The planning process involves a series of steps that helps organizations to achieve their objectives and goals. Planning involves identifying the opportunities and threats in the environment and designing a strategy to achieve the objectives. The following are the steps involved in the planning process:

1. Define the Objective: The first step in the planning process is to define the objective of the organization. The objective should be clearly defined and communicated to all the stakeholders in the organization.

2. Analyze the Environment: The next step is to analyze the environment in which the organization operates. This involves identifying the opportunities and threats in the environment.

3. Conduct SWOT Analysis: SWOT analysis involves analyzing the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats of the organization. This helps in identifying the areas where the organization needs to focus.

4. Develop Alternative Strategies: Based on the SWOT analysis, alternative strategies are developed. These strategies should be evaluated to determine their feasibility and effectiveness.

5. Select the Best Strategy: The next step is to select the best strategy that will help the organization achieve its objectives. The selected strategy should be aligned with the organization's mission and vision.

6. Develop an Action Plan: Once the strategy is selected, an action plan is developed. This plan should clearly define the tasks to be performed, the timelines, and the resources required.

7. Implement the Plan: The action plan is implemented by allocating resources and assigning tasks to the employees. The progress is monitored to ensure that the plan is being implemented as per the schedule.

8. Evaluate the Results: The final step is to evaluate the results of the plan. The results are compared with the objectives to determine if the plan was successful. If the plan was not successful, corrective measures are taken to improve the plan.

In conclusion, the planning process is an essential component of the management process. It helps organizations to achieve their objectives by identifying opportunities and threats in the environment and developing a strategy to achieve the objectives. The planning process involves several steps, including defining the objective, analyzing the environment, conducting SWOT analysis, developing alternative strategies, selecting the best strategy, developing an action plan, implementing the plan, and evaluating the results.

The steps in the planning process are:

Develop objectives.

Develop tasks to meet those objectives.

Determine resources needed to implement tasks.

Create a timeline.

Determine tracking and assessment method.

Finalize plan.

Distribute to all involved in the process.