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Operational Planning: How to Make an Operations Plan

ProjectManager

The operations of your business can be defined as the sum of all the daily activities that you and your team execute to create products or services and engage with your customers, among other critical business functions. While organizing these moving parts might sound difficult, it can be easily done by writing a business operational plan. But before we learn how to make one, let’s first understand what’s the relationship between strategic and operational planning.

Operational Planning vs. Strategic Planning

Operational planning and strategic planning are complementary to each other. This is because strategic plans define the business strategy and the long-term goals for your organization, while operational plans define the steps required to achieve them.

What Is a Strategic Plan?

A strategic plan is a business document that describes the business goals of a company as well as the high-level actions that will be taken to achieve them over a time period of 1-3 years.

What Is an Operational Plan?

Operational plans map the daily, weekly or monthly business operations that’ll be executed by the department to complete the goals you’ve previously defined in your strategic plan. Operational plans go deeper into explaining your business operations as they explain roles and responsibilities, timelines and the scope of work.

Operational plans work best when an entire department buys in, assigning due dates for tasks, measuring goals for success, reporting on issues and collaborating effectively. They work even better when there’s a platform like ProjectManager , which facilitates communication across departments to ensure that the machine is running smoothly as each team reaches its benchmark. Get started with ProjectManager for free today.

Gantt chart with operational plan

What Is Operational Planning?

Operational planning is the process of turning strategic plans into action plans, which simply means breaking down high-level strategic goals and activities into smaller, actionable steps. The main goal of operational planning is to coordinate different departments and layers of management to ensure the whole organization works towards the same objective, which is achieving the goals set forth in the strategic plan .

How to Make an Operational Plan

There’s no single approach to follow when making an operation plan for your business. However, there’s one golden rule in operations management : your strategic and operational plans must be aligned. Based on that principle, here are seven steps to make an operational plan.

  • Map business processes and workflows: What steps need to be taken at the operations level to accomplish long-term strategic goals?
  • Set operational-level goals: Describe what operational-level goals contribute to the achievement of larger strategic goals.
  • Determine the operational timeline: Is there any time frame for the achievement of the operational plan?
  • Define your resource requirements: Estimate what resources are needed for the execution of the operational plan.
  • Estimate the operational budget: Based on your resource requirements, estimate costs and define an operational budget.
  • Set a hiring plan: Are there any skills gaps that need to be filled in your organization?
  • Set key performance indicators: Define metrics and performance tracking procedures to measure your team’s performance.

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Operational Plan Template

Use this free Operational Plan Template for Word to manage your projects better.

What Should be Included in an Operational Plan?

Your operational plan should describe your business operations as accurately as possible so that internal teams know how the company works and how they can help achieve the larger strategic objectives. Here’s a list of some of the key elements that you’ll need to consider when writing an operational plan.

Executive Summary

An executive summary is a brief document that summarizes the content of larger documents like business plans, strategic plans or operation plans. Their main purpose is to provide a quick overview for busy stakeholders.

Operational Budget

An operational budget is an estimation of the expected operating costs and revenues for a given time period. As with other types of budget, the operational budget defines the amount of money that’s available to acquire raw materials, equipment or anything else that’s needed for business operations.

It’s important to limit your spending to stay below your operational budget, otherwise, your company could run out of resources to execute its normal activities. You can use our free operating budget template for Excel to track your operating costs.

Operational Objectives

It’s essential to align your operational objectives with your strategic objectives. For example, if one of your strategic objectives is to increase sales by 25 percent over the next three years, one possible operational objective would be to hire new sales employees. You should always grab your strategic plan objectives and turn them into one or multiple action items .

Processes & Workflows

Explain the various business processes, workflows and tasks that need to be executed to achieve your operational objectives. Make sure to explain what resources are needed, such as raw materials, equipment or human resources.

Operational Timeline

It’s important to establish a timeline for your operational plan. In most cases, your operational plan will have the same length as your strategic plan, but in some scenarios, you might create multiple operational plans for specific purposes. Not all operational plans are equal, so the length of your operational timeline will depend on the duration of your projects , workflows and processes.

Hiring Plan

Find any skills gap there might be in your team. You might need to hire a couple of individuals or even create new departments in order to execute your business processes .

Quality Assurance and Control

Most companies implement quality assurance and control procedures for a variety of reasons such as customer safety and regulatory compliance. In addition, quality assurance issues can cost your business millions, so establishing quality management protocols is a key step in operational planning.

Key Performance Indicators

It’s important to establish key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure the productivity of your business operations. You can define as many KPIs as needed for all your business processes. For example, you can define KPIs for marketing, sales, product development and other key departments in your company. This can include product launch deadlines, number of manufactured goods, number of customer service cases closed, number of 5-star reviews received, number of customers acquired, revenue increased by a certain percentage and so on.

Risks, Assumptions and Constraints

Note any potential risks, assumptions and time or resource constraints that might affect your business operations.

Free Operational Plan Template

Leverage everything you’ve learned today with our template. This free operational plan template for Word will help you define your budget, timeline, KPIs and more. It’s the perfect first step in organizing and improving your operations. Download it today.

ProjectManager's free operational plan template for Word.

What Are the Benefits of Operational Planning?

Every plan has a massive effect on all team members involved, and those can be to your company’s benefit or to their detriment. If it’s to their detriment, it’s best to find out as soon as possible so you can modify your operational plan and pivot with ease.

But that’s the whole point of operational planning: you get to see the effect of your operations on the business’s bottom line in real time, or at every benchmark, so you know exactly when to pivot. And with a plan that’s as custom to each department as an operational plan, you know exactly where things go wrong and why.

How ProjectManager Can Help with Operational Planning

Creating and implementing a high-quality operational plan is the best way to ensure that your organization starts out a project on the right foot. ProjectManager has award-winning project management tools to help you craft and execute such a plan.

Gantt charts are essential to create and monitor operational plans effectively. ProjectManager helps you access your Gantt chart online so you can add benchmarks for operational performance reviews. You can also create tasks along with dependencies to make the operation a surefire success.

A screenshot of a gantt chart in ProjectManager

Whether you’re a team of IT system administrators, marketing experts, or engineers, ProjectManager includes robust planning and reporting tools. Plan in sprints, assign due dates, collaborate with team members and track everything with just the click of a button. Plus, we have numerous ready-made project reports that can be generated instantly, including status reports, variance reports, timesheet reports and more.

project status report builder

Related Operations Management Content

  • Operational Strategy: A Quick Guide
  • Operations Management: Key Functions, Roles and Skills
  • Operational Efficiency: A Quick Guide
  • Using Operational Excellence to Be More Productive

Operational planning isn’t done in a silo, and it doesn’t work without the full weight of the team backing it up. Ensure that your department is successful at each benchmark. ProjectManager is an award-winning pm software dedicated to helping businesses smooth out their operational plans for a better year ahead. Sign up for our free 30-day trial today.

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OPERATIONAL PLANNING

  • Introduction to Operational Planning
  • Purpose of Operational Plan?
  • Developing an Operational Plan
  • Additional Plan Components
  • Operational Plan Sample
  • Operational Plan Template
  • Operational Plan Period
  • Planning Issues
  • Manager's Role
  • Factors Affecting Organisational Structure
  • Plan Implementation
  • Adjusting to Paid Staff
  • Management Intervention
  • Key Performance Indicators

Implementing the Operational Plan

To ensure that there is sufficient understanding of the operational plan, the highest echelons of management within the organisation must thoroughly communicate the operational plan to staff.

Communication strategies can include:

  • A series of staff / team meetings in which senior management are engaged in explaining key aspects of the operational plan and dealing with questions that staff raise about the plan.
  • A breakdown of the overall operational plan into subsets and communication of each subset to the work team or section that takes responsibility. This enables the work team to more clearly understand, and be focused on, their part in implementing the whole plan.
  • The development of systems that enable progress of strategies / tasks to be measured and reported within a work team, and to management.
  • The provision of training so that staff may better understand their tasks and responsibilities, and especially how they can contribute to the overall achievement of the operational plan.
  • Aspects of the Operational Plan can be described in position descriptions of employees

The implementation of the Operational Plan requires management to regularly monitor achievement and exert control to reduce any variance from the plan.

This control by managers will involve:

  • Investigating on a regular basis of what has been achieved, and what has not
  • Implementing corrective action where tasks are not achieved, or achieve on time
  • Checking that resources will be available when needed
  • Supervising, supporting and motivating the people of the organisation to ensure tasks are undertaken
  • Adjusting the operational plan if there is a need
  • Reporting problems to superiors e.g. directors, committee personnel, the Board Members of the organisation

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Risks Associated with Operational Plans

Be able to align objectives of own area of responsibility with those of own organization – this has previously been discussed and evidence passed Learning Outcome 2: Be able to implement operational plans in own area of responsibility 2. 1 Assess risks associated with operational plans and include contingency agreements; Within the third sector the majority of funding that we receive Is restricted which limits where the money can be spent and meaner that It can only be spent on the purpose for which it is assigned.

With regards to the projects that I run this is the situation with all of the funding streams, all of the money that I manage is assigned to pre contracted outcomes with set reporting dates.

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I have found that I plan in a contingency period for submitting the reports in to my plans to cover for any unexpected issues. For example one projects reports are due on the 1 5th November, I have the project workers complete their figures on a monthly basis so I am able to keep track on a regular basis on what they are achieving so I can Identify NY areas of concern and we can try to counter act any issues before the report.

This covers the quantitative part of reports although I do like staff to have Input in to the qualitative part of the report so I ask them to complete all requested information by 20th October which still allows 4 weeks leeway, I will then allow myself two weeks to edit and contribute before I send the document on to the CEO for reviewing over a two week period before the document needs to be submitted. I find that by allowing additional time I am able to plan for delays which should still allow for the report to e submitted when required.

I have found that an organizational plan needs to be a living document to allow to for all eventualities; this meaner that the plan can be adapted for any changes in deadlines or Issues arising and allows me to see what impact that can have on other areas of work. 2.

2 Identify support from relevant stakeholders; As previously mentioned the majority of my projects are funded by external stakeholders, support is given from them through advance notification of when pieces of work will be required. For example the Bristol City Councils Community Investment Team recently had a funding grant available.

Two years ago when they know they would be opening the grant up they published a time line which Included consultations, bid submission dates, interview dates, notification of successful bid dates and then the grant start date. This allows us as an organization to factor in the dates one for availability and planning but also for factoring in the money for budget will be contributed to our core costs which will have a positive impact on all other reveries. We find that all external stakeholders will provide us with all future dates from the onset of a funding opportunity.

. 3 Implement operation plan within own area of responsibility; The operational plan that I have submitted is from my area of responsibility, this has been devised by using the organizational strategy and working out my areas on responsibility. This allows me to have an end goal and then I need to plan how to achieve it. Once this is done I can work out a step by step plan of what needs to be done and by whom. This s all added to the plan along with any other obligations that will arise like staff supervision and appraisals and monitoring.

I can then arrange the plan so that it is ordered by deadlines or projects.

Once I feel I have a true reflection of the work that needs to be completed I will then assign pieces of work that need to be completed by other people, I will keep these tasks within my plan so that I am able to see when things should be done by, I will also encourage the staff to add the items to their own work plans which can be reviewed at regular catch ups or supervisions. Learning Outcome 3: Be able to monitor and evaluate operational plans in your own area of responsibility 3. Monitor procedures within the operational plan & 3. 1 Evaluate operational plans and implement any necessary actions; As previously mentioned the operational plan is a working document that needs to be constantly reviewed and updated so that we can see what needs to be done, when there could be free time and more importantly an individuals workload. Currently I will review my operational plan on a weekly basis and then transfer the teems that will be required that week or need to be planned for in to a work plan so that I am able to priorities work.

I will also review my operational plan and my priorities once a month with the CEO so she is able to tell me if there is something that is missing or if something has arisen that requires my attention sooner. On a quarterly basis all senior managers meet to review the operational plan and discuss our own current work load, this allows us to highlight possibilities of working together or information sharing and adapt our own plans accordingly.

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COMMENTS

  1. PDF Develop and implement operational plans for your area of responsibility

    1. Balance new ideas with tried and tested solutions. 2. Balance risk with desired outcomes. 3. Make sure your plans are consistent with the objectives of your area of responsibility. 4. Make sure your plan is flexible and complements related areas of work. 5. Develop and assign objectives to people together with the associated resources. 6.

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    This unit gives you the essential knowledge and skills needed to develop, implement, monitor and review operational plans for your own area of responsibility. The unit is particularly useful for those wishing to progress to higher management positions. Learning outcomes and assessment criteria

  3. PDF Develop and implement operational plans for your area of responsibility

    Develop and implement operational plans for your area of responsibility Overview Every organisation should have an overall strategic business plan and each identified area of responsibility should also have an operational plan that will contribute to achieving the objectives set out in the strategic business plan.

  4. PDF DR47 04 (CFAMLB1) Develop and Implement Operational Plans for your Area

    DR47 04 (CFAMLB1) — Develop and Implement Operational Plans for your Area of Responsibility Overview Every organisation should have an overall strategic business plan and each identified area of responsibility should also have an operational plan that will contribute to achieving the objectives set out in the strategic business plan.

  5. Operational Planning: How to Make an Operations Plan

    Operational plans map the daily, weekly or monthly business operations that'll be executed by the department to complete the goals you've previously defined in your strategic plan. Operational plans go deeper into explaining your business operations as they explain roles and responsibilities, timelines and the scope of work.

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    1 Performance criteria You must be able to: P1 Communicate your operational plan in ways which gain the understanding and support of those involved and other key stakeholders. P2 Delegate responsibilities for achieving operational objectives to individuals and gain their commitment to these.

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    P1 identify own area of responsibility for operational planning P2 identify the overall vision of the service provision and the governance within which it operates P3 identify the main purpose, aims and objectives of the service provision P4 critically evaluate how the vision of the service provision, its purpose, aims and objectives, contribute...

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    This unit aims to allow learners the opportunity to develop the knowledge, skills and understanding to develop, implement, monitor and review operational plans for own area of responsibility. 4 Be able to monitor and evaluate operational plans

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    Develop and evaluate operational plans for own area of responsibility The aim of this unit is to enable you to develop and evaluate operational plans within your area of responsibility. It will involve the alignment of your areas of responsibility with those of the organisation, the implementation, monitoring and evaluation of operational plans.

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    The implementation of the Operational Plan requires management to regularly monitor achievement and exert control to reduce any variance from the plan. This control by managers will involve: Investigating on a regular basis of what has been achieved, and what has not. Implementing corrective action where tasks are not achieved, or achieve on time.

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  17. PDF Develop and Implement Operational Plans for Your Area of Responsibility

    1 Balance new ideas with tried and tested solutions. 2 Balance risk with desired Outcomes. 3 Make sure your plans are consistent with the objectives of your area of responsibility. 4 Make sure your plan is flexible and complements related areas of work. 5 Develop and assign objectives to people together with the associated resources.

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    1. Discuss two ways in which operations managers can control activities when implementing operational plan. Control Schedule Control schedule is a process that operation managers use to monitor the status of the different activities of the project. By using the control schedule they will be able to identify the status of activities, determine if changes needs to be made and the different ...

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  21. PDF Management and Leadership

    2. Be able to implement operational plans in own area of responsibility. 2.1 Assess risks associated with operational plans and include contingency arrangements. 2.2 Identify support from relevant stakeholders. 2.3 Implement operational plan within own area of responsibility. 3. Be able to monitor and evaluate operational plans in own area of

  22. Risks Associated with Operational Plans

    . 3 Implement operation plan within own area of responsibility; The operational plan that I have submitted is from my area of responsibility, this has been devised by using the organizational strategy and working out my areas on responsibility. This allows me to have an end goal and then I need to plan how to achieve it.

  23. Unit 528

    Diploma Level 5 1 Develop and evaluate operational plans for own area of responsibility 1.1 Identify operational objectives within own area of responsibility To provide a quality service in the Care Home to meet the identified needs of service users, in line with specified CQC standards, policies, codes of practice and regulatory requirements, managing resources effectively within an agreed ...