How much of your planning week happens outside Anaplan?
Gathering data. Checking it. Checking it again. Those hours rarely show up anywhere. Log one week to see the split, and where to look first.
Can't fill this in from memory? That's the gap the log closes.
The work before the planning is the work nobody counts.
Every planner does it. An extract here, a reconciliation there, a quick check that the numbers match before anyone will trust them. Each step is sensible. Together they become a part of the week that no report shows.
Until you can see those hours, you can't tell which checks protect the plan and which are there out of habit.
It isn't a people problem. It's a visibility problem.
Two ways to find out
Ask one question
Ask each planner roughly how many hours last week went on gathering and checking data outside Anaplan.
Rough answers are fine. You're looking for the size of it, not the decimal places.
Use the planning time log
For a fuller picture, use the log for one week. It works out the split and suggests where to look first.
How the log works
Share it with your planners
Download the workbook and send it round. Pick a week that looks like most weeks.
Log one week
Your planners note where their hours go, in Anaplan and outside it.
See the split
The log works out the split for you and suggests where to look first.
If we got those hours back, what would our planners do with them?
Once you have your split, compare notes with us.
We work on Anaplan and nothing else, so we've seen where planning hours tend to hide. Send us what your log shows and we'll talk it through.
It's not a sales pitch. There's no follow-up call unless you want one.
See where the week goes.
One week of logging. One clear split. One place to start.
