Importance of Planning – BMS Notes

Planning is necessary for all types of organisations, including small businesses, the government, and private enterprises. In order to realise their aspirations of increasing sales, making large profits, and succeeding in company, entrepreneurs must consider the future, develop projections, and meet goals. Planning helps them determine what to do, how to accomplish it, and when to do it.

The definition of planning is “thinking in ahead about what needs to be done, when it needs to be done, how it needs to be done, and who should do it.” Or, to put it another way, planning helps us go from where we are now to where we want to be.

We may also describe planning as the process of establishing goals and targets and creating an action plan to reach them. Planning entails determining in advance the best course of action to accomplish these goals.

Time is another essential component of planning. Plans are never created for an indefinite amount of time since no firm can continue to plan indefinitely.

Planning is defined as “setting goals for a certain time period, defining multiple courses of action to accomplish them, and then choosing the best viable choice among the many courses of action” when the temporal dimension is taken into consideration.

The Value of Planning

Planning gives Guidance

Predetermined actions are the focus of planning. It gives instructions on how to guide workers’ efforts. Planning clarifies what, how, and what not to do for workers. Planning gives direction for action by outlining in advance how work has to be done. Workers are aware of the direction they must work in advance. Unity of Direction is also a result of this. Employees would be working in separate directions and the organisation would not be able to accomplish its intended purpose in the absence of planning.

Planning lowers the chance of ambiguity

Every day, organisations deal with a lot of unknowns and unforeseen circumstances. By establishing assumptions about the future based on previous experiences and a survey of the corporate environment, planners attempt to predict the future and assist managers in navigating uncertainty. Plans are in place to deal with these uncertainty. Unexpected hazards like fire or other tragedies inside the company are often included in the plans. In the strategy, resources are set aside to handle unforeseen circumstances.

Planning minimises squandering and repetitive tasks.

The needs of each department are taken into consideration while creating organisational plans. The primary organisational plan serves as the basis for the departmental plans. Consequently, there will be departmental coordination. However, there will be integration in the activities if managers, non-managers, and all other staff members are adhering to the plan of action. Plans guarantee that ideas and actions are clear and that work may be completed efficiently.

Planning Encourages Original Thoughts

Planning is an intellectual activity that demands deep thought. Thus, there is a lot of room for improvement when it comes to concepts, techniques, and protocols for carrying out certain tasks. Managers are forced to adopt new perspectives and make assumptions about the future via the planning process. Thus, it fosters creativity and innovation in the management.

Making Decisions Is Facilitated by Planning

Making plans enables managers to make a range of options. Similar to planning, objectives are set and future events are forecasted. The management may make quick judgments with the aid of these forecasts and objectives.

Planning creates a baseline for managing

Controlling involves comparing the output that is intended and what is actually produced. If there are any differences, these differences should be investigated and corrective action should be taken to bring the product that is produced in line with the plan. However, in the event that there is no anticipated output, the controlling manager will lack a benchmark against which to judge whether the actual production meets expectations.

The controlling manager must take action to increase the 80 unit production to 100 units if, for example, the planned output for a week is 100 units and the actual output produced by the employee is 80 units. However, if the planners do not provide the planned output of 100 units, it will be challenging to determine whether the 80 unit production is sufficient. Therefore, the planning function alone provides the foundation for comparison in controlling.

draws attention to the company’s goals

Establishing goals, policies, processes, techniques, norms, etc. that are developed specifically with the intention of achieving these goals is the first step in the planning function. When workers adhere to the strategy, they help the organisation reach its goals. All workers’ efforts are focused on achieving the organization’s goals and objectives via planning.