Operational Planning: From Strategy to Action
Strategy only creates results when it is turned into clear, achievable work for each department and team.
About this course
Strategy only creates results when it is turned into clear, achievable work for each department and team. This three-day course shows you how to move from strategic goals to operational plans that people can follow.
You will cascade objectives, write action plans with owners and timelines, estimate resources and build an operational budget, map risks and dependencies, and set up simple progress tracking. In a practical workshop you will draft an operational plan for your own department, ready to refine and share when you return.
What you'll learn
- Explain how operational plans connect to strategic goals
- Break strategic objectives down into departmental targets
- Write action plans with clear activities, owners and timelines
- Estimate the resources needed and prepare an operational budget
- Identify risks and dependencies in an operational plan
- Set up simple tracking and reporting for operational performance
Curriculum
- The planning hierarchy
- Strategic, tactical and operational plans
- Alignment and line of sight
- Common reasons plans fail
- Cascading strategic goals
- Writing SMART objectives
- Departmental targets
- Agreeing objectives with teams
- Breaking objectives into activities
- Assigning owners and responsibilities
- Sequencing and timelines
- Action plan templates
- Estimating people, time and materials
- Building an operational budget
- Linking budget to activities
- Managing within constraints
- Identifying operational risks
- Dependencies between teams
- Contingency planning
- Escalation routes
- Operational indicators
- Progress reviews
- Simple dashboards and reports
- Adjusting the plan
- Building an annual operational plan
- Peer review
- Action steps for your department
Who it's for
Department heads, supervisors and planning staff who turn organisational strategy into day-to-day plans and budgets.
Before you start
- Experience as a team leader, supervisor or departmental manager is helpful
Part of these Alalamia diplomas
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