Worksheet: Give the worst cross-functional process an owner

Planning, budgeting and pricing cross every function, so nobody owns them. This sheet names these processes, picks the one that hurts most, and gives it an owner, a calendar and a deciding meeting. It builds the Competent step of the check:

The handful of processes that cross functions (planning, budgeting, pricing, product changes) each have a name, an owner and a calendar.

Step 1. Name the processes that cross functions

Process	Functions involved	Owner now	Has a calendar?	Where it hurts
Strategy to annual plan
Budget
Pricing
Product changes
Sales, stock and production plan
e.g. Budget	Finance, sales, operations	Finance, by default	No	Sales and stock numbers disagree in March

Step 2. Give the worst one a calendar

Step	Date	Who	What they bring	What comes out




Decision meeting				The decision, recorded

The process ends in a meeting that decides. Name its members.

Step 3. Name the owner

Process	Owner	What the owner answers for

A business under 50 people: pick the process where the sales, stock and money numbers most often disagree, usually the annual plan or pricing. Give it one owner and a fixed date, and end it with a meeting that decides.

Done when: each process that crosses functions has a name, an owner and a calendar, starting with the one that hurt most.

Adapted from our own operating model proposal (PJP, 2018).