Idea 10: Planning
I keep six honest serving men
(They taught me all I knew);
Their names are What and Why and When,
And How and Where and Who.
Rudyard Kipling
Planning is the activity of bridging the tap mentally from where you and the group are now to where you want to be at some future moment in terms of accomplishing a task.
‘Fail to plan and you plan to fail.’
A poor or inadequate plan means that your subsequent team action is doomed from the start. It usually turns into a drama – a comedy or a tragedy, depending on the circumstances – in three Acts: Beginning, Muddle and No End.
This key activity of planning for any team or organization requires a search for alternatives and that is best done with others in an open-minded, encouraging and creative way. Foreseeable contingencies should always be planned for.
Checklist for planning- Have I called on specialist advice?
- Have all feasible courses of action been considered and weighed up in terms of resources needed/available and outcomes?
- Has a programme been established that will achieve the objective?
- Is there a provision for contingencies?
- Were more creative solutions searched for as a basis for the plan?
- Is the plan simple and as foolproof as possible, rather than complicated?
- Does the plan include necessary preparation or training for the team and its members?
In ensuring that there is the appropriate level of participation in the planning process, the planning continuum chart may be useful.
The planning continuum
Any decision can be shared in the way set out in the planning continuum. The more that as a leader you share a decision, the greater the motivation of the team but the less control you have on the quality of the resulting decision. Your aim should be dependent on the time available and the knowledge/experience of the team – both high commitment and high quality.
Take a leaf out of Napoleon's book – think ahead and visualize what may arise as you implement the plan:
If I always appear prepared, it is because, before entering on an undertaking, I have meditated for long and have foreseen what may occur. It is not genius which reveals to me suddenly and secretly what I should do in circumstances unexpected by others; it is thought and meditation.