PLANNING

INTRODUCTION:
Planning is important for socioeconomic development. It helps to conceive and achieve results in
an atmosphere and spirit of true democratic situation; where in different agencies at various levels are involved
in the policies of the government for well fare of its people. Planning is essentially a process of making choice
between available alternatives at all levels of decision making. It is the exercise of intelligence to deal with
facts, and solution as they are finds a way to solve the problems. Planning is one of the major fundamental
elements of administration. In planning stage, decisions are made about what need to be done, how and when it
has to be done, by whom and with what resources planning is intellectual process of making decisions and it
aims to achieve a coordinated and consistent set of operations aimed at desired objectives. For any work,
planning is very essential.

DEFINITION:

Planning is a process of determining the of administrative effort and devising the means calculated to achieve
them. (MILLET).

Planning is a process of setting formal guidelines and constraints for the behavior of the firm.
(ASSOFF AND BURNDINHARG).

Planning is a continuous process of making entrepreneurial decisions systematically and with the best possible
knowledge for their future, organizing systematically the effort needed to carry out these decisions and
measuring the results of the decisions against expectations through systematic feedback. (DRUCKER).

FEATURES OF PLANNING-

Planning is goal oriented

a. Planning is made to achieve desired objective of business.

b. The goal established should general acceptance otherwise individual efforts and energies will go
misguided and misdirected.
c. Planning identifies the action that would lead to desired goal quick and economically .
d. It provides sense of direction to various activity.

Planning is looking ahead.

a. Planning is done for future.

b. It requires peeping in future , analyzing it and predicting it.
c. Thus planning is based on the forecasting.
d. A plan is a synthesis of forecasting.
e. It is a mental predisposing for things to happen in future.

Planning is intellectual process

a. Planning is a mental exercise involving creating thinking, sound judgment and imagination.
b. It is not a mere guesswork but a rotational thinking.
c. A manager can prepare sound plans only if he has sound judgment , foresight and imagination.
 d. Planning is based on goals , facts, and considered estimates.

Planning involves choice and decision making.

a. Planning essentially involves choice among various alternatives.

b. Therefore if there is only one possible goals of action, there is no need planning because there is no
choice.
c. Thus, decision making is a integral part of planning.
d. A manager is surrounded by no, of alternatives. He has to pick the best depending upon requirements
and recourses of the enterprises.

Planning is a primary function of management/ primacy of planning.

a. Planning lays foundation for other function management.

b. It serves as a guide of organizing, staffing, directing, and controlling.
c. All the function of management are performed within the framework of plans laid out.
d. Therefore planning is the basic or fundamental function of management.
e. There for planning is the basic or fundamental function of the management.

Planning is continuous process

a. Planning is a never ending function due to the dynamic business of environment.

b. Plans are also prepared for specific period of time and at the end of that period , plan are subjected to
revaluation and review in the light of new requirements and changing conditions.
c. Planning never comes in to the end till the enterprise exist issues, problems may keep cropping up and
they have to be tackled by planning effectively.

Planning is all pervasive.

a. Is required at all levels of management and in all departments of enterprise.

b. Of courses, the scope of planning may differ from one level to another.
c. The top level may be more concernec about planning the organization as a whole areas the middle level
may be more specific in departmental plans and the lower level plans implementation of the same.

Planning is designed for efficiency-

a. Planning lead to accomplishment of objectives at the minimums poss8bkle cost.

b. It avoid wastage of resources and ensure adequate and optimum utilization of resources.
c. A plan is worthless or useless if it does not value the cost incurred on it.
d. Therefore planning must lead to proper utilization of men, money, material, method and machine.

Planning is flexible

a. Planning is done for the future.

b. Since future is predictable, planning must provide enough room to cope with changes in the customer
Demand, competition, and govt. policies extra.
STEP BY STEP APPROACH TO PLANNING:

Planning is a four – stage process to

I. Establish objectives (goals).

II. Evaluate the present situation and predict future trends and events.
III. Formulate a planning statement (means).
IV. Convert this into action statement.

Planning is important on both an organizational and a personal level and may be an individual or group process
that address the question of what, why, where, when, how and by whom.

Planning involves the following steps:

1. Analysis of the situation.

2. Identifying priority problem.
3. Formulating objectives.
4. Setting goals.
5. Reviewing limitations/constraints.
6. Laying down operational policy and system.
7. Writing down the plan.

1. ANALYSIS OF THE SITUATION:

 The analysis aims at addressing the questions as to what is the core problem, and what opportunities
does it present.
 What are the specific patient care services provided by the hospital? What is the quality of each of
these services? What is the volume of each service? Is the volume sufficient to achieve economy of
scale? Does the present equipment meet the requirements?
 Analysis of the situation leads to all the facets of an institution’s functions and resources.

The problems are highlighted as following.

 Personnel.
 Physical facilities.
 Equipment.
 Finance.
 Information.
 Extramural factors.

2 IDENTIFYING PRIORITY PROBLEMS:

 It is impossible to plan for all the problems at all times simultaneously.

 After the general analysis of problem, the focus should shift to the important ones.
 In ranking the relative importance of each of the problem, certain factors need to be taken into
consideration, they are as follows.
a) Is the problem situation in question really the one to be solved, or is it simply a part of a still larger
problem which requires study?
b) Is there a good chance of achieving success, and what may be the extent and nature of the benefits to be
achieved?
c) What are the attitudes of personnel towards the exiting situation or procedure? How much employee
resistance or resentment may be anticipated?
d) Are there any management policies or professional requirements that might influence this planning?

3 FORMULATING OBJECTIVES:

 Traditionally, hospitals operate on a set of implicit assumptions and beliefs, and loosely bound
interrelationships.
 Having selected the problem, the next step is to formulate objectives.
 Long range objectives usually have a span of achievement of usually five years or more, and short
range objective two to three years.
 A hospital achieves its objectives through the various service departments.
 Therefore, each departmental head must establish his own departmental objectives, consistent with the
institutional objectives.
 Relationship between departmental objectives and individual objectives is essential to assess
departmental accomplishments and shortcomings.
There are there criteria for the attainment of objectives.

 The first criteria for the achievement of objectives are that the person responsible for achieving the
desired results understands and accepts the responsibility. He should feel that they are attainable, given
the time and resources required.
  The second criteria have to do with the achievement of results. Objectives should clearly state the
results to be achieved or outcome to be anticipated.
 The third criteria are the time frame in which objectives have to be achieved. Time constraint helps
establish work priorities and enforce accountability.

3 SETTING OF GOALS:

 Objectives specify and operationalise strategies, goals articulate a specific strategy.

 The management team now prepares statements of goals, both short term and medium term.

Some of the goals may as follows:

 Achieving recognition of the hospital’s residency programme by a university.

 Operationalise the computerization programme fully, by integrating nursing management system in it.
 Generation of 5 per cent additional revenue by the end of next financial year.
 Completion of the new building for housing the CT scanner by end of the year.
 Physical facility modification to phase out old x-ray machine and installation of the new one in its place.
 Completion of a feasibility study for installation of mechanical laundry/ glove processing unit in CSSD.
 Orderly transition into new building upon its construction.
 Increased bed occupancy to 93 percent from present 86 percent.
 A 5percent reduction in operating costs in XYZ department.

4 REVIEWING LIMITATION/CONSTRAINTS:

 The constraints and limitations can be in the form of personnel, equipment, finance, information, time,
government policy, geographical and others.
 The full range of external forces affecting a particular plan need to be identified, and the potential
impact of these forces needs to assessed.
 This external assessment involves detailed examination of many critical relationships between goals and
objectives and the environment.
 Internal assessment leads to identification of internal organizational weakness and shortcomings, and
develop a balanced picture of the hospital’s limitations, strengths and opportunities for corrective action.

5 LAYING DOWN OPERATIONAL POLICY AND OPERATIONAL SYSTEMS:

Operational policy: it is a statement of objective and principle functions for each department.

 It provides the organization ample choice as to how each department will eventually run.
 Operational policy and strategies lead to operational plan and system at each level until the institution
gets down to “nuts and bolts” of its operations.

Operational system: once the operational policy and strategies are laid down operational system are designed to
fit in the constraints’ set up earlier by the policy.

 Operational system will determine the equipment to be obtained, forms to be printed, and how different
staff members will be deployed among many others.

6 WRITING DOWN THE PLAN:

  A plan has no value if it remains only in the mind of the planner.
 There are many others in the organizations that will have to be associated in putting the plan into
practice and understanding the rationale behind objectives, goals, limitations and resources in
operationalising plans.
 Therefore the plan must be written down and copies passed on to all concerned.

OBJECTIVES OF PLANNING:

Planning leads to success and achieving the goals and objectives.

It gives meaning to work
Provides means to effective use of available resources such as personal and facilities in the organization.
Help to cope with situational crisis.
It is cost effective and need for effective control.
Planning is based on the past the future, thus helping to reduce the element of change and to discover
need for the change.

NATURE OF THE PLANNING

Planning is inevitable at all the levels of administration and which plan consciousness at operational
level are essentials for the due implementation of plans.
Planning not a static process and administration and management involving conceptual skills , skkils of
analytical things, decision making and problem solving .
Planning sketches

CONCEPT OF PLANNING:

1. Primacy-
planning is an important element in the administration that usually precedes other elements
Or functions of administration. Obliviously without setting the goals to be reached and line of action to
be fallowed , there is nothing to organize , to direct or control in the enterprise.
2. Continuity
Planning is a continuous and never ending and never ending activity of an administrator or manager to
keep the enterprise as a going concern. One plan begets another plans to be fallowed by a seri8es of
other plans in quick succession . actually , a hierarchy of plans operates in the enterprise at any time.
Planning gets used up where tomorrow becomes today and calls for further planning day in and day
out. Again incessant changes make planning a continuous necessity.
3. Flexibility
Planning leads to the adaptation of a specific course of a action and the rejection of thr other
possibilities this confinement to one course takes away flexibility . confinement to one course of
action has to be adapted to altered situations for avoiding any deadlock . accordingly when the future
 cannot be moulded to be in grained in planning for adaptation the course of action to demands of
current situation.
4. Unity
Planning is made by different administration or managers at different times . maintains of consistency or
unity of planning is one of the essentials requirements . objective provides the common focus for
unify managerial action in planning .moreover, policies and procedure introduce consistency of
executive behaviors and action in matter of planning.
5. Precision
Planning must be prices as to it meanings , scope and nature. As guides fort the action . planning is to be
framed in intelligible and meaning ful terms by way of pinpointing the expected result . according to
the capacities and facilities of company / institution , hospital , planning must be realized in svpoe
rather than indication pious desired . as planning errors are far more serious than mistake in other
function and cannot be offset by effective organize or controlling . planning precision is of almost
importance
6. Pervasiveness
Planning is pervasive activity covering the entire enterprise with all its segments and every level of
management . planning is not the exclusive responsibility of management only , but it extends to middle
and lower management as well. Although the top level managers are mostly preoccupied with planning
work because of their wide jurisdiction of operation and decision Making , planning is of necessity of
every managers.

PRINCIPLES OF PLANNING:

 Planning must focus on purposes. It should always be based on clearly defined objective.
 Planning is a continuous and iterative process which includes series of steps, so continuity and
flexibility should be maintained n planning cycle.
 Planning should be simple and there should be provision for proper analysis and classification of action.
 In planning there should be a good harmony with organization and environment political as well as
economical etc.
 Planning is hierarchical in nature and must have an organizational identification.
 Planning should be pervasive activity covering the entire organization with all its departments, sectors
and different levels of administration and it should be balanced.
 Planning must be precise in it objective scope and nature. It should be realistic in its scope and pinpoint
the expected results.
 In planning the provision should be made to use all available resources.
 Planning should always be documented so that the entire concerned are fully committed to the
implementation of the program.
PHILOSOPHY
Through the experience and expertise of its founder, GinCommGroup has developed a planning philosophy
that is uniquely tailored to not-for-profit membership organizations.

That philosophy can be summed up in four major tenets:

1. Member-centered.

While associations can borrow much from the business literature on strategic planning, they must be
cognizant of a fundamental difference -- for an association, its members are both its owners and its
customers. This means that an association must focus on the needs of its members as the driving force
behind its strategic direction and long-range goals..

2. Results-oriented.

If a plan is to be more than an intellectual exercise, it must have a direct effect on the activities of the
association. To assure that the plan produces results, its long-range (i.e., three to five years) goals should
drive the development of an annual work plan and budget.

An association's budget is its most important planning document; augmenting it with a companion work plan
provides a framework for achieving long-range goals by setting measurable objectives for the year
(including those which are evaluated by measures other than dollars and cents). Every activity in the work
plan and budget should contribute toward the achievement of the goals of the strategic plan.

GinCommGroup can assist its clients in developing an annual work plan and budget that implement the
first phase of the strategic plan.

3. Information-based.

An effective planning process will combine the personal knowledge and creative thinking of the
association's leadership and staff with research, including membership needs assessments and industry
reports. Objective information ensures that the plan is based on reality, rather than the personal opinions or
biases of the participants, and that it goes beyond an extrapolation of current activity.

GinCommGroup can help its clients translate research into strategic directions and priorities.

4. Inclusive.

It is important to develop understanding and support for the plan by taking an inclusive approach to the
development of the plan. To the extent possible, those volunteer leaders who will have responsibility for
implementing portions of the plan should be included in the strategic planning process.

Regular progress reports should be provided, and presentation of the plan to association leaders and / or
members should be carefully planned to provide a balanced summary and allow time for discussion that will
enhance understanding.

GinCommGroup helps its clients communicate about the planning process and produce appropriate
presentation materials.

IMPORTANCE OF PLANNING: The importance of the planning function should have been clear to you.
We can outline the importance of planning as fallows-

Provides Direction: Planning provides a clear sense of direction to the activities of the organization and to the
job behavior of managers and others. It strengthens their confidence in understanding where the organization is
heading and what for, how best to make the organization move along the chosen path, and when should they
take what measures to achieve the goals of the organization.

Provides opportunity to analyze alternative courses of action: Another source of importance of planning is
that it permits managers to examine and analyze alternative course of action with a better understanding of their
likely consequences. If managers have an enhanced awareness of the possible future effects of alternative
courses of action, for making a decision or for taking any action, they will be able to exercise judgment and
proceed cautiously to choose the most feasible and favorable course of action.
Reduces uncertainties: Planning forces managers to shake off their inertia and insular outlook; it induces them
to look beyond those noses, beyond today and tomorrow, and beyond immediate concerns. It encourages them
to probe and cut through complexities and uncertainties of the environment and to gain control over the
elements of change.
Minimizes impulsive and arbitrary decisions: Planning tends to minimize the incidence of impulsive and
arbitrary decisions and ad hoc actions; it obviates exclusive dependence on the mercies of luck and chance
elements; it reduces the probability of major errors and failures in managerial actions. It injects a measure of
discipline in managerial thinking and organizational action. It improves the capability of the organization to
assume calculated risks. It increases the freedom and flexibility of manager’s withing well-defined limits.

King-pin function: As stated earlier, planning is a prime managerial function which provides the basis for the
other managerial functions. The organizational structure of task and authority roles is built around
organizational plans. The functions of motivation, supervision, leadership and communication are addressed to
implementation of plans and achievement of organizational objectives. Managerial control is meaningless
without managerial planning. Thus, planning is the king-pin function around which other functions are
designed.

Resource Allocation: Planning is means of judicious allocation of strategic and scarce resources of the
organization in the best possible manner for achieving strategic goals of the organization. The strategic
resources include funds, highly competent executives, technological talent, good contacts with government,
exclusive dealer network and so on. If the organization enjoys a distinct advantage in possession of such
resources, a careful planning is essential to allocate them into those lines which would strengthen the overall
competitive position of the organization.
Resource use efficiency: For an ongoing organization, planning contributes towards a more efficient
functioning of the various work units. There is better utilization of the organization's existing assets, resources
and capabilities. It prompts managers to close gaps, to plug loopholes, to rectify deficiencies, to reduce
wastage and leakages of funds, materials, human efforts and skills so as to bring about an overall improvement
in resource use efficiency.
Adaptive responses: Planning tends to improve the ability of the organization to effectively adapt and adjust
its activities and directions in response to the changes taking place in the external environment. An adaptive
behavior on the part of the organization is essential for its survival as an independent entity. For a business
organization, for example, adaptive behavior is critical in technology, markets, products and so on.
Anticipative action: While adaptation is a behavior in reaction and response to some changes in the outside
world, it is not enough in some situations. In recognition of this fact, planning stimulates management to act, to
take hold initiatives, to anticipate crises and threats and to ward them off, to perceive and seize opportunities
ahead of other competitions, and to gain a competitive lead over others. For the purpose, some enterprises
establish environmental scanning mechanism as part of their planning systems. Thereby such enterprises are
able to direct and control change, instead of being directed and controlled by the pervasive external forces of
change.
Integration: Planning is an important process to bring about effective integration of the diverse decisions and
activities of the managers not only at a point of time but also over a period of time. It is by reference to the
framework provided by planning that managers make major decisions on organizational activities, in an
internally consistent manner.
GOVERNMENT COLLEGE OF NURSING
JAGDALPUR. C.G.

SUBJECT- NURSING MANAGEMENT

SEMINAR ON:-

PLANNING PROCESS

SUBMITTED TO SUBMITTED BY
 MRS. VASHITA PADHIAR MS.BABITA DHRUW
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR M. Sc. NSG FINAL YR.
DEP. OF MENTAL HEALTH NURSING GCON JAGDALPUR C.G.
GCON JAGDALPUR C.G.

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