AUTHORS

Don Holley
Don Holley
Partner

Pelican Products Australia, a successful subsidiary of Pelican Products INC, operates in Knoxfield Victoria. They specialise in manufacturing roto-moulded protective packaging for safeguarding critical assets for Government, Commercial and Industrial applications.

Additionally, they sell protective cases and lighting systems through channel partners to both professional users and consumers, enjoying a strong global market position.

The new Managing Director, Wayne Pannell, aimed to elevate the strategic planning capabilities of his senior leaders and foster a unified and accountable leadership team. To achieve this, Wayne initiated a strategic planning offsite with the objectives of creating a cohesive team dynamic, and shared understanding of the strategic goals of the business. External facilitation was sought to provide a fresh perspective and allow Wayne to actively participate in the process.

APPROACH

RSM’s approach focuses on supporting leaders in developing strategic planning capabilities. Given the rapidly changing landscape, agility in planning, incorporating experimentation, and regular external reviews are essential. For operational teams, an external perspective is particularly valuable, as senior leaders often find it challenging to allocate time for external thinking.

The strategic planning process involves three stages:  

  • SCAN to identify external trends impacting the business
  • PLAN to establish clear three-year objectives
  • ACT to implement and monitor progress

“I worked closely with Don during our strategic planning session.   
He led the team during our workshops, kept us on track when conversations diverted from the topics  
at hand, and brought the discussions back to strategic levels when our focus narrowed too much. He also challenged the team when he thought we could do better or go deeper on a question.  
We covered a lot of ground during the meetings, Don is an excellent facilitator and helped us achieve a great outcome for our business.”  
Wayne Pannell- Managing Director 

PROCESS

1. Pre-Work: Functional leads were assigned specific topics for investigation during the Scanning phase of the offsite, including engineering trends, business analytics, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, supply chain trends, and consumer and retail trends. Key questions were provided for each topic to guide the investigation. Additionally, the heads of revenue-generating functions were tasked with completing the Current State Business Model Canvas, reviewing the competitor landscape, and optionally, the Future State Business Model Canvas. They were also asked to identify changes and growth opportunities and make strategic decisions with recommended responses.

2. Workshop: The two-day offsite workshop consisted of various sessions: 

Day 1

  • Localising Vision & Mission to align with the global vision
  • Presentation of prework environmental analysis (SCAN)
  • Identifying Growth Initiatives
  • Conducting SWOT Analysis
  • Agreements on Key Strategic Initiatives for growth and enablers

Day 2

  • Addressing Critical Questions
  • Developing a 3-year Strategic Plan for PelIcan Australia
  • Considering People Impacts and Operational Capacity
  • Outlining Action Items

“I had the pleasure of working with Don during Pelican’s senior leadership team’s strategic conference. 
Don skilfully guided the team through the process by keeping the team focused and on track to the brief. 
Don’s collaborative approach fostered robust and honest discussions within the group which resulted in “buy in” from all parties. 
I highly recommend Don as a facilitator and look forward to working with him again in the future..” 
Steve Coombes- Financial Controller 

DELIVERABLES 

1. A 3-year plan which was developed, understood and supported by the Senior leadership group.
2. Collective understanding of business challenges and opportunities.
3. Experience of collaborative strategic planning.
4. Team-building outcomes.

Overall, the strategic planning offsite aimed to strengthen Pelican Products Australia’s leadership team and facilitate a unified approach towards achieving strategic objectives
under Wayne Pannell’s guiding philosophy of “one team one fight.”

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