5-Paragraph Leadership
I've coached and taught numerous leaders in my post-military career who struggle to give directions on a project or lofty goals for an upcoming quarter. I always return to the 5-Paragraph field order or what we referred to as the Operations Order (OPORD). Nothing gets done in the military without an OPORD. It is the place commanders and staff focus on describing and directing missions. It works and I've returned to it as a framework often to guide my own efforts or that of my team. Here it is.
Situation. This is where you describe the environment - both friendly and enemy. It is a good place for a SWOT assessment. Friendly means a description of your own organization. You may have grown in people and revenue or some other change which begs description for your team. Enemy could be competition or other obstacles which stand in the way of success. It is not a place for how. Just describe the situation.
Mission. Who does what to whom, when, where, and why? Company X (who) introduces its newly developed application (what) to new and existing customers (to whom) through our updated website (where) no later than July 1st, 2022 (when) in order to boost our competitiveness and increase market share (why).
Execution. Start with Intent. Purpose, Key Tasks, End state. Follow this link for more. Then follow with the Concept of the Operation. Describe the how of the operation. In general terms chronicle how the operation will unfold from start to finish. Tell a story here, don't get too specific. Following the story, list out task to departments/sections/people. This is where you pin the rose of ownership to specific tasks. Very important.
Service and Support or administration and logistics. How will the operation be supported? Here you can outline budgets, consultant or contractor help, and other resources to support the effort.
Command and Signal. This paragraph is vitally important. Command - who is in charge? Here you can construct and organizational chart specific to this operation. You can identify for all, the project leader and his or her second in command. Signal - where and what will you communicate. This is an outstanding place to refine the ways a group will communicate through this operation. You can designate a meeting rhythm or series of in-progress reviews. You can create a channel for traffic on specific subjects and tell a group what things you want to be informed about immediately or routinely.
There can be more to this. You can include a risk assessment, critical path or timeline or other bits of critical information. Don't over think this but do the hard work your people deserve and use the OPORD, or elements of it the next time you want to direct action. Put this in your leadership kitbag and holler if I can help!
Make it Personal!
Rob
Rob Campbell