Daily Operations Control for Operations Managers Training Course

Course overview

Operations managers are expected to keep service, production, maintenance, logistics and support activities on plan while responding to late deliveries, capacity constraints, quality failures, absenteeism and shifting customer demand. Without a disciplined daily control system, managers spend the day escalating problems, chasing status updates and making decisions from incomplete data. This course establishes a practical operating rhythm that connects frontline activity, performance measures, short-interval decisions and escalation routes to weekly operational commitments.

Participants learn how to design and run daily management routines using tiered huddles, visual performance boards, capacity-versus-demand checks, standard work, escalation logs and structured problem solving. They build measures that distinguish leading from lagging indicators, calculate and interpret plan-versus-actual variance, manage constraints through an action register, and use root-cause methods such as 5 Whys, fishbone analysis and PDCA. The course also covers practical use of Microsoft Excel and Power BI to turn operational data into actionable daily dashboards.

Teaching is based on an integrated operations-control case in which participants manage a simulated business week with changing demand, missed targets and operational disruptions. Instructor-led demonstrations are followed by workshops, peer challenge sessions and data-based decision exercises. Each participant leaves with a Daily Operations Control Pack: a tiered meeting cadence, KPI scorecard, visual board design, escalation matrix, action tracker and 30-day implementation plan tailored to their own operating area.

The course is designed for experienced operational leaders who already supervise work, performance or service delivery and now need a more reliable management system for controlling daily execution across teams or shifts.

Course objectives

By the end of this course, participants will be able to:

• Design a tiered daily management system with defined meeting purpose, attendance, timing and escalation rules
• Build a plan-versus-actual KPI scorecard using leading indicators, lagging indicators and performance thresholds
• Conduct capacity-versus-demand analysis to identify workload gaps, bottlenecks and resource actions
• Create a visual daily control board that links safety, quality, delivery, cost and people measures
• Apply 5 Whys, fishbone analysis and PDCA to document root causes and corrective actions
• Use Microsoft Excel to calculate operational variance, trend performance and maintain an action register
• Develop an escalation matrix that assigns decision rights, response times and issue ownership
• Produce a 30-day daily operations control implementation plan for a defined operational area

Benefits of attending

Target competencies

Who should attend

• Operations Managers — who must control daily performance across people, capacity, quality and delivery commitments
• Production Managers — who need to manage output, downtime, staffing and schedule adherence across shifts
• Service Delivery Managers — who must maintain customer service levels while managing workload and exceptions
• Warehouse and Distribution Managers — who need visible control of throughput, inventory accuracy and dispatch performance
• Maintenance Managers — who must prioritise work orders, coordinate resources and reduce operational disruption
• Continuous Improvement Managers — who need to embed daily management routines that sustain improvement gains

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have practical experience supervising an operational team, shift, function or service area and be familiar with basic measures such as output, service level, quality, downtime, backlog, cost or productivity. They should be able to interpret simple tables and charts and work confidently with Microsoft Excel at a basic level, including entering data, using formulas and sorting or filtering. Familiarity with Lean, KPIs, root-cause analysis or Power BI is helpful but not required; these methods are taught in context. No formal operations-management qualification, coding ability or advanced statistical knowledge is required.

Training methodology

The programme combines instructor-led operational-control briefings with hands-on analysis of a multi-shift operating case. Participants build scorecards in Microsoft Excel, interpret Power BI dashboard views, run simulated tier meetings and decide how to escalate missed targets, capacity gaps and quality issues. Small-group workshops test the quality of visual boards, action logs and corrective-action evidence. Each day closes with application to the participant’s own area, culminating in a facilitated 30-day implementation plan and peer review of the completed Daily Operations Control Pack.

Course outline

Day 1: Establishing the daily control system

• Purpose and architecture of daily operations control
• Tiered meeting structure from frontline to senior management
• Daily management standard work for operations managers
• Safety, quality, delivery, cost and people performance categories
• Leading versus lagging operational indicators
• RACI roles for issue ownership and decision rights
• Escalation triggers, response windows and management by exception

Workshop: Participants map the current daily management rhythm in their area and produce a tiered meeting and escalation design.

Day 2: Measuring and visualising operational performance

• Plan-versus-actual measurement logic
• Operational KPI definitions, formulas and data ownership
• Target setting, tolerance bands and red-amber-green thresholds
• Microsoft Excel variance calculations and trend charts
• Microsoft Power BI dashboard interpretation
• Visual management board layout and update discipline
• Data-quality checks for daily performance reporting

Workshop: Participants build a daily KPI scorecard and visual control-board prototype from a supplied operational data set.

Day 3: Controlling flow, capacity and constraints

• Demand profiling and daily workload forecasting
• Capacity-versus-demand analysis by shift and skill
• Bottleneck identification using flow and queue data
• Backlog ageing and work-in-progress control
• Resource reallocation and contingency decision rules
• Schedule adherence and recovery planning
• Constraint escalation across supply, maintenance and staffing

Workshop: Participants manage a disrupted operating day, calculate capacity gaps and produce a prioritised recovery plan.

Day 4: Solving recurring operational problems

• Problem statements based on observable performance gaps
• 5 Whys analysis for recurring operational failures
• Fishbone diagrams for people, process, equipment and material causes
• PDCA cycles and test-of-change planning
• Corrective-action registers and due-date control
• Effectiveness checks and evidence of action closure
• Standard work updates after problem resolution

Workshop: Participants investigate a repeat service or production failure and produce a root-cause record with corrective actions and verification measures.

Day 5: Embedding the operating rhythm

• Facilitating concise, decision-focused daily huddles
• Microsoft Teams channels for action visibility and follow-up
• Cross-functional handoffs and escalation conversations
• ISO 9001:2015 requirements relevant to operational control
• Audit-ready evidence for performance review and corrective action
• 30-day implementation sequencing and stakeholder engagement
• Review cadence for sustaining daily management discipline

Workshop: Participants present their Daily Operations Control Pack and produce a 30-day implementation plan with milestones, owners and review dates.

Tools & standards covered

Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Power BI, Microsoft Teams, ISO 9001:2015

A typical training day

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in the East Africa Time zone, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

How you can take this course

Certification

Participants who complete the full five days receive the Skillset Development Certificate of Completion, stating the course title, course code, dates and delivery format — suitable for professional-development records and employer reimbursement.

Frequently asked questions