Chapter 10: The Planning Process

1. define the objectives 2. know when you stand in relation to those objectives 3. precut the future scenarios of varying conditions 4. determine the best course of action and create a plan 5. execute the plan and monitor outcome

five essential steps in the planning process:

planning, organizing, controlling, and leading

four functions of a manager

personal development objective

goals that deal with additional training and other growth opportunities on a personal level

maintenance objectives

goals that deal with keeping performance on its current level - possible these objectives should be quantifiable

vision

identifies the purpose of the organization and what aspires to be accomplished - often easier to make a strategic plan after the organization has developed this

- personal development objectives - improvement objectives - maitenance objectives

in an MBO contract, there are three main objectives:

- specific - measurable - timely - challening - attainable

it is important to keep in mind that goals should be :

best practices

methods or activités that are believed to yield superior outcomes - the best approach is to find the best practices both inside and outside the organization, and apply the, where possible to achieve higher performance

improvement objective

objectives detail specified improvements in performance

tactical plans

plans designed to accomplish part of all of a strategic plan - generally intermediate term, with a focus on how to use the organizations assets to accomplish a specific objective

strategic plan

primarily concerned with the goals of the whole organization - wide focus - helps and organization decide where to allocate resources and what direction to pursuer in future operations

procedure or rule

specifically response to certain situations - type of standing plans

forecasting

the act of predicting future events and scenarios - useful tool for any manager - ultimately just an educated guess

planning

the method of deterring important goals in advance, as well as the best way to achieve them

standing plans

used on a constant basis

single-use plans

used only once or during one specific time period i.e a budget

functional plan

- type of tactical plan that if often used in the business world - how each part or "silo" of an organization can individually contribute to overall strategic plan of the firm

- improved flexibilty and focus - improves action orientation - improves control and coordination

benefits of planning

reduces lag time and better prioritization

Fully planning ...

policy

communicates broad guidelines that are intended to guide individuals in the organization as they make decisions - type of standing plan

operational plan

consists of activities designed to execute ultimate strategic plans of an organization

contingency planning

creation of various action plans that will be implement in the event that something unfortunate occurs - Plan B, Plan C - primarily concerned with short term problems

scenario planning

deals with predicting and creating responses to possible long-term environment changes

planning

_____ is the cornerstone of the other three functions

participatory planning

a process that includes a lll of the people carrying out the plan - can take more time, but research has show when an employee helps participate in a plan that they will later implement, the employee will usually have more motivation to follow through and complete the objective

complacency trap

a situation in which an organization is simply going with with flow and at the total mercy of its circumstances - want to stay out of this

- helps workers concentrate on highest priority objectives - assitsts supervisors in finding areas of support for their employees - relationship building through "FaceTime" - promotes self management

advantages of MBO (management by objectives)

SOPs (standard operating procedures)

another name for procedures of rules is

benchmarking

when a person or organization measures performance against an internal of external standard - provide comparisons that can reveal its current standing and aid the organization in setting future performance goals - great tool to identify the areas that are excelling

management by objectives (MBO)

when one combines controlling and planning with goal setting and goal alignment - when used properly, it provides an opportunity for superiors to work with subordinates to create effective goals