An operational plan establishes steps to follow to achieve certain objectives.
An operational plan is a document in which those responsible for an organization (whether a company , an institution or a government office) establish the objectives they wish to meet and stipulate the steps to follow.
These objectives are reflected in a document similar to what is known as an action plan , which prioritizes the most important initiatives to achieve different objectives and goals. Both types of plans consist of an important guide to know where you are working, knowing the framework in which each particular project must be developed.
What is an operational plan
Typically, an operational plan lasts one year. For this reason, it is usually referred to as an annual operating plan (AOP) . The POA puts in writing the strategies that managers have devised to meet the objectives and that represent the guidelines to be followed by employees and subordinates in daily work. It is worth mentioning that like the others, the operational plan allows the monitoring of actions to judge their effectiveness; If the objectives are far from being satisfied, the manager has the possibility of proposing new measures.
The POA also presents the details on how to achieve what is planned in the strategic plan . Thus, if the strategic objective of a company is, for example, to obtain a turnover of $100,000 before 2026, the POA will establish each annual objective: $25,000 in 2022, $25,000 in 2023, $25,000 in 2024 and $25,000 in 2025. On the other hand, it will mention how much each area should contribute per year. of the company to achieve these goals.
The operational plan can be understood as a guide.
The importance of coordination and coherence
All plans (action, operational, strategic, etc.) of a company must be coordinated and coherent with each other.
Likewise, the needs of the company in terms of infrastructure necessary to carry out the goals and for the normal functioning of the company must be reflected, that is, all those aspects related to the ordinary activity of the company and that may affect its effectiveness and bring consequences (if not addressed) for the fulfillment of the objectives set out in the operational plan.
Normally, the way in which the company will provide its service, characteristics of the premises where the company's headquarters is located, the installation and maintenance requirements of machinery, equipment and supplies necessary for the activity, buying and selling strategies are usually detailed. and storage of the products or services offered, the quantity and quality of the suppliers that will be used to start the company, among many other aspects related to the activity.
Operational plan as steps to follow
That is to say, an operational plan is a document that puts in writing the steps to be taken by the company and the actions that must be carried out by those participating in the activity of production and sale of services, as well as the objectives that are to be achieved. at the end of a certain stage. It is made up of several steps, which are known as:
* Planning : know the equipment, resources and supplies that must be available and develop an action plan;
* Programming of the various activities: ensuring that each party that will intervene in the process has an idea of what their responsibilities are;
* Monitoring and evaluation : analyze the performance of the different agents participating in production in order to know how to make the most of resources and re-educate, if necessary.
Finally, it is worth mentioning that for an operational plan to be efficient, all parties must comply with five standards: be effective (do exactly what is expected of them), be efficient (perform their work correctly), be responsible (perform the work with full awareness), be timely (do their work in the time in which they have been asked) and be profitable (making the most of the resources they have been given, that is, with optimal profitability)