Goal Planning and Goal Setting

• You can think of goal setting as figuring out what you want to achieve. It’s really a
focus on the “WHY” and the “HOW.”
• You can think of goal planning as figuring out the “HOW” to achieve your goal.
• Simply put, the output of goal setting is a list of goals, and the output of goal
planning is an action plan.
• Most people don’t achieve their goals because they stop at goal setting. They might
get as far as, this year, I want to lose 25 pounds. Or this year, I’m going to write my
book. Or this month, I’m going to learn a new skill.
• They figure out WHAT they want. Hopefully, they also know WHY they want it
(and, they usually do.) But, they don’t figure out HOW they are going to achieve it.
• Goal planning is the difference that makes the difference.
• Keep in mind, it actually makes sense to split goal setting and goal planning. They
are different activities with a different focus and require different levels of thinking
and analysis.
PLANNING TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES

TECHNIQUES FOR ASSESSING

THE ENVIRONMENT
• Environmental Scanning
– The screening of information to anticipate and
interpret changes in the environment
– Competitor intelligence - gathering information
about one’s competitors
– Global scanning - screening of information on
global forces that might affect an organization
that has global interests
TECHNIQUES FOR ASSESSING
THE ENVIRONMENT (continued)
• Forecasting
– Used to predict future events to facilitate
decision making
– Techniques
• quantitative - applies a set of mathematical rules to
a series of past data to predict outcomes
• qualitative - uses the judgment and opinions of
knowledgeable individuals to predict outcomes
TECHNIQUES FOR ASSESSING
THE ENVIRONMENT (continued)
• Forecasting (continued)
– Effectiveness - managers have had mixed
success
• forecasts are most accurate in relatively stable
environments
• forecasts are relatively ineffective in predicting
nonseasonal events, unusual occurrences, and the
actions of competitors
• to improve forecasts - use simple forecasting
methods
TECHNIQUES FOR ASSESSING
THE ENVIRONMENT (continued)
• Benchmarking
– The search for the best practices in other organizations
that lead to superior performance
– Standard tool of many organizations in quest for
performance improvement
– Analyze and then copy the methods used by leaders in
various fields
– Important to identify appropriate targets for
benchmarking
– Organizations may share benchmarking information
 STEPS IN BENCHMARKING
(Exhibit 9.2)
Form a benchmarking
planning team

BEST
PRACTICES Gather internal and
Prepare and external data
implement
action plan
Analyze data to
identify performance
gaps
© 2003 Pearson Education Canada Inc.
 TECHNIQUES FOR
ALLOCATING RESOURCES
• Resources
– The assets of the organization

– take many forms, including financial, physical,

human, intangible, and structural/cultural
• Budgeting
– Budgets - numerical plans for allocating
resources to specific activities
TECHNIQUES FOR ALLOCATING
RESOURCES (continued)
• Budgeting (continued)
– Ways to improve budgeting process:
• Be flexible
• Goals should drive budgets
• Coordinate budgeting throughout the
organization
• Use budgeting/planning software when
appropriate
• Remember that budgets are tools
• Remember that profits result from smart
management, not because you budgeted for
them
TECHNIQUES FOR ALLOCATING
RESOURCES (continued)
• Scheduling (continued)
– Load Charts - modified Gantt Chart
• schedule capacity by work areas
– vertical axis lists either entire departments or
specific resources
• allow managers to plan and control capacity
utilization
TECHNIQUES FOR ALLOCATING
RESOURCES (continued)
• Scheduling (continued)
– PERT (Program Evaluation and Review
Technique) Network Analysis
• used to schedule complex projects
• flowchart diagram that depicts the sequence of
activities needed to complete a project
• indicates the time or costs associated with each
activity
• can compare the effects alternative actions might
have on scheduling and costs
TECHNIQUES FOR ALLOCATING
RESOURCES (continued)
• Breakeven Analysis - used to determine
how many units must be sold to have
neither profit nor loss
– Used to make profit projections
– Points out relationships between revenues,
costs, and profits
TECHNIQUES FOR ALLOCATING
RESOURCES (continued)
• Linear Programming
– Mathematical technique that solve resource allocation
problems
– Requirements
• resources are limited
• outcome optimization is the goal
• alternative methods exist for combining resources to produce a
number of output mixes
• a linear relationship exists between variables
– technique has a variety of applications
 CONTEMPORARY
PLANNING TECHNIQUES
• Project Management
– The task of getting a project’s activities done on
time, within budget, and according to
specifications
• project - a one-time-only set of activities that has a
definite beginning and ending point in time
– Standardized planning procedures often are not
appropriate for projects
 CONTEMPORARY PLANNING
TECHNIQUES (continued)
• Project Management (continued)
– Project Management Process

• team created from appropriate work areas

• team reports to a project manager
• project manager coordinates activities
• team disbands when project is completed
CONTEMPORARY PLANNING
TECHNIQUES (continued)
• Project Management (continued)
– Role of the Project Manager
• role is affected by the one-shot nature of the
project
• role is difficult because team members still
linked to their permanent work areas
• managers must rely on their communication
skills and powers of persuasion
CONTEMPORARY PLANNING
TECHNIQUES (continued)
• Scenario Planning
– Scenario - an imagined sequence of future
events
– Contingency planning - “if this happens, then
these are the actions to take”
– Intent is to reduce uncertainty by playing out
potential situations under different specified
conditions