OPERATIONAL PLANNING LEVEL

 What is operational planning level?

o When a company or organization draws from a company-wide business strategy
and brings it under a microscope, organizational preparation is what happens. 
o When we say future oriented it is a time perspective that is focused on the future
that is why operational planning is called future oriented since it maps out the
budget, objectives and goals of the company for the next 1-3 years activities.
o It describes milestones, conditions for success and explains how, or what portion
of, a strategic plan will be put into operation during a given operational period.
Usually, operational planning address four question which are:
o Where are we now?
o Where do we want to be?
o How do we get there?
o How do we measure our progress?

 Benefits of Operational Planning

Here are the Benefits of Operational Planning
o when it comes to the activities of every team operational planning will clarify
exactly what they are doing on a weekly and daily basic
o Operational Planning provides a guidance for every member that they need to
accomplish day by day so that the team will accomplish the long-term goals.
o It set a standard that will measured based on your activities daily to avoid away
for the objective that set by the company.

Let us proceed to the 5 steps to make an operational plan

1. Start with a strategic plan – We all know that to make an operational plan, the first
thing we need to prepare is the strategic plan. But to make this we need to determine our
position then we need to develop strategy so that we can build a strategic plan after
building a strategic plan to make sure that it is successful, we can share, monitor and
manage our strategic plan.
2. Narrow down your scope – In order to create a detail-oriented operational plan, you
need to narrow the scope to a team, department, or focus area. The scope of your
operational plan will depend on the size of your company.
3. Identify key stakeholders – Before creating an operational plan, decide who will be
involved in the operational planning process. The team members creating the operational
plan should be relatively close to the actions the plan describes. 
 4. Create the plan – Your operational plan explains the actions your team will take to
achieve your goals within a set time frame. To make a successful plan we need to take
note our teams’ objectives, what are possible steps to achieve the objectives, operating
budget and how our team monitor and report the progress.
5. Share and update your operational plan – Once you’ve created the plan, share it with
key stakeholders so they understand your team’s most important goals and the daily tasks
it will take to get there. 

After discussing Operational Planning Level let us proceed to the Strategic planning level which
it is a plan that formed at the operating level.
So, what is operating level?
Strategic planning is an organizational management activity that is used to set priorities,
focus energy and resources, strengthen operations, ensure that employees and other
stakeholders are working toward common goals, establish agreement around intended
outcomes/results, and assess and adjust the organization’s direction in response to a
changing environment. In simple words, strategic planning is turning a strategy into a
plan.
The development and execution of strategic planning are typically viewed as consisting of
being performed in three critical steps which are:
1. Strategy Formulation – it is the way in which you take your business and the best
practices of that industry, see what has worked in the past, and decide how to proceed.
2. Strategy Implementation – Strategy implementation is the process of turning the
formulated strategy into a series of concrete actions. It involves a lot of work and
coordination. Implementation requires resources, time, and effort to make sure that the
plan is being executed effectively. 
3. Strategy Evaluation – is determining the effectiveness of a given strategy in achieving the
established objectives and then developing a plan to take corrective action to improve the
probability of attaining the objectives.

Among the primary benefits derived from strategic planning are the following:
Helps formulate better strategies using a logical, systematic approach – It will the
overall company performance to make a better strategy and as a result the company will
achieve their goals and objectives.
Enhanced communication between employers and employees – We all know that if
there is a communication with the employers and employees the working process is
smooth and it will avoid misunderstanding and because of the strategic planning the
communication will enhanced to have a better communication.
Empowers individuals working in the organization – This will benefit every
individual in the company because they an authority to do something that will help the
company’s success long-term.