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ARE YOU A GOOD PLANNER?
 How many of you think you’re good decision makers?
 What process do you go through to make a decision? Is it
the same for all levels of decisions?
 What do you personally think is the biggest obstacle to
you making good decisions?
 How would you add flexibility to your plan?
 Planning is choosing a goal and
developing a method or strategy to
achieve that goal.
BENEFITS OF PLANNING

 Intensified Effort
 Persistence
 Direction
 Creation of Task Strategies
PITFALLS OF PLANNING

 Impedes Change and Adaptation

 False Sense of Certainty
 Detachment of Planners
S.M.A.R.T. GOALS

 Specific
 Measurable
 Attainable
 Realistic
 Time-bound
MAKING A PLAN THAT WORKS
HOW TO MAINTAIN FLEXIBILITY

Options-Based Planning
 Maintaining planning flexibility by making
small, simultaneous investments in many
alternative plans
Learning-Based Planning
 Learning better ways of achieving goals by
continually testing, changing, and improving
plans and strategies
PLANNING FROM TOP TO BOTTOM
MANAGEMENT BY OBJECTIVES (MBO)
4-Step Process:
1. Discuss possible goals
2. Participatively select goals that are challenging, attainable,
and consistent with the company’s overall goals
3. Jointly develop tactical plans that lead to the
accomplishment of tactical goals and objectives
4. Meet regularly to review progress toward accomplishment
of those goals
RATIONAL DECISION MAKING
LIMITS TO RATIONAL DECISION MAKING

Bounded Rationality
 Managers try to take a rational approach to
decision making, but are restricted by real-
world constraints, incomplete and imperfect
information, and their own limited decision-
making capabilities
 From maximizing to satisficing
GROUP DECISION MAKING

Task-Oriented/Cognitive Conflict
 Disagreement that focuses on problem- and
issue-related differences of opinion
Interpersonal/Affective Conflict
 Disagreement that focuses on individuals or
personal issues
GROUP DECISION-MAKING TECHNIQUES

Nominal Decision Making

 A decision-making method that begins and ends
by having group members quietly write down
and evaluate ideas to be shared with the group
Delphi/Panel Decision Making
 A decision-making method in which members
of a panel of experts respond to questions and to
each other until reaching agreement on an issue
GROUP DECISION-MAKING TECHNIQUES
Brainstorming
 A decision-making method in which group members
build on each others’ ideas to generate as many
alternative solutions as possible
Four Rules for Brainstorming
1. The more ideas, the better
2. All ideas are acceptable, no matter how wild or crazy
they might seem
3. Other group members’ ideas should be used to come up
with even more ideas
4. Criticism or evaluation of ideas is not allowed