Apr
19
Written by:
richard
19/04/2011 16:07
What would you say is the best thing about planning?
According to John Preston of Boston College “the best thing about not planning is that failure comes as a complete surprise and is not preceded by a period of worry and depression.” The quote always makes me smile, yet unfortunately, a lot of people seem to follow this idea to the letter. I am still surprised the number of businesses or subsets of larger businesses I meet who have no written plan, or indeed any real plan to speak of.
Planning is one of those issues that everyone intends to get around to. I rarely meet people who do not value the benefits of a good plan and far less frequently meet people able to produce one. Planning is a classic box 2 (priority matrix) activity; it is recognised as important, but normally has lower levels of urgency attached to it. This means it is always being put off, in favour of something more pressing.
On the upside, the absence of a plan makes it much harder to establish clear business strategies and priorities and so, as indicated by the quote, we don’t notice the high value adding issues being missed and lower value activity taking its place on our ever lengthening to do lists.
Why plan?
CONTROL
A plan allows you to set measures of success, which will enable you to check progress towards the achievement of your objectives. Referring to the plan enables focused prioritisation of time, effort and resources. Having a sound plan enables you better to cope if things go wrong. You will get early warning of things going off course and so can take corrective action to limit possible damage and keep on target. If you have to respond to an emergency you will also know what you have not done, or missed out.
CERTAINTY
Nothing in life is certain, yet decisions become easier to take the more certain we are of their impact and consequences. Good planning helps identify successful strategies and potentially reduce the variables. When you are ready for the unexpected things are less likely to go wrong.
COOPERATION
People need to be clear on where they are going, how they are going to get there and what is expected of them along the way. A good plan provides them with that information; even better if they have had a part in drawing it up.
Common objections to planning
Planning takes time – true, but saves far more time in the long run
Planning demands thought and is hard work – with practice it becomes easier
Planning requires skills of foresight – some people find thinking ahead difficult, they are more comfortable in the present, or analysing what has happened in the past. Both foresight and analysis are important.
Planning involves paperwork – The discipline of putting a plan onto paper helps you think it through and makes it more likely you will give the same information to everybody involved.
Plans can be too rigid – Planning is a discipline but it is not a straight jacket. People still need to be able to act appropriately in an unexpected situation.
Plans can be unrealistic – Hopelessly optimistic or impossibly tight timescales and unattainable targets will make failure inevitable and potentially ruin morale.
Planning involves commitment to achieve a specific result – some people don’t want to risk commitment, or to risk failing to deliver on time. They will be attracted to the thought that if there is no clear objective one can never fail; if there is no destination one can never be lost. Better still, it is very hard to be held accountable for performance if the expectations have not been made clear.
Ask yourself these questions:
Do I have a written plan?
Does it make clear the purpose of the business?
Does it reflect the key strategies of the business?
Does it contain clear performance measures and results expected?
Does it provide clear actions that need to be taken in support of the business strategies?
A plan is an explicit statement of intention that identifies both objectives, and the actions needed to achieve them.
What is your next step?