by Maryam Hussain
What is a Plan?
A plan is a document that aims to
produce a workable schedule that will achieve project goals and serve as a
standard against which actual progress can be measured.
A plan defines:
1. What should be done (Objectives & activities)
2. How should activities be performed (methods)
3. Who should perform each activity and with what means
(resources)
Objectives can be act of
minimizing the time to complete all activities, these can be act of minimizing
the number of activities that are completed after the committed due dates, and
so on.
Activities may be working
of craftsman in a workshop, departures and arrivals of trains on a platform,
stages in a construction project, or assembling the parts to build a computer.
Methods may be the
operating procedures; although detailed procedures are not within the scope of
a plan and, rather, title, code & revision of applicable procedures are
documented in the plan.
Resources may be machines
in a workshop, runways at an airport, crews at a construction site, or
processing units in a computing environment.
Each activity may have a priority
level, the earliest possible starting time, and/or due date. But, unlike a
schedule, the activities of a plan are free of time intervals and sequences.
What is a Schedule?
A schedule is the documented
timetable for a plan. It shows how planned activities and milestones are to
be carried out over a period of time.
A schedule is a physical document for
communicating the plan, especially in terms of timing, and sequence. A schedule
is meant for the starting and finish times of each task and the assignment of
resources to each task of the given set. A good schedule must enable the unproductive
time of both labor and machines to be minimized.
We have to schedule our
activities so that jobs could be accomplished within the available time. For
example, time to get up, time to work, time to play, time to sleep, and so on.
Time was, and still is, a limiting resource, and we need to schedule our
activities, consciously or unconsciously, to utilize this limited resource in
an optimum manner.
Example of scheduling a
maintenance work plan:
First of all, requests to work
are initiated. Then, a planner plans the work order by specifying the job
scope, craft and skill level, and time estimate, as well as specifying
anticipated parts and tools. The planner does not necessarily specify a
detailed procedure, but he should mention its title & code & latest Revision.
In actual practice, scheduling control contributes more to managing
productivity than parts and tool delays in and of themselves.
Scheduling is the science of
juggling with simple mathematical expressions and logic gates to predict when
and where work is to be carried out in an efficient and time-effective
sequence.
What are Planning & Scheduling preferences?
It is important to look at how
and when planning and scheduling tasks are undertaken. The allocation of tasks
of planning and scheduling should not be exercised at the same instant of
time. Planning should precede scheduling. Scheduling should never precede
planning. It is a bad practice to plan whilst scheduling. It is also a bad
practice to schedule whilst planning.
Planning and scheduling,
therefore, require time following, organization of subjects, and discipline.
On larger projects, planning and scheduling are employed to be separate tasks
undertaken by different people or group of people, and there it is easier to
differentiate between the two tasks.
What is a task?
A task is a single item in a step-by-step procedure.
What is a priority?
Priority is the relative
importance of a single job in relation to other jobs, operational needs,
safety, equipment condition, etc., and the time frame necessary in which the
job should be done.
Priority is set primarily for
planned work. After the work is planned, it can be scheduled. For example,
fixing a dropwise kerosene leak from a process heat exchanger has higher
priority w.r.t fixation of water jet leakage, spilling on the floor and routed
properly from a utility water-water heat exchanger.
What is a Policy?
A Policy is an accepted set of
rules or ideas, by the officials of an organization or enterprise. A policy
is a document that is typically created by directly related experts and is
fully supported by top management. It should state the objectives & goals,
the level of acceptability to the organization, and the key responsibility of
the organization’s members for executing the policy and ensuring goals &
objectives. A Policy is a general guide for decision-making and individual
actions.
It is the responsibility of the
senior management of the company to form a policy team made up of managers who
have a stake in the turnaround and the ability to make decisions.
A policy should be easily
understandable and implementable to a fully defined plan, schedule, and
procedure. A policy is based on an organization’s program for a specific area.
There may be one or several
policies to meet defined objectives in the program. For example, inventory
policy, spare inventory policy, purchase policy, safety. health. environment
policy etc.
An example of a simple acid inventory policy would
be, “a maximum storage of forty thousand tons of 98 % (w/w) sulphuric acid will
be maintained at site & replenishment will be at twenty thousand tons”.
What are regulations?
Regulations are rules that are
concerned with methods of activity or performance. Both rules and regulations
are derived from the broader policies of the organization.
What is a procedure?
A procedure is a series of steps
followed in a regular definite order in which activities or tasks are to be
carried out. A Procedure is a detailed method for carrying out a policy.
What is the Vision statement
for an organization?
A vision statement is a brief,
but concise, explanation of where you are directed & your future state.
It formulates a picture of what our organization’s future will be and where the
organization is headed; What will our organization look like in 5 to 10 years
from now? It delineates what kind of enterprise the company is trying to
become. A vision statement can be as far as 100 years or as short as five
years. It is a short, concise statement of your organization’s future state.
A great software company’s vision statement: A
computer on every desk and in every home using great software as an empowering
tool.
What is the mission statement of an organization?
A mission is an important task or
job that someone is given to do. For example; “Our mission is to look after
orphans”. In context to strive to achieve the goals and objectives, a
mission statement provides the organization’s core purpose.
The mission describes your
organization’s purpose; the purpose for which you were employed and why you
exist. Some mission statements include the business of the organization. Others
explain what products or services they produce or which customers they serve.
An IT company’s mission
statement: To organize the world’s information and make it universally
accessible and useful.
What is a strategy?
A strategy is the skill of making
plans to achieve a goal.
The document of a strategy has
the following characteristics:
It presents long-term guidelines
It is relevant for the company as
a whole.
It is determined by the
management
It should guarantee the permanent
accomplishment of the company's overriding goals and objectives & should
provide a long-term competitive advantage over all competitors.
It is intended to ensure
coordination in a situation where a number of managers are acting at different
places and times.
What is strategic planning?
By performing strategic planning, we execute a systematic process that defines the way to guarantee the permanent accomplishment of the company's overriding goals and objectives or strategies.
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