Strategic and Operational Planning (TEST)

Our vision for the future happening in the details.

The Vision

A Strategic Plan outlines our mission, vision, and high-level goals for the next three-to-five years and a framework for measuring progress toward the goals and the major projects to meet those goals.

The Details

An Operational Plan includes projects that a unit focuses on for the near future—usually the upcoming year. It answers the questions: who, what, when, and how many resources are allocated to daily or weekly tasks.

Quote from leadership?

John Doe

Strategic Planning Goals

Goals outlined in the strategic plan are aligned with the university strategic plan ((LINK)) and provide a vision for how college units work together to achieve the goal.

Strategic goals are college-focused, so the plan is broad in scope compared to an operational plan.

Operational Planning Goals

The goal of an operational plan applies to a specific unit, not the college. There can be overlap in goals between units, but that’s the exception rather than the rule.

Large units may require multiple operational plans. An operational plan is inherently more detailed than a strategic plan because of its narrower focus.

Strategic Planning Responsibility

A senior leadership team, selected by the Dean, is responsible for creating the strategic plan.

The strategic management unit works collaboratively with the senior leadership team to provide a sustained focus on strategic planning and aligns initiatives and work across units in support of the mission of the college.

Operational Planning Responsibility

Unit leads are responsible for creating their operational plan. Although each operational plan is designed for a single unit, its successful implementation will lead to college-wide success.

The strategic management unit works collaboratively with unit leads to create an operational plan and collaborates across units to align operational plans with the strategic plan.

Strategic Planning Focus

Our strategic plan revolves around how the college can be different.

What sets the college apart from other organizations is our mission and vision; the goals we set tie into those concepts.

Thus, a strategic plan distinguishes our college’s direction as being different from that of other colleges and universities.

Operational Planning Focus

In contrast, an operational plan revolves around being better operationally.

If we can implement and execute our strategy efficiently and effectively, our chances of successfully reaching our college objectives increase significantly.

Strategic Planning Reporting and Evaluation

Projects outline long-term goals over the next three-to-five years.

Progress on the plan will be reported quarterly.

The strategic plan will be evaluated annually with an environmental scan and for unexpected performance results. It’s also possible that new opportunities (or threats) may have arisen in the past year that require consideration.

Operational Planning Reporting and Evaluation

Projects aim to achieve goals in the shorter term (typically in the next fiscal year).

Progress is updated daily with tasks assigned as needed.

Operational plans are evaluated monthly by unit leads. Work assignments, resource allocations, and tactics for achieving goals will be more fluid than the strategic plan.

Actionable Steps for Campus Leaders

The strategic management unit will setup the Asana Strategic Planning Space by creating portfolios, projects, objectives, and key results, and will partner with senior leadership to oversee the execution of the plan.
The Strategic Management Unit will partner with Unit Leads to establish Asana Project Templates and to track and monitor operational planning and report on status to senior leadership.