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INSTITUTIONAL POLICIES
Introduction: Policy making is a part of the planning function of top management. Institutional policies are
closely related to departmental and unit mission, philosophy, objectives and operating plans.

DEFINITION:

 An institutional policy is defined as a policy with a wide scope and that has the potential for impact
campus-wide.
 A policy is the mechanism that establishes constraints or boundaries for administrative action and sets a
course to be followed.

TYPES OF POLICIES:

 Implied policy:
Implied policies are neither written or expressed verbally, have usually developed over time and follow a
precedent. For example, an employee who is within two years of retirement is not promoted, even though her
record may be better than employees with less service. When employees make decisions and act on their own
without comment or action by supervisors, they set a precedent for other employees.
 Expressed policies:
Expressed policies are donated verbally or in writing. Most organizations have many written policies that are
readily available to all people and promote consistency of action. It may include a formal dress code, policy for
sick leave or vacation time and disciplinary procedures.
 Distributive policies:
Distributive policies extend goods and services to members of an organization, as well as distributing the costs
of the goods/services amongst the members of the organization. Examples include government policies that
impact spending for welfare, public education, highways, and public safety, or a professional organization's
benefits plan.
 Regulatory policies:
Regulatory policies, limit the discretion of individuals and agencies, or otherwise compel certain types of
behavior. These policies are generally thought to be best applied when good behavior can be easily defined
and bad behavior can be easily regulated and punished through fines or sanctions.
 Constituent policies:
Constituent policies create executive power entities, or deal with laws.

COMPONENTS OF INSTITUTIONAL POLICIES:

Policies are typically developed through official written documents. Policy documents often come with the
signature of the executive powers within an organization to legitimize the policy and demonstrate that it is
considered in force. Policy documents usually contain certain standard components including:

 A purpose statement, outlining why the organization is issuing the policy, and what its desired effect or
outcome of the policy should be.
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 An applicability and scope statement, describing who the policy affects and which actions are impacted by the
policy.
 An effective date which indicates when the policy comes into force.
 A responsibilities section, indicating which parties and organizations are responsible for carrying out individual
policy statements.
 Policy statements indicating the specific regulations, requirements, or modifications to organizational
behavior that the policy is creating. Policy statements are extremely diverse depending on the organization
and intent, and may take almost any form.

STEPS OF POLICY DEVELOPMENT

Policies are usually developed by a policy committee. At the organization level the committee will be
representative of departments and top management. Although any supervisor may set a policy, it cannot
conflict with one enforced by a higher authority; policy may be made by a manager only for the area over
which that manager has authority. The policy development process includes the following steps:

 Determination that a policy is needed.

 Assignment of the development of each policy to a committee member or members.
 Development of policy from appropriate sources of information.
 Review of the draft policy by the committee
 Circulation of the draft to appropriate committees
 Review of returned comments
 Referral to the organization’s attorney for approval when indicated
 Final approval by the committee and signature of the organization’s chief executive officer
 Distribution, with appropriate communication.

IMPORTANCE OF PLANNING INSTITUTIONAL POLICIES

1. Focuses attention on objectives and results. Every institution exists to achieve certain objectives.
Planning concentrates attention on the dominant goals of the institution. It forces the members of the
institution not to get lost in the maze of routine activities and lose sight of broad objectives for which the
institution was established. Planning makes the objectives concrete and tangible. Managerial planning seeks
to achieve a consistent coordinated structure of operations focused on desired ends
2. Reduces uncertainty and change. With the help of planning, an enterprise can predict future events and
make due provisions for them instead of leaving future events and make due provision for them. Instead of
leaving future events to chance, they can be made to occur in a desired manner. Planning seeks to minimize
risk while taking advantage of opportunities. It also keeps management alert to the changing environment of
business.
3. Provides sense of direction. Planning saves an institution from drifting and avoids aimless activities. It
directs human efforts into endeavours that contribute to accomplishment of goals. Planning makes work more
meaningfuland activities more orderly.
4. Encourages innovation and creativity. Innovation and creativity are prerequisites to continous growth
and steady prosperity of business. Planning is forward looking and it enables an enterprise to cope with
technological and other developments. As a result the enterprise becomes dynamic. Being anticipatory in
nature, planning improves the adaptability of an organization to the changing environment.
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5. Guides decision making- Planned targets served as the criteria for the evaluation of different alternatives
so that the best course of action may be chosen. By predicting future planning helps in taking future oriented
decisions would become random ad hoc choices, as though a pilot set out without knowing whether he wish
to fly to London, Hong Kong or Johannesburg. When plans covering future exist, decisions consistent with the
future plans are made.
6. Provides basis for decentralization- Planning helps in the delegation of authority to lower levels of
management. Well established plans serve as guides to subordinate and reduce the risk involved in delegation
of authority. Planning also helps to improve the motivation and morale of employees by providing targets or
performance
7. Provide efficiency in operations- Planning facilitates optimum utilization of available resources it helps to
reduce cost and to increase economy. It makes it possible for things to occur which would not otherwise
happen. Planned efforts are always more efficient than unplanned action. Thus planning improves
organizational effectiveness. It saves time effort and money.
8. Facilitates control: planning provides the basis for control. Plans serves as standards for the evaluation of
performance. Sound planning enables management to control the events rather than be controlled by them. It
permits control by exception. control can not be exercised without plan because the function of the control is
to ensure that the activities conform to the plans. Any attempt to control without plans is meaningless as
there are no gauges for performance.

ADVANTAGES OF INSTITUTIONAL POLICIES

 They help to promote consistency of action and stability

 They provide guidance from top management to lower levels
 Policies conserve time by setting standards.
 Uniformity of policies prevents conflict and promotes fairness

MISSION, PHILOSOPHY AND OBJECTIVES

INTRODUCTION: As we know that planning is the first step in all the process of management and continuous
intellectual process of determining the philosophy, objectives, policies, procedures, programmes and rules. It
includes various activities to achieve the future targets. There are various types of planning that follows a
hierarchical model as shown in figure given below:

MISSION:- MEANING

In organization context, a mission statement is a formal, short, written statement of the purpose of an
organization. It helps the organization to links its activities to the needs of society and legitimizes its existence.
The term mission is the highest level of description of why the organization exists and what it aims to achieve.
e.g. Mission of nursing organization can be “our mission is to provide high quality patient care based on our
strong commitments to practice, education, research, innovation and collaboration.

DEFINITION:
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“The mission of an organization is a general enduring statement of the organization the extent of which
embodies the decision makers’ philosophy; it implies the image which the organization seeks to project.”
Drucker

MISSION STATEMENT: A mission statement needs to communicate the essence of organization to

stakeholders and to the public. It includes what the organization exists to do. The mission statement should
guide the actions of the organization, spell out its overall goal, provide a sense of direction and guide decision
making. It should distinguish organization from others that are working towards a similar vision. While
developing the organization’s mission statement, it should address the following questions:

 What is the problem or need your organization is trying to address?

 What makes your organization unique?
 Who are the beneficiaries of your work?
They tend to take the form of statements using language such as “our mission is to…………”

DIMENSIONS OF MISSION STATEMENT:

According to Bart, the following are essential dimensions of mission statement:

 Key values and beliefs

 Distinctive competence
 Desired competitive positions
 Competitive strategy
 Compelling goals
 Specific clients serves and products or services offered
 Concern for satisfying multiple stakeholders

Need to plan mission:

 To prepare diverse healthcare professionals who are providers and leaders in the delivery of high quality,
accessible, culturally-competent, and compassionate care within in a highly technological and global
environment.
 To teach, conduct research and practice in service to the community through inter-professional collaboration.
 To create, promote, expand and validate scientific knowledge and evidence-based practice through
interdisciplinary research.
FORMULATION OF MISSION:

The basis for the formulation of organization’s mission lies in the basic philosophy of those who create and
manage the organization and visionary long term concept of organization, the basis for mission formulation is
as shown as follows:

CHARACTERSITICS OF MISSION:
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 Short- no more than one or two sentences

 Inspiring- to call people for action
 Durable- designed to last for five or more years
 Distinctive- uniquely describing one organization’s purpose
 Specific- establishing precisely what the organization wants to achieve
 Credible- so stakeholders can believe it
 Alive- so everyone knows what it is
 Clear- both in terms of intentions and words used.
 Feasible- neither too high to be achievable, nor too low
 Precise and self explanatory- neither too narrow so as to restrict the organization’s activities, nor too
broad
 Unambiguous
 Statement of ethics, principles and standards should be included in mission
 Expresses the organization’s vision and values
 Delineates organization’s uniqueness
 Framework to formulate organizational strategies
 Drive an organization forward

IMPORTANCE OF MISSION: It helps -

 To provide best possible patient care with minimum inputs to obtain the maximum results.
 To provide high quality care based on strong commitments to practice, education, research, innovation and
collaboration.
 To strengthen staff development programme to improve the standard of patient care.
 To facilitate inter and intra departmental coordination for efficiency of hospital administration.
 To be a leader in providing excellence in nursing practice and service to community.
 To assist individual in disease prevention, promotion of health, health maintenance and restoration.

NURSING MISSION

In nursing, the mission describes what it should be and what it will be. Let us consider that one of the
purposes of nursing is to provide care to the patients. This can include promotion of self care concept. So the
statement should include the definition of nursing as well that of self care. Thus mission of nursing is ‘to be
leader in providing compassionate, quality care focusing on the unique needs of patients and their families.’

PHILOSOPHY: MEANING:

Philosophy in management consists of an integrated set of assumptions and beliefs about the way the things
are, purpose of activities and the way these should be. The decision makers of the organization create these
assumptions and beliefs are explicit and implicit in the minds of the decision makers.
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The philosophy of a person is based on fact premises that represent our descriptive view of how the world
behaves in a scientific way and on value premises that represent our view of desirability of certain goals and
activities.

The statement of the philosophy is abstract and contains value statements about human being as clients,
patients and workers about the work that will be performed by nursing personnel for the clients and self care;
about nursing as a profession; about education as it obtains to competence.

DEFINITION OF NURSING PHILOSOPHY:

 Nursing philosophy has been described as ‘a statement of foundational and universal assumptions, beliefs and
principles about the nature of knowledge and thought (epistemology) and about the nature of the entities
represented in the met paradigm (ontology).’ Reed, 1995
 Nursing philosophy, in general, can be defined as a conceptual model or framework providing a frame of
reference for nurses to guide their thinking, observations, interpretations, and practices and it should include
the ideal about the person, the environment, health and illness, and the nurse. Seed house, 2000
 Nursing management philosophy can refers to belief system of the profession that can provide perspectives to
management of nursing services and nursing education and can become a base for defining vision of nursing
service organization and nursing educational institutions.

For example: Philosophy of nursing of the department of nursing services and patient care.

‘Nursing is an art and a science dedicated to improving the physical and psychological wellbeing of patients.
The department of nursing services and patient care supports the practice of nursing within the service,
education and research mission in order to benefit patients, the people of country and the health care
professions. We are committed to excellence in practice, education, informatics, research and administration.

BASES FOR DEVELOPING NURSING PHILOSOPHY:-Nursing philosophy has a distinctive contribution towards
education of nurses and their teachers, as well as to the development of nursing theory and research. There
are four central concerns in nursing:

 The concept of caring where cognitive, moral and attitudinal aspects are examined.
 The importance of gaining a moral and political consciousness of assumptions underlying a nurse’s work.
 A discussion of some ethical and other implications in adopting a systems approach to the nursing
process.
 An analysis of nursing theory and research which draws attention to the value of non empirical work, and
reiterates criticisms of the objectives approach as a research tool
These concerns are the basis for the formulation of nursing philosophy.

STANDARDS FOR EVALUATING NURSING PHILOSOPHY

Following are the standards that can be observed to evaluate nursing philosophy:

 The philosophy should be available in written form in nursing department.

 It should be developed by nursing personnel, consumers and other health care workers.
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 It should reflect the meaning of clinical practice of nursing.

 The responsibility of nursing personnel is advocated keeping in mind rights of individuals.
 It should include humanity, society, health, nursing, nursing process and self care relevant to community,
law like external forces; internal forces like personnel, clients, material resources, research, education and
family.
 It should support the philosophy of the organization.
 It should give the direction to the achievement of the mission.

OBJECTIVES:

INTRODUCTION: “if you don’t know where you are going, then sure as anything you would not get there.”

Objectives are vital in management, because there are so important that lack of objectives or failure to keep
these clearly in mind makes the task of managing difficult. It is the first step in planning process. The common
goals must be established so that all efforts are working towards known ultimate achievements.

Objectives are especially important in a dynamic and changing environment; some goals remain constant
while others are changed in keeping with changing conditions.

DEFINITION:

 ‘Objectives are goals, aims or purposes that organizations wish over varying periods of time.’ De McFarland
 ‘A managerial objective is the intended goal that prescribes definite scope and suggests direction to the
planning efforts of a manager.’ Terry and Franklin
 ‘Objectives are defined as the important ends towards which organizational and individual activities are
directed.’ Weihrich and koontz

IMPORTANCE OF OBJECTIVES:

Objectives are very important as far as the management activities are concerned. Without objectives, planning
is not initiated. Importance is as follows:

 These lay down specific direction and measurable speed for the organization.
 An objective is a specific step, a milestone, which enables you to accomplish a goal.
 The process of planning starts with the setting of objectives, than the other managerial functions come
into picture.
Thus an organization without objectives is like a ship without a rudder. So objectives are the end points on
which all the efforts of the organization coverage.

NATURE OF OBJECTIVES:

Objectives state the end results, but these are not the end itself. The overall objectives need to be supported
by sub- objectives and also as per the level in the hierarchy.
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 Objectives form hierarchy: as the objectives ranging from the broad aim to specific individual objectives,
right from top level to individual level, it may take top-down or bottom-up approach for setting objective.
 Multiplicity of objectives: as organization may have multiple objectives. In each level, there can be many
goals. At any rate, the number of objectives depend on ‘how much’ the nurse administrators will do
themselves and how much they are assign to subordinates, thereby limiting their role to one of assigning,
supervising and controlling.
 Objectives have time limit: the objectives need to frame keeping in mind the time. A quality without a
time limit conveys no meaning.
 Objectives are interrelated and inter-dependent: all the objectives are interrelated and interdependent as
per the management functions. Each objective cannot be achieved without considering the other one.
 Objectives have different priorities: success of organization depends on a rational approach to objectives
and determination of priorities. It means that at a given time, the achievement of one objective may be
relatively more important than that of others.

FORMULATION OF NURSING OBJECTIVES:

Setting right objectives is critical for effective performance of management. All the organization need to set
the objectives. Setting objectives are important; it focuses the organization on specific aims over a period of
time and can motivate staff to meet the objectives set. It involves a continuous process of research and
decision making. Objectives can be formulated on the following basis as depicted in figure:
.

 On the basis of national health policy: the national health policy is assumed to be logically determined
by health needs or problems of the people. Democratic and scientific techniques of administration demand
the presence of permanent mechanisms for consultation before decision are reached by government.

 Needs of population: nursing objectives should be based on the needs of the population and formulated
to make a positive impact on the health status of the people by ensuring at least basic or elementary level of
promotive, preventive, curative and rehabilitative nursing services to all.

 Priority areas for improvement of basic nursing and midwifery: nursing objectives should be focused on
rural population, weaker or neglected section of society and taking the responsibility for assuring at least a
minimum level of safe, sound and scientific nursing care services.
 Resources available: nursing objectives must take into account the resources available; the most costly
health care activities are not necessarily the most effective. Objectives should be defined in a manner that
these should be pertinent, logical and precise and would be capable of implementation, observation and
measurement, if possible.
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 Active participation: formulated objectives should be communicated, understood and accepted. Both
the nursing personnel engaged in carrying out the activities for achievement of objectives and the population
that is to be benefited from them should be aware of the results expected.
 Philosophy of nursing services: keeping in mind the philosophy of nursing that is based on objectives of
hospital/care centre, the nursing objectives are formulated.

 Accepted or approved by the administrators: as soon as the objectives of the nursing services are
framed, these need to be approved and accepted by the top level institutional head. And these should be
available in writing.

CHARACTERSTICKS OF NURSING OBJECTIVES:

A Simple acronym used to set objectives is called SMART objectives. SMART stands for:

 S: Specific-objectives should specify what they want to achieve.

 M: Measurable- You should be able to measure whether you are meeting the objectives or not, or that
can quantify the results.
 A: Achievable- are the objectives you set, achievable and attainable?
 R: Realistic or relevant- can you realistically achieve the objectives with the resources with the resources
you have?
 T: Time bounded- when do you want to achieve the set objectives.

CLASSIFIACTION OF NURSING OBJECTIVES:

Objectives can be classified as per:

 Level of objectives;
 Types of objectives
 Hierarchy of objectives
 Specific to hospital nursing service

 Levels of objectives:
o Major or organizational objectives: these refer to the overall organizational objectives.
o Departmental objectives: pertaining to the various departments in the organization.
o Group objectives: refer to various departments in the organization
o Unit objectives: objectives particularly for the nursing units.
o Individual objectives: employee oriented objectives.

 Type of objectives:
o Profit objectives: these objectives are framed according to owner’s point of view, where profit or money
return is the motto of having health or nursing services.
o Service objectives: keeping in mind the patient’s or customer’s interest, these types of objectives are
framed. Basically providing the services is the main goal of nursing services.
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o Social objectives: the objectives are formulated in the light of public interests who are concerned with
their welfare.
o Personal objectives: personal objectives are based on employees, individuals, economical, social and
psychological satisfaction.
 Based On Hierarchy Or Operational Objectives;
o Primary objectives; the main primary objectives of hospital services are to provide the curative services
by ensuring patient care to indoor patients.
o Subsidiary objectives: these objectives are based on the managerial professional activities. E.g. human
relation, communication, teaching or research.
 Nursing Objectives Specific to Hospital Nursing Services: being a major component of the health care
system the overall goal of nursing service administration is to provide efficient and effective care to the clients.
A primary objective of hospital administrators will be to create an environment in which nurse manpower is
effectively utilized to provide effective care. These can be outlined as:
 To plan, provide and ensure the highest quality of nursing care to the clients whether in hospital or in
community.
 To utilize the conceptual framework as the basis for all nursing services.
 To ensure effective participation of nurses through team work.
 To adhere to established nursing practice standards.
 To expand the hospital health education programme.
 To ensure adequate budgeting and financial control.

STRATEGIC PLANNING

INTRODUCTION:

Each organization is involved in decision making to meet long term as well as short term goals. In the context
of planning these decisions generate strategic and operational plans. The strategic plans are in the form of
long term objectives and strategic and operational plans are formulated in order to put strategies into
operations.

These plans are in the form of standing plans like policy, procedure, methods, rules and single use plans like
projects, standards etc.

MEANING OF STRATEGIC PLANNING

o Strategic planning is based on decision making because in order to answer the questions raised in the
structured planning process, choices must be made. The plan ultimately is no more, and no less, than a
set of decisions about what to do how to do it and why to do it.
o Strategic planning is disciplined effort to produce fundamental decisions and actions that shape and
guide what an organization is, what it does, and why it does it, with a focus on the future.
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o The process is strategic because it meets a particular aim or set of aims, taking into account internal and
external factors. Process is planning as it involves intentionally setting goals and developing an approach
to achieving those goals.
o Strategic planning is a systematic approach to decision making. The nurse administrator who rely on
formal planning and measurement of outcome are more likely to ensure consistent high performance
from their departments than those nursing personnel if they are allowed to have some input into it.
o In nursing it means that there is a co-operative effort between nursing services and overall
organizational services to promote the professional nursing practice.

DEFINITION OF STRATEGIC PLANNING:

Strategic planning is an organizational process of defining its strategy, or directions or making decisions on
allocating its resources to pursue that strategy, including its capital and people.

PURPOSES OF STRATEGIC PLANNING

 To increase the allocation of scare resources including time and money in nursing
 To manage the department for performance
 To acquire and develop new nursing practices
 To foster better goals, better nursing values and communication
 To bring changes in operations, management and organization

STEPS OF STRATEGIC PLANNING:

Following are the fundamental five steps that must be taken in the strategic planning process:

 Getting ready
 Articulating mission and vision
 Assessing the situation
Evaluating program’s impact on clients
Developing strategies, goals and objectives
 Completing the written plan.

GETTING READY: to begin strategic planning, the organization should be ready with the following tasks to
develop a plan:

 Identification of specific issues or choices that the planning process should address
 Clarify roles(who does what in the process)
 Creating a planning committee
 Develop an organizational profile.
 Identify the information that must be collected that can help to make sound decisions.
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ARTICULATING MISSION AND VISION: introduce with the organizational mission and vision. An organization’s
ability to articulate indicates its focus and purposefulness. The mission statement summarizes the what, how
and why of an organization’s work, a vision statement presents an image of what success will look like. It will
help to create a shared, coherent idea of what it is strategically planning for and also to develop a draft
mission statement and a draft vision statement.

ASSESSING THE SITUATION: the situation assessment outlines the process of gathering and analyzing the
information required to make an explicit evaluation of the organization. The situation assessment includes the
following activities:
 Collecting internal and external stakeholder’s perceptions about the organization.
 Evaluating program impact on clients
 Evaluating program through cost/benefit analysis.
 Analyzing programs through competitive analysis
 Defining previous implied strategies
 Collecting internal and external stakeholder’s perceptions about the organization. SWOT analysis is used
for this. It helps to focus the process by breaking it down into four broad categories:

S: what are the organization’s internal strengths?

W: what are the organization’s internal weaknesses?

O: what external opportunities might move the organization forward?

T: what external threats might hold the organization back?

EVALUATING PROGRAM’S IMPACT ON CLIENTS:

The Mc Millan Matrix developed a strategy grid which is specifically designed to assist organizations to
formulate organizational strategies. Qualitative and quantitative data is obtained to evaluate a program.
Evaluating program’s impact on clients using following considerations:
 Input
 Throughputs
 Outputs
 Outcomes
 Impact- the programs benefit to client and society
 Defining previous implied strategies.
DEVELOPING STRATEGIES, GOALS AND OBJECTIVES: this step outlines the organization’s strategic directions:
the general strategies, long range goals and specific objectives of its response to critical issues that are
identified after assessment of situations in the light of organizations mission and vision.
COMPLETING THE WRITING PLAN: after the mission has been articulated, the critical issues identified and the
goals and strategies agreed upon, a written strategic plan is developed. Usually one member of the planning
committee, the executive director, or even a planning consultant will draft a final planning document and
submit it for review to all key decision makers.
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GUIDING PRINCIPLES TO SUCCESSFUL STRATEGIC PLANNING: following are the guiding principles to support
its consulting practice in strategic planning:

 Successful strategic planning should lead to practice.

 It should build on a shared vision that is value based.
 It should be an inclusive, participatory process
 It is extremely focused and sensitive to the organization's environment
 It based on quality data
 It requires an openness to questioning the status quo
 It is a key part of effective management

USE OF STATEGIC PLANNING TO IMPROVE THE NURSING MANAGEMENT:

Strategic planning can be used to improve the nursing management as:

 It provides accountability and monitoring of performance

 It helps in setting more formal planning programme and require department and unit planning

 To concentrate more on strategic issues  To be more realistic and rational

 To improve knowledge and skill in strategic  To anticipate the future plan for it
planning  To develop annual budget
 To allow better execution of plan

A. STRATEGIC PLAN:

DEFINITION: Strategic plan is the plan that outlines the vision, mission, beliefs and values that direct the
decisions.

AIM: strategic plans should establish a clear, coherent and realistic view of what the organizations want to
achieve and a 3 to 5 year overview of how it will set about achieving its objectives.

REQUIREMENTS OF GOOD STRATEGIC PLAN:

 A sound plan should serve as a framework for decisions or for securing support/approval.
 It should provide a basis for more detailed planning
 It relate to the medium term i.e. 2/4 years
 It should be simple, logical and practical
 It should focus on matters of strategic importance.
 Plan should be separated from day to day work.
 It should be complete and integrated
 Plan should distinguish between cause and effect
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 It should be reviewed periodically

 Plan should be in written form
 Plan should be capable of being controlled
 It should stimulate change and become building block for next plan
 Plan should be realistic, critical and attainable so as to allow managers and entrepreneurs to think
strategically and act operationally

DEFINING THE STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK: A strategic framework includes:

 A clearly stated vision

 Clearly articulated values
 A mission, articulated in a mission statement
 The overall goal of the project or organization
 The immediate objectives of the project or organization
 The key area result area on which the project or organization intends to focus
 An understanding of the gaps between where an organization or project is and where it needs to be to
achieve its goals and objectives and of the forces that are likely to help and hinder it.

STANDARD FORMAT FOR A STRATEGIC PLAN:

The following are the sections commonly included in the strategic plan:

I. Introduction by the president of the board: a cover letter from the president of the organization’s board of
directors introduces the plan to readers.
II. Executive summary: in one to two pages, this section should summarize the strategic plan
III. Mission and vision statement: state organizational mission and vision in this section. Mission and vision
answer the big questions about why the organization exists and how it seeks to benefit society.
IV. Organization profile and history: in one or two pages organizational profile that can help for the planning
committee.
V. Critical issues and strategies: the section may be presented as a brief outline of ideas or as a narrative that
covers several pages.
VI. Program goals and objectives: the program goals and objectives are the heart of the strategic plan and are
the plan of action-what the organization tends to “do” over the next few years. As such, this section should
serve as a useful guide for operational planning and reference for evaluation.
VII. Management goals and objectives: in this section the management functions are separated from the program
functions to emphasize the distinction between service goals and organization development goals and hence
enhance the “guiding” function of the plan.
VIII. Appendices: these should be included only if they truly help readers understanding of the plans.

HOW TO MAKE A STRATEGIC PLAN IMPLEMENTATION SUCCESSFUL?

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In order to make strategic plan successful for implementation and useful tool both for management and staff,
it is important to keep the following factors/elements/strategies in mind at the times of strategic planning
process:

Process elements:

 Engage formal and informal organizational leaders when conducting a process

 Provide training on the process and establish a list of expectations and results to ensure that everyone is
working towards the same outcomes
 Include individuals who will implement plan as involving these individuals will ensure that the plan is
realistic and help motivate staff to implement the plan
 Address critical issues for the organization
 Agree on how the plan will be operationalized

Content elements:

 Include an internal and external focus

 Do not get too detailed strategic plan
 Ensure that your plan is grounded in the reality of what can and cannot be accomplished.
 Keep language, concepts and formats simple

Usage elements:

 Actively use the plan as a management tool

 Formalize the usage of the plan into the day to day activities of the organization
 Establish operational goals and activities within the content of the strategic plan
 Ensure that there is system of controlling mechanism e.g. evaluation meetings, monthly reports against
plan to inform management on progress
 Periodic view of strategy and strategic plan.

B. OPERATIONAL PLAN:

INTRODUCTION: Operational or operating plans are single use, short term plans derived from strategic plan in
order to accomplish the goals and objectives of the organization. An organization should have operating plans
for each major organizational unit and correspond to its fiscal year. These plans usually establish the activities
and budgets for each part of the organization.

WHAT IS AN OPERATIONAL PLAN?

 An operational plan is a schedule of events and responsibilities that details the actions to be taken in
order to accomplish the goals and objectives laid out in the strategic plan.
 These are a step by step process of taking you from where you are now to where you want to be in
terms of achieving goals and objectives.
 Goals of strategic and operational plans are same but it differs in its objectives.
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 It is sometimes called management plans. This is a sort of a written blue print to achieve the intended
goals and objectives.
 These are the directions to deliver the nursing services.
 It includes planning for budget, organizational structure, and quality monitoring process, new
programmes and directions to nursing leaders.

CONTENT OF OPERATIONAL PLAN

Operating plans are the detailed action plans to accomplish the strategic goals laid out in the strategic plan. It
should include:

 Clear objectives  Staffing and resource requirements

 Activities to be delivered  Implementation timetables
 Quality standards  A process of monitoring progress
 Desired outcomes

PURPOSES OF OPERATIONAL PLANS:

o To specify the activities and procedures

o To set the timetable for the achievement of the objectives
o To allocate the responsibilities the staff involved in particular activity
o To prepare the staff for taking up the responsibility and evaluation of patient care.
o To specify the records to be kept and policies needed
o To give freedom to each staff to plan its own goals, objectives in line with the departmental and
institutional goals.

CHARACTERSTICKS OF AN EFFECTIVE ANNUAL OPERATING PLAN

There should be:

 An appropriate level of detailed action plan

 A format that should include the periodical evaluation and feedback towards progress
 Structure that should fit clearly with strategic plan.

FORMULATION OF OPERATIONAL PLANS:

The members who will be involved in implementation should prepare operational plans. Operational plans
required to plan which programs and management functions are planned when, why and with what resources.
An effective operational or action plan can be formulated by using the 6W method- want, why, what, when,
who, what if.

Step 1: Want- make expectation obsessive that will lead to commitment

Step 2: Why- convert wants into goals and objectives using the SMART principle. Keep in mind why the goals
are to be achieved.
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Step 3: What- Make clear what knowledge, attitudinal behavior, skills and habits (KASH) are required to
achieve the objectives. Take an inventory of current organizational KASH level and raise them to the level
required to accomplish the objectives.

Step 4: Who- team up with the staffs that have similar goals and objectives in the organization. Team support
and encouragement will help to keep moving.

Step 5: When- make a definitive time frame to achieve objectives, which will help to utilize time, money, and
effort more effectively.

Step 6: What if- be ready with the alternate action plan – what if first plan falls.

HOW TO EVALUATE OPERATIONAL PLAN:

Following is the check list that can help in evaluating the operational plans:

 Is there total commitment to the plan by staff responsible for implementation?

 Is operation plan clearly fit with the strategic plan?
 Are objectives, actions and outcome measures clearly specified?
 Does it have a clear implementation timeframe?
 Is there a clear allocation of responsibilities?
 Is there an explicit process for monitoring progress?

OPERATIONAL PLANS AND STRATEGIC PLANS

Relationship: let us take an example of operational planning in the quarterly staffing plan. The operational
planning is done in context with strategic planning, so the operational workforce planning (staff planning) is
done in context with the overall strategic workforce planning ( talent strategy). On the other hand, operational
workforce planning aligns with the operation plan and generally forms a basis for operational decisions to
address short term planning needs affecting daily operations

C) Management plans

DEFINITION:The management plan is the main tool to guide the development and management of an
organization.

WHAT IS MANAGEMENT PLANS?

Management plans have tended to be issue driven or focus on the issue that were important when they were
prepared a more useful approach is for a plan to answer the question what is needed for the objectives of the
institution to be met? Objective oriented management is pro-active rather than reactive, emphasizes
outcomes, and makes progress easier to measure.

Some management plans have the status of legal documents, in which failure to manage an organization in
accordance with it may constitute an offence. Although this may seem stringent legally binding plans are
advantageous as they have greater force and help to backup management decisions and actions.
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Once the plan and any supporting documents are produced, they should used to guide implementation of the
plan in the organization, and monitoring programmes should be designed to assess their effectiveness. Plans
are often not used or are difficult to implement, particularly if they were prepared without participation of all
those involved in implementation, and if they were poorly structured and written.

Management plans should be revised and adjusted at intervals to reflect new issues. Lessons learnt or
changes in management objectives, adapting the content according to new information gained from
monitoring. The review process for this is usually laid out in the legislation or in the plan itself

Uses: It helps to

 Improve use of human and financial resources by setting priorities

 Provide continuity in case of staff changes
 Increase accountability
 Improve communication with stakeholders, the public and potential donors
 Ensure that management decisions are based on a clear understanding of the organizations objectives

Management Plan Preparation

The plan can be prepared before or after the MPA is set up, and will usually take at least a year to ensure
adequate consultation. MPA agencies often lack the financial resources for the work involved but donors may
be willing to found such activities. Management plan prepration generally involves some steps:-

1. Pre-planning: establish the planning team, define the process to be used, find funding, and train the
planning team and key stakeholders if required
2. Review: existing information (physical, biological, social, economic, policies, legislation)
3. Identify: stakeholder and establish a transparent consultation process, which may involve meetings or
workshops, with individual interest group and for all stakeholders together
4. Analyze: constraints, opportunities, threats, issues, problems and needs and identify solution
5. Formulate: vision, objectives and where appropriate targets
6. Design management actions and interventions
7. Determine: financing mechanisms, bearing in mind the need for benefit and revenue sharing with
stakeholders.
8. Establish : monitoring and evaluation protocols, including a process for periodic review and revision
9. Prepare the draft plan, and submit it for public consultation and review
10. Incorporate comments and publish final plan (preferably both as a hard copy and electronically)
11. Submit plan for approval and disseminate it.

KEYPOINTS FOR MANAGEMENT PLANS

 Ensure that all staff is familiar with and use the management plan and understand its status.
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 Revise the plan at the appropriate intervals, involving all stakeholders, and ensuring an objective
oriented approach
 Ensure that the budget allows for preparing and revising the management plan or that special funding is
sought
 Obtain copies of management plans for other MPAs both within your country and from other countries
for comparison.

Difference:

ITEMS OPERATIONAL PLAN STRATEGIC PLAN

Need Accurately forecast hiring and / or training Develop the best talent strategies for
Needs Longer term success
Time frame Planning usually 12 months with a Usually 3 years or longer matches the
quarterly focus matches the yearly organizational strategic plan
business plan
Integrated Annual or quarterly financial/budgeting Strategic planning process
With Process
Input Mostly internal data, some management Wide range of internal and
Decisions external information including
demographics, business strategies,
global
trends, etc
Output Staffing plans, skill gaps Human resource/people strategies
Planning Uses variables to explore different Uses futuring techniques to question
approach models of staffing Current paradigms and explore
alternative futures not necessarily
based on today’s approach
Forecasting Key focus Only part of the process- forecasting is
Too limited in terms of timeline and
Scope to be the core of the process

Segmentation Internal demand Internal and external, demand and

focus supply
Skills Competencies may be audited or gathered Strategic capabilities analyzed and
at an at an individual level Gathered at the group level
Focus Operational management-line and BU Strategic management
Managers
Aligns with Business plan Strategic plan
Terms used ‘predict’, ‘calculate’ ‘explore’, ‘design’