Projects without review lead to endless cycles of failure. This is a phrase I often tell my team, whether it's a small promotional event or a grand annual plan, review is a must. At the end of September, I participated in the review meeting of the National FMCG Conference organized by New Distribution. The team members spoke actively and did a commendable job, but there were also common issues found in all review meetings. Today, let's explore the underlying logic of work review. The Core of Review Work Let me give an example: In New Distribution's review work, a team member raised the issue of preparing materials for attendees' bags. It seemed trivial, but it was indeed a big project. The day before the conference, all team members had to work until 2 or 3 in the morning to prepare the bag materials for guests, which was very energy-consuming. How should this be reviewed? 1. Question whether this task has value. Many guests had needs for certain product introductions and needed to take them away after the meeting. The bag materials served as a good bridge, meeting the needs of both parties, so it was valuable. Therefore, valuable tasks should continue to be done. 2. Question whether this task is correct. The day before the conference, we were busy during the day and worked until 2 or 3 at night. The next day, we had to get up early to prepare. Without sufficient sleep, we couldn't greet people with full energy, which was not worth the loss. The method was wrong, so wrong things should be stopped. 3. Question whether there are other ways to do this task. Since the materials are valuable to both supply and demand sides, and we can't rely on fatigue tactics, the method is to compile all materials into a conference guidebook, which has advantages such as reducing costs, reducing workload, being easy to consult, and meeting the needs of both supply and demand. Therefore, things that can be improved should be started. From the above, it seems like a simple matter, but it reflects the core content of project review: valuable things should continue; wrong things should stop; things that can be improved should start. Scaling this up, we derive the three key points for corporate work review in 2021: 1) Determine what to continue doing: Which tasks continuously bring value to downstream customers, such as strictly controlling channel crossing, combining pricing and promotion strategies to achieve dual growth in sales and profits for distributors. 2) Determine what to stop doing: Which tasks have a counterproductive effect on the market and downstream customers, such as unrealistic channel policies and pushing inventory to channels to meet performance targets, causing negative market reactions. 3) Determine what to start doing: Which tasks can be improved by changing methods, such as discovering through experiments that a certain channel is growing rapidly, so it should be fully promoted next year. Examples of Methods in Review Work Continuing with the above case: The bag materials can be improved into a book. How many copies of this book are planned? How many corporate profiles are planned to be included? How many should be included in each section? These need to have expected targets, otherwise, if too few are included, the information is insufficient; if too many, it becomes mixed and affects the effect. Therefore, a specific goal is needed. Which materials can be included in the book? Which can be placed on the homepage? How should different sections be arranged? These questions need discussion. Companies have different organizational structures, and each organization easily falls into its own silo thinking. For example, colleagues dealing with software clients may think software is essential for digital transformation and should be placed first; colleagues dealing with FMCG brands may think good products are the primary factor and should be placed first. Both have merit. Therefore, a measurement standard is needed. How should this book be designed? What is the budget? What level of quality should be achieved? Is it within the capabilities of our existing team? So, an achievable goal is needed. Next, the core of this work is to focus on this supply-demand connection book. Other things unrelated to the book are not part of this small project. At the same time, a timeline should be set, such as when to complete corporate data collection, when to complete layout, when to complete printing, etc. Therefore, project relevance and time planning are needed. Summary: This is what we often call the SMART principle. Making annual plans is about breaking down past and future tasks into small goals, then conducting SMART analysis and planning. The more important the task, the more detailed the planning. Ten years ago, when I worked at Nongfu Spring, the most important market planning project was the water test. During the review, we analyzed in detail the effects of the previous year's water tests (including test standards, venue selection, personnel profiles, number of participants, activity formats, communication content, etc.), and finally formulated unified standards for water tests and the total number of participants for the next year. Execution was divided into three regular forms: 1. Route water tests: Salespeople conduct no fewer than 3 water tests with store owners during daily route visits. 2. Community water tests: Every Saturday is designated as product promotion day, planning to conduct community water tests no fewer than 3 times in the area, with no fewer than 800 participants per session. 3. Event marketing water tests: Conduct water tests with onlookers during marathons, store anniversaries, school sports meets, and other sudden key events. Annual water tests are large plans broken down into small projects, and each small project review cannot be separated from the SMART principle. Of course, project review also uses other methods like the PDCA cycle. How Should FMCG Companies Review for the 2022 Budget? When it comes to next year's budget, a deeper thought reveals that there are too many things to review. Taking a large region as an example, even if you understand the core of review and learn the methods, you still don't know how to start or where to start. The simplest way is: Focus on the people and things related to organizational efficiency and performance growth. 1. People and things related to organizational efficiency Four things need to be done: a. Continue to pay attention to and cultivate people who have a positive impact on organizational development: In organizational efficiency review, the most critical thing is the match between people and the organization. The organization is developing, people are changing, and people must adapt to the organization's development and possess the capabilities required for it. Of course, organizational development also helps people improve. The right people are the foundation for improving organizational efficiency. Without enough right people, organizational efficiency improvement is very limited. b. Establish a mature incentive system: Organizational efficiency review should consider systematically guiding and motivating the right people, which determines whether the organization's energy output is sustainable and whether its potential is sufficient. This requires the construction and improvement of job level systems, compensation systems, and performance management. c. Eliminate those who cannot keep up: Those who cannot keep up are the biggest killers of organizational performance. In organizational efficiency review, we must avoid the situation of bad money driving out good money. In an organization without a good exit mechanism, when underperforming employees (bad money) are not effectively eliminated, the ones who leave will be high-performing employees (good money). Therefore, if a company wants to establish comprehensive and complete retention policies, it cannot lack an effective employee elimination management mechanism. d. Establish and improve the talent pipeline: Talent is like the cells of a company, with metabolism. Those who leave must be promptly replaced. A talent attraction mechanism that matches the company's development must be established. This should be a key focus in organizational review. Summary: Organizational efficiency focuses on people. Who should continue to be used, continuously motivated and guided; who must be eliminated; which mechanisms must be immediately modified or established. This is the core content of review. In the 2022 budget planning, the personnel section is of utmost importance. 2. People and things related to performance growth Three things need to be done: a. Does the channel coverage model need refinement? Or can the existing channel model be more efficient, lower cost, more scalable, and more diversified in reaching consumers? If there is room for improvement in any aspect, that aspect is a key review project. b. Is the investment in market expenses valuable? From the financial reports of many listed companies, we can see that while sales grow, the growth rate of expenses is much higher than the growth rate of sales. Therefore, reviewing whether market expenses are valuable is an important indicator of performance growth. c. Does basic work execution need refinement? Basic work includes sales basic work (such as store coverage, display, visits, and sell-through of frontline staff) and market basic work (such as consumer education, product experience, and brand image building of frontline staff). These are also key points for performance growth. In summary: The review of performance growth should clarify which things to amplify, replicate, and continue; which things are not worth it, with poor cost-effectiveness, and should be explicitly prohibited; and which things to start changing. This is also the core content of review. Final Thoughts: It is worth mentioning that I have organized multiple annual budget planning sessions myself. Many formalities are truly annoying. Most of the time, budgets are budgets, and actual work remains the same. Budget work is like a mandatory assignment at a certain stage. I advocate that companies should sort out the main line based on their operating status, let the team review and think, making it easy to remember and execute. Such annual planning may be more valuable.