Looking to leverage your FP&A team into strategic partnership? One question to ask is how does FP&A drive strategic partnership & value? Strong FP&A teams have a neutral perspective and bring data driven decision making into the partnership.

The concept of business partnering is more than two decades old and till now employees, at all levels, have not fully understood the fundamental point of Business Partnering roles. Even the companies which consider themselves ahead of the curve on implementing business partnering, have only thought of the functional and operational elements of business partnering role.

The 21st century has allowed us to communicate in a number of effective and innovative ways. Email, Skype, Twitter, Facebook, Tinder, Hashtags, the list goes on and on in relation to forms of communication which are anything but the simple and most basic form of communication; conversation.

One element for FP&A teams to provide value is strategic partnership. Therefore, with any change in direction or focus, it is important to understand how to start. Below, I will cover a simplified and quick start guide for starting the strategic partnership process.

FP&A professionals know their trade very well when it comes to the technical skills used to plan, forecast, and execute the strategy of a company. However, to truly influence the strategic directions they need to be able to influence their stakeholders.

Being a business partner will increase your scope and you will be more dependent on others. Learning to delegate, choosing the battles to fight for, saying no without compromising the relationship, continuing to expand your knowledge, surrounding yourself with the right people and supporting them would be the keys to success.