Year Wheel · The cycle · Component
The operating cycle
When the organisation is busy internally — which is a different shape from the demand cycle and rarely plotted alongside it.
The deliverable
What it is
Budgeting, reporting, audits, renewals and appraisals each land at a fixed point and together they consume a substantial part of senior time.
They are rarely plotted, which is why the year plan repeatedly schedules change work into the month the audit lands.
One level in
What it is made of
Each element is a constituent part of the component. Follow one to see the attributes it carries.
Statutory dates are fixed. Budget cycles and appraisal rounds are usually fixed only by habit.
The other components in the cycle
The demand cycle
When customers buy across the year — measured from the organisation’s own history rather than assumed from the sector.
LearnThe collisions
Where the two cycles land on top of each other — usually the same two or three months every year.
Learn