Types of Planning: Tactical

Tactical Plans

Now that you have a general idea for how organizational planning evolves, let's look at the next level of planning, known as tactical planning. Tactical plans support strategic plans by translating them into specific plans relevant to a distinct area of the organization. Tactical plans are concerned with the responsibility and functionality of lower-level departments to fulfill their parts of the strategic plan.

For example, when Martha, the middle-level manager at Nino's, learns about Tommy's strategic plan for increasing productivity, Martha immediately begins to think about possible tactical plans to ensure that happens. Tactical planning for Martha might include things like testing a new process in making pizzas that has been proven to shorten the amount of time it takes for prepping the pizza to be cooked or perhaps looking into purchasing a better oven that can speed up the amount of time it takes to cook a pizza or even considering ways to better map out delivery routes and drivers. As a tactical planner, Martha needs to create a set of calculated actions that take a shorter amount of time and are narrower in scope than the strategic plan is but still help to bring the organization closer to the long-term goal.