May 19, 2012, 10:23 am

Operations Strategy Development

Operations improvement, to be effective, must be driven by a longer term view of where an organisation wishes to direct its efforts. This view should be:

  • Holistic - incorporate all aspects of Operations, and its relationship with the remainder of the organisation
  • Motivational - it must build high levels of commitment and momentum towards achieving the desired outcomes
  • Focused - it must ensure that efforts are focused on progressing those activities with the biggest returns for effort expended
  • Measurable - it must permit the identification, measurement, and capture of benefits accruing from implementation of the operational improvement activities, and
  • Directive - it should clearly outline the activities, roles, and responsibilities of all involved in the Operational Improvement effort.
This is at the heart of our approach to Operations Strategy Development

Often conducted after a holistic review or audit of Operations, our approach is based on the A-B-C-D model of planning. We generally take a deep, diagonal slice through the organisation, and solicit involvement from representative personnel at all levels within the organisation, and included non-Operational personnel in workshop sessions and interviews. A high level of involvement builds commitment, and variety amongst those participating increases the quality of the outcome.