Department Business Plans Template

Department business plans outline a department’s goals, what steps or initiatives the department will undertake to achieve those goals, and the timeline during which these goals should be achieved. Department business plan templates should include sections in which each department can specify the current state of affairs, the goals and strategies that will be the focus of the upcoming business plan, and what metrics will be used to track progress toward achieving each goal.

Qualitative Analysis

When creating dashboards, a lot of emphasis is placed on quick visualizations of important numbers that can tell a story at a glance. However, there is a time and place for qualitative analysis, especially when it comes to dashboards for business plans. Numbers will not always be able to describe the full picture. With ClearPoint, department leaders can create custom fields to describe their goals and strategy for the coming year and use this qualitative analysis to complement the data they are already tracking in ClearPoint. Adding qualitative features to a department business plan dashboard can help give users situational awareness, better enabling departments to accomplish their goals.

A department business plans template can easily be adapted to suit different audiences. Organizational leadership may only wish to view department business plans at a very high-level, with only an outline of what goals each department will undertake. Members of the department, by contrast, will likely require more information on what and how the department will seek to accomplish in the months to come.An effective business plan template like the one shown in ClearPoint above makes it easy for viewers to drill down for further details on the goals, initiatives, and measures included in the business plan.

Key Elements for Department Business Plans Templates

• Visualization of department goals, measures, and initiatives

Without visuals of department goals, measures and initiatives, department leaders cannot get a quick glimpse into the health of their department. The visual is key to allowing managers to quickly see how their department is doing and see where they should focus their attention to make sure they meet their (and the organization’s) strategic goals.

• Ability to drill down for more information on each strategic element

Once managers get an understanding of where improvements might be needed, they should be able to drill down into the element to see why that element may be behind and lagging. Or, on the opposite end, if an initiative is doing well, drilling down for more information allows managers to see what’s working and allows them to apply that information to other places.

• Qualitative update or summary on progress and next steps

Qualitative updates allow managers and leaders to see next steps for a project and provide any missing context from the dashboard. This allows the dashboard to serve as the one-stop location for all the needed information for that department, meaning managers and leaders don’t have to e-mail or reach out to their team to gain more information. By seeing next steps, managers can easily see what course of action is being taken by their team and intervene if they believe it’s necessary.

Intended Audience

This dashboard is intended to be viewed by the leaders of various departments and shared both during department meetings and leadership meetings across departments. Managers in various industries can utilize this dashboard to gain an understanding of how they’re meeting goals in their specific department and how that may impact the organization’s goals.