The operating design gives investment its direction.

The Operating Plan defines a target operating model: how work, records, systems and decisions should run. It connects the commercial objective to an investment case and a specified first release.

Duration
4 to 6 weeks after a Diagnostic or accepted equivalent evidence
Commission
Selected operating initiatives with an accountable sponsor
Decision
The investment and operating change to authorise

The practice connects each decision to delivery.

The target operating model gives the investment a working shape.

An Operating Plan is worth commissioning when a proposed operating change needs an agreed value case, design and release boundary.

Operating model design
The future workflow defines the operating boundary, responsibilities and approval points. It states what changes in daily work.
Investment plan
Each initiative carries alternatives, expected benefit, operating cost and dependencies. Finance checks the assumptions before the sponsor decides.
Target architecture
The design identifies authoritative records, data owners, field definitions, integration boundaries, access and retention requirements.
First-release specification
The specification sets scope, exclusions, acceptance criteria and the evidence required by the named release approver.

The method gives finance and the sponsor distinct decisions.

This illustrative planning map adapts the Operating Plan method. It separates the review of value assumptions from authority to invest.

Evidence becomes an investment decision and a release specification.

Evidence becomes an investment decision and a release specification.Accepted evidence establishes the objective and baseline. Alternatives pass through finance review and the sponsor’s investment decision. The Operating Plan then defines the release specification and its later acceptance gate. Planning establishes release authority before implementation begins.
Evidence becomes an investment decision and a release specification.Accepted evidence establishes the objective and baseline. Alternatives pass through finance review and the sponsor’s investment decision. The Operating Plan then defines the release specification and its later acceptance gate. Planning establishes release authority before implementation begins.
Key
The operating owner validates the future workflow.Forecast benefits have a stated measurement method.
The system in words

Accepted evidence establishes the objective and baseline. Alternatives pass through finance review and the sponsor’s investment decision. The Operating Plan then defines the release specification and its later acceptance gate. Planning establishes release authority before implementation begins.

The plan makes the proposed change inspectable.

An extract from a target operating model and investment plan, prepared with synthetic evidence.

SeichōOperating Plan / Synthetic extract

Target operating model and investment plan

Completed jobs reach finance with a traceable approval.

Operating boundary
The design covers job completion through invoice preparation. The existing finance system remains authoritative for invoices.
Decision owners
The operations lead confirms completion. The finance lead approves invoice readiness. The sponsor authorises investment and the systems owner confirms permitted interfaces.
First release
An accepted completion record prepares an invoice draft. Missing references enter the operations lead’s exception queue; finance approval precedes posting.
What it is worth
The value case compares coordination time per completed job with the measured baseline. Finance validates the volume assumption and recurring cost. Released capacity and cash savings have separate calculations.
Acceptance condition
Representative jobs, incomplete records and duplicate events reach the expected outcome. The finance lead approves the evidence before the sponsor decides on release.

Data corrections, integration and release follow the order of the operating dependencies.

45% reduction in operating costs while scaling

Coordination and administration cost per completed shoot, the 12 months before launch against the 12 months after, while shoot volume grew.

A shared project record carries the operating decisions.

The property system connects requests, calendars, files and client-specific pricing to invoicing. Its design places the project record at the centre of delivery.

Read the property operating study

The commission settles who decides and what follows.

Entry evidence
The Operating Model Diagnostic supplies the recommendation. Accepted equivalent evidence covers the objective, baseline, constraints and accountable sponsor.
Participation
Process owners validate the future workflow. Finance checks the value assumptions, systems owners confirm interfaces, and the sponsor approves the investment.
Release sequence
The release sequence names each dependency and its owner. Data corrections and access decisions precede the releases that depend on them.
Separate implementation
Build delivers the approved specification under a separate agreement. The plan remains useful for deciding to buy, defer or stop.

A sound investment begins with a defined operating model.

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