15 Feb Operational plans provide an organisation with a mechanism to put their strategies in action and identify the resources required to achieve their stated goals and objectives. Opera

Operational plans provide an organisation with a mechanism to put their strategies in action and identify the resources required to achieve their stated goals and objectives. Operational plans may also be termed as action plans, annual plans, management plans or tactical plans. Separate operational plans are often prepared by different departments within an organisation to outline their specific tasks and priorities.

In Assessment Task1, you developed the understanding of the structure and components of an operational plan through an analysis of a sample operational plan. In this assessment task, given as a group project, your group will be required to develop an Operational Plan for a sample organisation based on its Strategic Plan. Your group will be provided with a sample strategic plan for this task. Your trainer/assessor will play the role of the Senior Manager for the purpose of this task.

A past or an existing organisation can also be used as an example to develop the required organisational context for this task. Alternatively, based on the sample strategic plan, research and collect some organisational information as a background to your plan.

Develop an operational plan that includes;

Executive summary
Stakeholders, consultation and approvals
Operational goals and expected outcomes
Action plan (convert strategies to actions)
Key performance indicators (KPIs)
Human resource requirements (including training or PD and strategies to address the requirements)
Physical and other resource requirements (including strategies to acquire the resources)
Resource conservation/waste management tactics
Budget/cost expectations
Key responsibilities; including intellectual property rights and responsibilities
Communication plan (how respective responsibilities and KPIs will be communicated)
Monitoring and evaluation
Contingency plan

An operational plan fundamentally addresses four questions:

Where are we now?
Where do we want to be?

How do we get there?
How do we measure our progress?

Contingency planning involves creating an alternative plan in the event of the original operational plan changing or facing obstacles due to unforeseen circumstances. It can be based on anticipated risks (e.g. non- availability of raw materials, government approvals etc.) and alternatives that can be used to keep the operational plan moving.

As part of assessment criteria for this task, equal and active participation from all groups will be required. Each group will need to submit a group statement, signed by all group members, outlining their respective role and contribution in the project. Any problems or non-contribution from ant group members should be reported to the trainer/assessor at the earliest.

There is no word limit, but it is expected that each part will be articulated in sufficient detail to be able to form an analytical perspective. A sample plan or a template can be used as a guide. Ensure that you reference/cite all the external sources using an appropriate referencing system (e.g. Harvard Referencing System).

Further, once draft has been completed, your group will need to plan and develop additional documentation for performance review purpose (Assessment Task 3). Ensure that you retain copies of all the work