Getting Ready For Work Planning
How Work Plans at Different Levels Fit Together
How to ...
Start the work planning process
Developing and Using Work Plans | ||
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What is a work plan? |
Work planning is one of the most interesting and challenging tasks carried out
in order to develop and implement programs. A work plan is a document
developed by the manager and staff, which lists all planned activities, the
date on which they will occur or by which they will be accomplished, the
resources they will require, and the person who is responsible for carrying
them out. Such a document is a valuable tool for efficient and effective
program implementation and should be used regularly and consistently as a
monitoring tool at all levels.
The previous chapter looked at long-range planning (also called strategic planning) using a time frame of approximately five years. Work plans (also known as operational plans) are distinguished from long range plans in that they focus on specific activities which will be carried out over a much shorter time period (anywhere from a week to a year). Work plans are occasionally revised to reflect changes that have occurred during the implementation of the planned activities. The shorter time frame and greater focus on activities are two of the more important differences between long-range plans and work plans.
If your program or organization does not conduct formal longs-range planning, or if you haven't already established overall program goals, strategies and objectives, it is essential that you do this before proceeding to work planning. Such long-range planning should define where you want to be in the future as well as describe the methods you will use to get there. Some organizations or programs also develop objectives during the long-range planning process; others set objectives during the planning process. Whatever the case, overall objectives must be determined before developing work plans.
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Work planning begins with the program's objectives |
Whether your program objectives have been developed during your strategic
planning or long-term planning process or at some other time, these program
objectives are your starting point for the work planning process. The people
involved in the work planning process will determine the activities that must
be carried out in order to achieve the objectives. Ideally, an organization or
a program should develop not only an overall annual work plan, but also
individual service delivery site work plans or employee work plans, which can
be revised monthly or weekly.
To get the greatest benefit from work plans and the work planning process, you need to understand:
Getting Ready For Work Planning |
Work planning occurs at all levels |
Work planning is a process that occurs at many levels in a program or
organization. Writing a work plan allows the manager and the staff involved to
plan the specific activities, to determine the resources that will be required
to carry out these activities, and to prepare a budget for them. During the
work planning process, the manager will identify specific activities that will
be carried out at different functional levels (regional, clinic, community,
village) over a specific period of time, such as the upcoming year, quarter,
month, or week. The resulting work plan will state the objectives and the
corresponding activities to be carried out, the chronological sequence of the
activities, as well as who will do them and what resources will be required.
These activities , when carried out, will allow the program to achieve its
objectives. The budget covering the cost of these activities should be
compared with the available funds, and the work plan should be modified if the
activities are too costly.
Work plans can be used to plan annual activities for an entire organization or for a special project to which a manager is assigned, to schedule a set of activities that needs to be carried out over a specific period of time, and even to organize a manager's own weekly activities.
The annual work plan should include and justify yearly operating budgets, whereas shorter-term work plans are used primarily for scheduling purposes and do not include separate budgets. Therefore, one organization can and should have many individual work plans which feed into an overall institutional plan.
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Questions answered by the workplan |
Whether you are developing an annual work plan, a work plan for a particular
CBD site or clinic, or a work plan for a staff member in one of these
locations, the process is the same. You will need to think through the details
of the activities that need to be carried out in order to achieve your program
objectives. To accomplish this, it may be helpful to consider these
questions:
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Analyzing and discussing the activities |
Staff at all levels of an organization or program should have work plans.
However, the process of work planning (how the work is planned and who is
involved in this planning process) is just as important as the final plan.
Work planning provides an opportunity for the people who will be doing the work
to participate in the planning process, and it gives everyone the opportunity
to ask questions. These questions may concern program priorities, the
allocation of staff time, the appropriateness of individual and program
targets, internal coordination issues (such as having a vehicle available when
it is needed, or planning for supervisory visits to occur at the same time as
contraceptive re-supply), and coordination opportunities with other
organizations.
Such analysis and discussion are essential for successful work planning because they allow program staff to understand why the activities are necessary and to determine the best way to carry out these activities. As a result, the staff will develop tighter, more logical, rational work plans. All too often work plans are handed down from the top or are developed hastily and are not based on careful analysis of the available information. As a result, they may not be realistic or useful and will quickly become relegated to a shelf or bottom drawer.
The outcome of this process is a plan of activities and tasks, and a time schedule for their completion, which have been developed and agreed upon by those who will conduct the work. The collective result of work planning for all levels of the program or organization is a set of work plans that will define clearly what the staff will do in order to achieve the overall program objectives. |
Work plans adjust to changing circumstances |
Work planning in itself, however, is a never-ending activity because work plans are affected by inevitable delays and changing circumstances in the internal and external environment of the program or organization. Consequently, effective managers regard work plans as tools rather than as final documents and are willing to make adjustments to their work plans whenever necessary. Work plans need to be reviewed regularly in order to ensure their relevance. |
Work plans can be used to monitor progress |
Good work plans are flexible, as is the process of developing them. They need
to be able to accommodate the many factors within and without the program that
affects how successfully the activities are carried out. Work plans allow you
to compare what you planned to do with what you actually did, to examine the
reasons for the difference, to see whether the activity actually brought about
the desired result, and to decide what changes should be made to the work plan
as a result. In this way, you and your staff should use work plans to monitor
your progress each month. Managers and staff who take an approach to planning
that encourages questions and analysis, and who recognize that work plans will
be revised constantly, will be regarded when the plans are put into action.
How Work Plans at Different Levels Fit Together
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Work plans should fit together |
Because work plans are developed from stated program objectives, the work plans
at different levels should fit together. As each manager will have a different
approach to work plans, the format of the work plans and the way they are
developed and used will vary. Work plans are a management tool; using them
should provide structure for staff without restricting flexibility and
creativity.
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Work plans require a team effort |
To identify the staff who should be involved in developing work plans, ask
yourself who is going to implement the activities. As a general rule, it is a
good practice to include staff members in the planning and scheduling of the
activities that will be a part of their work. Staff who contribute to writing
the work plan are more likely to be committed to implementing it than staff who
simply receive work plans that were developed by their supervisors. Having
participated in its development, they feel a sense of ownership toward the
final plan and as a result will take on more responsibility and be more
enthusiastic in carrying out their work.
Work planning can provide numerous benefits, such as:
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Work planning benefits all levels of a program or organization |
Work planning requires a thoughtful and careful review of planned activities
and benefits people at all levels of the program or organization. Through work
planning, your program or organization will greatly enhance its ability to
calculate, allocate, and prioritize project resources and achieve its
objectives. Work planning can help you to determine whether your program or
organizational objectives, and the time frame for achieving them, are realistic
by analyzing exactly how and when all the necessary tasks will be completed.
The process helps staff to organize their work and use their time
efficiently.
Managers should set aside time with their staff to develop work plans in order to ensure that all necessary tasks are included and that important activities are not overlooked. Managers should also be prepared to revise work plans if it becomes clear that the work has been misallocated, or if the internal or external factors affecting the program or organization change.
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Using work plans to monitor your program |
Work plans are closely tied to other aspects of program implementation, such as monitoring and evaluation. Using the work plan to monitor and evaluate activities will prevent the implementation of activities that are not related to program objectives. By determining which activities in the work plan are most important, the manager knows which are a higher priority to monitor. The work plan specifies when monitoring will occur and at which location, thus helping the manager to check periodically on progress made. Monitoring visits may also reveal changes in available resources and targets, making it necessary to revise the work plan. After each monitoring visit, you as the manager should discuss with your staff whether the work plan needs to be modified. As you do this, check to see whether:
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Using work plans to evaluate your program |
A program evaluation is usually conducted every one or two years, at the end of
the operating year. The purpose of evaluation is to determine whether the
program has achieved its desired results and whether the specific activities of
the program have contributed to this achievement. Evaluation should also
assess whether resources have been used as efficiently and effectively as
possible. Without a work plan, these questions are difficult to answer. With
a work plan that has been revised and updated regularly, you and your staff can
systematically assess how the activities, personnel, and resources have
influenced results. The objectives you set forth in your long-range plan serve
as a general guide for measuring the impact of your program or organization;
the work plan shows the specific criteria for analyzing whether your program or
organization has accomplished what it set out to do.
In this way, the planning process and the evaluation process are linked from the beginning and provide feedback that managers at every level will find valuable for future planning. Because the evaluation process is tied to the work plan, it will be easier to evaluate both the effectiveness (how great the actual impact has been on the target population, compared with the impact that was planned) and the efficiency (whether the best use of resources was achieved) of the program. Furthermore, the work plan will help in analyzing whether the actual impact can be attributed to the activities of this program or to other factors, as well as which types of activities were most effective. |
Telephone: (617) 524-7799
Fax: (617) 524-2825
E-mail: erc@msh.org
