HOW TO USE ACTION PLAN INSURANCE TO ACCOMPLISH WHAT’S IMPORTANT

The management process of planning involves (1) the determination of a desired result and (2) a course of action to achieve the desired result.

An objective is a desired result. In defining a result you hope to achieve, you are carrying out the first part of the management process of planning. In preparing a job content document, you are establishing results to be achieved in each major area of responsibility connected with your job. Objectives are set to identify what you want the uncertain future to be. They are commitments to take action. Objectives commit available resources to achieve the desired results. But who does what, and when, to achieve an objective? That’s the second part of the management process of planning.

Action plans outline the course to be followed to achieve the desired result. They indicate the steps to be taken, who is to carry out the steps, and when the steps are to be carried out and how long they will take.

The guideline for when to prepare an action plan is simple: Prepare as needed to achieve the objective. The rule to “plan backwards” is a reminder to define the end result first, then the steps to achieve it. The obvious benefit of this is that action planning is purposeful, focused on a specific outcome. Reserve the rule and action steps become busywork leading nowhere in particular.

Planning is a mental activity. It doesn’t always have to be spoken out loud or put into written form to be useful. Some our daily planning is so simple we hardly know we’re planning. In a business situation, however, it’s not always that simple. With all you have to accomplish, and with all the details involved, written, plans become an essential management tool-first for your own use, and then for communicating with others who need to know your thinking.

An action plan provides “insurance” that objective will be reached. The more complete and the detailed the action plan, the more insurance that the objective will be reached, and visa versa. However, it’s possible to be underinsured for a given objective.

To be deliberately underinsured indicates indifference toward achieving the objective. You choose to have inadequate control over the outcome desired. You’ve decided to ignore the value of action plans as insurance or you don’t know their potential value. You choose to “fly by the seat of your pants” rather than systematically pursue your objective. Your view of the work involved in achieving the desired and result is distorted.

Being underinsured can make you less effective in two ways. First you may do too much to achieve an objective. You may use time, people, budget money, equipment, or facilities in ways that are not justified by the value of the end result. With no action plans, or inadequate plans, you may become anxious about the outcomes, and thus behave rashly or impulsively. Busywork may hide the need for focused effort, specific decisions, and actions leading directly to the desired outcome.

The second danger in being underinsured is that you may not do enough work to achieve the desired result. By the time a growing variance is discovered, valuable time has been lost. You must then increase your efforts to “put out the fire”. “Firefighting” is often done at the expense of other matters that need attention, causing, additional “fires” This is anything but a systematic way of managing a business.

The individual responsible for achieving an adjective is responsible for developing the action plans to achieve. For many objectives, action plans can be handwritten notes for you own use only. Sometimes, however, action planning is a complex process. Often becomes a two-step process when the objective is of great importance, the steps to achieve it are quite numerous, many people are involved, and the coordination process is difficult, first, there is the development of a master plan, an overall approach, without much detail. Second, with the guidance, all those involved work out the detail action plans of their particular contribution to the desired outcome.

Frequently an objective appears on the more that one individual’s job content document. This means two or more people share the responsibility for achieving the objective. Each as 100-percent responsibility for the he or she does to contribute to the final results. This includes the responsibility to work together, to see that the individual efforts are complementary, that teamwork is achieved. Therefore, the action plans prepared by each individual to achieve the objective need to be correlated to avoid duplication of effort and to increase the insurance the objective is achieved.

 

The following pitfalls are to be avoided in connection whit action plans:

Duplications of plans in different planning document. For some objectives, adequate action plans may already exist in the form of schedules, critical pats plans, PERT chart, on formal program. Duplication of plans is forced on many individuals through inadequate management planning and control system that cause manager to be uncomfortable with their knowledge of what’s happening.

Planning too much detail too early. A great amount of time and effort can be spent developing action plans that are never implemented why aren’t they used, after all the effort? Because as the situation develops and facts come to light, the detailed plans often prove to be inappropriate. Planning in too much detail too soon is a form of over insurance.

Failure to adjust action plans as condition change. This pitfall can be illustrated with airline flight plans. A destination is know, the usual route is be to followed to get there. During to course of the flight, new information is received. A severe electrical storm has developed along the indented is received along the intended route. Does the pilot stick with the flight the plan he filed endangering aboard? Of course not. In-flight change are made. An made plan is used to reach the destination safely.  Similarly as action steps are taken, new information is generated. The information may confirm that the next planned action steps are still appropriate, or that different action steps are required to handle the change condition and to continue moving toward the desired outcome.

Failure to communication action plans and necessary change in them those affected by the plans. Business is more likely when the efforts of team members are correlated. Just the objectives of one individuals may need to be tied in closely white the objectives of another correlation of action plans may be needed. Saving of time, effort, and resources my result from communication action plans to another concerned parties. In addition, communicating current action plans to those affected encourages teamwork, invites their suggestion, enlists their support, builds morale, and increases the likelihood that the objective will be achieved.