Objective: Illustrate the main stages of the planning process and highlight the varying levels of effort required.
PHASE: 1 | Where are we now?
SUB-PHASE: 1.3 | Establish CDS process (internal to government)
This activity should take a few hours.
- To stimulate thinking about process management and effort
- To communicate concerning process management
Planning team
Planning team
Stakeholders involved in the planning teams
The process diagram is a simple tool to help visualise the varying efforts involved in plan preparation and the key points of participation. It is a stylized diagram and thus remains relatively simple and is useful for communication. See the diagram and its explanation.
Step 1: Use the figure from this toolkit.
Step 2: Customise the diagram to fit the strategic process being planned.
Step 3: Use it as an input to discussions on the planning process focussing on the level of activity involved and its link to preparation for discussions and preparation for decision making.
Advantages
- The tool is relatively simple,
- The tool makes clear the process visually
- The tool focusses on levels of effort at different stages and helps in thinking through the resources needed and the time implications.
Disadvantages
- Although relatively simple, some participants may not be used to working with or understanding abstract diagrams
This links to Tool 22 Gantt chart and Tool 23 Swim lanes.
Generally accessible documents:
UN-Habitat (2005) Promoting local economic development through strategic planning : volume 2 : manual, Nairobi, United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat).