A tactical objective is the immediate short term desired result of a given activity, task or mission, usually entrusted to the lower positioned management in a three-tier organisation's structure of field or front desk, middle and executive management.

While historically the term had been applied to military operations, in the 20th century it has been increasingly applied in the fields of public safety

Public Safety

Public safety involves the prevention of and protection from events that could endanger the safety of the general public from significant danger, injury/harm, or damage, such as crimes or disasters .-See also:* By nation...

 such as policing and fire-fighting, commerce

Commerce

While business refers to the value-creating activities of an organization for profit, commerce means the whole system of an economy that constitutes an environment for business. The system includes legal, economic, political, social, cultural, and technological systems that are in operation in any...

 and trade

International trade

International trade is the exchange of capital, goods, and services across international borders or territories. In most countries, such trade represents a significant share of gross domestic product...

 planning, and political and international relations policy.

A tactical objective is often in intermediate step to achieving an operational objective

Operational objective

An operational or operating objective is a short-term goal whose attainment moves an organization towards achieving strategic or long-term goals. In business, operational objectives define a clear, often measurable, outcome of a business operation or process typically expected to be achieved within...

, and as such requires decision making

Decision making

Decision making can be regarded as the mental processes resulting in the selection of a course of action among several alternative scenarios. Every decision making process produces a final choice. The output can be an action or an opinion of choice.- Overview :Human performance in decision terms...

 and problem solving

Problem solving

Problem solving is a mental process and is part of the larger problem process that includes problem finding and problem shaping. Consideredthe most complex of all intellectual functions, problem solving has been defined as higher-order cognitive process that requires the modulation and control of...

 skills applied during the execution of the tactical plan as part of the operational plan

Operational plan

Operational plan is a term that can be used for* Military purposes, see Operation plan or "OPLAN"* Business purposes, see Business operations* Operational planning, see operational planning...

.

Tactical objectives in the commercial use represent performance targets established by the middle management for achieving specific organisational outcomes.

For firefighters tactical objectives have historically focused on life-safety as the priority in the plan when attending structure fires.