Nick Warner Consulting

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How a Strategic Plan Can Optimize Your Business Operations

Operations are the life force of your business. Unfortunately, too many businesses go about their operations without a strategy. Because this is an issue with many companies and small businesses, our team at Nick Warner Consulting wanted to highlight why it is so essential that your strategic plan is connected to your business operations. NW Consulting serves the business leadership needs of owners, managers, and leadership teams in the Bay Area and Los Angeles in California and throughout the United States. Keep reading to learn strategies to connect your strategy to your operation plan for optimal productivity.

The strategic plan comes first

Before changing anything involving your business operations, it’s essential that your senior leadership is on the same page regarding the strategic plan. For operations to run efficiently, the strategic plan needs to extend from the top down. That includes top leadership, middle managers, and the employees they lead. Everyone must be aligned with your organization’s mission, priorities, and values. If you are struggling to develop a strategic plan, we recommend working with our team at NW Consulting to focus on strategy creation before moving on to optimizing your business operations. We will also help you create measurable goals.

The ratio between operations and strategy

Your team needs to figure out the ratio of how much they should be working on day-to-day operations compared to how much time should be spent on “big picture” aspects of your business. But the truth is that there isn’t a perfect ratio. It’s common for leadership teams to ask us for a one-size-fits-all ratio, but much of it is determined by the specifics of your business. But there are general guidelines. A general rule-of-thumb suggests spending 80% of your time on operations and 20% on strategy. Keep in mind that the ratio may differ between individuals. Upper management might spend more time on strategy, whereas an hourly worker on the production floor might spend all of their time on operations. After learning more about your business, our consultants can help you select the best ratio for your needs and goals. Keep in mind, these ratios are merely markers to help direct your business. The end goal is to seamlessly integrate your strategy into your business operations.

How can a strategic plan be integrated into business operations?

Your leadership team is essential in the integration process. First, you need to have a good business culture. It’s impossible to implement any type of strategy if the company culture is poor. Next, you need to focus on alignment. That means individuals and departments all share the same mission, values, and priorities. Alignment matters because it ensures that the people performing the day-to-day operations understand that their work is an essential part of business and that it is directly connected to the business’s vision and strategic plan. As you begin integrating your strategy with your business operations, your management team will need to clearly identify every team’s responsibilities and hold people accountable. Responsibilities need to be clear, along with deadlines. When your team has clear responsibilities, business operations become more efficient. And integration can’t occur without efficient communication. This can occur via weekly check-ins, project management software, and social tools, such as Slack. These tools ensure that communication is flowing across departments. Finally, you’ll need to monitor and track your business operations. Reporting systems allow your management teams to monitor your strategic initiatives and business operations on a convenient digital dashboard. Today’s systems update in real-time, giving your team instant access to essential business information. No matter the size of your company, business operations can be confusing. But optimizing your business operations and integrating them with your strategic plan is essential. To assist, Nick Warner Consulting can help you build a plan and ensure your strategies and operations are aligned. We provide services throughout California and the United States. Call and speak to a member of our team today, or reach out for more information using this website.