Organization and planning of activities of enterprises. The system of plans at the enterprise and their relationship. The value of the production capacity of the enterprise is determined ...

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Introduction

The topic of organization planning as a management function is one of the topical topics in management, therefore it is necessary to study this topic in depth.

The planning function as one of the main management functions has now acquired qualitatively new features and characteristics; planning has received a fundamentally new content, since the need for it is due to the scale of socialization of production. Expanding planning horizons means that it performs not only operational tasks, but also tasks of long-term development, which is a new moment in planning. Its purpose as a management function is to strive as early as possible to take into account all internal and external factors providing favorable conditions for the normal functioning and development of the enterprise.

Planning is an attempt to look into the future, it helps to assess the scale of the organization, identify competitors, find your niche in the market, define paths and goals strategic achievements organizations. The plans reflect all production and economic activities of the enterprise. On the basis of plans, managers determine the strengths and weaknesses of the organization, analyze them and develop tactics for their actions, assess the situation in the field of finance, marketing, production and other areas. Figuratively speaking, we are talking here about the definition of "where we are at the present time, where we want to move and how we are going to do it."

The development of an economic system is not a simple increase in its production capacity, but a movement towards a specific goal. In the process of development, the unity of actions of the individual elements of the system is required - this is what can be ensured by planning all the activities of the enterprise. Planning is not only an active and conscious striving for the future, but also the concept of purposeful behavior.

The purpose of the course work is to disclose the topic of planning an organization as a function of management.

To achieve this goal, the following tasks are set in the work:

Study the essence, types, principles, forms and effectiveness of planning;

Analyze the planning mechanism and process;

To study the system of plans at the enterprise and their relationship.

1. Planration as a control function:types and principles

1.1 The essence of planning

Planning is the development of a plan that prescribes the goals of the organization and what members of the organization must do to achieve those goals, i.e. who? what? using what resources? When should I complete it to achieve the organisation's goal?

The basis of the planning process is the development of documents containing goals and objectives (that is, a list of what needs to be done), defining the sequence, resources and timing of work required to achieve the goals.

Planning as a management process includes:

· Setting goals and objectives;

· Development of strategies, programs and plans to achieve the set goals;

· Determination of the required resources and their distribution;

· Determination of the time frame (terms) for the implementation of the set indicators, tasks, goals;

· Definition of the main indicators (indicators), allowing to monitor and evaluate the implementation of tasks;

· Communicating plans to everyone who must carry them out and who is responsible for their implementation.

The result of performing the planning function is various plans: an enterprise work plan for a year (quarter), a business plan, a shop (department) work plan for a month, an employee's individual work plan.

The management approach to planning can be carried out by setting criteria and planning tasks, defining planning tools, methods of coordinating plans, directions and planning methods.

It should be clearly defined:

Planning object (what is planned?);

Planning subject (who plans?);

Planning period (horizon) (for how long?);

Planning tools;

Planning methodology (how to plan?);

Coordination of plans (what? With whom? Under what conditions?).

1.2 Planning types

There are three types of management planning:

1. Strategic planning;

2. Tactical planning;

3. Operational planning.

Strategic planning is an attempt to look in the long term at the fundamental components of an organization (goals, objectives, structure, technology), to assess what trends will be observed in its environment, what will be the most likely behavior of competitors, consumer needs. Strategic planning determines the course of development of the organization for a long period (more than 5 years).

Strategic planning is based on the concept of strategy. It reflects the main goals of the company, such as expanding market share, increasing profits, conducting advanced scientific and technical research, ensuring high competitiveness, etc. According to A. Chandler's formulation, the strategy is the definition of the main long-term goals and objectives of the organization, the adoption of a course of action and the allocation of the resources needed to meet these goals.

A strategic plan serves its purpose if it provides the ability to maintain the maximum elasticity of the firm's behavior. It forms a general idea of ​​the future without affecting its details and components.

Strategic planning represents the process of modeling the future, including the definition of goals and the formulation of a concept for long-term development. It can also be seen as an element of the management process aimed at creating and maintaining a strategic balance between the goals of the firm, its potential and likely development prospects.

The strategic plan is flexible and allows for:

a) regular adjustments to planned targets;

b) revision of the system of measures for the implementation of these plans based on continuous monitoring and assessment of ongoing changes in the activities of the company.

The strategic plan should provide for the provision of the following types of resources:

1) financial, which are necessary for the formation of capital and current assets; enterprises use sources such as equity capital, bank loans, bond sales;

2) human resources, represented by employees with professional training; they provide an increase in the profitability of manufactured products and carry out the management process (marketers, managers, engineering personnel and other employees); the source of these resources is the labor market;

3) material resources - land, buildings, production facilities, equipment, inventories, etc .;

4) intellectual resources - know-how, patents, licenses, brands, patented designs, logos, secret formulas and recipes, commercial communication networks, databases, etc.

The basis of the strategic plan is the definition of the mission of the enterprise, its general goals and global programs of activity. Strategic-level goals refer to the enterprise as a whole, and by their nature they are general character, are formed based on the meaning of the enterprise's existence and determine its place in the business environment.

In a market economy, strategic planning should be carried out taking into account the impact of the external environment, which is characterized by various kinds of rapid changes: market conditions, the level of saturation of sales markets, the emergence of new goods (services). These fluctuations create a high degree of uncertainty for the enterprise when making decisions. Thus, business risks increase.

Only in the presence of a strategic plan can one avoid such negative phenomena as a situation in which each structural unit of the company begins to look for its own ways of solving problems that are not coordinated with the general activities of the enterprise. For example, in the absence of a single strategic plan, there may be a mismatch between the goals of different structural units.

There is always a danger of turning a strategic plan into a formal document of a bureaucratic process, when its potential capabilities do not manifest itself, and the participation of the company's personnel in its implementation becomes mechanical, without the creative achievement of goals by specific performers. To prevent such a course of events, it is necessary to take appropriate preventive measures at all stages of strategic planning.

The value of strategic planning methods is especially high when:

a) the complex internal structure and variety of activities of the enterprise;

b) significant uncertainty and intense dynamics of the external environment.

Strategic planning allows for more targeted and interrelated resource management, reducing material and financial losses in achieving goals.

The planning process is presented in the form of a diagram (Fig. 1).

Rice. 1 Planning process

Tactical planning determines intermediate goals on the way to achieving strategic goals and objectives. This type of planning is defined for a medium-term period (from 1 to 5 years). Tactical planning means clarification, correction, addition, in a word, concretization of the strategy.

Tactical planning is understood as action planning, which should represent the most effective ways to achieve strategic goals. In other words, tactics is a form of strategy expression. Strategy and tactics, in general, have related goals and their essence is to determine the means by which the enterprise seeks to achieve its goals and objectives. Tactical planning is the detailed planning, definition and development of issues within technical lines.

In tactical planning, detailed planning takes place. The decision makers in tactical planning are numerous mid-level executives. In tactical planning, homogeneous problems are solved and a fixed timetable is adopted.

Operational planning is planning for the near future (up to 1 year); managers of the lower management level are envisaged. Operational planning is what a manager does on a daily basis. This includes planning the work of an enterprise for a short period of time. It depends on the strategic and tactical goals of the enterprise.

The operational planning process consists of several stages:

· Identification of the problem;

· Identification of possible actions;

· Pre-selection of one of certain possible actions;

· Analysis of possible consequences;

· The final choice of action.

Moreover, the manager must be able to see not only the current moment, but also to anticipate the impact of the decision on the future time period. He must be able to compose strategic plans, organize tactical planning and engage in ongoing planning.

Planning can be classified according to several criteria:

By the degree of coverage (general and partial);

Subject (object) of planning (equipment, materials, finances, information, etc.);

Areas of operation (production, marketing, R&D, finance;)

Terms (short, medium, long term);

Rigid and flexible.

1.3 Planning principles

Planning is carried out in accordance with a number of principles, that is, rules. The main one today is considered to be the participation of the maximum number of employees in the organization in the work on the plan already at the very early stages of its preparation.

The reason is that people are more likely and more willing to perform those tasks that they have set for themselves, as closer and more understandable.

Continuity is considered another principle due to the relevant nature of the business. In accordance with this, it is carried out not as a single action, but as a constantly repeating process. Within its framework, all current plans are developed taking into account the implementation and the fact that they themselves will serve as the basis for drawing up plans in the future. This ensures their certain continuity. Continuity of planning requires adherence to the principle of flexibility, which implies the need to adjust or revise at any time previously made decisions in accordance with changing circumstances. To ensure flexibility, so-called "cushions" are laid in the plans, that is, zones in which indicators can deviate from the specified values, which provides freedom of maneuver.

The unity and interconnectedness of individual parts of the organization requires adherence to such a principle as the coordination of plans. It is realized through coordination and integration. Coordination is carried out "horizontally", that is, between subdivisions of the same level, and integration - "vertically" between higher and lower levels.

An important principle of planning is economy, which requires that the costs of drawing up a plan be less than the effect of its implementation. When assessing the cost-effectiveness of planning, you should consider its usefulness (which is usually difficult) and the cost of planning.

Finally, one of the principles of planning is to create the necessary conditions for the implementation of the plan. The principles listed above are universal, suitable for different levels of management; at the same time, each of them can also apply its own specific principles.

For example, when planning at the workshop level, the bottleneck principle plays an important role, according to which output should be determined based on the capabilities of the piece of equipment with the lowest productivity. At the same time, at the enterprise and environment level. On this basis, goals are set, strategies are developed and a combination of tools is determined that allows them to be most effectively implemented.

Based on this, the planning principles are:

§ completeness (it is required to take into account everything),

§ detailing (its depth is determined by the purpose of planning),

§ accuracy,

§ simplicity and clarity,

§ continuity,

§ elasticity and flexibility (use of planned reserves, consideration of the multiplicity of possible alternatives, postponement of planning details until the situation is clarified, variance),

§ alignment when planning (taking into account bottlenecks),

§ efficiency.

Planning is systematized according to a number of characteristics. The planning attribute indicates the area of ​​activity to which the result specified by the target belongs. Consequently, the scale of the goal characterizes the level at which planning development should be carried out:

1.sequential planning (a new plan is drawn up after the expiration of the previous one),

2. rolling planning (after the expiration of a part of the validity period of the previous plan, it is revised for the remaining period and a new one is drawn up for the period after the end of the entire period of the previous one, etc.),

3. strict planning (all goals and activities are specified), flexible planning (taking into account the possibility of ambiguous conditions and revision of the plan taking into account them).

1.4 Planning forms

The methodological feature of planning is the widespread use of the program-target approach, which provides for the need to accurately formulate the company's goals and link them to resources. Typically, goals are developed for the long term and determine the main directions of the company's development program. At the same time, clear objectives of each division of the firm are formulated and its place and role in achieving common goals are determined. In particular, not only the total amount of profit and the rate of return are determined, but also various regulatory indicators associated with the implementation of the functions of marketing, financing, etc.

Thus, in the plans developed by firms, both strategic and current, the main tasks of economic policy for a certain period and specific ways of solving them are formed: the material and financial resources necessary for this are determined, as well as the methods of their most effective use, taking into account the prevailing conditions in international scale. In other words, the planning methodology focuses on ensuring the alignment of goals with resources, determining the sequence of funds and the method of the most effective achievement the set goals and the resulting tasks within each business unit of the entire company.

Organizationally, the process of central planning for most of the largest firms is carried out "top down".

Such an organization of the planning process testifies to the centralization of the most important planning decisions at the top management of the company and provides a certain independence to production departments in the development of schedules based on indicators that are uniform for the entire company.

Nearly all large companies have central planning services. However, organizationally and structurally, the central service can be built in different ways and differ in the nature of the functions performed. In some companies, the central planning function is performed by planning departments that are part of other central services. In the production departments, the planning apparatus is represented by the planning department, whose functions include drawing up monthly, quarterly, semi-annual and annual, consolidated and current production plans for the department as a whole. Typically, these plans summarize the metrics received from each department.

1.5 Effectiveness of planning

Effective planning requires:

receipt of information about the main external conditions of influence and past achievements;

determination of the optimal structure of the organization and the provision of services at any given time, taking into account scientific and technological progress;

operational accounting of available resources and flexible maneuvering by them;

establishing control over the implementation of plans and their timely correction, if necessary.

Planning is a responsible and difficult part of the work to organize effective management.

It is extremely difficult to determine the goals, opportunities, problems and alternatives associated with the formulation of the goal, the final choice of the direction of activity in conditions of uncertainty caused by the system of the market economy, as well as the complexity of the implementation of plans due to the need to clarify and adjust them due to the variability of the market environment.

The stability and success of any business entity can only be ensured by effective planning of its activities. Planning, as the central link of management, encompasses a system of principles, methods, forms and methods of regulation to improve the efficiency of achieving the objectives and goals of the organization as a whole.

When organizing a planning system, it is very important to determine the relationship between tasks and steps to achieve them, to provide a system for monitoring the organization's work and the necessary adjustments.

The tasks (which are also an order) of planning, as a process of practical activity, include:

Justification of the proposed strategies, goals and objectives that the company plans to implement in the coming period, design the desired future of the organization;

Planning the main means of achieving the set goals and objectives, choosing or creating the necessary means to get closer to the desired future;

Determining the need for resources, planning the volume and structure of the required resources and the timing of their receipt;

Designing the implementation of the developed plans and monitoring their implementation.

2. Enterprise planning system

2.1 Planning engine

The planning mechanism is understood as a set of tools and methods by which planning decisions are made and their implementation is ensured. If the organizational structure reflects the external structure of the planning system, its form, then the mechanism reveals the internal structure and content of the planning system.

The planning mechanism includes: the apparatus for the development of goals and objectives of the functioning; planning functions; planning methods.

The listed components of the planning mechanism are interdependent as elements of one system. The logic of this connection is as follows: the laws of development (including economic laws, laws of engineering and technology, cybernetics, laws of the development of society, etc.) give rise to the goals and objectives of the functioning of the organization; goals and objectives define the planning functions that determine the appropriate planning methods.

Now let's take a closer look at these components.

a) Goal setting.

In general terms, goal setting can be defined as a planning decision-making process that precedes future action. The objectives of the activity should be linked to each other.

Only top management is able to ensure the optimal combination of individual goals and objectives with overall business goals.

Connecting goals and objectives to achieve them constitutes a strategy.

The goal system depends on five components:

External opportunities and limitations (the nature of the external environment, which in relation to goals can be structured into economic, technological and legal)

Internal opportunities and limitations (determined by labor resources financial resources, material resources)

Risk appetite

The system of performance objectives must meet the following requirements:

They must be functional so that managers at different levels can easily transform goals that are set at a higher level into tasks for lower levels;

A temporary link must be established between long-term and short-term goals;

Targets should be reviewed periodically to internal capabilities corresponded to the existing conditions;

Objectives should ensure the necessary concentration of resources and efforts;

It is always necessary to set a system of goals, and not a single goal;

Objectives should cover all areas of activity.

Successful implementation of goals depends on how they are divided into subgoals and tasks in the planning process.

b) Planning functions.

Planning functions are understood as isolated activities generated by the division of labor within the planning process, that is, any work, any action performed in the process of forming a plan and aimed at changing the state of the organization.

The planning includes the following functions:

1) Reducing complexity - overcoming the real complexity of the planned objects and processes.

2) Motivation - initiation of effective use of material and intellectual potential.

3) Forecasting - through a systematic analysis of all factors of the state of the external and internal environment, it makes it possible to calculate the possible development and the implementation of the development of an action plan. The quality of the forecast also determines the quality of the plan.

Ensuring safety - refers to the need to take into account the risk factor in order to avoid or reduce it.

Optimization - establishes the choice of acceptable and best alternatives for the use of resources.

6) The function of coordination and integration - creates an unification of people, both in the process of developing a plan and in the process of its implementation. It should also prevent conflicts, take into account the integration of various areas of the organization.

Sequencing function - creates a uniform order of actions.

8) Control function - implements the establishment of an effective control system for activities, analysis of the process of execution of assigned tasks.

Documentation function - captures a view of the progress of the activity.

10) The function of education and training - has an educational effect through patterns of rational action and allows you to learn from mistakes.

c) Methods of planning.

They are understood as a way of implementing planning, that is, a way of implementing a planned idea.

The planning method depends on the specific form of planning and includes two aspects: direction of planning; means of justifying the planned parameters.

In planning practice, three areas of planning can be distinguished:

Progressive planning (bottom-up method) - planning is carried out from the lowest levels to the highest. Here, the lower structural units themselves draw up detailed plans for their work, which are further integrated at the upper level, forming a general plan.

Retrograde method ("Top down") - planning is carried out on the basis of the general plan, by detailing its indicators from top to bottom in the hierarchy. At the same time, the performers must transform the plans of higher levels that come to them into their own plans, with the specification of the tasks set.

The circular method (counter planning) is a synthesis of the methods discussed above. The circular method involves developing a plan in two stages. At the first stage (from top to bottom), current planning is carried out, according to the main goals. At the second stage (from bottom to top), a final plan is drawn up, according to a system of detailed indicators. At the same time, the most successful solutions are included in the plans.

2.2 The planning process

Like any expedient human activity, the planning process has its own technology, which represents the sequence of work performed when drawing up a plan.

The planning process contains the following steps:

1) Determination of the purpose of planning, the establishment of forms and methods of planning. They also determine the criteria for making planning decisions and monitoring the progress of their implementation.

2) Analysis of the problem - determination of the initial situation at the time of drawing up the plan and the formation of the final situation.

3) Search for alternatives, which implies the search for suitable actions among possible ways to resolve the problem situation.

4) Forecasting, in which an idea of ​​the development of the planned situation is formed.

5) Evaluation - Optimizing calculations are performed to select the best alternative.

6) Adoption and execution of a single planning decision.

Planning tools enable you to automate the planning process from collecting information to making and implementing planning decisions. This includes technical, informational, software, organizational and linguistic support.

The integrated use of these tools allows you to create an automated system for planned calculations (ASP).

Planning how component management process can have organizational forms with centralized and decentralized planning functions.

In accordance with these forms, a system of planning bodies of a specific economic entity is being built.

In an organization with centralized planning functions, senior management creates special service planning, called the planning and control department. She reports directly to the top manager, is engaged in the development of promising and current plans and monitors the progress of their implementation. With a centralized planning system, it is easier to coordinate work. However, with the expansion of the scale of activity, the intensification of the diversification process and the emergence of diversified concerns, it becomes impossible to plan their work from one center.

At decentralized system planned work is carried out at three levels. At the senior management level, there is a central planning service that only prepares long-range plans. Each department has its own planning department that draws up the current plan.

In this option, the centralization of long-term planning and the decentralization of the current one helps to increase the initiative of the offices in using the available opportunities. The main planning work is concentrated in individual links, and is built taking into account the specifics of their work.

The degree of decentralization of planning functions in organizations varies. For example, long-term planning may not always be focused only on the highest level. In this case, the planning service is entrusted with the functions of developing a general strategy for organizing, coordinating and monitoring the work of the planning services of departments, checking the status of the current expenses of departments and enterprises.

The current structure of planning services is fundamentally different from the structure prevalent at the enterprises of the former USSR. The difference lies in the fact that in modern practice all these functions are performed in various functional departments, for example, in the department of labor and wages, the planning and economic department, etc.

2.3 The system of plans at the enterprise and their relationship

In the economic practice of domestic enterprises, it is generally recognized that there are two main systems or types of market planning: technical and economic and operational and production.

Technical and economic planning provides for the development of an integral system of indicators of the development of technology and the economy of an enterprise in their unity and interdependence both in place and in time of action. During this planning stage, the optimal production volumes are substantiated based on taking into account the interaction of supply and demand for products and services, the necessary production resources are selected and rational norms for their use are established, the final financial and economic indicators are determined, etc.

Operational and production planning is a consequence of technical and economic and represents its subsequent development and completion. At this stage, the current production targets are established by a separate workshop, site and workplace, a variety of organizational and managerial influences are carried out in order to adjust the production process.

The system of plans at the enterprise can be systematized according to such basic classification criteria as:

according to the level of management, depending on the number of line links in the enterprise, there are such types as corporate and factory - at the highest level of management. At the middle level, a workshop planning system is used, at the lower level, a production system, which covers sections, teams and a workplace;

according to the methods of justification, the system of market, indicative and administrative or centralized planning is used;

in terms of coverage time, planning is short-term or current (one year, quarter, decade or week), medium-term within (1-3 years) and long-term or long-term (from 3 to 10 years);

according to the scope of application, planning is divided into interdepartmental, intrashop, brigade and individual;

by stages of development, planning is preliminary, at the stage of which draft plans are developed, and final;

according to the degree of accuracy, planning is refined and enlarged. The accuracy of the plans mainly depends on the methods used, the normative materials, the planning timeframe and the skill level of the plan developers;

by types of goals, planning can be operational, tactical, strategic and normative.

In foreign science and practice, in planning the future of a corporation, it is customary to distinguish four main types of orientation or technology for drawing up plans.

According to the classification of R.L. Ackoff, planning is reactive, inactive, preactive and interactive.

Reactive planning is based on an analysis of previous experience and the history of production development and most often relies on old organizational forms and established traditions. Such planning considers production problems separately, and not as a corresponding system, and therefore does not take into account the interaction of the whole and its individual parts. In addition, it is based on the misconception that if you get rid of the unnecessary, you will get the desired result. This planning begins as a low-level manager with a checklist of what needs to be foreseen for the upcoming change. Then a project is developed to find and eliminate the cause of the deficiencies, an assessment of the costs and benefits for each project is made and the necessary priorities are set. Next, a project is selected, which usually involves the expenditure of more resources than is required in real conditions.

The selected draft plan is forwarded direct supervisor, which, after its adjustment, directs it to the next level of management. The transfer of the project continues until the master plans reach the highest level of management, where the final choice of option takes place, which marks the end of the analytical process of developing the in-house plan. Reactive planning, oriented to the past, very often leads to the displacement of the products and services of these corporations not only from the external, but also the internal market, since other firms are better at planning and mastering competitive products.

Inactive planning focuses on the existing state of the enterprise and does not provide for both a return to the previous state and progress. Its main goals are the survival and stability of production. Inactive organizations value their style, traditions and rules more than the economy or efficiency of planning and production activities. The best of all are those enterprises with an inactive management style, in which their survival does not depend on labor productivity. Many examples of inactive planning can be found in state enterprises, in administrative institutions, budgetary organizations, as well as in service departments and functional services of various enterprises (firms). Inactive planning focused on the present is not conducive to economic growth and development of domestic enterprises.

Preactive planning is aimed at implementing continuous changes in various areas of activity of enterprises (firms). In their striving for the best, preactivists rely on all the achievements of science and technology, widely use experiment and forecasting, but make little use of the accumulated experience. Such planning consists of forecasting and preparing for the future and is carried out in enterprises from the top down.

It begins with forecasting external conditions, then the most important goals of the enterprise and its strategy are formulated as an integral program for achieving them. The main difficulty of preactive planning stems from the fact that the further into the future the forecast penetrates, the greater the probability of error. Therefore, effective preparation is possible at best for the relatively near future. Therefore, proactive planning based on forecasts can only be effective for a relatively short period.

Interactive planning is about designing the desired future and finding ways to build it. Such planning therefore focuses rather on improving performance over time, aiming to maximize its ability to learn and adapt or develop. Accelerating socio-economic change makes learning and adaptation key to interactive planning. Not a single problem, both for the economy or society as a whole, and for an individual enterprise (firm) can be solved forever or for a long time, and therefore, as the changes accelerate, the period of validity of planning and management decisions decreases. Moreover, solving one problem creates new ones, sometimes more difficult than the solved ones. The progress of economics, for example, is determined equally by the transition from simple to complex problems, and from difficult decisions to simple ones. Interactive planning, focused on the interaction of the past, present and future, is aimed at increasing the level of individual, organizational and social development of the enterprise and the entire country and improving the quality of life of people.

Any planning as a process of practical activity usually includes several stages or stages, the main purpose of which is as follows:

formulation of the composition of the upcoming planning problems, determination of the system of expected hazards or anticipated opportunities for the development of an enterprise or firm;

justification of the proposed strategies, goals and objectives that the enterprise plans to implement in the coming period, design the desired future of the organization;

planning the main means of achieving the set goals and objectives, choosing or creating the necessary means to approach the desired future;

determining the need for resources, planning the volume and structure of the required resources and the timing of their receipt;

designing the implementation of the developed plans and monitoring their implementation.

The above planning procedure is widespread in American firms. Domestic enterprises also use similar technology planning, containing three main stages of practical activity:

drawing up plans, making decisions about the future goals of the organization and how to achieve them;

organization of implementation of planned decisions, assessment of the real performance indicators of the enterprise;

control and analysis of final results, adjustment of actual indicators and improvement of the enterprise.

The goal-based management system should be developed taking into account the characteristic properties and specifics of the organization. There is no such thing as a “clean” or generic model that can be used for all situations and in any organization. Here is one of the schemes used in various organizations to achieve a goal.

Step 1. The highest level of management develops the main goals of the organization for the forthcoming (planned) period. This usually happens while the annual budget is being developed. Top managers must determine the main goals for the coming period in terms of such indicators as sales volume, production, prices, level of profitability, team development, etc. Although the goals of an organization may be indicative in nature, they generally reflect the specific characteristics inherent in the goals of all major divisions and branches of the organization. This means that the highest level of management has coordinated them with managers of all other levels. And in the end they came to a consensus on the chosen goals, which are quite realistic and achievable for all structural divisions.

Step 2. For each manager, responsible executor, a specific task is drawn up. Thanks to this, there is confidence in the scope of authority and limits of responsibility distributed among employees who know exactly what they have to accomplish. Careful personal distribution of duties and rights allows avoiding "white spots" where work is not specified.

Step 3. This stage is intended to determine the specific characteristics of each area of ​​work in close relationship with the overall goals of the organization. Each employee prepares a list of goals (from six to ten) that should ensure the achievement of the desired results within their areas of activity.

Step 4. It is imperative that a meeting be held between the employee and his manager to discuss the target. Especially important is the primary level of management, at which all goals, broken down into sub-goals and tasks, reach their specific performer, it is at this level that employees are very critical in evaluating tasks and developing a joint agreement with managers. Both sides strive to work out agreement on selected goals based on realistic and achievable conditions. Priorities can be set if necessary.

Step 5. For periodic reports on the progress of the work performed in accordance with the planned volumes, a certain time is provided. Many experts suggest using the quarterly reporting form as the main one. Following regular reporting, goals can be adjusted either downward or upward if necessary.

Step 6. The final stage, at which the analysis of the results of achieving the set goals is carried out and a report is developed at the end of the year. A very useful method of developing reports is to include individual reports on self-assessment of their performance by each employee in accordance with the goals set. At this stage, managers need to be more self-critical and celebrate their mistakes without waiting for their upline managers to do so. This is usually followed by a general meeting to discuss the personal contribution of employees, under the guidance of a superior manager, to production achievement.

2.4 Improving the organization of planning in the enterprise

In practice, enterprises use various types of planning, and most often a combination of them. The set of different types of planning, applied simultaneously to a specific economic entity, is called a form of planning.

The choice of one or another form of planning depends on many factors.
The dominant position among them is occupied by the specifics of the enterprise.
For example, a clothing company plans its products for no more than 1-2 years, and a shipyard plans for at least 5-10 years.

Among the many factors affecting the form of planning, three main ones can be distinguished: Factors due to the specifics of the firm (concentration of capital, the level of mechanization and automation of the firm's management, the geographical location of the firm, etc.)

The most important of the factors determining intra-firm planning is the concentration of capital. For example, the minimum size of fixed assets in a number of American industries is hundreds of millions of dollars. Capital concentration is enhanced by the processes of diversification and internationalization of capital.

The influence of scientific and technological progress on the production process and its management is expressed in the complication of the division of labor and the manufactured product and, as a result, the complication of the organizational and technical structure of the enterprise and association.

The structure of the largest companies has dozens of scientific laboratories, hundreds of production units, a complex system logistics and sales of finished products, including sales agents and maintenance enterprises for consumers of their products. This puts forward stringent requirements for the coordination of production participants, the need to plan their joint efforts. planning management management

Mechanization and automation of management has a significant impact on the process of intra-firm planning, which is reflected in the forms and methods of planning. Since it allows you to improve the degree of consistency and balance of plans for various functional areas of production and economic activities and structural divisions of the enterprise, it increases the general culture of planned work, etc. The external environment influences the form of planning through two groups of factors: direct and indirect impact.

The group of factors of direct influence includes such factors that determine the direct influence on the planned decisions in the form of various conditions and constraints. The subjects of such influence can be suppliers and consumers, competitors, trade unions, central and local government bodies, etc.

The group of indirect impact includes factors that do not have an unambiguous impact on the planning decision. But, nevertheless, they can affect the implementation of the decision by indirectly influencing the interests of the participants in the implementation of the decision, changing the conditions for its implementation, etc. this includes the state of the economy, international events, political factors, scientific and technological progress, socio-cultural factors, etc.

The number of factors to which business entities are required to respond, as well as the level of variability of each factor, make up the complexity of the external environment, which can have different dynamics of change. The mobility of the environment is the rate of change in the environment of the enterprise. Criteria due to the specifics of the planning process.

In whatever economic entities the planning process is carried out, it always has the same structure, must comply with standard requirements, which also applies to the choice of specific forms of planning.

The criterion for the effectiveness of intra-firm planning is also the degree of its use in practice as a guide to action.
Many managers and professionals often point out that the enterprise plan "does not work." Upon careful analysis, it turns out that they cannot work. This is mainly because plans span too long a period, spread to very large systems, and are faced with a huge number of random processes and events. Therefore, in the system of internal planning, it is necessary to have an organizational structure that ensures the constant adjustment of plans in accordance with changes in the external environment and internal conditions.

And so the factors considered have a significant impact on the methods and organization of intrafirm planning, which is manifested in the following.

1. There is a need to separate functions in enterprise management and planning of its activities. The division of labor is carried out in the direction of separating the functions of strategic planning from operational current planned work, separating R&D planning from the development and implementation of production plans and product sales.

In the organization of planning and control over the implementation of plans, the principles of the division of labor and the management hierarchy operate to a greater extent, the stages of which are determined by the organizational structure of enterprise management (OSU). The organizational structure of enterprise management is the key to understanding the methodology, tasks and organization of internal planning.

2. The complexity of the plan increases. It becomes a complex of various indicators, activities, different in nature, timing, performers.
The planning period is growing, in which it is possible to lay the beginning and end of work on the development and mastering of a new product, the acquisition and use of new technology. In this regard, the role of long-term long-term plans increases and the need to coordinate them with medium-term and current plans.

3. Planning turns into a special sphere of economic activity, which can be carried out under certain economic, material conditions. It becomes a necessary condition for the functioning of the firm at the current level of socialization of production. But the complication of the planning process leads to the fact that it can only be carried out by a large firm, which has the appropriate specialists, technology and information for this. Intra-firm planning services are turning into a kind of capital concentration and control tool. Thus, planning, being largely the result of the concentration of capital, turns into the most important factor in the centralization of capital.

The enterprise plan in its content is a set of interrelated measures to increase profits by increasing the efficiency of using all the resources used and selling products. The success and effectiveness of the planning system is largely determined by the level of its organization, which is aimed at a systematic combination of the main elements of the planning system:

Planned personnel formed into an organizational structure;

Planning mechanism;

The process of justifying, making and implementing planning decisions (planning process);

Tools that support the planning process (information, technical, mathematical software, organizational and linguistic support).

The entire planning organization system should be aimed at creating the most favorable conditions for improving production processes and enterprise management. If planning theory reveals the patterns and principles of justifying planning decisions, then the planning organization examines the process-structural aspect.

Planned personnel include all specialists who, to one degree or another, perform planning functions. Moreover, for some of them, planning functions can be the main type of activity (for example, for employees of the planning and economic department), and for others, it can be combined with other types of activities (for example, specialists in the design department can, along with planning design preparation for production, be engaged in the design of new products) HR workers have to solve a wide variety of tasks: to set up and balance short- and long-term enterprises, to determine what is more important - to increase their market share or increase the productivity of invested capital

The growing role of planned workers in management can be explained by the following reasons:

1. The growth of the investment and science-intensive nature of modern production;

2. Strengthening the priority of quality and scientific and technical level of products in a competitive environment.

3. Increasing the importance of the creative work of all employees;

4. Strengthening the collective nature of labor, due to the increase in the complexity of technology and technology.

The listed factors very sharply pose the problem of increasing the level of organization of planned work, accounting in the work of the enterprise. individual qualities planners, their personal attitudes and psychological preferences, deep interest in the final results of work. In order to successfully perform their functions, the planner-manager, in addition to high professional qualifications, must have the ability to learn, communicate and cooperate.

The apparatus of new employees at the enterprise functions in the form of an appropriate organizational structure (OCI), which establishes the required number of planned personnel and their distribution by divisions of the management apparatus, determines the composition of planning bodies, regulates linear, functional and information links between planners and departments, establishes the rights, duties and responsibilities of planners, determines the requirements for their professional level, etc.

Each company approaches the choice of the organizational planning structure strictly individually. Nevertheless, it is possible to distinguish groups of enterprises with the most typical schemes of such structures.

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Business planning is a part of enterprise management, which involves finding priority goals and opportunities to achieve them. This is a broad area, including cost projection, structural improvement, and alignment across business units. At the end of the work, the achievement of the set results is monitored.

What does activity planning include?

Planning is a managerial task. The work takes place in three basic directions:

  1. Determination of the current state of the enterprise... The task is subdivided into assessing the economic condition of the company, determining the areas in which the company operates most efficiently. Areas in which urgent improvement is needed must also be found. Based on the current state, it is possible to establish what goals can be achieved with the available resources.
  2. Defining strategic objectives... They are calculated based on the competitive environment, technology, management wishes, market situation.
  3. Determination of available and required resources... Resources include technology, equipment, and personnel.

Based on these tasks, you can deduce the structure of the planning work:

  • Finding realistic goals.
  • Determination of indicators on the basis of which it is possible to evaluate the activities of the enterprise from the point of view of strategy.
  • Finding a list of priority tasks that can be solved in a given situation and with available resources.
  • Establishing a flexible planning methodology that will allow you to achieve the goals previously defined.

Planning is a complex task that no growing company can do without.

How is planning analysis done?

Analysis involves assessing the effectiveness of planning. To find it, you need to enter certain criteria. The simplest criterion is profitability. Consider other indicators:

  • The productivity of the use of labor resources.
  • The efficiency of the production departments.
  • Benefit from investment activities, assets.
  • Expansion of the enterprise.

In the early stages of planning, the manager sets goals for a given period. At the end of this period, the actual performance is compared with the targets. The percentage of coincidence will be an indicator of the effectiveness of the plan.

Objectives and types

Let's consider the main goals of planning:

  • Establishing objective perspectives of the structure.
  • Rational use of available resources.
  • Determining what resources need to be purchased to achieve the objectives.
  • Reducing the risk of bankruptcy to a minimum.
  • Full implementation of science and technology policy.
  • Optimization of control measures.

Planning allows you to create an objective picture of the activities of the enterprise, to see its weak points.

Varieties

Planning can be subdivided into varieties depending on the defining characteristics. For example, coverage is a feature. Planning, in the light of this category, is divided into the following types:

  • General (involves the definition of aggregate goals of work in all areas of the enterprise).
  • Private (applies only to a specific area).

If we consider the substantive part, the following types of planning are distinguished:

  • strategic (defining long-range goals and resources to achieve them);
  • operational (involves the analysis of current activities and the establishment of tactical goals);
  • current (consists in setting goals for the current year).

ATTENTION! Strategic and ongoing planning complement each other. The second type is based on the set goals in the long term.

The type of planning depends on the area in which the tasks are set:

  • production part;
  • financial sphere;
  • personnel issues.

Planning involves determining the time frame for which goals and objectives are set. Based on this, the job can be:

  • short-term (from a month to a year);
  • medium-term (1-5 years);
  • long-term (more than five years).

Planning can be:

  • rigid (that is, it cannot be adjusted);
  • flexible (the plan is built taking into account the likely changes).

ATTENTION! The harsh method is rarely used in enterprises. It's hard to follow. It is the flexible system that shows great efficiency.

Methods

The method presupposes a tool through which the planning of activities takes place. Several methods can be applied at once. Consider their varieties:

  • Balance... The manager determines the balance between the existing needs and the resources that are in the enterprise. A list of resources that do not exist is determined. The sources of their receipt are found;
  • Calculation and analytical... It is necessary to find the indicators needed to analyze the achievement of the set goals. Their dynamics is being studied. Indicators can be as follows: profitability, productivity, profitability, cost reduction;
  • Graphical-analytical... The key tool of this method is charts. They help determine the relationship between indicators and other factors. For example, profitability correlates with the current market situation;
  • Targeted... Relevant when working on programs. Essential for strategic planning. The main feature of the method is the determination of efficiency based on specific results. The manager sets a goal. It is broken down into tasks and subtasks. Usually the goal solves the problem in one area. For example, a business wants to expand. The global goal is to develop new markets. The tasks may be the conclusion of contracts in other regions, the lease of premises, the solution of transport problems;
  • Economic and mathematical methods... Calculation is the main tool. It is performed using computer technology. Helps to quantify. Provides the ability to develop several alternatives, from which the best at the moment is selected.

There are planning elements in any organizational structure... A prime example is a business plan drawn up in the early stages of a company. In fact, this is a definition of the future activities of the organization, based on objective prerequisites (for example, competition). A business plan solves several problems at once. It allows you to attract investment funds, provides a vision of the company.

Usually the manager is in charge of the planning. But, if the enterprise is very large, this task can be delegated more narrow specialist... When carrying out this activity, it is important to see the real situation, build a plan based on the existing external and internal factors. All this will make it possible not just to bring the company to new level but also do it with maximum savings, reducing the cost of achieving goals.

    Essence and stages of planning

    Aims and mission of the organization.

    Strategic planning.

    Implementation of the strategic plan.

    Management by goals.

    Essence and stages of planning

Planning is the process of defining the goals and objectives of an organization for a certain perspective and developing ways to achieve them.

The scheduling function answers three basic questions:

Where are we currently?

Where do we want to move?

How are we going to do this?

Planning is one of the ways in which management ensures that the efforts of all members of the organization are consistently directed towards the achievement of the organization's goals.

Planning is usually carried out in three steps and the process of execution of the plan is analyzed using the control function.

Three planning steps:

    Setting the goals and objectives of the organization.

    Forecasting the environment in which these goals are to be achieved.

    Planning (establishing) ways to achieve goals.

    Control over the achievement of the set goals by comparing planned and actual indicators.

Planning is always guided by the data of the past, but seeks to determine and control the development of the organization in the future. Therefore, the reliability of planning depends on the accuracy of the actual indicators of the past. It is impossible to ensure this accuracy without accurate accounting and an extensive statistical base obtained through management accounting.

Any planning at the same time is based on incomplete data. Its quality largely depends on the intellectual level and competence of the employees performing this function.

Distinguish between strategic and tactical planning. Strategic planning(long-term) is widely used in world practice. As a rule, it is associated with the development of a strategy, is descriptive and is developed by the top management of the company for 3-5-10 years.

Tactical planning- short-term up to 1 year. It usually links the plans of various partners, or certain points of the plan are common for the manufacturer's enterprise and its partners. At Russian enterprises, the main document for current planning is the technical financial plan.

The fulfillment of annual plans requires detailing, the distribution of indicators by divisions, the establishment of routes for the movement of production along technological transitions, the organization and control of the production process. All these issues are reflected in operational and production planning.

Operational planning concretizes (details) annual plans in time and space. The OPP functions are performed by production dispatching or planning and economic departments of enterprises.

Many studies clearly show that there is a strong relationship between planning and organizational success. One study found that executives (217 vice-presidents of the 109 largest US corporations) who plan their jobs have done better in terms of profit-to-sales and return on equity. Other researchers analyzed the activities of the 105 largest US companies and 105 medium and small firms. They found that firms using formal planning have the highest growth rates.

Even more complex studies were carried out to study the work of 36 firms in the pharmaceutical, food, chemical, steel, oil and machine-building industries. To minimize the impact of other variables, firms were paired according to size, industry, and other metrics. At the start of the study, none of the 18-pair firms were involved in formal planning. Then one of the firms in each pair began to apply formal planning. The activities of all 18 pairs of firms were monitored for 7 years. On metrics such as return on invested capital, earnings per share, and earnings per share growth, companies that did the planning outperformed those that didn’t. Additional studies looked at the performance of pharmaceutical and chemical companies over the next 4 years. They showed that firms that use formal planning continued to perform better than firms that did not have formal planning. They have even broadened the scope of their success.

    Aims and mission of the organization.

Organizations are created to meet the personal needs and goals of the people who create them and their members. But organizations themselves also have goals that are different from those of individual members. Individual goals are so different that there may not be an organization that can satisfy all of these goals. At the same time, organizations could not effectively carry out their activities without achieving some of them.

The more goals an organization achieves, the more effective it is. Therefore, each organization must first of all determine the composition of the individual goals of its members. This will then help to define organizational goals that help achieve personal goals. This process is directed by the leader, in fact, this is his most important task.

A goal is the desired result that an organization or individual seeks to achieve.

The significance of an organization's goals is that they:

    Serve as a guide for directing efforts in the organization;

    Needed to coordinate efforts;

    Allows you to create ways to achieve;

    Organizations that strive to be effective and grow must constantly update their goals;

    Objectives are necessary to define effective policies, procedures, methods, strategies and rules;

    The organization's clearly defined goals are its guiding stars.

When goals, missions and objectives are planned for the entire organization and their implementation is coordinated, the result is usually achieved. Well-defined and integrating organizational goals and objectives have a number of advantages:

    They influence the behavior of people in the organization, making it more rational, more coordinated and more effective, since everyone knows that in order to achieve goals, one must work towards these goals;

    Real goals provide opportunities for measuring, comparing and evaluating the indicators of their expressing;

    Effective goals can also be good motivators, as they allow the member of the organization to more easily connect the achievement of their personal goals with the work in the organization. He knows what is expected of him and what is required of him in order to be successful in the organization. By setting effective goals, the manager helps people at all levels of the organization understand how they can achieve their own goals by directing their efforts towards achieving the organization's goals.

The main overall purpose of the organization - a clearly expressed reason for its existence - is the mission of the organization. Objectives are developed to fulfill this mission. The mission statement details the status of the firm and provides direction and guidance for setting goals and strategy.

The primary goal of an organization is to fulfill its mission, that is, the meaning of its existence. A mission statement must be formally articulated and communicated to the organization's staff and serves as a benchmark on which leaders base their decisions. Choosing a goal that is too narrow can limit the ability of management to find alternatives when making decisions. Choosing a mission that is too broad can damage the success of the organization.

The mission of the organization should include:

    the purpose of the organization (type of activity);

    working principles (in accordance with the external environment);

    characterize the culture of the organization.

Planning involves making specific decisions regarding the functioning and development of the organization as a whole and its individual parts, their coordination and integration in the interests of the fullest use of the potential and optimization of the final result.

In particular, it comes:

  • on setting goals and objectives, developing strategies (including emergency ones), performance standards for the coming period;
  • on the distribution and redistribution of resources in accordance with the emerging external and internal situation;
  • on determining the sequence of actions to transfer the organization to a new desired state;
  • on the establishment of coordination mechanisms.

Making such decisions is the planning process in a broad sense; in a narrow sense, planning is the preparation of special documents - plans that create the basis for specific actions at all levels of the organization.

There are three main types of plans.

First, goal plans, which are a set of qualitative and quantitative characteristics of the desired state of the control object and its individual elements. These characteristics are agreed and ranked, but are not associated with either a specific method of achievement or the resources required for this. Such plans are used for long periods of time or when specific events are fundamentally unpredictable.

Second, plans for recurring activities, prescribing their timing and order of implementation. An example of such a plan is a train or training timetable.

Third, plans for non-repetitive actions, created to solve specific problems. Such plans may have an entry for programs, budgets for receipts and resource allocations, and so on. They usually provide for "windows" to provide freedom of maneuver in the event of unforeseen circumstances.

According to the terms of implementation, plans are usually divided into three categories:

  • long-term (over 5 years), related mainly to the category of plans-goals;
  • medium-term (from 1 to 5 years), mainly carried out in the form of programs;
  • short-term (up to 1 year), in the form of budgets, network schedules, etc.

A variety of such plans are operational ones, drawn up for a period from one shift to one month.

In different areas of activity, the planning horizon is not the same. Plans are developed at all levels of the organization's management:

1. The firm creates strategic plans.

2. Based on them and incoming orders, the enterprise develops annual production programs.

3. The shop prepares quarterly, monthly and weekly schedules on the basis of orders.

4. The site is given shift-daily assignments.

Planning principles

Planning is carried out in accordance with a number of principles, i.e. rules, which are considered today:

  • participation of the maximum number of employees of the organization in the work on the plan already at the very early stages of its preparation (people will be more willing to carry out tasks that are not lowered from above, but those that have set themselves);
  • continuity, according to which planning is not a single act, but a system of regularly repeated actions;
  • continuity, assuming that new plans are developed taking into account the fulfillment of the past and the fact that they themselves will serve as the basis for drawing up plans in the future;
  • flexibility, which implies the possibility of revising, within a certain framework, previously adopted plans when circumstances change;
  • coordination of plans adopted within the organization (due to the interconnectedness of its individual parts and the need to take into account their interests). It takes place by coordinating the plans of divisions of the same level and integrating the plans of subordinate divisions;
  • economy, requiring that the costs of drawing up a plan were less than the effect brought by its implementation;
  • creating the necessary conditions for the implementation of the plan.

The principles listed above are universal, suitable for different levels of management; at the same time, each of them can also apply its own specific principles.

For example, when planning work in a workshop, the bottleneck principle plays an important role, according to which the output must be determined based on the capabilities of the piece of equipment with the lowest productivity. At the same time, it is usually not applied at the enterprise level, but the scientific nature of planning plays an important role.

The planning process begins with analyzing the present and predicting the future position of the enterprise and environment (situation). Based on its results, goals are set, strategies are developed and tools are determined that allow them to be most effectively implemented.

Planning in large Western firms is carried out by a planning committee, whose members are usually representatives of the highest administration and heads of departments, as well as the planning service and its structures in the field. Their activities are coordinated by the first person or his deputy.

The planning committee is engaged in setting goals, developing policies, allocating core resources, etc. Based on this, the planning service draws up draft plans that are sent for consideration to future executors.

The latter, having read, return them back with additions, corrections and remarks. At the same time, they themselves serve as the basis for developing plans. A planning committee, acting as a consultant and communication broker, coordinates these with top management strategies, such as mergers and acquisitions, and organizes the approval process (usually top-down).

Thus, the modern planning process in Western firms has an interactive character, which is manifested in the following. Features of the planning process largely depend on the degree of centralization of the management system.

If it is high, the planning authorities single-handedly make the majority of decisions related not only to the organization as a whole, but also to individual departments. With an average level of centralization, they make only fundamental decisions, which are subsequently detailed in departments. In decentralized structures, goals, resource limits are set from above, as well as a single form of plans, which are already constituted by the divisions themselves. In this case, the central planning bodies coordinate them, link them up and bring them together in the general plan of the organization.

Three approaches to planning can be used, depending on the economic capabilities of the company. If its resources are limited, then it is they who set goals that are not further revised even when favorable opportunities appear, because there may simply not be enough funds for implementation. This contentment approach is used primarily by small firms whose main goal is survival. Larger ones can adjust plans in accordance with new opportunities, attracting additional funds, the surplus of which they have. This approach to planning is called adaptation. Finally, corporations with significant resources can use an optimization approach that comes not from resources, but from goals, so if a project promises high profits, money is not spared on it.

Planning methods

Budget and balance method of developing plans

The search for such an option is carried out through iterations, i.e., a sequential transition from one planned solution to another, which somehow improves the previous one. Currently, there are several ways of drawing up plans (planning methods): budget, balance sheet, normative, mathematical and statistical, graphic, etc. Let us consider them in more detail.

The budgetary method is based on the preparation of reporting and planned budgets, that is, tables reflecting the state or distribution of the resources available to the organization in accordance with the goals set (in the future, they can be clarified and adjusted).

An organization can draw up several types of budgets. The main (general) budget reflects the flow of funds, the state of assets and liabilities, profits and losses.

Operating budgets are also drawn up:

  • production;
  • sales;
  • work force;
  • material stocks;
  • finished products;
  • overhead, commercial, administrative and other expenses;
  • distribution of profits (for investments, dividends, taxes);
  • cash receipts, etc.

In accordance with various development scenarios, as well as in an unstable market environment, it is possible to develop "alternative" budgets. The budget planning method (budgeting) provides:

1) increasing the efficiency of the organization by decentralizing management, quickly detecting and correcting deviations;

2) optimization of the distribution and use of resources, prevention of mismanagement;

3) reliable control and assessment of their movement and costs, etc. But this method is complicated, requires a restructuring of the management system, individualization of responsibility, high costs.

The balance planning method is based on the interconnection of two budgets: the resources that the organization will have and the needs for them within the planning period.

If resources are insufficient in comparison with the needs, then there is a search for their additional sources to cover the deficit (both on the side and by rationalizing internal processes).

The inability to solve the problem of scarcity forces the firm to reduce consumption (either also on the basis of its rationalization, or by mechanical reduction with a corresponding decrease in the final results). If resources are in abundance, the opposite problem is solved - expanding production on their basis or getting rid of surpluses (the latter is advisable even in conditions of inflation, since it is necessary to spend significant funds to store stocks; in addition, the corresponding objects are destroyed, as well as become obsolete and depreciated. ).

The balance method is implemented through the preparation of a system of balances, which are:

  • by content: material and material, cost and labor;
  • by the time horizon: reporting, planned, forecast;
  • by goals: analytical and working.

The balance is a two-sided (in contrast to the previous case) budget table, on the left side of which the sources of resources are reflected, and on the right side - their distribution. In general, it looks as shown in the table.

The balance is based on the balance equation, the meaning of which is that the sum of the balance of resources at the beginning of the period and their receipts from internal and external sources should be equal to the sum of their consumption (current consumption and sale to the outside) and the balance at the end of the period.

At the same time, achieving equality as such between resources and their distribution is not the only goal of balancing. An important role here is played by the optimization of the structure, which ensures the greatest efficiency of the organization's activities.

In the balance, resources are usually given with the allocation of the main suppliers, which allows you to control their movement. They are distributed in order to ensure the fulfillment of production plans, export obligations, create the necessary stocks, and implement programs related to the development of the organization.

Along with natural-material balances in planning, cost balances are widely used, which is explained by a number of circumstances.

Firstly, most organizations are subjects of market relations, purchasing for money everything necessary for their activities and selling for them the bulk of products and services.Thus, the flows of resources and finished products immediately receive a universal value expression that is most convenient for drawing up plans.

Secondly, some resources, such as financial resources, can generally be expressed only in monetary units.

Third, generalized indicators characterizing the flows of resources and products are only in terms of value, because until now no one has learned how to add liters with kilograms.

An example of a cost balance sheet is the balance sheet, the balance of expected profits and losses, payments, etc. Labor balances can also be very varied in content. These include, for example, the balance of working time, reflecting, on the one hand, its resources for a period (usually in standard hours), and on the other hand, the distribution of this time among various types of work.

For obvious reasons, such balances cannot provide for the stock of time that passes to the next period: the latter must either be used or is irretrievably lost.

Normative planning method

The normative planning method is used both independently and as an auxiliary one in relation to the balance one. It is based on norms and standards.

The norm is called the periodically revised, taking into account the achievements of scientific and technological revolution, the maximum permissible expenditure of various resources (raw materials, materials, equipment, working time, money, etc.) per unit of production or work.

For example, the plan for material and technical supply will be calculated by multiplying the consumption rates of raw materials, materials, energy, etc., by the value of the production order.

The standard means:

  • the specific consumption of the rationing element (resource) per unit of result, which is a constituent part of the norm;
  • specific amount of technological waste and losses;
  • specific amounts of deductions and payments.

Unlike the norm, the standard can only be individualized. Based on what exactly is standardized, there are:

1) the production rate, or the number of units of production (real or conventional), which must be manufactured per unit of time under certain conditions;

2) the rate of service, that is, the number of pieces of equipment, workplaces, areas, etc., which should be serviced by one employee (team);

3) the rate of time that determines its necessary costs (in man-hours or man-minutes) for the release of a conditional volume of production, maintenance of a unit of equipment or the implementation of an operation (its individual elements) by one employee (group) in the most favorable conditions;

4) the headcount rate, determined by the number of employees required to complete the production task (volume of work, maintenance of installed equipment).

In terms of the form of expression, the norms used in planning can be natural, cost and temporary. Natural resources usually relate to the consumption of material resources (raw materials, materials, energy, etc.).

Cost norms reflect the costs of resources in a generalized form or costs that cannot be expressed otherwise than in monetary form, for example, depreciation; or purely monetary costs, say, the cost of manufacturing a unit of production.

Time rates express its costs for performing certain actions: basic, servicing, preparatory and final operations, technological breaks, etc.

Rationing can be direct (based on functional dependencies) and indirect (based on statistical characteristics). Rationing of resources, primarily material, is carried out by the following methods:

  • reporting and statistical (the volume of output is compared with the cost of resources, on the basis of which their specific consumption is determined). The disadvantage of the method lies in the averaging of the obtained norms, the actual legitimacy of losses, the irrational use of resources and thereby distorting real opportunities production;
  • experimental production (analytical research), based on equipment testing, timing of operations performed by the most experienced and trained workers, scientific assessment and generalization of the data obtained, which creates a reliable basis for calculating the norms;
  • analytical and calculation, proceeding from the design capabilities of the equipment, the potential of the human body, identified on the basis of special medical and biological research, the qualitative characteristics of the raw materials and materials used. The norms obtained in this way are technically or scientifically sound.

Most often, the norms are individualized in relation to individual departments and workplaces. However, there are also group ones, designed for the same type of jobs in various departments, the production process as a whole.

For especially important resources of a limited nomenclature, promising standards can be developed. If the conditions of the organization's activities are constantly changing, current norms are used, the revision of which occurs regularly as necessary (the most common are annual ones, which form the basis of the corresponding plans and balances of material resources).

Using the normative method, for example, a standardized task is formed, which provides for the required range of products and the amount of work that an employee or group must perform during a given period in compliance with certain quality requirements.

Graphical planning methods

The graphical method must first of all include the method of network planning. It was developed in the late 1950s. for forecasting, managing the implementation and control of large-scale projects, optimizing their costs. The starting point for applying this method is to determine the duration of actions (works) associated with the achievement of the goal.

Highlight the actual work, accompanied by the cost of time and resources; waiting jobs that do not require resources, but only time; fictitious works that do not require either one or the other and reflect the logical connection between the others.

Works link events that are the result of some kind of activity. Events can be initial events that are not preceded by any work; intermediate, representing the result of one or more works, followed by others; final, testifying to the achievement of the goal (no work follows them). Thus, events and purpose turn out to be related to each other works. All events and activities are combined into a networked calendar that looks like a chain diagram.

The purpose and events are depicted on it with circles, which indicate their content and serial number, deciphered in the attached text, and works - arrows leading from one circle to another. The arrows carry information about the time of work and the costs associated with it (time is represented by a number above the arrow, and costs - below it). If the transition from one event to another does not require time and labor, the relationship between events on the graph is shown with a dashed line. In this case, the number of the subsequent event is greater than the number of the previous one; there should be no events (except for the first or the last), which do not leave or which do not include any work, movements in a closed loop; any events cannot be connected by more than one work; with parallel events, fictitious jobs are introduced.

Any sequence of work in the network, in which the final event of one work coincides with the initial event of the next one, is called a "path".

A path can be complete when its beginning coincides with the original event and the end coincides with the final event; partial - from the initial event to the intermediate or from the intermediate to the final; critical - the longest in the network schedule from the initial to the final event. The latter determines the maximum duration of the task.

It is convenient to reflect on the network diagram:

  • options for multi-step actions to implement the planned task, for example, the movement of products and their individual parts along the technological chain;
  • the sequence of operations (some of them can be carried out only in a strictly defined sequence, and some - in parallel);
  • the timing of their start and end;
  • full path of movement to the goal.

This makes it possible to draw up the most rational plan for the implementation of any measures, organize their control and, in general, facilitates the management of complex economic systems.

Optimization of the network schedule is aimed at finding opportunities to reduce the time and resources spent (minimum resource consumption at standard times, minimum time for a given resource consumption).

It is based on network analysis, which consists in checking the feasibility of performing the planned work; identifying unnecessary and unnecessary; determining the possibility of parallel actions and the feasibility of the existing level of detail.

Optimization is carried out based on the slack (the difference between the earliest possible and the latest admissible completion date of operations). But this reserve is available only for those operations that do not lie on the shortest path. It is assumed that the duration of operations can be considered with a sufficiently high degree of accuracy.

With the help of the network schedule, the actual performance of work is also monitored, changes in the process of their implementation are identified and analyzed, the deadlines are adjusted and resources are redistributed.

The pattern planning method also belongs to the graphical ones, which was partially described above when it came to building a “tree” of goals. The essence of the method is that on the basis of the forecast of the development of the planning object, a system of goals and sub-goals is built, for each of which the experts set the "weight", coefficients of relative importance (significance), and also (for each level) coefficients of mutual connection.

In proportion to the coefficients of significance, there is a distribution of resources between individual goals, sub-goals, problems, employees. The method allows you to determine the possibility of the results obtained in other areas, the timing of individual work (for example, scientific, experimental and design), their stages up to implementation.

Mathematical planning methods

Mathematical planning methods are reduced to optimization calculations based on various kinds of models. The simplest models include statistical ones, for example, correlation, which reflects the relationship of two variables. With its help, it is possible with a certain degree of probability to predict (and, accordingly, to plan) the occurrence of event B, if an event A related to it occurs.

The most widespread statistical models are found in financial planning. For example, they allow you to determine future income based on current investments and specified interest rates. Linear programming methods make it possible, by solving a system of equations and inequalities connecting a number of variable indicators, to find their optimal values ​​in mutual combination. This helps, according to the given criterion, to choose the most suitable option operation or development of the control object in order to ensure maximum profit, minimize costs, etc.

Most often, linear profiling methods are used when it comes to optimizing the use of certain resources, and allow:

  • choose technologies that make it possible to obtain the required volume of products with least expense raw materials and supplies;
  • load equipment that performs several types of work, so that the highest output is achieved;
  • to draw up traffic routes that allow, on the one hand, to most fully serve all customers, and on the other, to do it at minimal cost, and so on.

It should be borne in mind that the possibilities of using different planning methods have their limits. These boundaries, firstly, are determined by the modern scientific and technological revolution, which causes such rapid changes that planning simply does not have time to keep up with them. Secondly, the lack of time due to the fact that the planned calculations are very long and laborious. Thirdly, the bureaucracy and inertia of the organization's employees themselves, their fear of innovation.

It is impossible to completely eliminate the above restrictions, but they can be significantly weakened by reducing the rigidity and schematic drawing up of plans, their orientation towards the key goals and objectives of the organization, concretization and approximation to the needs of practice, and strengthening of complexity.

If you begin to thoroughly understand what factors influence a person's life, in general, then you can find a great variety of them. Any area of ​​a person's life and each area of ​​his activity, of course, have a number of peculiarities peculiar to them, and sometimes what is applicable to one is completely inapplicable to another. But, despite this, there are some fundamental principles that are effective in absolutely everything. One of these principles, or more precisely, laws that can be considered the guarantors of success in any area, can be safely called the ability to plan and prioritize. Why this is so important, we will find out in the presented lesson of training on time management.

After studying this material, you will learn about what business planning is, and what are its features, why it is necessary and important to draw up lists of work, personal and household affairs on a daily basis. In addition, we will consider several effective planning techniques and principles, some of which are designed for every day, and some have a more promising focus - for a week, month, year, and even several years. This course of our online training will be useful for people of all ages and professions, and it will be possible to apply the information received to achieve the goals set from the first day.

What is planning. Types of planning. Prioritization

The planning process

Planning is the process of optimal allocation of resources necessary to achieve the goals and objectives, as well as a set of processes that are associated with their formulation and implementation. Planning is an integral part of time management (time management) and, if applied skillfully, greatly increases its effectiveness.

In its simplest and most formal interpretation, planning is characterized by the following stages:

  1. Stage of setting goals (tasks)
  2. The stage of drawing up a plan to achieve the planned
  3. Variant design phase
  4. The stage of identifying the required resources, as well as their sources
  5. Stage of identification of executive persons and briefing
  6. The stage of recording the results of planning in physical form (plan, project, map, etc.)

Planning types

Planning, as already noted, is applicable absolutely to any sphere of life, but, depending on this, it can have its own characteristics, which, in turn, is expressed in forms that are different in its form and content.

The planning types differ:

Mandatory

  • Directive planning - implies the obligatory execution of the assigned tasks, always has a specific addressee and is characterized by increased detail. An example is the setting of tasks related to solving issues of state / national importance, work at enterprises, etc.
  • Indicative planning is the opposite of the first: it does not imply mandatory and precise execution, it has a more recommendatory and guiding character. This type of planning is widespread in the system of macroeconomic development of various states.

By the timing of achieving goals

  • Short-term (current) planning - is calculated for a period of up to 1 year and can consist of plans for a day, week, month, quarter, six months. The most common type of planning. It is used both by ordinary people in the process of everyday life, and by the leaders of various organizations.
  • Medium-term planning - calculated for a period of 1 to 5 years. This form of planning is common in activities government agencies, firms and enterprises, but is often used by strategically-minded people. In some cases, it can be combined with current planning, which in the complex is rolling planning.
  • Long-term (long-term) planning is usually calculated for several (5, 10, 20) years in advance. Most often, this type of planning is used in large enterprises in order to fulfill tasks of a social, economic, scientific and technological nature, etc.
  • Strategic planning is mostly long term. With the help of it, the main directions in the activities of organizations are determined: expanding activities, creating new directions, stimulating the work process, studying the market and its segments, studying demand, features target audience etc. Distributed in the activities of organizations.
  • Tactical planning is often also long-term. Its main goal is to create the necessary conditions for the implementation of the opportunities found through the use of strategic planning. As a rule, tactical planning is used in planning the economic, social, and production development of an organization. Distributed in the activities of organizations.
  • Operational scheduling is the final stage of strategic and tactical planning. Serves mainly for the implementation of the process of achieving the set results. With the help of it, all indicators are concretized, and the work of the organization is organized, directly. Operational scheduling implies determining the time for completing the assigned tasks, preparing the implementation of the process, keeping records, monitoring and analyzing the process. Distributed in the activities of organizations.
  • Business planning - serves to assess the feasibility, relevance and effectiveness of planned activities. The business plan is drawn up very carefully, taking into account all sorts of indicators, opportunities, proposals, etc. Widespread in the activities of organizations and the work of businessmen.

In addition to the types of planning considered, taking into account the primary aspects, there are also those that take into account secondary ones. They, in turn, differ:

By coverage

  • Overall planning - covers all the details of the context.
  • Partial Planning - Covers some of the details of the context.

By planning objects

  • Target planning - implies the definition of the required goals to achieve.
  • Planning funds - implies planning the funds necessary to achieve the result (finance, information, personnel, equipment, etc.).
  • Program planning - implies the development of programs necessary to achieve the result.
  • Action planning - involves the determination of the necessary actions to achieve the result.

By depth

  • Aggregated planning - takes into account general parameters.
  • Detailed planning - takes into account all the details and features.

By coordinating plans in time

  • Sequential planning is a lengthy process that consists of several smaller stages.
  • Simultaneous planning - implies a one-time short stage.

Taking into account changes in data

  • Rigorous planning implies the mandatory observance of the specified parameters.
  • Flexible planning - implies the possibility of non-compliance with the specified parameters and the emergence of new ones.

By order

  • Orderly planning - implies the sequential execution of plans, one after the other.
  • Rolling planning - implies the extension of the plan for a subsequent period after its completion in the current period.
  • Extraordinary planning - implies the implementation of the plan as and when the need arises.

Prioritization

Prioritization is the process of prioritization - an indicator of the prevalence of the importance of a particular point of the plan over the rest. Prioritization is important for the reason that among a large number of different nuances and features, there are both those that have the least significance and have a minimal impact on the process of achieving the goal, and those that play a dominant role in this process. The ability to prioritize is another indicator of the effectiveness and efficiency of any planning process. the emphasis on the most significant points of the plan is often decisive in the question of whether the goal will be achieved or not.

As you can see, planning as a process is characterized by a considerable number of different nuances. Any of the types can be used separately, and maybe in combination with others. The main thing when choosing is to take into account all the features of your activity. But no matter how many types of planning exist, no matter how many we consider them, no matter how many examples we give, all this will have no value if we do not understand why we need to plan anything at all, what are the advantages how will this help us in life? It is to these questions that we will try to give answers in the next section.

What is planning for?

Considering that our trainings are devoted to methods of increasing personal productivity, here and further in the lesson we will consider planning in relation to the activities of a person, and not organizations, firms, enterprises, etc.

Planning is the factor that largely determines not only whether a person will achieve what he wants, but also what he will achieve at all. The fact is that the planning process itself does not have a single and narrowly focused effect, but it affects in a complex way, affecting many of a person's personal indicators, the direction of his actions and the way of life in general. Below we list just a few of the positive aspects of planning and the benefits it provides.

Specifying the goal

As soon as a person begins to plan his activities, his thinking is activated, his creative potential is activated, and his brain activity increases. You can want something and "sort of" imagine it, while thinking that you know exactly what you want. But as soon as you sit down to draw up a plan and begin to think it through carefully, your goal begins to transform from an abstract into a concrete one. Gradually, you begin to imagine it in detail, take into account its peculiarities, and somehow vary it. There is one saying that says that a ship that does not know where it is going will never reach its destination. So a person - if he does not know what exactly he wants, he will never achieve it. Planning makes it possible to understand and realize what you really want and find a specific goal.

A clear plan of action

Even if we know what we want, we may never achieve it, if we do not know what we need for this. Our goals may be mega-global, good and wonderful, but they will remain just a picture of what we want to have and what to do. This state of affairs is corrected through planning. First, it allows you to determine the specific steps that must be taken in order to achieve the desired result. Secondly, it helps to determine the resources needed for this and their sources. Third, it provides an opportunity to set a time frame. Thus, having made an accurate plan, you will know what you need to do in order to implement it, who or what to attract for this, and, most importantly, when you want to do it. Planning significantly speeds up the process of achieving a goal, because is a practical guide to action.

Action, not thoughts of action

Until we have a plan for implementing what we want, we are constantly thinking about this topic. We think about how much we want it, how nice it would be if we had it, we reflect on how now this is not enough, maybe even imagine ourselves in the process of action. But there is one BUT - except for reflections, we do nothing else. And this indicates that, most likely, everything will end there. It is important to understand that when you start planning, you are already taking the first and biggest step towards achieving your plan. This alone is already significantly moving you forward. And then a chain reaction begins: after drawing up a plan, you begin to perform specific actions, the second one follows the first point, the third one follows the second, etc. If you can instill in yourself the habit of planning even the smallest things, you will immediately notice how your desires begin to become reality. Here you can apply one more saying: "Water does not flow under a lying stone." Get off the ground - take action. Planning creates the energy potential needed to achieve a goal.

Maneuvering capability

Without knowing specifically what needs to be done in order to achieve the set results, we can neither define nor coordinate our actions. We can roughly imagine what we need to do, but acting without a plan, we run the risk of reaching a dead end or even further away from the goal. When you have a plan and start acting, you can, so to speak, manage the whole process online: it doesn't work out that way, try it differently, one thing doesn't work, think about how you can replace it. Having a clear plan will allow you to make maneuvers on your way, vary different methods and methods. As a result, you will have a comprehensive plan that will take into account all sorts of nuances and options for the development of events. The ability to plan is the ability to be flexible and ready for any situation.

High probability of success

And, perhaps, the most important advantage of planning is, albeit not one hundred percent guarantee, but still a huge probability of success. How many people we see who desire very little, but, without a plan, do not achieve anything! And, in contrast to them, there are a huge number of examples of people who have fantastic goals, which, it would seem, are unattainable, no matter what they achieve, and even more. The former are distinguished from the latter by their ability to plan and prioritize. Define your goals, start drawing up a plan - after a while you will see that you have reached the goal, and thousands of onlookers without a plan have remained in their places. Planning will lead you to the top in any field!

Surely, now it has become much clearer to you why you need to plan and think over all your steps. Planning is done by businessmen and entrepreneurs, heads of huge corporations, creative people, writers, actors and show business stars, in general, all those who are called successful people. Planning is a part of the life and work of any person who wants to increase their productivity and achieve serious results. It is for this reason, in addition to sitting down at the table, taking a pen and a piece of paper, and starting to plan something, today there are specially developed planning methods that have more than once proven their effectiveness. We will provide a brief overview of the most popular of them in the next section.

Planning techniques

ABC planning

The prerequisite for this method is experience, which clearly shows that the ratio of important and unimportant matters in percentage is always approximately the same. Any tasks, based on their importance in achieving the desired results, should be allocated using the letter ABC values. It follows from this that the tasks of the greatest importance and significance (A) should be performed first, and then all the others (B, C). You need to plan your time using this technique, taking into account the importance of the tasks, and not the efforts required to complete them.

The ABC methodology is based on three basic rules:

  • Category A - Most Important Things. They make up about 15% of all the things you do, but they bring about 65% of the results.
  • Category B - important matters. They make up about 20% of all your business and bring in about 20% of the results.
  • Category C - Cases of Least Importance. They represent about 65% of all your business, but they also bring about 15% of the results.

You can learn more about this technique from here.

Eisenhower's principle

This technique was proposed at one time by the American General Dwight David Eisenhower. It is an excellent additional gauge for making the most important decisions quickly. This principle implies prioritization according to criteria of importance and urgency.

You must divide all your affairs into four main categories and carry out in order of priority:

  • Category A - the most urgent and important matters.
  • Category B - urgent but not important matters. It is important to be able to separate them according to the criterion of importance from the first category, otherwise you can spend time on their implementation, leaving really important things for later.
  • Category C - not urgent, but important matters. The urgency factor must be taken into account here: due to the fact that these matters are not urgent, they are often shelved, after which they become urgent, which is not very good. Therefore, their implementation should never be neglected. Such things, among other things, can be delegated - to entrust their execution to someone else.
  • Category D is not urgent or important. Often, a person is most concerned with such matters and spends most of his time on their implementation. Learn to accurately identify cases from this category. They need to be done last, when the previous ones have been completed.

You can learn more about the Eisenhower method from here.

Pareto rule

This rule is sometimes referred to as the 80-by-20 principle. It was formulated by the Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto. Its basic premise is that the smallest part of the action brings the most of the results, and vice versa.

Clearly, this rule looks like this:

  • 20% action = 80% result
  • 80% of actions = 20 results
  • 20% of people own 80% of all capital
  • 80% of people own 20% of all capital
  • 20% of clients bring 80% of income
  • 80% of clients bring 20% ​​of income
  • Etc.

Apply this rule to your daily activities, and you will see that 80% of everything you do in a day is only 20% of the result you need, and 20% of well-planned actions bring you 80% closer to your cherished goal. Based on this, remember that you need to start the day with just a few, but the most difficult, important and urgent matters, and only after that take on the implementation of easy and no less important, but present in a much larger volume. It is very convenient to apply the Pareto rule in combination with the ABC technique or the Eisenhower principle.

You can read more about the "80 to 20" principle.

Timing

Timing refers to a method designed to study the elapsed time. It is carried out by fixing and measuring the actions taken. The main goals of timekeeping are determining where time is spent, identifying "time sinks", finding time reserves and developing a sense of time.

Keeping timekeeping is quite simple: experts advise making a record of all your actions with an accuracy of 5 minutes for 2-3 weeks. It looks like this visually:

  • 8: 00-8: 30 - woke up, warmed up, washed
  • 8: 30-9: 00 - drank tea, turned on the computer, checked mail
  • 9: 00-9: 30 - logged into a social network
  • 9:30 - 10:00 - prepared documents for work
  • Etc.

Entries can be supplemented with comments and additional parameters. And there are several ways to keep track of:

  • On paper - in a notebook, notebook, notebook
  • Using a gadget - a mobile phone, e-book, tablet
  • Using a voice recorder
  • Using special software on the computer
  • Online - special internet applications
  • Gantt chart (see below)

Based on the data obtained through timekeeping, you can identify important features in the distribution of your time and correct them. Read more about timing.

Gantt chart

The Gantt chart is a bar chart technique developed by the American management specialist Henry Gantt. It is used to illustrate plans and schedules for various projects... The diagram consists of bands that are oriented along the time axis, and each of them displays a separate task that is part of the project. The vertical axis is a list of tasks. In addition, on the diagram you can mark various indicators- percentages, pointers, timestamps, etc.

Using the Gantt chart, you can visually track the process of project implementation and the effectiveness of the actions performed. But, in any case, this method will have to be supplemented with others, since the chart is not synchronized with dates, does not display the expended resources and the nature of the actions being performed. It is best used for small projects... The diagram itself is often included in various project management applications as an add-on.

SMART technique

The SMART goal setting technique is recognized as one of the best in the world. It originates in NLP and we examined it in detail in one of our lessons. Here we will provide only a brief description of this technique.

The word "SMART" itself is an abbreviation formed from the first letters of five words that define the criteria for goals. Let's consider them in more detail.

  • Specific - the goal must be specific, i.e. when staging it, you must definitely clearly imagine the result you want to achieve. For example, "I want to become an expert in anthropology."
  • Measurable - the goal must be measurable, i.e. you must quantify the desired result. For example, “by 2015 I want to earn 50 thousand rubles a month”.
  • Attainable - the goal must be achievable, i.e. you must take into account the characteristics of your personality: abilities, disposition, talent, etc. For example, if you have a hard time with mathematics and you absolutely do not understand this science, it is better not to set yourself the goal of becoming an outstanding mathematician.
  • Relevant - the goal should relate to your other goals. For example, achieving a medium-term goal should implicitly include achieving several short-term goals.
  • Time-bounded - the target must be defined in time and have a clearly defined time frame. For example, "I want to lose weight from 95 to 80 kg in six months by such and such a month."

Together, this will allow you to determine the necessary actions to achieve the desired result, take into account the maximum number of factors and constantly monitor your progress. Read more about the SMART technique.

List of goals and objectives

Most simple technique, with which you can plan your time and business. This is just a checklist of what needs to be done. Such lists are very convenient in that they do not require any additional resources, such as, for example, a PC, mobile applications or the use of complex schemes, but also allow you to visually display everything you need to do and control this process.

Making a list of goals and objectives is very simple: you can simply write down on a piece of paper everything that you need to accomplish and when, and upon completion, simply cross out the completed items. And you can complicate it a little: make a table in which there will be columns: "task", "priority", "due date", "completion mark".

All presented techniques can be applied singly or in combination. Try all the options - for sure, after a while you will select the most convenient and suitable one for yourself, and maybe even compose your own based on them.

In order to make it easier for you when planning your affairs and time, at the end of the lesson, we would like to present to your attention some very effective principles that you can use in your daily life.

Planning principles

  • Try all the planning techniques discussed and choose the one that works best for you. Use it daily and in all matters.
  • Don't try to remember everything - keep notes. As the saying goes, "the dullest pencil is better than the sharpest memory."
  • If you have a lot of things to do, do not try to have time to do everything. Take the time to identify the most important and priority ones, and start implementing them. Finish the rest later.
  • At the end of one week, make a plan of action for the next. Do the same at the end of each day.
  • Get in the habit of carrying a notebook and a pen or tape recorder with you to record interesting thoughts that visit you.
  • Create a "success journal" in which you will note all your successes, even the smallest ones, on a daily basis. This will keep you constantly motivated and remind you that you are on the right track.
  • Learn to say no. This ability will save you from wasting time, pursuing unnecessary goals and communicating with unnecessary people.
  • Always think before doing anything. Weigh the pros and cons. Try not to commit rash actions and deeds.
  • Whenever you are in the process of something, remember yourself, be aware of what you are doing at the moment. If you feel that you are not moving forward, quit this activity.
  • Look critically at yourself: identify your bad habits time-consuming activities that you enjoy doing, but that do not move you towards your goal. Then, gradually and one by one, replace these habits and activities with new, effective ones.
  • Identify your top priorities in life and live by them. So you can always be focused on the main thing, and you will not waste time.
  • Do not do unnecessary unnecessary actions, do not do other people's business. You must move forward yourself, but do not allow yourself to be used as a tool to achieve other people's goals if you yourself are not happy about it.
  • Set aside time regularly and systematically for self-improvement: reading books, watching educational and motivating videos, training your skills, etc.
  • Do not stop there - having achieved one goal, set another, more serious one. So you can always be in good shape, you will have incentive and motivation.

Applying all of the above recommendations will allow you to be successful in any area and achieve your goals in the shortest possible time. The most important thing is constant work on yourself and the application of the acquired skills in practice. In order for everything that you have learned from this lesson to begin to bear fruit, you need to start planning your future activities today. Start any way, practice, hone a new skill, and make it a habit. Of course, you cannot plan everything in our life, but you can do a lot.

You can find additional interesting materials related to planning and efficiency on our resource 4brain:

Test your knowledge

If you want to test your knowledge of the topic of this lesson, you can take a short test consisting of several questions. In each question, only 1 option can be correct. After you have selected one of the options, the system automatically proceeds to the next question. The points you receive are influenced by the correctness of your answers and the time spent on passing. Please note that the questions are different each time, and the options are mixed.