Process planning identifies goals and stages of a process, providing an outline for a viable process within a larger project. Defining objectives and general steps is key, with a clear distinction between planning and management to avoid complicating matters.
Process planning is a key step in the larger effort known as process management. The idea behind this type of planning is to identify the overall goals associated with the process and develop a broad concept of the stages involved in that process. From this perspective, planning of this type helps to provide an outline for the process under consideration which can then be enriched with detail and used to create a viable process within a larger project. In order to keep planning on target, it is important to identify the goals of the process, consider the general steps that would achieve those goals, and then organize those steps into a logical sequence.
Before progress can be made in planning the process, it is essential to identify the desired outcome of that process. Setting goals for the process provides the basic framework for understanding how the process must function to achieve those goals. As part of the process, considering the issues of not just what it should do but why that process should lead to a specific outcome will help establish a clear agenda for moving forward.
Once the objectives have been achieved, process planning can move on to defining the general steps involved in that process. At this juncture, there is no attempt to pin down the details of each of these steps. The idea is to develop a general idea of how to achieve your desired goals, then organize those big steps into a logical and workable sequence. Make sure to keep the steps as short as possible to avoid complicating the process.
In some cases, the temptation to blur the lines between process planning and process management can be very strong. Typically, it’s a good idea to make a clear distinction between the two, focusing on planning as a way to create a general approach that can later be fleshed out with specifics. This helps provide a solid foundation that you can refer to when evaluating how best to handle passing. In addition, the framework developed as part of process planning can make it easier to keep goals in mind when setting out the details of how to handle each step, a feature that will often prevent sidetracking into secondary issues that might unnecessarily complicate matters.
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