Managers invest tremendous time and effort in the planning phase, which is the most basic and essential function. Several planning meetings take place during the planning process but do you know the planning meeting purpose?
The planning meeting purpose is to bring people together from various positions in an organization to develop an appropriate plan for the achievement of goals. Attendees not only discuss the objectives, scope, resources, and timeline, but these meetings make them commit to working as one unit for the success of the organization.
Planning meeting demands you to make crucial decisions for the business and lay direction towards a unified purpose. In this article, we talk about the purpose of the planning meeting, its agenda, and its objectives in detail.
💡 Helpful Statistics About Planning: ● Companies with written business plans grow 30% faster. ● Businesses with a plan are far more likely to get funding than those that don’t have a plan. ● 67% of well-formulated strategies failed due to poor execution. (HBR) ● 60–90% of strategic plans never fully launch. ● 48% of leaders spend less than a day on strategy each month. (HBS) ● 95% of employees don’t understand their company’s strategy. (HBR) ● 61% of executives feel they are not prepared for the strategic challenges. (HBR) ● 77% of successful companies translate their strategy into operational terms and evaluate it on a day-to- day basis. (Palladium)
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Explanation of the planning meeting purpose
In this era of hyper-competition, several meetings occur with different goals. There are planning meetings, problem-solving meetings, budget meetings, etc. However, meetings are not a useless task. They act as a significant means of communication.
To manage an effective meeting, you need to know the purpose of that meeting. As planning is management’s fundamental function, we should first understand a planning meeting.
What is a planning meeting?
The planning meeting is held before the start of any project. You should have a planning meeting when there is an idea for the project. Tasks can vary from big to small, short-term to long-term.
It would be best if you invite managers and employees who have to play a role in completing the project. Also, try to avoid inviting unnecessary people. It will only reduce the efficiency of the planning meeting.
Now once the planning meeting is held, the question arises what is the planning meeting purpose?
Purpose of the planning meeting
The purpose of the planning meeting is to decide the next steps needed for the new project. Planning meetings can help you establish the goals for the new project. It will also determine the timeline for different activities and who is responsible for which task.
Planning meetings bring different employees together and take their input about essential matters. This diversification helps planning meetings act as a key to kicking off a successful project as meaningful decisions are made by managers in this meeting about the future of the company.
Planning meetings also follow some guidelines. There has to be an agenda to discuss in the meeting. Otherwise, it will be a waste of resources. Let’s discuss the planning meeting agenda.
Planning meeting agenda
A planning meeting agenda enlists all the crucial points that you want to discuss in the meeting. It gives a clear idea to the participants about what will happen during the meeting. Hence, the planning meeting agenda covers all the topics necessary for developing and implementing the plan.
When you are leading a planning meeting, you have to invite relevant employees to attend the meeting. You are also taking care of the management of the meeting, attendees, and tasks. A productive meeting agenda will help you to discuss all the essential factors while keeping the meeting on the topic. It also ensures that attendees use their time efficiently.
When you know the planning meeting purpose and its agenda, you can run the meeting productively and efficiently. We are breaking down the core items a planning meeting agenda should cover.
Specific questions you need to ask in a planning meeting are:
- What are the project goals, and how do we attain them?
- Who is responsible for which task?
- How long will it take to perform every task?
A planning meeting agenda usually covers the following topics:
Goals
One main topic of discussion in the planning meeting is identifying project goals. Therefore, before developing a plan, you must know the project goals. Simply stating, what are the objectives you want to accomplish?
You must ask yourself some simple but essential questions to identify the goals. For instance, what problems are you trying to solve, and what are you trying to achieve?
When you answer these queries, you will get your objectives. Make sure your project goals align with the organizational goals. Clear identification of goals gives employees motivation to work for the end goal.
Hence, you must set attainable and specific goals for your project. Many planning meetings can take place before the development and implementation of the plan.
Scope
Another item discussed in the planning meeting is the scope of the plan. The plan’s scope describes a plan’s goals, resources, deadlines, timeline, and boundary conditions. Therefore, everyone in the meeting should know about the scope so they can give feedback.
The scope of the plan helps develop the project baseline as well as the boundary conditions, which cannot be compromised without the consent of approving managers. So, you have to ensure that all the attendees understand a plan’s parameters and boundary conditions in the planning meeting.
If employees don’t understand the plan’s scope, encourage them to ask questions. The scope of the plan also includes how employees interact with each other in a team and make a coordinated effort towards attaining goals.
Resources
The resources required to execute the plan are another point in the planning meeting agenda. The resources not only mean money but also people with expertise, experience, tools, equipment, machinery, software, etc.
You need to ask yourself what resources the company already possesses and what other resources it needs to implement the plan. For example, you may need a person with a specific skill set, or you may require updated software for functioning.
Try to use the current resources to their fullest. In addition to that, acquire other resources that the company does not have. Next, you allocate resources and exploit them for the plan’s successful execution.
Timeline
In the planning meeting, discussing the timeline of each project is an important point on the agenda. Timeline means the time each task will take for completion. In other words, a timeline refers to the deadline of a task.
A project timeline gives you the authority to schedule various tasks so you can check what should be done and when. Also, monitor the progress of each job. Without a timeline, it is easy for a project to derail and end up in complete chaos.
It is hard work to manage several tasks at the same time. A timeline helps organize and monitor tasks, resulting in fewer hurdles and bottlenecks.
Planning meeting objectives
The main objective of the planning meeting is to develop a plan and unify employees under one goal. So, they focus their energies and actions on attaining that goal.
As organizations plan every little step, you must first decide what you will plan in this planning meeting. Are you planning to inform your employees about a new venture, planning to reduce costs, or planning to hire more staff?
Each planning meeting has a different objective depending on what they are planning about. You are not always planning to launch a new product. State the objectives of the planning meeting clearly because it will help run the meeting effectively.
Still, the two objectives remain constant no matter the subject of the planning meeting. One main objective is to unite employees and bring them on one page. The second main objective is the development of the plan.
Planning meeting purpose: unified employees
An important purpose of the planning meeting is the unification of employees. Bringing all the relevant employees together in one meeting. So, they can talk to each other, exchange ideas, and give feedback on the matter.
Planning meetings may discuss topics regarding the new product, reducing costs, or developing new software, but some factors remain constant. The employees present in the planning meeting are those constants as they are the ones who will sail the ship. The planning meeting will give them the direction to flow, but they are the ultimate crew members.
Giving employees a sense of confidence and encouraging their point of view boosts their morale and brings a diversity of opinions to the whole process. The meeting attendees will pour in their valuable ideas to make the planning process more productive.
When employees are driven and united, they can communicate better. The more a team is coordinated, the better it is for the project’s success.
Planning meeting purpose: Developing a plan
When the employees are on one page and under one roof in the planning meeting, it is the best time to develop the plan. The planning meeting purpose is to create a sound plan and give directions to lay that plan.
Depending upon the purpose of the planning meeting, you should start developing the plan. There are a few necessary steps for the development of a plan. These steps are identifying goals, evaluating alternatives, allocating resources, and formulating and implementing the plan.
To understand the development of the plan, you should read the article on the planning cycle, which discusses the stepwise procedure of plan development.
Importance of the planning meeting purpose
It is highly important that you identify the purpose of the planning meeting. Prepare beforehand about the topics you want to discuss in the meeting. What are you going to plan about in this meeting?
Keep the meeting on the relevant topic; when there are a lot of attendees, it is possible to stray from the main subject. Decide the meeting time depending on the agenda; it can be an hour-long meeting to a two-days long planning session.
Without a planning meeting, employees will not have a clear vision for the next steps needed. A workforce with a visionary mindset works rigorously to accomplish goals and gain success.
Conclusion
The planning meeting is essential for discussing and making important decisions regarding the project. No plan can be developed without a planning meeting.
The planning meeting purpose is to bring people together from various positions in an organization to develop an appropriate plan for the achievement of goals. Attendees not only discuss the objectives, scope, resources, and timeline, but these meetings make them commit to working as one unit for the success of the organization.
Every planning meeting has a different agenda to discuss. You can hold a planning meeting for launching a product or increasing sales. But the end goal of every planning meeting is to make an efficient plan that helps achieve the project’s goals under discussion.
You should know the planning meeting’s purpose to gain full benefit from it and increase the business’s productivity.