Well-managed small
organisations usually start their planning process with a broad
mission statement or vision. While this starting point is both
necessary and admirable, it usually does not become useable by
management until the mission is translated into a strategic plan,
that is then used to guide the jobs that have to be done to meet
the organisation's objectives. Managers gain from an understanding
of the difference between strategic and operational objectives,
because this distinction plays a major role in the conversion of an
overarching vision into concrete specific tasks that define an
action plan.
Strategic objectives
are long-term organizational goals that help to convert a mission
statement from a broad vision into more specific routes to
action. These routes to action, known as prescriptions, can
be used by management to guide decision-making about how to manage
the important features defining the dynamics of the
organisation.
Features are the
subject of set of scheduled tasks and are placed in categories for
ease of handling as data sets. For example, a major
category of features in a conservation plan for a nature site are
the habitats which can be further subdivided into different kinds
of habitats. In a coppicing action plan the management
feature is the panel, which is the ultimate target of the action
plan.
The strategic
objectives set the major benchmarks for progressing a plan and lead
the way to the design of objectives that are measurable,
specific and realistic translations of the mission statement.
Strategic objectives are usually developed as a part of a long term
plan that identifies key strengths and weaknesses and sets out the
specific expectations that will allow the company or organization
to achieve its more broad-based mission or vision
statement.
Operational
objectives are more precisely defined in terms of projects, with
daily, weekly or monthly benchmarks, that implement larger
strategic objectives. Operational objectives, also called tactical
objectives, are defined with strategic objectives in mind, and
provide a means for managers and staff to break down a larger
strategic goal into scheduled workable tasks . Operational
objectives should have measurable performance indicators based on
specific attributes of the state of the features being
managed.
