Planning is a vital function that lets management understand the bigger picture. It is an essential element to other basic managerial tasks such as organizing, staffing, and leading. Many managers are not involved in the planning process and fail to benefit from the process. This could be due to a lack in training or a tendency to not engage in this task.
Improved Decision Making
Making a plan for management forces them to think about the consequences of their decisions. This is because a written plan spells out specific goals that they want to accomplish and aids them in evaluating the potential benefits or risks of every decision they make. It also helps to keep a close eye on the long-term results of their decisions like how a decision made today will affect the growth of their business in the next three years.
Productivity Increased
A clear plan allows people to break complicated tasks into manageable pieces, allowing them to be completed in a shorter amount of time. This lets them use their time more effectively and decreases the likelihood of confusion.
A plan also helps an organization identify its strengths and weaknesses in the market, enabling it to exploit expanding markets before competitors take advantage of the opportunity, and thus gaining an advantage in the first mover category. A well-organized and clear plan can be used to other provide a framework to plan work and ensure that responsibilities are assigned effectively and that the most important deadlines are tracked in a proactive manner.