Why and How to Plan?
The failure to plan the rollout procedure effectively caused the tanking of the brand Dreamliner, which was one of the most popular products other than the Boeing 747. But the project’s timeline was too ambitious even with the carefully thought-out strategies, which pushed it to 2.5 years behind schedule, and by then all the airline companies got tired of waiting and rescinded all their orders.
Why did the plan fail? What do we need to know to make a better plan? Let us see.
Planning
Planning is the process of defining goals, and coming with alternatives to fulfill them. It depends on both the means and ends to make a decision. Unambiguous planning or formal planning is the type used in organizations. Specific goals are reached within a fixed period of time, and every step is made through meticulous planning.
Why make plans?
- Reduced uncertainty: it forces us to look into and anticipate the future, outlining courses of actions for different future outcomes. Uncertainty can be tackled through detailed as they ensure a quick and effective response.
- Goal-setting and smoother control: it is a way to quantify the work effort behind a particular project. Formulating plans helps in establishing the required goals or expected outcomes of solving the problem in a certain way.
- Minimized redundancy: planned coordination of work effort make inconsistencies easier to spot and rectify, ensuring laminar flow of the project.
- Provides direction: coordination between different work unites in an organization is highly recommended for a successful decision as planning beforehand establishes clear goals, and the work for everyone is cut out. This provides a path for the decision maker to take and harmonize the work effort.
How does planning affect performance?
Formal planning gives the planner many benefits: higher profits and investments returns etc. Now most pundits are split on the topic on whether planning is actually helpful for an organization.
Research has shown that while planning always guaranteed a higher performance in the workspace: the definition of clear goals and proper utilization of every asset streamlines the organization flow. The effectiveness of planning on organization depends mainly on three factors:
- Good planning promises good returns.
- External factors like change in legislations or unions can limit the freedom of the manager, decreasing the impact of planning.
- The time taken to plan also influences the planning-performance relation. To affect performance, a formal plan has to be made for at least four years.
Links of Previous Main Topic:-
- management and organizations a managers dilemma
- Understanding managements context constraints and challenges
- Managing in a global environment
- Managing diversity
- What is social responsibility
- Managing change and innovation
- Managers as decision makers
- Foundations of planning
Links of Next Fundamentals of Management Topics:-
- Goals and plans
- Different approaches for goal setting
- Effective planning in contemporary business
- Case application 1 icelandic volcano 1 global commerce 0
- Case application 2 building a future
- Chapter eight summary by learning outcomes
- Preparing for my career in chapter eight
- Strategic management
- Basic organizational design
- Adaptive organizational design
- Managing human resources
- Managing teams