The following steps may be taken to make planning effective.

1. The Success of planning depends upon the effectiveness with which the forecast has been made. If the forecast is accurate, there is every possibility that the plan will be success. 2. Flexibility must be introduced in the plan whenever necessary so that the employees can work with sustained interest and effort. The management shall not use pressure tactics and force employees to work for the sake of attaining the daily or weekly targets. 3. All the members concerned with the organization must be involved in the task of preparing the plan. The viewpoints of the employees, who are actually going to perform the tasks, must be secured and their ideas may be incorporated in the plans, if found suitable. 4. The plan should not be prepared to focus on the financial goals of the business alone. It must have something for the employees. There must be some provision in the plan to reward efficient workers. Some inducement is necessary in the plan to motivate the employees to work harder. 5. The plan must be realistic. It should take into account the capabilities of both the managers and the employees. Both shall not be required to work beyond their capacity. In other words, the plan must not expect too much out of every person. 6. The plan must be communicated effectively to all the subordinate staff. Their consent may also be obtained. The successful implementation of the plan depends on the extent to which subordinates participate willingly in the performance of the tasks. 7. A co-ordinated effort on the effort on the part of every department is required for the success of the plan. To achieve this, the departments concerned shall work with proper understanding.

The following 10 steps form a process for good decision making. 1. Define the issue. Too often, leaders make a decision before they really know what the issue is. The first step is to know what it is that requires a decision. 2. Gather information. Learn as much as possible about the issue. Consult experts and, if possible, observe the situation for yourself. The more information a leader accumulates, the better the decision. 3. Develop Alternatives. Its best to consider several different decisions. The first conclusion you reach may not be the best one.

4. Discuss potential solutions. Once youve developed alternatives, discuss them with experts to determine if they are appropriate. 5. Step back. Try to look at the issue from the point-of-view of a disinterested third party. This is difficult but will help you see nuances that are not visible to one who is intimately involved. 6. Change your perspective. Examine the issue, and especially your potential solutions from the point-of-of view of those who will be affected by your decision. Will your decision ultimately do more harm than good? 7. Set the issue aside. Once youve accomplished these six steps, set the issue aside for a little while. Of course you can only do this as time permits, but it really helps to put it out of your mind, then re-evaluate to make sure youve covered all the alternatives. 8. Choose a course of action. Youve given the issue much thought and considered several alternatives. Now its time to take the plunge. Make the decision! 9. Implement! It might be difficult, but do it anyway. 10. Evaluate. Make sure to evaluate the effects of your decision so you can learn and adjust as necessary. These 10 steps will serve you well in decision making. Dont shortchange the decision making process!

The process of planning involves the following steps

Analysing environment. At the outset the internal and external environment is analyzed in order to identify company ;s strengths and weaknesses (in internal environment)and opportunities and threats (existing in the external environment) this is also known as SWOT (Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities and Threats ) analysis . Establishing objectives or goals in the light of the environmental scanning (study)clear or probable opportunities that can be availed are identified in order to avail them objectives or goals are clearly defined in specific terms along with priorities in all the key areas of operations major problems associated with such objectives are also identified and defined ,so that there may be special emphasis on their planned solutions. Seeking necessary Information :

All relevant data and facts are collected from internal and external sources such as Availability of supplies, physical and human recourses of the company , finance of disposal, relevant government policy etc then such collected information and factors are analyzed. These information can be used in two ways 1. To make necessary modifications in objective and goals 2. To take help them in premising assumption.

Establishing the planing premises

In order to develop consistent and coordinate plans ,it is necessary that planing is based upon carefully considered assumption and predictions

Identifying the alternative course of action.

After established the goals or objective and taking other related steps , feasible alternative programs or course of action are searched out . Impossible or highly difficult propositions are left out .

Evaluating the alternatives.

Problems consequences of each alternative course of action in terms of its pros and cons (eg Cost, benefits, risks etc) are assessed and then relative importance of each of them is found out by looking at their overall individual strengths and limitations especially in the light of present objective and the environment of the company.

Selecting the alternative or Course of action.

The alternative which appears to be most feasible and conducive to the accomplishment of companys objective, is selecting the final plan of action as strategy.