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Strategic work planning with Workfront scenario planner.

This post will cover:

How to access the Adobe Workfront scenario planner.

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Adobe Workfront enhances scenario-based planning.

Scenario planning is a strategic tool that enables enterprises to navigate volatility and build long-term resilience. Adobe Workfront scenario planner provides a powerful solution for organizations seeking to implement continuous planning practices and accelerate execution.

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What is scenario planning?

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Scenario planning is a strategic approach that lets executive leaders plan for multiple business scenarios and make informed decisions that adapt to changing conditions. Scenario planning helps organizations navigate ongoing uncertainty by envisioning potential outcomes and preparing strategic responses.

Industry use cases

Energy: Shell identified a need to anticipate future scenarios as the company struggled to expand production during the 1973 oil embargo (Source). Shell introduced unified planning machinery — a computerized forecasting model — that estimated oil consumption growth. (Source: Wilkinson, A., & Kupers, R. (2013). Living in the futures. Harvard business review, 91(5), 118–127.)
Automotive: Scenario planning has predicted technological advancements such as the growing popularity of electric vehicles. Many automakers such as Audi, BMW, Chevrolet, and Ford have expanded their product offerings to provide electric vehicles in addition to gas-fueled automobiles.
Retail: Planning for multiple scenarios helps predict changing fashion trends year to year.

Scenario planning versus work planning.

Both scenario planning and work planning are strategic imperatives for enterprises seeking long-term success. Scenario planning helps organizations forecast potential business impacts while work planning provides a framework to adapting strategic execution based on real-time data. Work planning is primarily focused on executing tasks tied to specific business goals.

Strategic Planning

Work Planning

Primary Goal

Set long-term direction & vision

Execute tasks & achieve short-term goals

Time Horizon

Long-term (3-5+ years)

Short-term (Days, weeks, months, year)

Scope

Organization-wide, broad

Department/Team/Project/Task-specific

Participants

Senior Leadership/Executives

Managers, Teams, Individuals

Outputs

Strategic Plan, Vision, Mission, Goals

Project Plans, Task Lists, Schedules

Frequency

Periodic (e.g., Annual, Multi-year)

Frequent / Ongoing

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Adobe Workfront scenario planner.

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Workfront scenario planner helps businesses create enterprise-level work plans that outline overall strategic results or outcomes. With the Workfront scenario planner, organizations can do the following:

Produce an effective process that visualizes organization-level work plans.
Optimize resource allocation to maximize utilization and minimize resource overuse.
Predict potential resource conflicts to inform decisions about hiring new employees, aligning budgets with enterprise-level work plans, or adjusting work plan priorities.
Create alternative scenarios for a single plan that identifies differences and evaluates the effectiveness of each scenario.

How to access the Adobe Workfront scenario planner.

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New users must have an Ultimate plan. Existing users can access scenario planner with a business plan or higher and then purchase a scenario planner license.

FAQs

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How do I create a plan in scenario planner?

Go to Scenario Planner via the Workfront main menu.
Click “New plan”, then add: Plan name, Start date, Duration.
Choose timeline view: Month, Quarter, or Year.
Click the People icon to: Add job roles, number of people and view hourly rates.
Click the Dollar icon to: Enter yearly budgets and adjust monthly allocations if needed.
Click Save – your plan is now created.

(Source: Adobe)

What are the six steps of the scenario planning process?