9 Planning II
Structure
1. Objectives
2. Introduction
3. Steps in planning
4. Elements of planning
5. Process of planning
6. Approaches of planning
7. Advantages of planning
8. Factors bringing limitation to planning
9. Summary
1. Objectives
At the end of the session learners will be able to
- Explain the steps in planning
- Describes the elements of planning
- Apply the elements of planning in daily-life scenarios
- Identify the approaches to planning
- List the advantages of planning
- Describe the limitating factors of planning
2. Introduction
In part I we disc ussed about meaning, characterist ics and objectives of planning. In this part we will discuss about steps in planning, elements of planning and planning process. We will also discuss t he advantages of planning process as well as factors which affect planning process.
3. Steps in planning
Planning has a series of steps which as follows:
a. Planning is perception of opportunities
Manager is expected to ident ify the opportunit ies available in the environment. The perception of the opport unity is very important because whatever is perceived by one manager may not be perceived by the other manager. This becomes the starting point for planning.
An education manager is part of educat ion system. There are changes in the environment of the syste m. The changes in the environ ment may be soc ial, technological, economic or polit ical. All these c hanges have influence on education syste m. Manager ha s to take into considerat ion these changes while planning. For example: Right t o Education 2009 act has been imple mented from April 2010. So principal of t he primary sc hool has to consider the provisions made in the act while planning admission procedure of the school.
b. Establishing objectives:
Manager has t o fra me t he objectives. T hese objectives are in line wit h t he goals. If we consider school then t he objectives should be in line with t he goals as given in the curric ulum. For example: While formulat ing RTE, 2009 act Government of India has considered India as a count ry and set t he objectives. Each school has responsibility to implement t his act for giving justice to t he deprived section of t he soc iety. Hence each school needs to set its objectives in this regard and accordingly have its own plans like visiting slum areas or rural area for implement ing the act.
c. Establishing planning premises:
There are various factors whic h can inhibit an organisat ion in ac hieving its goals. In t his step one has to ident ify t hese factors. These factors become pre mises for planning. Once pre mises are identified then manager think of eit her overcoming it or to change strategy which can help in achieving goal. These planning premises help in deciding the course of action.
d. Determining the alternative course of action:
To generate alternat ives for achieving the goals brain st orming st rategy is used. There may be 10 different ways whic h can help in achieving goals. After having many alternat ives the next step is to select the best alternat ive because in t he process of planning manager cannot think of only single alternative.
e. Evaluating alternative course of action:
For selecting the best alternative it is essent ial to dec ide the criteria. Generally, evaluat ion criteria based on philosophy of organisat ion, human and infrast ructural resources, t ime and financial resources. T he availability of resources plays very important role in evaluating the available alternatives.
f. Selecting best course:
Each alternative is carefully evaluated against t he set c riteria. Each organisat ion is unique in terms of philosophy and resources. T herefore, t he best course of action will differ fro m organisat ion t o organisat ion. For example: Sc hool A wanted to give ad mission to children fro m soc ially deprived section of the society. They prepared a team of teachers and asked the m to go t o the nearby slu ms and convince parents to send their children to school. This is the best alternat ive for school A. School B also wanted to ad mit t he socially deprived students. They thought of different strategy. They formed groups of students from 9th and 10th standard. T hey gave responsibility to t hese st udents to convince the parents fro m the slu m area for sending t heir wards to school. From the above examples it can be said t hat for each organisation the best course of action would differ. Selecting correct course of action is most important as it helps in implementing the plan.
g. Formulating derivative plans:
This is the last step in t he process of planning. Each plan is made up of number of sub plans. For example: An organisation ment ioned earlier if they are interested in impart ing education to t he socially deprived group around the school then t hey will have a different plan. They will have one plan which will decide which teachers will be visit ing, at what time will t hey go etc. Again each team of teachers will have their own plan about how to do. The derivat ive plans are sub plans which will cont ribute in achieving bigger objectives. T herefore, as an educat ion manager whenever planning any activity we need t o keep in mind that any plan has sub plans. Hence we cannot have only one plan for one activity it will have number of sub plans. T his number will depend on complexity of the task.
So in nut shell we can say t hat planning is very syste mat ic process which is useful for mic ro as well as macro level. For exa mple at mic ro level when teacher plans lesson he/she follows t he sa me process. Teachers t hink about creat ion of learning opport unit ies . T he objective of teaching a partic ular unit can be achieved through different alternat ives available; but not every st rategy is suitable to everyone. T he teacher t hen dec ide t he best possible alternat ive based on philosophy and resources at their disposal. Whatever is suitable for class A may not be suitable for class B so as per class they change strategy.
4. Elements of planning
Every plan has some elements. Following are the elements of planning:
a. Objectives:
Objectives play very import ant role in planning. Each activity of t he manager be it be s mall scale or large scale begins wit h objective. For mic ro level activity such as lesson planning t he objectives needs to be c rystal clear. But when the plan is to be implement ed at mac ro level eg: planning for a state or a count ry then instead of objectives goals are stated. Goals are long term objectives.
b. Strategy:
We have already talked about the alternat ives, so alt ernat ives are not hing but the st rategies. These strategies are furt her divided into t he grand st rategies and competitive strategies.
Grand st rategies are the st rategies which are very general and when these strategies are planned, manager is thinking of a large populat ion i.e organisat ion or system in front of him or her.
The compet it ive st rategies are one wherein we have certain things whic h we need to overcome as compared to others . For exa mple: the durat ion for each acade mic progra mme is dec ided by UGC or apex body if it is professional programme . But due to compet it ion in educat ion field some instit utions in order to attract students provide the competit ive plan of educational loan or provide informat ion about t he inst itut ion’s alumni and it s t ie up with industries for placement so that their enrolment increases.
c. Policy:
It is a document which helps in giving plan of action wit hin certain limits. Every organisat ion has its own policy and also they need to follow t he policy of t he government. Policy document helps us to decide plan of action. Therefore:
a. Policy has to be very clear so that clear guidelines are available for action.
b. It must be reasonable. It means policy must address lots of issues which are taking place around in a system.
c. Policy must be comprehensive. It means a policy document or the guideline should give all the ideas about different sections of society or the number of aspects which are related to that particular problem.
For example: If we consider t he admission policy, it covers eac h aspect related to admission. It clearly defines t he intake capacity and gives det ails about legal reservat ions and social reservation and within t hose percentagewise det ails. This helps education manager to decide his or her admission procedure as admission is very important aspect of any educational institution.
d. Procedure:
Here manager dec ides what activit ies are t o be carried out and in which manner i.e. whet her t he activit ies are t o be c arried out in a sequential way or can be carried out parallelly.
e. Rules:
They actually dec ide conduct or actions. Every organisation has to follow some rules and regulat ions. T hese may be given by government, apex body or by management itself.
For exa mple: when a princ ipal is planning for the ad mission then he/she must has to consider what are the rules and regulat ions dec ided by University, Government or educat ion board as he or she has to plan t he activit ies by considering t he rules. Eg: If the e ligibilit y criteria for giving admission in BCA programme is 45% marks at higher secondary level ( as dec ided by acade mic council of concerned university) t hen no princ ipal has an authority t o go against the rule and admit students securing less than 45% marks.
f. Budget:
The last ele ment of planning is a budget. Budget does not only mean financ ial planning but is composed of the financ ial as well the non-financial ent ities. It plays very import ant role in t he planning process as it can decide the scope of the activity. If t he budget is less than the activity has to be conducted on s mall scale. But if it is big then organisat ion can t hink about conducting the activity at large scale. Whenever in an organisat ion t here are lot of activit ies whic h are carried out, hu man beings invest their time and energy which is to be also considered in budget.
So we can have budget for the whole school in whic h budgets of primary, secondary and higher secondary sections of t he school are inc luded. In t he budget of each section t he budgets for co-curric ular activit ies, enrichment programme, PTA meeting etc. are incorporated.
So these are the elements of planning. When preparing the plan manager should see to it that all these elements are well defined. Now let us understand the process of planning.
5. Process of planning
When education manager is in the process of planning, he/she thinks about and answer few questions.
a) The first question that is involved in the process of planning is what it is to be done? Answer of this question helps in deciding objectives.
b) The second question is where it is to be done? Answer to this question helps in deciding the venue or place at which activity can be conducted.
c ) The third question is when it is to be done? The answer to this question tells us about the time for the activity. This question is very important as in most cases the success of plan depend on selection of correct time.
d) The fourth question to answer is by whom it is to be done? Here manager decides the personnel who are expected to implement the plan. Again the success of plan depend on deployment of correct people for correct work.
e) The last question which needs to be answered is how it is to be done? The answer to this question is the strategy which will be used for achieving the objective.
6. Approaches of planning a. Top-down approach:
If the goals are set at the top level and then lower level managers are allowed to plan in that framework then it is called as top-down approach.
b. Bottom-up planning:
If the plans are developed by lower level manager who has full freedom and later they are forwarded to top level manger through proper channel is known as bottom-up planning.
7. Advantages of planning
Planning provides manager mental picture of the event which will be happening in future. It is a very time consuming and intellectual activity, but it is worth as it has following advantages.
a. Gives direction to work:
In the plan every activity related to the task is thoughtfully planned hence the document works as the guideline.
b. Brings clarity in action:
At the time of planning the roles and responsibilities are clearly defined of the personnel who are involved in implementation. Because of this each person has the clarity about the actions to be performed by him/her.
c. Helps in coordinating activities:
Planning helps in co-ordination of the activities. In an organisation lots of activities are carried out. Some are carried out sequentially and some parallel. As all the activities are reflected in the plan it becomes easy for the manger to coordinate these activities. Eg: In the year plan of the school all the activities to be carried out in different months are reflected.
d. Saves time, money and energy:
Plans are prepared well in advance. Therefore each time before conducting the activity there is no need for manager to think. Also the persons involved in implementation also know well in advance about what is to be done and how is to be done.
e. Brings efficiency in the system:
The planning is done in advance and persons involved in implementation of the plan are aware about their role. Resources are kept ready. By consuming minimum resources maximum output can be obtained.
f. Helps in improvising the system:
Due to perfect planning it is possible to do right things at right time in right way by right people. Hence the objectives can be achieved fully. It ultimately helps in improving the system.
8. Factors bringing limitation to planning
Now let us come to the factors which can bring limitat ions to planning.
a. Failure of people:
Many times it happens that whatever is planned doesn’t work the way anticipated by manager. Due to this people get demotivated. These demotivated people hesitate t o plan for the next or they don’t want to revise their plans. Therefore the failure of people has to be taken care by the manager. Manager needs to motivate staff so that they will not get demotivated with failure.
b. Problems of change:
People are not ready to accept the change. The reason is that they don’t want to come out of their comfort zone and has the fear for new things. Secondly the success is already tested or it is confirmed therefore they do not want to take risk.
c. Lack of information:
Any plan will be successful if it is based on accurate information. If we make any plan without having the adequate information then the planning fails. Eg: If principal is planning for admission procedure and if he or she doesn’t know the amend ments done in legal reservation policy or if he or she doesn’t know the reservation policy of different state differs then whole planning will go wrong.
d. Inflexibility:
Many times people don’t want to change or they are not addressing to the changing needs because of this inflexibility in them as an individual. Sometimes system is also inflexible. In such a situation manager has to implement the rules and regulations as given by system. This definitely influences planning process as manager needs to follow some rules and regulations in a specific way.
Many times people don’t want to change the way they are doing things because of fear they don’t want to accept to do things in a new way. T hey don’t even want to try it out because they are not sure of success. This attitude of theirs brings in inflexibility in plan.
e. Rigidity of planning:
At time it is suggested that manager has to work in a specific manner and there is no flexibility for manger to think creatively. As a result planning becomes rigid. Usually plans which are given by the state government to follow certain things cannot be changed. A simple example, if a particular course is for one year then it has to be one year then it cannot be changed. If authority had decided when to start the academic year principal has to follow that academic year he/she cannot make any changes.
f. Time and cost:
For doing perfect planning manager has to think holistically. This is a time consuming process. In other words it can be said that good plan cannot be prepared hurriedly. The time and cost are another factors which are responsible for bringing limitation to planning. If proper time is not given for planning as well as for implementation then goals cannot be achieved. Organisation depends on others for the finances so an education manager may have something in his or her mind to plan for but the finances can be a hurdle here.
Hence manager needs to take into consideration all these points so that plan can be successfully implement ed.
In short it can be said that planning is a deliberately decided course of action for achieving t he desired goal. It sees to it t hat fut ure events do not happen by chance; planning makes them happen in a specific, well-defined way.
9. Summary
Planning process is carried out through certain steps. They are as follows:
a. Planning is perception of opportunities: From the environment manger identifies an opportunity
b. Establishing objectives: On the basis of first step he or she decided objectives
c. Establishing planning premises: For planning manager assumes certain things which are called as premises.
d. Determining the alternative course of action: Here manager tries to identify different ways which will help him or her reaching the objectives.
e. Evaluating alternative course of action: On the basis of philosophy of organisation and available resources each alternative course of action is evaluated.
f. Selecting best course: The course of action matching with the philosophy of organisation and can be managed by using available resources is selected.
g. Formulating derivative plans: Depending on the complexity of the task each plan is made up of sub-plans.
Following are the elements of the plan:
a. Objectives: Answers the question what is to be done or they determine the outcome of the action.
b. Strategy: Is the way for achieving objective or goal. Strategies are of two types: grand and competitive.
c. Policy: It is a document which helps in giving plan of action within certain limits
d. Procedures: Indicate the exact way for performing a certain activity.
e. Rules: Decide conduct or action.
f. Budget: It is a device for controlling. It is a statement showing expected result in quantified form.
1. At the time of planning manager needs to answer following questions:
a. What it is to be done
b. Where it to be done
c. When it is to be done
d. By whom it is to be done
e. How it is to be done
2. Approaches of planning:
a. Top-down approach
b. Bottom-up approach
3. Following are the advantages of planning:
a. Gives direction to work
b. Brings clarity in action
c. Helps in coordinating activities
d. Saves time, money and energy
e. Brings efficiency in the system
f. Helps in improvising the system
- Factors bringing limitat ion to planning:
a. Failure of people
b. Problems of change
c. Lack of information
d. Inflexibility
e. Rigidity of planning
f. Time and cost
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