A teacher has a lesson plan. An architect, a floor plan. An engineer, a project plan. A pilot, a flight plan. An entrepreneur, a business plan. Even a PR man makes a media plan.

It pays to plan. It is the single most important element in any activity or endeavor, big and small–made prior to all other tasks.  As a plan is geared toward achieving a specific goal or outcome, it serves as a a guidepost where you go back from time to time to see whether you are on track or whether you need to make some adjustments.

Oftentimes, it is diffcult to adhere to a plan because as you go along doing the elemental tasks contained therein, realities set in. This is the reason why there should be contingency plans on top of a primary plan. When Plan A is not doable, a Plan B comes to the rescue.

Plans are meant to start with the end in view.  The end result should dictate what steps to take to arrive at it. Plans are meant to have elemental tasks in chronological order. Step 1 precludes all other steps in the process.

Plans are meant to be written down. It is difficult enough to do tasks that run to the hundreds; what more if a plan is imagined or somewhere flying about in the air?

Plans are not meant to be rigid. They should be made in such a way that it can cushion any eventuality. Planners should therefore have a certain degree of flexibility for them to be able to adjust accordingly.

Plans are meant to be reviewed even after a project is finished. An after-the-fact evaluation is key to drafting more realistic plans in the future.

Photo originally uploaded by www.umm.main.edu.