Planning in organizations and public policy is both the organizational process of creating and maintaining a plan; and the psychological process of thinking about the activities required to create a desired future on some scale. As such, it is a fundamental property of intelligent behaviour. This thought process is essential to the creation and refinement of a plan, or integration of it with other plans, that is, it combines forecasting of developments with the preparation of scenarios of how to react to them. Alternative meaning: Organisation (band). ... Public policy is a course of action or inaction chosen by public authorities to address a problem. ... For other meanings of this term, see plan (disambiguation) Informal or ad-hoc plans are created by individual humans in all of their pursuits. ... Thought or thinking is a mental process which allows beings to model the world, and so to deal with it effectively according to their goals, plans, ends and desires. ... For other uses, see Future (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Intelligence (disambiguation). ... For other meanings of this term, see plan (disambiguation) Informal or ad-hoc plans are created by individual humans in all of their pursuits. ... Look up forecast in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

The term is also used to describe the formal procedures used in such an endeavor, such as the creation of documents, diagrams, or meetings to discuss the important issues to be addressed, the objectives to be met, and the strategy to be followed. Beyond this, planning has a different meaning depending on the political or economic context in which it is used.

Overview

What should a plan be?

A plan should be a realistic view of the expectations. Depending upon the activities, a plan can be long range, intermediate range or short range. It is the framework within which it must operate. For management seeking external support, the plan is the most important document and key to growth. Preparation of a comprehensive plan will not guarantee success, but lack of a sound plan will almost certainly ensure failure.

Purpose of Plan

Just as no two organizations are alike, so also their plans. It is therefore important to prepare a plan keeping in view the necessities of the enterprise. A plan is an important aspect of business. It serves the following three critical functions: Helps management to clarify, focus, and research their business's or project's development and prospects. Provides a considered and logical framework within which a business can develop and pursue business strategies over the next three to five years. Offers a benchmark against which actual performance can be measured and reviewed.

Importance of the planning Process

A plan can play a vital role in helping to avoid mistakes or recognize hidden opportunities. Preparing a satisfactory plan of the organization is essential. The planning process enables management to understand more clearly what they want to achieve, and how and when they can do it.

A well-prepared business plan demonstrates that the managers know the business and that they have thought through its development in terms of products, management, finances, and most importantly, markets and competition.

Planning helps in forecasting the future, makes the future visible to some extent. It bridges between where we are and where we want to go. Planning is looking ahead.

Types of plans or planning

• Business Plan
• Event Planning and Production
• Family planning
• Financial plan
• Land use planning
• Lesson plan
• Marketing plan
• Network Resource Planning
• Strategic planning
• Strategic Urban Planning
• Transportation planning
• Urban planning

This is a summary article that covers many topics related to business plans - their content, how they are used, legal issues, and spoofs of business plans, among others. ... Oral contraceptives. ... A financial plan is a written analysis of an individuals financial circumstances developed by a financial planner, in light of the individuals goals, resources, and current tax law, investment options, and insurance needs. ... Land use planning is the term used for a branch of public policy which encompasses various disciplines which seek to order and regulate the use of land in an efficient way. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... A marketing plan is a written document that details the necessary actions to achieve one or more marketing objectives. ... Diagram describing the integration of business planning, marketing and engineering in Network Resource Planning, as well as its end results. ... Strategic planning is an organizations process SCREW YOU, RILEY of defining its strategy, or direction, and making decisions on allocating its resources to pursue this strategy, including its capital and people. ... Transportation planning is the field involved with the siting of transportation facilities (generally streets and highways and public transport lines). ... Urban planning is concerned with the ordering and design of settlements, from the smallest towns to the worlds largest cities. ...

Planning basics

Preparing a Plan

Planning is not done off hand. It is prepared after careful and extensive research. For a comprehensive business plan, management has to

1. Clearly define the target / goal in writing.
   1. It should be set by a person having authority.
   2. The goal should be realistic.
   3. It should be specific.
   4. Acceptability
   5. Easily measurable
2. Identify all the main issues which need to be addressed.
3. Review past performance.
4. Decide budgetary requirement.
5. Focus on matters of strategic importance.
6. What are requirements and how will they be met?
7. What will be the likely length of the plan and its structure?
8. Identify shortcomings in the concept and gaps.
9. Strategies for implementation.
10. Review periodically.

Applications

In organizations

Planning is also a management function, concerned with defining goals for future organizational performance and deciding on the tasks and resources to be used in order to attain those goals. To meet the goals, managers may develop plans such as a business plan or a marketing plan. Planning always has a purpose. The purpose may be achievement of certain goals or targets. The planning helps to achieve these goals or target by using the available time and resources. To minimize the timing and resources also require proper planning. For other uses, see Management (disambiguation). ... Organizational performance comprises the actual output or results of an organization as measured against its intended outputs (or goals and objectives). ... This is a summary article that covers many topics related to business plans - their content, how they are used, legal issues, and spoofs of business plans, among others. ... A marketing plan is a written document that details the necessary actions to achieve one or more marketing objectives. ...

In public policy

Planning refers to the practice and the profession associated with the idea of planning an idea yourself, (land use planning, urban planning or spatial planning). In many countries, the operation of a town and country planning system is often referred to as 'planning' and the professionals which operate the system are known as 'planners'....... Planning: Planning is a process for accomplishing purpose. It is blue print of business growth and a road map of development. It helps in deciding objectives both in quantitative and qualitative terms. It is setting of goals on the basis of objectives and keeping in view the resources. Land use planning is the term used for a branch of public policy which encompasses various disciplines which seek to order and regulate the use of land in an efficient way. ... Urban planning is concerned with the ordering and design of settlements, from the smallest towns to the worlds largest cities. ... Spatial planning refers to the methods used by the public sector to influence the distribution of people and activities in spaces of various scales. ... An Urban planner is a professional who works in the field of urban planning. ...

It is a conscious as well as sub-conscious activity. It is “an anticipatory decision making process ” that helps in coping with complexities. It is deciding future course of action from amongst alternatives. It is a process that involves making and evaluating each set of interrelated decisions. It is selection of missions, objectives and “ translation of knowledge into action.”

A planned performance brings better results compared to unplanned one. A Managers’ job is planning, monitoring and controlling. Planning and goal setting are important traits of an organization. It is done at all levels of the organization. Planning includes the plan, the thought process, action, and implementation. Planning gives more power over the future. Planning is deciding in advance what to do, how to do it, when to do it, and who should do it. It bridges the gap from where the organization is to where it wants to be. The planning function involves establishing goals and arranging them in logical order.

See also

Look up Planning in
Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Automated planning and scheduling
• Balanced scorecard
• Collaborative Planning, Forecasting, and Replenishment (CPFR) (Supply chain management)
• Futures Studies
• Optimism bias
• Plan
• Planning fallacy
• Project management
• Reference class forecasting
• Rolling forecast
• Time management
• Wicked problems

Wiktionary (a portmanteau of wiki and dictionary) is a multilingual, Web-based project to create a free content dictionary, available in over 151 languages. ... Automated planning and scheduling is a branch of artificial intelligence that concerns the realisation of strategies or action sequences, typically for execution by intelligent agents, autonomous robots and unmanned vehicles. ... The Balanced Scorecard (BSC) began as a concept for measuring whether the smaller-scale operational activities of a company are aligned with its larger-scale objectives in terms of vision and strategy. ... Collaborative Planning, Forecasting, and Replenishment (CPFR) is a concept that aims to enhance supply chain integration by supporting and assisting joint practices. ... Future studies reflects on how today’s changes (or the lack thereof) become tomorrow’s reality. ... Optimism bias is the demonstrated systematic tendency for people to be over-optimistic about the outcome of planned actions. ... For other meanings of this term, see plan (disambiguation) Informal or ad-hoc plans are created by individual humans in all of their pursuits. ... The planning fallacy refers to the tendency to underestimate task-completion times. ... Project Management is the discipline of organizing and managing resources (e. ... Rolling Forecast: This is the process of simulating profit & loss accounts for a company on rolling basis. ... Time management is straightforwardly defined as the management of time in order to make the most out of it. ... The concept of wicked problems was originally proposed by H. J. Rittel (a pioneering theorist of design and planning, and late professor at the University of California, Berkeley) and M. Webber (1) in a seminal treatise for social planning. ...

References

This article does not cite any references or sources. (May 2008) Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.

External links

• Conservation planning and application, Handbook, Part 600, Subpart A - Framework for Planning.