What is a monthly business review, and what should its agenda be?
A monthly business review (MBR) is one fixed meeting each month. The owner and the department heads check actual results against the yearly plan, look at the key numbers, close last month's actions and decide new ones. A short pack is sent two days before, so the meeting is about decisions, not reading.
Most MSME plants have some monthly meeting. Often it turns into a long talk about the latest problem. Numbers are not on the table. Last month's actions are forgotten. Everybody leaves tired and nothing changes.
An MBR is different. It is the check step of the yearly plan. Plan and do are easy. Check is where most plants stop. The MBR makes sure the check happens.
What goes into the pack?
A pack is a short set of pages, one for each area, sent two days before. The owner and the heads read it in advance. Keep it to what each head owns.
| Page | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Plan vs actual | The yearly plan against actual sales, production and profit |
| KPI dashboard | The main numbers of each department, this month and last month |
| Money | Outstanding payments from customers, payments to suppliers, and the bank position |
| Profit | Profit for the month against the plan |
| Actions | Actions from the last meeting, with owner and date, done or not done |
| Issues | The three to five matters that need a decision |
Debtors, creditors and the bank position together tell you how healthy the business is. We sometimes call them the business CV. Read them every month.
What is the agenda, in order?
Run the meeting in this order:
- Routine numbers first (15 to 20 minutes). Outstanding payments, collections, new orders booked. Take only the figures. No long talk.
- Last month's actions (15 minutes). Done, not done, and why.
- Area by area (60 to 90 minutes). Each head shows plan vs actual and his KPIs. Questions are about the gap and the reason.
- Major issues and decisions (30 minutes). The matters that need the owner.
- Development topics (the rest). One topic about the future: a customer, a skill, a machine, a system.
- Close. Read out the new actions: what, who, by when.
Putting routine numbers first has a reason. If routine takes the whole meeting, the future never gets discussed.
A meeting that only talks about last month is a funeral. A meeting that decides next month is a review.
How do we keep the meeting useful?
- Same date every month. For example, the seventh. Heads then plan their numbers for that date.
- Pack two days before. One person owns it. Late numbers are noted.
- Only two major action plans per cycle. If you start ten, none will finish. This is the Rule of Two.
- One owner for every action. One name and one date. "Sales team" is not an owner.
- Meetings are for data transfer. Every meeting has a slot, an owner and an output. If the pack is read before, the meeting is for decisions.
- The senior manager closes his department's matters. Not always the owner. This builds the team.
How is this different from the daily and weekly meetings?
A daily meeting solves today's production and dispatch problems. A weekly meeting plans the week. The MBR looks at the whole business against the year. They fit together. See report-review-action and a daily dispatch meeting that works.
How to start in your plant
- Fix the date: one day each month, three hours, in the owner's diary.
- Write the agenda above on one page.
- Ask each head for three numbers: one result, one cost or loss, one action.
- Send a one-page pack two days before. It need not be perfect in the first month.
- Keep a list of actions with names and dates, and read it at the start of the next meeting.
- After three months, add more numbers.
What if the numbers are not ready?
Start with what you have. A rough number reviewed every month is better than a perfect number that never comes. Note which numbers are missing and who will bring them next month. Over three or four months the pack improves on its own, because every head sees that the numbers are really read.
Key points
- An MBR checks the year's plan against actual results, every month, on a fixed date.
- Send a short pack two days before, so the meeting is about decisions.
- Take routine numbers first, then actions, area by area, issues and development.
- Limit action plans to two major ones per cycle, each with one owner and one date.
- Read last month's actions at the start of the next meeting.
