Planning

Planning is nothing but thinking before the action takes place. It helps to decide in advance the way to
deal with the situations, which we are going to encounter in future.

Planning involves deciding :

(a) what is to be done,
(b) when is it to be done,
(c) how it is to be done
(d) who is going to do it

It is an intellectual process by which the organisation can achieve their objectives.

Characteristics of Planning

Managerial function: Planning is a first and foremost managerial function provides the base for other
functions of the management, i.e. organising, staffing, directing and controlling, as they are
performed within the periphery of the plans made.

Goal oriented: It focuses on defining the goals of the organisation, identifying alternative courses of
action and deciding the appropriate action plan, which is to be undertaken for reaching the goals.

Pervasive: It is pervasive in the sense that it is present in all the segments and is required at all the levels
of the organisation. Although the scope of planning varies at different levels and departments.

Continuous Process: Plans are made for a specific term, say for a month, quarter, year and so on. Once
that period is over, new plans are drawn, considering the organisation’s present and future
requirements and conditions. Therefore, it is an ongoing process, as the plans are framed, executed and
followed by another plan.

Intellectual Process: It is a mental exercise at it involves the application of mind, to think, forecast,
imagine intelligently and innovate etc.

Futuristic: In the process of planning we take a sneak peek of the future. It encompasses looking into the
future, to analyse and predict it so that the organisation can face future challenges effectively.
Decision making: Decisions are made regarding the choice of alternative courses of action that can be
undertaken to reach the goal. The alternative chosen should be best among all, with the least number of
the negative and highest number of positive outcomes.

Importance of Planning

 It helps managers to improve future performance.

 It minimises risk and uncertainty.
 It facilitates the coordination of activities.
 It states in advance, what should be done in future.
 It uncovers and identifies future opportunities and threats.
 It sets out standards for controlling.

Planning is present in all types of organisations, households, sectors, economies, etc. We need to plan
because the future is highly uncertain and no one can predict the future with 100% accuracy, as the
conditions can change anytime. Hence, planning is the basic requirement of any organization for the
survival, growth and success.

The 4 Types of Plans

Operational Planning:
This type of planning typically describes the day-to-day running of the company. Operational plans are
often described as single use plans or ongoing plans. Single use plans are created for events and
activities with a single occurrence (such as a single marketing campaign). Ongoing plans include policies
for approaching problems, rules for specific regulations and procedures for a step-by-step process for
accomplishing particular objectives.

Strategic Planning
Strategic planning includes a high-level overview of the entire business. It’s the foundational basis of the
organization and will dictate long-term decisions. The scope of strategic planning can be anywhere from
the next two years to the next 10 years. Important components of a strategic plan are vision, mission
and values.

Tactical Planning
Tactical planning supports strategic planning. It includes tactics that the organization plans to use to
achieve what’s outlined in the strategic plan. Often, the scope is less than one year and breaks down the
strategic plan into actionable chunks. Tactical planning is different from operational planning in that
tactical plans ask specific questions about what needs to happen to accomplish a strategic goal;
operational plans ask how the organization will generally do something to accomplish the company’s
mission.

Contingency Planning
Contingency plans are made when something unexpected happens or when something needs to be
changed. Business experts sometimes refer to these plans as a special type of planning.
The business plan process includes 6 steps as follows:

1. Do Your Research
Conduct detailed research into the industry, target market, existing customer base, competitors, and
costs of the business begins the process. You may ask yourself the following questions:

 What are your business goals?

 What is the current state of your business?
 What are the current industry trends?
 What is your competition doing?

2. Strategize
Now, you will use the research to determine the best strategy for your business. You may choose to
develop new strategies or refine existing strategies that have demonstrated success in the industry.
Pulling the best practices of the industry provides a foundation, but then you should expand on the
different activities that focus on your competitive advantage.

3. Calculate Your Financial Forecast

All of the activities you choose for your strategy come at some cost and, hopefully, lead to some
revenues. Sketch out the financial situation by looking at whether you can expect revenues to cover all
costs and leave room for profit in the long run.

4. Draft Your Plan

With financials more or less settled and a strategy decided, it is time to draft through the narrative of
each component of your business plan. With the background work you have completed, the drafting
itself should be a relatively painless process.
5. Revise & Proofread
Revisit the entire plan to look for any ideas or wording that may be confusing, redundant, or irrelevant
to the points you are making within the plan. You may want to work with other management team
members in your business who are familiar with the company’s operations or marketing plan in order to
fine-tune the plan.

6. Nail the Business Plan Presentation

The presentation of the business plan should succinctly highlight the key points outlined above and
include additional material that would be helpful to potential investors such as financial information,
resumes of key employees, or samples of marketing materials. It can also be beneficial to provide a
report on past sales or financial performance and what the business has done to bring it back into
positive territory.
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What does scheduling mean in management ?

Scheduling is the process of arranging, controlling and optimizing work and workloads in a production
process or manufacturing process. Scheduling is used to allocate plant and machinery resources, plan
human resources, plan production processes and purchase materials.

What is the aim of scheduling?

The fundamental objective of scheduling is to arrange the manufacturing activities in such a way that
the cost of production is minimized and the goods produced are delivered on due dates.

Why is scheduling important to businesses?

A good schedule is about getting people in the right place at the right time and, importantly, doing the
right task. At the same time, effective scheduling allows businesses to empower their employees,
become more productive, and ultimately deliver a better service to their customers.
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What do you mean by 'Staffing' in management ?

Staffing is the process of hiring eligible candidates in the organization or company for specific positions.
In management, the meaning of staffing is an operation of recruiting the employees by evaluating their
skills, knowledge and then offering them specific job roles accordingly. Let us find out more about what
is Staffing and what it entails along with its functions and characteristics.

Functions of Staffing
 The first and foremost function of staffing is to obtain qualified personnel for different jobs
position in the organization.
 In staffing, the right person is recruited for the right jobs, therefore it leads to maximum
productivity and higher performance.
 It helps in promoting the optimum utilization of human resource through various aspects.
 Job satisfaction and morale of the workers increases through the recruitment of the right
person.
 Staffing helps to ensure better utilization of human resources.
 It ensures the continuity and growth of the organization, through development managers.
Different Types of Staffing Plans

Short-Term Staffing
A short-term staffing plan focuses on the immediate needs of the company. For example, if you own a
retail store and the holiday shopping season is approaching, your short-term staffing plan would focus
on finding additional employees on a seasonal basis. Many companies turn to a temporary workforce for
short-term staffing needs, especially if the need is only for a specific project or for a short period of time.

Long-Term Staffing
Long-term staffing involves taking a proactive approach to your company's staffing needs. Most long-
term staffing plans cover at least one year. When determining such staffing needs, consider past
turnover, employees who may be retiring or taking a maternity or other leave, expected growth and
poorly performing staff members. Once you have a clear picture of your expected staffing needs, you
can develop a plan to help recruit the right talent.

Employee Succession Planning

Many business owners fall into a comfort zone once they have reliable managers in place. This false
sense of security can leave your business with significant downtime should you lose a key member of
your management team. To prevent this, many companies implement succession planning, explains the
Society for Human Resource Management.

Succession planning allows you to fully understand the duties and responsibilities of your management
staff so you can train internal candidates to be ready to step into a promotion immediately should you
experience management turnover.

Strategic Staffing Models

Strategic staffing involves a combination of short-term, long-term and succession planning, according to
the staffing agency Amtec. This plan takes the company's business plans into account to ensure that
goals can be met from a talent perspective.

Steps involved in Staffing Process

1. Manpower Planning
Manpower planning can be regarded as the quantitative and qualitative measurement of labour force
required in an enterprise. Therefore, in an overall sense, the planning process involves the synergy in
creating and evaluating the manpower inventory and as well as in developing the required talents
among the employees selected for promotion advancement

2. Recruitment
Recruitment is a process of searching for prospective employees and stimulating them to apply for jobs
in the organization. It stands for finding the source from where potential employees will be selected.

3. Selection
Selection is a process of eliminating those who appear unpromising. The purpose of this selection
process is to determine whether a candidate is suitable for employment in the organization or not.
Therefore, the main aim of the process of selection is selecting the right candidates to fill various
positions in the organization. A well-planned selection procedure is of utmost importance.
4. Placement
Placement means putting the person on the job for which he is selected. It includes introducing the
employee to his job.

5. Training
After selection of an employee, the important part of the programmed is to provide training to the new
employee. With the various technological changes, the need for training employees is being increased to
keep the employees in touch with the various new developments.

6. Development
A sound staffing policy provides for the introduction of a system of planned promotion in every
organization. If employees are not at all having suitable opportunities for their development and
promotion, they get frustrated which affect their work.

7. Promotions
The process of promotion implies the up-gradation of an employee to a higher post involving increasing
rank, prestige and responsibilities. Generally, the promotion is linked to increment in wages and
incentives but it is not essential that it always relates to that part of an organization.

8. Transfer
Transfer means the movement of an employee from one job to another without increment in pay,
status or responsibilities. Therefore this process of staffing needs to evaluated on a timely basis.

9. Appraisal
Appraisal of employees as to how efficiently the subordinate is performing a job and also to know his
aptitudes and other qualities necessary for performing the job assigned to him.

10. Determination of Remuneration

This is the last process which is very crucial as it involves in determining remuneration which is one of
the most difficult functions of the personnel department because there are no definite or exact means
to determine correct wages.
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What is directing in business management ?

Directing refers to a process or technique of instructing, guiding, inspiring, counselling, overseeing and
leading people towards the accomplishment of organizational goals. It is a continuous managerial
process that goes on throughout the life of the organization.

Main characteristics of Directing are as follows:

1. Initiates Action
A directing function is performed by the managers along with planning, staffing, organizing and
controlling in order to discharge their duties in the organization. While other functions prepare a
platform for action, directing initiates action.

2. Pervasive Function
Directing takes place at every level of the organization. Wherever there is a superior-subordinate
relationship, directing exists as every manager provides guidance and inspiration to his subordinates.
4. Continuous Activity
It is a continuous function as it continues throughout the life of organization irrespective of the changes
in the managers or employees.

5. Descending Order of Hierarchy

Directing flows from a top level of management to the bottom level. Every manager exercises this
function on his immediate subordinate.

6. Human Factor
Since all employees are different and behave differently in different situations, it becomes important for
the managers to tackle the situations appropriately. Thus, directing is a significant function that gets the
work done by the employees and increases the growth of the organization.

7. Ingrates Efforts
Directing integrates the efforts of all the employees and departments through persuasive leadership and
effective communication towards the accomplishment of organizational goals.

8. Motivates Employees
A manager identifies the potential and abilities of its subordinates and helps them to give their best. He
also motivates them by offering them financial and non-financial incentives to improve their
performance.

9. Provides Stability
Stability is significant in the growth of any organization. Effective directing develops co-operation and
commitment among the employees and creates a balance among various departments and groups.

10. Coping up with the Changes

Employees have a tendency to resist any kind of change in the organization. But, adapting the
environmental changes is necessary for the growth of the organization. A manager through motivation,
proper communication and leadership can make the employees understand the nature and contents of
change and also the positive aftermaths of the change. This will help in a smooth adaptation of the
changes without any friction between the management and employees.

11. Effective Utilization of Resources

It involves defining the duties and responsibilities of every subordinate clearly thereby avoiding
wastages, duplication of efforts, etc. and utilizing the resources of men, machine, materials, and money
in the maximum possible way. It helps in reducing costs and increasing profits.

Principles of Directing

1. Maximum Individual Contribution

One of the main principles of directing is the contribution of individuals. Management should adopt
such directing policies that motivate the employees to contribute their maximum potential for the
attainment of organizational goals.

2. Harmony of Objectives
Sometimes there is a conflict between the organizational objectives and individual objectives. For
example, the organization wants profits to increase and to retain its major share, whereas, the
employees may perceive that they should get a major share as a bonus as they have worked really hard
for it.

Here, directing has an important role to play in establishing harmony and coordination between the
objectives of both the parties.

3. Unity of Command
This principle states that a subordinate should receive instructions from only one superior at a time. If
he receives instructions from more than one superiors at the same time, it will create confusion,
conflict, and disorder in the organization and also he will not be able to prioritize his work.

4. Appropriate Direction Technique

Among the principles of directing, this one states that appropriate direction techniques should be used
to supervise, lead, communicate and motivate the employees based on their needs, capabilities,
attitudes and other situational variables.

5. Managerial Communication
According to this principle, it should be seen that the instructions are clearly conveyed to the employees
and it should be ensured that they have understood the same meaning as was intended to be
communicated.

6. Use of Informal Organization

Within every formal organization, there exists an informal group or organization. The manager should
identify those groups and use them to communicate information. There should be a free flow of
information among the seniors and the subordinates as an effective exchange of information are really
important for the growth of an organization.

7. Leadership
Managers should possess a good leadership quality to influence the subordinates and make them work
according to their wish. It is one of the important principles of directing.

8. Follow Through
As per this principle, managers are required to monitor the extent to which the policies, procedures, and
instructions are followed by the subordinates. If there is any problem in implementation, then the
suitable modifications can be made.

Elements or Techniques of Direction

1. Issuing Orders and Instructions to Subordinates

The first and foremost element of direction is to issue orders and instructions which are considered an
essential step in the process of directing subordinates.

Thus an order should serve the following characteristics:

 The order should be clear and complete.
 It should be reasonable and attainable.
  The order must be in tune with the various other objectives of the organization and also for the
interests of the subordinates.
 All order should follow the chain of command.
 Face-to-face suggestions are preferable to long- distance orders.

2. Supervision in an overall manner

It refers to monitor the progress of routine work of one’s subordinates and guiding them properly.

3. Motivating Subordinates
The term motivation can be referred to as that process which excites people to work for the attainment
of the desired objective.

4. Providing Leadership
The term Leadership defines as to influence others in such a manner as to guide them to do what the
leader wants them to do.

5. Communicating with Subordinates

It refers to an act of transferring facts, ideas, feeling, etc. from one person to another and making him
understand them.

6. Maintaining discipline and Rewarding Effective People

By maintaining an atmosphere of discipline and trust in the organization, the manager can easily give
directions. In return, the employees will get a reward in the form of bonus, incentives and other perks so
as to get themselves associated with the organization on a long-term basis.

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Controlling

Control is a primary goal-oriented function of management in an organisation. It is a process of

comparing the actual performance with the set standards of the company to ensure that activities are
performed according to the plans and if not then taking corrective action.

Every manager needs to monitor and evaluate the activities of his subordinates. It helps in taking
corrective actions by the manager in the given timeline to avoid contingency or company’s loss.

Controlling is performed at the lower, middle and upper levels of the management.

Features of Controlling in management

1) Controlling is a dynamic process

Controlling is a dynamic process. A manager is required to take a different course of actions when an
employee fails to match the standards of performance. A manager should have the skills to decide how
to react to a certain situation.
For example, if an employee is absent frequently, then the manger first should talk with him and ask for
the reason of his absenteeism and try to do something about the problem, and if the problem persists
then, he should take some strict action.

Similarly, the course of action would be different for the employee who does not perform as per the
standard frequently than the employee who has failed to meet the performance standards for the first
time.

2) Controlling is an end function

Controlling is an end function because it comes into action once the task is completed. The performance
standards are decided before the work is assigned to the employees and once the work is complete the
performance of employees is compared with the standard performance, and if the performance of the
employees is same as that of the standard performance then no actions are required to be taken but in
case the performance doesn’t match then the manager is required to take the corrective actions.

Therefore, it is not wrong to say that controlling is an end function.

3) Planning and controlling go hand in hand

It is not wrong to say that planning and controlling works together. A manager is required to plan so that
he can control the actions of employees in order to achieve the desired outcome.

For example, if a sales manager makes a target to make the sales of 5 million in one quarter with five
salespersons working in his team, then he will give the target of 1 million to every salesperson and will
control their actions to achieve the desired results.

Now you understand that without planning, controlling is meaningless, and without controlling planning
can’t go as desired.

4) Controlling is a pervasive function

Controlling is a pervasive function because it can’t be escaped at any level of the management. All
management is required to control at all levels.

For example, a top-level manager will control the actions of a middle-level manager and supervise the
performance of the manager and similarly, a low-level manager is answerable to a middle-level
manager.

In this way, the controlling is done at all levels. However, there might be a difference in the methods of
control, and different corrective actions are taken when the performance of the employee is not as
desired.

5) Controlling is looking forward

A manager can control the performance of an employee by controlling the past actions. A manager
keeps track of the performance of the employee, so that follow up can be made when the time comes to
compare the performance.

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Features of Controlling

 An effective control system has the following features:

 It helps in achieving organizational goals.
 Facilitates optimum utilization of resources.
 It evaluates the accuracy of the standard.
 It also sets discipline and order.
 Motivates the employees and boosts employee morale.
 Ensures future planning by revising standards.
 Improves overall performance of an organization.
 It also minimizes errors.

Controlling and planning are interrelated for controlling gives an important input into the next planning
cycle. Controlling is a backwards-looking function which brings the management cycle back to the
planning function. Planning is a forward-looking process as it deals with the forecasts about the future
conditions.

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