Starting a Plan

The moment I stepped in the room for my Organization Analysis class, I was half aware what was going on. (Do I need to disclose that I was a little late? Okay, I won’t :D ) An introductory discussion was made then we came to the question, “What is the equation for IT?” The professor asked. IT = Hardware + Software. IS? IS = IT + Peopleware. And I was like, wow! I didn’t know that! Or at least remember. Where was I during my college years? My classmates were good at their profession, mostly are working at the academe so they answered in chorus. Discussion went on and finally we get to the first topic Strategic Planning.

I was then anxious how this topic will start because at the first place, I didn’t know exactly what Strategic Planning was, or if I did on my previous Management class, I must have forgotten totally what it was, or that I didn’t get too interested about it. I heard of it from friends sharing about their strategic planning meetings and activities but I didn’t bother asking its objectives.
Here are some points that I learned upon discussing strategic planning.

It is a short-term plan to cope with changes within the organization. It is a plan that has a maximum of 3years of envisioning, laying down goals to achieve, and setting priorities to follow. Why 3 years, you may ask. Because this duration allows you to see the baseline of your plan against the inevitable changes within the organization and outside factors, like competition, in a short but reasonable amount of time. Thinking about and applying this on IT, I think even lesser duration can be applied depending, I think, on the nature of the company and the services or products they offer.

Like in the organization I am a part of, although I have not been directly involved in the core planning, I noticed that the top-level management is making a target within 6 months to 2 years. (Wow, now some things are getting to my memories while writing this). Why six (6) months? I noticed this whenever there are features that are requested by clients and being added to the system. It should be within or less than the duration, or else, it will become obsolete and another software company may offer them the system with even greater features. So management in this case needs to plan ahead the manpower and the target release date to make sure that it is getting profit, else loss. I also remembered when our COO, during his presentation, showed us around twenty (20) new applications or systems that are to be developed in the next 2 years. Gearing away with the competition in the market and wanting to make a lead from all other competing companies. This is a presentation where the top management extends to their staff the plan they want and make it happen with everyone’s effort and contribution. This is another attribute of strategic planning; it “pulls the entire organization together around a single game plan for execution”.

I don’t exactly know this “single game plan” of the company. But one thing I know is that they are focused in two words: SALES and PROFIT. And it is bringing the whole organization there. Every year (so I believed when I joined), this boss meets the staff in all regions to present the company’s current status and its year’s plans and goals, where are we now and where are we heading. It’s not a workshop or a brainstorming event, only a presentation of what the top-level management has planned beforehand. This then allows managers from different departments to plan for their designated sections and responsibilities, check current resources, set new baseline and request for more manpower when needed. The good thing of this presentation is that not only managers are informed, but staffs under them too. That time I think it was unnecessary for this activity to include the staffs until this time that I realized that having everyone know the goals will let everyone work hard on it.

“If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” An organization wanting to stay long in the business should take planning as bread for their existence. But of course in the end, a good manifestation justifies it all.