Many of these mistakes are errors of omission.  In this article, we'll be presenting action that can be taken by organizational leaders in the post-planning period. 

The target audience will have already completed their annual strategic planning process, but be receptive to constructive input on how to make the current plan truly complete and be far more effective.

 

There are different approaches that can be taken to construct an operational plan, but the most effective way involves bi-directional participation from senior leadership and operations managers.  The following may help guide you through the process.

The first step is to conduct a review of all operational plans from the previous year, looking at success and failure metrics to identify the determinants of success and the causes of failure in goal attainment.  Ideally, operational planning reviews will be done by senior management who work in conjunction with divisional, business unit or departmental leaders.

The second step in operational planning is to refresh the plans for the current year, insuring alignment to the new strategic goals.  This is where detail planning occurs for the tactical execution of the goals, in accordance with the timelines of the strategy.

To do so, employ a top-down/bottom-up operational planning approach.  A bi-directional planning approach allows executive management to set the goals and plan initiatives collaboratively with all the lower levels of management, thus providing a consistent direction for the strategic plan execution effort. 

Taking a top-down only approach leads to confusion within the organization and undermines buy-in of the corporate direction. 

Alternatively, a bottom-up only approach can lead to mission-drift from the strategic plan's intentions when operational managers are left to interpret the strategy goals on their own.  This is especially true if the plan goals are ambiguous from the outset.

In order for the example above to work, the strategic plan needed to state the plan goal crisply so that its outcome could be measurable.  In this example, that was accomplished. 

Vague or ambiguous goal statements are subject to interpretation and should be revised when they are discovered. 

To sum up these two points, the ideal process for operational planning involves senior management working in conjunction with the other layers of management to set operational goals that ensure alignment the enterprise goals.  This sets the direction for funded tactical initiatives that will produce the desired key outcomes of the business.

This leads us to another step in maximizing the value of your current strategic and operational plans.

The next recommendation is to examine your plan's time horizon and be ready to consider changes.  Strategic and operational planning that is based on shorter time horizons lead to more focus on execution and results in better outcomes.  A rolling 12-month plan that is refreshed quarterly is best suited for achieving optimal results.  There are several reasons why this approach yields better planning outcomes.

One reason is the tendency of shorter plan horizons to have fewer goals per cycle and therefore be more focused on tactical execution.  Rolling 12-month plans allow the organization to be more responsive to change with goal setting, especially in the operational aspect of planning.  Likewise, plans that are refreshed quarterly are easier to manage and keep the organization sharper and focused on achievement due to the shorter cycles to accomplish chunks of work.

12-month rolling plans have proven do better at addressing the pressing needs of the business, while maintaining the long-term focus of the CEO and corporate strategy team. 

Add quarterly plan refreshes to the mix and you have instilled into the organization a laser-beam focus on results.  Plan governance administered on a quarter by quarter basis affords management the opportunity to review the initiatives underway and assess any backlog that exists.  Management can also assess the organization's capacity to now move an item from the backlog into the active plan - furthering progress towards completion of the plan's goals.

We now arrived at the fourth step and fresh questions to answer.

Step 4

Is accountability missing in your current year's strategic plan?  If you are not sure, then accountability probably is missing.  Without proper accountability built into strategic and operational plans, you can expect them to fall short of expectations.  You must know who is responsible for completing each step in the process and how well did they do?

If you do feel that your plans suffer from the omission of accountability, this provides yet another opportunity to go back and make a high-impact improvement that will help achieve plan outcomes this year. 

Performance must be managed, and in order to manage performance - it must be measured.  There is simply no way to track to the delivery of the strategic goals of the business without defined accountabilities that allow for this to happen. 

Accountability requires specific time frames along with measurable targets.  Earlier in the article, we discussed that plans should be refreshed quarterly. 

As a part of the refresh process, status reviews should be conducted to track overall progress to plan goals.  These reviews offer management good visibility into the initiatives underway and help provide an understanding the interdependencies of the various programs that exist across the enterprise.

Obviously, most operational initiatives will span a number of months and normally wouldn't be expected to be launched and completed during one quarter.  That said; don't expect to cross things off the list during every quarterly review.  Regardless, quarterly reviews provide for early detection of problems and give management the opportunity to take corrective action when needed.

As mentioned earlier, quarterly plan refreshes yield many benefits.  In terms of accountability, the quarterly plan refreshes allow for performance feedback to be factored in during the review cycle.  Based on plan goal attainment or missed targets, it provides an excellent opportunity for management to adjust schedules and resource allocations or take corrective action with those accountable if warranted.

To make this whole process possible, job accountability should be kept current with the company's plan goals through systematic updates to job descriptions and compensation review criteria. 

This is simple to say, but can be a daunting task for any size organization.  Regardless, the investment in time for this activity is well worthwhile and is a requirement to truly have accountability in your strategic and operational plans.