Someone is NOT doing their job when...

... your Operational Excellence Initiatives do not align with the overall company strategy.

In my previous article it became obvious how much more successful your Operational Excellence initiative is when there are clear accountabilities that are aligned with the strategic goals.

But that's easier said than done.. how do you ensure everything stays aligned?

Rather than trying to go full into a multi year project with major lofty goals, let's focus small and create a workflow that takes approx. 12 weeks or approx. 90 days. After 90 days you then reassess and update your project with the priorities for the next 90 days.

Workflow: Alignment of Operational Excellence Initiatives with Organisational Strategy

Objective: Ensure Operational Excellence initiatives are aligned with and support the organisation's overall strategy.?

Timeline: Quarterly review and alignment, with ad-hoc reviews as needed.?

Responsible Parties:

1. Operational Excellence Team (OET): A cross-functional team responsible for driving Operational Excellence initiatives.?

2. Strategy Team (ST): A team responsible for developing and maintaining the organisation's overall strategy.?

3. Department Heads (DH): Leaders of various departments within the organization.?

4. Executive Sponsor (ES): A senior leader who oversees the Operational Excellence program.?

Please note that the following workflow steps EACH have a clear deliverable to enable success metrics and performance management of the project.

Workflow Steps:

Step 1: Strategic Alignment Review ( Quarterly, Week 1-2)

Responsible: Strategy Team (ST)

Task: Review and update the organisation's overall strategy, ensuring it reflects current business objectives and goals.?

Deliverable: Updated organisational strategy document.?

Step 2: Operational Excellence Initiative Review (Quarterly, Week 3-4)

Responsible: Operational Excellence Team (OET)

Task: Review and update the list of Operational Excellence initiatives, ensuring they are relevant, measurable, and achievable.?

Deliverable: Updated list of Operational Excellence initiatives.?

Step 3: Alignment Analysis (Quarterly, Week 5-6)

Responsible: Operational Excellence Team (OET)

Task: Analyse the Operational Excellence initiatives against the updated organizational strategy, identifying areas of alignment and misalignment.?

Deliverable: Alignment analysis report highlighting areas of alignment and misalignment.?

Step 4: Stakeholder Feedback and Refining (Quarterly, Week 7-8)

Responsible: Operational Excellence Team (OET) and Department Heads (DH)

Task: Share the alignment analysis report with Department Heads and gather feedback on the Operational Excellence initiatives.?

Deliverable: Refined list of Operational Excellence initiatives, incorporating stakeholder feedback.?

Step 5: Executive Review and Approval (Quarterly, Week 9-10)

Responsible: Executive Sponsor (ES)

Task: Review and approve the refined list of Operational Excellence initiatives, ensuring they align with the organisation's overall strategy.?

Deliverable: Approved list of Operational Excellence initiatives.?

Step 6: Initiative Prioritisation and Resource Allocation (Quarterly, Week 11-12)

Responsible: Operational Excellence Team (OET) and Department Heads (DH)

Task: Prioritise the approved Operational Excellence initiatives and allocate resources (e. g. , personnel, budget) to support their implementation.?

Deliverable: Prioritised list of Operational Excellence initiatives with allocated resources.?

After this you can continue with Ad-Hoc Reviews:

The Operational Excellence Team (OET) will conduct ad-hoc reviews of Operational Excellence initiatives as needed, to ensure they remain aligned with the organisation's overall strategy.?

The Strategy Team (ST) will review and update the organisational strategy as needed, triggering a revisit of the alignment analysis and subsequent steps.?

By following this workflow, the organisation ensures that Operational Excellence initiatives are aligned with and support the overall strategy, with clear responsibilities and timelines assigned to each step.