In any organization, strategic objectives are set to achieve medium and long-term goals. Simultaneously, every department establishes its operational objectives to support these broader goals. In previous articles, we've examined examples of operational objectives in the marketing area. Now it's time for the operations department to explore what objectives are typically set to align with the business strategy.
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Strategic objectives consist of various variable strategies. From operations, efforts are made to contribute to all or some of these strategies, depending on the management of the processes or projects the department is developing. However, operational objectives generally revolve around three main aspects that can be applied interchangeably: volume, time, and customer satisfaction.
Each of these three elements, as operational objectives, serves as the link between strategic objectives and the improvements sought to achieve these goals. In this article, we will delve into potential examples of operational objectives in the operations area that could support your organization's strategic goals.
A strategic objective can be translated into simple operational objectives, and at this point, it is crucial that these operational objectives are met. For them to be feasible, they must have a defined timeframe, be quantifiable, be expressed in terms of "increase" and "decrease," and have measurable indicators. If they meet these four requirements, they are considered operational objectives.
A strategic objective is aligned with a strategy and with the contribution operations can make to meet customer needs. Operational objectives must be aligned with strategic objectives. Below, we identify the three key operational objectives that every operations department should be aware of and implement to enhance the efficiency of their daily processes and achieve the organization's strategic goals.
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In terms of volume, your company may have the strategic objective of increasing profitability, with the strategy for achieving it involving improvements in operational processes. Operational objectives typically have a one-year duration. To achieve this goal, you could reduce the margin of error by 15% and increase customer satisfaction by 50%, for example. This also translates into increased operational efficiency by accelerating delivery times, positively impacting customer satisfaction with the service.
Once objectives are set, in this case, increasing profitability through appropriate strategies, the operations department must apply these strategies to projects and processes. The implemented improvement should allow for reduced time and increased efficiency without compromising the quality of products or services.
This objective aims to reduce project and process execution time to achieve strategic objectives as quickly as possible and with minimal risk. An example of an operational objective related to time could be "reduce project duration." In the case of processes, it could be "reduce steps in a critical process."
All improvements implemented as part of the strategy to achieve strategic objectives are also aimed at increasing customer satisfaction. If processes and projects are shortened in terms of time and work volume increases, customers will express greater satisfaction due to quicker and more efficient service. With reduced implementation times, quality should not be affected, provided that processes allow for this advantage. Formalizing processes ensures increased productivity and efficiency, facilitating the achievement of operational and strategic objectives.
Another operational objective that can be added is budget management, but this is optional as it will depend on whether the budget is allocated from operations or not. In cases where the operations department does allocate a budget, the objective should be focused on reducing expenditure or exponentially increasing the return on investment through process improvement actions and the automation of unproductive manual tasks.
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In a nutshell, examples of operational objectives for the operations area can be summarized in three key elements essential for the department's effective functioning: increasing the volume of delivered products or services, reducing delivery time, and enhancing customer satisfaction. These pillars ensure a healthy operations area. All three can be included or just one, but it's imperative not to do away with all of them, as it would make it very challenging to achieve the strategic objectives set by the management.