3.3 The Planning Process

So, now getting back to planning, and looking at the process, there are eight steps, eight steps in the process, all right? So, the first step is what we just finished talking about. Have you established a measurable goal, or objective? 2, have you done environmental market research to figure out what is doable? What’s not doable? What are the constraints? What are the environmental conditions? Where can I open my restaurant? Where can I get money? Three, then we have to identify options. Identify options that make sure they aligned with the goals, and fit with that market or environmental research. Then, we have to identify those options, and select the best option. Once we have selected the best option, now we have to put the specifics of the plan in place. 7, controls. So, what kind of controls do we need up front to eliminate bad things from happening? What are those in-process controls that we want to focus on to make sure things are going right during our operation, during the execution of our plan? And, what about feedback controls, post-activity controls? And lastly, evaluate the results. What was the actual performance like? What was delivered? Did we achieve our goal? Did we achieve customer satisfaction? Not all planning works out. Some people are better at planning than others. So, what are some of these hurdles, these barriers? Lack of skills maybe, and not starting with the end in mind. Not really understanding what we want to do, where we want to go with that mission. We don’t do our research, lack of imagination, fear of change. Huge hurdle, getting it done. Leadership, shortsightedness, not having the right people involved, and excluding key resources from the plan. And, the probably the most significant, we just don’t allow enough time to do it properly. So, in some organizations, some groups, some, you know, some different, you know, different types of, environmental organizational structures, we choose to go to group decision making. Group decision making is good, bad, it has advantages, and it has disadvantages. So what are they? Well, on the pro/con side, on the advantage side, it certainly provides structure for us to stay focused. We have a lot of mo, broader ideas in our brainstorming. There’s this synergy, this energy, there’s this momentum, with the group. We get greater buy in when we come to a decision. But, on the other side, there are some disadvantages to group decision making. So, sometimes we have endless meetings that end without any results. And, we keep on meeting, and meeting, and meeting, and meeting, and so, what are we doing? Groupthink. Groupthink, sometimes we have, participants in this group meeting that don’t, that aren’t pa, that don’t participate. They’re more passive, and they just go along with how the group thinks. Who’s responsible for the decision out of the group? Well, no one really takes accountability for that. Sometimes, we have one or two members of the group that just dominate the conversation. So, that really sometime leads to group polarization, personality conflicts, and competition for my idea’s better than your idea. So, group decisionmaking is good. Some, some organizations use it extensively, group decision making. Others try to have individual accountability, individual individual input from a group, but one person makes the decision.