This document provides guidance on creating and using a Mode of Operation (MoO) to engage stakeholders, focus efforts, and drive improvement. A MoO clearly outlines an organization's objectives, how performance will be measured, and current achievement levels. It should be visually engaging and accessible to all stakeholders. Regular review and discussion of the MoO, called "chewing the MoO", helps ensure goals remain aligned and progress is made. By bringing transparency and accountability to objectives and metrics, a well-designed MoO can increase engagement, focus efforts on shared priorities, and facilitate continuous improvement.

1. Mode of Operation
Engagement
Focus
Improvement

2. Please don’t ask me these questions!
1. What do you do?
2. How do you measure yourself?
3. How good are you?

3. What is the objective of the MoO?
 What we do and what we are responsible for.
 What good looks like for us.
 How that is measured.
 Our current level of achievement based on that measurement.
 Appropriate to your organization.

4. What MoO is not
 Time constrained.
 Budget constrained.
 Resources constrained.
 How outcomes are achieved (i.e. what actions you will take to
achieve your goals).
 An industry default / text book view of the world.

5. Why AO format?
• Different.
• Interesting.
• Tactile.
• Engaging.
• Available 24 x 7.
• Avoids death by PowerPoint.
• Encourages stand-up conversations.
• Broadens scope of viewer.
• Forces focus : Only so much space on an AO piece of paper.
• Actual and virtual focal point : “If it’s not on the MoO then
either we need to add it to the MoO or stop talking about it”.

6. The MoO

7. Structure
Header: Speed Read, What’s in it for me, Stakeholders,
Title, Principles, Banding
Health Check
Section Group 1 Section Group 2
Section Group 4
Section Group 3

8. Speed Read

9. People & Purpose

10. Vision, Mission, Purpose and Values

11. Principles

12. Sections

13. Sections

14. Measurement
• “If you can’t measure it you can’t improve it”
• Feedback surveys makes it human.
• Stops it being fluffy or becoming a dead document.
• Keeps you honest.
• Clarity for stakeholders.
• Drives focused improvement.

15. Health Check
Note: the above scores are for this presentation only and do not represent
actual attainment levels for any group or organisation.

16. How to do your own MoO?
• Visio template.
• Determine sections and any section groupings.
• 1 hour whiteboard session to define each section with 1-4 key
people in that area:
– Describe area.
– What you do.
– KPIs to measure those items.
• Write up and review.
• Print out (AO format printer, Staples or similar shop).
• Stand-up sessions with teams to validate and gain buy-in.
• Create metric spreadsheet.
• Each quarter (every 3 months):
– Score.
– Chew the MoO – review, retrospect & plan next quarter.

17. Whiteboard session

18. MoO Tips
• Explain or avoid jargon.
• Expand acronyms.
• Be clear – this is the door into your world from other areas.
• Be consistent in terminology.
• Be consistent in the tense you use.
• Use colours.
• Use pictures.
• Put AO in a prominent place.
• Live and breath the MoO: objectives, training, meetings.
• Be honest.
• Enjoy and celebrate improvement!

19. MoO Summary
• Engagement
– I know what I do, why I do it, where I’m going, and how I fit into the
bigger picture.
– I understand how my objectives and training contribute to my team.
– Our stakeholders are more engaged leading to better alignment.
• Focus
– We focus on the key aspects of what we do.
• Improvement
– We identify key areas for improvement with our stakeholders and
team, get buy-in to those goals, achieve them … review and repeat.
– We acknowledge where we want to be without being forced to get
there in unrealistic timescales.
Journey will be enlightening, empowering, it should be easy but it isn’t.
The MoO will not fix anything itself but will allow you to fix everything!