A few years back I came up with this cool diagram that I call the FP&A Operating System:

It’s the framework I have personally used multiple times to transform finance teams from reactive to proactive.

But this is all just noise if you aren’t optimizing for the thing that matters most…

Insights

That’s right. FP&A at it’s core is an insights department.

Reporting → the tangible things that surface insights
Analysis → the act of surfacing insights
Forecasting → providing insights on where the company is headed
Consulting → the act of communicating insights

And as finance leaders it’s easy to get caught in the trap of asking for things that you think will provide insights, but then finding they fall short of actually providing those insights.

Which means it makes more sense to focus our teams on providing insights, not performing tasks.

Let’s talk about how to do that…

A great finance leader is often a person who can listen to what the business is talking about, then translate that into what needs to be done. Usually in the form of a report or analysis.

And a great finance employee is often a person who can listen to what their leader is asking for and translate it into what they really want. Usually it’s an insight they need.

Here’s an example of how it works incorrectly in the real world:

But if you hire great finance talent then you don’t need to do this.

Instead, just ask for what you need “I need to know what’s driving churn higher”.

Maybe you give some ideas of what you think is causing it, but if you have solid team members then you shouldn’t have to tell them what and how - you only need to tell them why.

Being in touch with what you really want is a skill that great finance leaders possess and immature leaders struggle with.

It’s why I’m such an advocate of finance leaders freeing up capacity to think.

I can already hear the argument - “but what if my team isn’t very good at interpreting what I need?”

1) Think about getting better people (check out the Finance Manager Playbook)
2) Teach them how to think like you

Chances are, you’re probably pretty good at knowing what you need to do to solve a finance problem. It’s why you’re in the role you’re in.

But if you’re always doing it for your team, they’ll never learn how to do it themselves.

So next time you sit down to translate a business problem into an insight, grab someone on your team to sit with you while you do it.

Literally, have them sit next to you or open up a Teams meeting and have them watch you while you think out loud.

It’s a waste of time in the short term. But such a help to your team’s development in the long term.

And if you don’t lead people yet, try this: Before you get up to go ask your manager for help, ask yourself, “what would my manager tell me to do?”

Sit there for a few minutes and try to have a hypothetical conversation with your manager. Seriously. It works! This was my trick early on in my career.

Your goal is to fill your team with people who can hear a problem and translate it to an insight.

The report you think you want is just a step on the way to the insight.

So next time you need an insight, skip the report request.

If your team is struggling to produce the insight, show them how you’d do it.

Say hi 👋 on LinkedIn