Dear daughter, I trust you read the previous article about the benefits of planning, and you are reading this because you are interested in learning more about different types of planning.
Usually, when you search for types of planning or knowledge about planning, you will realize that the topic is meant for managers.
In this article, I want to show you that this topic is not just for managers, but for everyone.
Keep reading and you will see how you can apply this in your life, even if you are not a manager or a business owner.
If you do your planning, you will get great benefits.
First, let’s review what planning is.
Table of Contents
- What is planning?
- Strategic planning
- Tactical planning
- Operational planning
- Other types of planning
- Creating your plan
- Conclusion
What is planning?
See some definitions below.
“Planning is the process of thinking regarding the activities required to achieve a desired goal.” Source.
“Definition: Planning is the fundamental management function, which involves deciding beforehand, what is to be done, when is it to be done, how it is to be done, and who is going to do it”. Source.
“Definition: Planning is the process of establishing the goals and objectives of a project and determining the resources and actions needed to achieve those goals.” Source.
As you can see from the previous three definitions, it seems like planning is an activity meant for managers only. But when you read those definitions, you can see that at the core of planning is doing something to achieve goals.
But, having goals and defining processes, strategies, and tactics is something we all should do. Isn’t it?
There are statics that show that 90% of people don’t have goals. On the other hand, all companies have goals. I guess this is one reason why planning is mostly associated with management and not with everybody without regard to his/her job.
Luckily, it is easy for you to understand that planning is for you because you have goals, and planning is what will help you achieve those goals.
Let’s see now what are the types of planning that can help you achieve your goals.
Strategic planning
Strategic planning is a long-term activity.
Here, you will focus on how to achieve a specific goal(s).
In the literature, you will find that this type of planning is for organizations/companies to define what is their direction, what are long-term objectives so they can have a clear direction of where they are heading.
Guess what, you as a person also should have long-term goals and plans. You also need clarity on what you want to achieve in the long term.
Here is an example of a long-term goal: “I’m financially free by December 2035”.
So, this is definitely for you also.
Tactical planning
Tactical planning is short-term. It focuses on the steps you need to follow to achieve a strategic goal.
Organizations usually break down goals into something more manageable and for the short term. It can be smaller goals, tasks, or steps needed to achieve the strategic goals.
Guess what, you also need this. When you do this type of planning, you choose what to do in the short term that will have a positive impact on your long-term goals.
Here is an example that goes together with the long-term goal example I gave above: “I create a budget every month before I start spending my paycheck”.
Do you see how this tactic, a smaller goal for the short term, can help me achieve my long-term goal?
Operational planning
The goal of this type of planning is to have the specific tasks that need to be completed on a day-to-day basis.
It is usually used by companies to guarantee that the day-to-day operations run without any problems.
Do we need something like this?
Of course!
You do have day-to-day operations.
We need to plan our day in advance, as recommended by many successful people. Also, we need to prioritize the tasks for the day. We have to arrange them in a way that keeps us on track.
I still don’t understand why this topic is mainly taught to managers. This should be taught to everybody, as well as financial literacy.
Other types of planning
In other places, you will find two more types of planning:
- Project planning: A plan for a specific project: building construction, software product, etc. The aim is to finish the product on time and not exceed the budget.
- Personal planning: Planning for your own life, typically used by individuals to plan how to achieve their own goals and objectives.
After reading the description of these two types of planning, I hope you can see that you still have to follow the previous three types of planning. So, I will stop explaining them here.
Creating your plan
I recently watched a video of John Azaraf. He explains what I consider a framework for planning.
See the picture below.
At the top of the pyramid are the goals. What is that you want to achieve that is important to you? Remember you need clarity about what you to achieve in order to achieve it.
S+T+P stands for Strategy+Tactic+Process. See the resemblance with the type of planning?
Strategy can be your strategic planning, what is that you need to do/achieve.
The tactic is the how. How are going to achieve those goals?
The process is a system that you will follow, that you can repeat over and over to achieve your goals.
The three lower levels of the pyramid are self-explanatory.
What habits do you need to be able to execute the system successfully?
What set of beliefs do you need to keep yourself on track, so you don’t procrastinate or give up too early?
The big why. Why do you want to achieve those goals? Why they are important to you?
Conclusion
Now you can understand that planning is not only for managers or business owners. We all need to have a plan.
As the saying goes “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail”.
Also, we need three types of planning: strategic planning, tactical planning, and operational planning.
Each of them has an important place in our overall plan.
So, are you starting your plan now? Let me know with a comment below.
Love you, Dad.