How can you lead through change in Operational Planning?

As a military operational planner at the operational level of warfare you must translate strategic/political guidance into tactical guidance to harmonize tactical missions that when executed in the area of operations they achieve the desired end state. Since no plan survives first contact then you need plan and employ decision point tactics (DPT)to create a position of advantage and thus achieve the mission end state. While operational planning deals with data and information it is the human dimension which is the critical data points not the terrain, equipment, supplies or processes. For it is the human that must decide and then execute at the decision point.

Leading through change in operational planning involves several key steps : 1. Clear Communication 2. Involve the team 3. Set Clear Objectives 4. Provide Training & Support 5. Monitor Progress 6. Lead by example 7. Maintain Morale 8.Celebrate Achievements 9.Evaluate & Learn

An Operational plan needs to be highly-specialised for the business. You should have a fundamental understanding of the organisation’s goals. An Operational plan should cover the core areas of Safety, Security, Business continuity, Statutory compliance, Employee well being, Sustainability and day to day Operational needs.An all inclusive plan will help in securing sufficient funds from management. The Operational plan needs to support your organisation’s ambitions so current and future needs have to be balanced. Make provisions for smart technology investments. Be flexible enough with your plan and have a holistic approach, involve other departments so that you will be better equipped to support the organisation as a facility manager

An operational plan has to be tailored to the needs of the project in hand no operational plan can be fit for all. The team has to have a clear picture in mind of what is expected from the plan, what are the milestones and what are the success factors.

1. Clear Vision: Develop a clear vision of the desired outcome and communicate it effectively to your team. 2. Effective Communication: Maintain open and transparent communication channels with your team and stakeholders. 3. Data-Driven Decision Making: Utilize data and analytics to inform your operational planning decisions. Analyze relevant metrics, such as patient outcomes, resource utilization, and financial performance, to identify areas for improvement and guide the implementation of change. 4. Flexibility and Adaptability: Recognize that change is an ongoing process, and be prepared to adapt your plans based on feedback and emerging circumstances.

I go back to some of the most simple lessons I learned in the Marine Corps, yet I modified it in for the Civilian environment. Before planning a long term project or initiative, I ask my team, leadership and self, "What is the end state?

In attempting to understand the situation, it helps to achieve an accurate, agreed overview of what is going on, from various perspectives. Many situations are adversarial. Your adversaries may have opportunities to shape perception in a way that supports their objectives. Deliberate disinformation or undermining of widely endorsed 'fact' may be part of their strategy. It thus also helps if you can be entirely objective about your own assessed strengths and weaknesses. Unrelenting dogma or ideological certainty can undermine real understanding. It could also help to accept adversaries may have a valid point of view. Your allies' and friends' viewpoints should be reflected in consensus. This alone may prove harder than 'knowing your enemy'.

The most important initially is to be able to listen and read the temperature of an environment both strategically (elevated goals that your office feeds into) and tactically (those steps/processes/functions/areas with which feed your operational goals) and either motivate or mitigate obstacles and challenges as they manifest - proactively!

For a successful transformation into a Cloud MSP, start with a SWOT analysis to capitalize on strengths and rectify weaknesses. Key areas include technological preparedness and cultural alignment for cloud services. Benchmark against peers to carve out your competitive advantage. Stakeholder feedback is essential to shape a customer-focused strategy, emphasizing service quality and innovation. This foundation facilitates a seamless shift, maintaining service excellence at the core.

Assessing the current situation is the foundation for moving forward. If you are planning off of poor or inadequate intel you are not going to get the desired results or outcomes. Utilizing the analysis and capabilities tools and information the organization can then begin to get a clear of vision of what need to happen. You can then break this down into least likely, most likely, and most catastrophic outcomes. From that it would be easy to generate no more that 3 Courses of Action to take. It all comes back to how you assessed the situation, what tools and metrics did you use, how accurate or true was the data, and how you can properly action on the data.

Empowering, motivating, and bringing your team together are essential steps in the process of leading change in operational planning through effective communication of clear vision and goals. The foundation of this approach is communication. It necessitates multifaceted, open, and consistent avenues of communications. Encourage active participation from your team members and involve them in the planning process. Create a captivating story by including examples from real world and success stories to illustrate the vision and ambitions. Your team will be more equipped to lead the operational planning transformation toward success if you communicate the vision and goals on a regular basis.

My opinion is change is the only constant, even in operational planning. As leaders, we need to adapt, innovate and guide our teams through these changes. Buy-in is crucial. We need to ensure everyone understands the 'why' behind changes, their roles and responsibilities. Sharing that common goal is vital. Additionally, an organizational vision is the compass guiding through this change. Going back to that common goal, it's that shared destination that keeps teams united and focused.

In my experience communication is the long pole in the tent. You must be able to communicate with the organization and all the internal and external stakeholders. Miss any of the three you are at best hindered if not completely sunk.

Getting buy-in from key teams or members is a critical component of the change management process that can make a project easier or constantly weigh the process down. Unfortunately, it is not always the easiest thing to get buy-in from a team, and despite your best efforts, you may not get them all. That said, ongoing communication, education, building trust and consensus, and a healthy dose of patience can help a leader move a team toward a common understanding and position toward a change project. Operational strategy and emotional intelligence are essential through the process in order to optimize the results of the project and the position of a team post-project.

Effective leaders must possess strong strategic thinking skills that allow them to identify the need for change and develop a clear vision for the future. They should thoroughly analyze the current operational plan, identify areas of improvement, and set goals that align with the organization's overall objectives. This step is crucial to gain buy-in from team members and stakeholders, as a well-thought-out plan provides a foundation for change.

Have a game-plan for every facet of the company. If you can't effectively motivate everyone to coordinate the shift together, you'll be battling inertia within the organization for a long time. So, take the time to craft the right messages. Don't announce anything until the path is well defined for all units and then make the large, coordinated move together. Always find champions within different sections of the entity who will buy into the vision and help 'steer' their side of the organization. Coordination is key. Timing is vital, and the message must fit the mission.

This is leadership 101. Basic executive to junior employee engagement. If you are trying to do this step as you’re rolling out a new initiative you are starting well behind the power curve. Executives, managers, and supervisors need to groom a culture of top toward bottom engagement. Care about your people’s families, livelihood, and career progression. If you do this regularly a new initiative avoids the perception of being a self-centered executive. Instead it becomes about growing as an organization together.

Get the people who matter on board early. They'll help you explain your goals and why they're important! Whenever viable, involve them as early as possible in the vision and goal-setting process. Their comprehension and endorsement will prove crucial as execution commences. These critical stakeholders will assist in explaining the 'why' behind the vision and goals to their teams. As they were directly involved in the development process, they will resonate your message far more profoundly than you could on your own.

Communicating goals and visions is so often a top down direction rather than a workforce / force action. This makes accepting and becoming motivated to accept that change so much more difficult. Kotter states that two-way communication between leaders and stakeholders are key and that organisations often take shortcuts within the initial stages of transformational change. Therefore, encouraging a more open consultation for change, where that change would directly affect a worker or stakeholder, is ever more important, and encourages emotional investment into that change. (Kotter, 2012).

In my experience, I believe involving your team members in each step of the plan is most effective way to get everyone onboard with your plan. Once you have everyone onboard with the idea or plan you have an ARMY that would put their heart into the project/plan. Equally important is to take everyone’s input into consideration because you as an operational leader/leader you would never have it all figured out without a multidisciplinary team.

Adding to the point of Sahar, onboarding others into the planning phase is most important if an organisation wishes to empower both the team and stakeholders, however, this should also be an initial point for review, listening to the contributions and potential objections, as, if these are not addressed, then the first step to rejection / resentment may occur.

If you're making the right decision, it should be at least a little intuitive for everyone onboard. Much like moving a large, heavy mass, it is vital to make sure everyone is clear on where this is going, and what the pain points are. Focus on those departments/personnel who will experience the hardest shift. Finding a way to give them meaning and value, despite most of their work being crushed in the pivot/change will be vital to retaining them. If you spend the time to identify the pain points, and identify key roles for those most affected, you can turn criticism into confidence (sometimes...) ;)

Sentido de pertenencia o empoderamiento serán la bandera de todo proyecto que se desarrolle. Cada miembro del equipo liderando y empiédranos su trabajo y su roll en cada proyecto hace que por sí solo brille y consiga siempre los mejores resultados.

Mi experiencia está basada en que un cambio es posible siempre y cuando se analice en profundidad la cultura organizacional. En caso de Organizaciones Estatales, no pude incorporar un cambio significativo en el equipo de trabajo sin antes conocer en detalle el organigrama, sociograma, y las costumbres y vicios de cada sector organizacional. Luego de tener éste tema controlado, pude darle a cada uno la función que correspondía. Incluso a lideres negativos.

Delegating tasks and responsibilities not only distributes the workload but also empowers team members to take ownership of their roles in driving change. Providing guidance and support demonstrates leadership's commitment to the success of the initiative and helps overcome any obstacles or challenges that may arise along the way. Recognizing and rewarding achievements reinforces a culture of accountability and encourages continued engagement and effort from team members. By celebrating successes, leaders reinforce the value of collaboration and teamwork in achieving organizational goals.

This I would say is the most important phase of Change management in Operation planning . If close monitoring and course corrections are not made the whole plan could get disrupted. Being too rigid and not allowing minor changes to the original plan could impact the end result . As this is a ongoing process the end state should be a combination on minor adaptations and incorporating the feedbacks on ground .

As the saying goes, no plan survives first contact. And another one, the value isn’t in the plan it’s in the planning. Military missions involve flexibility. The enemy gets a vote and flexibility is survivability. The end result is action with less risk. In business, finding ways to create flexibility within a new initiative reduces risk. For example, a singular purpose built facility risks the underlying demand for that plant no longer being needed. If that risk is low, execute. If not, explore ways to increase flexibility should the facility need to pivot. This isn’t far from an entrepreneurial mindset.

Admitir que seu plano de um ano atrás já não se aplica hoje é sinal de maturidade. As variáveis, como o próprio nome diz, mudam com o passar do tempo. Ajustar ou até mesmo alterar totalmente o plano inicial deverá ser uma idéia constante visando a saúde do negócio.

It is important to monitor and adjust the operational plan as needed. This involves regularly reviewing the progress against the goals and making necessary adjustments based on the changing circumstances. By monitoring the plan and making adjustments, leaders can ensure that the organization remains on track and can respond effectively to any unforeseen challenges.

I follow this process. It is vital for getting optimum production. Moreover it coordinates technical and commercial people to maximise production.

We see the most growth in our organization when we conduct a brief after-action review and then update our plan for the next occurrence. Sometimes a storm event review can produce significant operational changes. Many times we end up documenting minor tweaks to the set up for a city-sponsored event by taking photos as reference for next year. Either way, our processes improve and our team members have less uncertainty about the expected roles and outcomes.

Unless the main goal changes, everyone should have a measure by which to assess intermediate decisions. The criteria should be simple: will it bring us more effectively to the main goal? Again, to use sailing, it may be necessary to tack at times, but the key is keeping the main goal in sight and weighing all intermediate decisions by how much they 'pull' the organization off-track of the big vision. Less is more.

If you put the effort in up front to garner buy in from all key partners in the operational change plan but do nothing to celebrate incremental successes or completion of the plan, then you will be throwing away the opportunity to maintain that buy in for future endeavors. Established goals and milestones for a plan should be recognized. Individual or team contributions that led to advanced timelines or greater margins of success should be called out and rewarded. The next time you are executing on a new plan, you will already have a team ready behind you, rather than a group of sceptics in front of you.

leaders must exhibit empathetic leadership during transitional periods. Recognizing that change can create uncertainty and anxiety, leaders should support their team members by providing reassurance, coaching, and training. Leaders should also celebrate small wins along the way, which can boost motivation and maintain momentum during the change process.

Don't ever be afraid to embrace the celebration - quick wins, positive outcomes, but also share the not so goods in a positive light - this will build trust with stakeholders and give their contribution value in assisting in finding solutions and setting point development goals!

To celebrate and sustain operational change, we must be able to accept the truth that with every celebration or improvement was the result of failure. To sustain operational change is to understand that change is cyclical. The celebration/ improvement created are now established insights or explicit knowledge. To sustain operational change throughout an organization, the organization must establish a knowledge management system to take the newly established insights and improve upon known solutions and make new knowledge to share and sustain change!

El cambio siempre será a favor en la medida que el equipo entienda que el Mundo moderno adquiere y constantemente rumbos u directrices más exigentes en la misma medida que se quiera evolucionar y transformar. Quien celebra que aún está en movimiento y ejerciendo desarrollo; entenderá que conservar ese cambio es la llave que abrirá la puerta precisa en el momento justo.

Muito importante dar aos colaboradores o retorno sobre seus projetos. Este retorno se dá principalmente por meio de promoções e salários, porém também pode ser concedido à equipe melhores condições de trabalho, melhora no ambiente da empresa, prêmios e condecorações. Tudo isso estimula a equipe até ao ponto em que eles mesmos procurem a melhoria por conta própria.

As a global operations executive and combat veteran, I've learned the value of adaptability, effective communication, and leadership in challenging situations. In operational planning, just like on the battlefield, adaptability is key. Stay open to change, be ready to adjust strategies based on new information, and encourage your team to do the same. Effective communication is crucial; clearly convey the evolving objectives, allocate resources efficiently, and keep everyone informed. Leadership involves not just setting the direction but also inspiring your team to embrace change, stay engaged, and be productive. Flexibility, communication, and leadership will help your team thrive amidst operational planning changes.

Walk the talk in operational planning is fundamental for successful implementation of the set strategy and reach of goals. The role of manager and leadership by following the rules even when there is comercial and other business pressure that make them skip from the plan I am really interested in that, I master degree in manager and currently I am doing engineering management. Please contact me

Leading through change in operational planning requires a thorough assessment of the current situation, effective communication of the vision and goals, involvement and empowerment of the team, proactive monitoring and adjustment of the plan, and celebration and sustenance of the change. By employing these strategies, leaders can successfully navigate through change and lead their teams to achieve the desired outcomes.

remember that change is an ongoing process, and operational planning should be flexible to adapt to evolving circumstances. Regularly review and update your operational planning strategies to ensure they remain effective in supporting your business objective.

One thing I have found that is paramount in this process is identifying risk. Change normally occurs because of the emergence of a risk that is outside the acceptable parameters. The methodologies described here infer identifying risk; however, identification does not lead to action. One of the most important concepts is to not only identify risk, but build risk mitigation procedures into the plan to account for potential change.

There is a key point that echoes both industry and military ethos, and that is clearly understanding the difference between Leadership and Management, and knowing where each fits into a developmental or change process. Processes that engage are often the most productive, but where those processes do have to be management driven, setting out clear and detailed communication, defining the vision or strategy, ensures that the change is strengthened in a positive manner rather than a skeptical and reluctant acceptance.

Según mi experiencia, todo paquete de planificación que se quiera implementar en organismos públicos, no será posible sin entender la cultura organizacional. Para implementar un plan de Identidad visual institucional, antes estuve 3 años estudiando la complejidad, estructura, organigrama y sobre todo, el sociograma de la institución, teniendo en cuenta que la organización contaba con 670.000 empleados púbicos.