Reflection Paper - Essay Example

All of these skills are involved in planning and implementing change. The first place that organizations must start in their planning process is the business plan. For some small businesses, this plan can be the most difficult to write, but once written, it will steer the organization for many years. As the business plan is written, a marketing plan and a strategic plan are other parts of the planning process. Each of these plans will need to be updated as the organization changes and grows. The very nature of planning suggests that change must happen Many organizations have had challenges with planning for many reasons.

Some organizations are so involved with the day to day operations that they feel they have no time to plan. Others do not plan because they know it means change and they are afraid of what change may bring to their organizations. Some organizations know they should plan, but they do not understand what is involved in the planning process. These businesses may fail if they do not plan on a regular basis. An important aspect of planning is to define it so that each individual in an organization understands what they are doing.

According to the Business Dictionary (2009), planning is: [The] process of identifying an organizations immediate and long-term objectives and formulating and monitoring specific strategies to achieve them. It also entails staffing and resource allocation … Planning models are plentiful in the filed of leadership and organizational development. For the purpose of this reflection, two strategic planning models have been chosen for review. Every organization chooses a planning model that fits their needs.

Most of these models have several components. As an example, Van der Werffs (1998) model has three phases: The SWOT model is a well known planning model that is used by many organizations. In this model, the organization