“@#$%& it! Will you stop bothering me with your planning meetings? I have work to do!”
That was a statement made to me by a manager when I asked him, for the third time, to work with a group of us assigned to a critical project. The project, if carried out well, would have profound effects on the long-term health of the business. But it ended up fizzing out after two months. Why? Because this manager, in a crucial department, did not see the need to plan and would not ‘play’.
Planning can be seen as a pain in the neck. Often, at best, we do it because we know we have to. But it is done reluctantly, and therefore incompletely. And then when the plan doesn’t work, we reinforce the idea that planning is a waste of time. But really, is it? What are the dangers of not planning?
MISTAKES OF NOT PLANNING
Well, first there is the effect on the plan itself. What happens when we don’t plan anything? That is more easily seen if we look at a good vacation. Most of us wouldn’t think of going on an extended vacation without doing significant planning. Why? Because it is a precious time for us! We want results from it, results like relaxation, fun with others, rejuvenation. We judge ‘effectiveness’ on a vacation by lack of hassle, things going well, no unpleasant surprises, friendliness of surroundings, everything working as it should. And what is the end result? A good vacation brings us back refreshed and re-created (re-created?), and makes us much more able to get back to work. In fact, a good vacation will completely change our perspective on our work and make it a pleasure again, especially if it had ceased to be a pleasure before. So we planned our vacation. We look at where we will go, what things we will do; we look at the accommodations we will book and the surroundings of those accommodations. We look at resources: the money we’ll need to get there and the money we’ll have available to spend. Is such planning worth it? Most of us would answer “Absolutely!”
So what about NOT planning a vacation? Well, you can expect one thing for sure in that case: surprises. Now, I like surprises. But I don’t enjoy spending hours in a destination trying to find a room. I don’t like finding out that things in my hotel don’t work, or that the place isn’t clean. A surprise found on a poorly researched vacation led us to a room where the carpets were wet. I wondered if this was because they had just been cleaned, and further exploration revealed the fact that the toilet had a habit of backing up. Now THAT was a nasty surprise. Shall we stay in that room? What do you think?
Lack of planning can produce similar surprises in business. Let’s take a look at what a business planning process entails and how it can be done right.
HAZARDS OF THE PLANNING PROCESS
Let’s face it, it’s fun to get right to the heart of our work, and planning doesn’t allow us to do that! Believe it or not, that’s the number one reason leaders don’t want to plan. We are busy and there are pressures to get things done, and planning takes time. It just seems easier and more enjoyable to get the job done. But consider the surprises we prepare for when we do it that way. We may find ourselves wasting time looking for data that is hard to find or missing altogether. We find ourselves doing things over again, causing rework in other parts of the business, lowering morale among staff. Ultimately, we don’t get the results we want and the business itself suffers.
Often leaders look at the planning they HAVE done and are not satisfied with the results they have achieved. Such results can be a powerful negative deterrent to planning of any kind. And although our plan may have given us poor results, the problem is not the planning itself, but the way it was done. Good planning will take time and should be structured around certain main areas. Let’s see what those main areas are.
PRINCIPLES FOR PLANNING
Good planning begins with looking at the results that are needed. Those results may include increased use of our product or service. They may include increased customer satisfaction with us or better patient outcomes. They can be simple, old fashioned and make more money! Whatever they are, good planning starts with a clear understanding of the desired outcomes.
Time must also be considered, and in two important areas. First, the actual time to plan must be sufficient for effectiveness. This can be difficult because we are not ‘doing’ when we are planning. But as we saw earlier, not taking the proper amount of time to plan can lead to massive amounts of wasted time later, and that wasted time affects productivity, staff morale, and ultimately business success. It is best to take the time to plan well.
Second, planning must include the time needed to do the right job to get the right results. Leaders need to know how much time will be needed for critical parts of the project or business. We have to consider the time needed to market, to interact with the customer, the actual cycle time to produce our services or products. We must consider the time needed for maintenance, both for the equipment and for us and our staff! We need to know how long it will take to get important information and how long it will take to get it to others who need it. Therefore, planning time is a principle that leaders should use in planning.
The third principle is resource planning. This is obvious, but it has to be done systematically. We have to consider the necessary resources to bring us the best results. Those resources will include money: for marketing, equipment, adequate staff, space to work. They will include the materials themselves: what materials, what equipment, what kind of space, what information? And they include people: what skills will my people need? How many people? Where will people be needed? Therefore, resource planning is critical to a successful planning effort.
Fourth and last, really good planning means planning for information. What information will be needed for each part of the project to work well? How fast can I get it? Do others need it quickly from us? Planning for information means knowing where to get the information, who has it, and if it is the best. The right information at the right time in the right form is critical to effective business, more so now than ever in history. So the last principle in planning is to plan for information.
PRIMACY OF PLANNING
In short, good planning is always the basis for good business success.
Good planning involves knowing the results you want, taking enough time to plan, planning the time needed to execute the project well or process it, planning resource needs, and assessing the information needs for the project.
No matter how skilled the workers are, how good the leaders are, or how advanced the teams are, a poor plan, or no plan at all, will come to nothing. Take the time to plan well.
