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Operational Planning: The Key to Building a Culture of Implementation

and Focus

Anthony Reese

February 13, 2013

Sponsored by: A Service

Of:

Advising nonprofits in:

• Strategy

• Planning

• Organizational Development

www.synthesispartnership.com

(617) 969-1881

info@synthesispartnership.com

INTEGRATED PLANNING

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Today’s Speaker

Anthony Reese CFO and Vice President

of Financial Management Practice

Olive Grove Consulting Assisting with chat questions: Jamie Maloney, Nonprofit Webinars

Hosting:

Sam Frank, Synthesis Partnership

ACHIEVING ORGANIZATIONAL

FOCUS

Between the Idea

And the Reality

Between the Motion

And the Act

Falls the Shadow

--T.S.Eliot

The questions seem eternal:

“Why do so many organizations suffer from internal

instability and a lack of focus on program

outcomes?”

“What investment can you make to generate

organizational focus, stability, and efficacy?”

ACHIEVING ORGANIZATIONAL FOCUS

Organizational Life Cycle

Entrepreneurial

Institutionalizing

Mature

Reorganizing

Activities/Events

Evaluation

Resource Allocations

Program theory Staff Allocations

Assumptions

How Do We Achieve Focus and Coordinated Action?

Operational

Planning

OPERATIONAL PLANNING: THE MISSING

PIECE

• A critical companion to

strategic planning.

• A method of shaping a

sustainable organizational

culture and creating focus.

• The seminal element of

creating a culture of

implementation.

COMPONENTS OF OPERATIONAL PLANNING

• Identify Focus - by translating strategic goals into a

specific one-year implementation plan containing timelines,

roles, responsibilities and measurable outcomes.

• Maintain Focus – by creating processes for planning,

communications, evaluation, and organizational learning to

manage the implementation of the annual plan.

Operational planning engages key internal

audiences in a comprehensive process to:

IDENTIFYING FOCUS

• Mission – What is the role of each department in achieving

the organizational mission?

• Goals – What each department must achieve to both meet

existing commitments and move the organization one year

closer to the strategic plan goals?

• Measurable Objectives - What broad areas of activity

must be pursued to reach the goals? What conditions will

indicate that success was achieved?

• Learning Agenda – What key questions does each

department need to answer to improve its operations?

Identifying focus requires engaging the expertise

and experience of the staff and senior management

to operationalize the Board of Director’s strategic

vision into a detailed one-year implementation plan

• Action Steps – The tasks required to complete each

objective.

• Task Responsibilities – The staff person assigned to the

action step.

• Preliminary Timetables for Completion - The time horizon

and due date of each action step.

Once major goals and objectives have been

identified and agreed upon, a deeper level of

planning ensues in order to yield program and

individual action plans that contain:

IDENTIFYING FOCUS

• Board performs external environmental scan

• Board conducts community needs assessment/survey

• Board reviews similar organizations

• Board performs internal environmental scan report (using staff input)

• Board meets at triennial strategic planning retreat

• Board reviews operational results from first three years of previous strategic plan

• Board evaluates Org. X strengths and weaknesses

• Board develops new five year plan

Year 3

• Limited external environmental scan

• Board receives summary of operational results and recommendations from the ED

• Board makes one year adjustments to strategic plan if necessary

• Board directs the Executive Director to develop an operational plan based on resource and

policy adjustments

• Executive Director prepares draft operational plan (program plan and budget) for board

approval

• At mid-year board reviews program and financial performance

Year 1 Year 2 Year 5 Year 4

RE

VIS

ION

YE

AR

FIVE-YEAR STRATEGIC PLAN

Year 1 Year 5 Year 4 Year 3 Year 2

Annual Operational Plans

Pro

gra

m P

lan

s

Prog. 1

Prog. 2

Prog. 3

Prog. 4

Prog. 6

Prog. 5

Prog. 7

Prog. 1 Prog. 2 Prog. 4 Prog. 5

Objective Person Responsible Due Date

• Action Step 1 AR 4/21/03

• Action Step 2 DC 6/03/03

• Action Step 3 LF 9/15/03

YEAR 1 OPERATIONAL PLAN

Objective Due Date

•Action Step 1 4/21/03

•Action Step 2

•Action Step 3

Prog. 3 Prog. 6

MAINTAINING FOCUS

Planning

Communications

Evaluation

Organizational Learning

Building and maintaining the infrastructure of focus

requires formalizing and calendaring the key processes

that support implementation, efficacy and sustainability.

MAINTAINING FOCUS

• Planning - The process and path of organizational

decision-making regarding philosophy, programs and

resources.

• Organizational Learning - The processes through which

the organization learns from and improves upon its

operations.

• Evaluation - The processes for reviewing organizational,

program, and individual performance.

• Communications - The structures for routine

communication of critical organizational information and

feedback.

PRODUCTS OF OPERATIONAL PLANNING

• Annual implementation plan and summary of

organizational focus

• Departmental goals and objectives Departmental

action plans

• Individual work plans

• Organizational calendar

• Written frameworks and protocols

Master schedule of organizational activities

PRODUCTS OF OPERATIONAL PLANNING

An annual implementation

plan and summary of

organizational focus…

… which details targeted

areas for organizational

performance and learning.

PRODUCTS OF OPERATIONAL PLANNING

Departmental goals

and objectives…

…including timelines

and indicators of

success.

PRODUCTS OF OPERATIONAL PLANNING

Departmental

action plans…

…containing action

steps, timelines, and

responsibilities

PRODUCTS OF OPERATIONAL PLANNING

Individual work

plans…

…and updated job

descriptions and

personal

development plans

PRODUCTS OF OPERATIONAL PLANNING

An organizational

calendar…

… containing key

processes and

events.

PRODUCTS OF OPERATIONAL PLANNING

Written frameworks and

protocols…

… for planning,

communications,

evaluation, and

organizational learning.

PRODUCTS OF OPERATIONAL PLANNING

A master schedule

of organizational

activities…

… sortable by staff

person and due

date.

OUTCOMES OF OPERATIONAL PLANNING

• Communicate organizational priorities and achievements to

funders and external audiences

• Increase programmatic coordination

• Anticipate peak periods in organizational workload

• Manage external demands for programmatic expansion

• Properly align resources with program objectives

Organizations that have undergone Operational

Planning have enhanced their capacity to:

OUTCOMES OF OPERATIONAL PLANNING

• Maintain staff and board focus on organizational objectives

• Develop organization-wide standards/expectations

regarding performance and success

• Respond to emerging opportunities in their communities

• Increase programmatic quality through capturing lessons

learned and innovation

• Retain staff and avoid Executive Director burnout

Organizations that have undergone Operational

planning have increased their capacity to:

OPERATIONAL PLANNING SCOPE OF WORK

Major engagement activities include:

• Reviewing existing organizational culture, processes and

materials

• Facilitating group and individual meetings with staff to

establish annual goals and organizational processes,

• Constructing and analyzing process and planning

documents

• Assisting the development of an organizational budget

• Coaching and skills transference to key staff

• Providing follow-up monitoring and technical assistance.

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