Micro Level Planning vs Macro Level Planning
Simply put, macro means ‘large’ and micro means ‘small’. The macro to-do list looks at the big picture and the micro to do list looks at the daily task. The good thing is that they work hand in hand.
When trying to achieve your goal and getting things done one thing is important: to keep your eye on the target.
This is particularly important when managing a business. Making a day to day schedule and planning the tasks for your employees is very important. However, seeing the big picture is the most important part.
Small tasks won’t matter unless they go in line with your goals. That’s why macro level planning is the most important. Let’s take a look at the difference between micro level planning and macro level planning.
Macro level planning includes the outline of the project, while micro level planning includes the small minute details to make it work. I used to be a micro level planner where I would plan in my Google Calendar every task that I had to do minute to minute.
But it’s hard to know exactly how much time a specific task is going to take. As the Elgina Venue explains the macro level planning includes the most important details of a project, while the micro includes the day to day schedules.
Of course, both are important and the macro list can serve as a guide for the micro to-do list. After you determine the bigger picture of a project you can determine the day too day schedule to complete the tasks. Macro planning only means that instead of working from the ground up, you first plan the important tasks first and then from there you divide them into smaller parts.
Managing Your Business with Macro Planning
Productive is a software which helps you manage your business and atomize everything from sales to invoices.
Pros: Their customer support is excellent and the software is easy to use.
It helps you track time and collaborate and find bottlenecks that damage your productivity and waste you money. It helps you calculate the hourly productivity and handles billing and invoicing for one time and recurring projects. It helps you run everything related to your business very efficiently.
Cons: The user roles are not customizable. No notes on individual task.
It works great for macro level planning and you can also integrate it with Google Calendar or Apple calendar.
How to Macro Plan
Macro planning means starting with your an idea of where you want your company to be in one year, two years or ten years.
Working backwards will ensure you that each task that you do will help you closer to your end goal.
Macro planning will help you determine the tasks which you have to do on a regular basis, for example, writing a blog post each week.
It can help you group similar tasks so that you will be concentrated more on their completing and won’t have to switch from task to task.
For example, if you plan to write one blog post a week, you could write four of them at the beginning of the month and then not worry anymore about writing and focus on other aspects of your business.
Disadvantages of Micro Managing
Micromanagement, on the other hand, sometimes makes managers lose track of their objectives. And if you work with a team, it might send the message to the employees that you as a manager don’t trust them enough to do their job and you have to micro manage every task they complete. Another disadvantage is that employees might get dependent and wait for the manager’s approval after their every move. This doesn’t allow them to solve the problems which may arise using their own creativity. Moreover, micro managing takes a lot of the manager’s time.
So, focusing on macro managing is a better idea to manage your business.
The Macro To-Do List
Planning from macro level to micro is really helpful. And this technique can be applies for your personal goals too.
We often get overwhelmed and with no idea of what to prioritize. It seems like we don’t have enough time of the day to complete the daily tasks which require our attention and to prioritize.
To do lists can be important to keep you in check of what you need to do. The important thing is for your to do list to be in line with your strategic goals.
The Time Frames
To create your macro to do list first, identify your working time frame. Does your business (or job) have more weekly, monthly or seasonal tasks?
Start by making a to do list for your longest time frame (for example write your yearly goals) and then from there start writing goals for smaller time frames.
How do your yearly goals affect your quarterly goals? How do your quarterly goals affect your monthly tasks? And so on. A weekly to do list is one of the most important ones as at gets very specific.
Then you need to evaluate every task and how it contributes to your macro level goals.
And when scheduling your tasks don’t forget to group similar ones so that you will make executing them more efficient.
Summary:
1. Identify your time frames
- year
- month
- week
- day
2. Prepare you macro level goals
3. Prepare your micro level to do lists
I’d love to know how do you manage your tasks. Do you write long to do lists?