Skip to main content
Home
The Online Resource for Modern FP&A Professionals
Please register to receive the latest FP&A news, updates and tips Login

Main menu

  • Home
  • FP&A Insights
    • Contributors
    • FP&A Trends Digest
    • FP&A Trends Research
  • FP&A Board
    • Amsterdam
    • Austin
    • Boston
    • Brisbane
    • Brussels
    • Chicago
    • Copenhagen
    • Dubai
    • Frankfurt
    • Geneva
    • Hong Kong
    • Houston
    • Kuala Lumpur
    • London Board
    • London Circle
    • Melbourne
    • Miami
    • New York
    • Paris
    • Perth
    • San Francisco
    • Seattle
    • Shanghai
    • Singapore
    • Stockholm
    • Sydney
    • Tokyo
    • Toronto
    • Washington D.C.
    • Zurich
  • AI/ML Committee
    • Introduction
    • Meetings
    • Members
    • Resources
  • Video Content
    • Digital FP&A Boards
    • FP&A Webinars
    • Short Videos
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
    • Ambassadors
    • Privacy Policy
    • Company Policy
    • Editorial Guidelines
    • Our Sponsors & Partners
image

FP&A Trends Survey 2023: Define the future of FP&A 

Click here to view details

 

Skills of the Future: How to Build Best-in-Class FP&A Teams
New
August 18, 2022

By Asif Masani, FP&A Manager at Coursera

FP&A Tags
FP&A Team Building
FP&A Storytelling
FP&A Skills

At the recent FP&A Trends Webinar, senior finance professionals from diverse backgrounds and experience shared their views on the subject of Skills of the Future and How to Build Best-in-Class FP&A Teams.

This article explores the following insights from the speakers' presentations:

  1. 7 important FP&A roles
  2. Building winning FP&A teams - A case study
  3. Finance Soft Skills Optimisation
  4. FP&A as a Storyteller

We started our discussion by looking at the 7 FP&A roles (Figure 1):
fp&a

Figure 1
  1. The Architect: is responsible for building the bridges between raw data, key business drivers, and driver-based models into actionable insights that help make business decisions.
  2. The Analyst: produces accurate reports and spots trends and inconsistencies.
  3. The Data Scientists: turns complex data into actionable insights, brings numbers to life and makes finance reports more useful, interesting, and engaging.
  4. The Storyteller: builds a compelling story around the business performance (instead of just sharing a lot of numbers and data tables)
  5. The Influencer: FP&A is not just number-crunching. The ability to influence is an equally important skill.
  6. The Connector: connects the whole organisation in terms of different business units, functions, geographies etc. and works closely with cross-functional teams on various initiatives and projects.
  7. The Interpreter: knows the business inside out and can interpret absolutely everything for everyone within the organisation.

Building Winning FP&A Teams

At the webinar, Alistair Gurney, Group FP&A Director, Unit4., walked us through a few key challenges in building winning FP&A Teams:

  1. Systems & Data & Maturity: Given the advanced technology capabilities we have today. Yet many finance teams lean on manual processes to analyse their data.
  2. Analytics: The finance function requires more analysis and a deeper understanding of business performance.
  3. Team Motivation: This includes knowing what the team wants, what they are good at, and why they are or are not motivated.
  4. Finance Perception: In many organisations perception of the finance team is very negative. Many employees are unable to explain what the finance department does, what value they add, or how they impact the work everyone does. This leads to little trust.  

fp&a

Figure 2

The key skills to overcome challenges and build effective FP&A teams include:
●    Great Business Partnering relationships underpinned by reliable information
●    Business-friendly processes
●    Improvement in reporting facts and narratives and 
●    Leveraging more data


Finance Soft Skills Optimisation

Valerie Martin, Director of Finance at Autodesk, shared her experience in finance soft skills optimisation.

Things are changing rapidly on 

  • FP&A moving to a multi-skilled and multi-faced decision-making role

Middle management today has the tools to self-serve and find insights. More information is available, and decisions are made quickly on the spot.

  • Future of work trends

FP&A is being pulled into different types of decision-making. In some of these areas, finance is not used to doing traditional finance. These are the topics that the Board of Directors are interested in. For Example, ESG sustainability, diversity, human capital, risk management etc.

  • The shift in Finance roles

From the above future of work trends on work. Diversity is at the top of the mind. This brings in a competitive edge as everybody has different perspectives and opinions. Working in a diverse environment requires a lot of focus on soft skills.

What: Finance Needs to Think Differently 
 

fp&a

Figure 3

Let's look at three different lenses: Culture Change, Manage Current and Emerging team skillsets and Adapt Finance Leadership Style and structure.

Next, let's look at some tips and tricks that Valarie experienced in her role at Autodesk.

1.    Culture Change

Key Questions: Deciding what behaviours you want to drive? Do we work in finance in different silos, or do we work on projects across multiple teams and functions? How do we look at business results? 

  • Having a top-down behaviour guide where performance is driven through different behaviours. This helps drive an environment of curiosity, be innovative, do things differently, be impactful and spend time in the right ways. 
  • The performance is tied to this behaviour guide. A reward and recognition program on a quarterly basis, showing examples of employees being innovative, asking questions, being courageous, practising soft skills, versus traditional performance like accuracy, timeliness and precision.
  • Other ideas included doing belonging workshops, training on decision making and feedback skills (practising giving and receiving feedback)

2.    Manage Current and Emerging team skillsets 

Key Questions: Do we look at the What versus the How? How do we drive our mindset change? It's not working harder but focusing more on different things with different lenses. How do we bring EQ or emotional intelligence and related soft skills to the ground? And how do we drive that in our teams?

  • On hiring new talent. Apart from what the candidate knows, has studied, and the technical skills he or she possesses. Focus is on what's culture they're going to add to the team, or could they bring a different point and cover your blind spots.
  • It's a question of shifting your mindset. Having the curiosity to understand the business, building relationships and being more creative.

3.    Adapt Finance Leadership Style and structure

Key Questions: How do we drive accountability, not only in our teams but across the board in the organisation? How do you build trust? How do we bring the importance of each role? All of us can have an impact, driving decisions and making FP&A as one of the most important people in the room.

Breaking down silos. Focussing on accountability based on a project versus a team. Creating psychological safety with our teams where you encourage risk-taking, celebrate mistakes and learn from those mistakes.
 

Figure 4

FP&A As a Storyteller

Saurabh Jain spoke during the next part of the webinar. VP Business Performance Controlling at Siemens Healthineers shared the following insights from his experience.

In many organisations, FP&A is mainly driving and reporting. However, there is very little insight sharing. Lack of collaboration, lack of engagement, lack of focus on critical priorities, and not being able to drive Business Partnering are common FP&A challenges.
 

fp&a

Figure 5

Looking at a couple of real-life examples, Saurabh re-emphasised the following principles of storytelling.

  1. Know your audience. There is no cookie-cutter approach to storytelling. You have to tailor the story for each user audience.
  2. Like a good novel, there is a structured approach to storytelling. There is a setup, a conflict and a solution.
  3. Ideally, the Aha! a moment or the discovery process should be arrived at by the audience themselves.
  4. Good stories are personal stories. If you know your business very well and can connect the dots through either data or anecdotes. The stories are powerful and long-lasting.
  5. And finally, storytelling is not a fruitless exercise. This should drive decision-making through clarity, evidence and connectivity.

With a conscious effort, data could be turned into insight for further use in decision-making.

Conclusions and Recommendations

The key takeaways from the session are:

  • Communicating and controlling your narrative. Setting the agenda and assessing the way people look at your team. Having positive feedback loops, being more empathetic and building good relationships.
  • Change your mindset. Not work harder, but differently. Focus on how and observe how people are doing around you.
  • Be courageous, try new things and don't be afraid to speak up, share suggestions, and make mistakes. Work on how you receive feedback and how you give feedback. 
  • Make automation your friend. Data processing, visualisation, and connecting multiple dots will become a routine, where robots will take over. What will differentiate a human is an interpersonal sensitivity, storytelling and defining the meaning behind it.
     

We would like to thank our global sponsor, Unit4, for their great support with this FP&A Trends Webinar.

The full text is available for registered users. Please register to view the rest of the article.
  • Log In
  • or
  • Register

Related articles

FP&A Skills for the Future
FP&A Skills for the Future
August 5, 2022

One of the largest privately owned companies in the world, Cargill’s FP&A journey started around 6...

Read more
2030
What Skills Should FP&A Develop by 2030
March 5, 2022

FP&A is getting more and more relevant in the organisations as a key role to support...

Read more
skills
The Soft Skills of FP&A: Why Communication Matters for Finance Professionals
November 19, 2021

For FP&A, effective communication centres on 'storytelling' — the art of conveying numerical analysis as a...

Read more
fp&a
Growing Skills for a Changing FP&A Function
October 11, 2021

This is an exciting time to be in Financial Planning and Analysis (FP&A). Because of Brexit...

Read more
Building and Sustaining Synergistic FP&A Teams at TE Connectivity - Case Study
Building and Sustaining Synergistic FP&A Teams at TE Connectivity - Case Study
December 15, 2021

In this post-pandemic environment, all finance leaders must think deeply about how to sustain synergy across...

Read more
team
Three Key Elements to Building Synergistic FP&A Teams in the “Next Normal”
October 6, 2021

In anticipation of turning the pandemic corner, companies are contemplating the return to the office or...

Read more
+

Subscribe to
FP&A Trends Digest

We will regularly update you on the latest trends and developments in FP&A. Take the opportunity to have articles written by finance thought leaders delivered directly to your inbox; watch compelling webinars; connect with like-minded professionals; and become a part of our global community.

Create new account

image

The FP&A Trends Webinar: The Winning Formula for Integrated FP&A

Click here to view details and register

Pagination

  • ‹‹ Previous
  • January 2023
  • Next ››
Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
Inside the Crystal Ball: Top 7 Trends Shaping FP&A in 2023 and Beyond
 
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
Five Critical Roles for Building a World-Class FP&A Team
 
29
30
31
1
2
3
4
 
 
 
 
All events for the year
Data and Analytics
Data & Analytics
FP&A Case Studies
FP&A Case Studies
FP&A Research
FP&A Research
General
General
Integrated FP&A
Integrated FP&A
People and Culture
People and Culture
Process
Process
Technology
Technology

Future Meetings

Geneva FP&A Board
The Face-to-Face Geneva FP&A Board Five Critical Roles for Building a World-Class FP&A Team
February 7, 2023
The FP&A Paris Board
The Face-to-Face Paris FP&A Board Moving from FP&A to Extended Planning and Analysis (xP&A)
February 9, 2023
Zurich FP&A Board
The Face-to-Face Zurich FP&A Board Five Critical Roles for Building a World-Class FP&A Team
February 9, 2023
Moving from FP&A to Extended Planning and Analysis (xP&A)
The Face-to-Face Dubai FP&A Board Moving from FP&A to Extended Planning and Analysis (xP&A)
February 15, 2023
FPA Integration
The FP&A Trends Webinar The Winning Formula for Integrated FP&A
February 22, 2023
Five Critical Roles for Building a World-Class FP&A Team
The Face-to-Face San Francisco FP&A Board Five Critical Roles for Building a World-Class FP&A Team
March 7, 2023
The Face-to-Face Houston FP&A Board
The Face-to-Face Houston FP&A Board Five Critical Roles for Building a World-Class FP&A Team
March 14, 2023
New York FP&A Board
The Face-to-Face New York FP&A Board Five Critical Roles for Building a World-Class FP&A Team
March 16, 2023

Please register to receive the latest FP&A news, updates and tips.

info@fpa-trends.com​

              

Foot menu

  • FP&A Insights
  • FP&A Board
  • FP&A Videos

Footer countries

  • Amsterdam
  • Austin
  • Boston
  • Brisbane
  • Brussels
  • Chicago
  • Copenhagen
  • Dubai
  • Frankfurt
  • Geneva
  • Hong Kong
  • Houston
  • Kuala Lumpur
  • London Board
  • London(Circle)
  • Melbourne
  • Miami
  • New-York
  • Paris
  • Perth
  • San Francisco
  • Seattle
  • Shanghai
  • Singapore
  • Stockholm
  • Sydney
  • Tokyo
  • Toronto
  • Washington D.C.
  • Zurich

Copyright © 2023 fpa-trends.com. All rights reserved.

0