Planning is one of the tasks or functions of a leader.
Leaders must be involved in all of the leadership tasks:
planning, organizing, guiding, staffing, and controlling. These
are the basic tasks of leaders or managers. Christian leaders
are probably weaker at planning and controlling than any of the
other tasks. Leaders of aggressive churches are people of
action, and tend to want to start NOW without taking time to
plan. Planning slows the process down, they think, rather than
thinking correctly that planning will save time in the long run.
These same pastors also have a problem with planning because
planning is never urgent, and they go from one urgent thing to
another, missing many important things like planning. Planning
is especially important today because of changes in the world
and the complexity of organizations. It has been said that one
hour of planning can save three to four hours in execution and
give better results.
Planning can be ineffective, if the other tasks of a
leader are not being carried out satisfactorily. Planning
may also be ineffective if the plans remain on paper, and
are not put into practice. However, leaders lose a lot of
effectiveness when they fail to plan. Many projects are
undertaken in the church too hurriedly. Many times the
projects are good and could add to the effectiveness of the
church’s ministry, but they are so poorly planned that they
do not achieve the good that is possible. Sometimes churches
make terrible mistakes in constructing buildings that could
have been avoided with a little more time and effort spent
in planning. Some churches get into a rut, and keep doing
the same thing over and over, and time spent in planning
could make their ministry far more effective. A few churches
may spend too much time in planning, and fail to take any
action. Good planning is needed in the church world today.
Definition of Planning
Planning
is the process of deciding in advance on some future course
of action. It involves formulating goals and objectives and
then determining the steps necessary to attain them.
Planning basically has two parts: deciding where to go
(goals), and then deciding how to get there (steps).
Planning should be a continuous process. There is a danger
in thinking of planning as a step along with acting and
evaluating and not seeing it as a continuous process that
continues throughout the execution.
Planning is:
1.
Work done to predetermine a course of action
2. Writing
history before it happens
3. Making decisions prior to
the time of activity
4. Examining the past and the
present in order to improve the future
Purposes of
Planning
1. Can identify potential problems and
opportunities
2. Can improve the decision-making process
within the organization. Planning finds better ways of doing
things because it forces a church to look at alternatives
through a problem-solving process.
3. Can focus
specifically on the objectives, goals, and actions of the
organization and help to establish direction. It can help a
church decide what it is, what it should do, how it is to do
it, and when.
4. Can help the organization to adapt to
changes in the community
5. Can help the leader to keep
the organization alive and well. In order to implement a
planning system, people who will accomplish certain tasks at
specific times must be identified.
6. Can assist with
correlating all the different programs or ministries within
the church
7. Will force periodic evaluation
8. Will
require checkpoints to see that the plans are being carried
out
