Plan for a Successful 2010

Naturally we all plan and it occurs in everyday life. Although business planning is a bit more complex and requires strategies and targets, we all have the capability of doing so and should take advantage of what has been given to us.

Planning should ultimately provide direction. The direction should confirm, what is to be done, when it is done, how it is done and who is to do it.

The summer break is a great time to start thinking about where you want to be over the next year. When you plan you will be potentially be setting goals or targets for short terms or long term periods and therefore you will need to investigate ways and means of making these plans realistic, practical and achievable. Poor plans usually offer no assistance and portray an unclear focus for those involved.

Before the planning process can take shape, you must firstly have a goal or objective in which you want to achieve. This means that there is a target that you are aiming for.

You should also assess your current capabilities and determine if you are in a position to realistically achieve your goals and how you arrived at your current decision.

A time parameter will need to also be determined so that you have a specific time schedule for you to achieve your goal or target.

It maybe necessary for you to generate a fairly comprehensive SWOT analysis to determine your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats that may contribute or effect you reaching your aim.

Depending on what level of management you are, you will be involved in different planning projects and planning processes so you will need to apply different techniques and strategies to suit.

Planning will be used for finance, production, personnel, organisational structuring, market conditions, marketing strategies and the list goes on.

Plans will assist you to use your time wisely, adjust your environment to achieve the desired goal or target effectively and apply contingencies to reduce the level of failure.

If you plan right you will ensure that the results are going to be to your expectations or higher.

Below are six steps to help you plan better:

• Establish a realistic goal and target to be achieved within a certain time frame.
• List all the things that will need to happen that will allow you to achieve your goal or target.
• Prioritise the activities from first step to last step. A flow chart may help you.
• Discuss your plan with those who will be involved or affected by it.
• Implement your plan once it has been finalised and you are happy with it
• Monitor and refer back to your plan to ensure you are on track and your aim is in the near distance.

Whether you follow this process or some variation of it, the important thing is to actually take some time out of your usual business day and do it. Often it is the planning process itself that is far more valuable than the physical plan that results. A simple one page plan prepared effectively is far more useful than a 20 page plan prepared robotically, following some fancy template. The process of reviewing where you are at, where your strengths and weaknesses are and getting other staff to but into the process is vital to drive the business forward in a more focused and effective way.