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Importance of Planning
Planning is not only essential for business entities but also it is important for various stages of life such as education, career point of view, preparing for exams, starting a business, apply for a job etc.
When it comes to business, Planning is the first and primary function of management. It is everywhere whether it comes to start a business, formulate a product, launch a new product or services or at the time of formulating and implementing the marketing strategies.
Let us first define what does it meant by planning? Planning can be defined as a blueprint between the future organisational goals and current status. It explores and facilitates to find a way to achieve the objectives of an organisation.
Why Planning is Important in business?
We can not predict the future and there is a lot of risks when it comes to start a business or launch a new product or services. We can only reduce these risk by Planning from each angle and minimize the risk of unpredictable mishappening.
Therefore, Planning in business plays a significant role in achieving its organisational goals., moreover, a systemic plan may facilitate an organisation in following various modus.
1) Draws blueprint:
Once a good plan is prepared for the certain task it automatically draws a blueprint of the decided activity. Planning gives an idea or direction about what should be the first step and how the work is to be done. Planning also gives clarity about the goal and objective of the organisation, hence every employee will work according to the organisational goal and objective.
Thus the organization and individual both will be able to work properly. If there was no planning employee would be working in another direction and organization would not be able to achieve its goals.
2) Minimizes Probability of Failure:
Let us assume that there are two persons who have to perform a certain activity. The first person started doing given task immediately without planning to accomplish the task on time, on the other hand, the second person plans each and every hurdle first, then he starts implementing those plans. What do you think? Who is going to complete his task accurately?
There would be a lot of uncertainty in the first-person approach which the second person forecasted before. Hence proper planning reduces the risk of uncertainty and failure by taking precaution in advance.
There would be a lot of uncertainty in the first-person approach which the second person forecasted before. Hence proper planning reduces the risk of uncertainty and failure by taking precaution in advance.
3) Provide value to Time and Efforts:
Planning ensures the coordination among the activities and the effort of different division, departments and individual. It helps in avoiding confusion and misunderstanding of thought and action of the employee, hence Planning avoids useless activity and wastage of time and effort.
4) Formulates innovative ideas:
Planning is the most challenging activity for the management as it guides all future actions leading to the growth of the business. Since planning is the only function of management which may start before starting a company, therefore innovative ideas are preferred at the time of the starting a business. Thus we can say planning encourages innovative ideas.
5) Facilitates Decision-making:
Planning facilitates the managers to forecast the future and select the best action plan from various alternatives available. The managers have to evaluate each alternative and select the most appropriate proposition. Planning involves setting the target and predicting future conditions, thus helping to make rational decisions.
6) Set up Norms for Controlling function:
Planning involves the setting of goals. The entire managerial process is a concern with accomplishing predetermined goals through planning, organizing, staffing, directing and controlling.
Managers analyse current performance of the team with some predesign norms to understand the possibility of achievement of organisation goal. If there is any doubt, he can change or correct the action plan so that it may achieve within the predetermined timeframe. Thus planning sets norms for controlling.
7) Motivates Employees:
Good planning can achieve the organizational goal that gives various financial or non-financial incentives to the employees of the business firms. These incentives can be as a form of cash or in the form of some trips which motivate the managers as well as executive of the company.
8) Manages inventory:
By planning the monthly sale an executive can manage the product stock. Without planning stock over dumping or shortage of the stock type of problem cannot be handled properly which improve sales of the goods. Hence by proper planning company can achieve its monthly targeted sale.
Conclusion:
Thus we can conclude that a systematic plan can handle lots of problem and risk associated during the starting or expanding of any kind of businesses. The role of the Planning function of management not only limited to achieve the goals but at the same time, it facilitates in formulating, redesigning the product specifications as well as enhances customer and employee satisfaction.
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