The Standing Plan - mirror of Management conscience

These are the plans that will be there for a long time, if not “forever”. They probably will be there for the duration of an undertaking or company.

Standing plans will be adapted over time depending on results obtained as well as due to changes in industrial, social, political and environmental conditions. Standing plans will normally affect a whole organization or a major part of it.

A standing plan often includes “programs”, policies and procedures to ensure the internal operations of a given business are operating smoothly. Examples of standing plans include policies for employee interaction, procedures for reporting internal issues in the company and regulations in terms of what is allowable and what is prohibited in the business. Safety, quality, HACCP and other management systems are well-known standing plans.  

Budget and objectives of a standing plan may not be so well defined as it is often difficult to draw a line between a management system and other aspects of business. Targets and budgets may be adjusted from year to year depending on the results of the standing plan and just become part of "the way we do things around here”.

In comparison with a single-use plan, the standing plan would normally be there for a longer period, the broader in scope and involve a major part or the whole of the organization. A single-use plan will normally be there for a shorter period, be more specific and affect a smaller part, department or group of people.   

Within the context of my website I consider the standing plan the same as the management system, that will bring a company from A to B, from today's situation to a better tomorrow. I would make no difference between a management system and a standing plan but you could see the management system as a set of standing plans or “work processes” which I call “management activity areas” or “elements”, to include areas such as: 

• Inspections 
• Risk assessment 
• Purchasing 
• Design 
• Accident investigation 
• Emergency preparedness 
• Training 

When discussing issues on this website, I may use the term "Management System" as well as "standing plan" both referring to a combination management activity areas to reach a certain objective.

A standing plan can be seen as “the way we work here” and will normally involve the cooperation of many people in the organization. For this reason, is necessary that the plan will be developed to allow implant “emotional ownership” within the people that will have to do the work, supervise it and evaluate it periodically.

Development of a standing plan needs to include the following:

• Establishment of objectives
• Determination of activity areas to reach objectives
• Description of specific activities to be carried our within each activity area
• Assignment of activities to people
• Training and instruction of people who will do the work
• Training and instruction of people who will supervise the work to be done
• Training and instruction of people who need to periodically evaluate the work done and objectives obtained
• Periodic review of the entire plan and its objectives in relation to changing legislative, social and environmental conditions

Building a standing plan - use the 17-step process

All aspects to develop a standing plan that will work are included in the 17-step process. This process includes issues like plan contents and structure, training and instruction of people. The 17-step process incorporates top-down and bottom-up principles and starts with the necessary management leadership which forms the basis of the Platform Model for improvement and change.   

A handy tool may be the 17-step rating system that I made and which is described in more detail in my book. That rating systems allows a numerical indication on a 0 - 100 scale of the aspects that are relevant to the improvement process. The rating is certainly not a scientific tool and has not been tested in any great depth. It is based on my professional judgement and, due to circumstances, I have only been able to use it once in relation with a chemical company in The Netherlands. At that time, it was used for three different business areas - safety, quality and environment - and took 3 - 4 hours to complete.