Planning: another vision!

Planning is the first and the most important of the four administrative processes because upon which regulation, direction, and control are based. Some steps come under planning and control, of the most important are: defining goals, setting policies and programs, estimating budgets, and drawing time tables. Goals and programs have some qualities, such as: realism, executableness, measurement, clarity, and specific time.

I want to speak shortly about planning for some reasons that will later be mentioned; perhaps now I need to point to some important points:

• It is necessary to put your trust in Allah about everything and not to depend only on planning so as not to be punished by disappointment. The moderate approach in this concern is considering planning a reason for achieving purposes and goals.

• We have to balance between challenge and realism. So, do not let imagination takes you to mazes of thoughts or behaviors, and do not let reality frustrate you like a prisoner who cannot escape; hence moderation and balance are the safe exit for gathering opposites.

• Of the matters that should clearly taken into consideration during planning is promoting standards and measurements to push away boredom resulting from monotony, flaming enthusiasm and competition, and coping with changes and conditions.

• Then is followed by changing convictions and ideas and narrowing the range of the impossible away from minds and determinations.

• Changing strategies and work styles according to the change of standards and convictions because a method may be successful in a certain place and certain condition but it is worthless in other times, places, and conditions.

• The necessity of approving the interim review and permanent control for work flow in order not to deviate from the required goals.

• We have to emerge from the goals to define the work vision which motivates determinations and causes activity and challenge, as it is necessary to clarify the high message of work to avoid deviations and observing these deviations if they occur.

• The planning team should adopt the policy of "plenteousness" and avoide the policy of "dearth" because we have plenty of places , if there is a barren land, surely the land is wide, and if a person refuses to response, others will response and so on.

• In order to make a successful planning, we should take a firm decision and have determination to implementation, bear the consequences, and keep commitment to adopt proper means for achieving the required goals.

• All we read and hear remain as a scientific luxury as long as we do not move them from the realm of theory and knowledge to application and work. Then, the real battleground begins to test the effectiveness of the stock of knowledge and mental accumulations in order to know the real ground on which we stand!

Finally, back to the planning issue about which I talked briefly in the beginning to suggest a useful book for readers or attending a peculiar course about planning to benefit from theory as well as application according to the way which honorable administrators follow; may Allah reward them.