Planning Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Planning - Essay Example The supervisor I am going to write about is the person whom I used to report while working as a marketing executive in the marketing department of a company. This particular manager lacked all essential managerial skills. The most fundamental skill a manager should have is the ability to lead a team. This particular manager seriously lacked this skill. I am now going to explain all the requisite skills a good manger should have in relationship to the manger I used to work under who gravely lacked all those skills. Planning is definitely the first step in attaining an objective. It can be defined as setting goals and determining a course of action for attaining those goals. A manger must take the available resources, time and objectives into account while planning. A successful planning can not be formulated without a lucid understating of the competitive environment. Furthermore, planning also requires allocation of resources and time for implementation of the plan. This particular manager had a total lack of skill in planning. For example, the marketing department was given a yearly budget of US$ 5 million for carrying out marketing and promotional activities. It was then the responsibility of the Marketing Department to allocate the resources for electric media advertising, press advertising and so forth. But surprisingly my manager allocated an equal amount for all marketing activities. I think this way of distribution of resources really catastrophic for the company. My manager did not do any strategic or tactical planning for the set goals. The manager also did not formulate any contingency plan. At the end of the year, the sale of the company fell off by 12% even though the sale of the particular industry increased by 20%. This result did not come to me as a surprise as it is exactly what I could foresee when my manager "planned" the company's marketing activities at the beginning of the year. In think, planning is done so that a goal can be attained effectively using the least amount of available resources. An ideal manager would have certainly considered the objectives the company wanted to acquire. He then would have allocated resources for the gaols accordingly. But setting a realistic goal and rational allocation of resources can never ensure success. Constant monitoring of activities has to be conducted. Assessment of the actions should also be done from ti me to time. Organizing calls for development of a structure of the company matching the objectives of an organization. A manger also has to place personnel so that the objectives of the organization can be successfully achieved while organizing. The right person has to be in the right place. A good manager knows about the strengths and shortcomings of his subordinates. A visionary manager knows who is good at what and then places his subordinates accordingly considering his strength. But deplorably my manager proved himself as awful in organizing as in planning. My manger obviously lacked people skill. Neither did my manager know how to communicate his ideas to others nor was he interested to listen to what others might have to say. Free flow of information sharing is a must for success. Not surprisingly, my manager failed to place the tight person in the right place. Consequently, there always was a credibility gap between the manager and other staffs. Leadership can and does make a meaningful in every aspect of a company.