HOW TO PLAN

Considering and Establishing Related Facts in Advance To Achieve an Objective

Planning is the first function of management. And establishing practical, realistic, beneficial goals is the first step in planning.

You should set forth these goals when you start a business. You should reexamine and redefine them at least once a year, simultaneously setting objectives to insure that your day to day efforts are being directed toward them.

Each phase of your business should also have goals and objectives. (And everyone should know what they are.)

GATHERING FACTS

After you establish your objectives, you gather the facts you need for intelligent planning work. When you have all the facts you need, making a plan is often a mere mechanical procedure. Therefore, you should always try to get as many f facts as possible relative to the accomplishment of your objectives.

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Often, all the facts needed will not be available. Only then should you substitute "estimates". Success in planning is proportionate to the efficiency of the fact gathering that precedes it. The more facts you have, the better your plan.

QUESTIONS TO GUIDE PLANNING

    1. What action in necessary to accomplish the desired objective.

    2. Why must this action be taken?

    3. When must this action be taken?

    4. Who will take this action?

    5. Where will this action take place?

    6. How will this action take place?

1. What? The answer to this question will spell out the

work to be done, broken down into a series of individual activities, These activities should be in their proper sequence and should lead to the objective.

When the activities are spelled out in detail, it will be easier to follow your plan. Obviously if activities and the objective^ were not matched, the plan would stand little chance of success.

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2. Why? The WHY should be asked' about each individual action and must lead up to the objective.

The purpose of the WHY is to make sure that no unnecessary activities are included in the WHAT and that all are in a logical sequence.

3. When? This question establishes two factors for each activity: the time it occurs; and the length of time it should take to accomplish.

4. Who? Sometimes forgotten, the WHO is always necessary. Nothing will be done until someone is assigned responsibity for the activity. Deciding WHO also prevents duplication and/or conflict within the staff.

When you decide WHO, be sure to agree on the "chain of command". The man, or staff, given an assignment should know specifically who he, or they, are accountable to.

5. Where? A location should be assigned for each activity. In addition, plan for all tools and other physical factors needed to implement the work. The reason that the physical factors are included in the WHERE is that they are usually a part of or related to the location of the work.

6. How? If the first five questions have been answered completely you don't have to answer this one. Yet, this question serves a most important function. It forces you to be thorough and to complete your plan.

A plan usually begins with a single major objective. This objective requires one or more activities "-- the WHAT'S which must be performed to achieve the objective. These What's, then, really become a series of sub-objectives.

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