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Top 10 Tactical Plan Templates with Examples and Samples

Lakshya Khurana

Jio is a telecom company in India (under parent company Reliance) that received a lot of attention and investments from major players in Silicon Valley and managed to disrupt the market through tactical planning. Here’s a look at the investment it raised.

It secured an impressive $5.7 billion in funding from Facebook in April 2020 while adding a new investor almost every week, including Intel, the Saudi Public Investment Fund, and equity firms like KKR. In July 2020, they announced an investment of $4.5 billion from Google.

A tactical plan is a strategy to achieve short-to-medium-term objectives that are part of a great master framework. A tactical plan is flexible and prompt while being detailed and specific. So, what was part of Reliance’s tactical plan?

• Disruptive Pricing: The company offered free trials and welcome offers and provided call and internet services at prices significantly lower than the competition.
• Digital services: Within the internet service package, they provided access to apps for digital entertainment, such as movies, TV shows, and music.
• Incentivized customer loyalty: The company provided reward systems to encourage long-term association with their partners and customers.
• Focus on rural connectivity: They provided services to small towns and villages and built a robust infrastructure.

The service now boasts a whopping 440 million subscribers in India alone, with prices that align with market trends.

Check out our blog here with expert tips and customizable templates on the ultimate playbook on strategic (long-term) planning!

Achieve Larger Objectives Through Smaller Goals

Whether in sales, production, marketing campaigns, inventory, or recruitment, tactical plans help by breaking larger objectives into smaller goals. These goals can be achieved by implementing the tactical plan strategy. In this blog, you will receive, and we will showcase the 10 best Tactical Plan Templates that do make a difference.

These presentations are content-ready and 100% editable. They give you a starting point, a structured framework, and the capability to change the slides to suit your needs. With these templates, you will be able to improve resource allocation, create and achieve milestones within deadlines, conduct risk assessment and mitigation, and implement continuous improvement through feedback mechanisms and KPIs.

Let’s take a tour of our curated collection of top 10 Tactical Plan Templates and help you achieve your goals.

Template 1: Tactical Planning PowerPoint Template Bundles

Give your company’s departments the push they need to achieve their goals with this PowerPoint Deck. This collection of slides presents a  method to implement a tactical plan in activities, such as creating a marketing framework and management information system, driving sales, optimizing the B2B approach, studying the use of the tool, etc. Alongside these specific objectives, there are slides to create your own tactical plan to achieve your chosen goals. Download this PPT Set now to create a customized tactical plan that presents a plan of action for your team.

DOWNLOAD NOW

Template 2: Tactical Planning Needs Assessment PPT Slides Complete Deck

This PowerPoint Template Bundle is an excellent source of tools and techniques to optimize your business operations. The slides take you on a step-by-step methodology to conduct a gap analysis to better understand your objectives and action points that will get you there. The analysis is tackled from every conceivable angle and delivered through graphs and charts for easy understanding. There are slides for the growth-share matrix, Ansoff Product matric, Servqual mode, and more tools to help you. Download this PPT Set now.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD

Template 3: Tactical Action Plan with Objectives and Opportunities

Use this slide to understand and share your objectives and ensure you are on track to achieve these. This presentation template presents a table to list components that are needed to execute a tactical plan, including the opportunities and objectives, the facts to deliver to clients, the KPIs to track performance, and the actions to perform to reach those objectives. With an easy-to-follow format, the stakeholders and team members will understand their goals and roles within the grand scheme of the project and execute their functions within time and better efficiency. Download this presentation now.

GET IT HERE

Template 4: Tactical Action Plan with Goal and Current Status

This PPT Slide, in a tabular form, is the perfect reference for the roles and responsibilities of people assigned to a tactical plan. It begins with the left-most column of the intended goal and then moves toward action steps to achieve it. The appropriate person for the job is assigned a deadline. The final column allows stakeholders to keep track progress of the task via its status. Download this template to run a smooth ship and achieve your goals on time.

Template 5: Tactical Planning Showing What, Who, When, and How

Sometimes, it is a simple 2x2 grid that does the work for you. Present your tactical plan using this template and add relevant information to each grid. This includes the ‘What’, aka the goals to be achieved, the ‘Who,’ the person or persons responsible for achieving it, the ‘When,’ the timeline to complete the tasks; and the ‘How’, the methodology to be used. Additional comments can also be added to the slide for more clarification. Download now from the link below.

Template 6: Tactical Action Plan for Effective Online Selling

One way or another, the entire business model of any company is centered around sales, and this slide presents a tactical plan to boost online sales for your products and services. The layout presents a table with stages along the columns and metrics along the rows. The stages include awareness, consideration, and decision, which showcase the steps in a customer’s journey. This is measured against the desired goals and needs of the company and the tactics you need to implement to achieve them. Download now.

Template 7: Tactical Action Plan with Priority and Status

Prioritization is critical to project success. As you implement your tactical plan, improve your chances of success by sorting your tasks by priority from high to low. The tasks are presented in a table in this PPT Template. You can add further information with the employee responsible for it, starting date, KPIs, status, and progress. Download this template now to present a color-coded and legend-bound table.

Template 8: Tactical Action Plan for Strategic Marketing Goal

This minimalist PPT Slide details focus areas that are a must to implement a tactical action plan. These include business objectives, marketing goals, strategy, and tactics. There is enough space to add information to these areas and share with stakeholders for knowledge and roles. Make this template yours today.

Template 9: Tactical Action Plan for Digital Marketing

Boost your progress in digital marketing with this tactical plan slide. Present your business goals, campaign objectives, success metrics, assets, and content type in this tabular format. The table depicts directions for team members and provides them with tools and KPIs to ensure they are on track with their work. Grab this template now from the link below.

Template 10: Five-Step Strategic and Tactical Planning Process

Use this general tactical plan layout to construct a short-term strategy for your goals. This is done via a five-step process that begins with developing a strategic plan. Next, convert it into a tactical plan and create operational action steps. Execute your created strategy and monitor its progress. This provides you with feedback to adjust the initial plan and start the five-step process again. Download now.

Short-Term Steps for Long-Term Gains

The master framework must be broken down into smaller goals that can be achieved through a tactical plan. All projects in all businesses across industries use this technique to achieve their long-term objectives. You can do it too, and hit the ground running using our Tactical Plan Templates.

Access these slides with a single click and streamline your tactical planning process. You can choose one of our subscription services: monthly, semi-annual, annual, annual+ with a click here .

P.S. The templates in this blog are not ranked in any order. Pick the one(s) you like and download it!

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• Quarterly Business Review Presentation: All the Essential Slides You Need in Your Deck
• [Updated 2023] How to Design The Perfect Product Launch Presentation [Best Templates Included]
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Tactical Planning Template

Identify business objectives, determine necessary strategy to achieve objectives.

• 1 Challenge 1
• 2 Challenge 2
• 3 Challenge 3
• 4 Challenge 4
• 5 Challenge 5

Identification of required resources

Define roles and responsibilities.

• 1 Responsibility 1
• 2 Responsibility 2
• 3 Responsibility 3
• 4 Responsibility 4
• 5 Responsibility 5

Create initial tactical plan outline

Approval: tactical plan outline.

• Create initial tactical plan outline Will be submitted

Prepare detailed action plan

• 1 Action step 1
• 2 Action step 2
• 3 Action step 3
• 4 Action step 4
• 5 Action step 5

Determine Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

Identify potential risks, formulate risk mitigation strategies, approval: risk mitigation strategies.

• Identify potential risks Will be submitted
• Formulate risk mitigation strategies Will be submitted

Develop communication plan

• 1 Audience 1
• 2 Audience 2
• 3 Audience 3
• 4 Audience 4
• 5 Audience 5
• 1 Channel 1
• 2 Channel 2
• 3 Channel 3
• 4 Channel 4
• 5 Channel 5
• 4 Quarterly

Assign tasks to team members

Setup timeline and milestones, approval: timeline and milestones.

• Prepare detailed action plan Will be submitted
• Assign tasks to team members Will be submitted
• Setup timeline and milestones Will be submitted

Launch the tactical plan

Monitor progress and measure performance, make necessary adjustments based on feedback.

• 1 Team members
• 2 Stakeholders

Report progress to stakeholders

Approval: final report.

• Monitor progress and measure performance Will be submitted
• Make necessary adjustments based on feedback Will be submitted
• Report progress to stakeholders Will be submitted

Take control of your workflows today.

More templates like this.

Tactical plan presentation: A comprehensive guide

Learn to create a clear, concise, and persuasive presentation that gets results.

Raja Bothra

Building presentations

Welcome to the world of tactical planning presentations, where strategy, and effective communication come together to create a winning formula.

In this comprehensive guide, we'll delve deep into the art of crafting impactful tactical plan presentations that leave a lasting impression.

What is tactical planning, and why is it important?

Before we dive into the nitty-gritty of tactical planning presentations, let's establish a solid understanding of what tactical planning is and why it holds such significance.

Tactical planning, often referred to as tactical strategy, is the process of formulating specific actions and steps to achieve short-term goals within an organization. It's all about the "how" when it comes to executing a broader strategic plan.

Picture this : You're in a business meeting, and your team is discussing how to gain an edge in the market. This is where tactical planning steps in. It helps you create a detailed action plan to conquer specific challenges, be it in digital marketing, business operations, or brand remodeling.

Difference between tactical plan vs. strategic plan

Understanding the distinction between a tactical plan and a strategic plan is crucial for effective decision-making. While both are essential in the grand scheme of things, they serve different purposes.

A strategic plan is like the North Star guiding an organization on its journey. It's a long-term vision that outlines the overarching goals and objectives, often spanning several years into the future. Think of it as the blueprint for the organization's destiny.

In contrast, a tactical plan is the GPS system for the here and now. It's all about zooming in on the short-term, laying out the precise steps required to achieve the lofty goals set by the strategic plan. Tactical plans are the practical, on-the-ground strategies that bring the big picture to life.

Let's draw a clearer distinction between the two:

Strategic plan: The north star

Time horizon: Strategic plans have a long time horizon, typically covering 3-5 years or even more. They provide the organization with a roadmap for the distant future.

Focus: The primary focus of a strategic plan is the big picture. It looks at the organization as a whole, outlining its high-level goals and objectives. This plan is the vision for where the organization wants to be down the road.

Level of detail: While strategic plans are essential guides, they are not bogged down by intricate details. They provide a broad framework for decision-making, offering guidance without delving into minute specifics.

Flexibility: Strategic plans need to be flexible enough to adapt to changes in the external environment. They serve as a compass, allowing the organization to adjust its course as needed while staying true to its long-term vision.

Developed by: Strategic plans are typically the brainchild of senior management, as they require a deep understanding of the organization's mission, vision, and long-term goals.

Tactical plan: The GPS system

Time horizon: Tactical plans are all about the short term, usually covering a period of 1 year or less. They break down the strategic plan into manageable, actionable steps.

Focus: Tactical plans shift the focus to specific projects or initiatives. They answer questions like, "What do we need to do right now to progress toward our strategic goals?"

Level of detail: Unlike their strategic counterparts, tactical plans are highly detailed. They get into the specifics, outlining precisely who does what, when, and how.

Flexibility: Tactical plans are less flexible than strategic plans. They are like a well-defined route that guides the organization's day-to-day activities toward the achievement of short-term objectives.

Developed by: Tactical plans are typically crafted by middle management, as they require a deep understanding of the organization's day-to-day operations and the ability to execute specific tasks.

KPIs and metrics to add in tactical plan presentation

When it comes to crafting a winning tactical plan presentation, data is your best friend. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and metrics are the compasses that help you stay on course. Here are some essential ones to consider:

• Conversion rate : How effective are your tactics in turning potential customers into paying ones?
• ROI (return on investment) : Are your actions delivering a positive financial return?
• Click-through rate (CTR) : What percentage of your audience is taking action based on your presentation?
• Customer acquisition cost (CAC) : How much does it cost to gain a new customer?
• Churn rate : Are you retaining your existing customers?

Incorporating these metrics into your tactical plan presentation demonstrates your commitment to data-driven decision-making.

How to structure an effective tactical planning presentation

Now that you're armed with the knowledge of what a tactical plan is and the metrics you need to focus on, let's talk about the structure of an effective presentation.

1. Title slide : Your PowerPoint presentation begins with a compelling title slide. Make it clear and concise, using a PowerPoint template that reflects your brand's identity. Remember, first impressions matter.

2. Agenda : Provide your audience with a roadmap of what to expect. Use a clean and straightforward slide to outline the topics you'll cover.

3. Understanding the situation : This section dives into the nitty-gritty. Here, you'll discuss the current market scenario, your competition, and the challenges you're facing. Incorporate presentation slides with charts, graphs, and visuals to make data more digestible.

4. Setting objectives : What are your goals and objectives? Use this section to outline them clearly. Whether it's increasing market share, improving customer satisfaction, or boosting revenue, make it known.

5. Strategy and tactics : Here's where the rubber meets the road. Detail your tactical marketing strategy, action plan, and the specific tactics you'll employ. Ensure your slide design is clean and easy to follow.

6. Metrics and KPIs : Highlight the key performance indicators and metrics you mentioned earlier. Use visuals like charts and graphs to illustrate trends and progress.

7. Implementation timeline : Create a visual representation of your timeline. A presentation template for timelines can be incredibly helpful in conveying this information effectively.

8. Budget allocation : Discuss your budget allocation for each tactic. Clearly show how resources will be distributed.

9. Conclusion : Summarize the key takeaways from your presentation. Reiterate the importance of your tactical plan.

10. Q&A : Open the floor for questions and discussions. Encourage engagement from your audience.

11. Thank you : End your presentation on a positive note. Thank your audience for their time and attention.

Do's and don'ts on a tactical planning presentation

To ensure your tactical plan presentation hits the mark, here are some do's and don'ts to keep in mind:

• Keep it concise : Avoid information overload. Stick to the most critical points.
• Practice : Rehearse your presentation multiple times to ensure a smooth delivery.
• Engage your audience : Encourage questions and discussions to make it interactive.

Don'ts:

• Overcomplicate : Keep your language simple and jargon-free. Your audience should easily grasp your message.
• Rush : Take your time during the presentation. Speak clearly and at a moderate pace.
• Ignore visuals : Visual aids like charts and graphs can enhance understanding. Don't rely solely on text.
• Forget to follow up : After your presentation, follow up with your audience to address any remaining questions or concerns.

Summarizing key takeaways

• Tactical planning is vital for short-term goal achievement within an organization, focusing on specific actions and steps.
• Difference between tactical and strategic plans: Strategic plans are long-term and high-level. Tactical plans are short-term and detailed.
• Metrics like conversion rate, ROI, CTR, CAC, and churn rate are crucial in tactical planning presentations.
• Structure your presentation with key sections, including objectives, strategy, metrics, and a Q&A session.
• Do's include keeping it concise, practicing, and engaging the audience.
• Don'ts involve avoiding jargon, rushing, and neglecting visual aids.
• Follow up with your audience after the presentation for further discussions.

1. What is a tactical planning presentation, and how does it differ from a business plan?

A tactical planning presentation, often referred to as a tactical plan ppt powerpoint presentation, is a visual representation of the specific actions and strategies a business or organization intends to implement to achieve short-term objectives. It's distinct from a business plan, which outlines long-term goals and overall strategies.

2. Where can I find a tactical planning ppt template to create my presentation?

You can easily find a tactical planning ppt template, which is a pre-designed set of slides with the name "tactical planning powerpoint template, powerpoint presentation file, best tactical action planning ppt powerpoint presentation." These templates are completely editable in powerpoint, google slides and can help you create a professional-looking tactical planning powerpoint presentation.

3. Can you provide some tips for designing an effective tactical planning powerpoint presentation?

To design an impactful tactical planning powerpoint presentation, focus on using ppt design principles, such as clean and organized ppt slides, infographics, and ppt powerpoint slide presentation styles information. Ensure that your ppt powerpoint presentation layouts guide is visually engaging and conveys your strategy clearly.

4. What are some common elements included in a tactical planning presentation for marketing and commercial advancement?

A tactical planning presentation for marketing and commercial advancement typically covers marketing plans, marketing strategies, media tactical plans, communication plan, strategy plan, and a 30 60 90 day plan. It may also include ppt slide templates and icons ppt to enhance communication.

5. How can I effectively communicate a tactical plan for market domination using a powerpoint presentation?

Presenting a tactical plan for market domination requires strategic thinking and a well-structured presentation deck. You can use this ready-made powerpoint presentation slides and customize it according to your specific goals. It includes a total of fifty-nine slides and is completely editable in powerpoint, allowing you to convey your tactical business planning ppt powerpoint presentation model icon effectively.

Create your tactical planning presentation with prezent

Prezent can be incredibly valuable in creating your tactical planning presentation for several reasons:

• Time efficiency: Prezent can save you up to 70% of the time typically spent on creating presentations. This means you can focus more on the strategic aspects of your tactical planning.
• Brand consistency: With 100% compliance and access to brand-approved designs, you can ensure that your presentation is always on-brand, which is crucial for conveying a professional image.
• Personalization: Prezent allows you to create personalized presentations, tailoring them to your audience's preferences. This helps in making your tactical plan more engaging and relevant.
• Collaboration: Real-time sharing and collaboration features enable your team to work together seamlessly on the presentation, ensuring that everyone's input is considered.
• Content library: Prezent boasts a vast library of 35,000+ slides and 50+ storylines. This means you have a wide range of resources at your disposal to craft a compelling tactical planning presentation.
• Document management: You can efficiently manage all your presentation documents within the platform, making it easy to locate, update, or reuse content as needed.
• Overnight presentation service: If you're pressed for time, Prezent's overnight presentation service is a game-changer. Submit your presentation by 5:30 PM PST, and you'll receive a polished version in your inbox by 9:30 AM the next business day.

Now, go out there and present like a pro. Your tactical plan is waiting to be brought to life. Good luck! Sign up for our free trial or book a demo ! ‍

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Tactical vs Strategic Planning: Benefits, Examples, & Templates

Some links included here may be affiliate links, meaning we may earn a small monetary bonus from referring you to them. In no way does this increase the price you pay.

Today’s Business Task:  Create a tactical plan that helps keep you on track towards reach that SMART business goal ( and yes, I have templates for you) .

Tactical Planning Template

Grab  the template for this tactical planning exercise  so you can build this as you go through the post.

Tactical Planning vs Strategic Planning

This was one of the most important pieces I learned  during a business class I took recently. It’s part of the business model canvas ( which I recommend looking into after you understand this ) and something I currently have hanging on my wall.

Before we dive into building this thing, we need to understand what a tactical plan is.

This sounds like an uber-boring topic, eh? Once you get the hang of it, you won’t think that anymore. This is really powerful stuff for business owners.

Here is how Business Dictionary explains these two:

Strategic planning  is a ”systematic process of envisioning a desired future, and translating this vision into broadly defined goals or objectives and a sequence of steps to achieve them.”

Tactical planning  is “a systematic determination and scheduling of the immediate or short-term activities required in achieving the objectives of strategic planning.”

Now that we got the very technical definitions out of the way, here is how I think of these two:

Strategic planning is figuring out what you want the future to look like,  and breaking that into goals. If you want to grow a business that brings in 3 million in revenue, what business goals do you need to accomplish to get there?

Characteristics of a Strategic Plan:

• Long-Term – 3-5 years out
• Broad Goals
• The why  behind your work
• More stable and don’t change much

Tactical planning is breaking up those goals into workable tasks  that we can start scheduling into our task management system and calendar. We take the goals from above and put together specific plans for how to reach those.

Characteristics of a Tactical Plan:

• Short-term: 1-2 years
• Narrow and focused goals
• How  you are going to reach the strategic plan goals
• These can be changed quickly

The Steps to Tactical Planning

One of the more powerful things I learned was that of a Tactical Improvement Plan, or Tactical implementation plan as I’ve found it’s also called. I like the latter name better, because it reminds you that it’s about getting sh*t done, as opposed to improving.

Either way, this plan consists of 6 pieces:

These are not just any goals, we want to use SMART goals . They are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, time bound, AND include “why” you are working towards them.

Real Life Example:

My first goal for this plan was to “Develop a set of key packages for clients that bundle relative services based off the scope of work by 10/15, in order to increase efficiency of the sales process.”

These are the strategies you are going to be using to achieve the goal above. These tactics are not the actual tasks you’ll accomplish, but the kinds of things you’ll be doing to reach that goal.

Taking the goal above, my tactics were:

• Take inventory of everything I’m currently doing and categorize them
• Put together a comprehensive packaging of those services
• Implement the new packages

These don’t have dates, they aren’t ready to be put in my task management system yet, so let’s move on to the action steps that I’ll need to get these done.

3. Action Steps

As I alluded to above, action steps are specific tasks you can put into your task manager and schedule a date for completion.

Think of this part as building your “to-do list” to make sure you achieve those tactics.

For this tactical plan example, here are the action steps (in bold) for each of the tactics listed above:

• Create a list of all services offered (what it is, why it’s done, etc.)
• Categorize each service into buckets based on necessity to the core package and type.
• Decide on a core package offering that stands alone but is also a lead into upselling other services.
• Put together a full breakdown of what’s included in the core package
• Determine “tier 2” packages for customers
• Come up with an a la carte menu for other add-ons and services
• Creates a sales proposition (copy, who it’s for, etc.)
• Identify appropriate pricing structure
• Add new packages to the website
• Reach out to existing clients and put them into a package

4. Resources

Next, we’re going to determine resources needed for each of those tasks, so we know what we’ll need to have in order to start the work.

Resources can include things like financial resources, materials, software, equipment, current employees, new employees, and outsourcing work.

Sometimes, the resource is as simple as your time. For others it might be another person, tools you need to acquire, etc. My resources are in bold below:

• Resources Needed: Past client files and proposals
• Resources Needed: My time
• Resources Needed: Past client files and time
• Resources Needed: list of services and time
• Resources Needed: time and copywriting help
• Resources Needed: computer, time, and research
• Resources Needed: computer and time
• Resources Needed: computer and phone calls

5. Deadline

Next, we are going to determine a deadline for each of these tasks in the tactical plan. Without the time piece, you’re going to get bogged down in trying to figure out what is due first and when you’re actually going to have this goal done.

6. Person Responsible

The last step is figuring out who you are going to make responsible for each of those steps . This helps us tremendously when we do add each action step to our task manager because we know who to assign it to., and who to follow up with if that part is falling behind.

I’m not going to re-paste my steps here, because all of mine rely solely on me to get them done. If you have a team, please make sure you’re not skipping this step.

I hope you see how helpful taking the time to break down everything into manageable steps can be in reaching your goals. A tactical plan can help you achieve your business goals

You can download this template to use to set your goals and create a full tactical plan.

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More From Forbes

How To Create A Tactical Plan To Execute Your Business Strategy

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A tactical plan is crucial if you want to put your business strategy into play. A strategy is an overarching vision for your company, but means absolutely nothing when no action is put behind it. That’s where a tactical plan comes in.

Tactics are the measurable action items you've set to meet the objectives you’ve created in your strategic plan.  This is where you get to work. This is where you make things happen. This is where you know if you’ve veered off track.

A tactical plan takes a fair amount of time to create, but once done, everyone has their marching orders. It’s the very best way to make sure everyone is on the same page and that all activity is centered around the strategic vision. Busy work is almost always eradicated when a tactical plan is created and implemented.

Here are the components of your tactical plan.

Once you’ve created your strategic plan, you will have created a set of objectives that will help you reach your strategic vision. These objectives are measurable and achievable. Things like “Reach 100,000 website visitors a month.” or “Boost employee productivity by 30%.” These objectives can be measured and improved upon. All objectives now need action items, or tactics, assigned to them.

Action Items

When a tactic helps you get closer to achieving more than one objective, you are being ultra efficient.

Key performance indicators are the steps along the way that inform you if you’re on the right track. A KPI for reaching more website visitors could be “consistently getting 25,000 visitors in Q1, 50,000 in Q2, 75,000 in Q3 and 100,000 in Q4” KPIs chunk down your efforts so you can keep on top of progress you are making.

Responsible Party and Due Date

When an objective is set and tactics are created, you must find out if your team members have the proper resources to carry them out. If there is software or training needed, this is when you call attention to it. Your team needs to be well equipped to carry out their job. Get the proper resources to your team as soon as possible so there are no delays in your plan.

Your team should never be working on tactics without knowing the strategic vision of your company. They need to be able to see the big picture and how their role fits into what you are trying to achieve. They may have brilliant ideas that can be implemented or ways to save time and money. If you can involve your team in making tactics, all the better. They know their job better than anyone and can help to create the best action items and KPIs to reach objectives.

One of the biggest advantages to having a tactical plan is that no one is left behind wondering what needs to be done. Sometimes things get so busy that silos form. When you sit down with a team member to check in with them on their tactical plan and KPIs, you’ll see how far they’ve come or if they are hitting road blocks and need help.

With a tactical plan, you can physically see momentum happening and your strategic plan come to life.

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What is Tactical Planning In Business?

Jun 6, 2024 | HR

Tactical planning in business is all about turning your big-picture strategies into actionable steps. It bridges the gap between strategic planning, which sets the long-term vision, and the immediate actions needed to get there. Companies use tactical planning to break down big goals into manageable tasks to ensure strategies are practical and measurable.

But does your organization really need it? In this article, we’ll explore the ins and outs of tactical planning, discussing when it’s most useful, how to go about implementing it, and more.

What is Tactical Planning?

Tactical planning takes your company’s strategic plan and uses it to drill down to specific short-term actions and plans that can then be divvied up between your teams depending on their function.

Naturally, the life cycle of these tactical plans is much shorter than the strategic plans.

Where a company sets out its strategic plan for the next five years, for example, tactical plans accompanying it may only be for a period of time up to a couple of years or less. This is of course dependent on the individual business and its operations. In volatile markets subject to more frequent changes, these timeframes can be much shorter.

Tactical planning is something that can take a while to complete, but once it’s done, everyone has clear and actionable instructions. It’s the best way to make sure everyone is on the same page and that all your operations are focused on the same strategic vision.

When To Use a Tactical Plan

Knowing when to deploy a tactical plan can be just as important as the plan itself. Understanding the timing and context of when to spring into action can really make a difference:

• During Periods Of Growth: When your company is expanding, a tactical plan helps manage the complexities that come with growth. It helps maintain your organization’s stability even as it evolves.
• For Launching A New Product Or Service: Introducing a new product or service usually involves coordinated efforts across multiple departments. A tactical plan helps outline each step— from development to launch — to ensure all departments are synchronized.
• When Entering New Markets: Breaking into a new market requires precise, well-coordinated efforts. A tactical plan lays out the steps your teams need to take and helps align resources and schedules for a more unified approach in unfamiliar territory.
• During Organizational Restructuring: If your company is restructuring, a tactical plan can help manage the transition smoothly by detailing the steps to reorganize teams, processes, and systems in alignment with strategic objectives.

Tactical Planning Examples

While specific strategic and tactical plans can vary between companies and industries, they all follow the same model: A strategic plan defines a long-term goal, and the tactical plan defines the steps needed to achieve it.

Here are some quick examples where the number is the strategic plan and the bullet points are the tactical plans.

1. Hire and develop a diverse cohort of new employees and retain them in the long-term

• Research salary survey data to determine the compensation of new hires.
• Carry out effective exit interviews to find out why people are leaving.
• Develop outreach programs that target diverse areas (i.e., schools, cities).
• Develop in-house training for managers and supervisors on diversity & inclusivity.

2. Reorganize the business so that it is more closely aligned with the industry

• Review the existing roles and responsibilities of teams and business units.
• Develop a reorganization proposal and distribute it to all employees.
• Consult with employees to find out their operational pain points.
• Experiment with org charts to build a new structure that supports our strategic goals.

3. Double the number of marketing assistants by the end of Q2

• Create a detailed hiring profile that spells out the minimum candidate criteria.
• Develop an outreach campaign that will target and attract the right talent.
• Build an efficient onboarding process to make a great first impression to the new hires.

How to Build Your Own Tactical Plan

Since tactical planning is the process of breaking down your strategic plan into distinctive, concrete short-term plans, then that’s exactly what you should do:

1. Consider the Overall Vision

Since your tactical plans are influenced heavily by your overall strategic business plans, it’s important that you keep these in mind when creating your tactical plans. It’s also important to communicate your strategic plan to your employees who will be carrying out your tactical plans and make sure that they truly understand it. Once your employees understand the larger goal and how they can contribute to it, they’re far more likely to meet their individual tactical objectives.

2. Create Clear Objectives and Goals

Strategic planning rests on measurable and realistic goals and objectives, with objectives that are more complex requiring more time, money, and resources to achieve.

Before creating these objectives, consider your individual teams’ workloads and then prioritize your strategic plans based on i) what your company needs most and ii) how likely the objective is likely to be achieved given how busy or productive your team is.

3. Assign Actions to These Plans

It’s all well and good defining strategic plans like “Increase new leads by 20% before Q3” or “Produce a series of eight blog posts about <insert niche topic here>” but if you don’t have specific plans in place to achieve them, then you may struggle.

To assist your teams in achieving specific objectives, it’s a good idea to assign concrete action items to each one. Doing so eliminates the risk of confusion and provides your employees with easy-to-follow instructions that are aligned with their core skills.

4. Define Your KPIs

Key performance indicators (KPIs) help you determine if you’re on the right track. For example, a KPI for “ Increase new leads by 20% before Q3” could be a measurable rise in the number of new enquiries you’ve received, or a higher conversion rate on your website.

KPIs can be evaluated weekly, monthly, or quarterly to determine the success of your team’s efforts. The KPIs that you set and measure depend on your industry and you should only set ones that support your objectives; those that don’t will do nothing but feed you irrelevant information.

Other examples of KPIs include:

• Customer satisfaction score
• Quarterly or annual profit compared to previous reports
• Sales figures
• Product enquiries received
• New positive customer reviews

5. Delegate Actions to Specific Teams

Teams work best and follow through with objectives better when they know who’s responsible for what.

As you put together your tactical plans, delegate the work to the people or teams that are most qualified to take on the work. While there may be many people or teams involved with a single objective, it’s important that your tactical plans and goals are more focused and are unambiguously clear about who is taking each one on.

One of the biggest advantages to tactical planning is that nobody is left behind confused about what needs to be done. Instead, they get the momentum going and allow your strategic plan to come to life.  

Benefits of Tactical Planning in Business

Tactical planning is a crucial tool for proactive management and achieving key objectives. Here are some of the other benefits tactical planning can provide your organization:

• Clear Direction: Tactical planning provides clear, actionable steps for your team. This prevents confusion and keeps everyone focused on what needs to be done.
• Better Resource Management: Through tactical planning, resources are allocated where they are needed the most, minimizing resource inefficiency.
• Enhanced Coordination: Tactical planning breaks down broad plans into specific actions, which helps improve coordination among various departments.
• Improved Communication: Since tactical plans outline specific responsibilities, better communication is achieved within teams. Everyone knows their role and how it contributes to larger goals, boosting morale and effectiveness.

Disadvantages of a Tactical Plan in Business

While tactical planning can be immensely helpful, it’s not without drawbacks. Here are some of its limitations that you should be aware of:

• Can Complicate Plans: If not carefully managed, tactical plans can become too detailed and complex, making them difficult to follow and implement.
• May Lead to Inflexibility: In some cases, sticking to a plan to a T can lead to missed opportunities. A rigid tactical plan may also be unable to adapt to sudden market changes.
• Risk of Misalignment: If not properly aligned with strategic objectives, tactical plans can lead teams in directions that are not beneficial for the business as a whole.
• Potential Shortsightedness: Some tactical plans may focus too much on immediate results, potentially neglecting long-term strategic goals.

Try Organimi to Help With Tactical Planning In Your Business

Organimi is an HR tool that can help you streamline tactical planning for your business. Check out a free trial of the software to see how it can help your HR team work more efficiently to help things run smoothly  in your business.   You can also join Organimi’s LinkedIn community to connect with other HR professionals looking to better their operations. 

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Operational Planning: How to Make an Operations Plan

The operations of your business can be defined as the sum of all the daily activities that you and your team execute to create products or services and engage with your customers, among other critical business functions. While organizing these moving parts might sound difficult, it can be easily done by writing a business operational plan. But before we learn how to make one, let’s first understand what’s the relationship between strategic and operational planning.

Operational Planning vs. Strategic Planning

Operational planning and strategic planning are complementary to each other. This is because strategic plans define the business strategy and the long-term goals for your organization, while operational plans define the steps required to achieve them.

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What Is a Strategic Plan?

A strategic plan is a business document that describes the business goals of a company as well as the high-level actions that will be taken to achieve them over a time period of 1-3 years.

What Is an Operational Plan?

Operational plans map the daily, weekly or monthly business operations that’ll be executed by the department to complete the goals you’ve previously defined in your strategic plan. Operational plans go deeper into explaining your business operations as they explain roles and responsibilities, timelines and the scope of work.

Operational plans work best when an entire department buys in, assigning due dates for tasks, measuring goals for success, reporting on issues and collaborating effectively. They work even better when there’s a platform like ProjectManager , which facilitates communication across departments to ensure that the machine is running smoothly as each team reaches its benchmark. Get started with ProjectManager for free today.

What Is Operational Planning?

Operational planning is the process of turning strategic plans into action plans, which simply means breaking down high-level strategic goals and activities into smaller, actionable steps. The main goal of operational planning is to coordinate different departments and layers of management to ensure the whole organization works towards the same objective, which is achieving the goals set forth in the strategic plan .

How to Make an Operational Plan

There’s no single approach to follow when making an operation plan for your business. However, there’s one golden rule in operations management : your strategic and operational plans must be aligned. Based on that principle, here are seven steps to make an operational plan.

• Map business processes and workflows: What steps need to be taken at the operations level to accomplish long-term strategic goals?
• Set operational-level goals: Describe what operational-level goals contribute to the achievement of larger strategic goals.
• Determine the operational timeline: Is there any time frame for the achievement of the operational plan?
• Define your resource requirements: Estimate what resources are needed for the execution of the operational plan.
• Estimate the operational budget: Based on your resource requirements, estimate costs and define an operational budget.
• Set a hiring plan: Are there any skills gaps that need to be filled in your organization?
• Set key performance indicators: Define metrics and performance tracking procedures to measure your team’s performance.

Free Operational Plan Template

Leverage everything you’ve learned today with our template. This free operational plan template for Word will help you define your budget, timeline, KPIs and more. It’s the perfect first step in organizing and improving your operations. Download it today.

What Should be Included in an Operational Plan?

Your operational plan should describe your business operations as accurately as possible so that internal teams know how the company works and how they can help achieve the larger strategic objectives. Here’s a list of some of the key elements that you’ll need to consider when writing an operational plan.

Executive Summary

An executive summary is a brief document that summarizes the content of larger documents like business plans, strategic plans or operation plans. Their main purpose is to provide a quick overview for busy stakeholders.

Operational Budget

An operational budget is an estimation of the expected operating costs and revenues for a given time period. As with other types of budget, the operational budget defines the amount of money that’s available to acquire raw materials, equipment or anything else that’s needed for business operations.

It’s important to limit your spending to stay below your operational budget, otherwise, your company could run out of resources to execute its normal activities. You can use our free operating budget template for Excel to track your operating costs.

Operational Objectives

It’s essential to align your operational objectives with your strategic objectives. For example, if one of your strategic objectives is to increase sales by 25 percent over the next three years, one possible operational objective would be to hire new sales employees. You should always grab your strategic plan objectives and turn them into one or multiple action items .

Processes & Workflows

Explain the various business processes, workflows and tasks that need to be executed to achieve your operational objectives. Make sure to explain what resources are needed, such as raw materials, equipment or human resources.

Operational Timeline

It’s important to establish a timeline for your operational plan. In most cases, your operational plan will have the same length as your strategic plan, but in some scenarios, you might create multiple operational plans for specific purposes. Not all operational plans are equal, so the length of your operational timeline will depend on the duration of your projects , workflows and processes.

Hiring Plan

Find any skills gap there might be in your team. You might need to hire a couple of individuals or even create new departments in order to execute your business processes .

Quality Assurance and Control

Most companies implement quality assurance and control procedures for a variety of reasons such as customer safety and regulatory compliance. In addition, quality assurance issues can cost your business millions, so establishing quality management protocols is a key step in operational planning.

Key Performance Indicators

It’s important to establish key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure the productivity of your business operations. You can define as many KPIs as needed for all your business processes. For example, you can define KPIs for marketing, sales, product development and other key departments in your company. This can include product launch deadlines, number of manufactured goods, number of customer service cases closed, number of 5-star reviews received, number of customers acquired, revenue increased by a certain percentage and so on.

Risks, Assumptions and Constraints

Note any potential risks, assumptions and time or resource constraints that might affect your business operations.

What Are the Benefits of Operational Planning?

Every plan has a massive effect on all team members involved, and those can be to your company’s benefit or to their detriment. If it’s to their detriment, it’s best to find out as soon as possible so you can modify your operational plan and pivot with ease.

But that’s the whole point of operational planning: you get to see the effect of your operations on the business’s bottom line in real time, or at every benchmark, so you know exactly when to pivot. And with a plan that’s as custom to each department as an operational plan, you know exactly where things go wrong and why.

How ProjectManager Can Help with Operational Planning

Creating and implementing a high-quality operational plan is the best way to ensure that your organization starts out a project on the right foot. ProjectManager has award-winning project management tools to help you craft and execute such a plan.

Gantt charts are essential to create and monitor operational plans effectively. ProjectManager helps you access your Gantt chart online so you can add benchmarks for operational performance reviews. You can also create tasks along with dependencies to make the operation a surefire success.

Whether you’re a team of IT system administrators, marketing experts, or engineers, ProjectManager includes robust planning and reporting tools. Plan in sprints, assign due dates, collaborate with team members and track everything with just the click of a button. Plus, we have numerous ready-made project reports that can be generated instantly, including status reports, variance reports, timesheet reports and more.

Related Operations Management Content

• Operational Strategy: A Quick Guide
• Operations Management: Key Functions, Roles and Skills
• Operational Efficiency: A Quick Guide
• Using Operational Excellence to Be More Productive

Operational planning isn’t done in a silo, and it doesn’t work without the full weight of the team backing it up. Ensure that your department is successful at each benchmark. ProjectManager is an award-winning pm software dedicated to helping businesses smooth out their operational plans for a better year ahead. Sign up for our free 30-day trial today.

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Free Operational Plan Templates

By Andy Marker | July 11, 2022

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We’ve rounded up the most useful collection of free organizational plan templates to record and track the goals and resource needs of your business or organization. 

Included on this page, you’ll find a basic operational plan template , a nonprofit operational plan template , a three-year operational plan template , and a five-year operational plan template .

Basic Operational Plan Template

Download Basic Operational Plan Template Microsoft Excel | Microsoft Word  

Use this basic, customizable operational plan template to create a detailed roadmap for your organization. With this template, the path to reaching your goals will be clear to all stakeholders, and team members will know exactly what tasks need to be completed and when. 

Having efficient and clear processes in place is critical for reaching your organizational goals. Learn more in this guide to operational excellence principles .

Nonprofit Operational Plan Template

Download Nonprofit Operational Plan Template Microsoft Excel | Microsoft Word

Nonprofit organizations often have complex, long-term strategic goals. This operational plan template for nonprofits will help you develop a clear set of tasks and accountability measures to keep everyone apprised of next steps. Use this template to identify your goals, establish a clear plan, set and track your budgets, assign stakeholders, and implement reporting protocols. 

This guide to operations strategies will give you an overview of the steps necessary to develop a comprehensive plan for your organization.

Three-Year Operational Plan Template

Download Three-Year Operational Plan Template — Microsoft Excel  

Your operational plan might include long-term tasks and deliverables. Use this operational plan template to chart your organization’s needs over a three-year period. Enter specific goals, delivery dates, responsibilities, and necessary resources on this customizable template to track progress and ensure that you are on your way to reaching your strategic goals. 

Your business or organization might also benefit from an operational audit, which is a chance to conduct a deep dive into strategic planning and to increase accountability. See this comprehensive guide to operational audits to learn more and gain access to additional resources and templates.

Five-Year Operational Plan Template

Download Five-Year Operational Plan Template — Microsoft Excel  

Long-term planning is a key element of any organization. This five-year operational plan template gives you a detailed look at the steps and resources needed to reach your goals. Track deliverables, responsible parties, and resources in this customizable template. This template also helps team members visualize long-term needs and stay on top of their responsibilities and timelines. 

See this guide to operations management for more information, tips, tricks, and future trends in managing your organizational resources.

What Is an Operational Plan Template?

An operational plan template is a form that captures key details about a work plan. An operational plan includes specific actions and resources needed to reach certain milestones. It is more detailed and specific than a strategic or business plan.

Operational plans help project managers identify resource needs, maintain accountability, implement a reporting process, and maintain a budget.

Operational plan templates templates vary by type but typically include the following:

• Delivery Date: Enter target completion dates for each task in your plan.
• Evidence of Success: Write a short statement explaining how you will know when the goal has been achieved. 
• Executive Summary: Describe the plan in a short paragraph that specifies how it differs from or relates to other plans in your organization.
• Goals: Enter specific goals or milestones of your larger strategy or business plan.
• Responsible Parties: Include the names of the stakeholders who are responsible for each task.
• Resources Needed: Enter all resources necessary to complete each task, including on-hand resources and those you will need to procure.
• Risks: Note any risks you may encounter.
• Title: Enter the plan name or title.

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Empower your people to go above and beyond with a flexible platform designed to match the needs of your team — and adapt as those needs change. 

The Smartsheet platform makes it easy to plan, capture, manage, and report on work from anywhere, helping your team be more effective and get more done. Report on key metrics and get real-time visibility into work as it happens with roll-up reports, dashboards, and automated workflows built to keep your team connected and informed. 

When teams have clarity into the work getting done, there’s no telling how much more they can accomplish in the same amount of time.  Try Smartsheet for free, today.

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What is Tactical Planning and How to Implement It?

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• Key Takeaways

Tactical planning ensures that short-term actions are directly aligned with long-term strategic objectives.

It involves creating specific, actionable steps that can be implemented to achieve immediate goals.

Successful tactical plans require the ability to adapt to changing circumstances and feedback.

Proper allocation of resources, including time, budget, and personnel, is crucial for effective tactical planning.

Regular tracking and assessment of progress help in making necessary adjustments to stay on course.

Engaging and equipping the team with the necessary tools and training is essential for successful execution of the plan.

Tactical planning is the process of breaking down overarching strategic goals into actionable steps that can be implemented in the short term.

It involves detailed planning and execution to ensure that every task aligns with the broader objectives of the organization. But how can businesses ensure that their tactical plans are effective and lead to tangible results?

• What is Tactical Planning?

Tactical planning is the process of breaking down strategic plans into actionable short-term objectives. It involves creating detailed plans that outline specific steps and resources needed to achieve goals set by higher-level strategic planning. Typically, tactical plans cover a period of one year or less and focus on the “how” aspect of achieving the strategic vision of an organization.

Why is Tactical Planning Important?

• Enhances Organizational Efficiency

Tactical planning streamlines processes and ensures that all team members understand their roles and responsibilities. By having clear, detailed plans, organizations can eliminate ambiguity, reduce redundancies, and optimize resource allocation, leading to improved efficiency across all departments.

• Improves Decision-Making

Tactical planning provides a framework for making informed decisions quickly. With clear guidelines and well-defined steps, managers can make decisions that align with the organization’s strategic objectives. This structured approach helps avoid impulsive decisions and ensures consistency in actions taken by different teams.

• Connects All Levels of Management

Tactical plans serve as a bridge between strategic plans and operational activities. They translate the high-level strategic goals into specific actions for middle and lower management, ensuring that every level of the organization is aligned. This connection fosters better communication and collaboration across departments.

• Facilitates Achievement of Strategic Goals

By breaking down strategic goals into smaller, manageable tasks, tactical planning makes it easier to achieve long-term objectives.

It provides a clear roadmap with milestones that help track progress and make adjustments as needed. This systematic approach ensures that the organization stays on course to achieve its strategic vision.

• Provides Flexibility and Adaptability

Tactical planning allows organizations to be flexible and adapt to changes in the environment. Since tactical plans are short-term and detailed, they can be adjusted quickly in response to new opportunities or threats.

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This adaptability ensures that the organization can respond effectively to dynamic market conditions and remain competitive.

Tactical vs Strategic Planning

• Strategic Planning Overview

Strategic planning is a high-level process that defines the long-term vision and goals of an organization. It involves setting broad objectives that guide the overall direction of the business.

This type of planning focuses on the big picture, considering factors such as market trends , competitive landscape, and future opportunities. Strategic plans are typically developed by senior management and are intended to steer the company toward sustained growth and success over several years.

• Tactical Planning Overview

Tactical planning, on the other hand, is more focused on the short-term actions and steps needed to achieve the strategic goals.

It breaks down the broader strategic objectives into specific, actionable tasks that can be executed within a shorter timeframe, usually ranging from a few months to a year.

Tactical plans are more detailed and are often handled by middle management. They ensure that day-to-day operations align with the strategic vision, addressing immediate challenges and optimizing resources to meet specific targets.

• How They Complement Each Other

Strategic and tactical planning are interdependent and complement each other in driving organizational success. Strategic planning provides the overarching goals and direction, while tactical planning translates these goals into practical steps and actions.

Without strategic planning, tactical efforts may lack coherence and direction, potentially leading to inefficiency and misalignment with the long-term vision.

Conversely, without tactical planning, strategic goals remain theoretical and unachievable. Together, they ensure that both long-term aspirations and short-term actions are aligned, enabling the organization to progress effectively toward its objectives.

7 Steps for Creating Tactical Planning

• Step 1: Understand Strategic Objectives

The foundation of tactical planning is a clear understanding of your strategic objectives. Strategic objectives define the long-term vision and goals of your organization.

Aligning your tactical plan with these objectives ensures that all actions contribute to the overall mission. Begin by reviewing the strategic plan and identifying key priorities.

• Step 2: Define Specific Goals and Objectives

Once you understand the strategic objectives, it’s time to define specific goals and objectives for your tactical plan. These should be clear, measurable, and achievable within a shorter timeframe.

Break down the strategic objectives into manageable tasks and set targets for each goal. This helps in maintaining focus and measuring progress effectively.

• Step 3: Develop Detailed Action Plans

With specific goals in place, develop detailed action plans to achieve them. Outline the steps required, resources needed, and potential obstacles.

Each action plan should include a sequence of tasks, dependencies, and milestones. A well-structured action plan provides a roadmap for your team to follow and ensures all activities are aligned.

• Step 4: Assign Roles and Responsibilities

Assigning roles and responsibilities is crucial for the execution of your tactical plan. Clearly define who is responsible for each task and what their specific duties are.

Ensure that everyone understands their role and how they contribute to the overall objectives. Effective delegation and accountability are key to successful implementation.

• Step 5: Set Timelines and Deadlines

Setting timelines and deadlines is essential to keep the plan on track. Establish realistic deadlines for each task and ensure they align with the overall timeline of the project.

Regularly review the progress and adjust the schedule as needed. Timely completion of tasks helps maintain momentum and prevents delays.

• Step 6: Conduct Risk Assessments

Risk assessment is a critical step in tactical planning. Identify potential risks and challenges that could impact the plan.

Analyze the likelihood and impact of each risk, and develop mitigation strategies. Being proactive about risks ensures that you are prepared to handle unforeseen issues.

• Step 7: Implement Monitoring and Evaluation Mechanisms

Implementing monitoring and evaluation mechanisms is essential to track progress and measure success. Establish key performance indicators (KPIs) to assess the effectiveness of the plan.

Regularly review performance data and adjust the plan as needed. Continuous monitoring and evaluation help in identifying areas for improvement and ensuring the plan stays on course.

How to Implement Tactical Planning?

• Communicate & Align

Effective communication is the cornerstone of successful tactical planning. Start by ensuring that everyone understands the plan and its objectives. This involves clear, consistent communication across all levels of the organization.

Additionally, gaining buy-in from key stakeholders is crucial. When team members feel involved and understand their role in the plan, they are more likely to be committed to its success.

• Leverage Tools & Templates

Utilizing project management tools and templates can significantly streamline the tactical planning process. These tools help in organizing tasks, setting deadlines, and tracking progress.

Templates can provide a standardized approach, making it easier to replicate successful strategies in future projects. Leveraging these resources ensures that the plan is executed efficiently and effectively.

• Empower & Hold Accountable

Empowering team members by giving them ownership of specific tasks fosters a sense of responsibility and commitment. However, empowerment should be coupled with accountability.

Clearly define roles and responsibilities, and set up mechanisms to monitor progress and performance. Regular check-ins and performance reviews can help in identifying issues early and ensuring that everyone remains on track.

• Be Flexible & Adaptable

The business environment is constantly changing, and your tactical plan needs to be adaptable. Flexibility is essential for responding to unforeseen challenges and opportunities.

Encourage a culture of continuous improvement where feedback is valued, and adjustments are made as needed. Being open to change and ready to pivot when necessary ensures that the plan remains relevant and effective.

Examples of Tactical Plans

• 1. Increasing Enterprise Sales

Increasing enterprise sales requires a comprehensive tactical plan. First, identify target markets and key accounts that can drive significant revenue. Next, set specific sales goals and timelines, ensuring they align with overall business objectives.

Develop targeted marketing campaigns to generate leads and use data analytics to track performance. Empower your sales team with training, tools, and resources to close deals effectively. Finally, regularly review and adjust the plan based on market feedback and sales data to stay on track.

• 2. Strengthening Brand Positioning

To strengthen brand positioning, start with a clear understanding of your brand’s unique value proposition. Conduct market research to understand customer perceptions and competitor strategies.

Develop a brand messaging framework that communicates your values, mission, and unique selling points consistently across all channels.

Invest in high-quality content marketing , social media engagement, and PR activities to build brand awareness. Monitor brand perception through customer feedback and brand sentiment analysis, and adjust your tactics as necessary to maintain a strong market presence.

• 3. Hiring a New Development Team

Hiring a new development team involves a strategic approach to ensure you attract and retain top talent. Begin by defining the specific skills and experience required for the team. Craft detailed job descriptions and leverage multiple recruitment channels, including job boards, social media, and industry networks.

Implement a rigorous interview process to assess technical abilities and cultural fit. Offer competitive compensation packages and create an onboarding program that supports new hires in integrating smoothly into the company. Continually invest in professional development and team-building activities to foster a positive and productive work environment.

Tactical planning bridges the gap between strategic goals and day-to-day operations. By focusing on specific, short-term actions, businesses can effectively implement strategies and achieve their objectives.

Whether it’s increasing sales, strengthening brand positioning, or hiring a new development team, a well-crafted tactical plan ensures that every step is aligned with overall business goals.

Remember, successful tactical planning requires clear goals, detailed actions, regular monitoring, and flexibility to adapt as needed. Implement these principles, and your business will be well-equipped to navigate challenges and seize opportunities.

• What are some examples of tactical planning?

Examples of tactical planning include increasing enterprise sales, strengthening brand positioning, and hiring a new development team. Each involves specific short-term actions that support broader strategic goals.

• What is tactical planning in management?

Tactical planning in management refers to the process of creating short-term, specific plans that align with a company’s long-term strategic objectives. It involves setting detailed goals and actions to achieve immediate outcomes.

• Tactical planning is also known as?

Tactical planning is also known as operational planning, focusing on short-term actions to meet strategic objectives. It bridges the gap between high-level strategic plans and daily operations.

• What are the types of tactical planning?

Types of tactical planning include operational, contingency, and competitive planning. Each type focuses on different aspects of achieving short-term goals aligned with strategic objectives.

• Tactical planning vs strategic planning: what’s the difference?

Tactical planning focuses on short-term, specific actions to achieve immediate goals, while strategic planning involves long-term, broad goals set by top management. Tactical plans support and implement strategic plans.

• What is the tactical planning process?

The tactical planning process includes understanding strategic objectives, setting specific goals, developing action plans, assigning roles, setting timelines, assessing risks, and monitoring progress. It’s a structured approach to achieve short-term goals.

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Blog Business 10+ Operational Planning Examples to Fulfill your Strategic Goals

10+ Operational Planning Examples to Fulfill your Strategic Goals

Written by: Danesh Ramuthi Oct 25, 2023

An operational plan is a comprehensive, action-driven document that maps out how daily activities within an organization fuel the journey towards achieving strategic objectives.

Essentially acting as the nexus between high-level strategy and practical execution, this plan ensures that every department, from human resources to specific departments, operates in synchrony, aligning their day-to-day activities with the broader strategic goals.

By streamlining processes, it fosters cohesive efforts amongst diverse cross-functional teams, ensuring that both individual team members and entire departments work together harmoniously towards the company goals.

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Why is an operational plan important?

10 operational plan examples, what should an operational plan include, how to write an operational plan.

• Strategic plan vs operational plan: What is the difference? 

In summary 

An operational plan is crucial because it serves as a bridge between a company’s high-level strategic planning and its day-to-day activities, ensuring that the business operations align with the strategic goals. 

While a strategic plan provides a long-term vision, outlining the company’s objectives and goals to gain competitive advantages in the business environment, the operational plan outlines the specific actions, key elements and resource allocation required to achieve those objectives. 

For example, while the strategic plan might set a goal for revenue growth over the fiscal year, the operational plan provides a detailed roadmap, breaking down major projects, assigning responsibilities to individual team members or specific departments and setting key performance indicators to monitor progress and ensure the entire organization works together effectively.

Operational planning, in essence, transforms the strategic objectives into actionable plans, ensuring that the entire team, from department heads to diverse cross-functional teams, is aligned and works in tandem to support revenue growth, increase productivity, and achieve the desired outcomes. 

Operational plans, through a well-structured operational planning process, also provide a clear understanding of the day-to-day activities, allowing team members to know their roles, leading to better collaboration and synergy. 

Moreover, by having clear operational plan examples or templates, businesses can ensure realistic expectations, manage their operating budget effectively and track progress through key performance metrics, thus ensuring that the company stays on course to realize its long-term vision.

Operational plans play a pivotal role in the business landscape, bridging the gap between strategic vision and tangible actions. They translate the overarching goals of an organization into detailed procedures, ensuring that daily operations are in line with the desired strategic outcomes. 

In the section below, I will explore a few operational plan examples, shedding light on their structure and importance.

Business operational plan example

A business operational plan is a comprehensive document that elucidates the specific day-to-day activities of a company. It presents a detailed overview of the company’s organizational structure, management team, products or services and the underlying marketing and sales strategies. 

For businesses, irrespective of their size, an operational plan can prove invaluable. By laying down the business goals and objectives, it acts as a blueprint, guiding entrepreneurs through the creation and implementation of strategies and action plans. The planning process also incorporates mechanisms to track progress and performance. 

Additionally, for startups or companies looking to scale, a meticulously crafted operational plan can be pivotal in securing funds from potential investors and lenders.

Layered on this are details about the company’s organizational structure, its products or services and its marketing and sales strategies. 

The document also delineates the roles and responsibilities of each team member, especially the management and key personnel. Given the dynamic nature of the business environment, it is imperative to revisit and update the operational plan regularly.

Related: 15+ Business Plan Templates for Strategic Planning

Simple operational plan example

A simple operational plan, often used by startups or smaller enterprises, emphasizes the basics, ensuring that the fundamental aspects of the business operations are captured succinctly. While it might not delve into the intricacies of every operation, it provides an overview of day-to-day activities, highlighting the goals and objectives the business aims to achieve in the short term.

In essence, this plan revolves around core elements like the company’s main objectives for the fiscal year, key responsibilities assigned to individual team members and basic resource allocation. A straightforward market analysis might also be included, offering insights into customer needs and competitive advantages the business hopes to leverage.

Though simple, this operational plan example remains pivotal for the organization. It provides a roadmap, guiding team members through their daily responsibilities while ensuring that everyone is working together towards shared goals. It becomes especially essential for diverse cross-functional teams, where clarity of roles can lead to increased productivity.

Modern operational plan example

In today’s fast-paced business environment, the emphasis on efficiency and innovative processes is paramount. The modern operational plan example caters precisely to this demand. Ideal for organizations aiming to streamline processes and highlight workflow, this type of operational plan emphasizes a more dynamic approach to planning. 

It not only reflects the evolving nature of business operations but also provides a modern backdrop for content, ensuring that the presentation resonates with the current trends and technological advancements. The use of modern tools and platforms within this plan enables diverse cross-functional teams to work together seamlessly, ensuring that day-to-day activities are synchronized with the company’s long-term vision.

Furthermore, such an operational plan helps the entire organization stay agile, adapting rapidly to changes in the business environment and ensuring alignment with strategic goals.

Minimalist operational plan example

The minimalist operational plan example champions simplicity and clarity. By focusing on clear and concise business strategies, it eliminates any potential ambiguity, ensuring that team members and stakeholders have an unclouded understanding of the company’s objectives and goals. 

The minimalist design not only promotes easy comprehension but also aligns with the modern trend of decluttering, ensuring that only the most vital components of the operational planning process are highlighted. 

This approach leaves no room for confusion, streamlining the planning process and making sure that individual team members and departments are aligned with the business’s key objectives. 

Moreover, the flexibility offered by a minimalist design allows businesses to craft an operational plan template that is not only functional but also accurately reflects their brand image and core values, ensuring cohesion across all aspects of the business strategy.

Clean operational plan example

The clean operational plan example stands as a testament to this principle. Ideal for businesses that prioritize clarity and directness, this format seeks to convey goals and strategies without overwhelming stakeholders. 

While maintaining a neat and organized layout, it ensures that tasks are managed effectively, helping team members grasp their roles and responsibilities without getting lost in excessive details.

One of the primary advantages of a clean operational plan is its ability to eliminate distractions and focus solely on the critical aspects of operational planning. 

Such a design aids in making sure that diverse cross-functional teams can work together harmoniously ensuring that day-to-day activities align seamlessly with the company’s long-term vision. 

The simplicity of the clean operational plan not only supports revenue growth by ensuring efficiency but also reinforces the company’s strategic goals, making it an excellent tool in the arsenal of businesses that believe in clear communication and precise execution.  

An effective operational plan acts as a roadmap, directing how resources should be allocated and tasks should be performed to meet the company’s objectives. Here’s what a comprehensive operational plan should encompass:

• Goals and objectives : Whether short-term or long-term, the operational plan should define clear goals and objectives that align with the company’s strategic plan. This gives direction to the entire organization, ensuring everyone is working towards a common aim.
• Clear responsibilities for team members : It’s essential that team members understand their roles within the operational plan. By outlining who is responsible for what, the plan ensures that there are no overlaps or gaps in duties and that everyone has clarity on their day-to-day activities.
• Assigned tasks: Alongside responsibilities, specific tasks need to be allocated to individual team members or specific departments. This granularity in assignment ensures that every aspect of the operational plan is covered.
• Timeline: This provides a clear schedule for when each task or objective should start and finish. A well-defined timeline assists in monitoring progress and ensures that the plan stays on track.
• Budget and resources : Every operational plan needs to factor in the budget and resources available. This includes everything from the operating budget to human resources, ensuring that the business has everything it needs to execute the plan effectively.

Read Also: 6 Steps to Create a Strategic HR Plan [With Templates]

As businesses evolve, it’s essential to have a comprehensive and adaptive operational plan in place to navigate the complexities of the business environment. Here’s a step-by-step guide to help you craft an effective operational plan:

Step 1: Define your goals and objectives

Begin with a clear understanding of your strategic goals and objectives. This will act as a foundation for your operational plan. Ensure that these goals are in alignment with your company’s strategic plan and provide both short-term and long-term visions for the business.

Step 2: Determine roles and responsibilities

Identify the key stakeholders, department heads and team members who will play pivotal roles in executing the plan. Assign responsibilities to ensure that everyone knows their part in the planning process and day-to-day activities.

Step 3: Develop a timeline and milestones

Establish a clear timeline that breaks down the operational planning process. Include key milestones to track progress and ensure the plan remains on target.

Step 4: Allocate budget and resources

Determine the resources required to achieve your goals and objectives. This includes estimating the operating budget, identifying human resources needs and other resource allocations, ensuring you have everything in place to support revenue growth and other business needs.

Step 5: Outline day-to-day operations

Detail the day activities that are integral to the business operations. This will provide clarity on how different tasks and functions work together, ensuring efficiency across diverse cross-functional teams.

Step 6: Monitor and measure performance

Integrate key performance metrics and indicators to regularly monitor progress. Using both leading and lagging indicators will provide a comprehensive view of how well the operational plan is being executed and where improvements can be made.

Step 7: Review and adjust regularly

The business environment is dynamic and as such, your operational plan should be adaptable. Regularly review the plan, comparing actual outcomes with desired outcomes and adjust as necessary to account for changes in the business environment or company goals.

Step 8: Document and communicate

Create an operational plan document, potentially using operational plan examples or an operational plan template for guidance. Ensure that the entire team, from individual team members to the entire organization, is informed and aligned with the plan.

Related: 7 Best Business Plan Software for 2023

Strategic plan vs operational plan: What is the difference?

When running an organization, both strategic and operational planning play pivotal roles in ensuring success. However, each has a distinct purpose, time horizon and scope. Here’s a breakdown of the differences between these two essential business plans:

• Strategic plan : This plan sets the course for the organization’s future. It embodies the long-term vision and mission, detailing the objectives necessary to achieve it. The essence is how everyone, from C-suite executives to individual team members, collaborates towards realizing this vision.
• Operational plan : This is the roadmap for the day-to-day activities of the organization. While the strategic plan looks at the bigger picture, the operational plan hones in on the tactics and execution. It is crafted to support organizational goals with a focus on short-term activities specific to departments or functions.

Time horizon :

• Strategic plan : Long-term in nature, usually spanning three to five years.
• Operational plan : Concentrates on the short-term, with plans laid out yearly, quarterly, or even monthly.

Modification and updates :

• Strategic plan : This evolves over longer intervals, typically three to five years. There might be minor adjustments year over year based on changing business needs and the external business environment.
• Operational plan : Due to its short-term focus, it requires frequent assessments. Plans might be adjusted yearly, quarterly or even monthly to ensure alignment with the strategic objectives and current business environment.

Created by :

• Strategic plan : Crafted by the upper echelons of management – think CEO, CFO and other C-suite members.
• Operational plan : These plans come to life through mid-level management and department heads, ensuring alignment with the broader strategic vision while catering to specific departmental needs.
• Strategic plan : Broad in its outlook, it takes into account external factors like market trends, competition, customer needs and technological innovations.
• Operational plan : This narrows down the focus to the internal workings of the organization. It revolves around technology in use, key performance indicators, budgeting, projects, tasks and the allocation of responsibilities among team members.

As we’ve traversed through the importance of operational planning to various operational plan examples, it becomes evident that having a detailed and efficient operational plan is pivotal. 

From the business-centric to the minimalist approach, every operational plan serves as the backbone, guiding team members and ensuring that day-to-day activities align with the long-term vision and strategic goals.

By knowing what should be included in these plans and how to craft them, businesses can navigate the complexities of their operational environment with greater confidence.

For those looking to refine their planning process or start from scratch, the world of digital tools has made it significantly easier. Venngage offers business plan maker and operational plan templates designed to simplify the process. 

Whether you need to create an operational plan or draft a business strategy, their intuitive platform can guide you every step of the way.

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Operational Feasibility

Lay your hands on our Strategic Tactical Operational PPT template to depict the different categories of planning/managerial decisions within an organization, i.e., Strategic, Tactical, and Operational. Business leaders and managers can harness this 100% customizable deck to explain that strategic planning takes place at the top level and affects the whole enterprise; in contrast, tactical and operational plans relate to mid-level management and current operations of the different parts of the company. 

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• A beautifully designed graphic shows the three different levels of business, i.e., Strategic, Tactical, and Operational. 
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Operations Plans

The saying "It's not over 'til the fat lady sings" is incorrect. It's not over until the paperwork is done. That includes a report after the fact, as well as an operations plan beforehand.

Everyone wants to do the cool stuff: run code, kick in doors, grab the bad guy right out of his shoes, and put him in the box. But the administrative work has to get done, too. The saying "It's not over 'til the fat lady sings" is incorrect. It's not over until the paperwork is done. I teach my recruits at the academy that for every minute of fun, there will be at least an hour of paperwork. That includes a report after the fact, as well as an operations plan beforehand.

At some point you will be in charge of a specialty unit or be part of a special operation. Either way, someone will ask you to write an operations plan (ops plan). An ops plan is your blueprint for success, but most people have never actually learned how to write one. Digging up the last plan on file and using it as a template isn't the same thing as developing one from scratch. You need to know what exactly an ops plan is, what it is supposed to accomplish, and what it is really used for.

What an Ops Plan Is and Is Not

People plan in two distinct mindsets: strategically (long term) or tactically (short term). An operations plan is typically a tactical plan that covers a specific action that occurs over a relatively short period of time. It serves as both a plan and a set of orders.

It is a plan in the sense that it details all the operational considerations of some type of action that is coming up in the near future. It is a set of clear and distinct orders because it will detail what can and cannot be done during the same period. It also establishes tasks to be performed, objectives to be reached, and how to demobilize the action.

When you hear the term ops plan you probably automatically think of something high speed and low drag involving SWAT. You might forget that it's probably the most common form of plan used within an agency. Actually, let me amend that: It should be the most common form of plan used. It can be as simple as covering a special traffic enforcement zone with four motor officers or as detailed as covering a full blown checkpoint requiring close to a hundred officers.

The great news is that instead of learning hundreds of different ops plans, all you need to focus on are the principles contained therein. They are the same regardless of the kind of operation you are planning for; only the details are different.

What an ops plan is not, is a waste of time. It is a good way to iron out problems and deal with pitfalls before they actually occur. It solidifies and confirms your resources. Further, it gives you a historical record to cross reference with future operations and provides documentation for court purposes.

Combine an ops plan with an after action report and you have a powerful tool that will help you evaluate and improve future plans. It will also give you insight as to any future training you may need to conduct to improve your operations.

What's it Supposed to Accomplish?

As stated earlier, an ops plan is both a plan and a set of orders. It's there to help get you organized and iron out contingencies. This is the point where you should work out as many details as possible, as it will help cut down on surprises later.

One way to stay organized is to follow a format that gives you ample maneuvering room in writing out your plan. I have seen ops plans that run from one to 15 pages and everything in between. In my opinion, keeping the format simple is as important as the details needed to fill in the blanks. I find that complicated formats may look good to pencil pushers, but field types know the meaning of KISS (keep it simple, sir).

I have consistently used one format as the basis for my ops plans. It's the one I learned in the military. I find the Army Five Paragraph Operations Order format works well and crosses over with little difficulty into law enforcement. The format consists of five distinct sections: Situation, Mission, Execution, Service Support, and Command and Signal. I have modified the format to meet my needs on many occasions and there lies its beauty: flexibility.

Other times, I have had to follow the format given to me by my agency. But truth be told, although I followed the required format, I still also wrote it out using the five paragraphs as a way to check myself. The complete exact military format and its full breakdown can be found online by placing "military operational plans" in any search engine.

I will give you a cheat that I use to this day. I keep a copy of the "Army's Ranger Handbook" with me, as it contains all the information I need on planning, decision-making, and troop leading procedures. I never leave home without it.

The actual structure of the format is not as important as the principles behind it. So if these terms don't meet with your approval, change them. If you want to combine a few, do it. For example, maybe you can combine the sections "situation" and "mission" into one heading called "objective." Just don't forget the information needed for situation and mission. Here are the terms I use and their interpretations for law enforcement:

Situation - This is a clear statement of what's going on. This will include what you are up against, environmental concerns, and what you can expect in terms of resistance and assistance. It's what you expect to be doing on the day of your operation.

Mission - This is the who, what, where, when, and why of your plan. It's an exact statement of what you are going to do and hope to accomplish.

Execution - This is the meat and potatoes of your plan. This is where the plan doubles as a set of orders. Since you already covered what you are going to do, this is where you cover how you are going to do it, who is going to do it, and when.

Service Support - This is where you include who is helping you and how. For example, you may have other agencies involved. Or, you may have other units from your own agency assisting. You may have outside personnel in wreckers or ambulances, or the fire department on scene as well. This is where you outline who outside of your agency is doing what and when.

Command and Signal - Here you outline your chain of command for the operation and your lines of communications. It is critical that everyone know who is in charge and where everyone can go if they have a question. Only one person can ever be in charge if things are to go smoothly from the start. As for radio communications, I recommend that you secure both an admin channel and a tactical channel for your operation well in advance if possible. It will save you a lot of headaches. Having only one channel creates a bottleneck that hinders responsiveness to any dynamic situations that arise.

Hopefully you can see that by using this simple format, you can pretty much cover anything under the sun. Just about anything you have to plan and write about will fit in one of these categories. Understanding the basics will get you through any of your supervisor surprises. For all you know you may have to write an ops plan tomorrow and just don't know it yet.

What It's Really Used For

An ops plan is only as good as the paper it's written on. All the planning in the world will never fully prepare you for what happens when you hit the ground running. Once your operation starts, your tactical situation will dictate everything else. The plan is really only the starting point and a way to work out potential bugs. There will be times when you have to just go with the flow and accept that your plans might have to be adjusted. Still, having a plan is better than just winging it for prearranged operations.

One of the main reasons you have an ops plan is for historical purposes. You want record of what you planned to do, how you planned to do it, and why. Going to court can be a good thing or it can be a nightmare. An ops plan answers a great many questions and speaks to your overall intent. Consider it as important and along the same lines as a search warrant. You really wouldn't want to do one of those haphazardly either.

Proper Planning Requires Training

It seems that law enforcement trains a great deal in some areas and purposefully omits others. When we train, we tend to drive, shoot, and practice combatives. We very seldom work on everyday administrative tasks. For example, supervisors are required to write evaluations but no one teaches them how. Sure, they're taught how to use the forms or computer program, but very little else. We put people in charge of operations and expect them to plan, conduct, and document everything, but have they ever been shown how? We need to get away from the "do what the last guy did" mentality.

A good way for you to get a jump-start on ops planning is to learn the five paragraph order format. You can also conduct some research for yourself, get some additional training, and be prepared for the next "hey you" detail. You're going to be held responsible so you may just want to know what you are doing before you get caught short. 

Amaury Murgado is a special operations lieutenant with the Osceola County (Fla.) Sheriff's Office. He is a retired master sergeant from the Army Reserve, has 24 years of law enforcement experience, and has been a lifelong student of martial arts.

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The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has developed reference guides, fact sheets, case studies, templates, and other documents to aid the emergency response and national security and emergency preparedness community in establishing emergency communications capabilities.

Operational Interoperability Guides

• National Interoperability Field Operations Guide: The National Interoperability Field Operations Guide (NIFOG) is a collection of technical reference material for radio technicians who are responsible for radios and radio communications during disaster response and recovery efforts.
• National Emergency Communications Plan Assessment Guide: The National Emergency Communications Plan (NECP) Assessment Guide provides practical guidance for assessing interoperable communications capabilities. Users may use the guide to identify challenges and successes and to build effective strategies for achieving and sustaining interoperability. This guide is intended for use by  Statewide Interoperability Coordinators  (SWIC), Urban Area Working Groups, and tribal representatives. Additional information on the NECP can be found at  www.dhs.gov/necp .
• Interoperability Continuum: The Continuum breaks down interoperable communications according to five key components: governance, standard operating procedures (SOPs), technology (data and voice), training and exercises, and usage. Emergency response agencies and policy makers are encouraged to use the Continuum to plan and implement interoperability solutions.
• Communications Interoperability Performance Measurement Guide: Interoperable capabilities have improved in recent years using a multi-dimensional view of the issue, implementing statewide strategic planning across the nation, and developing a national plan that presents a unifying vision. Today's national goals target practical outcomes and impacts rather than means to achieve these ends. This guide addresses current performance measurement efforts and presents a systematic process to build a performance management framework, apply it, and use results to refine strategy to achieve desired outcomes.
• Interoperability Planning for Wireless Broadband: Created in coordination with the emergency response community, this document assists SWICs with planning for wireless broadband use for emergency communications.
• Public Safety Communications Evolution Brochure: This brochure was developed to help educate the public safety community and elected and appointed officials about the future of emergency communications; to describe the evolution of emergency communications and how use of traditional land mobile radio (LMR) communications may converge with wireless broadband going forward; and to discuss key requirements that must be met to achieve the desired long-term state of convergence.
• Creating a Charter for a Multi-Agency Communications Interoperability Committee: This tool provides guidance for developing charter documents for multi-agency communications interoperability committees. It lays out in a recommended Charter structure with suggested sections. Each section poses questions pertinent when writing charter content. Sample test is included for reference.
• Operational Guide for the Interoperability Continuum: At the Urban Area Summit held in Washington, D.C. in October 2004, public safety practitioners and leaders from the 10 RapidCom urban areas along with key stakeholders from the local, state, and federal levels convened to share best practices, lessons learned, and notable experiences gained from planning and implementing communications interoperability solutions. This report shares the valuable information learned from the representatives of the public safety community that participated in RapidCom and provides a useful framework for communities and regions in their communications interoperability planning efforts.

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Grant guidance and best practices.

• Emergency Communications System Life Cycle Planning Guide: CISA collaborated with practitioners to develop the System Life Cycle Planning Guide to assist with design, implementation, support, and maintenance of public safety communications systems. The guide provides numerous steps and a high-level description of each area of systems life cycle management. The guide serves as a starting point from which an organization can begin to plan and budget for a public safety system implementation. The guide also provides information to help educate agency or jurisdictional leadership on the complexity of public safety systems and supports system justifications.
• Data Messaging Standards Guide for Requests for Proposals: DHS released a  Data Messaging Standards Guide for Requests for Proposals (RFPs) . Developed with practitioner input, the  Guide  is intended to assist procurement officials who develop  RFPs  for emergency response information technology systems. The guide requires manufacturers to incorporate Emergency Data Exchange Language (EDXL) messaging standards into their products. EDXL standards enable emergency responders to share critical data—such as maps, situational reports, or alerts—seamlessly across disparate software applications, devices, and systems. Effective exchange of these types of data is essential during emergency response operations.

Funding and Sustainment

Governance systems.

• Establishing Governance to Achieve Statewide Communications Interoperability: A Guide for Statewide Communication Interoperability Plan Implementation: Developed by CISA, this guide provides a methodology to implement Statewide Communication Interoperability Plan (SCIP) strategic initiatives by leveraging collaborative practitioner-driven statewide governance. The guide promotes a coordinated practitioner-driven approach to ensure comprehensive implementation of communications interoperability strategies outlined within the NECP; for each state's SCIP; and, within regional/local strategic planning documents. Specifically, the guide supports NECP Initiative 1.1: "Facilitate the development of effective governance groups and designated emergency communications leadership roles."
• Regional Intrastate Governance Guide for Interoperable Emergency Communications Efforts: Developed with stakeholder input, this guide explains how to establish regional governance organizations for emergency communications. Regional governance organizations support strong statewide governance, unite stakeholder voices and ensure that local concerns are heard and addressed at the state level. Additionally, these organizations can provide a new ways for establishing procedures, for communicating, and for sharing regional resources.
• Regional Interoperability Communications Plan: This document offers states guidance on completing the Regional Interoperability Communications Plan (RICP) template and further explains the types of information contained in each of the sections of the RICP template. It is a companion guide to the RICP template itself, which states can customize before sending the RICP template to its regions for completion. CISA provides states and their regions with a template that can be easily adapted for specific needs.
• Regional Interoperable Communications Plan Template: The RICP template assists states with regional strategic planning efforts by documenting regional strategies for achieving communications operability and interoperability. SWIC and State Regional Coordinators can adapt and customize this template based on state's needs. The RICP template uses a standardized format to collect information, ensuring the same information is gathered, leveraged for SCIP updates, and shared with other regions for planning and emergency response purposes. The RICP is designed to align the state and regional communications interoperability plans, objectives, and goals to the NECP.

Writing Guides and Templates

• Writing Guide for a Memorandum of Understanding: Explains how to develop an MOU and provides sample language.
• Writing Guide for Standard Operating Procedures: Describes how to create SOPs as formal written guidelines or instructions for incident response.
• Creating a Charter for a Multi-Agency Communications Interoperability Committee: Shows how to create a charter document for a multi-agency interoperability committee or governance group.

Helpful Resources

• Communications-Specific Tabletop Exercise Methodology: Provides a detailed, systematic approach to effectively plan, conduct, and evaluate an interoperable communications-specific Tabletop Exercise (TTX). These exercises help localities identify interoperability capabilities and gaps within existing processes.
• Technical Assistance Catalog: CISA regularly updates the Technical Assistance (TA) Catalog as technical service offerings are modified, added or deleted. These no-cost TA service offerings include instruction and assistance with planning, governance, operational, and technical aspects of developing and implementing interoperable communications initiatives. Requesting organizations may combine or tailor many CISA/ICTAP service offerings to meet their specific needs. Send questions or comments regarding the TA catalog to  [email protected] .
• Added mobile communications assets
• Added a referenced materials appendix
• Updated and expanded the Incident Command System appendix
• Replaced the Training section with a Regional Emergency Resource Staffing section
• Added a section on the Communication Assets Survey and Mapping tool
• First Responder Mobile Applications Development Best Practices Guide: Provides assistance to developers in understanding the public safety market and was created together with mobile application developers, public safety personnel, and commercially available best practices.

Emergency Communications Case Studies and Fact Sheets

• Super Bowl XLVIII: Emergency Communications Preparedness in Action - 2014
• Technical Assistance Case Study Summaries - 2014
• Tribal Communications Partnerships: The Missing Piece in the Emergency Communications Landscape - 2013
• Emergency Communications During the Response to the Boston Marathon Bombing - 2013
• Amateur Operators Aid Emergency Communications During Violent Storms in Tennessee - 2012
• Hurricane Irene - North Carolina - 2011
• Emergency Communications Fact Sheet
• National Emergency Communications Plan (NECP) Fact Sheet
• Priority Telecommunications Services Brochure
• Government Emergency Telecommunications Service (GETS) Fact Sheet
• Wireless Priority Service (WPS) Fact Sheet
• Telecommunications Service Priority (TSP) Fact Sheet
• Federal Coordination Fact Sheet
• Nationwide Public Safety Broadband Network Fact Sheet
• Regional Coordination Fact Sheet
• State and Local Coordination Fact Sheet
• Canada - United States Communications Interoperability Working Group Fact Sheet
• Technical Assistance Fact Sheet
• Route Diversity Fact Sheet
• Southwest Border Communications Working Group Fact Sheet
• Emergency Communications Tribal Governance Profile Fact Sheet

Emergency Communications Fact Sheets

Office of emergency communications case studies.

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Critical incident management (accessible)

Updated 15 July 2024

© Crown copyright 2024

This publication is licensed under the terms of the Open Government Licence v3.0 except where otherwise stated. To view this licence, visit nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3 or write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: [email protected] .

Where we have identified any third party copyright information you will need to obtain permission from the copyright holders concerned.

This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/powers-and-operational-procedure/critical-incident-management-accessible

About this guidance

This guidance sets out the Immigration Enforcement (IE), Customer Services (CS), Border Force (BF) and Illegal Migration Intake Unit (IMIU) policy for critical incident management.

The purpose of this guidance is to ensure that in the event of a critical incident occurring, there is a clear system in place for all officers to follow to ensure that the incident is managed appropriately and in a consistent manner.

If you have any questions about the guidance and your line manager or Head of Unit cannot help you or you think that the guidance has factual errors then email IE National Command and Control Unit or Border Force National Command Centre, Customer Services Capability, Critical Incident and Business Continuity or IMIU Standards, Safety and Wellbeing.

If you notice any formatting errors in this guidance (broken links, spelling mistakes and so on) or have any comments about the layout or navigability of the guidance then you can email the Guidance Rules and Forms team.

Publication

Below is information on when this version of the guidance was published:

• version 14.0
• published for Home Office staff on 15 July 2024

Changes from last version of this guidance

• revised definition of what constitutes a critical incident
• removal of all aide memoire content and generic checklists
• illegal Migration Intake Unit added as a guidance subscriber
• updated contact details throughout
• wording added to reflect the role of Central Crisis Command (3C)
• revised debrief model, including ‘hot’ and ‘cold’ debriefing
• removed debrief template
• wording added to elaborate on non-conferral in the event of death or serious injury
• removed examples of critical incidents
• removed escalation process flow chart
• removed glossary of terms
• expanded definition regarding JESIP, the Joint Decision Model and the METHANE situation report

Definition of a critical incident

This section describes the standard definitions of different types of critical incidents (CI). Definitions apply to Immigration Enforcement (IE), Border Force (BF), Customer Services (CS) and Illegal Migration Intake Unit (IMIU).

In the wider context, critical incidents are incidents and events of any scale outside of the usual business activity that can result in serious consequences. They can be both operational and non-operational in nature.

An incident must meet one of these definitions to be defined as critical. There are several types of CI which depend on the scale of impact, notably if one incident goes beyond the management of one business area.

There are 3 categories of CI:

• IE, BF, CS or IMIU national CI
• cross borders, Immigration and Citizenship (BICS) CI

Local critical incident

A local critical incident is where the outcome or consequence of that incident is likely to result in:

• serious harm to any individual
• significant community or business impact
• significant impact on the confidence of the public in IE, BF, CS or IMIU
• requiring specialist resources to support the management of the incident

Critical incidents which occur within a local business area will normally be managed locally by that business area’s command and control procedure. Where a CI goes beyond the capabilities of a local command, consideration must be given to escalating the incident.

Immigration Enforcement, Border Force, Customer Service or IMIU national critical incident

A national CI is defined by one or more points in a local CI being met, and the impact of the incident and subsequent response involves more than one command within IE, BF, CS or IMIU.

A national CI is managed through a national command structure led by a National Gold Commander.

These are incidents that cause major disruption to the business, preventing the organisation from meeting its objectives and falling beyond the capabilities of business continuity management.

In the event of a national CI affecting multiple agencies or organisations, command groups may be formed through the command structures of the respective agencies.

Cross Borders, Immigration and Citizenship (BICs) national critical incident

This is where one or more of the points in a local critical incident is met and the impact of the incident and response to mitigate this impact involves more than one command within the BICS.

Critical incident stages

The life cycle of a critical incident (CI) is a standardised process and must be followed to ensure that a consistent approach is achieved which facilitates effective preparation and management of a CI to mitigate risk, as well as facilitating organisational learning in the aftermath.

The stages of a CI are defined as:

• planning for a CI
• recognising and declaring a CI
• managing a CI and preventing further escalation
• return to normality

There is no defined time limit for the life cycle of a CI. Continual risk assessment must be conducted when considering moving between the stages of this life cycle.

If issues arise at any stage of a CI, they must be either mitigated or addressed before moving to the next stage.

The National Decision Model

The National Decision Model (NDM) provides a structure for decision making. It must be used at all stages of a local CI or a national CI where Immigration Enforcement, Border Force, Customer Service or IMIU is the sole agency in control of the incident.

In the context of a CI, rationale must be recorded when making decisions which affect the planning, declaration or management of a CI, or the subsequent return to normality following a CI.

The NDM aids in structuring the rationale of any decisions which have been made. It also provides a tool to aid in the review of decisions and actions, and to facilitate organisational learning.

The National Decision Model - Graphic

Planning for a critical incident.

Staff must be sufficiently trained, including working awareness of the most current and relevant policies, guidance, and legislation. Adequate resources must be made available so that the overall response to a critical incident (CI) is proportionate, effectively managed, and accountable.

Horizon scanning and risk assessment must take place at all levels to understand:

• what the present circumstances are
• what may develop
• what is the impact, or potential impact, of the incident or response
• what actions should be taken should the circumstances develop into a CI

Staff must receive development packages which are appropriate for their role and provide them with a clear understanding of their responsibilities and the underlying principles of Critical Incident Management. Emphasis should be given to decision making, record keeping and operational resilience. Responsibility for this is shared throughout the management chain – all staff must take personal responsibility to ensure they are adequately trained, and managers must maintain awareness of levels of capability and make training available where necessary.

Responsibility for production and assurance of training and development packages is held individually within Immigration Enforcement, Border Force, Customer Service and IMIU respectively, but must be derived from this guidance.

If you are developing packages derived from this guidance and are unsure of what content should be included, you can email the guidance owner, IE Critical and Post- Incident Management (IECPIM).

Recognising and declaring a critical incident

Anyone can declare a local critical incident (CI) but doing so confers responsibility. Whilst the decision to declare a critical incident should not be taken lightly, it is much better to do so, take the appropriate action and then revoke it, rather than do nothing and increase the potential for escalation.

If any of the below criteria are met, you must declare a CI:

• significant impact on the confidence of the public in Immigration Enforcement (IE), Border Force (BF), Customer Service (CS) or IMIU

Irrespective of the above criteria, if there is indication of a failing in command or a likelihood that operational or organisational learning may be required as a result of the circumstances, declaration of a CI should be given serious consideration.

It is important that a critical incident is declared as soon as the potential for one is perceived. You do not require evidence, or for an event to have already occurred, to recognise its potential to become a critical incident.

All critical incidents that occur in BF must be reported to National Command Centre (NCC).

All critical incidents that occur in either IE or CS must be reported to National Command and Control Unit (NCCU).

All critical incidents that occur in IMIU must be reported to the IMIU Coordination Hub.

In all cases, notification must be made as soon as practicable:

Official – sensitive: start of section

The information on this page has been removed as it is restricted for internal Home Office use.

Official – sensitive: end of section

The role of BF and IE / CS NCC(U) and IMIU Coordination Hub

NCC(U) and the IMIU Coordination Hub are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. They have access to national on call rosters, to assist with establishing a national command structure. NCC(U) and the Coordination Hub are there to provide guidance and support to the Gold, Silver, and Bronze Commanders, and to function as an information conduit to notify interested parties.

All incidents

NCC(U) and the Coordination Hub can assist in coordinating the following in the event of a critical incident:

• policy, process and coordination support and advice including access to critical incident toolkits and operational plans
• internal communications and notification ensuring accurate and up-to-date information is communicated effectively and appropriately
• consulting with the relevant teams regarding media handling and press lines
• other support and tasking from Gold and Silver Commanders

NCC(U) and the Coordination Hub are responsible for liaison with Professional Standards Unit and, outside of office hours, mandatory referrals to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC, England and Wales), Police Ombudsman of Northern Ireland (PONI, Northern Ireland) and Police Investigations and Review Commissioner (PIRC, Scotland).

Local incidents

If an incident is to be managed locally, NCC(U) or the Coordination Hub must be advised that an incident is occurring. This ensures that they can escalate the incident if necessary, and valuable time is not lost passing on information later in the event.

They will be there to provide advice and specialist knowledge and can support the commanders should events escalate or continue over a long period.

Managing a critical incident and preventing further escalation

The command structure.

Planning must always include contingencies regarding who will comprise the command structure should a critical incident (CI) be declared.

The command structure only comes into effect upon the declaration of a CI. The command structure is comprised of:

• Gold – strategic
• Silver – tactical
• Bronze - operational

The command structure is role based rather than grade based, however there are suggested grades which are based on levels of authority and responsibility. Each role is allocated according to skill, expertise, location, and competency. Within this structure the Gold, Silver and Bronze Commanders have specific roles.

Gold Commander

Holds ultimate responsibility for the handling and outcome of the incident and sets the strategy for dealing with it. There will only ever be a single Gold Commander for the organisation. A suggested grade for this appointment at local level is HMI / SO / SEO and above.

The Gold Commander determines the strategy for managing an incident including any tactical parameters that the Silver or Bronze Commanders should follow. Any strategy that is dictated by the Gold Commander must be clear, concise, and open to change and adaptation based on the circumstances of the incident. The Gold Commander must retain strategic oversight of the incident. While Gold Commanders should not make tactical decisions, they will be responsible for ensuring that any tactics deployed are proportionate to the risks identified, meet the objectives of the strategy and are legally compliant.

Silver Commander

The Silver Commander is responsible for producing the tactical plan following the strategy set out by the Gold Commander. There can be more than one Silver Commander, but each must have a clearly defined and logged remit. A suggested grade for this appointment at local level is CIO / HO / HEO and above.

Bronze Commander

The Bronze Commander makes the operational decisions necessary to accomplish the Silver Commander’s tactical plan. A suggested grade for this appointment at local level is IO / EO or above.

As with the Silver Commander, there can be more than one Bronze Commander, provided each has a clearly defined and logged remit. For example, an incident may require a Bronze Operational, a Bronze Communications Commander, and a Bronze Logistics Commander. These examples are not exhaustive and can be assigned in response to the scale, complexity, and demand of the incident.

The golden hour

The golden hour is the period immediately following the report of an incident, when positive action should be taken.

This may include protecting, preserving, or gathering material that may otherwise be concealed, lost, damaged, altered or destroyed. Effective action during the golden hour will increase the opportunity to support staff welfare, identify suspects, protect victims and witnesses, engage with specialist support services, and help to secure positive criminal justice outcomes.

Everyone involved in the response to an incident must help to:

• preserve life
• secure material
• minimise the amount of material that could be lost to the investigation
• maximise the chance of securing material that could be evidentially important

Every member of staff will have their own golden hour opportunities specific to their role. Irrespective of this, emphasis should always be put on mitigating the effects of the incident and any consequences of the incident becoming prolonged or escalated.

Decision logs and loggists

Accurate, complete, and detailed decision logs are crucial to the successful management of any critical incident. Every decision, however minor, must be logged ensuring that the rationale behind the decision is recorded accurately. A summary of the supporting information and any options or contingencies that were considered at the time must also be recorded. At the conclusion of any incident, these logs will be made available to the officer conducting the debrief, and if appropriate, to the investigating authorities and the courts. All logs in relation to a CI must be clear, concise, and legible.

There are practical difficulties of managing an incident whilst maintaining full and accurate notes therefore it is recommended that wherever possible, commanders appoint suitably experienced personnel to maintain the critical incident log.

The relevant commander retains ultimate responsibility for the contents of the logs and must ensure they are of a standard that would allow the commander to return to them up to 7 years later, and know why a decision was made, and defend that decision if necessary. Blank decision logs can be obtained from NCC(U) or the Coordination Hub.

Certain critical incidents may require advise from experts, or staff members suitably trained and with in-depth knowledge in that field. At the point a CI is called, consideration should be made to contact and seek assistance from the expert in that field.

Escalating and national incidents

NCC(U) or the Coordination Hub must be informed immediately of any incident with national or serious implications for any other command. They will function as a support to any existing commanders or assist in establishing an appropriate command structure if none exists. NCC(U) or the Coordination Hub will open and maintain a critical incident log during a national incident.

If a local incident escalates beyond the control and capabilities of the local Gold Commander, NCC(U) or the Coordination Hub must be contacted immediately. They will contact the appropriate Director who will function as Gold Commander. It is their role to decide whether to declare a national critical incident. If a national critical incident is declared, NCC(U) or the Coordination Hub will notify all relevant parties.

During a national critical incident, it is likely there will be a need for IE, BF, CS or IMIU to work closely together, with direct support potentially being sought from one command by another.

Departmental Operations Centre (DOC) are a central body that work alongside NCC(U) or the Coordination Hub, offering support and guidance and acting as a single point of contact (SPOC) between the operational arena and ministers and other government departments. NCC(U) or the Coordination Hub can be directed to refer to DOC in the event of a CI escalating beyond local management.

Central Crisis Command (3C) escalation

Where possible critical incidents should be managed locally, however consideration should be made as to whether to refer to 3C for escalation or guidance if a critical incident is deemed to have met the triggers for 3C’s crisis response function.

3C define triggers for crisis as:

incidents which are overwhelming in scale, such as large scale planned events that significantly affects a department’s ability to operate as normal

• cross cutting or complex incidents which require a multi-directorate response, or concurrent or escalating incidents which require joint working structures across command structures
• high-Profile incidents of such political or reputational significance that escalation is required to centrally coordinate a response

Joint Emergency Services Interoperability Programme (JESIP)

JESIP principles should be followed in the event of a CI taking place which involves agencies other than those within Immigration Enforcement (IE), Border Force (BF), Customer Service (CS) or IMIU. The aim of JESIP is to ensure that emergency responders are trained and exercised to work together as effectively as possible, at all levels of command and in response to major or complex incidents.

IE, BF, CS and IMIU are not a category responder within the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 but adhere to its principles and must have a good understanding of how emergency services work together to advise on major incident planning.

The JESIP Principles are:

• co-locate - with commanders as soon as practicably possible at a single, safe, and easily identified location near to the scene
• communicate - clearly using plain English, dropping the use of service jargon
• co-ordinate - by agreeing the lead service. Identify priorities, resources, and capabilities for an effective response, including the timing of further meetings
• jointly Understand Risk - by sharing information about the likelihood and potential impact of threats and hazards to agree potential control measures
• shared Situational Awareness – established by using M/ETHANE situational reports and the Joint Decision Model (JDM)

The M/ETHANE model is an established reporting framework which provides a common structure for sharing of information regarding a CI.

This format must be used for all incidents and be updated as the incident develops.

IE, BF, CS and IMIU do not take responsibility for declaring or managing major incidents; therefore, the ETHANE model must be used when declaring and updating the status of a CI.

Accurate situational reporting during a CI enables effective and safe management of the incident. The situational report should be updated whenever new information comes to light, or if there is a change in the information provided on the prior situational report.

M – Major incident E – Exact location T – Type of incident H – Hazards A – Access N – Number of casualties E – Emergency services

The Joint Decision Model

Only category responders under the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 may declare and become the lead agency on a major incident. Generally, this is an event or situation with a range of serious consequences that are beyond the scope of business-as- usual operations. Such scenarios are likely to result in serious harm, damage, disruption or risk to human life or welfare, essential services, the environment, or national security.

The Joint Decision Model (JDM) must only be used in place of the NDM when supporting a Major Incident under the JESIP principles.

Where the Home Office Code of Ethics sits at the centre of the decision-making process under the NDM, it is replaced by the JESIP principles within the JDM.

The JESIP principles around which decisions must be made when jointly working are:

• working together
• saving lives
• reducing harm

The Joint Decision Model – Graphic

Business continuity management.

Each business area, command or directorate has a Business Continuity Plan (BCP) in place, which will identify their most critical activities and strategic priorities and outline how to recover these activities should a disruption or multiple disruptions occur to the state of business as usual.

Copies of IE business area BCPs are centrally held by the Risk and Assurance Team in NCCU.

Copies of BF business area BCPs are held locally within NCC and BF Terminals and ports.

Copies of IMIU business area BCPs are held within IMIU Business and Development.

This guidance focuses on managing the incident itself whereas BCPs are focused on business recovery in a prioritised manner. Where appropriate, business continuity management must run parallel and maintain close lines of communication, or officially link into the critical incident command structure.

Return to normality

Once the seriousness of an event has receded and the strategy devised by Gold Commander has been achieved, the Gold Commander must declare a formal end to the incident. This must be relayed immediately to the Silver and Bronze Commanders, and all commanders should note it in their logs. This decision must also be relayed to NCC(U) or the Coordination Hub. All paperwork relating to the incident, including extraneous notes must be collected and retained locally for 7 years.

Debrief and recovery

A debrief must be held following an incident. This must be led by the Gold Commander and involve all those who played an active part in the incident including other agencies, unless instructed otherwise. This is essential to allow the business to return to normal, to highlight any lessons learned in preventing a similar incident occurring in the future, and to air any difficulties or grievances over the handling of the incident.

Debriefing should take place in 2 stages:

• ‘Hot’ debriefing, which must take place as soon as practically possible following an incident and should focus on the immediate welfare and safety considerations of those involved and must also consider any ongoing organisational or operational risks, whether they are present or suspected
• ‘Cold’ debriefing, which should take place a minimum of 72 hours after the conclusion of the incident and should focus on organisational learning

The advice of the Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) may be sought to establish if there is a need for a psychological debrief for any of those involved, it should be remembered that participation in such a debrief is voluntary and should not take place until all the legal requirements have taken place.

A detailed written record of any debrief should be made. To ensure lessons are learned and shared, debrief notes, actions taken and recommendations arising from the debrief must be returned to NCC for Border Force (BF) incidents, the Critical and Post-Incident Management team for Immigration Enforcement (IE) incidents and the Standards, Safety and Wellbeing Team for IMIU incidents.

All debriefs must be completed on a standard template to facilitate consistent organisational learning and identification of good practice.

Debriefing templates and guidance on debriefing can be obtained from the Critical and Post-Incident Management team for IE and Customer Service, NCC for BF and IMIU Standards, Safety and Wellbeing Team.

Debrief model

As a generic guide to debriefing, the following model should be used to identify:

• any areas of good practice
• learning opportunities and recommendations from areas of good practice
• areas for improvement and development
• learning opportunities from areas for improvement and development Debriefing following a CI must be led or commissioned by the Gold Commander.

If the incident was traumatic, the Gold Commander must arrange contact with the wellbeing team for the relevant business area, or the Employee Assistance Programme (EAP).

Investigating an incident

An investigation may take place following a critical incident. This may be conducted by local management, Professional Standards Unit (PSU) or through Independent Oversight Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), Police Investigations and Review Commissioner (PIRC), and Police Ombudsman of Northern Ireland (PONI)).

PSU is the ‘Appropriate Authority’ for IE, BF, CS and IMIU. Referrals for investigation from IE, BF and CS are made through NCC(U), who will notify PSU in-hours and directly to the Independent Investigating Authority (IIA) for the relevant geographical area out of hours. Referrals for investigation from IMIU are made through the Coordination Hub, who follow the same process.

Referral to an IIA can result in one of the following outcomes:

• independent Investigation, in which the IIA will use their own investigators to investigate an incident or complaint
• managed Investigation, where PSU, or in some circumstances the police, undertake the investigation, with setting terms of reference and progress monitoring being conducted and controlled by the IIA
• supervised Investigation, where PSU, or in some circumstances the police, have control and direction over the investigation, with terms of reference agreed by the IIA
• local Investigation, in which PSU would conduct their own investigation with no further involvement from an IIA: although in some cases there will be a right of appeal to the IAA if the matter involves an external compliant

Referral for investigation

There is a positive duty on IE, BF, CS and IMIU to self-refer. In certain circumstances, referral to an IIA is mandatory.

All actions undertaken by IE, BF, CS and IMIU under Section 41 of the Police and Justice Act 2006 are subject to investigation by an IIA where appropriate.

Examples of criteria for mandatory referral are:

• death or serious injury
• serious assault
• serious sexual offences
• serious corruption – restricted to the specified enforcement functions in section 41 of the Police and Justice Act 2006
• criminal offences aggravated by discriminatory behaviour
• any incident which engages Article 2 (the right to life) or Article 3 (against inhuman or degrading treatment) of the European Convention on HumanRights
• attempts or conspiracies to do any of the above

These powers do not include immigration decisions, granting or refusal of asylum or giving any direction to remove persons from the United Kingdom.

If a case does not meet the mandatory referral criteria however, the circumstances are such that you suspect independent oversight is needed, discuss with NCC(U) or the Coordination Hub.

Additionally, if you are made aware of the death of a person following recent contact with IE or BF staff exercising their powers, this should also be reported to NCC(U).

If you have any doubt as to whether the circumstances surrounding a CI warrant referral for to either PSU or an IIA, you must consult with NCC(U) for IE, BF and CS, and the Coordination Hub for IMIU, who will be able to obtain guidance surrounding this.

Serious injury

A serious injury is defined as a fracture, deep cut, laceration, or any injury causing damage to an internal organ or the impairment of a bodily function.

Non-conferral guidance

There is positive obligation on officers involved in a CI to ensure all activity relating to the recording of accounts is transparent and capable of withstanding scrutiny. Where there is likely to be an investigation into an incident, either internally or externally by an independent oversight body, the following non-conferral guidance should be adhered to:

As a matter or general practice, officers and staff should not confer with others before making their accounts (whether initial or subsequent). It is important that officers and staff individually record their honest held belief of the circumstances. Therefore, there is no need for them to confer with others about what was in their mind at the time of the incident, or the events that unfolded.

This guidance should not prevent any staff member from relaying operational or safety-critical information to those involved in the ongoing management of the incident or operation. If, however, in a particular case a need to confer on other issues does arise, then, to ensure transparency and maintain confidence, where some discussion has taken place, staff must document the fact that this has taken place, highlighting:

• time, date, and place where conferring took place
• the issues discussed
• the reasons for such discussion

Support services

There are a variety of support services available to staff members involved in a CI both during the incident and after.

The reaction to a critical incident is a very personal experience and no one can predict what type of incident will induce a traumatic reaction. Post-traumatic stress reactions can be complex and can affect behaviour and emotional wellbeing.

The EAP is available to employees who have been involved in a critical incident. The service is also able to provide advice and support to line managers on how to deal with a particular situation. The EAP provides a 24 hour, 7 days a week support helpline.

Advice and support are also available to members through their trade union.

Trauma Risk Management (TRiM)

TRiM practitioners can offer practical support to colleagues who have dealt with a critical incident or identify when a colleague may be suffering from post-traumatic stress (PTS). This service is available to all staff whilst on duty, or those effected by traumatic events whilst travelling to and from their place of employment.

Officers should speak to their nominated Gold Commander to arrange TRiM support. Self-referral can be made for TRiM support by contacting the national co- ordinator.

Mental Health First Aider (MHFA)

The Home Office has a network of staff trained in mental health first aid (MHFA). Mental health first aiders are a confidential point of contact for Home Office staff experiencing a mental health concern or in emotional distress. They are valuable in providing early assistance to staff who may be developing a mental health concern. MHFAs are trained to spot the signs and symptoms of a range of mental health issues. They offer initial help on a first aid basis but do not offer prolonged, continuing support as they are not trained to be therapists or counsellors. MHFAs are trained to listen, reassure, and respond, even in a crisis - and even potentially stop a crisis happening. They can signpost individuals to relevant areas of support. If you require support, or would like further information, contact the dedicated inbox.

Legal advice

Home Office Legal will consider all requests to assist where an officer wishes to pursue any legal action or is the subject of legal proceedings.

Complaints arising during or following a critical incident should be passed to the incident Gold Commander.

Any allegations or complaints received through existing complaints processes will be considered by PSU who will decide on next steps.

Formal complaints which meet the criteria for independent review should be referred as follows:

• real-time complaints whilst the incident is live – NCC(U), which should be passed to PSU as soon as practicable. IMIU complaints must be directed to IMIU Standards, Safety and Wellbeing
• complaints submitted in the weeks after an incident has closed – PSU

Further information and training

Further information on critical incident management and lessons learned is available from the Immigration Enforcement (IE) Critical Incident Management team.

Training and development in critical incident management is available. It is the responsibility of all directors to ensure their staff receive the relevant training. This is available from the IE Critical Incident Management team, within IE Health, Safety and Wellbeing (HSW).

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