The advantages and disadvantages of the various
courses of action should be considered, RPs
should not hesitate to ask pertinent questions, so
that the objectives and courses of action are clear
to everyone present. Suggestions by RPs should
be encouraged and given careful consideration.
SELECT AND DEVELOP THE BEST
COURSE OF ACTION. After the various
courses of action have been considered, the most
desirable one should be selected and developed.
The best course of action to take is obviously the
one that will most effectively accomplish the
mission of the CRP. Managers must ensure that
the course of action selected meets established
requirements and is compatible with the command
mission.
DEVELOP AN ALTERNATE PLAN. The
development of an alternate plan will provide
CRP managers with another approach should the
primary plan prove to be ineffective. The alter-
nate plan must be as carefully selected and
developed as was the primary plan.
TEST BOTH PLANS FOR COMPLETE-
NESS. Once the plans are selected, each detail
of both the primary and alternate plans should
be scrutinized by CRP managers. If any aspect
appears to be inadequate or faulty, further refine-
ment or development may be necessary.
Planning never ends. CRP managers will have
to make adjustments continuously to changing re-
quirements or fluctuating resources. Proper
planning is essential to CRP management as well
as to management in general.
Organizing
Organizing involves a detailed analysis of the
status of all aspects of the Command Religious
Program (CRP). The process of organizing con-
sists of analyzing the mission, determining the
jobs, structuring the workload, and initially
assigning the personnel.
Planning and organizing necessarily overlap.
Since planning never really ends, it is sometimes
difficult to determine when organizing actually
begins. The important thing for the RPC or RP1
to remember is that it DOES begin. The purpose
of organizing is to align the functions, operations,
and tasks required to carry out the mission with
the available material, manpower, money, time,
and facilities.
Once the mission and goals of the CRP are
established, the following fundamentals should
be applied to help accomplish the objectives:
Unity of Command
Span of Control
Delegation of Authority
UNITY OF COMMAND. Unity of com-
mand may be defined as a oneness of purpose
behind one leader. The RPC or RP 1 must ensure
that assigned personnel understand and use the
chain of command in such a way that unity of
command is enhanced. Subordinates must under-
stand who is in charge. A clear line of authority
is essential to good morale.
SPAN OF CONTROL. This refers to the
number of personnel that can be effectively super-
vised by the RPC or RP1. The span of control
is often limited unknowingly by supervisors who
are trying to control too much of the work or
trying to supervise too many people. In each of
these instances the supervisor may be unable to
meet other managerial requirements or produc-
tion deadlines because of the limited amount of
time he or she has for each task. The supervisor
also needs to represent the office at meetings and
conferences and to perform various other official
duties. These demands upon the supervisors time
may further limit the number of people he or she
can supervise.
DELEGATION OF AUTHORITY. Since
the span of control is often limited, the RPC or
RP1 should delegate assignments and the com-
mensurate authority for getting the job done to
junior supervisors, whenever practical. The lead-
ing RP should bear in mind, however, that while
authority can be delegated, responsibility cannot.
Delegation of authority will help guide and
develop junior supervisors for their future role as
senior EPs. Every supervisor in the Navy today
was at one time a subordinate.
Coordinating
Coordination highlights the team concept in
efforts to reach objectives. If actvities outside the
Command Religious Program are affected by
CRP activitiesand they often arethese out-
side activities, agencies, offices, or persons should
be made aware of the goals of the CRP.
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