Food-Service-Manual-for-Health-Care-Institutions

Food Service Manual for Health Care Institutions
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Business Plan Format
A written plan should be made even if only for inside use. This will help solidify the importance
of the planning process and provide documentation for coordination of efforts. The format
for the business plan may vary by organization, but the fundamentals are similar across
organizations. The first thing the manager needs to do is determine whether the organization
has adopted a format. If not, guidelines built on the five components mentioned previously—
market plan, production plan, research and development plan, organization and management
plan, and financial plan—may be used. Another approach, used by Rotanz Associates and
specific to health care, is represented in Figure 5.3. Not used in the Rotanz model but added
by the author is a table of contents and an executive summary briefly highlighting each major
section.
The executive summary is the most important component of a business plan and must be
written in a positive tone. It must be short and concise. If it is too long, the executive may put
it aside, throw it out, or read it at a later date.
The summary should avoid threats—implied by words such as “shall” and “will”—but
choose words that show action as if the project was in existence. Use short sentences and paragraphs,
and do not use boldface type or highlighted text except as absolutely necessary. Do not
be trite or whine. Be sure all pertinent and essential information is included.
Scheduling Techniques
Managers often find that a visual representation of work over time is helpful in scheduling routine
activities. The Gantt chart, a nonmathematical graphic method of coordinating and organizing
multiple tasks to complete a project on time, is one such device. It can help a manager
plan a variety of related tasks or schedule the work of a group of employees who perform the
same task. The chart in Exhibit 5.3 is an example of a schedule for a catering service. The Gantt
technique is useful for relatively simple planning tasks. More sophisticated methods must be
applied as a project grows more complex.
A planning technique used for short-term projects is the planning grid, shown in Exhibit 5.4,
which provides the planning team with an organized format for reaching a goal. The first
step in completing a planning grid is to identify the objective or outcome of the planning
effort. The achievement of the outcome with the final action step is the measurement
that determines when the planning is complete. The first action step might simply be to
schedule the first planning session with the relevant team. The rest of the planning grid is
completed by the team using various techniques of teamwork participation (see chapters 4
and 6).
Another tool, the program evaluation and review technique (PERT), can be used for planning
as well as for controlling more complex departmental activities. Much more quantitative
than the Gantt chart, PERT is best used by managers who are skilled in using mathematical
methods for planning complex projects. Briefly, PERT helps to define a network of relationships
among activities and events that occur in the course of a project and then to calculate the
time needed for each event and the time lapse between one event and another. PERT is often
used to reduce the total time needed to complete a project and to keep the project on schedule
by making adjustments in the network of relationships. A similar quantitative planning tool for
sophisticated, nonrepetitive technical projects is the critical plan method. Both the critical plan
method and PERT are used by industrial and management engineers to plan and schedule activities
for a one-time project (such as a major renovation of a department) and can, therefore, be
considered methods for single-use planning.