How can I plan a plan that is written casually so that it does not appear to be casual?

How to judge whether "write casually" is workplace jargon or a leader's dereliction of duty? This article gives some detailed suggestions to planners who may encounter similar situations in the workplace. The author summarizes three situations respectively, hoping to help friends who are writing planning proposals.

Can you write a plan casually? You can’t live casually!

Planners often encounter situations where they have to "write something casually" during work. It may be to accompany a bid or to gather numbers. In either case, they know that there will be no results but they still have to bite the bullet and write the plan.

Can a plan be written casually? I just want to say, maybe it is possible, but people cannot live casually!

As a newcomer in the workplace or a beginner in planning, you may feel dissatisfied or confused by the need to "write casually". However, as a professional planner, you need to learn how to stay calm and rational in this situation, and even turn dissatisfaction into strength.

You should know that this is a very common phenomenon. People are in the workplace and have no choice. Since you can't avoid it, you might as well practice your job to avoid taking the blame!

Therefore, I think you need to learn how to view this demand correctly and use it as an opportunity to train yourself to deal with emergencies. Specifically, I think you need to understand the following three points:

01 Small thoughts under a big mentality

Don't feel pressured by this kind of demand. Since you are told it's up to you, just relax. However, as a smart planner, you still need to be careful to deal with this thankless demand.

First of all, don't put too much pressure on yourself. You need to clarify your role. This means you need to know the scope of your responsibilities and what you can do for customers and leaders. If the leader's intention is to let you take the lead, then you should use your organizational ability. If the leader wants you to complete, then you should use your output ability.

You should know that your leader’s different intentions will lead to very different requirements for you, and your way of responding will also be very different.

Additionally, you need to assess the workload of the task and make sure you have enough time and resources to complete it.

When estimating your workload, you need to consider the following questions:

How long will this task take to complete? What resources will this task require? Is this task worth investing so much time and effort into? If you are unable to complete this task, is there anyone who can help you?

When estimating the workload, you must be realistic and not be too confident or too pessimistic. If you think you can complete the task, then you should deal with it strategically. If not, you should add more people to deal with it together, rather than doing it silently and shooting yourself in the foot in the end.

02 Casual does not mean casual

When faced with this kind of "write it casually" demand, don't think you can just write a hasty plan at will. On the contrary, it is crucial to understand and grasp the expectations of leaders and customers.

No matter how casual the task is, you need to try your best to make the plan slightly exceed expectations within the constraints of time and resources, if not for anything else, but so that you can continue to be a "human being" in the future.

Because the leader said it doesn't matter, but think about it, if this plan represents the company's capabilities and the leader's commitment, if you really take it casually, the consequences will be serious.

Therefore, the key is to let your boss see that you are not casual under the surface! This may require you to make some unexpected efforts in strategy, creativity, volume, beautification, quotation, etc.

1. Strategically, demonstrate your strategic ability.

The strategy of a normal planning case requires you to fully analyze the market, evaluate competitors, consumer groups, etc. and provide practical suggestions and solutions after understanding the needs of customers and leaders.

However, since the plan is casual, there is no need to be so "solid". Instead, you can provide strategies from a higher dimension or unique perspective based on your usual understanding of the market and the problems faced by customers. Open up the minds of leaders and customers, and quickly demonstrate your strategic capabilities through your unique insights and strategies.

This will not only help you quickly convince your leaders and reduce the need for constant revisions to your plans, but it will also allow your core capabilities to be recognized, rather than requiring you to look ahead and behind and consider many factors like usual plans.

2. In terms of creativity, win with creative highlights.

In a normal plan, your creative ideas should be clearly written down from strategy to ideas to execution plan. However, since the plan is casual, you don’t need to spend too much energy on the details. Instead, you can make the casual plan not casual through some new, unique and creative ideas.

You can look for inspiration from other industries or fields, or even bring some new and creative ideas from other solutions. The key is to polish the highlights of the idea and make it eye-catching.

3. In terms of volume, pretend to work hard.

Needless to say, right? For any random proposal, you need to make it bigger in terms of volume. Of course, I don’t mean you have to write it in a hurry, but use the ready-made proposal, that is, just change the name of the activity and content and put it directly.

The only thing you need to pay attention to is the matching problem. If you grasp this well, it is easy to pretend to be casual. In terms of beautification, let the visual experience be overwhelming. You need to make people feel that you have put a lot of thought into the design, layout, text and pictures. It is not necessary for you to find a designer to provide a creative and beautiful solution template, but to highlight the key points, large fonts and large pictures, the key point is to give people a hearty feeling.

4. Make others feel uncomfortable when quoting.

This is a dirty trick and is not recommended, but you may encounter it in reality. A big shot once said that price cuts may not necessarily bring sales, but they can definitely hit competitors. Similarly, low prices may not necessarily help you win projects, but they can hit your competitors, especially when you are the runner-up and disgust others. I believe you have encountered this a lot.

You don't have to have all of the above points. You just need to choose the simplest but not casual way according to your situation and actual circumstances. The key is to show your ability and serious attitude on the basis of the least trouble.

03 Once, twice and three times

If you keep receiving requests like this to do something casually, I advise you to get away with it.

If a leader always asks people to write plans casually, it means that there are problems with this leader's business ability, leadership ability, etc. Such a company leader will also cause great obstacles to the career development and personal value of employees.

For such a situation, I suggest that you fully understand the company's situation. Is it just your leader who is like this, or is the whole company like this? If this situation exists in the company as a whole, then don't blindly join it, because such a company is likely to lack effective management and business capabilities, and is prone to various problems and disputes. It is best to leave. If it is just your leader who is like this, then it is best to find a way to transfer to another position.

In short, "casual" may just be a word to others, but it is not easy for the people who do the work. Casual planning work can be done for a while, but if you are too casual, you will not be able to be serious!

Author: Little Monk Kunkun

Source: WeChat public account "Marketing Zen Institute (ID: mandcx)"