Getting Things Done: The Importance and Principles of Good Planning

Getting Things Done: The Importance and Principles of Good Planning
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Managers need to have an extensive skill set: They need to be motivating leaders, have a clear vision for their company, and balance customer and shareholder expectations. What they also need: The ability to create a predictable future.

The importance of good planning

Planning is an ambiguous term – and, depending on the time reference being considered, it is known by alternative names, such as scheduling (very short-term) or strategy (very long-term). Just like its terminology, its importance changes with different time frames as well:

  • Short-term planning is important to keep everyday processes running smoothly. It’s about making sure you have all the resources and staff when you need them. This is typically done by lower levels of management, and its emphasis is on operation and practical application. The value of excellent short-term planning shouldn’t be underestimated: You can save a lot of resources and work as well as failures and internal conflicts if you have implemented professional short-term planning processes.
  • Long-term planning is either strategic or tactical. Its aim is the company’s sustainable success while poor or neglected long-term planning can, ultimately, lead to the death of a company. Many prominent as well as fameless examples show time and again that this isn’t an over dramatic statement, but a simple fact.

In short: Good planning is nothing but essential, in the most literal meaning of the word.

The principles of good planning

There are several fundamental principles that should be adhered to for all planning procedures, both short-term and long-term (and everything in between):

Determining the purpose: Plans aren’t ends in themselves – they are supposed to serve as means to an end. Surprisingly, many people, including top-level executives, sometimes mistake the one for the other.

Evaluating the evidence: Just like houses need to be built on solid foundations, plans need to be built on concrete data and information. When you’re making a plan, your gut feeling, your opinions, and anecdotal evidence should take a back seat.

Identifying dependencies: Does the execution of this plan rely on other teams, departments, business units? Are there other plans from other people or teams with conflicting goals?

Setting KPIs: How will you know that your plan wasn’t just executed, but successfully so, and that it achieved the desired outcome? How will you measure and monitor those key performance indicators?

Integrating flexibility: Plans are more likely to fail if you as a planner don’t prepare for difficulties, setbacks, and unexpected changes. In other words: Planning also means planning for alternative solutions to get things done.

Ensuring good communication: Who is involved in the project? How often do people need to meet, in which constellations? How should they communicate? How can you make sure everyone knows what they need to know, at any given time?

Making it achievable: There is a small corridor between having over-ambitious and under-ambitious plans – and it’s important to stay within that corridor: The first extreme can lead to failure and frustration while the second will most likely waste time and resources.

These are the most important principles of good planning. Many of them may sound familiar or even seem self-explanatory. However, often people tend to forget or neglect one or two of the most obvious aspects of management skills such as planning. Therefore, having a little check list of essential principles handy can’t hurt.

If you would like to read more about the topic of good planning, then download the Premium eBook Principles and Practice of Management by Manmohan Joshi.

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