver the initiative’s end goal. Of course, a frontend can be put together by the developers without a designer, but that’ll probably look and feel bad. On the other hand, if you are redesigning a registration form, perhaps you can reuse all the strings and translations from the previous iteration.

The more people you have, the more conflicts and more potential failures might arise. Also, more people requires more resources, which might be difficult to secure. In general, it’s useful to take a less is more approach with projects.

When exploring the world of IT product development, you’ll find out that all the needed roles and processes will likely already be there for you to use. The biggest thing you need to do is check to make sure that everyone you need is available and that expectations are clearly defined. As this article shows, a project requires a lot of different parts working together to deliver a finished product.

Good luck crafting your products with your teams!

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Home » Employer Resources » Startup Center » The Ultimate Guide to Creating Investor-Friendly Business Plans [Format Guide]

The Ultimate Guide to Creating Investor-Friendly Business Plans [Format Guide]

Are you an aspiring entrepreneur wondering what a business plan should look like and how to create one? A well-structured business plan is an essential part of any successful venture. But it may seem challenging to give shape to your business idea and not miss out on any important details.

In this blog, we’ll discuss the key elements of a business plan and provide you with a useful business plan format with sample statements to help you on your way.

Table of Contents

Business Plan: An Overview

A business plan is a detailed document that outlines the objectives, strategies, and tactics of a business. It is typically used to secure investments, financing, and other forms of support from stakeholders. The document should include information such as descriptions of the company, its products and services, its customers, its marketing and financial plans, and its operational plans. Having a business plan is crucial for any business. It can ensure that everything is taken into account and that the business is well-prepared to succeed.

Business Plan Format with Sample Templates

Writing a business proposal can be tricky. Whether it is a small or large business, there are a few key elements you should consider when discussing a business strategy to enhance your business plan. This section provides sample templates that can help you streamline your unique business proposal.

1. Give an Executive Summary

An executive summary in a business plan is a brief overview that outlines the major points of the plan. It should be concise and engaging so that it captures the attention of potential investors or lenders. The summary should be in paragraphs with comprehensible headings and points. To write an executive summary, you should briefly answer the following questions (not necessarily all):

• What is the mission of your business or your company/organization?
• How did the idea of business come up?
• Who has the highest leadership?
• Which industry does the business belong to?
• What is going to be the employee base?
• What are the business’s products and services?
• What are the competitive advantages of the business in the already existing market/industry?
• What marketing strategy will be used?
• How many different operational teams are going to form?
• What is going to be the location?
• Who are the stakeholders?
• How will you fund the business?
• How much money is required to set up the business?
• What are its future financial targets?

Here is an example of an executive summary of an organic food product start-up.

“[Company Name] is a start-up business venture that specializes in the production and distribution of organic health food products. It was founded by two entrepreneurs who have 10 years of combined experience in the health food industry. The company is located in a major metropolitan area.

Our goal is to become the top provider of organic health food products in our market. We plan to do this by providing high-quality products and services and excellent customer service. We have identified some key competitive advantages that will help us succeed, including our experienced management team, our strong network of suppliers, and our commitment to innovation.”

2. Talk About the Business’s Key Products and Services

In this section, talk about the key products and services that your business plans to offer, along with their value proposition. Here, the term value proposition means why a person will care to buy your product or service. It also uncovers unexplored and potentially marketable opportunities.

Here’s a business proposal example that includes details of key products and services for an organic healthy food product start-up:

“Our business offers organic foods that are healthier and more sustainable. Our value proposition is that our customers can enjoy healthy, farm-fresh foods while feeling good about contributing to the environment. We strive to offer a wide range of products, from organic produce to organic sauces, fruit bars, and snacks.

As dietary habits have evolved, there are a significant number of people who prefer or require gluten-free products due to their health issues. We strive to produce gluten-tolerance-tested, authentic, and trustworthy gluten-free products with delivery and online ordering to make purchasing easier for our customers.”

3. Insight on Competitive Market Analysis

Business planners need to possess comprehensive knowledge of their target industry and market. Having great business analysis skills can help a business planner get a clear understanding of how to compete effectively and gain a foothold in the market. This section should cover the following information:

• Market Size: Describe the size of the industry, the expected growth rate, and the potential earnings it offers.
• Target Audience: Who are the perfect customers for your business? Include details like their age, where they live, and their preferences.
• Competitors: Write about your key competitors’ strengths and weaknesses and how you plan to counter them.
• USP (Unique Selling Point): Cite what distinguishes your product or service from the competition. What’s your marketing plan to set yourself apart from the competition?
• Price and Profit: Share what pricing scheme your business will follow and the estimated profit margin.
• Rules and Regulations: Specify any special rules or laws you must follow in your industry.

An example to describe the market analysis in the business proposal template for an organic healthy food product’s start-up will be like this:

“The health food industry in India is rapidly expanding, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 20% and an expected CAGR of 16% by 2026, equivalent to $30 billion. This growth is attributed to the increasing number of health-conscious individuals, who are expected to grow from 100 million to 176 million by 2026. Healthy snacking categories like cookies, fruit snacks, snack bars, and trail mixes are expected to experience significant growth.

Our products and services stand out due to our commitment to quality and reasonable prices. Our experienced management team, strong supplier network, and innovation are key competitive advantages. We aim to market our products to health-conscious consumers seeking organic alternatives to conventional foods, aiming to become the leading organic food supplier.”

4. Target Audience Selection

A business’s success is incomplete without fostering and developing its customer base. “You must know your customers and the customers must know you” – this should be the motto for your business.

After in-depth research on target customers, you can form the right marketing and sales strategies. The best way to identify customers is to understand their problems and needs. Simply put, your business’s products and services must solve their problems and fulfill their wants. Here’s an example to share about the target audience selection for an organic, healthy food product start-up:

“Our target audience is adults aged 18-40 who are health-conscious and interested in organic options. We will focus our marketing and sales efforts on this demographic, as they are likely to be more open to trying new products and more likely to embrace organic alternatives. Our goal is to become the leading organic food supplier for this demographic.”

5. Structure of the Company’s Management and Team

This section of the business plan template will discuss the teams and departments that will make the business run. Briefly outline the roles and responsibilities of a position and create a job posting to hire the right employee.

Here is one way to briefly mention your company’s management team structure:

We will have a CEO, COO, CFO, and other executive positions to manage the company’s operations. Several teams will be involved in running the business, including a customer service team, administration, human resources, sales and marketing team, finance team, operations team, and product development team. Each team would have its own set of roles and responsibilities.”

6. Marketing and Promotional Strategies

This is one of the most crucial parts of your business plan. The right marketing and promotional plans help spread the word about your product or service, increase overall brand awareness, capture market share, and thereby, increase the customer base, sales, and profits. Here is a brief overview of marketing and promotional strategies in your business proposal:

“Our marketing strategy is centered around a multi-faceted approach to engaging with our customers. We will create interesting and relevant content for social media platforms, optimize our website for search engines, collaborate with influencers, run targeted online ads, and send out email campaigns.

Our promotional efforts will include limited-time discounts, loyalty programs, and exclusive events to connect with our customers on a personal level. We plan to expand our outreach through partnerships with complementary businesses and attending industry events. To measure the effectiveness of our strategies, we will leverage analytics tools and gather customer feedback to make necessary adjustments. Our ultimate aim is to build trust and credibility in our brand.”

7. Details of Developing Sales Funnel

The growth strategy of a business depends heavily on its sales funnel strategy. This is because successful sales will lead to revenue growth and business expansion. An example to mention about the sales funnel in the business plan model is:

“Our sales funnel is designed to help our business generate more leads and close more sales. We will start by optimizing our online presence to increase visibility and attract potential customers. From there, we will create content and campaigns to nurture leads and build valuable customer relationships. We will then use analytics and other data-driven tactics to identify qualified prospects and target them with effective messaging and emails. Finally, we plan to use automated tools to manage the sales process from start to finish.”

8. Lay Out Your Financial Plan and Budget

This point of your business proposal will include details of the budget, balance sheet, revenue generation, cost reduction strategies, and other expenses. It should talk about the costs required to cover all business operations, management, and estimated future revenue projections. Here is a template of a business budget.

9. Add Appendix to Provide Additional Details

The appendix to a business proposal template includes extra documents that give more information about the proposal. You can put in any part that needs evidence, facts, or reports. Normally, the appendix can have these documents:

• Market research with charts and data from other sources.
• Licenses, contracts, certificates, or patent papers.
• Maps and plans for expanding the business facility.
• Contact details for team members, board members, and current investors.
• Reports and statements from quality-check experts.
• Financial documents like the balance sheet and the company’s account statements.

Every business needs a one-of-a-kind business plan format. It should contain all the necessary information and documents to give the reader, investors, and stakeholders a comprehensive overview of the proposed business. By taking the time to structure and create a detailed business plan, entrepreneurs, business planners, and analysts can create a clear and concise guide to help them achieve their goals. Executing a successful business plan, therefore, requires skilled professionals. If you are interested in the field of business management and helping businesses make valuable decisions, then look for work from home accounts jobs to contribute.

Have you ever drafted a business plan? Tell us in the comments below!

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Sandipta Banerjee has completed her Master's in English Literature and Language. She has been working in the field of editing and writing for the past five years. She started her writing journey at a very young age with her poems which have now evolved into a poetry blog. She was working as Editorial Head in a US-based publishing house before joining Internshala.

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What does a Business Planning Manager do?

A business planning manager is responsible for overseeing the business management process and ensuring that the staff meets productivity goals and targets. Business planning managers recruit and train new staff, handle budgets for projects, and identify opportunities that would increase more revenue resources and profits for the business. They also coordinate with clients for updates and adjust business plans as needed. A business planning manager must have excellent communication and leadership skills to manage teams and achieve long-term objectives.

• Responsibilities
• Skills And Traits
• Comparisions
• Types of Business Planning Manager

Business planning manager responsibilities

Business planning managers are responsible for managing customer service and quality engineering to improve supplier performance metrics. They identify business and sales opportunities, create presentations, and drive new and incremental sales. They also track and analyze budgets and capital expenditures, estimate retail consumer price elasticity, and develop and implement demand planning processes. Additionally, they provide training to project management audiences, monitor financial results, and analyze data to track procurement cost savings initiatives.

As a business planning manager, one must monitor and track achievement of project metrics, costs incurred, and resource allocation processes. They must also manage the development of tools and templates to increase the effectiveness of business analysis. They are responsible for creating metrics, performance measures, and reports that support business objectives and results. They provide guidance and suggestions for improvements based on data analysis and utilize continuous improvement principles to modify sequences and eliminate potential ergonomic and safety issues.

In summary, business planning managers are responsible for managing and training teams, analyzing data, and implementing processes to ensure macro alignment. They must also track and analyze budgets and provide guidance and suggestions for improvements based on data analysis.

For example, one business planning manager stated that they "identified business and sales opportunities and developed presentations and business reviews to drive new and incremental sales." Another business planning manager stated that they "developed and implemented demand planning processes and management cadence specific to pc consumer products in the retail and distribution channels."

As Dr. Gail B. Webb Ph.D, Senior Lecturer and Assistant Department Head of the Department of Management, Northern Arizona University said in an interview, "All managers look at financial information. They use it to analyze how the firm is doing and whether they are meeting their goals."

Here are examples of responsibilities from real business planning manager resumes:

• Lead central team summarizing and prioritizing all DOD opportunities, enabling more efficient and effective resource allocation across several program departments.
• Create and implement new product BOM's.
• Verify WIP movement transactions are complete and with the latest BOM changes.
• Provide management with managerial reporting, variances explanations, and KPIs for decision making.
• Perform discounted cash flow and ROI analysis to plan and approve capital equipment investments.
• Create and execute a global staffing scorecard to measure hiring process focusing on ROI to ensure essential staffing.
• Provide specialized CRM consulting, strategy development and systems integration services to help clients leverage technology to build effective customer relationships.
• Generate statistical forecast models using Manugistics and NEFOR (proprietary forecasting tool).
• Maintain and document forecasting and reporting procedures used in forecasting software (Manugistics).

Business planning manager skills and personality traits

We calculated that 19 % of Business Planning Managers are proficient in Business Planning , Competitive Analysis , and Direct Reports . They’re also known for soft skills such as Creativity , Interpersonal skills , and Organizational skills .

We break down the percentage of Business Planning Managers that have these skills listed on their resume here:

Create, communicate and coordinate quarterly adjustments to the annual plan as dictated by Corporate Business Planning and operational requirements.

Developed a market research and competitive analysis strategy that successfully differentiated the Ford product offering that increased sales and revenues.

Created, approved, and processed compensation transactions for senior executives and their direct reports.

Provided training to project management audience to promote efficient and standardized project management processes.

Develop metrics, performance measures and reports that support the business objectives and results.

Analyzed market trends, price cliffs, and competitor behavior to ensure pricing strategy drove profitable growth.

Most business planning managers use their skills in "business planning," "competitive analysis," and "direct reports" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential business planning manager responsibilities here:

Creativity. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a business planning manager to have is creativity. Their role and responsibilities require that "advertising, promotions, and marketing managers must be able to generate new and imaginative ideas." Business planning managers often use creativity in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "managed 6 business planners in multiple countries coordinating all scheduling, delivery, and inventory activities for $250m+ product line. "

Interpersonal skills. Another essential skill to perform business planning manager duties is interpersonal skills. Business planning managers responsibilities require that "managers must deal with a range of people in different roles, both inside and outside the organization." Business planning managers also use interpersonal skills in their role according to a real resume snippet: "trained new employees in business practices, new business development, and interpersonal communication. "

Organizational skills. business planning managers are also known for organizational skills, which are critical to their duties. You can see how this skill relates to business planning manager responsibilities, because "advertising, promotions, and marketing managers must manage their time and budget efficiently while directing and motivating staff members." A business planning manager resume example shows how organizational skills is used in the workplace: "influence strong organizational effectiveness including effective project management, cross-functional leadership, corporate training and organizational development. "

Analytical skills. business planning manager responsibilities often require "analytical skills." The duties that rely on this skill are shown by the fact that "advertising, promotions, and marketing managers must be able to analyze industry trends to determine the most promising strategies for their organization." This resume example shows what business planning managers do with analytical skills on a typical day: "performed project and product profitability analysis for all product lines of the organization. "

Communication skills. A commonly-found skill in business planning manager job descriptions, "communication skills" is essential to what business planning managers do. Business planning manager responsibilities rely on this skill because "managers must be able to communicate effectively with a broad-based team made up of other managers or staff members during the advertising, promotions, and marketing process." You can also see how business planning manager duties rely on communication skills in this resume example: "directed business planning and internal communication activity for the $1.6b global transportation industry. "

Most common business planning manager skills

The three companies that hire the most business planning managers are:

• Ernst & Young 56 business planning managers jobs
• Oracle 48 business planning managers jobs
• Samsung Electronics Device Solutions (Semiconductor & Display) 15 business planning managers jobs

Choose from 10+ customizable business planning manager resume templates

Compare different business planning managers

Business planning manager vs. manager, strategy.

A strategy manager is an individual who reviews a company's objectives for growth and works with executives to formulate actionable plans to achieve these objectives. To make comprehensive recommendations, strategy managers must conduct data analysis of the organization as well as the overall industry. They must provide assessments of market trends and identify business threats and opportunities. Strategy managers should also work with department heads to develop individual team goals and break them down into actionable steps for the employees to complete.

There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, business planning manager responsibilities require skills like "business planning," "continuous improvement," "supply chain planning," and "business performance." Meanwhile a typical manager, strategy has skills in areas such as "portfolio," "client facing," "digital marketing," and "strategic thinking." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.

Business planning manager vs. Product manager

A product manager is responsible for ensuring product development, providing the best marketing strategies, and effectively handling the sales and marketing team. Product managers' duties include monitoring the market trends and conditions, identifying business opportunities and plan initiatives, and collaborating the product launch process with the appropriate departments. A product manager is also responsible for generating ideas on improving product features, determining timetables and reasonable pricing, and analyzing product sales. A product manager must have excellent strategic and decision-making skills to contribute to its growth and profitability.

Each career also uses different skills, according to real business planning manager resumes. While business planning manager responsibilities can utilize skills like "business planning," "business objectives," "financial analysis," and "data analysis," product managers use skills like "product management," "qa," "product strategy," and "user stories."

Business planning manager vs. Market manager

A marketing manager is an executive who manages a brand or product's promotion positioning. Marketing managers analyze the trends in the industry and the demand for certain products and services. Typically, they attract more customers to purchase products and/or services and raise brand awareness through marketing campaigns. They research, identify, examine, and evaluate product demand. Also, they review advertising materials like print ads to boost the marketing strategy of the company and strengthen its campaign.

The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, business planning managers are more likely to have skills like "business planning," "business objectives," "financial analysis," and "data analysis." But a market manager is more likely to have skills like "customer service," "strong analytical," "excellent interpersonal," and "human resources."

Business planning manager vs. Manager finance planning and analysis

A manager finance planning and analysis oversees the daily operations of a company's financial planning department. They typically have administrative duties such as setting goals and guidelines, establishing timelines and budgets, delegating tasks among teams and staff, and reviewing financial reports regularly. They also perform research and assessments, gather and analyze financial data from different departments, coordinate staff, and solve issues and concerns when any arise. Additionally, as a manager, they must lead and empower staff to reach goals while implementing company policies and regulations.

Even though a few skill sets overlap between business planning managers and managers finance planning and analysis, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a business planning manager might have more use for skills like "business planning," "competitive analysis," "project management," and "business objectives." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of managers finance planning and analysis require skills like "customer service," "visualization," "financial operations," and "financial reports. "

Types of business planning manager

• Business Development Manager
• Business Manager

Product Manager

• Business Operations Manager
• Business Unit Manager
• Business Leader

Updated March 14, 2024

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

What Similar Roles Do

• What a Brand Manager Does
• What a Business Development And Marketing Manager Does
• What a Business Development Manager Does
• What a Business Director Does
• What a Business Leader Does
• What a Business Manager Does
• What a Business Operations Manager Does
• What a Business Partner Does
• What a Business Unit Manager Does
• What a Manager Finance Planning And Analysis Does
• What a Manager, Strategy Does
• What a Market Manager Does
• What a Media Manager Does
• What a Planning Director Does
• What a Planning Manager Does

Business Planning Manager Related Careers

• Brand Manager
• Business Development And Marketing Manager
• Business Director
• Business Partner
• Manager Finance Planning And Analysis
• Manager, Strategy
• Market Manager
• Media Manager
• Planning Director
• Planning Manager

Business Planning Manager Related Jobs

Resume for related jobs.

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• Collaboration |
• 4 ways to establish roles and responsib ...

4 ways to establish roles and responsibilities for team success

It’s challenging to stick to a project plan without clear roles and responsibilities. When you define team roles, you can help teammates collaborate and work through projects more efficiently. In this guide, we’ll explain how to establish roles and responsibilities and why doing so will benefit your team.

You know that chaotic feeling of managing a project where roles and responsibilities are unclear? As one team member moves forward with the design, another moves forward with content. Both team members write the copy included in the images, assuming this is part of their role. Because of the miscommunication and duplicated work, the copy takes longer to deliver and you must delay the project.

In this guide, we’ll explain how to establish roles and responsibilities and why doing so will benefit your team.

1. Determine what needs to get done

You can use the following steps when identifying roles and responsibilities at both the organizational and project level. The first step when defining team roles is to determine the various tasks that need to get done. Some questions you can ask to identify these tasks include:

Were past projects completed successfully?

If not, what could have been done better?

What tasks are still on your team’s to-do list?

What tasks does each team member complete daily?

Are these tasks part of each team member’s job description?

When you know how much work needs to get done, you can delegate tasks accordingly.

2. Identify gaps in responsibilities

While this step is most relevant when defining roles at the organizational level, you may also have gaps in responsibilities when working on projects.

After creating your to-do list , compare and contrast these tasks with what team members are doing. This comparison will help you identify any gaps in responsibilities. These gaps may occur unintentionally if team members’ original job description is unclear or if they get pulled into other tasks by others.

When you identify gaps in responsibilities, these gaps become your starting point for team realignment. You can then move team members back to their intended roles and figure out who should take over any additional tasks they were handling.

3. Clarify roles using a RACI matrix

A RACI matrix is a great tool for clarifying team member roles. RACI stands for responsible, accountable, consulted, and informed. You can set up a RACI matrix—or a table—with your tasks on the Y-axis and your team members on the X-axis. 

Assign one of the four RACI letters to each task and team member. This makes it easy for team members to know what their specific role is for each task. 

The legend below explains in greater detail what team roles work best with each letter of the RACI chart.

R = Responsible . This person performs the work. There should only ever be one Responsible per task, so everyone on the team knows who to go with for questions and updates.

A = Accountable . This person is responsible for approving the work and will likely be a manager.

C = Consulted . This person should give input on the work. This could be a team member or someone on another team.

I = Informed . This person should be informed of the progress and the outcome of the work, but they don’t give input on the work as it’s being performed. 

Additional tips for the RACI matrix: 

There should only ever be one Responsible per task ( R ) so team members know who is in charge of the work. If a task has more than one Responsible, team members can easily become confused.

While only one person should be accountable for each task ( A ), that same person can also be Responsible for the task ( AR ). 

It’s also important to limit the number of people you inform, as this can make your project unnecessarily complex ( keep I’s low ).

You can use a RACI matrix to set clear expectations for your team members and as a reference when executing projects. 

4. Get feedback from team members

Asking team members for candid feedback after you complete your RACI matrix can encourage team collaboration and provide insight into whether the roles you’ve assigned seem functional.

When your team members can voice their opinions, you create healthy team dynamics in the workplace by facilitating communication.

You can ask for feedback in several ways, such as: 

Hold a team meeting and ask, “Does anyone have an opinion on the team roles I’ve assigned?”

Schedule 1:1 meetings, so team members have a safe space to voice concerns.

Put out an anonymous survey so team members can share their honest responses.

When to clarify roles and responsibilities

There are roles and responsibilities at the organizational and the project level. As project manager, your job is to define both for your team at different times. Creating a solid team structure at the organizational level is crucial and should be addressed first if you’re noticing gaps in this area. 

For example, if a writer on your team is handling a lot of the project planning, it may be time to refocus their priorities and tasks. If a designer is responding to emails all day, realign your team structure so they have more heads-down time to create. 

Once your team knows their roles and responsibilities at the organizational level, you can approach each project individually. A designer may have general duties for their job role, but for a specific project, they may also be responsible for sending designs back and forth. 

The benefits of establishing roles and responsibilities

When you establish roles and responsibilities, you create a team structure that’s built to last. Team performance will improve when individuals feel confident in the duties they’re assigned.

When team members have individual roles, the team also benefits in other ways, including:

Increased productivity: You’ll notice an increase in productivity when you assign key responsibilities to each team member. When team members have clarity about their roles and responsibilities, they can prioritize the right work and get their most high-impact work done.

Improve hiring process: When you clarify job responsibilities for different roles, you make it easier for hiring managers to meet team needs when searching for new hires. Without a clear list of responsibilities, it may be difficult for recruiters to explain job roles to candidates.

Boost team morale: When there’s a lack of clarity in what your team members should do, they may feel unsure of their skills. Defining roles and responsibilities can boost team morale because everyone will have a task to accomplish. You can also align team members to work on tasks that complement their natural abilities so they feel confident in what they’re doing each day. 

More efficient resources: Your organization will waste less time and money when team members perform the correct job roles. As seen in the example above, two team members who didn’t know their job responsibilities on a project doubled up on work. This duplicate work wasted valuable project time, and as a result, it also wasted money. The more efficient your team is, the leaner the budget and timeline will be. 

With clear and concrete team roles, your team members should feel confident and motivated to achieve their responsibilities. 

Examples of roles and responsibilities

Every role has key responsibilities that fit with that position. When aligned correctly, team members should know their role and only be responsible for tasks that fit under their job role. Take a look at some common roles and the responsibilities these roles may have.

Role: Project manager

Responsibilities: 

Plan and develop the project

Create and lead the team

Monitor and share project progress

Role: Visual designer

Responsibilities:

Produce consistent visual work

Keep team members up to date with project milestones

Create direction for projects and guiding team members

Role: Content writer

Research and write copy

Communicate with designers and managers on progress

Revise copy after receiving feedback from clients

These responsibilities may change based on the organizational culture , work environment, and abilities of each individual team member. You can make your own job responsibilities template that includes more detail such as who the team member reports to and requirements of the role.

Build a strong project team with clear communication and structure

As team leader, it’s your job to prepare your team members for every project. The best way to create a strong team structure is through open communication. With team communication software, you can meet deadlines and reach team goals by making sure everyone knows their roles and responsibilities, when tasks are due, and where work stands.

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Business Planning Manager Job Description

Business planning manager duties & responsibilities.

To write an effective business planning manager job description, begin by listing detailed duties, responsibilities and expectations. We have included business planning manager job description templates that you can modify and use.

Sample responsibilities for this position include:

Business Planning Manager Qualifications

Qualifications for a job description may include education, certification, and experience.

Licensing or Certifications for Business Planning Manager

List any licenses or certifications required by the position: APICS, CPA, PMP, CPIM, EA, CSCP, PMI, ITIL, CSCMP, SAP

Education for Business Planning Manager

Typically a job would require a certain level of education.

Employers hiring for the business planning manager job most commonly would prefer for their future employee to have a relevant degree such as Bachelor's and University Degree in Finance, MBA, Business, Accounting, Engineering, Economics, Business/Administration, Management, Project Management, Marketing

Skills for Business Planning Manager

Desired skills for business planning manager include:

Desired experience for business planning manager includes:

Business Planning Manager Examples

• Microsoft Word (.docx) .DOCX
• PDF Document (.pdf) .PDF
• Image File (.png) .PNG
• Play a leadership role in market and product forecasting process with General Manager, Sales Executives, and Operations
• Support the team with analysis and business case creation
• Understand costs and cost drivers in standardized portions of the business
• Act as key Finance contact for the OEM Alliance Leader and their team providing insights and direction
• Gather and analyze data concerning the macro-economic, socio-demographic, broad scoped business environment from multiple sources
• Analyze the competitors and market trends locally and globally
• Design and develop the Long Term LES HW, LES A3 HW, Toner and Accessories forecast using market sizing knowledge, market share understanding, business and investment strategies, region understanding, channel strategies, and product/solution portfolio plans
• Forecast pivot table creation and modifications (macros, new content, new inputs, ) to support forecast change activity
• Influences and engages stakeholders at all levels across Print to achieve impactful business outcomes
• Creates marketing material and client presentations illustrating the complex techniques used in planning addressing both legal and tax issues
• Ability to develop effective working relationships with business representatives (Compliance, Scheduling, Service Level Performance, Technology & Facilities)
• Ability to successfully manage multiple projects/ changing priorities concurrently under tight timelines with multiple stakeholders
• 5-7 years experience in consulting, finance, audit, or other analytical role
• Experience working in highly technical industry with complex interrelationships and rapid pace of innovation
• Experience creating business plans, SWOT analyses, and strategic plans, including synthesizing primary and secondary research to support recommendations
• Direct experience preparing complex financial models and communicating insights in compelling and concise presentations
• Cross Organizational Initiative Support – Support multi-region relevant business initiatives, as directed by the Business Unit and/or Supplies Organization
• Story Behind the Numbers– Support the CBM Region Engagement Lead and Finance for quarterly insights around actual business performance that support the SBTN process
• Budget/Interlock Process Support – Work with the CBM Region Engagement Lead and Print/Office Finance to establish reasonable budget revenue plans for the upcoming fiscal year
• Ad Hoc Requests– Provide as needed support regarding desk reviews, business reviews (QBR, ), and any relevant upper management analyses, presentations, or checkpoints
• Supervise Pricing and Planning Analyst, who is responsible for coordinating and leading pricing and quote approval meetings, customer pricing
• Lead the Business Unit Strategic Plan and Operating Plan, regular updates of the sales forecast and target pipeline
• North American Commercial Vehicle market intelligence and market forecasts
• Lead and coordinate quarterly business unit reviews
• Develop and maintain various sales reports to increase transparency
• Collaborate with materials planning teams to produce the monthly S&OP production forecast
• You are analytical and have great business acumen
• You have first-in-class written communication skills for developing compelling Powerpoint presentations and proposals
• You have a good understanding of product and technology in the marketing and advertising world
• Excellent related experience in business operations, sales operations, program management, finance or marketing
• Post-secondary education in Business or Marketing
• 5 years of Marketing experience, digital marketing and/or product management, with working knowledge of marketing strategies and a demonstrated ability to apply them
• Coordinate and support Executive Partner conferences and events
• Manages complex, time- sensitive market research projects and synthesizes data and information to identify relevant trends and next steps
• The Manager Demand Planning – Business Partner owns the forecast that is driving the supply plan
• Serve as the key business planner working directly with CTO leadership team, our Finance and HR business representatives, key operational and other internal stakeholders to provide business decision support
• Develop and monitor metrics to measure the effectiveness of CTO business strategy and suggest necessary changes that form the core for subsequent annual business planning and strategic planning
• Work collaboratively with various business units to understand the drivers of their businesses and workflows and build/maintain a dynamic driver-based tool
• Train executives how to use the dashboards and discuss improvements, as needed
• Engage in other related value creating initiatives to transform budgeting or MRP processes
• Identify and define the required data sources to provide the bookings forecast, to include
• Construct models to improve the forecast and analysis
• Must have strong work ethic and ability to work beyond business hours as needed to complete tasks
• You will be responsible to complete all SOX work timely with signoffs and documentation
• You must have strong analytic, organizational, and problem solving skills
• You are expected to be able to prepare, analyze, and interpret complex financial reports
• You must have good knowledge of accounting principles and procedures and to be able to prioritize and organize effectively
• Proficiency using Microsoft systems
• Advising and assisting project team members in the application of project management methods, tools, techniques, standards and processes
• Ensuring that they are maintained throughout the project life cycle
• Creating project or sub-project plans and monitoring progress against tight schedule
• Setting up and maintaining systems for tracking, reviewing and recording project costs and revenues
• Coordinating the production of all reports and producing project summary reports
• Maintaining risk and issue logs and changing control records
• Developping and maintaining the project library, filing, recording and reporting systems
• Developping and supporting effective communication mechanisms between the project teams
• Contributing to the strategic planning process
• Developing a robust management information framework to monitor progress against strategy
• Or minimum of 10 years’ experience and knowledge and expertise in the use of project management methodology and tools
• Minimum of 10 years experience, including strategic planning, budgeting, forecasting, and process improvement
• Presentation creation and visual design
• Support global PTD resource planning processes, tools and guidelines to enable successful execution of key planning activities, including partnering with stakeholders, training for planners, data analysis
• Find creative ways to maximize the value of planning activities while minimizing the time invested to manage data
• Attention to detail - ability to evaluate “bigger picture” plans “on the ground” implementations
• Suggesting alternatives / improvements / new techniques in processes, flows, operational models and plans
• Ensuring that decisions are guided by policies, procedures and business plan
• Collaborates with internal teams to define scope, requirements, and implementation timeline
• Creates business requirements specifications
• Writes detailed specs for tasks and user stories in the backlog
• Provides regular communications and status updates to key stakeholders
• Anticipates problems and builds risk mitigation plans accordingly
• Ensures that process methodologies, templates, and tools are properly and consistently utilized
• Runs weekly meetings to coordinate Project Managers and teams
• Participates in post-mortems for closed projects, to assess future process needs
• Ability to work in a team and share knowledge
• Have a structured approach towards solving tasks
• Excellent leader and communication skills
• Strong analytical skills reporting and analysis experience and skills
• Respect tight deadlines for tasks and/or providing information required
• Ability to work in a very flexible sales environment

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Roles and responsibilities: Why defining them is important

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What are roles and responsibilities?

The benefits of defining roles and responsibilities at your organization

How do i start defining roles and responsibilities at my organization, what is a role, and how do you define them in your organization, how to assign a role for your organization, team, or next project, how to define a role’s responsibilities, how to write an effective job description, the essential components of a job description and free job description template, the job description template: an example.

Defining roles and responsibilities doesn’t just help you find the right person for the job. It also improves employee experience and supports the efficiency of your organization.

Let’s take a look at why it’s so important for employees to understand their roles and responsibilities.

What are job roles and responsibilities?

Every role has key responsibilities that fit with that position. It’s important to understand the meaning of the terms when considering the importance of roles and responsibilities. This will ensure that everyone can perform their job efficiently.

Job responsibilities refer to the duties and tasks of their particular roles. This is sometimes referred to as the job description. Roles, however, refer to a person’s position on a team.

The individual roles that make up a team vary depending on the organization or business. Let’s take the role of a customer service representative as an example.

The duties and responsibilities of a customer service representative are to:

• communicate with customers via phone, email, and social media
• respond promptly to customers’ complaints and questions
• give customers information about products and services
• process orders, forms, applications, and requests
• maintain a positive and professional attitude toward customers

From a customer service representative to the CEO, each person at an organization plays a role.

The running of any business depends on everyone understanding their roles and responsibilities. By understanding their duties, they can perform their assigned tasks efficiently.

All members of the team should fulfill their responsibilities to the best of their abilities for teamwork to be effective . This is true for both in-person and virtual teams .

To summarize, your role is your job title, and your responsibilities are your job description.

Clearly defining roles and responsibilities can help your organization in more ways than one. From boosting operational efficiency to improving your hiring process, let's look at some benefits.

Improve your hiring process and empower staff

It's important that both internal and external candidates understand a role's responsibilities. This way, you can give your entire team and hiring process a boost.

Candidates will have more precise expectations of the role and what success looks like in it. At the same time, your broader team will understand why new hires are on board, reducing friction . 

Defining roles and responsibilities also boosts transparency. It gives team members in a new role a clearly defined path from day one.

Waste less of your organization’s time and money

With well-defined responsibilities, the organization spends less of its resources ironing out redundancies. It also lessens the likelihood of interpersonal conflict . 

It can also help combat the challenges of working from home because remote employees will clearly understand what they are supposed to do.

It's just as important for supervisory and reporting chains to be well-defined. This way, the organization will experience less drain on its human resource management . In turn, this makes operational efficiency less of a lift and more of a natural output for all.

Roles and responsibilities should be defined before hiring or looking internally to fill a role. How can you find the right person for the job? And how can talent find the right opportunity if you can’t say what the purpose of the role is? 

Begin by asking the question: What issue has this position been created to address?

Do you have a product or service? Do you have waiting customers? Do you need to be able to serve your customers efficiently and effectively ? 

Maybe you need to get more customers and different types of customers. Or maybe you need different types of products.

If yours is a longstanding organization, you may be looking to ensure that you are running a tight ship. It’s tempting to just cut and paste existing roles. But it’s worthwhile to reconsider whether the issues and needs of the organization have changed.

However, your company might be a new venture. In this case, the initial definition of roles and their key responsibilities within a clear chain of command is an opportunity. 

You should invest time upfront to get better clarity on what issues are most important to address. This will help you decide what type of person is most needed.

Naturally, the issues may change every six months. But the effort to define responsibilities will help set expectations. It will also improve the likelihood of success.

The first step is to determine what tasks are necessary to put your product or service into a customer’s hands. Also, consider how those tasks are most logically grouped for individual employees’ undertakings. 

This is the process of deriving and defining roles from responsibilities.

There are several different business roles within an organization. And each role is critical to the overall success and operations of the company. Remember that there are no great one-person organizational roles: everyone plays a part.

But before you can assign roles, you need to define them. Here’s how to specify your organization’s roles:

Understand what work needs to get done

An organizational role is defined by its function within a larger team. This is true whether they are officially part of a team or not. The team is defined by its function within the larger organization. 

But to define any role in your organization, first start by analyzing the employee’s tasks. These are the tasks that any single employee is responsible for to achieve the organization’s end goal . This goal is the service of customers. This is true on both a profit-driven or non-profit basis.

For example, the Acme Widget Company may require the completion of the following tasks to service a customer effectively:

• Phone answering 
• Order processing
• Customer relations
• Product and delivery complaint response 

All of these tasks can logically be provided by a single person undertaking the role of a customer service representative.

Understand how each role fits into your broader team(s)

The list of tasks in the previous section is an example of a set of tasks defining a specific role. Once those tasks are assigned to that organizational role, they then constitute the responsibilities of the role. 

Let's consider a member of a customer service team reporting to a customer service manager. In this case, the role of customer service representative exists only within its team structure.

The point of the role is to facilitate communications between the customer and the organization. They also help with inter-departmental communication within the organization itself. 

A customer service representative cannot stand alone on a stage and get anything done.

Once the role is defined, the challenge lies in properly assigning it to an individual employee or prospect. This is an area where responsibilities drive the decision-making process. 

Once the role is defined, the first consideration is what are the personal characteristics required to fulfill it. 

Let's return to the customer service representative example above. Some characteristics needed for this role are: 

• Patience 
• Communication skills  
• Problem-solving  

These soft skills are essential for a customer service role. For example, the skill of placating an irate customer shouting over the phone is vital for your customer retention.

Plus, the ability to remain calm and analytical, to refuse to be shaken from problem-solving mode, is useful. This is true whether the employee is dealing with an irate customer or a challenging colleague . This means these skills are also crucial for integrating within the team.

Beyond that, the next point of consideration is the candidate’s past experience and resume. 

Has the candidate done this sort of job before? 

Does the role require an essential hard skill, such as Python 2.7 programming? 

Does the candidate have a particular past success that might demonstrate that he or she is a great fit for the role? But maybe past job titles don’t seem to indicate a perfect match? 

This is often “first screen” material. Hiring managers will want to take it a step further in the interview process. This can be through an external or internal review. 

For example, what are the candidate’s strengths and weaknesses? This is a stock interview question . But it can be used for more substantive purposes than it often is. 

The key point to draw from a candidate is whether there is some aspect to their personality or work habits that is at odds with the overarching professional goal of the position. 

For example, a customer service representative shouldn’t be: 

• Thin-skinned 
• Quick to anger
• Defensive 

They should be able to regulate their emotions well.

Consider whether the candidate will simply be a good addition to the team. Will they make the team better? This isn’t about “fit” so much as whether the person will find challenge and satisfaction working with the team. They should also bring complementary in-demand skills and perspectives the team needs. 

For internal candidates, is there a history of unproductive friction with other colleagues? Friction and dissent can be good things . But it depends on the individual’s maturity in handling the inevitable disagreements or tensions around alternative perspectives or approaches. 

Ask the candidate directly about a time when a teammate proposed an idea or plan that contradicted their own. Listen to their language to draw out whether: 

• They felt anger or resentment — my idea has to win .
• They saw it as an opportunity to work together — what does he see that I don’t ? 

Look for chemistry with existing team members but don’t over-index on “fit.” This can lead to homogenous teams that underperform. 

More generally, does the candidate bring something to the table that the existing team lacks? 

Does the candidate fill a gap? Or is there an issue of redundancy of skill-set? 

Is the candidate going to be able to persuade other team members they have a solution to a problem as the new kid on the block? 

In other words, a candidate’s weaknesses and strengths should be drawn out through historical example questioning. This will reveal the answers to some or all of these questions. 

A stock question that candidates often ask in interviews is, “What issue has my position been created to address?”

This is a question the organization should already have asked of itself. It should again ask the candidate: “What have you done in the past to address this issue that we have?” 

It is also worth noting that roles need not be permanent. A one-time or intermittent project may involve roles assumed by multiple people. Or it might involve multiple roles assumed by a single person. 

The analysis remains the same. 

It is often useful to utilize a RACI matrix to match tasks with roles and to assign responsibilities.

Personalized development unlocks the potential of the workforce you hire.

Before defining responsibilities, you first need a thorough understanding of your organization's needs. You should also have a clear understanding of the characteristics needed by the right candidate.

The next step in this process is to break down the role's discrete tasks, or responsibilities. This will help you form the role's description.

Job or role descriptions should be specific. They should include the task itself. But they should also include the required parameters of the task and the best way of accomplishing it.

By being explicit, you give candidates a sense of their work scope and how you’ll measure performance .

Explain skills and tasks required to fulfill the role successfully 

For example, an architectural firm might require interior as well as exterior or structural design. The responsibility section for an “interior design” role might read: 

• In-house and on-site communications and meetings with clients. Meetings can take place during regular and weekend business hours.
• Using AutoCAD, BIM/Revit software. Software is to be used for the design and development of interior finishes, concepts, and themes.
• Preparation of construction documents for interiors and architectural components. Prepare presentations for client review and sales. 
• Development of solutions to technical, design, and fixture delivery problems following established standards and codes. 

The tasks outlined above are discrete and exhibit the combination of soft and hard skills required. It gives candidates a clear understanding of their expected day-to-day responsibilities.

A few words on time-framing

Deadlines and time-frames are always important considerations in any responsibility definition as well. 

Ensure that the employee taking on the role has a clear understanding of the time considerations involved. They must understand the need to communicate deadline issues to their reporting manager.

Example: 

• Ensure that all projects are delivered on time, within scope, and within budget.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills. Professional confidence to effectively engage and interact with senior and executive management.

Make sure to include reporting structure, if applicable 

For internal candidates, it’s important to note any reporting requirements. Also include any supervisory responsibilities that may be relevant.

Communicating reporting requirements helps to minimize confusion and friction over chain-of-command issues. It ensures team members are all on the same page from the beginning. 

If not assigning the role to an existing employee, the next step is to take all the above information and craft it into a job description.

Here are some best practices that will help you compose effective job descriptions. 

1. Format for easy reading

Format job descriptions for easy reading and scanning, and use bullet points whenever possible. Break down responsibilities and qualifications into single lines. This way, candidates can easily scan when the description is posted online.

2. Be specific about required skills or knowledge

Call out any specific software or other required skills for the role. Also, include the specific educational and certificate credentials required. Make sure to mention the necessary experience needed for a candidate to perform this role successfully.

3. Be realistic about potential candidates 

It may be tempting to require that all candidates have a Ph.D. in a related discipline. Or that they must have director-level managerial experience at a Fortune 500 company . 

But be sure not to “over-qualify” the position. If you do, you run the risk of good candidates not applying for the job due to an over-ambitious job description.

To help you craft the perfect job description, we’ve compiled every essential element you’ll need to include. We've also included a definition and example for each element to help you get started. 

Once you understand all the necessary components, use the free template below as a starting point for your descriptions.

This may speak for itself, as in the customer service representative or the interior design examples above. 

However, you may be adapting an internal position for an external, public posting. In this case, be sure not to provide a job title that is pure jargon or overly “fluffy” or vague. Make sure that the job title conveys the nature of the job to outside candidates.

Example: Sales Team Project Manager

Description 

The description is a one or two-sentence “thesis” of the position. It should capture the essential purpose and function of the role. This is especially useful if the job title itself is on the vague side.

Example: The Sales Team Project Manager will be responsible for the planning, procurement, and end-to-end execution of all projects for our Sales Department.

If the job title is something like “customer service representative,” a description may be less necessary. That is unless there is something specifically unique about this job.

Responsibilities

The list of responsibilities is the meat of the job description and should already be drafted. Refine it and bullet it to make it easier to read. Break apart multi-step responsibility descriptions into separate line items that are scannable. 

• Assist in the definition of project scope and objectives. Involve all relevant stakeholders and ensure technical feasibility
• Ensure resource availability and allocation
• Develop a detailed project plan to monitor and track progress

Qualifications required

The qualifications required may not be something that has been considered until this point. What has been committed to paper thus far is what needs to be done and how many people are required to do it.

• BA/BS degree or equivalent work experience
• Minimum of five years of related industry experience in highly complex operating environments. Experience must include managing moderately-sized projects from start to finish
• You have a proven track record of on-time and high-quality project delivery

Reporting structure (for internal postings)

This section is not relevant to external job postings. However, for a position posted to internal candidates, a lot of trouble further down the line can be avoided. For example, it gives an interested internal employee the advanced opportunity to say, “No way am I going to work for Dave!” 

It also ensures applicants have a clear understanding of who they will report to and who will report to them. They can better understand how the role is essential to the broader team’s success.

Example: Role reports to the Director of Sales

Location, salary, benefits

Many job postings don’t include this information. This is especially true if the position is within an industry in which market rates are well-known. Or if it’s an executive position for which compensation will be a point of serious negotiation.

But for external candidates, in particular, salary information can be crucial. Your position may provide excellent employee benefits that other similar positions don’t. This way, you can attract better candidates.

For non-executive job-seekers, a posting with no salary or benefit information is easily glossed over and ignored.

Job title: Senior Technical Writer

Job description: ACME Documentation Services is a specialist in military documentation publication. We are seeking a creative but analytical problem-solver. They must simply and effectively communicate complex design, manufacturing, and equipment operational workflows.

Responsibilities:

• Interview SMEs for manufacturing and operational knowledge-gathering 
• Function within a project team. Provide services in support of technical manual and courseware development
• Create documentation and technical illustrations. Use CAD, Adobe Illustrator, Arbor Text Pro, XML editors, and web-based development applications 
• Communicate with SMEs, team members, and client representatives. Determine revision requirements and publication approval

Qualifications:

• Software proficiency described above
• Familiarity with Military Documentation Standards (MIL-STD-40051 and MIL_HDBK-1222C) 
• Familiarity with TRADOC Regulation 350-70 for training development
• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience 5+ years of Technical Writing
• US Citizenship, ability to pass a background check 

Location/salary/benefits: This position is located in our Sterling Heights, MI office. We offer a generous vacation and health benefits package. We also offer a retirement matching program, life insurance, and paid holidays. Salary commensurate with experience.

How to use the job description template

A completed job description template such as this is tailored for external positing. If your position is internal, you can include more specific supervisory information. You can also insert more specific salary or grade information.

A copy should be inserted into the personnel file of the employee hired for the role for future appraisal purposes. This is in the case that the question of responsibility allocation arises within the team at a later date. 

Put your roles and responsibilities knowledge into practice

Remember, a role is less of a label. It is instead descriptive of what someone does within an organization or project. It defines their relationship with other employees or customers. 

A responsibility is a specific task that someone in a job or project role is accountable for. It is what they do on a day-to-day basis. 

Organizations that clearly define roles and responsibilities can simplify their hiring processes. It can empower their people to do better and be more focused at work . It also helps boost operational efficiency by reducing confusion and redundancies.

Need help defining the roles and responsibilities at your organization? At BetterUp, we transform performance and growth for people, teams, and organizations where it matters most.  Request a demo to find out more .

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R unning a business comes with exciting opportunity, flexibility, and independence, but it’s also a major role to take on. Depending on your unique business situation, you’re probably doing much more than overseeing operations. Even when you’re involved in all the different everyday tasks, it’s important to remember your core responsibilities.

Why is it important to know the responsibilities of a small business owner?

Being a small business owner means wearing many hats and juggling many responsibilities each day. Understanding your responsibilities helps you stay organized and on the track to growth. Here’s why it’s important to know your responsibilities:

• Increased efficiency. Knowing that your responsibilities include the hiring and training process and overseeing your current employees means you’ll never neglect one group at the other’s expense. As a result, everyone will have all the resources they need to complete their work. With full resource access, your employees will get their work done more quickly, and your company will be more efficient.
• Less time wasted. When you sit atop the chain of command, your actions (or inaction) often affect your work environment and output. For example, if your development team can’t offer new goods or services without you approving the budget, your company loses precious time if you neglect your financial responsibilities. This possibility is far less likely if you know all your responsibilities.
• More knowledge. If you’re aware that business owners oversee customer service, marketing, finances, and all kinds of other tasks, you build knowledge in all kinds of areas. This means you have a stronger foundation to pull from when drafting a business plan for any new initiatives. It also means knowing what will and won’t work when executing your social media marketing strategy . For small business owners, knowledge is power.

12 responsibilities of a small business owner

Among the (many) responsibilities of a small business owner are the following:

1. Creating a business plan and strategy

As the owner of the small business, you decide the direction you’re heading and how you’ll get there. Setting benchmarks based on your long-term vision can help you understand what you need to achieve your dreams, whether that be time, resources, strategies, or a helping hand. If you do have a team supporting you, they’ll be empowered in their work when you’re transparent about your plan of action.

It can take a brainstorming session or two, or five, to narrow down what your most meaningful goals are and how they translate into actionable steps. Don’t hesitate to set aside time for high-level planning sessions where you measure progress, gather insights, and readjust the game plan if necessary.

2. Keeping track of finances and accounting

Most small businesses ( 81%, to be exact ) apply for a business loan or an SBA loan at some point. Depending on your needs and financial history, you’ll probably have to weigh your options when it comes to outside financing. Unless you’ve hired an accountant or bookkeeper, you’re also responsible for establishing and maintaining business bank accounts, payment processing systems, taxes, and day-to-day costs.

Not sure how you can apply the funds from a small business loan? Read our in-depth guide on the SmartBiz Resource Center: Determining Use of Proceeds .

3. Handling legal and compliance responsibilities

Running the ship comes with a new level of freedom, but it also means complying with rules and regulations. From the very beginning when you’re forming a business structure to the daily routines like drafting contracts and agreements, you should have at least some knowledge of the laws specific to your industry, location, and business type. When you need professional advice, it might be worth working with an attorney.

4. Managing marketing and sales

Even with a standout product or service, you’ll need to establish solid marketing strategies to bring customers through the door and drive your sales up. With so many available options out there, it’s up to you to decide the approach that fits best with your business goals. Some opportunities include social media, print advertising, PR, and event marketing.

5. Ensuring outstanding customer service

Next, once you’ve built a customer base, consider keeping them engaged throughout the sales process. Forming a relationship with the individuals who use your product or service is key to keep them coming back and even referring more customers. Whether you have a sales team or you’re wearing all the hats, there are plenty of tools out there that can help you manage and automate your processes. Looking into Customer Relationship Management (CRM) platforms is a great place to start. For inspiring customer service stories, check out this post: 6 Best Examples of Customer Service .

6. Identifying hiring and HR needs

As your small business grows, you might find that it’s time to hire help. Before you take the plunge and start placing ads, consider how much you’re willing to offer for potential candidates. Just like any other venture, this decision is probably a major turning point for your business so don’t underestimate the impact that hiring can have. Some of your responsibilities as the owner include identifying your company’s needs, crafting job descriptions, interviewing candidates, and making key hiring decisions.

7. Overseeing the team

The work doesn’t stop there—once you’ve hired the employees you think are a good fit, it’s your job to train, manage, and lead by example. When questions or concerns arise, you should be there for your team. Be sure to comply with local hiring laws to avoid any missteps that can result in big consequences. Visit the U.S. Department of Labor to learn what it takes to hire employees in your area.

8. Managing day-to-day operations

As a small business owner, you need to identify and manage all processes that keep your customers happy and support healthy growth, from manufacturing products to signing off on invoices. Although you don’t necessarily need to be hands-on in every process, you do need to make sure your team completes every step in a timely, thorough manner. Without this management, your products or services might not reach your standards.

9. Planning new initiatives

If your day-to-day operations aren’t getting you where you want to be, maybe it’s time to branch out. The responsibility for planning this expansion falls on you, though you can seek help from your employees or business partners. Market research will come in handy here, as will identifying other companies with which you can partner. So too will drafting a business plan for your new initiatives. Learn more via the SmartBiz Loans blog Ultimate Guide on How to Start A Business Plan .

10. Training your team

Employee training doesn’t stop after the initial onboarding process. Continued training is highly recommended, as it can minimize employee mistakes and prepare your team for any new paths your company might take. However, even if you task certain employees with executing your training program, it remains your responsibility to ensure everyone is receiving adequate instructions. After all, it’s your business – you wouldn’t want anyone working for you without being fully prepared.

11. Addressing technology issues

Small business owners like yourself should know the ins and outs of all the technology their company uses. This way, both new and longtime employees can go to you for quick, thorough answers. The result is a more efficient team that doesn’t fall behind when technological obstacles arise.

12. Staffing and management

As the owner of your company, you’re the final step for all human resources, customer service, and employee management concerns. Depending on the type of company you own, you may have sole discretion over these concerns. Alternatively, if you’re small enough that you’ve outsourced your HR to a third party, this entity may handle it. However, if you’re unhappy with how things are handled, you still get the final say.

Small business resources

As you see continued business success, you’ll probably identify key areas where you can grow. A boost in cash flow means that you can expand your programs and build your operations. Interested in receiving personalized recommendations and tips that can help you take your business to the next level?

Get started with SmartBiz Advisor today. Our free, AI-powered tool will be your Intelligent CFO, providing you with the insights and resources you need to strengthen your lending profile and qualify for the funding you deserve.

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The SmartBiz® Small Business Blog and other related communications from SmartBiz Loans® are intended to provide general information on relevant topics for managing small businesses. Be aware that this is not a comprehensive analysis of the subject matter covered and is not intended to provide specific recommendations to you or your business with respect to the matters addressed. Please consult legal and financial processionals for further information.

Program Roles & Responsibilities in a Business Continuity Management System

BUSINESS CONTINUITY ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Nearly every business continuity standard and regulation require clearly articulated roles and responsibilities. This includes ISO 22301, the Business Continuity Institute’s Good Practice Guidelines, Disaster Recovery Institute, FFIEC requirements on business continuity, and NFPA 1600.

For example, ISO 22301’s requirements say the following about business continuity and IT disaster recovery program roles and responsibilities:

• “To achieve its business continuity objectives, the organization shall determine who will be responsible, what will be done, what resources will be required, when it will be completed, and how the results will be evaluated” (Clause 6.2)
• “The organization shall determine the necessary competence of person(s) doing work under its control that affects its performance; ensure that these persons are competent on the basis of appropriate education, training, and experience; where applicable, take actions to acquire the necessary competence, and evaluate the effectiveness of the actions taken; and retain appropriate documented information as evidence of competence.” (Clause 7.2)

BENEFITS OF DEFINING BUSINESS CONTINUITY PROGRAM ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Beyond aligning to ISO 22301, and other industry-approved business continuity standards, there are four main benefits to defining roles and responsibilities, including:

• Ensuring the right individuals are in the right roles to maximize business continuity performance;
• Assisting organizational leaders with assigning the best individuals to each role;
• Ensuring that all  business continuity planning  participants understand what is expected of them;
• Helping to clearly identify any gaps in knowledge, skills, and abilities for individuals assigned to business continuity roles and responsibilities.

Often, when roles and responsibilities are not defined effectively, the wrong individuals (typically with the wrong skills, experiences, and credentials) are engaged in a specific task – usually resulting in poor performance or missed expectations.  For example, we see this when department-level managers assign a newer employee or an administrative assistant to develop a response and recovery plan for the department.  Many times, these individuals may not have the depth of knowledge about department operations or the authority to engage the right individuals to effectively plan for response and recovery.  Conversely, programs that attempt to have senior-level individuals complete a recovery plan for one of their several business units, typically struggle to capture the right level of detail. Both of these issues can result in an ineffective or incomplete plan.

DETERMINING BUSINESS CONTINUITY PROGRAM ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Although roles vary from organization to organization, some are common among business continuity programs.  The following tables highlight some of the common roles for managing the program.

  WHO SHOULD BE ON MY BUSINESS CONTINUITY STEERING COMMITTEE?

Steering Committee participation often varies based on the organization. Typical Steering Committee members include the COO, CFO, CIO, general counsel, and internal auditors. However, regardless of title, participants on the Steering Committee should be able to:

• Provide strategic input for the program
• Have a pulse on the business – he or she understands the organization’s strategic goals and can see when a change in the business can affect the program
• Assist in validating the scope, products/services, key findings, and strategies for his or her business area
• Ensure direct-reports and subordinates perform required business continuity activities
• Possess strong leadership and verbal communication skills
• Sees the value in having business continuity capabilities for their respective areas.

RESPONSE TEAM ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Business Continuity response team structures vary widely, but the following roles are common on most business continuity teams:

  STRENGTHENING THE PARTICIPATION LEVEL OF YOUR BUSINESS CONTINUITY PROGRAM

A simple process can help you define roles and responsibilities for your program.

DEFINE THE ROLE

Start by being clear about what you need from each role in the program. Make a list of all the roles in the program and then for each role, start a bulleted list of the role-specific requirements. This list should contain anything from time commitment to knowledge of the business to responsibilities for updating plans. But keep it focused on the most important things. We find most roles can be described in five to ten requirements.

Once the role is clearly defined, then it’s a question of finding the right person to fill it.

BRAINSTORM CANDIDATES

At Castellan, we talk about “GWC” when it comes time to clarify roles and responsibilities (we learned of this three-letter acronym from the book Traction by Gino Wickman, who described a business operating model called the Entrepreneurial Operating System). The person assigned to each role should be able to respond positively to the following questions:

• Do they Get it (understand the role and responsibilities)?
• Do they Want it (are they motivated to take on the responsibility)?
• Do they have the Capacity to perform it (ability and time to perform the responsibilities)?

Once the candidates are clearly defined, then it’s a question of deciding which candidate is the best fit.

SELECT THE BEST FIT

This is a gut feeling type of question – does the person understand what the role is about and how it all comes together to help the organization? Do they see why it’s important? For some people, it just doesn’t click.

Does the person honestly want to do the job? Or are they just going through the motions because they’ve been ‘assigned’ it. We often feel the need to ‘motivate’ or ‘energize’ people in their roles – and that’s one of the warning signs that the person just doesn’t want to participate or do the work. In those cases, you should stop banging your head against the wall and find someone who actually wants it.

Capacity encompasses the skills, resources and time needed to perform the role well. Use the role definition created above to ask yourself if a person has the mental capacity for the role, the skills and the time available to perform it. While Get it and Want it are mandatory, those who don’t fully have the Capacity for the role should still be considered if you believe they can develop the capacity with coaching or training in the next six months.

• When GWC is missing

If you’ve been assigned people that you believe don’t have GWC for the role – this section is for you! First – you must believe that you do not have to tolerate GWC issues in your program. Until you believe that, nothing will change. Even if it takes a year or more to fix – please know that you CAN have a program filled with people who Get it, Want it and have the Capacity to do the work! When that happens – EVERYTHING gets easier.

So how should a program manager address “GWC” problems? The first step is always to talk to the person one-on-one. During the conversation, you can ask them if they “get it, want it and have the capacity” for their role. 90% of the time, they know this is a problem and they’ll tell you all about it! 10% of the time, you’ll need to help them see your concerns. In either case, the first step is to talk to the person and get on the same page that the GWC is a problem. The second step is to ask them what we should do about it. Often, they can find or suggest someone who is a better GWC fit and you can move the program forward quickly. Sometimes though, you just can’t find the right GWC fit. In these cases, you must add it to an issue list as a long-term problem to be monitored and addressed. In some cases, particularly for people with limited capacity, you can put in place workarounds that still allow the program to accomplish its goals. However, if no solutions can be found, present the issue to the steering committee to get their help in problem-solving. Using clear roles and the GWC tool, over time, you can have a team comprised of the right people to help achieve the right level of resiliency. Additional considerations for determining business continuity team participation can be found in the chart below.

A QUICK RECAP

Documenting and communicating roles and responsibilities effectively has two key benefits for an organization:

• The organization will have “ the right people in the right seats “. This will help to ensure that the program continues to grow and develop by having competent individuals who are engaged in driving the program forward.
• Individuals filling each role will clearly understand their given responsibilities and expectations. This will help ensure that program actions are completed, the program is maintained, and, holistically, individuals are seeking to reduce gaps and improve organizational resilience.

Castellan has helped to develop business continuity and IT disaster recovery programs for organizations of all sizes in nearly every industry. Over the 15 years that Castellan has been developing world-class programs,  one of the six core elements  that we have identified as a key driver of program success is Participation.  

If you want to accelerate management’s support for business continuity – you need to check our free guide to building executive support: the  Executive Support Amplifier .  It provides the 5 easy steps to build support without having to ‘sell’ anyone!

If you’re ready to get hands-on help to quickly get results, please book a strategy session with a member of my team today to:

• Discuss your program goals
• Explore your current challenges
• Discuss how to achieve your goals

For more on integrated risk management, download our e-book, Conquering the New World of Risk with Intgrated Risk Management.

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Business Continuity and Crisis Management Consultants

Business Continuity Program Roles & Responsibilities

July 6, 2021 By //  by  Bryan Strawser

Have questions about your business continuity program? You’re not alone.

When we talk to businesses about their business continuity program and business continuity plans, we get asked everything from “What is one?” —at the most basic level, many businesses also don’t understand that a business continuity plan, or BCP, is fundamentally different from a disaster recovery plan; the former is focused on keeping your business running through a disruption and the latter on resuming and recovering technology applications and infrastructure after a major technology disruption occurs—to questions on a more granular level, like:

• What are the important roles in a business continuity program and plan?
• What do those roles and responsibilities mean?
• How do these roles interrelate?
• How do we ensure we place the right people in each role?

As risk management and business continuity planning experts, Bryghtpath helps companies cut through all this confusion and get clear about the path to business continuity planning success.

About Bryan Strawser

Bryan Strawser is Founder, Principal, and Chief Executive at Bryghtpath LLC, a strategic advisory firm he founded in 2014. He has more than twenty-five years of experience in the areas of, business continuity, disaster recovery, crisis management, enterprise risk, intelligence, and crisis communications.

At Bryghtpath, Bryan leads a team of experts that offer strategic counsel and support to the world’s leading brands, public sector agencies, and nonprofit organizations to strategically navigate uncertainty and disruption.

Learn more about Bryan at this link .

PO Box 131416 Saint Paul, MN 55113 USA

[email protected]

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Vocabulary - job roles

LESSON OVERVIEW

The main objectives of this lesson are to:

• learn and practise phrases related to job roles;
• watch and discuss a promotional video for a company;
• talk about different responsibilities people carry out in a company.

With this lesson, students talk about job roles, practise phrases about the topic (e.g. responsible for, set goals, solve tech problems , etc.) and discuss their personal experiences and perspectives. They watch a short promotional video for a famous company and discuss its business model and potential job opportunities. Students also plan the first five hires for their fictitious business and present their ideas to the class.

VOCABULARY AND DISCUSSION

This lesson starts with a warm-up in which students discuss questions about their tasks and preferences at work. Then, they read texts describing different responsibilities and complete the gaps with phrases to talk about job roles (e.g. help the company grow, be in charge of, report to , etc.). After that, students reflect upon their current job, a dream job or a job they used to have and complete sentences about it using the target vocabulary. Next, they match roles with the descriptions they have studied previously. Following that, students analyse the roles and talk about which ones they would and wouldn’t like to have.

In this part of the lesson, students watch a promotional video for Bolt and complete sentences about the services it provides and what the company is proud of. Following that, students watch the video again and match numbers with their corresponding facts. Then, they discuss questions about the company, its business model, company culture, and potential job opportunities. Finally, students imagine they are going to start a business and talk about job roles. First, they deliberate over the first five employees they would hire. Students consider key aspects of hiring and retaining employees for business growth. After that, they prepare and present their ideas to the class.   

HOMEWORK/REVISION

This lesson also includes an additional task that you can use as homework or revision. In the task, students choose the correct word in the statements. Then, they complete them with their ideas. The task is available in the teacher’s version of the worksheet. You can print it and hand it out to your students. It’s also included in the e-lesson plan.

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I like the way the lesson is divided. this is key vocabulary essential for business English. Great lesson!

Thrilled to hear that you like it! Thanks for the comment!

I love all the lessons you guys make! You could make some lessons for kids, that would be amazing!!

Thanks, Tamara 🙂 We’re not planning to create lessons for kids, but who knows what the future holds 😉

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