What is the first stage of the planning process and what activities are required for effective planning?

The first stage is the Analysis of Opportunities

The first thing to do is to spot what needs to be done. You will crystallize this into a formal aim at the next stage in the process.

One approach to this is to examine your current position, and decide how you can improve it. There are a number of techniques that will help you to do this:

SWOT Analysis

• This is a formal analysis of your strengths and weaknesses, and of the opportunities and threats that you face.

• Risk Analysis

  This helps you to spot project risks, weaknesses in your organization or operation, and identify the risks to which you are exposed. From this you can plan to neutralize some risks.

• Understanding pressures for change:

  Alternatively, other people (e.g. clients) may be pressing you to change the way you do things. Alternatively your environment may be changing, and you may need to anticipate or respond to this. Pressures may arise from changes in the economy, new legislation, competition, changes in people's attitudes, new technologies, or changes in government.