Three Levels of Planning that will Make You Effective and Efficient

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Attys Erwin Tiamson and George Katigbak

Effective leaders - of business enterprises, development organizations, civil society organizations, etc - develop and execute plans at three levels: strategic, tactical, and operational. 

Strategic plans define the most important directions for a whole organization over the long term (example: to be a thought leader in property rights in the Philippines, within the next three years).  It is grounded on the organization’s sense of purpose - what it does, who it serves, how it excels.  The strategic plan takes into consideration current internal and external conditions and trends.


Tactical plans describe how parts of the organization contribute to strategic plans.  These are short-term: one year or less.  A tactic for “becoming a thought leader in property rights” could be “starting a series of videos on property rights”.  This is exactly what our friends at the Foundation for Economic Freedom are doing - they are regularly producing “Usapang Lupa” (roughly translated, Land Conversations), a videotaped conversation on land matters between two experts, Atty Erwin Tiamson and Atty George Katigbak.


Operational plans relate to specific activities.  Some of these activities occur once, others are recurring.  To achieve consistent quality, recurring operations are standardized using policies, rules, and procedures.  For example, Angela Arnante supervises Information Officer Cesar Ilao in following Standard Operating Procedures for recording and broadcasting episodes of the Usapang Lupa.


There has to be alignment between strategic, tactical, and operational plans.  Alignment ensures that the organization will be effective - doing the right things to achieve its reason for being.  It also makes the organization efficient because it focuses time, effort, and resources on the activities that really matter.


What are your organization’s strategic goals?  How are these related to your tactical plans and to your daily work?

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