If Forecasting were a person, what would you say to them??

Being a student encompasses much trial, tribulations, and stresses along the way, but we endure such circumstances to reach a pivotal point in our lives, graduation. As students we are faced with various outlooks on how we can decide to manage our lives, feelings, and futures, we do so by a variety of ways: we stress, we take upon various hobbies, or we concentrate on our work. These notions and stressors can directly affect our output and productivity.

Now, as students we are all aware of the concept of time management. But now we become more aware of how important the concept of time really is. Two weeks ago we discussed various concepts of planning, and realized the importance of planning before execution. This week, it’s apparent we discuss the importance of forecasting and how this pertains to us as students. I had stumbled upon an article that seized my interest; it was an indirect article regarding something that all of us are slightly familiar with: Forecasting.

The article was titled “The Pros and Cons of New Grads Starting a Business”.  This was interesting to because many of us students implement forecasting on a smaller/more minimal scale. Forecasting is the process of predicting a future event, and is regarded as one of the most important tools in making business decisions. The article discussed why it may be a good idea (for you aspiring future graduate entrepreneurs) to pursue entrepreneurship, as well as various reasons why such a path shouldn’t be endured.

But the main point that resonated with me was not just from the article, but from class as well forecasting techniques are just that; forecasted projections of what may happen. When we did our forecasting projections in class it was noted and interesting to see that many of the different groups went about the solution in various ways; all in which reached different outcomes. Overall, there was no solid number that predicted an exact true projection. In research; the demand forecast for our economy depicts that there are more and more individuals going into business for themselves rather than applying for jobs straight out of college (due to economic conditions). As these were early techniques of forecasting; we notice that such a technique can aid in fields such as inventory, production, finance, and basic day-to-day business operations.

What are some instances where you, as students implemented forecasting both in ‘personal’ day to day operations along with the ‘workplace’ operations?  Is there a select few of people who are considering in starting a venture? Or who already have a venture that utilizes these techniques?

http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/220673

4 thoughts on “If Forecasting were a person, what would you say to them??

  1. In my personal life I often use many forecasting methods subconsciously without even knowing it. For example in school, depending on the class I am in I will look at the calendar of events and the days leading up to important tests and make unconscious decisions about the amount of information that will be covered in class and how important it is that I attend. These forecasts draw on past class experiences and my knowledge of the class subject and instructor. My end result is a personal mental projection of how much I will expect to learn in particular class sessions and how alert I should be that day. For example, I rarely attend the first day of any 90 minute class, as I can forecast with near certainty that practically all of class time will be dedicated to reading a syllabus that I have a personal copy of. As with any forecasts however, I may not be 100% correct. I do the same with my daily costs; I will often consider how much money I will need for certain necessities at the start of a month, and figure out how much money I will have free for “other” activities throughout the month.

  2. Personally, and I brought it this example up in my blog post, I had a situation when I worked in retail where I had seen that certain trends were becoming “in style.” It was my job to report this to my managers in order to change our inventory accordingly. I like how you bring up how forecasting isn’t just for work, but its for our personal lives. Like Nick, who posted above me, I guess I only really forecast with my money, to make sure that I budget enough for the week/month/etc. I also forecast my time, for instance, if I know that I may have plans on a certain day, I should run errands or get whatever I need to get done in order to make my future less stressful.

  3. You bring up a good point. I never really realized before that we do forecast in our personal lives. Relating to school, if I sign up for a class with a professor I had previously I can forecast how he/she is with covering material. I can make predictions about how much to study and how much material I can miss. I know it’s not a great way to forecast, however, it’s something i’ve always done without realizing.

  4. Forecasting deals with predicting the future. We all do this knowingly or unknowingly. I for one, and I believe most people too, have Car, house, and health insurance, and savings account because we predict there might be a problem in the future. My whole life is full of forecasting. I am always thinking ahead, to aid me make provision for the unexpected.

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