Characteristics of Total Planning Process

1. Process: Planning is a process. Process is systematic way of doing things. It is a mental process. It involves creative thinking and imagination.
2. Future-oriented: Planning anticipates future opportunities and threats. It is based on forecasting and environment scanning. It decides in the present about what is to be done in future. It provides direction to the organization.
3. Pervasiveness: Planning concerns all levels of management. It is the function of every manager. Its nature and scope differ according to the level of managers. Top managers set mission and objectives. Lower managers execute the plans.
4. Goal-oriented: Planning is goal focused. It not only sets goals but also selects actions to achieve them. It entails commitment of resources to selected actions. It is not based on hunch or guesswork. Actions are selected from among alternatives.
5. Decision-oriented: Planning involves decisions at all levels of management. It involves interdependent set of decisions. It coordinates various activities through decisions.
6. Efficiency: Planning is directed towards efficiency at all levels of management. Efficiency means greater output at lower costs. Alternatives are evaluated on the basis of efficiency.