A strategic plan is a map. An operational plan is how you actually get there.
Almost every organization we work with has a strategic plan, or wants one: the big vision, the goals for the next three to five years, the metrics tied back to the mission. What a lot of organizations don’t have is the plan underneath that one. The operational plan is what takes the strategic plan and makes it move: who’s going to do what, and by when, in order to actually hit those goals and metrics.
Think of it as a road trip. The strategic plan is the map, where you’re going and why. The operational plan is the travel plan: how you’re actually getting there, what it’s going to cost, what you need to save and schedule to make the trip real instead of a nice idea on a wall.
There’s a third plan, and it’s the one you use every single day.
That’s the project plan: the turn-by-turn directions. Back when we printed out MapQuest directions from point A to point B, this is what we were holding: the specific, detailed steps you follow day to day to cover one stretch of the route. Projects can be big or small. The snack run to the grocery store a few days before you leave is a small one. It isn’t the trip, and it isn’t the packing, but it’s one of the many specific steps that make the rest possible.
It’s the perfect time to think about this.
We just closed out the first month of Q4, and a lot of you are in the thick of trying to finish what you planned for this year. As you do that, don’t forget the other half of the work: reflect on where you’ve been, rally to hit whatever’s still open, and don’t let this year end without a plan for the next one.
If you don’t know what that plan is yet, that’s fine. Make the plan for the plan.
This is one of the most loved, and most hated, ideas I bring to the people I work with. If you don’t know exactly what belongs in your strategic or operational plan yet, you can still plan for making it: when you’ll get together, who needs to be in the room, when the first piece will be done, when the whole thing will be finished and ready to actually use, internally and out in the world.
You don’t need the plan today. You need a plan for getting one.
We shared this piece in E.TBD’s October’s newsletter. You can check out the full issue here and subscribe here.