Planning
Planning is deciding in advance what to do, how to do it, when to do it and who is to do it. It is the primary function that precedes all others. The exam tests features, limitations, the planning process, and types of plans.
Features and limitations
Features: planning is goal-oriented, futuristic, a mental exercise, continuous, pervasive and the primary function of management. Limitations: it may create rigidity, may not work in a dynamic environment, reduces creativity, involves cost and time, and can create a false sense of security.
Planning process
- Set objectives.
- Develop planning premises (assumptions about the future).
- Identify alternative courses.
- Evaluate alternatives.
- Select the best alternative.
- Implement the plan.
- Follow up and revise.
Types of plans
- Standing plans: objectives, strategy, policy, procedure, rule, method.
- Single-use plans: programme, budget. A policy is a general guide; a procedure gives a sequence of steps; a rule is a specific do/don't; a method prescribes the way a step is performed.
Worked example
A school plans its annual day. Objective: conduct the event with 800 parents. Premise: hall available on 15 December. Alternatives: school hall, rented auditorium, open ground. It selects the school hall because of cost and weather risk. The budget for sound and lights is a single-use plan; the rule 'no food in the hall' is a standing plan; the procedure for seating parents is a step sequence.
Traps
Do not call planning a guarantee of success. Do not confuse strategy (long-term direction) with a plan (specific course). Policy is not a rule. Planning and controlling are linked: plans provide standards for control.