There is a wealth of information available to you for a situational analysis. You may have a customer satisfaction survey that provides details on a range of vital items. Use this information to cross-check your goals and supporting tasks. The key questions to ask are as follows:
- Are we satisfied with the current customer satisfaction rating? If not, what must we change?
- Does the plan allow for improving the customer relationship?
- How does the customer fit into the total picture of the plan?
You may use an employee satisfaction survey to determine the culture temperature of your workforce. The data may or may not be translated into a goal. In all cases the purpose of gathering reference information is so you can apply it to the development of action items to close identified gaps. For your situational analysis you should know the answers to these questions:
- What is the employee feedback telling us in relationship to the plan?
- Is the plan too ambitious or too conservative in relationship to our employee base?
- What roles are specifically designated in the plan?
- What actions are necessary to close any employee satisfaction gap?
The operational plan is a busy document, containing a number of important components. They are:
- Annual targets
- Quarterly target(s)
- A comprehensive tasks list with respective accountabilities, authorities, and responsibilities
- Tactics
- Coordinating instructions
- Concept of operation
The operational plan is where you start to get very specific about things to do for the next year.