Plan for your marketing plan to fail.

• Author: Hoover, Doug
• Position: Cover story

Dynamic Planning focuses on internal communications with firm leadership and regular revision. But mostly it's about getting things done.

"... plans are useless, but planning is indispensable."

--Eisenhower

While it is okay for your plan to fail, it is never okay for you to fail to plan. As we head into the annual planning season, it is important to remember that no marketing plan is ever perfect or complete. Good plans must change to meet changing conditions, so the original plan rarely resembles what actually happens. Plans have to be continually updated, adjusted and communicated to stakeholders. That's the bad news. Accept it.

The good news is that this is exactly the way successful lawyers approach planning. Think about the way attorneys intuitively present smart matter management disciplines to their clients:

* First, clearly define the scope of work and the definition of success.

* Second, identify the resources needed and milestones around which we might decide to adjust the course of action.

* Third, implement the plan, manage the budget and communicate regularly with stakeholders, watching closely for those unforeseen extraordinary events that can negatively or positively impact the plan.

* Finally, debrief and evaluate results based on performance metrics and revise your plan for the next round of work.

So let's adopt a similar approach to marketing and business development plans this year. Whether you thoroughly embrace it or just cozy up to it, it's time to introduce Dynamic Planning to your firm.

Dynamic Planning

Whether you are at the helm of an AmLaw 100 department or the one-person staff to a smaller firm, dynamic planning is something we all recognize as an essential ongoing part of the law firm CMO's job.

Dynamic planning is a ongoing process, not an end product. It recognizes a strategic direction, but that some things work, some things don't, and some things need to change quickly. It recognizes that core activities need to be sustained to support the firm's client service standards (internally and externally), but other resources should be allocated when and where they are needed to move the firm forward. The 2014 budget and plan you submit is a place to start. But it is just that--a place to start. Plan to change your plan regularly.

Every marketing plan should be tightly aligned with the firm's strategic vision and designed to prioritize initiatives, generate action and create tangible, measurable value for the firm. While strategic planning is important, the most valuable part of a law firm CMO's job is getting the right things done. Dynamic planning is rarely about revising strategy; more often than not, it is about shuffling priorities, managing limited resources, communicating internally with firm leadership and revising the implementation plan month in and month out. This is the CMO's seat at the table. Dynamic planning helps you own it.

Dynamic planning starts in much the same way as you would approach the traditional annual plans. The difference is in...