1.1 Planning as a Process of Continuous Improvement
1.2 At the End of a Process that Never ends: What are the Results of Planning?
1.3 Planning Cycle Stages: How it should work
Forestry planning could be organized by administrative levels, geographical units, and functional purposes (see Box 2). In this publication, the term "sector planning" is minimized. This is because much previous planning in relation to forests has failed to cross sectoral boundaries. Instead, the term "strategic planning" is preferred where a strategy is a careful plan or method to achieve defined goals.
In recent years, management consultants have worked hard to give planning an action orientation. Planning aims for "total quality management," also expressed as "continuous improvement." In relation to forest use and conservation, planning is: a continuous process of decisions and actions about alternative ways of using and conserving trees and forests, with the intent of achieving particular goals in the medium and long term. Planning is only as good as the number of constructive actions that come from it. It is not an end in itself. Rather, it has to be an instrument of policy and management. Even under the best of circumstances, planning may result in goals that are poorly selected, and strategies that fail. But if the experience produces a kind of learning, then planning becomes more "intelligent" as it learns from past mistakes. For most organizations, this is the most challenging part!
The planning cycle consists of seven stages (Box 3). In this planning cycle, success consists of small positive accomplishments that reinforce each other through the years. Or as shown at the bottom of Box 3, progress expands outward in the form of a spiral.
The process appears simple, but this can be deceptive. An organisation needs capable management in order to (1) know when and how to organize and supervise the planning, (2) adapt planning to be appropriate for a country's unique circumstances, and (3) learn from planning's successes and failures. The whole of the process relies on management, creativity, and cooperation. Any of these can be limiting. But for each constraint, the response is the same: to work for continuous improvement.
Strategic planning in relation to forests has the following characteristics:
· It is a means to visualize actions to increase the social, cultural, economic, and environmental benefits from trees and forests;· It has a strong management orientation, since a strategy should state specific goals, specific activities, and specific people;
· It is much more than a short-term operational plan, since a strategy begins by reviewing missions and goals;
· It is much more than a set of projects, although projects can be one type of instrument for achieving certain goals;
· It often leads to questions about institutional capacity (and how to increase it); and
· It is an iterative process of testing, evaluating, and learning from some actions that succeed and others that fail.
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Box 2. Planning in Relation to Forests Is of Several Types.... | |
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National Development Planning |
Development plans set economic and social targets in relation to population growth, economic production, savings and investment, income distribution, and other macroeconomic measures. National development planning determines the budgets for sectors, agencies, and programs (e.g., in forestry). |
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Regional and Area Planning |
When it works well, planning in regions and local areas is coordinated with national development planning. In forestry, regional and area planning are important because of the way forests are separated by gradients of climate, watersheds, transportation infrastructure, and other biophysical aspects. |
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Sector Planning |
The forestry sector refers to linkages among the owners, managers, and users of trees and forests. Sectoral planning considers the different ways these owners, managers, and users will gain and lose because of alternative options for forest use and conservation. |
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Land-Use Planning |
Land-use planning occurs at different levels and scales, from continental to local. It indicates the advantages and disadvantages of a specific use on a particular unit of land according to physical, economic, and social criteria. |
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Project Planning |
Projects attempt to combine resources to achieve results in an efficient manner. Usually, projects are defined by well-specified objectives, budgets, time frames, and beneficiaries. In top-down planning, projects support goals at sectoral, regional, and national levels. In bottom-up planning, projects are specified prior to being considered for plans at sectoral, regional, and national levels. |
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Forest Management Planning |
Management planning chooses among production and conservation options for specific forests. The "manager" is a person or an entire organization, depending on the context. |
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Forest Enterprise Planning |
Enterprise planning refers to business operations (not always for profit) that use one or more forest goods and services. Enterprises are owned and managed by governments, communities, private companies, and individuals. Enterprise planning focuses on resource supply, production technology, and product marketing. |
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Box 3. The Cycle of Continuous Improvement 1. Define missions and roles. What is the mission of the forestry agency and of other groups (governmental and non-governmental) in protecting and managing forests? Planning begins by clarifying these purposes for one's group in relation to others. 2. Select improvement goals. Goals state what the agency will do to carry out its mission. Because the agency is searching for improvements, goals should aim for a higher level of accomplishment ("national good") than previously. 3 Set objectives. Objectives are the details about expected accomplishments. What type of results does the agency want, and in what quantity? 4 Select action strategies. Strategies are the operational means to achieve the improvement goals. Strategies are specific actions. 5 Negotiate major issues. To carry out its strategies, the agency needs cooperation from people within and external to it. Most of this cooperation has to be resolved in early stages of the planning. But for remaining issues, what are the points to be negotiated, and with whom? 6. Implement the strategies. Specific people perform specific actions as part of specific strategies. Implementation succeeds or fails in relation to communications, empowerment, supporting resources, and reward systems. 7. Evaluate results, make adjustments, and repeat the process. Are the strategies of the agency working? Are its objectives being met? The agency cannot know this without checking and evaluation. When there are failures, who is responsible for adjusting missions, goals, objectives, and strategies? |
Strategic planning never truly ends, but there are milestones along the way to mark the progress. The results of planning can be the following:
1. Bottom-up and top-down communications that help integrate the different units within an agency. In this way, planning contributes to team building and a sense of shared purpose. But when these communications are poorly managed, they create resentment and frustrations.2. Partnerships between the forestry agency, other agencies, and interest groups. For this to be effective, the forestry agency must genuinely want and respect the ideas it receives from persons not employed there. Just as importantly, the forestry agency cannot leave out any key groups - since that creates more problems than it solves. The risks of badly managing outside participation may partly explain the past reluctance of many forestry agencies to invite it.
3. A vision of the future and a path to get there. To plan is to create a shared vision of the future. Worksheet 2 presents a checklist of elements found in a good strategic plan for forest use and conservation, although the format may be different between organisations.
The rest of this chapter examines each planning stage to provide more explanation on how it should work.
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Planning Cycle - Stage 1 |
Each forestry agency has functional, geographical, and legal responsibilities that are different from every other organization. The mission - the broad general purposes for which an organization exists - of forestry agencies in relation to other organizations - both public and private-are changing dramatically. The starting point is to focus on the agency's mission in relation to the missions of all other groups whose actions affect forest use and conservation. Almost everywhere, this list of groups is longer every year.
Most readers of this publication are familiar with the almost continuous restructuring of agencies responsible for forests, watershed management, protected areas, wildlife, coastal zones, soils, and other natural resources. In numerous countries, forestry is moving from agricultural ministries to new organizations for environment and sustainable development. It is also quite common to find new units for agroforestry and community forestry. Some forestry agencies are removing themselves from wood processing and marketing. Others are privatizing their tree nurseries. For functional areas such as community forestry and protected areas, a number of NGOs now play a very prominent role. These many re-organizations are one of the reasons that planning environments can be chaotic.
The planning environment is even more complex due to an inflow of new ideas, influence, and power affecting forest use and conservation. Some people refer to this as a "paradigm shift." This refers to the increasing number of people who oppose tree cutting, and who value forests primarily for preservation benefits.
Although these ideologies originate in the industrialized countries, they are by now increasingly attractive to opinion leaders in the developing countries. This is a relatively new presence that now challenges forestry agencies on matters of authority and competence in forest concessions, reforestation programs, and other traditional roles. In the face of these challenges, the mission of government agencies for forests is increasingly difficult to define. Perhaps it is broader than before? Perhaps it is narrower? For certain, it is changing.
For this reason, it is very important for strategic planning to begin by asking: (1) What does the agency do? (2) How is this changing, and how should it be changing? (3) How does this affect where and how the agency should use its influence and resources? In essence, the agency is trying to avoid the following frustrations:
· Important functions for watersheds, coastal zones, etc., are neglected because there is no accountability for them. Each agency (or department) assumes that "somebody else" is responsible.· In a functional or geographical area, the agency is doing the same type of work as another organization, but with conflicts or duplicated efforts.
· In policy and program development, the organization is slow to act upon the directives coming from top levels.
· In a geographic area, the missions of other organizations (e.g., for agriculture, minerals, roads, land reform, etc.) interfere with the agency's role to protect and manage forests.
· Different agencies, NGOs, and interest groups misunderstand each other. Even worse, many do not talk with each other.
These problems are widespread. Hundreds of management consultants agree that there is no easy way to solve them. But for planning, the agency must attempt to define a clear and concise statement of its mission in relation to other missions (Box 4). If this is done well at the national level, it can provide the basis for missions at subordinate levels (e.g., for regions, provinces, and districts).
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Box 4. What an Agency Should Expect in a Good Mission Statement A good mission statement should........ · cover all of its organization's functional, geographical, and service commitments; |
Discussions about missions can be long and seemingly endless. This is a situation to be avoided. Management experts make the following recommendations:
1. Convene workshops or meetings in a neutral place, and use the services of a preferably neutral person (someone outside the organization) to facilitate group discussion about roles and mission. Invite leaders from organizations (public and private) that have the greatest interest and most questions about the mission of the agency.2. Start by having everyone individually answer Worksheet 3. Then initiate group discussions about these questions. This has to be handled carefully. Each special interest, and each unit of the agency, will interpret the mission in a different way.
3. Based on these discussions, write a draft of a new or revised mission statement. This can be the responsibility of a small team. Do not be overly constrained by laws, regulations, and other legislation. In most agencies, many important roles are not written in laws and documents. Moreover, the agency is aiming to produce a statement of what its mission should be. This is the improvement you seek.
4. Circulate the draft to the invited leaders, as well as across and down the agency. Ask for comments, and revise the draft accordingly. When properly managed, this can be a powerful means of communication and team building.
Box 5 presents a sample mission statement for the fictional XYZ Forestry Department. The mission statement cannot be a "dead document," but on the contrary should motivate the work of the whole agency. In countries where it is appropriate, different regional and functional offices should write their own mission statements that start from the national model - modifying it to reflect the special circumstances of that region or office. At all levels, a clear statement of the mission is highly important for defining improvement goals, as follows.
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Box 5. Example of a Mission Statement for a Forestry Agency The XYZ Forestry Department contributes to the protection, utilization, and management of the nation's trees and forests in ways that are socially, environmentally, and economically sustainable by: 1. Continuously assessing areas, conditions, and trends in tree and forest cover, and making the information widely available. 2. Protecting public forestlands from encroachments, fires, insects, diseases, and other threats to the healthy condition of trees, forests, and associated natural resources. 3. Maintaining a system of natural areas protected from harvesting and other intensive uses in order to promote ecosystem preservation, environmental services, and scientific research. 4. Providing harvesting and other utilization rights to individuals, communities, and commercial enterprises in selected zones of public forests, and insuring that harvesting is sustainable. 5. Assessing and efficiently collecting a fair revenue for government from the individuals, communities, and enterprises which utilize products and services of the public forests. 6. Providing low-cost and efficient extension services in relation to trees, forests, and associated resources for farmers, communities, and private businesses. 7. Providing policy analysis on forest-related issues to the highest level of national authority and decisionmaking. 8. Interacting cooperatively with international assistance agencies, donor groups, and NGOs in the programming of external aid for forest protection and management. Interacting cooperatively with authorities in public and private organizations on matters of shared concern relative to trees and forests in national defense, agricultural and pastoral development, water and power supply, public health, infrastructural development, and cultural and educational affairs. |
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Planning Cycle - Stage 2 |
Goals are statements of what your organization intends to do in order to carry out its mission. But unlike missions, which are indefinite and continuing, goals can be accomplished. At any point in time, an organization's goals should determine its main activities.
The agency's search for continuous improvement is driven by the following question: In what main functions must the agency perform well in order to succeed? This question can be asked for each element of a mission statement. This will identify the key factors affecting the agency's performance.
Box 6 illustrates improvement goals for a mission element of the XYZ Forestry Department. An agency should define its own improvement goals with the help of Worksheet 4. Worksheet 5 is a supplementary framework to bring out institutional issues that cut across many different parts of a mission. Strategic planning cannot go far without attention to institution building. The combined use of these two frameworks should produce many improvement goals to be compared, sorted, and given priorities.
In view of past problems, many forestry agencies will do well to pursue socially-oriented improvement goals. It is perfectly acceptable to state qualitative goals such as "to improve the Department's relationships with indigenous communities." Other acceptable goals are "to employ more women in professional and technical positions," and so on. Many such goals are not forestry goals per se, but they may be social goals for the country as a whole. Therefore, the agency should include them.
Many people find it difficult to specify the factors that determine their performance. Their answers may be too general, such as "the agency's budget is too small." And technical staff often leave out social goals. By convening workshops and providing assistance, an agency may be able to raise the quality of how people state their improvement goals.
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Box 6. Example of Improvement Goals to Support a Mission Element | ||
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Mission Element |
Improvements Goals |
Factors for Success |
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"Providing harvesting and other utilization rights to individuals, communities, and commercial enterprises in selected zones of public forests, and insuring that harvesting is sustainable." (see fourth mission element in Box 5) |
To increase field monitoring where harvesting takes place |
Understanding where, when, and how harvesting is occurring. |
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To work with Dept. of Land Reform to improve where and how concessions are granted. |
Resolving conflicting tenure claims. |
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To grant more forest concessions to regional and local interests, especially in South Region. |
Revised criteria for granting concessions. |
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To refine and expand the method of selling timber by competitive pricing. |
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To obtain more support for the Department's programs from indigenous leaders in South Region. |
Improved relations with indigenous communities. |
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To apply and evaluate positive incentives for good logging. |
Effective sanctions and incentives for appropriate harvesting methods. |
Sometimes, a forestry agency can have so many improvement goals that they become meaningless. Any single goal is lost in the middle of others, and it is impossible to monitor all of them. Almost always, there are more improvement goals than can be implemented at one time. For obvious reasons, the effort to consolidate and prioritize goals has to be a careful exercise in diplomacy.
Worksheet 6 classifies improvement goals by three levels of priority. Also, an agency can employ methods in Chapter 3 to show how proposed goals relate to each other, to national priorities, and to feasibility factors. The mix of goals should:
· respond to the highest level of national priorities;
· complement and reinforce each other; and
· be within the capacity of the agency to supervise, monitor, and evaluate.
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Planning Cycle - Stage 3 |
Objectives (see Box 3) state specific results to be achieved. For an improvement goal, an objective should be clear about: what, who, when, and how much.
Objectives rely on indicators to quantify how much. For technical goals, this normally does not present a problem. But for intangible and institutional goals, the desired improvements may be difficult to measure.
The higher is the administrative level, the more challenging it can be to quantify the objectives (e.g., objectives to improve communications and public relations). But the planning is no less rigorous even though an agency cannot quantify everything in it. Rather, the agency states its objectives in terms that are indirect and qualitative.
In setting its objectives, the agency needs to know where it is now! That one simple truth can cause enormous frustrations. The frustrations are constructive if they lead to an honest search for information. They are not constructive if they make planners invent "creative" numbers that have no basis in reality. But if the search for baseline data is diligent and earnest, everyone will learn an enormous amount about current operations.
Worksheet 7 provides suggestions on how to write objectives, and Box 7 shows examples. For strategic planning that looks ahead many years, do not invest too much time trying to make the objectives precise. The agency is aiming for a reasonable approximation.
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Planning Cycle - Stage 4 |
Strategies indicate how objectives will be achieved. For any objective, what obstacles stand in its way? And what positive factors increase the chances that it can be achieved? These are excellent questions for group discussion, such as through the techniques of brainstorming and force-field analysis (see Chapter 3). Each strategy group should invite wide participation from outside the agency in order to enlarge the range of ideas. The various ideas are screened, grouped, and studied for administrative and budget feasibility. The actions for each objective:
· follow a logical sequence;
· are placed in a time schedule;
· specify resources (e.g. budget) to accomplish them; and
· are assigned to individuals who are accountable for carrying them out.
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Box 7. Examples of Objectives in Support of Improvement Goals | ||
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Improvement Goals (examples from Box 6) |
Performance Indicators |
Objectives |
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To increase field monitoring where harvesting takes place |
No. of forest concessions regularly inspected for harvesting impacts |
To increase monitoring from present 30% of concessions to target of 80% by end of year 2002. Responsible: Chief of Forest Utilization Section, XYZ For. Dept. |
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To grant more forest concessions to regional and local interests, especially in South Region |
Share of forest concessions (by area) in hands of companies and individuals who live in South Region |
To increase this share from current 18% to target of > 40% by end of year 2002. Responsible: Executive Director, XYZ For. Dept. |
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To obtain more support for the Department's programs from indigenous leaders in South Region |
No. of "positive" exchanges between Department and indigenous groups in South Region |
To increase the "positive" exchanges from current < 50% to target of > 90% by end of 1999. Responsibility: Regional Coordinator for South Region |
Planning often fails at this stage of proposing action ideas. For example, the agency usually makes a mistake when it proposes actions "for" somebody who does not actually participate in the planning. Secondly, action ideas may suffer due to unrealistic cost estimates. Often this is because of too little attention in the office to budget and financial management.
Box 8 illustrates actions to accomplish objectives (and see Worksheet 8). The action statements should be prepared by the persons directly responsible for the objectives. Note, too, that not all actions have to be written on paper, especially if they do not need approval at higher levels.
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Planning Cycle - Stage 5 |
If the planning is done well, many disagreements will have been resolved by this stage. Ideas are moving laterally as well as up and down when people discuss mission, goals, objectives, and actions. Obviously, the quality of this discussion varies with:
· the amount of careful preparation to support the planning;
· the diversity, knowledge, and creativity of the people who participate in the planning;
· the level of genuine interest in making the planning succeed; and
· the managerial skill to coordinate the planning.
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Box 8. Examples of Actions in Support of an Objective | ||
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Objective: "To increase monitoring from present 30% of concessions to target of 80% by end of year 2002." Responsible: Chief of Forest Utilization Section, XYZ For. Dept. (from Box 7) | ||
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Actions |
Responsibility |
Time Frame |
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Make at least one visit to every forest concession to review harvesting practices |
Self (Chief, Utilization Section, XYZ Forestry Dept.), with staff assistance |
By December 1998 |
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Select, hire, and train 7 staff members for harvesting inspection teams |
Self in collaboration with Training Director, Technical Services Division |
1st group - June 1999 |
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Obtain transportation and operational budget for inspection teams (vehicles, fuel, travel allowances) |
Self in collaboration with Budget Director, Central Office |
By June 1999 |
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Evaluate effectiveness of inspection teams |
Self in collaboration with Training Director, Technical Services Division |
1st review - June 2000 |
But even in the best circumstances, some issues will need further negotiation at this point. On this, there is a huge difference across societies in the amount of bargaining and negotiating that is expected. There are also differences in the amount of decision authority at subordinate levels of the agency.
Therefore, an agency needs to determine the major actions that need to be negotiated, both within and with people external to it (Box 9 and Worksheet 9). This can be organized by objective, by administrative level, and so on.
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Planning Cycle - Stage 6 |
The time arrives when the planned actions need to be implemented. An agency should plan on having implementation problems virtually 100 percent of the time. Many of these problems are impossible to foresee, but others can be anticipated. For those difficulties that can be foreseen, what are the strategies to avoid or minimize them? The leader of a planning team should make a simple worksheet to show: (1) potential problems, and (2) strategies to avoid or minimize them (Worksheet 10).
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Box 9. Examples of Issues to Be Negotiated | |
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Objective: "To increase monitoring from present 30% of concessions to target of 80% by end of year 2002." Responsible: Chief of Forest Utilization Section, XYZ Forestry Department (from Box 7 and Box 8) | |
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Issues That Need Negotiation |
With Whom Is Agreement Needed? |
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1. Hire personnel for inspection teams |
· Executive Director, Central Office |
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· Personnel Manager, Central Office |
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· Green Future Society (NGO that promotes forest protection) |
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· National Association of Forest Products Industries (industry association) |
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2. Transportation and operational budget |
· Procurement Manager, Central Office |
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for inspection teams |
· Regional Coordinator, South Region |
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· World Bank Representative (regarding grant funding) |
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3. Training for inspection teams |
· Training Director, Technical Services |
Many planning guides rely heavily on the Critical Path Method, Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT), and related scheduling methods. These methods indicate the most efficient way to schedule planned activities in order for others to begin immediately after them. These techniques are widely available in computer software at reasonable prices. The leaders of planning groups should become familiar with these techniques, and possibly apply them.
However, not too much emphasis will be given to them here. They work best where organizational systems are stable. They are far less useful where politics are volatile, the government is re-organizing every six months, and the agency's budget may be cut by half. Many managers do just as well with a big chart on the wall, and an eraser to correct it every month.
This publication is not about management per se. However, strategic planning implies a management orientation. The strategies have to be broken down into the parts that can be implemented, evaluated, and improved. Essential elements in this are communications and supporting resources (budget, training, organization, and supervision). Additionally, the people who are responsible for carrying out objectives must have the authority to do so. Finally, there must be a system of incentives to reward good performance. All of this is management.
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Planning Cycle - Stage 7 |
An agency needs to anticipate how it will evaluate the successes and failures of its planning (Worksheet 11). How will it know what went wrong? What has to be done better next time, and why? This is the self-correcting feedback for continuous improvement.
There are ways to be conscious of both the planning process and its results. First, the agency should study the previous strategic plan and evaluate its successes and failures, and the reasons for them. Secondly, the people who participate in the current round of planning should discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the process. This also refers to individuals outside of the agency who have been participating.
Finally, the individuals responsible for carrying out the specific actions of the plan will be reporting their problems and progress over the years. Was the planning too ambitious? Or too cautious? Did anything happen that was totally unexpected? What was the role of good luck and bad luck? Or was the luck created through human factors? Where problems occurred, were they because of faulty concept or poor implementation? This kind of reporting is very instructive. However, it demands an "institutional memory" to track results and make them available for the next generation of planners.
