Introduction
2025 stands to be a year of reform in both the NDIS and Aged Care sectors. While we at Nacre Consulting are big fans of having a plan, this year just might be the one that requires a careful balance of organised strategy and an Eyes Up Footy approach as the changes present themselves. Going into this year with the firm intention to remain aware and agile will place you in the best possible position to respond as you need to.
Game Plan: Anchoring Your Business Through Strategic Planning
Forgive me for the heavy-handed sporting analogies today. Sport is my first love, and I see most things through this lens.
Many of you will be familiar with the concept of a game plan. A game plan is a structured strategy or approach that a team or player follows to maximize their chances of success in a match. It outlines how the team will play, attack, defend, and respond to different game situations. A well-crafted game plan is based on the team’s strengths, the opposition’s weaknesses, and the specific conditions of the game (e.g., weather, field size, or competition rules).
In business, we might call this our Strategic Plan. We have worked hard to understand the environment in which we are operating, we know our strengths, we know where we have to work harder. Through this plan we create budgets, plan recruitment, organise resources and predict revenue. We conduct risk assessments and mitigate to prevent or minimise their impact. Our Strategic Plan creates confidence in our success through the research and work that we did to create it.
In 2025, with ongoing reform across both Aged Care and the NDIS alongside the introduction of Foundational Supports at an unknown time, your Strategic Plan will need to be ‘zhuzhed’ up to ensure that you retain the ability to pivot efficiently as new processes and rules are rolled out.
PS: if you need some help pulling a Strat Plan together (that’s what the bussin’ kids call it) give us a call.
Adding Eyes Up Footy to your Game Plan
As an avid rugby league player and old lady touch footy player – this is one of my favourite terms that describes the ability to combine a structured game plan with an ability to rapidly respond to what is in front of you as it presents itself.
This year, adding the component of agility will ensure that you are ready to make sudden turns in response to whatever is thrown at you as well as spotting opportunity and jumping on it early. It means that your leaders need to think and act with less rigidity and encourage this culture within the team.
An Eyes Up approach really suits the people who have high ‘game’ intelligence and can remain composed under pressure which pretty much describes most of the Allied Health Business Owners that I have had the privilege to meet.
Here is how Eyes Up Footy works on the field – I think it’s pretty obvious how this translates easily to our business mindset.
- Game Awareness – Players constantly scan the field, assessing opposition positioning, teammates’ movement, and space availability. In your businesses this means staying on top of the latest breaking information, linking with your networks and subject matter specialists and use your business analysis tools and skills to stay on top of trends.
- Quick Decision-Making – Encourages players to think and react instantly, rather than waiting for structured plays to unfold. In your businesses, careful decision making is important, but so is efficient decision making. Delaying for too long could mean a missed opportunity, a loss of productivity or a preventable cost to the business.
- Flexibility & Adaptability – Adjusting tactics on the go rather than relying solely on pre-planned strategies. Your business needs you to go into this year with flexibility and adaptability near the top of your list.
- Effective Communication – Players need to talk to each other on the field to provide real-time feedback and guidance. Having an open mind when your team are passing intelligence on to you can be the difference between catching and missing an opportunity. Be careful not to dismiss ideas too quickly. Ensure that you are keeping your team up to date with the reform changes as you are hearing about them too.
- Support Play & Movement – Encourages continuous movement, off-the-ball running, and creating passing options. Support play is one of my favourite parts of team sport. We tend to focus on that standout superstar but just as crucial are the team around them. Team culture is the key here – everyone has their role (do they all know what that is?), knows each other’s strengths and will work hard to elevate the outcomes as a whole. To do this your team must understand what that final result should look like and what their role is in getting there. With the goal posts moving around so much, finding a way to ensure that this message continues to be provided in a strong and clear way is essential.
- Exploiting Defensive Weaknesses – Identifying gaps in the opposition’s defence and taking advantage of mismatches. While in our businesses we don’t have an opposition (do we?) but there are certainly government policies and opportunities in other areas that can be leveraged to maximise business success.
- Instinctive & Creative Play – Encourages players to trust their instincts and take smart risks when opportunities arise. Fostering a culture of innovation and creativity can not only support growth and leveraging of opportunities but can provide some much-needed sparkle for your team when they are feeling worn down and tired. Small innovations can have just as much impact as a total refresh. Eyes up for opportunities to embrace doing things a little differently.
- Coach’s Role – Rather than micromanaging every play, coaches teach players how to read the game and make their own decisions under pressure. I think this one speaks for itself.
Start 2025 with Intent
Thank you to some fabulous women (Josette and Tahnee, looking at you!) I have joined them in embracing the concept of treating 2025 with intent.
The bottom line is that we don’t really know what 2025 is going to bring. An election at the very least that is likely to raise more Ministerial changes, election promises and shifting priorities.
Head into 2025 with the intention to keep your eyes up. You have the knowledge, the skill and the game smarts to make this work. Read over your Strategic Plan with an Eyes Up mindset, get to work on your team culture and communication and link in with those networks who will alert you to information and timelines for impending change.
Strap on those boots and get a little bit dirty.
You have got this.
Have more uncertainties? Go ahead and schedule that complimentary Power Call with one of our Allied Health Business Strategist and take it from there. Let’s bring some clarity to the chaos.
