Operational Excellence in Education
How to optimise your operations and build high-performing teams
What is Operational Excellence?
Operational Excellence (OpEx) is defined as “the cultural transformation and technical enablement of an organisation that allows it to perform optimally and achieve its strategic objectives”.
OpEx enables Teaching Excellence by engaging central-function staff and teams to understand the needs of their customers (schools, pupils, and other stakeholders) and deliver every non-teaching process right first time, on time, every time”
It is is not a judgement on your practice – it is a proven industry methodology that puts continuous improvement and high-quality service at the forefront of the approach. It is also fundamental that you understand who the customer is.
The pace at which you pursue and embed OpEx will depend on capacity, appetite, and other contextual factors, but adopting the fundamentals is accessible to any size or type of school or trust.
OpEx requires whole-organisation effort and buy-in. Whilst there might be an identified champion or lead , the responsibility cannot and should not fall to a single individual.
International research into the applicability of OpEx to education systems
The Institute of School Business Leadership (ISBL), supported by the Association of School Business Officials (ASBO) International, commissioned a research study into the applicability of Operational Excellence to education systems.
The report includes a practical, hands-on guide to using OpEx approaches in schools and trusts of all sizes.
The OpEx framework includes a series of statements of what good OpEx practice looks like in 10 key ‘domains’, leading with its impact on teaching and learning, and including process and quality control, resource planning and deployment, and data performance measurement.
This research has been made possible thanks to the generosity of our sponsors. Find out more here.
You can read more about this research in our news release.
The executive abstract, OpEx framework, and full report are available below.
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OpEx training
We’re developing a range of courses and workshops to help hone your OpEx skills and knowledge.
We’ll soon be launching a pathway from foundation to accredited practitioner as well awareness training for employers. To learn more and register your interest, click below.