3. 3
Planning reduces crisis
management
If you plan effectively there is less likelihood of any critical
issues coming up. However, it is important to be prepared
for unforeseen situations occurring and be prepared to sit
back and plan again around any issues.
4. 4
Planning allows focus
and personal energy direction.
As you can appreciate, by establishing a focus through
planning you will be able to channel your energy positively
into reaching an outcome. Having a course of direction will
assist you in accomplishing your tasks in a more timely and
efficient manner.
5. 5
Planning helps to eliminate
• A) Bad habits
• B) Fear of failure.
If you stick to a plan you are more likely to break some bad habits
you might have (ie surfing around the net without really
accomplishing anything). By establishing a plan and sticking to it
you are less likely to fail
6. 6
Planning allows you to set priorities
and focus on what is important.
Even within your plan you can prioritize your tasks so
that items you think are more important than others
can be actioned accordingly. You need to discover what
is important to you and sometimes go through a few
boring tasks in order to get to the exciting end result.
7. 7
Planning provides the framework
for informed decision making.
By planning what you are going to do you will be establishing
a framework and will be able to tick off items from your "to
do" list as you go along. This is an extremely effective way to
manage any tasks that you have.
8. Benefits of Planning
8
Benefits
of Planning
Benefits
of Planning
Creation
of Task
Strategies
Creation
of Task
Strategies
Intensified
Effort
Intensified
Effort
DirectionDirectionPersistencePersistence
9. How to Make a Plan That Works
9
Set
Goals
Set
Goals
Develop
Commitment
Develop
Commitment
Develop
Effective
Action
Plans
Develop
Effective
Action
Plans
Track
Progress
Toward
Goal
Achievement
Track
Progress
Toward
Goal
Achievement
Maintain
Flexibility
Maintain
Flexibility
Revise existing plan
or
Begin new planning process
Revise existing plan
or
Begin new planning process
11. Developing Commitment to Goals
11
The determination to achieve a goal is increased by:
– Setting goals through participation
– Making goals reasonable
– Making goals public
– Obtaining top management support
12. Developing Effective Action Plans
12
Specific StepsSpecific Steps
PeoplePeople
ResourcesResources
Time PeriodTime Period
An Action Plan Lists…
14. Planning or Doing?
14
• Planning takes many hours and much effort, time
and effort that could be spent doing something. Is
time spent planning time lost? No.
• If planning involves predicting where an industry is
going, and these predictions are merely guesses, as
some managers think, what’s to be gained from
planning?
• Time spent planning is time spent learning.
• Learning what?
• To get better and faster at predicting industry
outcomes and setting standards.
Source: “Planning Not to Learn,” Fast Company, available online at
http://www.fastcompany.com/resources/columnists/vgct/052404.html.
16. Analysis of Opportunities
Identify Aim
Explore Options
Selection of Best Option
Detailed Planning
Plan Evaluation
Closure of Plan
Feedback
16
17. 17
Analysis of Opportunities
The first thing to do is to do is to spot what needs to be
done. You will crystallize this into a formal aim at the next
stage in the process.
One approach to this is to examine your current position,
and decide how you can improve it. There are a number of
techniques that will help you to do this:
19. 19
Identifying your Goals
Once you have completed a realistic analysis of the
opportunities for change, the next step is to decide precisely
what the aim of your plan is.
Deciding and defining an aim sharpens the focus of your
plan, and helps you to avoid wasting effort on irrelevant side
issues.
20. 20
Ask Yourself
What do I want the future to be?
What benefit do I want to give to my customers?
What returns do I seek?
What standards am I aiming at?
What values do I and my organization believe in?
Planning is choosing a goal and developing a method or strategy to achieve that goal.
Are you one of those naturally organized people who always makes a daily to-do list, who always writes everything down so you won’t forget, and who never misses a deadline because you keep track of everything with your handy time-management notebook or your palm pc? Or are you one of those flexible, creative, go-with-the-flow people who dislike planning and organizing because it restricts your freedom, energy, and performance? Some people are natural planners. They love it and can only see the benefits of planning. However, others dislike planning, and can only see its disadvantages. It turns out that both views are correct. Planning has advantages and disadvantages.
Planning offers the benefits, as shown on this slide.
First, managers and employees put forth greater effort when following a plan. Take two workers. Instruct one to “do his or her best” to increase production, and instruct the other to achieve a 2 percent increase in production each month. Research shows that the one with the specific plan will work harder.
Second, planning leads to persistence, that is, working hard for long periods. In fact, planning encourages persistence even when there may be little chance of short-term success.
The third benefit of planning is direction. Plans encourage managers and employees to direct their persistent efforts toward activities that help accomplish their goals and away from activities that don’t.
The fourth benefit of planning is that it encourages the development of task strategies. After selecting a goal, it’s natural to ask, “How can it be achieved?”
Finally, perhaps the most compelling benefit of planning is that it has been proven to work for both companies and individuals. On average, companies with plans have larger profits and grow much faster than companies that don’t. The same holds true for individual managers and employees. There is no better way to improve the performance of the people who work in a company than to have them set goals and develop strategies for achieving those goals.
Planning consists of the steps listed on this slide.
Step 1: Set Goals
The first step in planning is to set goals. Goals need to be specific and challenging, to provide a target for which to aim and a standard against which to measure to success.
One way of writing effective goals is to use the S.M.A.R.T. guidelines.
Step 2:Goal commitment is the determination to achieve a goal. Commitment to achieve a goal is not automatic. Managers and workers must choose to commit themselves to a goal.
So how can managers bring about goal commitment? The most popular approach is to set goals participatively. Rather than assigning goals to workers (“Johnson, you’ve got ‘til Tuesday of next week to redesign the flex capacitor so it gives us 10 percent more output”), managers and employees choose goals together. The goals are more likely to be realistic and attainable if employees participate in setting them.
Another technique for gaining commitment to a goal is to make the goal public.
Another way to increase goal commitment is to obtain top management’s support. Top management can show support for a plan or program by providing funds, speaking publicly about the plan, or participating in the plan itself.
The fourth step in planning is to track progress toward goal achievement. There are two accepted methods of tracking progress. The first is to set proximal goals and distal goals. Proximal goals are short-term goals or subgoals, whereas distal goals are long-term or primary goals. The idea behind setting proximal goals is that they may be more motivating and rewarding than waiting to achieve far-off distal goals.
The second method of tracking progress is to gather and provide performance feedback. Regular, frequent performance feedback allows workers and managers to track their progress toward goal achievement and make adjustments in effort, direction, and strategies.
