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What is the difference between a strategic plan and an operational plan.
A strategic plan outlines the long-term vision, mission, and goals of an organization, focusing on growth and direction over several years.
In contrast, an operational plan details the short-term tasks, processes, and resource allocation needed to achieve those strategic goals, emphasizing day-to-day efficiency and productivity.
The operations plan defines the clear goals of your business and what actions will be taken daily to reach them. So, investors need to know where your business stands and it will prove the viability of the goals helping you in getting funded.
Some of the factors that affect the operations plan are:
Yes, both a startup and a small business need an operations plan to get a better idea of the roadmap they want for their business.
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The old way of planning no longer works in complex and unpredictable business environments, and companies are struggling to find their feet on shaky ground. As we’ve seen with many of our customers and strategies in Cascade, organizations can no longer count on executing three or even five-year strategic plans.
The new reality forces companies and their operations teams to adapt their operational plans more frequently and within shorter time frames if they want to reap benefits faster than their competitors. Organizations need to work on their strategic instinct and fast adaptability to enhance their operational efficiency .
And that requires big changes—including building a flexible operational plan, supported by the right tools and systems that help you achieve real-time centralized observability and empower a strategic response to external disruptions.
Read this article to build a bulletproof operational plan that includes all the key elements necessary to overcome unpredictable business chaos. You’ll also get free templates that will help you rapidly adapt and align your teams.
✨Bonus: We’ve included pro tips from business leaders in our network to help you identify gaps in your strategy execution and build resilient business operations.
An operational plan is action and detail-oriented; it needs to focus on short-term strategy execution and outline an organization's day-to-day operations. If your operations strategy is a promise, your operational plan is the action plan for how you will deliver on it every day, week, and month.
Put simply, an operational plan helps you bridge the gap between business strategy and on-the-ground execution and ensures that the organization is on track to achieve its long-term goals.
Operational planning deals with the day-to-day details and short-term goals, while strategic planning focuses on the big picture and long-term direction of an organization.
To put it in simpler terms, operational planning is about the "how" of daily tasks, while strategic planning defines the "what" and "why" for future success.
📚Recommended reading: Strategic vs. Operational Planning
The quality of your operational plan will depend on your input. A successful operational planning initiative will consider these aspects:
👉🏻 Once you’ve gathered this information, you can develop an operational plan to help you execute business strategies.
Enough chit-chat; it’s time to put your operational plan together. We've built this based on our proven and tested approach, used by over +45,000 Cascade users.
See how Cascade Strategy Execution Platform enhances operational efficiency by reducing duplication and aligning teams toward common goals. It effectively eliminates waste resulting from misalignment, fostering smoother operations and improved performance.
Here’s a recap of the five key elements your plan must consider:
Selecting your operational plan's key metrics isn't a mere exercise in tracking numbers; it's about laser-focused alignment with your business needs and objectives. These metrics are the tangible indicators of your organization's efficiency and performance. They serve as the compass, guiding your daily decisions and actions toward achieving concrete results.
By precisely aligning these metrics with your company's core objectives, you ensure that every initiative and action within your operational plan directly contributes to achieving tangible results.
An aligned operational plan makes it easier to:
Remember that the role of operations is to close the gap between your organization's strategic goals and what is being done on a daily basis to make them happen.
👉🏻 How Cascade can help:
With Cascade’s Metrics Library , you can bring your operating and financial business-level goals together with your strategy under one single roof. This makes reporting & governance easy, accurate, and less time-consuming by connecting your business data to your key business initiatives.
Through Cascade’s integrations , you can consolidate your metrics in one place, importing your data directly from business systems, data lakes, BI tools, or even spreadsheets.
The focus areas of your operational plan are the key areas of the business that the plan will address.
This will depend on your business plan. Think about how the business operates and how it succeeds. Do you need to pursue short-term cost reductions while simultaneously pursuing longer-term growth and transformation initiatives? Your operational plans must be built on these strategic priorities.
For example, you can prioritize your focus areas based on the most relevant business strategies or by specific departments. Some examples of focus areas could be:
💡Tips to help define the focus areas of your operational plan:
Strategic objectives are specific goals aligned with the operation’s strategy and focus areas. They represent what you want to achieve in each focus area and will serve as the building blocks of your plan, ensuring that it’s focused and actionable.
Some examples of strategic objectives:
💡Tips for defining strategic objectives include:
It’s time to identify and prioritize the projects that need to be executed. Remember, projects are action plans to help you achieve your strategic objectives.
Project planning should include thinking about time frames, task assignments, and deliverables (and prioritizing).
Here are some examples of project ideas:
💡Tips for defining and prioritizing projects:
Finally, you’ll need to know if your operational plan and day-to-day activities result in outcomes.
Set KPIs for key initiatives and strategic objectives to measure success, ensure alignment, and identify performance gaps in your operational plan.
Some examples of operations KPIs are:
💡Tips for defining and tracking KPIs:
👉🏻 How Cascade can help build your plan:
Cascade’s planner feature enables you to build your operational plan with structure and ease by breaking down the complexity from high-level initiatives to executable outcomes. Define your key elements (focus areas, objectives, projects, and KPIs), and share the plan with your teams. You’ll get full visibility of the plan’s progress in real-time, allowing you to identify gaps, quickly update the plan, and communicate the change with your team with a single click.
👉🏻 If you don’t want to start building the plan from scratch, use our free Operational Plan Template pre-filled with examples of focus areas, objectives, projects, and KPIs that you can customize to meet your organization’s needs.
Here are five operational plan examples to help you create plans for your teams. You can use one master operational plan or set up an operational plan for each department.
This Operational Plan Template will help you close the gap between business goals and day-to-day operations. You'll be able to set goals and KPIs for your top priorities and work with the operations team to deliver operational excellence and business results.
This HR Operational Plan Template can be used to meet staffing requirements, manage human capital and align human resources activities with your strategy. HR managers in any industry can create a clear operational plan that can be constantly monitored, adapted, and improved.
If you’re in the IT team, try out this IT Plan Template to get your IT operational planning up and running fast. It comes prefilled with focus areas and KPIs relevant to IT operations; you can easily customize workflows and deliverables to your needs.
This Marketing Plan Template can help you efficiently understand and plan your digital marketing operations using best practices. Use it to quickly set up priorities and get your social media and marketing teams moving on tasks that will make an impact.
This finance-focused template is ideal if you want to get on top of your finance operations plan. Use it to allocate and distribute financial resources across your organization and get real-time updates through your dashboard and reports—which are great tools to create a visually compelling financial summary that clearly shows your key metrics.
💡Pro Tip: To ensure successful execution, it's crucial to align not just your master operational plan with your overarching strategic plan, but also all the operational department plans.
With the Alignment Maps feature, you’ll be able to visualize how your top-level business strategy breaks down into functional and operational plans. This empowers COOs and CFOs to consolidate their operational plans in one place, creating tighter alignment between the finance and operations teams and improving cross-collaboration to build more resilient operations.
Want to dig deeper? Use the Relationships feature to see the relationships between connected objectives from your plans and understand how your different department goals contribute to the core business metrics and goals. This view will allow you to clearly map dependencies, blockers, and risks that may lie along your journey.
1. don’t underestimate the power of transparent communication.
Regularly communicate the operational plan and progress to all relevant stakeholders to build the necessary buy-in and support. Your employees must know your goals and the roadmap, and team members should understand their role in its execution. This business transparency will help everyone row in the same direction.
“Clarity regarding strategy is one of the key drivers of autonomous execution. If people understand what you’re working toward and have guardrails in place, they can be empowered to make their own decisions and don’t need everything to be ‘run up the chain’ to get approved. This allows you to move fast and at scale.” — Sam Sterling , Chief Strategy Officer, Akqa
Keep the momentum going and ensure that the plan is executed effectively. Regular monitoring and reviews can help identify and address any challenges or obstacles that may arise.
Schedule regular reviews and check-ins and provide the necessary support to ensure projects are on track and moving forward.
“I think adopting a growth mindset is super important. This means having the confidence to fail fast, try something new and empower people to do that.” — Ken Miller , General Manager, Azure Intelligent Cloud at Microsoft
With the Team Updates functionality, every team member can post updates on key measures, actions, and objectives. This will give you real-time visibility into performance and help you identify possible risks before it’s too late—without having to schedule extra meetings or nag your team members for updates.
Your operational plan should be flexible, adaptable, and open to adjustments. This means keeping an eye on progress, making corrections if needed, and being willing to adapt the plan to changing circumstances or new opportunities. As McKinsey suggests, you can consider creating a team that will be able to collect data, link analysis with action, and offer quick responses to rapid changes.
“Traditionally, companies would have taken that piece of paper and gone out and said: we're going to execute it, start to finish. Then get into the formulation of the strategy, what we need to hit, and what the end product result will be like. But what we do know is that’s never the case. Along the way, you're going to have bumps, and inevitably, you’ll need to change from that original picture.” — Annie Lucchitti , Marketing Manager, Unilever
Effective operational planning requires the engagement and empowerment of your team. Involve stakeholders in the planning process and provide them with the necessary resources. Give them context and an opportunity to set goals and prioritize initiatives. This will help you boost engagement and hold them accountable for progress.
“I think it just works at every single level. Are people allowed to be themselves at work? Personally, are they at peace? Are they happy? Productivity happens when people have the right skills, but also when they are engaged and happy. If one of those fails a bit, productivity will start decreasing.” — Joan Torrents , Global Sourcing Manager, TESCO.
Don’t underestimate the importance of tracking and measuring progress against the operational plan's goals and objectives. Set milestones, enforce KPIs, and stay on top of progress. Doing this will help you stay on course, empower you to act quickly, and provide valuable insights into what is going wrong.
“Data is a foundational element in the strategy definition phase as well as in the strategy execution phase as it helps create a baseline, identify key priorities, set goals, and measure progress.” — Erica Santoni , Principal, Diversity Equity & Inclusion, Intuit
Use Cascade’s Dashboards to monitor your day-to-day progress on key metrics and critical business and strategic information in real-time.
Compile the information in powerful reports and executive summaries in seconds with pre-built templates. Share them with your key stakeholders —internal and external— and invite them to collaborate on your strategy together.
What good is an operational plan if no one executes it? If your organization wants to operate at a higher level, static tools like Excel spreadsheets, PowerPoints, Google Docs, and/or project management tools aren’t the solution.
❌They aren’t designed for adaptive strategy and planning.
❌They often lead to siloing and hinder effective cross-collaboration.
❌They make it challenging to measure progress and slow down decision-making.
With Cascade as your central operating system, you can stop running business operations blindfolded and embrace rapid, coordinated, and data-driven decision-making.
Get your Operational Plan Template to get started with a dynamic plan that will lead to actual outcomes for your business and see faster results from your strategy.
Or take Cascade for a spin! Start today for free or book a 1:1 product tour with Cascade’s in-house strategy expert.
Your toolkit for strategy success.
Without a plan, your business operations are as good as a children’s playground—everyone’s doing their own thing with no care in the world.
An operational plan brings order to your organization. It defines the functional aspects of your long-term strategy, like goals, milestones, responsibilities and timelines, to build collaboration and make real progress toward your vision.
Teams often overlook the importance of operational plan management, leading to miscommunication, unnecessary roadblocks and slow growth.
If you don't want to end up in a chaotic playground with everything going south, read this start-to-finish guide on operational planning. We'll share a 6-step process of making your own operational plan with a few examples to inspire you.
An operational plan is a roadmap designed to implement your business strategies. It operationalizes your strategic plan by defining:
An operational plan clarifies all the finer details about your strategy—like what, who, when and how—to help you realize the bigger vision. It’s a work plan for transferring the available inputs into the desired outputs.
While operational and strategic planning might sound the same, they have significantly different meanings. Let's take a quick look at these differences to understand what an operational plan stacks up against a strategic plan.
Strategic Plan | Operational Plan |
---|---|
Conveys the bigger picture with the long-term vision for the business | Communicates more concrete and short-term goals to realize the vision |
Includes high-level inputs from various stakeholders to move forward | Has a detailed action plan with milestones and metrics to track progress |
Remains weatherproof for a longer period | Subject to change based on performance |
Focuses on org-wide goals that are relatively vague | Focuses on tactical plans for every team/function within the company |
Created by the senior leadership | Created by individual departments |
Only setting goals without a solid operational plan to implement them is like making new year’s resolutions that never come true.
Without a clear direction of what to do and how, you’d end up wasting your resources with little to no progress to show for it. An operational plan helps move the needle for your company by clarifying the steps to success and bringing more accountability.
Still wondering how an operational plan can keep you on track? These five benefits will clue you in:
If a strategic plan defines the destination, an operational plan chalks out the itinerary to reach that destination. This actionable roadmap covers all bases to streamline collaboration within the team and set up the right systems to hit your milestones.
Making an operational plan allows you to assign responsibilities to all internal and external stakeholders. It clarifies who’s responsible for what and sets expectations from the start. This is key for bringing everyone on the same page and avoiding roadblocks once the work is underway.
Timelines and milestones are two of the most crucial components of an operational plan in business. They empower teams to analyze their performance and review progress objectively. You can use these insights to tweak your game plan for greater success and to improve operational efficiency .
An operational plan outlines the parameters for success and metrics to monitor the same. These metrics give you a clear picture of your progress at every stage to ensure you’re moving as per the plan. They also highlight any potential red flags that can potentially derail the plan and need your attention.
One of the most important benefits of making an operational plan is the clarity it brings to everyone. Instead of leaving your team clueless about the next steps, this work plan clarifies how and where they can start. It also reduces errors by laying down the ground rules for every task and process.
📌 Related resource: Operations Teams: How to Assemble and Lead a High-Performing Team
There’s no standard rulebook for creating an operational plan. It’s a fully customizable document that depends entirely on your company’s goals, resources, timelines and overall approach.
For example, a fast-paced team can work with shorter timelines and hit more goals than a large-scale organization with more levels of checks and a bigger hierarchy.
So, instead of replicating other companies’ operational plans, let’s help you create your own plan with this 6-step process:
A strategic plan is to an operational plan what a storyline is to a movie—it conveys the essence and creates a direction for the operational plan to become a masterpiece.
So, naturally, the first step to operational planning is creating a strategic plan; here’s how:
Once done, you can rely on this strategic plan throughout the operational planning process to prepare for what lies ahead.
💡 Use these 14 free customizable project plan templates to enhance communication, save time and achieve your strategic planning goals.
The next step is breaking your high-level goals into shorter, more actionable objectives. For example, you can divide the goal of achieving an X% growth in revenue into smaller targets, like increasing inbound leads, doubling down on cold outreach and rolling out a referral program. Implementing effective referral tracking within the program will allow you to monitor and optimize the success of your referral initiatives, providing valuable insights into the sources and impact of referred business.
Goal-setting makes your operational plan realistic and feasible. You're ideating the means to realize the long-term vision by hitting the right milestones.
More importantly, once you have a list of goals, it's easier to determine the budget and resources required to achieve them. Before moving ahead, do your homework to set a solid budget that allows you to implement your strategy without splurging too much.
Once you’re clear about your goals and resources, it’s time to define the finer details of your plan—specifying who’ll do what, when and how.
Create a comprehensive project scope by outlining:
This step brings more specificity to your operational plan. It concretely spells out each goal with details about milestones within each goal, roles and teams responsible for fulfilling these milestones and how they will work toward the end goals.
💡 Scribe top tip: Creating a project scope document is a breeze when you use Scribe. You can use Scribe's project scope template to get cracking at the earliest.
By this point, you've done all the legwork to get to work and start writing your operational plan finally.
Make it as actionable and value-packed as possible by answering these five main questions:
Use Scribe's free AI Writer for Operations tool to capture and document operational procedures.
Additionally, a good operational plan also lists the metrics to track your progress. Pick and explain relevant metrics in your plan to show employees how you'll analyze their efforts.
No plan is perfect and there's always scope for improving your operational plan to make it perfect. So, once you've drafted the plan, don't forget to run it by a few select stakeholders to identify the gaps you can cover.
Actively seek feedback from people in different ranks and departments to understand the missing links in your plan. Your plan will go through 2-3 rounds of iterations before it’s finally ready to roll out.
The final step in the process is publishing the plan. The most important thing to remember is that your plan should be:
Clueless about the best way to hit all three points to roll out your operational plan? We have just the solution you need — Scribe .
Scribe is a documentation tool designed to create intuitive documents, like an operational plan, in a few seconds. It significantly reduces the time spent on creating such documents and improves team efficiency in more ways than one.
You can create a single Scribe to explain a process or compile instructions with SOPs in a single place with Pages. You can even ask the AI to write your operational plan — just add a simple prompt and your Scribes, and the AI will build a customized document!
It's the easiest way to bring your team on the same page and power up your operations!
✨ See how operations teams use Scribe to tackle even the most daunting operational challenges.
If you’re looking for some inspiration to get cracking with your planning process, looking at a few operations plan examples can help big time! Let’s look at three great examples, see why they work and how you can replicate the results.
This detailed risk management plan by Carter Supply covers several aspects of managing risk at the organization. This 10-page document lists the key components of this plan, like a summary, the approval process and the end-to-end risk management process.
As an operational plan, it gives the entire team clear insights into the risk management plan, highlights why it’s in place and explains how this plan will be used.
This plan also covers different aspects of the plan and lays down the process of working on each element. For example, for risk quantification, the plan specifies that the risk manager will work with the risk owner to understand the exposure.
Upscope ’s go-to-market (GTM) plan is another excellent example of operational planning. The SaaS company created this plan to execute its strategy for breaking into the co-browsing market.
Pursuing this goal, the team created an airtight plan with a rundown of its target audience, pain points the product solves and the buyer journey.
The Upscope marketing and sales teams could use this GTM plan to launch targeted campaigns and reach the right people. They were also well aware of the main value propositions to share with the target buyers, nudging them towards a purchase.
📌 Related resource: How Product Operations Can Help Your Team Build Better Products 📌
The quality management plan by SmartNet is a detailed document explaining the company’s entire operations framework, from the management structure to project reporting, risk assessment, deliverable production and more.
Instead of a single department, this operational plan documents the complete business operations. Despite being so lengthy, the document is easy to read and understand—exactly how the plan should look like.
It also includes all the critical information to guide new employees about the company's operations from scratch.
When done right, operational planning can be a game-changer for streamlining your operations. It’s an in-depth roadmap to work toward your vision and hit all goals.
Even though making an operational plan isn’t the most exciting task and it can get extremely time-consuming, the right process and tools can do the trick for you. Follow the six steps we’ve highlighted in this guide and when you’re ready to roll, use Scribe to put the plan in place.
Scribe takes the pain out of documentation to empower teams for seamless operational planning. Try it today to see how it works!
Related content, related templates, related tools.
Susan Ward wrote about small businesses for The Balance for 18 years. She has run an IT consulting firm and designed and presented courses on how to promote small businesses.
Stage of development section, production process section, the bottom line, frequently asked questions (faqs).
The operations plan is the section of your business plan that gives an overview of your workflow, supply chains, and similar aspects of your business. Any key details of how your business physically produces goods or services will be included in this section.
You need an operations plan to help others understand how you'll deliver on your promise to turn a profit. Keep reading to learn what to include in your operations plan.
In your business plan , the operations plan section describes the physical necessities of your business's operation, such as your physical location, facilities, and equipment. Depending on what kind of business you'll be operating, it may also include information about inventory requirements, suppliers, and a description of the manufacturing process.
Staying focused on the bottom line will help you organize this part of the business plan.
Think of the operating plan as an outline of the capital and expense requirements your business will need to operate from day to day.
You need to do two things for the reader of your business plan in the operations section: show what you've done so far to get your business off the ground and demonstrate that you understand the manufacturing or delivery process of producing your product or service.
When you're writing this section of the operations plan, start by explaining what you've done to date to get the business operational, then follow up with an explanation of what still needs to be done. The following should be included:
A high-level, step-by-step description of how your product or service will be made, identifying the problems that may occur in the production process. Follow this with a subsection titled "Risks," which outlines the potential problems that may interfere with the production process and what you're going to do to negate these risks. If any part of the production process can expose employees to hazards, describe how employees will be trained in dealing with safety issues. If hazardous materials will be used, describe how these will be safely stored, handled, and discarded.
Show your awareness of your industry's local, regional, or national standards and regulations by telling which industry organizations you are already a member of and which ones you plan to join. This is also an opportunity to outline what steps you've taken to comply with the laws and regulations that apply to your industry.
An explanation of who your suppliers are and their prices, terms, and conditions. Describe what alternative arrangements you have made or will make if these suppliers let you down.
An explanation of the quality control measures that you've set up or are going to establish. For example, if you intend to pursue some form of quality control certification such as ISO 9000, describe how you will accomplish this.
While you can think of the stage of the development part of the operations plan as an overview, the production process section lays out the details of your business's day-to-day operations. Remember, your goal for writing this business plan section is to demonstrate your understanding of your product or service's manufacturing or delivery process.
When writing this section, you can use the headings below as subheadings and then provide the details in paragraph format. Leave out any topic that does not apply to your particular business.
Do an outline of your business's day-to-day operations, including your hours of operation and the days the business will be open. If the business is seasonal, be sure to say so.
Describe the type, size, and location of premises for your business. If applicable, include drawings of the building, copies of lease agreements, and recent real estate appraisals. You need to show how much the land or buildings required for your business operations are worth and tell why they're important to your proposed business.
The same goes for equipment. Besides describing the equipment necessary and how much of it you need, you also need to include its worth and cost and explain any financing arrangements.
Make a list of your assets , such as land, buildings, inventory, furniture, equipment, and vehicles. Include legal descriptions and the worth of each asset.
If your business has any special requirements, such as water or power needs, ventilation, drainage, etc., provide the details in your operating plan, as well as what you've done to secure the necessary permissions.
State where you're going to get the materials you need to produce your product or service and explain what terms you've negotiated with suppliers.
Explain how long it takes to produce a unit and when you'll be able to start producing your product or service. Include factors that may affect the time frame of production and describe how you'll deal with potential challenges such as rush orders.
Explain how you'll keep track of inventory .
Describe any product testing, price testing, or prototype testing that you've done on your product or service.
Give details of product cost estimates.
Once you've worked through this business plan section, you'll not only have a detailed operations plan to show your readers, but you'll also have a convenient list of what needs to be done next to make your business a reality. Writing this document gives you a chance to crystallize your business ideas into a clear checklist that you can reference. As you check items off the list, use it to explain your vision to investors, partners, and others within your organization.
An operations plan is one section of a company's business plan. This section conveys the physical requirements for your business's operations, including supply chains, workflow , and quality control processes.
The operations plan and financial plan tackle similar issues, in that they seek to explain how the business will turn a profit. The operations plan approaches this issue from a physical perspective, such as property, routes, and locations. The financial plan explains how revenue and expenses will ultimately lead to the business's success.
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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 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.
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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.
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.
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 .
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 .
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.
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.
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 .
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.
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.
Note any potential risks, assumptions and time or resource constraints that might affect your business operations.
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.
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.
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.
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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June 6, 2022 - 10 min read
Having a strategic plan is essential to any company, but it’s not enough. To ensure that the broader organizational goals are within reach, you need an operational plan for day-to-day work.
Using templates to manage your operation plan can help simplify your complex processes and save you time. You know how a shopping list helps you remember what to buy at the store? Templates are like that for your work. And Wrike has many templates ready to go for different kinds of jobs.
For example, you can use the retail trade template to see what step comes next when adding something new for customers to buy. Then there’s the business operations templates , which helps you and your team keep track of your business plan without getting wires crossed. And when you need to manage bills, you can use the invoice tracking template . All these templates are great tools for keeping an operational plan ticking over.
In this blog post, we’ll explain what an operational plan is, show you how to create one without feeling overwhelmed, and provide you with an example of an operational plan. We’ll also share our prebuilt templates to get you up and running quickly.
An operational plan is a document that outlines the key objectives and goals of an organization and how to reach them.
The document includes short-term or long-term goals in a clear way so that team members know their responsibilities and have a clear understanding of what needs to be done.
Crafting an operational plan keeps teams on track while guiding them in making crucial decisions about the company's long-term strategy.
Though related to each other, these two planning strategies differ in their focus.
Operational planning is the process of the day-to-day work to execute your strategy. It ensures you have all the resources and staff necessary to get work done efficiently.
On the other hand, strategic planning is about looking ahead into the future, identifying the upcoming pipeline, and figuring out how you can prepare for it.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor, nearly 7 million Americans are self-employed, with an additional 10 million employed by small businesses.
If you're working at a large corporation, chances are your company will have some form of strategic goals in place. However, if you're one of the millions who work remotely and independently, your success will rely on operational planning instead.
The success of operational planning largely depends on setting realistic expectations for all teams.
Here are the key elements of a functional operational plan:
Ensure all teams understand the parameters of success. Doing this shows how their work contributes to wider company goals and ensures better decision-making for the business operation.
Think of an operational plan as a key component in a team puzzle. It provides employees with a manual on how to operate the company.
It should be created in tandem with other foundational documents like an organizational mission statement, vision document, or business strategy. Daily, it can help answer questions such as:
To create a successful operational plan, it's important to define goals clearly. Here are several steps that will help you develop a functional operating plan:
Before defining an operational goal, make sure your strategic objectives are in place and relevant.
Once these goals have been decided on, prioritize the most critical activities required to achieve these aims.
Stop diluting team efforts and let them focus on the most important goals first. Doing this means everyone works on a smaller set of tasks, instead of spreading themselves thin in multiple areas. It also helps in optimizing available resources.
For a robust operational plan, consider using key performance metrics or indicators that can help you determine project progress and lend visibility to team activities.
While lagging indicators look backward, leading indicators look to the future. Think of the plan as a car — the rear-view mirror would be a lagging indicator, while the windshield would be the leading indicator.
A leading indicator could be a new product, higher customer satisfaction levels, or new markets. Examples of lagging indicators include the number of people who attended an event or the monthly operating expenses for specific departments.
Instead of lagging indicators, use leading indicators. Lagging metrics will show that your efforts are falling short only after you execute the operations.
Leading KPIs include predictive measures that allow early identification of problems before they become critical and impact business performance negatively.
The key to defining appropriate KPIs is involving the whole team in the process. Meet to discuss the business goals and figure out what measurements are right for the team instead of working independently or outsourcing them.
Communication is key. By understanding your company's metrics and what they mean, you'll be able to work together more effectively with colleagues to reach common goals.
Let’s say that a company plans to increase production volume by 50% at the end of a fiscal year.
When the company goal is clear, the team will make a strategic plan with three main components: marketing, sales, and operations.
This can be further broken down into an operational plan, which will assign resources, teams, budgets, and timelines for different departments such as manufacturing, sourcing, accounts, finance, and logistics to achieve the increase in production. Such a plan should include a financial summary and financial projections as well.
Think about the example above. The goals and parties involved are clear as part of the operational plan. At the same time, to remain on track, the plan requires continuous analysis and reviews. An operational plan template can be extremely helpful to achieve that.
An operational template can be a simple document that is reused for different plans by the same organization. However, it is also possible and extremely helpful to make use of project management software tools to create one.
For instance, Gantt charts can serve exactly that purpose. Using a Gantt chart as an operational plan template, it is possible to create and manage plans, track changes and edit project-related activities in real time. The chart allows clear visibility for timelines, tasks, responsibilities, and team members.
Most businesses utilize an operational plan to keep track of their daily tasks.
The plan outlines the day-to-day activities for running the organization — teams, managers, and employees are then able to visualize their contribution, which is crucial for reaching company goals.
But every process has two sides. Let’s review the operational planning advantages and disadvantages in more detail.
Clarifies organizational goals.
An operational plan helps managers and department heads define their daily tasks, responsibilities, and activities in detail.
It also illustrates how individual team members contribute to the overall company or department goals. Without a clearly defined plan, managers and employees have no way to measure their daily tasks against predefined outcomes.
Business owners are always looking for ways to increase productivity, which in turn translates into higher profits. One of the best and easiest ways to boost efficiency is through an operational plan.
Employees are more productive when they know their daily objectives and responsibilities. Conversely, if they're unsure of what is required of them, chances are their productivity will suffer.
An operational plan provides this vital information to employees in each department and across the company as a whole.
Having a plan helps in keeping projects and teams on track.
When operations are managed properly, teams are able to consistently increase revenue and develop new products.
Innovation pays off. A BCG survey points out that 60% of companies that are committed to innovation report steadily increasing revenues year after year. With an operational plan in place, teams are able to innovate better and faster.
Competitive advantages are made up of multiple levels and components.
Coordinating the different parts with an operational plan will make your workflows run more smoothly. This allows you to deliver high-quality deliverables on time, creating an outstanding customer experience and keeping you ahead of the competition.
Possibility of human error.
Human error is a common problem in manufacturing that can often occur when transitioning from production to sale.
Operations management teams will need to coordinate effectively with diverse cross-functional teams such as finance, accounting, engineering, and human resources. In doing so, each team will have a clear understanding of the end goals of each department.
One of the main disadvantages of implementing an operations planning process is that its success depends on coordination across parts.
Plans end up failing due to one part not working, which can have an adverse impact on the subsequent process. Disruptions in one process can end up affecting the entire process, making the entire operational plan useless.
Boost your organization’s efficiency by ensuring every project starts off on the right foot. Wrike’s award-winning project management tools can help you create and execute operational plans with various prebuilt templates .
Establish your plan, monitor progress, and be prepared to pivot if necessary. With Wrike, you can share real-time data, making all milestones crystal clear for your team and helping them stay updated and on track.
These templates keep processes running smoothly so you can focus on doing your work well. Want to try them out? They’re just a click away.
Choose the most suitable template and start a free two-week trial of Wrike today!
Yuvika is a freelance writer who specializes in recruitment and resume writing.
Discover how a PMIS can help your team deliver high-quality projects faster in this in-depth guide. Learn what is PMIS and how you can set one up.
Google project management tools include Google Sheets, Docs, and Slides. Read on to discover everything you need to know about Google project management.
Navigating the highly competitive job market can be brutal. In a recent Jobvite survey, nearly three in four respondents said they believe finding a job has become much harder following the pandemic. It’s clearer now more than ever how important it is for your resume to stand out. In fact, nearly 24% of hiring managers spend 30 seconds or less reviewing a resume to determine whether a candidate is qualified for a position or not. You quite literally have seconds to catch their attention before your resume ends up in the recycling bin with the rest of the candidates that didn’t make the cut. So, how exactly do you set yourself apart and stand out from the crowd? Highlighting your work skills on your resume is the best place to start. We did some digging and pulled together some work skills examples in various categories to inspire you to revitalize your resume. Important social work skills for the workplace What are social work skills? Social skills, otherwise known as interpersonal skills, are essential in helping us communicate with one another in the workplace. These skills allow us to build relationships, interact, and communicate with those around us in a meaningful and effective way. This includes verbal and nonverbal cues. Social work skills are essential in every job. Whether you work on a team, are in a client-facing role, or are an individual contributor reporting to a direct manager, solid social skills will help you succeed in your position. Let’s take a look at some of the most important social work skills for the workplace: 1. Empathy One of the best ways to interact well with others is to put yourself in their shoes and understand how they feel. Empathetic people can understand how others are feeling and can identify with those feelings in some way. Having empathy is a vital trait, especially for those who hold leadership positions. Being empathetic isn’t something you can force, and it doesn’t happen overnight if it doesn’t come naturally to you. This skill takes a conscious effort to build and will help you forge and maintain stronger workplace relationships. 2. Active listening Have you ever been in the middle of a conversation with a colleague and felt like they weren’t paying attention to a single word you were saying? Or have you ever been chatting with a coworker and felt like they heard you and gave you their utmost attention? The latter is known as active listening. Active listening involves giving someone your full, undivided attention and it allows you to build trust and strong relationships with your colleagues and clients. Active listening requires practice, but it is a skill that can be acquired with proper training and effort. 3. Emotional intelligence At a high level, emotional intelligence refers to recognizing and being aware of the emotions of both yourself and other people. Those with high emotional intelligence are known for being self-aware and can practice self-regulation, particularly in stressful and potentially overwhelming situations at work. Emotional intelligence is critical in the workplace because it contributes to strong, long-term relationships and can help you manage and appropriately tailor your reactions. 4. Conflict resolution According to recent research, 65% of workers experienced conflict with another coworker. Conflict is inevitable in the workplace, which means developing a solid set of conflict resolution skills can help you manage and navigate these situations efficiently. Conflict resolution is the ability to address the root cause of disagreements and devise a solution that works for all parties involved. You can use various techniques to help resolve conflicts, so it’s essential to learn and understand how to address different disputes. 5. Written communication Social skills refer to how we communicate with one another, which means written skills are a must. Some forms of written communication include emails, instant messages, documents, reports, slide decks, and your resume. Using appropriate grammar, proper spelling, and following formatting guidelines will allow you to communicate effectively with others. 6. Nonverbal communication When it comes to communication, it’s easy to think about what we are saying, but we don’t always focus on how we are saying it. Nonverbal skills can dramatically impact the way your message is received. Your body language, eye contact, facial expressions, and tone can completely change the message you are trying to deliver to your coworkers. It’s important to be aware of these subtle cues so that you can make sure your message isn’t misconstrued or misinterpreted. Work-related skills for virtual environments You might not be working with your colleagues side-by-side in the same office. In addition to the skills we discussed above, remote work requires some different skills and disciplines. Below are a few competencies that you’ll definitely want to have when collaborating in virtual work environments: Self-motivation: There’s a big difference between in-person office environments and virtual workplace settings. At the office, your manager can simply stop by your desk or quickly check in to see how things are going. While your supervisor can technically do the same via email or instant message, you ultimately don’t have anyone looking over your shoulder 24/7 at your home office (unless you have pets, children, or spouses nearby!). That means self-motivation and knowing how to hold yourself accountable to get your work done are vital to helping you thrive in a virtual role. Adaptability: Adaptability is beneficial in any setting, but it’s a particularly beneficial skill in virtual environments. Whether you’re working with a distributed team and constantly trying to navigate time zones or your presentation gets interrupted due to an unreliable internet connection, adaptability is an important skill to help you navigate the unexpected and ever-changing conditions you may find yourself running up against. Digital and technical knowledge: In virtual environments, employees work remotely and generally rely on several tools to collaborate and tackle their to-do lists. Between project management software, instant messaging, video conferencing, document sharing, and email, there are many different technologies to navigate daily. If you’re working in a virtual environment, it’s essential to feel comfortable using these platforms if you want to keep up with the pace of your work. It’s also worth mentioning that, while you still may be able to reach the IT help desk, you may not receive assistance as quickly as you would in an office setting. That means you might have to do some troubleshooting and problem-solving on your own. What teamwork skills are important for 2021? Teamwork makes the dream work, right? Teamwork skills are a subset of skills that enable us to work well with groups of people (meaning, our teams) to achieve a shared goal or outcome. In 2021 and beyond, as we see a shift toward hybrid work models, honing in on your teamwork skills can help you land your dream gig. Here are the teamwork skills that are important to develop for 2021 and beyond: 1. Reliability Being reliable is arguably the most crucial teamwork skill. Those who are reliable can be depended on and trusted to do their part time and time again. They show a certain level of commitment to their work and colleagues, meet deadlines (or even get work in early), and follow through on any action or task they say they will do. You want to be a reliable teammate so your colleagues and your employer will have faith in you. And the more trustworthy you are, the more responsibility you will be trusted with over time, which may boost your career growth in the long run. It’s even more important to showcase your reliability in a virtual workplace environment through clear and frequent communication. 2. Accountability Accountability goes hand-in-hand with reliability. But beyond being reliable, accountability is all about taking responsibility for one’s work — even when that includes mistakes or failures. There’s no room for the blame game or pointing fingers on teams that work well with one another, which means you have to hold yourself accountable and take fault when necessary. Your teammates will likely think more of you if you’re willing to admit you’re wrong, as opposed to constantly shifting blame or pointing fingers when issues arise. 3. Respectfulness A little bit of respect goes a long way, especially at work. According to Indeed, respectfulness in the workplace reduces stress, increases productivity and collaboration, improves employee satisfaction, and creates a fair environment. You need to respect your team members, manager, and clients to do your best work together. Acts of respect include acknowledging others and calling them by name, encouraging and exchanging opinions and ideas without judgment, giving credit where it’s due, and listening to and understanding your teammates. 4. Collaboration There is no successful teamwork without collaboration. Collaboration is working together with one or more people on a project or toward a shared goal. When employees can work together and collaborate successfully, they can share ideas and come up with practical solutions to complex problems. Brainstorming, open discussions, workshops, and knowledge sharing sessions are all examples of collaboration that lead to great teamwork. 5. Persuasion Have you ever worked with a teammate who insists on working their way, even if the rest of the team agrees to pursue another route? How do you keep making progress on your project or goal if one team member isn’t on the same page? That’s where your skills of persuasion come in handy. Sometimes you might have to persuade a team member to see another point of view and change their mind to benefit the rest of the group. But persuasive skills are more than just getting someone to change their mind and see your perspective — it’s about doing so in an empathetic and respectful way in order to maintain a healthy working relationship. 6. Constructive feedback for improvement You should be able to offer your teammate constructive feedback to help them improve and vice versa. Exchanging feedback not only benefits individuals and the team as a whole but also adds value to your organization by creating an opportunity for constant growth. Giving feedback requires offering suggestions for improvement in a positive way, while receiving feedback requires listening with an open mind and a willingness to change. Work skills that work on any resume Sure, there are specialized skills for different roles and industries. Engineers add their programming skills to their resume, project managers add project management certifications and relevant skills, and HR professionals add the performance management and HRIS systems they’ve previously used. While there are specialized skills you’ll want to emphasize on your resume based on your industry and role (and trust us, those are important), there are also some work skills that are relevant on any resume. These include: Creativity: Creativity is an essential component of innovation and complex problem-solving. In its most basic form, creativity requires thinking about a problem or task differently and using your imagination to form and test new ideas. Problem-solving: All employers value problem-solving abilities because they want to hire people who can break down problems and develop effective solutions. To showcase your problem-solving skills, you might possess a range of qualities such as analysis, evaluation, decision-making, and communication. Time management: No employer wants to hire someone who doesn’t make good use of their time and will have a hard time getting their work done. Your future employer wants to know that you’ll be able to meet deadlines, effectively use your workday to get tasks accomplished, and handle your workload without a lot of babysitting. Examples of specific time management responsibilities include goal setting, prioritizing tasks, meeting deadlines, and minimizing or eliminating distractions for optimal focus. Leadership: Showcasing how you’ve demonstrated leadership in your previous roles can demonstrate to your future potential employer what type of employee you are. Being an effective leader can increase your advancement opportunities within your organization. Use specific examples of successful leadership on your resume for the most significant impact. So how do you showcase these skills on your resume? Now that you know what work skills for resumes employers want to see, you’re bound to have this question: Where do you put them? Keep in mind that the goal of your resume is to prove that you’re a qualified, no-brainer fit for the role you’re applying for. That’s why your smartest move is to tailor your resume to a specific job. Take a fine-tooth comb to the job description and identify words or skills that are repeated or emphasized. Those are traits that you should be incorporating in your own resume (provided you honestly possess them, of course). The most important skills should go as close to the top of your document as possible, because remember, hiring managers are only skimming for a few seconds. As for where you can work these skills in, you have a number of options, including: Your professional summary at the top of your document A dedicated key skills section where you can bullet out your most relevant abilities Your past positions, where you can demonstrate how you applied your skills in previous jobs Finally, remember that many of your work skills and social work skills — from communication and time management to problem-solving and active listening — will be on display throughout the hiring process and your interviews. So, it should go without saying, but show up on time, respond to messages promptly and respectfully, and treat everybody respectfully. After all, when it comes to your work skills, employers want you to show — and not just tell.
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Written by Dave Lavinsky
Operational plans are important for any effective business plan . They provide a roadmap for how the company will operate on a day-to-day basis. The operational strategic plan should outline the company’s goals and objectives, as well as the strategies and actions that will be taken to achieve them.
The operational plan or operations section of a business plan is where you describe how your business will function on a day-to-day basis. This includes everything from the resources you’ll need to run your business, to the people who will be responsible for carrying out various tasks, to the processes and procedures you’ll use to get work done.
An operational plan is essential for any business because it provides a roadmap for how it will function. It ensures that everyone involved in the business is on the same page and knows what their roles and responsibilities are. Having an operational plan also makes it easier to track and accomplish goals, while driving cost reduction and improving overall results. Finally, your operations plan section helps show readers that you can turn your vision and goals into reality.
When writing the operations section of a business plan, there are a few things you’ll want to keep in mind. First, be sure to describe the resources that will be required to run your business. This includes everything from office space and equipment to human resources. Next, detail the processes and procedures that will be used to get work done. Be as specific as possible so that there is no confusion about how things should be done. Finally, identify the people who will be responsible for carrying out various tasks. This includes both employees and contractors.
As a business owner, it’s important to track your progress against your company goals. This is where KPIs come in. KPIs are performance indicators and an important part of creating a strategic plan that can help you track your progress and identify areas of improvement. You should document your KPIs in the operation plan of your business plan
When creating an operations plan, it’s important to track key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure your progress against your company goals. Some examples of KPIs that you could track are:
Creating an operational plan with KPIs will help you track your progress, identify areas of improvement, improve strategic planning and make necessary changes to reach your company’s strategic objective.
Here is what an operations plan example might look like:
The XYZ Company will require the following resources to operate:
The XYZ Company will use the following processes and procedures to get work done:
The following people will be responsible for carrying out these tasks:
An operations plan is a critical part of any business planning work. It provides a roadmap for how the business will function on a day-to-day basis. This includes everything from the resources you’ll need to run your business, to the people who will be responsible for carrying out various tasks, to the processes and procedures you’ll use to get work done. Having operational plans in place will ensure that everyone involved in the business is on the same page and knows what their roles and responsibilities are. It will also make it easier to track and accomplish goals.
A few key things to remember when writing your operations plan:
Following these tips will help you create a comprehensive and effective operations plan for your business.
A strategic plan is one of the critical components of any successful company. The operations plan outlines the roadmap for your business, outlining the steps you need to take to achieve your goals. If you’re not sure where to start, we can help. Our team of experts has created a comprehensive business plan template that will guide you through the process of creating an operational plan tailored to your specific business needs. Ready to get started? Download our template today and get access to all the tools and information you need to create a thriving business.
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With Growthink’s Ultimate Business Plan Template you can finish your plan in just 8 hours or less!
The Operations Plan is a component of your business plan that is like the engine of your car. The operations plan holds the key parts of your business and it shows how those parts work together to keep the business running. If you are starting a business or your business is growing, the operations plan also shows that your business is more than just a good concept. It shows why the business is running smoothly and how key milestones ahead will be met as the business grows. The operations plan is the powerhouse engine in your business plan . Let’s start that engine together.
The key to putting your operations plan together is choosing which processes show how your business works and what the expected outcomes will be as a result. Include the processes that you believe are most important even if they are basic or simple. And, if you think your business is too new to create an operations plan, think again. Every business has processes, no matter how large or small they may be. Your operations plan may be considered by potential investors or lenders; make it the best it can be.
The best operations plan includes a list of key processes with short explanations that detail each process. Some explanations will also include a brief sentence explaining how the key process will help the business meet the expected key milestones. For example, “Our Marketing team will post on social media each time our product sales reach one of our sales goals. This will drive new customers to our product offering.”
Main components of an operations plan:
Describe how the product is being developed and if it is currently offered or is on target for launch. Include the production process for testing, improvements or revisions.
Key milestone : Note the forecast for new product development to expand the product line.
Describe the process of manufacturing, from the first step to the delivery of products. This may include several bullet points. Add facilities maintenance in this section. Also, include the management processes of the staff.
Key milestone : Include a brief forecast with plans to increase manufacturing capabilities.
Include a description of day-to-day activities that are overseen by staff members, including facilities management, safety, reports and compliance, hiring staff and training.
Key milestone : Add a sentence regarding staff training for leadership as the business grows.
List the process of purchasing parts, services, products, and raw materials. Include a sentence about financial oversight of expenditures to control costs.
Key milestone : Indicate how the staff is preparing for purchasing increases to meet higher manufacturing demands.
List the processes that comprise customer service, including any customer relationship management software (CRM) or other processes that interact with customers. Provide details on processes for customer retention.
Key milestone : Add a sentence describing staff training to build customer relationships.
Describe how your business conducts sales, whether through online channels, via wholesale or retail sales, or by other means. Explain why the process works for your business and how it is positioned to be successful because of the sales process.
Key milestone : Indicate how planned sales strategies will expand to meet key milestones.
Note the process of current marketing campaigns and the response of the target audience. Note how responses are scored on social media.
Key milestone : Include operational plans for building brand awareness, key selling points, and entry positions.
At this stage of business, the finance process should be clearly outlined, with current and any expected funding included. Also, include a sentence about how the business has structured a repayment plan for any loans and is making on-time payments.
Key milestone : Describe any anticipated funding options that have already been put into place.
Describe in a few sentences how timely accounting is completed on a regular basis. Add a sentence about the payroll system and the software that runs it.
Key milestone : Add a note about increasing software programs in accounting to increase performance during growth.
Include a sentence about the process of oversight for the business. Add the process of documentation, filings, and oversight of any copyrights, patents, or trademarks. Include any licensing payments that add revenue to the business.
Key milestone : Include a description of the legal process already in place to accommodate expansion and long-term growth.
Now that you’ve read about the main components in a business operations plan, it’s time to connect them in writing your own operations plan. To do this, you can follow the easy steps ahead as you construct each process.
Remember, you may not need all of the processes listed here. You will want to choose those that make sense for your business and, if needed, add some others. When completed, your operations plan will flow smoothly from start to finish.
Badger Drains & Plumbing, based in Milwaukee, WI, is dedicated to providing top-notch residential and commercial plumbing services. Our operations plan outlines the key processes that make our business run smoothly and how we plan to meet our key milestones as we grow.
Our services, instead of physical products, are continuously refined based on customer feedback and technological advancements in plumbing. This includes adopting newer, more efficient ways to conduct pipe repairs, installations, and maintenance services.
Key milestone : To introduce environmentally friendly and cost-effective plumbing solutions within the next year.
Our staff handle day-to-day operational tasks, prioritizing safety, efficiency, and regulatory compliance. This includes everything from scheduling service calls to conducting routine safety checks and equipment maintenance.
Key milestone : Implement a leadership development program for senior technicians to prepare them for managerial roles as the company expands.
We procure high-quality plumbing materials, tools, and technologies from reputable suppliers, ensuring we have the necessary inventory to meet customer demand without excessive expenditure.
Key milestone : Strengthen relationships with key suppliers to negotiate better prices and ensure priority fulfillment as service demand increases.
Customer service is a pillar of our operations, involving not just resolving issues but proactively enhancing customer satisfaction through follow-ups and feedback collection using CRM software.
Key milestone : Introduce a loyalty program by the end of the next quarter to increase customer retention rates.
Sales efforts are directed through personal client interactions and digital marketing to generate leads, with a strong focus on the benefits of choosing Badger Drains & Plumbing for reliability and professionalism.
Key milestone : Achieve a 20% increase in annual contracts by targeting commercial entities in the Milwaukee area.
Our marketing is focused on local SEO, targeted ads, and social media engagement to connect with the Milwaukee community, emphasizing our quick response times and quality service.
Key milestone : Launch a community-oriented campaign to increase brand visibility and customer engagement by participating in local events and sponsorships.
Our current financing includes business revenue and a small business loan, with a diligent approach to budgeting and a clear plan for loan repayment and future investments.
Key milestone : Secure a line of credit to fund an expansion of services within the next two years.
We use modern software solutions to ensure accurate and timely financial and payroll management, allowing us to focus more on serving our customers and less on back-office tasks.
Key milestone : Transition to a more comprehensive software suite that integrates CRM and finance for better overall management efficiency.
Our legal framework encompasses regular reviews of compliance, documentations, and the management of any intellectual property, ensuring all operations are above board.
Key milestone : Establish a retainer partnership with a legal firm specializing in small businesses to prepare for interstate licensing and expansion.
By following this operations plan, Badger Drains & Plumbing aims to enhance its service offerings, optimize operational efficiency, increase productivity, and achieve sustainable growth, maintaining its commitment to being Milwaukee’s trusted plumbing service provider.
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Why do we offer PlanBuildr? We are business owners. We know your time is valuable. And, we know a comprehensive business plan is vital when it’s time to obtain funding or secure investors. Not all of us are writers, but we all know good value when we see it. Try PlanBuildr for free !
In today’s business environment, clear and consistent communication enables your team to have a shared understanding of the status and direction of your product. To this end, an operating plan collects your strategic objectives in one place, allowing everyone to grasp what they need to do, and how the product will remain successful.
In this article you will learn what a product operating plan is, how it can help you achieve your objectives, and best practices for effectively implementing one within your project team.
A product operating plan is a document that outlines the strategic actions your team will take to achieve a specific goal. Most operating plans only cover a period of one to two years and serve a crucial role in the product development process . You can expect your operating plan to include budgets, resource allocation, timelines, and key performance indicators (KPIs).
The operating plan moves away from the big picture vantage point of vision and strategy, towards a more granular and tactical plan for the execution of product strategy.
The operating plan helps product managers assess the impact of changing business priorities and customer needs on the product roadmap . Product managers can use the operating plan as a tool to factor in and communicate changes across the organization, allowing the product development process to remain agile.
An operating plan seeks to outline your product strategy to guide decisions and deliver on your stated goals. The operating plan comprises of the following:
To better understand what goes into an effective operating plan we will breakdown each step and discuss best practices for approaching the following:
Aligning with the strategy and vision of the product, selecting and tracking the product metrics.
The product goals derive from the product vision and strategy. To define these you should:
In order to align with the product strategy and vision, one should:
Identifying and tracking the right metrics is key to the success of any product and therefore the product team. Below are the steps to identify and track the right product metrics:
A product operating plan provides you with an instrument to ensure your product will deliver on the stated vision, strategy, and goals. However, the success of your operating plan depends upon your ability to manage and monitor it throughout the course of the product lifecycle. Proper management of the operating plan includes:
Adjusting and/or pivoting course, keeping stakeholders aligned.
You can measure the success of a product operating plan by developing product metrics which allow you to quantify and track the progress of the plan. Also, having a visual representation of the metrics allows you to make better interpretations and display your progress visually.
Product metrics let you determine whether a product operates to plan or not. When your team performs as planned, there’s no need for further adjustment.
However, when the team misses, or finds themselves falling short of the agreed upon target, you need to take corrective action and pivot course.
Here, corrective action could come from aligning or augmenting resources, changing the budget allocation, or moving around the tasks based on the dependencies in the plan.
Because the operating plan has many moving parts and stakeholders involved, you need to ensure that you have the buy-in from all the stakeholders involved.
The best practices for ensuring stakeholder buy-in include:
As with anything, challenges will arise while working with a product operating plan. Rather than allowing these to grow into a bigger problem, you should work to mitigate following issues before they impact the health of your product:
Communication challenges, visibility restraints.
Similar to the product manager role, the product operations or operating plan team has to work without direct authority, or people management responsibilities. You should be aware of this while trying to push the team towards your deliverables and use the operating plan as an influencing tool.
Communication is key to maintaining the flow of delivery across the product lifecycle. Insufficient communication or communication gaps can result in teams and stakeholders missing out on necessary changes or tasks. These knowledge gaps could result in misalignment, which impacts the product delivery timelines, as well as the scope.
Since the product operations team is a level above the product management, the product operations team may have limited visibility of the roadmap, customer needs, or the technical architecture/design information.
Below is an example of an operating plan that provides an illustration of what the process might look like for you. The operating plan focuses on two main steps:
Product operating plan components.
To provide a mobile based shopping experience for a retail grocery store shopper (in addition to in store shopping which is currently available)
Product goal(s):
To help you get started on your own operating plan, use this template . The template includes all the key parameters that need to be tracked and mobilized in order to make the product operating plan successful.
The product operating plan is a key component of the product development and delivery lifecycle. Having a product operating plan allows you to outline the tactical steps and ensure successful product delivery and tracking of your product.
The product operating plan also fosters alignment with the vision, stakeholder buy-in, and sets the product and the product organization up for success.
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What should your business’s operational plan include , objectives , production , finances , simplify your operational finances and more with countingup.
If you plan to start a small business, you’ll need to prepare for success. A business plan will help you organise your services and structure to set up and earn funding. But an operational plan is essential to managing your day-to-day.
This guide will cover how to write an operational plan for your business, including:
An operational plan outlines the physical requirements of running your business and how you’ll function daily. It can be its own document or a section of your business plan. Either way, the operational plan answers essential questions about how you’ll make your business earn a profit.
This plan covers your business’s who, what, where, when, and how much, similar to a company description . But your operational plan dives into the nitty-gritty details and outlines exactly how you’ll achieve them.
Writing an operational plan for your business will help you determine the essential materials to set up. The more detailed it is, the easier it will be to organise your business and increase productivity. As your operations grow, you can update the plan to fit your needs, so check in with it regularly.
If you wonder how to write an operational plan for your business, you’ll need to know some key components. We’ll outline the essentials.
The first step to outlining your operations is considering your objectives . Objectives are the specific things you want to achieve for your business in a particular time frame. For example, you may want to achieve profitability within the first six months. Or you might aim to use paid advertising to double your client base in a year.
Create different objectives based on the departments or sectors of your business. For example, you can form financial, marketing, sales, and development objectives. To develop effective plans, use the SMART method, short for specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-based.
Next, you’ll have to consider the logistics of where you’ll run your business. Are your operations home-based or will you need an office or shop? If you need to find a space, outline where it will be and how you plan to do it. You may need to use a real estate or letting agency to purchase or let a space.
So, discuss that process, when you plan to have a location, and how much you’ll spend. Costs will include things like rent, electricity, water, and any other elements you’ll need to include. For example, you might need to fit a cafe with kitchen equipment or decorate the space.
If you already have an office or shop, provide the address. For a customer-facing shop or office, outline the working hours.
Once you decide where you’ll run your business, you’ll need to consider the how. In this part, outline daily operating procedures. Which products or services will you provide? How will you offer them? Outline your structure and how you’ll achieve your objectives day-to-day.
But your business procedures won’t be effective without a reliable production plan. If you need to develop a supply chain or keep an inventory , you’ll discuss that here. First, list which supplies, equipment, and technology you’ll need to run your business. Then, include which suppliers you’ll use to keep a stock of your products.
Finally, detail what your production will cost by breaking it into sections. How much will you spend on your inventory each month as you start your business? What other regular expenses will you have?
For example, if you run a coffee shop, you would outline which coffee supplier you’ll use and how much you’ll order at what cost. Then, you might include the cost of ordering baked goods for your shop and other things necessary for your business. Additional production costs might consist of shop rent, disposable cups, stirrers, milk etc.
As you outline each aspect of your operations, consider the cost of running that aspect. Then, in the finances sections, bring each cost together. This section will help you get a broader picture of how much you’ll need to spend to run your business.
This section also outlines where you’ll get the money to keep up these operations. Similarly, list prices for your products or services, plus the profit margin and sales goals. Then, touch on how you’ll accept payments and organise your finances.
You might discuss what business current account you’ll use and how you’ll maintain your financial accounting . For example, you could explain how you’ll use Countingup , the business current account with built-in accounting software.
The Countingup app offers valuable features that simplify your finances, automate processes, and help track your performance. Using a unique tool like this will make your operations more efficient and allow you to maintain accurate records.
When writing your operational plan, it’s also important to consider your timeline. Consider outlining a daily working schedule and attaching times to different functional tasks. For example, how often will you reorder inventory? When do you plan to achieve your short-term, medium-term, and long-term objectives?
By organising your calendar, you can stay on top of what you need to do and when you need to do it. Plus, consider how you’ll manage your time well , which will help you run your business smoothly.
Once you know how to write an operational plan for your business, you can earn money. But, financial management can be stressful and time-consuming when you run a business. That’s why thousands of business owners use the Countingup app to make their financial admin easier.
Countingup offers features that help you stay on top of your operations. With automatic expense categorisation and receipt capture, you can stay on top of your business spending and maintain accurate records. Plus, the app lets you create and send invoices on the go, helping you receive the money you earn. The app will even notify you when the invoices are received and match them to payments.
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Companies often confuse strategic, tactical, and operational planning. Strategic planning sets your organization’s long-term vision and goals. Tactical planning is the process of figuring out how to achieve your strategic plan. And operational planning links the two, outlining the procedural steps you’ll take to meet your goals. A sound operational plan is critical for achieving success in your organization.
Operational planning is the process of creating actionable steps that your team can take to meet the goals in your strategic plan. An operational plan outlines daily, weekly, and monthly tasks for each department or employee. During operational planning, you’ll also create milestones that help you achieve your strategic plan. For example, if your strategic plan aims to grow your customer base by 20%, your operational plan will include incremental steps to gain new leads and customers.
A well-constructed operational plan makes everyone’s jobs easier. The benefits include:
Operational plans help you hit strategic goals, so start by reviewing your strategic plan. Your operational plan should be specific to a department or team, so your organization will likely have more than one operational plan. Identify the key stakeholders for a particular team: they’ll be best suited to develop the plan, which should include:
Once the plan is complete, you can replicate this process for each department. Plans should be shared department-wide for feedback and questions.
Also referred to as departmental goals or objectives, operational goals are the short-term targets that your organization wants to hit. An operational plan includes operational goals and the steps to achieve them. Typically, organizational goals are:
All operational goals should be measurable and actionable. Actionable means your team can achieve them – so the goal cannot be dependent on an outside factor. For example, your IT team may be tasked with training 10 new employees on security best practices each quarter. But if 10 employees aren’t hired in a particular quarter, that operational goal is not actionable.
To be measurable, there must be a clear way to tell if you met your operational goal or not. For example, one operational goal for an accounting team might be to process invoices more quickly. Their accounting software should be able to collect data on how quickly invoices are processed and paid, so the team can measure their performance over time and see if they are working more efficiently.
An operational plan shouldn’t be static – it’s a living document. As time goes on, you may need to adjust your operational goals. That isn’t a sign of failure – it means you’re doing a better job of understanding how each team functions and setting your targets accordingly. You should keep your plan up to date and revisit it regularly, whether once a year or at the end of each fiscal quarter. Include key stakeholders in this process so that the plan works for everyone.
Creating an operational plan might seem challenging at first – but once you get started, it can help all your teams run more smoothly. See how Spider Impact helps you define, measure, manage and report on your operational goals. Click for a free test drive or demo .
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Are you aspiring for the best outcomes from your business model? Do you want to set the pace of the organization in the right direction?
The right kind of business operational plan will set teams in motion to achieve desired organizational goals. With the assistance of powerful PPT models, businesses are able to direct the process’s blueprint to the employee and all stakeholders. A clearer picture of the state of operations and targets always helps teams be comfortable with what they are doing. They also know what success looks like.
Running, and even thriving in you business, could be a greater challenge when the marketplace is tough. If your enterprise can be taken as a ship, a business operation plan can be considered as its lighthouse. It (the business operational plan) reminds teams & stakeholders of the way to go and highlights potholes or obstructions the path ahead.
A well-designed PPT Presentation is the answer to ensure your venture prospers and has answers to most problems that will come your way. Start your business operational plan today with help of suitable presentations that suit your requirements. SlideTeam offers you PPT templates that assist in shaping business operational plans. Download slides that assist businesses to tackle operational challenges with flair and effectiveness.
Companies often tend to spend time and resources in strategic planning for long-term goals. While it is necessary to make strategic plans, most of these miss out on a key strategic element: a business operating plan.
“The proper outlining of business operational plan for daily needs leads to best outcomes for the organizations. Research has indicated better allocation of resources in organizations with well-laid operating plans.”
The operator should be able to answer these questions:
Let us look at the list of PPT models to fit business operating models:
This PPT Template is meant to ensure a pictorial depiction of the company’s sales & marketing goals. Use this presentation deck to highlight the executive summary, company vision, company strategy, changes in the competitive environment, revenue sources, objective for the next 12 months, milestones, financial summary, and others. The deck also contains slides related to acquisition of new customers, customer lifetime Value, and risk mitigation strategies to fit sales requirement.
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The PPT slide deck is helping businesses overcome fears and tackle challenges. It displays the company mission and objective, KPIs, business problems & solutions, changes in the competitive environment, financial summary, revenue growth, and others. Businesses are able to optimize their performance with information related to gross margin improvement, operating expenses, product roadmap , and more.
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The specific kind of PowerPoint Deck is focusing on the condition of the company, key performance indicators, operating highlights, hiring plans, and more to boost the overall outcome. It will help businesses devise top strategies to support product roadmap, operational challenges, risk & mitigation plans, and others. Put forth all details in the respective slides to make the presentation fruitful and result-oriented.
If you’re planning to set long-term business goals, then this PowerPoint Deck will be a desirable option. It includes slides related to the executive summary, business solutions, details related to key stakeholders, analysis of competitors, budget, source of revenue, and more. Highlight milestones of the company through visuals, establishing operational highlights.
The business operational plan PPT infographic will help companies establish their goals efficiently. It includes details related to mission & objectives, strategic intent, budget, performance indicators, time, responsibility, and progress. We provide thousands of editable icons on each topic and adjust sizes easily. Companies can use their own icons in the PPT Slides and edit the color of the graphics. Highlight details accurately through infographics and boost the overall output of presentations.
Graphical presentation of data assists in easier understanding of key business indicators. The business operational plan pie charts are creating huge impact on business meetings through the guided presentation. We provide thousands of editable icons for each category to make business presentations successful. Our pie charts are easy to understand, and comparison in the meeting rooms become easier with this.
Plan the best moves for the company with a business operational plan timeline PowerPoint Deck. The infographics used in the PPT will help businesses analyze present costs and plan future timeline. Use the editable infographics and pictures to highlight details related to the strategic intent of the company, performance indicators, budget, progression, risks mitigation, and others.
Select Business Operational Readiness Plan with Multiple Tasks PPT to describe aspects of operations minutely. It is the best option for businesses looking for pro-presentation solutions to highlight essential details. The slides can be easily edited, as per the preferred size and color to fit the business presentation requirements.
Businesses need to add backdrops in their presentations to describe subjects minutely. The Essential Elements of Business Operational Readiness Plan PPT deck is designed by our experts to make the teams ready for efficient operations. Edit the slides as per choice and improve the output of business meetings. Download the PPT deck today to ensure the completion of business pro presentations timely.
The governance of organizations needs to be chalked out accurately for optimal output. Our Business Operational Plan for Organizational Governance Infographics Template provides you detailed-reports on specific subjects. The editable slides suit pro-business presentation requirements and incorporate icons that fit business needs. Download it today to present detailed reports on the company’s progression and govern the organization suitably.
The operational plan templates prove to be the idle option to develop the presentations to be showcased in business conferences. Such plans should be in line with the strategic plans of the company and ensure focus on specific goals. Take the stakeholders & business partners in the loop to focus on the right objective of the business. The templates will work as the top option to solve specific problems in company operations and achieve long-term goals.
An operational plan focuses on the future of the business and identifies its activities. It helps in better outlining of the purpose of businesses and understand specific activities to achieve desired goals. If you desire to grow your business by 25%, over the next few years, then the creation of an operational plan becomes critical to meeting targets. An example is given below:
Goal: 25% growth in business by evaluating the revenues.
Timeline: 2-5 years.
Tasks: Engaging with customers and advertising brand products to generate leads for business.
Resources: Specific skills and customer servicing needs.
Budget: $5,000-$10,000 for each year.
Output Monitoring: Revenue analysis for the next few years
Write business plans in templates to ensure a simple understanding of facts that help in getting desirable output at all levels. Plan presentations critically as the checklist for dealing with business problems & solutions.
A business operational plan includes
A business operational plan helps in decide on a strategy that will deliver the best results. If you want to run projects successfully, then prepare operational plans that help to build revenues. The operational strategy of a company is future-oriented and set the plans that fit the requirements.
Let us look at the seven things to be included in a business operational plan:
The business operational plan is acting as the blueprint for business procedures and helps your reach your milestones with both speed and ease. The three types of business operational plans include
Single-use plans: It is meant for a specific purpose in business operations and handle challenges promptly. The development of single-use plans helps deal with problems for top outcomes.
Multi-use plans: It includes plans for stages of the business operation and implements these accurately. These work at many level with accuracy and efficacy.
Ongoing plans: It is the best way to solve repetitive, assembly-line like issues in daily operations. Such plans help in business growth and thus eliminate prevailing troubles.
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An operational plan clarifies how each department within an organization will streamline its business processes to achieve a set of goals for the next year. Successful organizations write operational plans to clarify their required short-term tasks and workflows to maximize workplace accountability. While an operational plan is often written separately from other proposals, startups often include it within a larger business plan. An operating plan is given to investors so they can assess a company's organizational structure, assets, and long term financial needs. Read ahead for the best practices on including an operational plan within a business plan, along with the benefits of doing so.
A business plan is written by a startup to outline key objectives and the strategies used to achieve them. Within business plans, there is typically an operational plan section. It describes the physical requirements to maintain operations, including the office building, additional facilities, tools, and other apparatus. Depending on the type of small business, the operational plan portion may also refer to required stock, vendors, and the production process. An operational plan section seeks to explain the assets, costs, and resources needed to maintain day-to-day business activities. These requirements are outlined to investors and involved stakeholders to reaffirm what is needed to start operating. It also demonstrates that the company recognizes the different production and delivery activities needed to produce quality goods and services. Including the following subsections will make sure the operational plan is detailed and organized when it comes time to present it to investors-
2 min. read
Updated January 3, 2024
The operations plan covers what makes your business run. It explains the day-to-day workflows for your business and how you will deliver the product or service that you offer. As part of your plan, it’s your chance to describe what you’ve set up so far and that you understand what is still left to make your business fully operational.
Like some of the other sections in your plan, the information you include fully depends on your type of business. If you run a subscription box service you’ll need to cover how you source and fulfill each order. If it’s a service-oriented business (like a mechanic or coffee shop) you’ll need to go into more detail about your location as well as the tools and technology you use.
The important thing is that the information here fully addresses how your business runs.
The components of your operations plan fully depend on what’s necessary to produce your product or service. For most, you’ll be adding details about your location and facilities, the technology being used, and any equipment or tools.
The information you include about your business location fully depends on the state, city, and neighborhood you’ve chosen. This will determine the specific taxes, registration, licenses, permits, zoning laws, and other regulations you’ll be subjected to.
Once you’ve legally established your business be sure to reference the relevant paperwork and legal documentation in this section. You may also want to point to mockups of the building, copies of legal agreements, and any other supporting documentation for how valuable the property is and how it helps your business function.
How will you create your product/service and what will it cost? You’ll include detailed breakdowns in your financial plan, but here you’ll talk about what it will take, who you will work with, and any alternatives.
Is your product or service driven by a specific technology or process? Let investors, banks, or other necessary parties know why it’s a valuable part of your business.
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Understanding your business operations makes your processes real. It ensures that you have organized steps in place to produce a product or service.
For investors, this helps prove that you know what you’re doing and can back up the rest of your plan with actual work that makes it happen. For you as a business owner, it’s a starting point for optimization. You have a blueprint for how things work. And as you run your business, can begin to identify opportunities for improvement.
If you don’t cover operations as part of your business plan, then you’re flying blindly. There’s no documented process for how things should work and no connection to the other strategic elements of your business.
Kody Wirth is a content writer and SEO specialist for Palo Alto Software—the creator's of Bplans and LivePlan. He has 3+ years experience covering small business topics and runs a part-time content writing service in his spare time.
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In 2010, sean bandawat acquired jacob bromwell, a specialty housewares company that's been in existence since 1819. here, he shares his operational plan, focusing on his strategy to turn the company into a profitable business..
In most cases , entrepreneurs begin tackling the challenge of writing a business plan before the business exists. Doing that, of course, means that your plan will focus much more on the potential of the business and how you, as the entrepreneur, plan to take advantage of those opportunities. But, if you are writing a business plan for a 192-year-old business that you’ve just acquired, like Sean Bandawat did in 2010, with the intent to turn a money-losing operation into a cash cow, you’ll need to focus on an area neglected in many business plans produced by entrepreneurs: the Operating Plan.
The operating plan is the section of your business plan where you dig into more of the nuts and bolts of your business, areas like: production/manufacturing, inventory, and distribution. In other words, this is the time where you put aside the conceptual aspects of your business to get your hands dirty in terms of writing out the specific of how you’re going to make your product, store it, and then ship it out to your customers.
The topic you cover in your operational plan will vary based on the kind of business you run. For instance, if you are starting a retail business, you will want to think about things like inventory and distribution while a software company may be more focused on securing office space and computer equipment. Again, the point is that you need to think about the kinds of details you’ll be facing from the day you open the doors of your business.
Take it from Bandawat, who, as an undergraduate business student at the University of Southern California, crafted a business plan that involved turning around the operations of Jacob Bromwell , a specialty housewares company that has been continuously manufacturing authentic campfire, kitchen, and fireplace products for families since 1819. Bandawat, who comes from a family of successful entrepreneurs, teamed up with his longtime friend, Eric Stanton, to tap money from friends and family to buy Jacob Brownwell. But before they closed the deal in May 2010—just after Bandawat graduated—they wrote a business plan that won top undergraduate honors from the USC Marshall School of Business.
The challenge for Bandawat and Stanton was that they wanted to continue to leverage the “Made in America” nature of their new company's products, which range from campfire popcorn poppers to chestnut roasters. That meant that, in crafting their operational plan, they needed to come up with specific strategies and actions they planned to take. “Taking over a business with 192 years of history presented very different challenges than creating a business from scratch,” says Bandawat. “So we relied on our advisory team to come up with a direction to take the company in.”
The key decision Bandawat and Stanton made in changing the operations of their business was to close the factory the company had been using in Michigan City, Indiana, and move the specialized equipment to a contract manufacturing facility in Glendale, California.
Bandawat and Stanton agreed to share their operational business plan with us as an example of how you, too, can come up with one for your business. You’ll see how they focused on concepts like operational efficiency, who their suppliers are, and how they planned to sell to new customers. “The key is to put something down and then start executing on it,” says Stanton. “And you’ll need to keep changing and updating it as you go and learn. You won’t know everything from the start.”
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Your business operational plan is an important corporate document as it guides the entire workforce when it comes to the implementation of operational guidelines, work processes, and quality standards. Through an effective business operational plan, it will be easier for the management to promote workplace efficiency which can directly impact the business’s profitability, sustainability, and continuous development. You may also see weekly plan examples .
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A simple operational plan is expected to discuss matters related to business objectives, operational call-to-actions timeline, and procedural instructions.
If a business operational plan will be created and implemented appropriately, it can positively affect not only creditors and investors but all other stakeholders of the business as well. Making a business operational plan is a tedious work process that you need to take seriously as it can direct your business to future achievements and successes. You may also like simple business plan examples .
Try to use any of our downloadable examples if you want to have references when putting together the content of your company’s own business operational plan.
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May it be an operational plan for a restaurant or a primary school operational plan that you are currently making, one of the things that can help you successfully come up with an effective business operational plan is the existence of a well-defined objective. Knowing how to use the business operational plan properly to your advantage can make it easier for your business to implement strategies and action plans that can further improve your current corporate condition.
Aside from setting the goals and objectives of the business operational plan’s usage, here are more items that you need to prioritize if you plan to start making your business operational plan:
1. Make sure that you will be working with the right people. A part of this is ensuring the quality standards of the recruitment and selection processes of your businesses. The workforce from different departments must be aware of their expected deliverable and responsibilities so that you can count on them in terms of providing the business needs and requirements in a timely manner. You may also see risk plan examples & samples .
Working with highly skilled and competitive employees will also allow you to come up with proper responsibility designation based on the ability of your workforce to function at their maximum potential.
2. Have a timeline that the workforce and the other stakeholders involved in the business operational plan will follow.
You have to set defined time frames where specific activities are expected to be done and where particular deliverable are required to be present. Make sure that you will set attainable and realistic deadlines so that you can consider the working hours of your workforce as well as the duties that they will be assigned with. An effective timeline can result to the timely achievement of your operational goals and objectives .
3. List down all the operational call-to-actions that you would like to execute. It is important for your business operational plan to tap all the departments or divisions of the business.
All the areas of the company or business establishment must be highly functional so that the objectives set by the management in terms of operations can be achieved. Moreover, make sure that your action plans are well-designated to specific individuals or teams so you can track the progress of each action plans .
4. Do not forget the financial aspect of the implementation of the business operational plan. Set and allocate a budget that will be used for a given time period or duration. You have to ensure that you will prepare a list or a document that can present the cost that each division or department will be given with so that their operational responsibilities and tasks will be fulfilled. You may also like work plan examples & samples .
5. Set clear instructions or directions that can make the business action plan understandable and transparent. Come up with a list of business areas or locations where specific operational activities must be implemented. You have to make sure that employees can identify the part of the operations where their deliverable and expertise are needed based on the content specification of your business operational plan. You may also check out sales plan examples .
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The sales strategy plan , marketing strategy plan, business operational plan, and all the other business plans of the business must be aligned with one another to produce maximum results. With this, you have to make sure that you will look into the development of each plan closely so that all of them can affect and impact your business positively. Here are some of the ways on how you can ensure that you will create an efficient and effective business operational plan:
1. Always remember that different business departments have different needs. Hence, the objectives of your business operational plan must fit the operational requirements of each business area. Being able to align action plans with what each department are truly expected to provide can help your business operational plan to produce great results. You may also see risk management examples .
2. Come up with business operational plan objectives that are strategic, specific, and time-bound. You have to think of the current condition of the business and the things that you can do and implement to ensure that it can reach its vision and goals. A great objective listing can help your business operational plan to be more realistic and attainable. You may also like transition plan examples .
3. Look into the production processes of the business. Thinking of the demands, requirements, needs, and nature of the operations of your business can help you develop a relevant business operational plan. You also have to consider your company’s operational guidelines, general policies , and protocols so that you can identify the particular activities that will allow you to maximize the usage of your resources without breaking any rules or misleading the workforce during the business operational plan’s implementation.
4. There are a number of resources that you have to keep in mind which includes your suppliers of choice, the technology that the company uses in its operations, the materials and equipment that are necessary to be present in the workplace, the cost of the operations that the business should provide, and the people that will execute the business operational plan. You may also check out quality plan examples & samples .
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For your business operational timeline to work at its best, you have to make sure that you will set deadlines in all the action plans that you will write down. Moreover, you have to be precise with the things that you would like to achieve in specific time frames. Some of the time-bound milestones that your business operational plan must have include the following:
1. Recruit the best qualified candidate for particular work positions. As we have specified above, you have to think of the quality standards that you will set for your hiring processes. Executing business operational plans can be easier if you have the right people working with you. You may also see advertising plan examples .
2. Keep track of the development of the production. There are different things that you need to look into within the operations of the business. Know what happens during the phases of product design, development, testing, launch, and presentation.
Knowing that you have quality products to offer can make it more effective for you to incorporate a business operational plan that can make your offers more marketable, impressive, and appealing. The same goes when setting goals for the development and improvement of your services. You may also like event plan examples & samples .
3. Identify whether your business development strategy plan can also make your business more profitable. For a business to be sustainable and for a business operational plan to be deemed a success, sales must either be maintained or further improved. This can present the efficiency of all the strategies and action plans done within business operations.
4. Ensure that your business operational plan will target the right audience and the correct market. All the elements of the business operations are interlinked with one another. This is why you also have to think of the audience that you would like to be aware of the operational improvements of your business. You may also check out daily plan examples & samples .
Up for the challenge of creating an impressive business operational plan? Download any of our examples and try to start drafting your company’s own business operational plan.
Text prompt
Create a study plan for final exams in high school
Develop a project timeline for a middle school science fair.
[author: Peter Eilhauer **]
Is it budgeting season already? Legal Operations are often asked to own the legal department’s budgeting efforts, and many find the process painful. Finance may provide a template to fill out, but it can be difficult to complete a budget with so many unknowns. The commonly used phrase – legal is different – holds some truth in this case, as there are consistent challenges with legal budgets:
It may seem daunting, but legal operations teams have insights into their Outside Counse l billing data to help make more informed decisions. Here are some tips on using that data and some other strategies to help build more accurate budgets and speak the language of Finance.
Last year’s spend data is a good starting point for planning next year’s budget, as it will give a clear line of sight into the matters in flight. With well-structured billing data, legal operations teams should know:
If the legal department requires its law firms to submit budgets through the eBilling system or as a matter-level bid – then they already have the known costs calculated for their in-flight matters.
What about matters that don’t exist yet? Certain matters, like Employment and Labor, can be reasonably forecasted based on last year’s events and expected growth in the company. Similarly, some IP can be forecasted based on business strategy. If next year’s number of filings can be anticipated, as well as the average cost per phase, then those costs can be estimated as well.
Big law firm rates increased almost 10% this past year. Unless other control measures are in place, like Invoice Review or Matter-Level Bidding then similar increases should be expected. It’s important to bake those increases into budget estimates, and the known spend.
Remember, Finance cares about the big picture. Itemizing everything is helpful but may not be necessary. Hunting down every $200 technology purchase is not the best spent time for a legal operations team.
The in-house and Outside Counsel budgets should not exist in silos; they should be managed in tandem. If significant work is being sent to law firms that support the operations of the enterprise (versus litigation), moving that work in-house results in more legal support at a lower cost.
Legal operations can act on all of these recommendations by leveraging their billing data, but if the data isn’t clean, it will be challenging to answer budgeting questions accurately. It’s important to take time to do a quick data scrub to answer the high-level budget questions and consider a more thorough spend analysis to highlight where the budget can be reduced.
The budgeting process can be overwhelming, but with these tips, legal operations teams can avoid underestimating their budget needs and reshape their approach to spend in 2025.
** Peter Eilhauer, Managing Director, has over 20 years' experience in the legal industry, working with corporate legal departments, law firms, and insurance companies to radically reduce costs and improve operations through spend analysis, process improvement, and workflow automation. Peter has worked both as a consultant, service provider, and in-house professional to manage legal operations and spend management programs. He has written and spoken extensively on data analysis, and has overseen the development of multiple spend analytics platforms. Peter holds a BA from Northwestern University and an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.
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Risk control implementation is pivotal in safeguarding an organization's assets and operations. A well-structured risk control implementation plan identifies, analyzes, and mitigates potential threats, ensuring business continuity and resilience.
Risk control implementation involves several critical stages: Identify, Analyze, Action, Monitor, and Control.
The process starts with identifying potential risks and analyzing their likely impact. Actions are then taken to mitigate these risks, continuously monitored for any changes, and controlled to minimize their effect on the organization. This cyclical approach ensures ongoing vigilance and adaptation to new emerging risks.
A thorough risk control implementation plan encompasses seven detailed steps:
This structured approach ensures that all potential risks are identified, assessed, and addressed systematically, helping organizations proactively prepare for and respond to risks.
Implementing a risk control implementation plan offers numerous benefits:
These benefits highlight the importance of a robust risk management plan in achieving organizational success.
Risk control implementation faces several challenges:
Addressing these challenges is crucial for improving risk management capabilities and making informed decisions.
https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/pages/advisory/articles/what-does-an-optimal-risk-management-operating-model-look-like.html
Effective risk control implementation requires robust governance and control frameworks. Key elements include:
By understanding and addressing these elements, organizations can create a sustainable risk management environment that supports their long-term goals.
In 2023, ransomware incidents accounted for 17% of security breaches, with the average cost of an attack rising to $4.54 million. Furthermore, 66% of organizations reported ransomware targeting, with average ransom payouts increasing to $1,542,333.
Significant global supply chain disruptions over the past decade, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, the US-China trade war, and the Russia-Ukraine conflict, have emphasized the need for robust risk management strategies.
Worldwide spending on information security and risk management products and services is projected to grow by 14.3% in 2024, reaching over $215 billion. This trend underscores the increasing emphasis on mitigating various business risks, including cyber threats and operational disruptions.
In this article, DATAFOREST aims to demystify the process of executing risk control measures within your organization. Whether you're a mid-sized enterprise or a large corporation, apprehending the critical components of risk control implementation is vital for mitigating perils and seizing possibilities in a rapidly changing terrain.
Risk control implementation is fundamental to safeguarding businesses from potential harm or loss. Risk control implementation addresses uncertainties that may impede organizational goals in a business context. Various types of risk control implementation are essential to understand:
Comprehending these risk types through robust risk control implementation helps the corps to handle potential threats and seize growth opportunities proactively. Enhance risk control with tailored data science services to effectively analyze and mitigate financial, operational, and strategic risks.
Business risk breakdown.
Risk control implementation begins with a comprehensive business risk analysis. This structured approach includes identifying, assessing, and prioritizing risks based on their potential impact and likelihood of occurrence. Key steps in risk control implementation include:
Leverage data integration services to streamline your risk assessment process, ensuring comprehensive and accurate risk analysis. A proactive approach to risk control implementation enables organizations to anticipate challenges, leverage opportunities, and navigate uncertainties confidently, fostering sustainable growth and resilience.
Discerning between dangerous threats and promising opportunities is crucial for effective risk control implementation. This section delves into identifying threats and opportunities, informing decision-making, and proactive risk management.
Protect your digital assets with our advanced security automation to mitigate cybersecurity risks and enhance IT infrastructure security.
A well-structured risk control implementation plan is integral to effective risk management. This plan outlines the steps, activities, and responsibilities required to mitigate identified risks, ensuring business continuity and resilience.
Ongoing monitoring and review are vital components of risk control implementation. This process ensures that risk control measures remain adequate and relevant in changing business environments and emerging risks.
By maintaining a robust monitoring and review process, organizations can adapt to new challenges, optimize risk control measures, and achieve sustained success in risk management. Enhance your monitoring and auditing capabilities with DevOps to ensure continuous improvement and compliance. By following these principles, companies can enhance risk management practices, ensuring long-term growth and resilience.
Implementing risk control within an organization is a multifaceted process involving several crucial stages. This section explores the critical stages in risk control implementation, from risk assessment to early risk management, ensuring comprehensive risk mitigation strategies are effectively integrated into business operations.
Risk assessment serves as the foundation for effective risk control implementation. This stage involves identifying, analyzing, and prioritizing potential risks impacting the organization's objectives. Key steps in risk assessment include:
Improve your risk assessment accuracy with generative AI solutions that analyze vast data and efficiently identify potential risks.
Once risks are identified and prioritized, the next stage involves developing control methods to mitigate or eliminate the identified risks. This stage encompasses the following steps:
Performance of control principles.
With risk control methods in place, the next stage involves implementing control principles across the organization. This stage includes:
Implementing early risk assessment and management practices enables organizations to proactively catch and address potential risks before they escalate into significant issues. This stage involves:
Executing risk control measures via these critical stages can enhance organizations' ability to identify, assess, and mitigate risks. This safeguards their assets, reputation, and long-term sustainability, guaranteeing exhaustive and proactive risk management.
Adopting best practices and drawing insights from successful risk management examples are essential for enhancing risk control implementation. This section explores case studies, innovative approaches, and critical metrics for evaluating the effectiveness of risk control implementation strategies.
Examining real-world examples of risk control implementation provides valuable insights into practical strategies and methodologies. Here are a few notable case studies:
Examples of innovative approaches to risk control implementation in various industries.
By assuming best practices, pulling inspiration from successful examples, and leveraging innovative approaches, corps can enhance their risk control capabilities, mitigate threats, and capitalize on sustainable growth and success opportunities.
Innovation is at the forefront of effective risk control implementation, empowering businesses to navigate uncertainties with agility and foresight. As we conclude our exploration of risk control implementation, it's evident that embracing innovation is essential for mitigating threats, capitalizing on opportunities, and ensuring long-term resilience. This section summarizes the significance of innovation in risk control implementation and offers final recommendations for implementing a robust risk control system.
Innovation has become synonymous with effective risk control implementation, revolutionizing traditional approaches and enabling organizations to manage uncertainties proactively. By harnessing technological advancements, data analytics, and strategic insights, businesses can identify emerging risks, develop agile mitigation strategies, and enhance decision-making processes.
Innovation empowers organizations to adapt to evolving threats, capitalize on market opportunities, and maintain a competitive edge in today's dynamic business environment. Risk control implementation plans, including risk management and measures, are integral to this adaptive approach.
Final guidance for implementing a risk control system.
Based on our insights and best practices, the following recommendations are offered for organizations seeking to implement a robust risk control implementation plan:
By implementing these recommendations, organizations can establish a robust risk control implementation system that mitigates threats and fosters innovation, resilience, and sustainable growth. In an era of uncertainty and disruption, embracing innovation in risk control implementation is a strategic imperative and a catalyst for success in the dynamic business landscape.
Ready to upgrade your risk control implementation to new heights? At DATAFOREST, we specialize in providing cutting-edge solutions tailored to your unique business needs. Our team of experts leverages advanced technologies, data analytics, and innovative strategies to ensure your organization stays ahead of potential risks and thrives in an ever-changing environment.
Don't wait for uncertainty to strike—act now and secure your business's future with our comprehensive risk control implementation services. Visit DATAFOREST services to learn more, and contact us today.
Risk control implementation involves strategically addressing and mitigating potential risks within an organization, project, or system. This critical process includes identifying vulnerabilities, assessing threats, and implementing measures to reduce the likelihood or impact of these risks. Effective risk control implementation helps organizations achieve their objectives by proactively safeguarding against adverse events. An integral part of risk management, this process ensures continuous monitoring and adaptation to new risks, enhancing the overall stability and resilience of the organization.
Implementing controls in risk management involves a structured approach. First, identify potential risks and vulnerabilities within the organization’s processes, systems, and environment. Then, design and implement appropriate control measures, including preventive, detective, or corrective actions. Regularly monitoring and evaluating these controls are essential to ensure their effectiveness and adapt to evolving risks. Organizations can systematically address and mitigate risks by integrating a risk control implementation plan into the risk management framework, ensuring continuous improvement and business continuity.
Effective risk control strategies include diversification and stop-loss orders. Diversification spreads investments across different assets or industries, minimizing the impact of any single loss. Stop-loss orders automatically sell a security at a predetermined price, limiting potential losses. Thorough research and analysis also play a crucial role in risk control implementation, helping companies identify and assess risks and develop strategies to manage them effectively. Organizations can create a robust risk management plan that addresses current and emerging risks by employing these techniques.
Basic implementation control types encompass process, output, and feedback controls. Process controls ensure activities are carried out according to plan, maintaining specified parameters. Output controls focus on the results, assessing if they align with the intended objectives. Feedback controls gather performance information to make necessary adjustments to the implementation strategy. These controls are vital to a risk control implementation plan, helping organizations monitor and refine their risk management efforts for optimal effectiveness.
The implementation process refers to the series of steps taken to implement a plan or idea. This involves translating concepts into tangible actions through careful planning, resource allocation, and execution. Effective risk control implementation in this process ensures that every step is designed to mitigate potential risks, maintain operational continuity, and achieve desired outcomes. Clear communication, coordination, and adaptability are essential to overcoming challenges and ensuring the successful implementation of risk management strategies within an organization.
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An operations plan is a plan to establish, expand or improve the day-to-day processes and practices of a business. Operations includes everything that a business does on a repeated basis to deliver products and services.
Learn what an operational plan is and why it is important for achieving strategic goals. Explore 10+ operational plan examples for different types of businesses, with templates and tips to create your own.
Writing an operations plan within a business plan involves summarizing the day-to-day tasks necessary to run the business efficiently and meet its goals in both the development and manufacturing phases of the business. Here's a step-by-step guide: 1. Development phase. In this stage, you mention what you've done to get your business ...
Learn what an operational plan is, its benefits, and key elements. Access free templates, real-world examples, and expert tips for effective operational planning.
Discover the power of an operational plan in streamlining business operations. Learn how to create a fail-proof roadmap with examples and expert tips.
Learn how to write an operations plan for your business that outlines your goals, objectives, procedures, and timeline. See examples of operational objectives for different departments and milestones for various aspects of your business.
How to write the operations plan section of the business plan, including details on writing the development and production process sections.
Learn what an operational plan document is, review plan examples and discover the steps you can follow to successfully create and implement an operational plan.
Turn your strategies into gold with operational planning. Learn how to make an operation plan and maintain it for better outcomes.
Learn how to create an operational plan that will help your business succeed. Check out our guide to everything you need to know about operational planning.
Operations planning is the process of establishing, expanding or improving the core day-to-day processes and practices of a business. Operations includes everything you need to do to deliver your products and services to customers. The following are common examples of operations planning.
Use our guide to learn how to write the operational section of your business plan to help you grow, manage and fund your business.
The Operations Plan is a component of your business plan that is like the engine of your car. The operations plan holds the key parts of your business and it shows how those parts work together to keep the business running.
The operating plan comprises of the following: Product goals and objectives — Define the product goals and objectives based on your product vision. Objectives should have clear deadlines and measurable outcomes that align with the business strategy. Milestone based plan — Create a milestone oriented plan to map your goals and objectives ...
Learn how to write an operational plan for your business that helps you run your day-to-day effectively and helps you work towards success.
Operational planning is the process of creating actionable steps that your team can take to meet the goals in your strategic plan. An operational plan outlines daily, weekly, and monthly tasks for each department or employee. During operational planning, you'll also create milestones that help you achieve your strategic plan.
The right kind of business operational plan templates set teams in motion to achieve desired organizational goals.
An operational plan is a plan that outlines the key objectives and goals of a company while also outlining how the company can achieve them. A clear and concise operational plan can help to ensure that projects stay on track and can help to improve day-to-day operations. If you're planning a career in business or operations management, it's ...
An operational plan is written to outline the various requirements and assets needed to run a successful business. Here are the best practices for writing an operational plan.
The operations plan covers what makes your business run. It explains the day-to-day workflows for your business and how you will deliver the product or service that you offer. As part of your plan, it's your chance to describe what you've set up so far and that you understand what is still left to make your business fully operational.
The operating plan is the section of your business plan where you dig into more of the nuts and bolts of your business, areas like: production/manufacturing, inventory, and distribution.
Here are some ways on how an operational plan for business plan can be defined: 1. An operational plan for simple business plan deals with the daily activities of the business. It helps prepare specific action plans that can be used to support the requirements, needs, and demands of the operations.
Trying to come up with an outstanding business operational plan? Make the most out of your downloadable example's usage. Browse through different kinds of existing business operational plans from this post.
Know the known, plan for the partially known Last year's spend data is a good starting point for planning next year's budget, as it will give a clear line of sight into the matters in flight.
A thorough risk control implementation plan encompasses seven detailed steps: Derive Objectives: Establish clear goals for risk control implementation.; Risk Registry: Document potential risks in a comprehensive risk register.; Risk Analysis: Assess and analyze the likelihood and impact of identified risks.; Risk Mitigation Plan: Develop and implement strategies to mitigate identified risks.