Leadership Development the Usefulness of the Planning

Leadership Development

The usefulness of the planning methods used to meet the leadership requirements at strategic level

Planning is a very important process at every level of the organization, it is the process being used by the leaders to set the organizational goals, come up with the strategies and set the time limit for the tasks which are relevant to help achieve the set objectives. All the leaders need to have plans which can deliver the organization from its current position to meet its future goals. Various planning methods can be applied by the leaders which require various leadership skills and quality in order to accomplish the set goals and objectives. The type of leadership style being used in an organization determines the planning methods that the organization can adopt. The plans can be very effective and easy to implement if the organization work on the plan as a team. Leaders need to involve he employees at all levels so that they become part of the plan. Various aspects of planning require the collective performance of the employees and commitment which can only be achieved if the leader works with the employees and win their commitment to fully participate and execute the plan as a team. The plan needs to be communicated to the employees in order to internalize it so that there is full coordination of various teams which is crucial if the goals are to be achieved as per the schedule.

Leaders who come up with the plans without involving the employees in the formation process experience difficulty as there could be resistance from within and may waste a lot of time and resources in trying to explain the plan to the employees in order to implement. Participatory leadership has gained more recognition and leaders are widely encouraging their followers or employees to actively participate in all the leadership processes so that the vision and mission of the organization is achieved as a team. Leaders use various planning methods which are useful in helping them achieve their leadership requirements either at operational level or at strategic level.

There are three major types of plans that can be used by the leaders in order to achieve the set goals of the organization. A leader can use the operational plans which are the plans to measure the departmental inputs in executing the organization's main plan. There are various departments within an organization which are headed by several individuals who are answerable for the activities at those levels. In order to achieve their objectives or the targets which have been set at that level, the individuals leading such groups within the organization do come up with operational plans which are categorized based on the duration and the need for those particular plans. Some of the operational plans are referred to as single use plans because there is likely to be no repeat of such a plan in the future. They may be programs which are geared towards popularizing a product to drive sales or to create product awareness in order to penetrate the market.

The leaders may come up with promotional activities which are budgeted for at ones and work to meet a specific target within the department which is in line with the main objective of the organization. This is useful because it helps the leaders to determine by making use of different plans which can be reviewed to determine which of the used plans delivered the most results which can be implemented as one of the long-term plans upon review. Another category of the operation plan is the continuing plans which are the plans used and retained over a long period of time. These plans undergo periodic reviews and updates to determine their relevance and are always changed when need arises. Examples of these plans may be the rules and procedures that govern the operations of a department. These are meant to stay over some time if sanity is to be maintained and for the employees to conform to the rules and follow a certain order in carrying out certain tasks. These are useful for the leaders if they are to instill some disciplinary actions against the perpetrators and to maintain discipline at the work place. The procedures in carrying out tasks need to be repetitive so that the quality of services or the products are maintained if the customer satisfaction and market share is to be maintained in the long run. Change of procedures without proper research may be costly for the organization which therefore makes this category of the plans to be repetitive over a long duration of time. (John Wiley & Sons, 2000).

The second type of planning method is the tactical plan. Tactical plans are usually longer than the operational plans in terms of the duration of usage by the implementers. They usually take up to one year or slightly longer until the goal has been achieved. These are the plans which are used to accomplish the tasks at the lower level units within the organization. Each division has a different task to accomplish which is combined to form part of the broader plan for the entire organization. The plan concentrates on what each division does; they are usually short-term goals which are tactical in helping achieve the overall strategy of the organization. The inputs from every division cannot be ignored since all the divisions equally impact on the overall output of the organization.

If one division is not well coordinated in terms of executing its short-term plans which are developed to help it achieve some of its operations then the impact is felt by the entire organization, that explains the need to coordinate the works of every division or department within to help achieve the broader goal without causing the interdepartmental rivalry and competition. Tactical plans are usually used by the middle level managers to ensure the plans are properly implemented from the lower level units all the way to the top level for the betterment of the organization (SM Advisors, 2010)

The third planning method is the strategic planning. Strategic plan compared to the other plans which are formed with the divisions and departments in mind is much broader in its scope; it encompasses the general goal of the organization which sets the pace for the divisional plans. Strategic plans are very categorical and look at many aspects starting from the organizations' mission and vision placing strategic measures to ensure the mission is achieved. It is usually the top level management that is involved with the strategic planning for the organization and communicates the strategies to the middle managers who have to put on tactics to implement the strategies. It uses the SWOT analysis in which the strength of the organization in terms of the product or services is looked into compared to the competitors. The plan also helps the leaders to identify the areas of weaknesses which they have to accept and address the issues if it brings down the efforts to achieve the set goals.