The basic or formal planning process provides employees a clear path to the future goals of his or her organization. Planning is a systematic process of making decisions about goals that will be pursued in the future (Bateman, 2004). Planning goals is a decision process that includes important systematic steps needed to achieve that goal. This is a six step guide of the basic planning process for business organizations.
Planning begins with situational analysis this process starts with collecting all the information needed to answer the planning question. Situational analysis examines past events, current events, and attempts to forecast future trends (Bateman, 2004). The managers will examine past and current operations in the organization. Then based on the evaluation of these events will try to forecast future trends for the organization. The result of this step is to diagnose planning issues and problems in the organization.
In the situational analysis the results will generate alternative goals and plans that may be used to achieve other goals. This step focuses on creativity and encourages managers to assume a broad perspective of their jobs (Bateman, 2004). The managers will analyze alternative goals by examining internal and external factors in the organization. After examining these factors the managers will try to formulate alternative goals and plans.
In this step the managers evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of each alternative goal from step 2. All of the goals will be evaluated individually by the managers. Then the managers will prioritize all the goals and retain the top goals. The other goals will be eliminated or may be set aside for future opportunities for the organization.
In this step the managers select the most appropriate plans and goals from step 3. This evaluating process will outline the priorities and trade-offs for these goals and plans. Then the managers will analyze the outline for the best goals and plans. The final decision on the goals will be made by top management executives based on the analysis.
Now the managers have selected the goals and plans for the organization. They must implement the plans to achieve the goals. The managers must understand the plan and have the resources needed to implement it. The best plan in the world is useless unless it is implemented properly. The manager’s position is to motivate the employees and implement plans. The manager must now integrate the organization systems with the plans. This includes budgets and reward systems for the employees. The plan needs to stay within the budget or it will fail from lack of funding. The reward system provides incentives and promotions to reward employees for achieving the goals.
The final step of the basic planning process is to monitor and control. This step is easily ignored however,this is an essential step. The planning process is ongoing because there maybe new problems or issues in the process. This is a repetitive process as managers continue to monitor the performance of the plan in the organization. This step includes a control system to correct plans that were implemented poorly.
In successful organizations in order to reach the goal there must be a plan. The basic planning process is used by organizations to develop, implement, and monitor their plans and goals. These are six steps to the basic planning process for business organizations. The plan starts with situational analysis, alternative goals and plans, goal and plan evaluation, goal and plan selection, implementation, and monitor and control.
Source
Bateman, Thomas S. (2004). Chapter 4: Planning and Strategic Management. Management: The New Competitive Landscape (6th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill Companies.
