Most operations plans I see fall into two buckets. Either they don’t exist, or they were written once for a loan application and haven’t been opened since.
A useful operations plan is short, owned and reviewed. It connects the company’s direction to the work the operations team does every week.
The one-page operations plan
Here’s the structure I use. Each section is a few lines.
1. Purpose of operations
One sentence: what operations exists to deliver. For example, “Deliver every job on the promised day, done right the first time, with a customer who’d refer us.”
2. This year’s operational targets
Three to five targets tied to the company’s one-year plan. Think capacity, quality, speed and customer experience. For example: on-time delivery above a set goal, callbacks below a set limit, capacity to handle the sales plan.
3. Capacity plan
How much work operations can deliver per week or month, with the current team and tools, and what has to change to meet the sales plan. Who you need to hire, train or add — and when.
4. People and seats
The operations section of the Ownership Chart: seats, owners, open seats.
5. Core processes
A list of the core operational processes, each with an owner and a status (documented, partly documented, not documented). See process documentation.
6. Tools
The systems operations runs on and any planned changes.
7. This quarter’s operations goals
Two to four Quarterly Goals for operations, each with one owner and a clear done/not-done. See quarterly business goals.
8. Weekly measures
The operations numbers that go on the weekly scoreboard, with owners and goals. See business scorecard.
9. Risks and issues
The biggest threats to delivery this year — a key person leaving, a supplier, seasonal swings — and what you’ll do about them.
How it connects to the company plan
The operations plan sits under the company’s strategic plan. In the BOSS framework, the Blueprint sets the direction and one-year plan; the operations plan says how delivery will support it; Quarterly Goals and the weekly scoreboard make it real. See strategic planning for small business.
If sales plans to grow and operations doesn’t plan capacity to match, the growth turns into complaints. That’s why the sales and operations leaders should build their plans together.
Building it in one working session
You don’t need weeks. Block three hours with your operations leader and anyone who runs a part of delivery:
- Review the company’s one-year plan and sales targets.
- Draft the operational targets and capacity plan.
- Update the operations seats.
- List core processes and their status.
- Pick this quarter’s operations goals.
- Choose the weekly measures.
- List the top risks.
Write it on one page. Share it with the team.
Keeping it alive
- Review the weekly measures in the weekly meeting.
- Review the quarterly goals and capacity plan at quarterly planning.
- Rewrite the whole thing at annual planning.
That’s it. A plan reviewed on a rhythm is worth far more than a detailed plan nobody reads.
Operations plan for a very small business
If you’re a team of three to five, shrink it: one sentence of purpose, two targets, a capacity note, a short process list, two quarterly goals and four weekly numbers. It still fits on half a page, and it still changes how you run the business.
Mistakes to avoid
- Copying a template written for a factory. Use the structure, but write it in your own words about your own work.
- Planning without sales. Capacity planning without the sales forecast is guesswork.
- Targets with no measures. If a target can’t be tracked weekly or at least monthly, it’ll be forgotten.
- No owner. The operations plan needs one person who keeps it current — usually the operations manager or integrator.
Related reading
Learn the full picture in business operations, the seat that owns the plan in operations manager responsibilities, and the planning rhythm in quarterly planning meeting. If you’d like help building your operations plan, request a strategy call.
An example, in words
A small landscaping company might write: purpose — “every property maintained on schedule, looking better than the neighbors’.” Targets — on-time visits, fewer redo visits, enough capacity for the spring rush. Capacity — current crews can cover the existing routes; one more crew needed before spring. Quarterly goals — hire and train the new crew lead, document the route-planning process. Weekly measures — visits completed versus scheduled, redo visits, customer complaints. Risks — equipment downtime in peak season. That’s a complete, useful operations plan in a few lines.
Questions people ask
What is an operations plan?
An operations plan describes how a business will deliver its products or services over a period: the capacity, people, processes, tools and measures needed, and the priorities for improving operations.
How is an operations plan different from a business plan?
A business plan covers the whole company, often for lenders or investors. An operations plan focuses on delivery and is a working document for the team, reviewed quarterly and tracked weekly.