Purpose

The Operating Model Template provides a structured framework for translating business strategy into the organizational capabilities, governance, people, technology, and cultural elements required to execute it successfully. It aligns strategic priorities with the operating model needed to deliver them while establishing the organizational design principles that will guide future structural decisions. The completed template serves as a blueprint for designing or redesigning the organization so that capabilities, decision-making, talent, and technology support long-term business objectives.

How to use this tool

Use this template to define the organization's future operating model after the business strategy and strategic priorities have been established. Complete the sections collaboratively with business and functional leaders to ensure the operating model reflects how the organization intends to create value, develop critical capabilities, and enable execution. Once completed, the operating model serves as the foundation for subsequent organizational design decisions, governance, workforce planning, and capability development.

1. Define the strategic context by documenting the organization's business goals, strategic objectives, value proposition, target markets, competitive advantages, growth strategy, and key strategic initiatives. 
2. Identify and prioritize organizational capabilities required to execute the strategy. Assess the current maturity of each capability across relevant functions or work areas, and define their desired future maturity level to highlight development priorities. 
3. Define the operating model enablers by documenting the organizational governance, decision rights, people capabilities, workforce strategies, technology platforms, data requirements, and other resources needed to support critical capabilities. 
4. Identify the cultural requirements necessary to reinforce the operating model, including the organizational values, leadership expectations, talent priorities, and workforce behaviors that should be emphasized. 
5. Establish success metrics that will measure whether the operating model is delivering the intended business, operational, capability, workforce, and innovation outcomes. 
6. Define the guiding principles for organization design that will direct future structural decisions, including considerations such as scalability, collaboration, decision-making, digital enablement, flexibility, and organizational effectiveness. Use "Selecting Organization Design Choices to Shape Operating Model Guiding Principles" as a companion resource to evaluate relevant design trade-offs, select the most important choices aligned with this Operating Model Template, and translate them into clear guiding principles.
7. Review and validate the completed operating model with executive leaders and key stakeholders to confirm alignment with the business strategy before using it to guide organizational redesign, capability investments, and implementation planning.