An engineer manager should therefore devote some of his time to planning, especially when managing an organization must be pursued in a vigorous manner. This will provide a competitive edge to the organization over its competitors which do not have effective planning. It is because planning leads to best utilization of available resources, which therefore improve the quality of production and the competitive strength of the enterprise. Thus, the higher the management level is, the more sophisticated the planning activity becomes.
Plan provides a methodical way of achieving the desired results. It also serves as a useful guide, because without it, the engineer manager might concentrate on the minor tasks which may hinder the objectives of the firm or organization
Here are the different definitions of planning according to various experts.
It is crucial for engineers to know some aspects of planning undertaken at different management levels, which are as follows:
Top management level - Strategic Planning
Middle management level - Intermediate Planning
Lower management level - Operational Planning
The process of planning consists of various steps depending on the management level that performs the task. It involves the following process:
Setting organizational, divisional, or unit goals
Developing strategies or tactics on how to reach those goals
Determining resources needed and
Setting standards
Plans can be classified into different types. It could be in terms of functional areas, time horizon, and frequency of use.
Plans may be prepared depending on the needs of different functional areas. Different types of functional area plans are the following:
Marketing Plan
Production Plan
Financial Plan
Human Resource Management Plan
Plans according to time horizon consists of the following:
Short-range Plans
Long-range Plans
According to its frequency of use, plan may be classified as:
Standing plans
Single-use plans
The possibility of moving from one management level to another presses the engineer manager to be familiar with different functional area plans, which consists the following:
Contents of Marketing Plan
Contents of the Production Plan
Contents of the Financial Plan
Contents of the Human Resources Plan
Contents of the Strategic Plan
Having an effective planning leads to a more secured economy, boosted employee morale, and overall operational efficiency. This will be made successful if the following aids and barriers are undertaken and recognized respectively.
Effective planning is considered one of the most critical functions of management, for it serves as a methodological way to achieve the desired results in management. I learned that the planning process enables an engineer manager to break down larger, complex tasks into simpler ones. Thus, it would be best if there should be a schedule of tasks where organizational goals are expected to meet within the given time frame. Regardless of management levels, planning is indeed undertaken to realize the goals and objectives of an engineering organization. Also, planning allows us to develop a what-if scenario, wherein we will be able to envision the risk factors which may put an organization in jeopardy and to develop plans on how to deal with them.