Chapter 7 Supervisory Planning
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supervisor and the employee then use these agreed-upon objectives as guidelines for evaluating work
performance, both for reviewing progress and for comparing results when the time period has ended.
6. Identify the major types of standing and single-use plans and explain how these help
supervisory decision making.
There are four major types of standing (or repeat-use) plans: policies, procedures, methods, and rules.
Policies serve as guides for decisions, while procedures are guides to action. Methods are more detailed
than procedures, explaining exactly how a single operation is to be performed. Finally, rules are very
specific standing plans that must be followed without exception. All of these standing plans are helpful
in keeping supervisory action consistent and employee output predictable.
The three principal types of single-use plans are budgets, projects, and programs. Budgets are financial
plans that specify income and expenses for a fixed period of time. Programs are comprehensive single-
use plans designed to accomplish the organization's objectives, while projects are single-use plans for
accomplishing a specific nonrecurring activity.
7. Describe how the supervisor plans for efficient and effective resource use.
Planning makes the best use of human and physical resources. Supervisors must plan for the efficient
use of space and of major physical resources, such as tools, machinery, and computers. Additionally,
supervisors must ensure the security of materials, merchandise, and data in order to protect the
company’s substantial investment in them.
Supervisory planning also involves the full use of human resources. This begins with ensuring a safe
work environment for all employees. It also includes establishing expectations for overtime and
absences, developing alternative work schedules, and using part-time and temporary employees
effectively.
Supervisors must always be on the lookout for ways to improve their department’s use of time, which can
be accomplished through improved work procedures and methods. Planning for effective use of
inventory may include just-in-time inventory techniques. Gantt charts and PERT networks help
supervisors in efficiently planning and scheduling projects.
8. Cite the key advantages of quality planning.
Planning is crucial to establishing, improving, and maintaining the quality of a firm’s offerings. Planning
may be started by comparison with other firms, as is done in benchmarking; or through preventing
defects and continuously improving quality, as with total quality management; or through systematic
storage, retrieval, dissemination, and sharing of information, as with knowledge management. If a firm
hasn't planned how and when to improve product quality, inefficiency and decreases in quality may
result.
9. Recognize the importance of planning for the unthinkable (crisis management).
Every company risks crisis; supervisors must prepare for the unexpected. Crisis management planning
involves identifying the unthinkables, developing a plan for dealing with them, developing contingency
plans, forming crisis teams, and simulating crisis drills. Further, supervisors should foster an
organizational atmosphere of learning, where response time is immediate and apologies are given when