In the past two weeks, I have learned much about planning in this course. Because I feel like I am a super-organized person with everything that I do, from monthly home expenses and bills to daily or weekly errands, scheduling including myself and my family (work, appointments, baseball), as well as creating multiple (sometimes) daily To-Do Lists including assignments for current courses. Because I am in the beginning stages of a new chapter in my life, specifically with my career path, and have sincere intentions to achieve success within a management position, I chose to reflect upon the managerial function of planning initially introduced during week one’s reading. In week two, planning is again referenced but in much greater detail. The topic is personal as I feel that planning is vital in my day-to-day life, so why wouldn’t it be in day to day operations of any organization?
Last week, I learned that Fayol envisioned five managerial functions (planning, organizing, coordinating, commanding, and controlling) that managers need to perform to be successful. Also, planning is the primary (or fundamental) managerial function because it’s the foundation of all other parts. This week, I learned more about planning within administrative roles using a formal planning process, how to make plans that work, and how companies use outlines at all management levels (from top to bottom). Because I believe that planning is vital within any organization, I wanted to research planning in more detail.
The definition of planning is to choose a goal and develop a method or strategy to achieve that goal (Williams, 2017). Five steps in the formal planning process are utilized to make a plan that works: (a) set goals, (b) develop commitment goals, (c) develop effective action plans, (d) track progress toward goal achievement, and (e) maintain flexibility in planning.
Planning is an essential managerial function regarding the growth and sustainability of an organization. Planning provides an organization with direction, vision, rationale, and purpose (Juneja & Power 2019). It can help quantify goals and establish a means of measuring success. The 34th President of the United States, Dwight D. Eisenhower, once stated, “Plans are nothing; planning is everything.”
My issue: To date, I have minimal experience managing an organization, but planning is a constant in my life, and I wanted to share some of my thoughts. Despite being organized and feeling as though planning is vital, whether it’s in management or my daily life, I find myself constantly struggling, despite the enormous amount of planning I do, with not completing my To-Do lists (not even close to completion), not getting all of my course work done throughout the week (and end up cramming everything in at the end of the week), and unfortunately, always being in a hurry or late for something (work, appointments, baseball games). Despite my almost obsession with planning and the need to be an organi...
