Question

What are the six planning tools and techniques? Using an example from your experience (as a student or at work), describe how you could use one of the techniques or tools to improve planning in your future. You may choose to apply your response to a specific goal in answering this question.

Answer 1

The six planning tools are:

Forecasting - This tool is used to predict a future event and plan for the event. It might involve meeting future challenges or taking advantage of future opportunities.

Contingency planning - This plan is formed to take action if the forecasted events don't happen in the way they were envisaged.

Goal-setting - in this tool, a fixed goal is set which helps in motivating people to work towards the achievement of the goal.

Participatory planning - In this planning, a group of people is formed into a participatory group to facilitate development through strategic processes.

Benchmarking - In this plan, the performance has to be measured by preset benchmarks or standards set up by other companies or the norms in the industry.

Scenarios planning - As the name suggests, this planning pool requires assuming a future scenario and planning for it.

As a student, I would use the benchmarking tool to plan and achieve best scores in my studies. I would look at the scores of the bright students and how they attained them. I will take inspiration from their methods and plan my schedule so that I can attain the same results.