Status.net

How to Write an Action Plan: Step-by-Step (Examples)

By Status.net Editorial Team on November 9, 2023 — 9 minutes to read

Understanding Action Plans

An action plan is a detailed roadmap of the necessary steps you need to take to achieve a specific goal or objective. It’s like a GPS that guides you from your starting point to your desired destination. Creating an action plan helps you break down a large goal into smaller, more manageable tasks, which makes the goal feel less overwhelming.

To start, you should first identify your end goal and be as specific as possible. For example, if you want to increase sales for your business, set a target like “Increase sales by 20% within the next six months.” This will give you a clear vision of what you want to achieve and make it easier to measure your progress.

Next, list the necessary actions or tasks required to reach your goal. These can be further divided into smaller tasks that are easy to understand and implement. For example, to increase sales, you could:

  • Improve your online presence by revamping your website, optimizing it for search engines, and posting regularly on social media platforms.
  • Reach out to potential clients through email campaigns and cold calls.
  • Offer promotions or discounts to incentivize new customers to try your product or service.

Now, it’s time to set a timeline for each task. Deadlines will enable you to monitor your progress and stay on track. Assign realistic due dates for each task, and if needed, break them down into smaller milestones.

To ensure your action plan’s success, make sure to assign responsibility for each task. If you’re working with a team, delegate tasks according to each team member’s strengths, skills, and workload. This will help ensure everyone knows what their responsibilities are, and they are held accountable.

Lastly, always monitor your progress and evaluate your action plan’s effectiveness. Regularly review the tasks you’ve accomplished, and make note of the tasks that were challenging or required more time than anticipated. This self-assessment will help you improve your action plan and make necessary adjustments as you work towards your goal.

Example Action Plan

Goal : Increase sales by 20% within the next 6 months (By January 1st, 2025)

Actions : 1. Improve online presence a) Revamp website design – Due October 15th b) Optimize website for SEO – Due November 1st c) Post regularly on social media (1x/week min) – Ongoing

2. Reach out to potential clients a) Create email marketing campaign – Due September 15th b) Start cold calling campaign (10 calls/day) – Start October 1st

3. Offer promotions a) Design promotion flyers – Due September 1st b) Run month-long 20% off sale – October 1-31st

Monitoring : – Check website analytics weekly – Track new clients monthly – Evaluate sales figures monthly – Adjust plan as needed at monthly meetings

Responsibilities : – John to revamp website – Susan to handle social media – Michael to create promotions – Jennifer to manage outreach campaigns

Steps to Creating a Powerhouse Action Plan

First, identify your goal . Be specific about what you want to achieve and set a time frame for accomplishing it. This will help keep your efforts focused and prevent you from getting overwhelmed by smaller tasks. For example, instead of “increase sales”, choose “increase sales by 20% in the next six months”.

Next, break your goal down into smaller, manageable tasks . Create a list of activities or steps that must be completed in order to reach your goal. If your goal is to Increase sales by 20%, some tasks might be:

  • Research your target market
  • Develop a marketing strategy
  • Improve product offerings
  • Train your sales team

Assign a deadline and responsible party for each task on your list. This will help ensure that all tasks are completed on time and that everyone knows their role in achieving the goal. Make sure to set realistic timelines for each task, taking into consideration the resources and time available.

Here’s an example:

  • Research your target market – due in one week – assigned to Jane (marketing specialist)
  • Develop a marketing strategy – due in two weeks – assigned to marketing team

Monitor your progress regularly. Keep track of your progress by using tools such as calendars, project management software, or a simple spreadsheet. Regularly assess whether you’re on track to meet your goal and adjust your action plan if needed. For example, if a task is taking longer than expected, you may need to reassign resources or revise the deadline.

Celebrate your milestones and learn from setbacks . Along the way, take the time to acknowledge and celebrate your successes, as well as learn from any setbacks or challenges. This will help maintain motivation and encourage continuous improvement.

Finally, communicate your action plan to all stakeholders involved, such as employees, investors, or clients. Clear communication ensures everyone understands the goal, their responsibilities, and the expectations for the project.

Defining Clear and Smart Goals

Specific goals.

When creating your action plan, start by setting specific goals. These are clear, well-defined goals that leave no room for ambiguity. You should know exactly what needs to be accomplished and how you plan to achieve it. For example, instead of aiming for “increasing sales,” set a goal like “increase sales by 15% over the next six months.”

Measurable Goals

Your goals should be measurable so that you can track your progress and know when you’ve achieved them. This involves identifying quantifiable indicators that will help you determine your progress. For instance, if your goal is to increase sales, a measurable component can be the number of units sold or the amount of revenue generated within a specific timeframe.

Achievable Goals

When setting goals, make sure they are achievable and realistic based on your current resources and constraints. Consider your team’s capabilities, time, and budget. Unattainable goals may negatively impact your motivation and morale. For example, if you have a small team with limited resources, setting a goal to double your company’s size within a month might be unrealistic. Instead, aim for a modest yet challenging growth rate that can be achieved with your available resources.

Relevant Goals

Your action plan goals should also be relevant to your organization’s mission and vision. These are goals that align with your overall strategic plan and contribute to its long-term success. Relevant goals ensure that your efforts are focused on high-impact areas and avoid unnecessary distractions. For example, if your business is focused on sustainability, a relevant goal might be to reduce your company’s carbon footprint by 20% in the next year.

Time-bound Goals

Finally, ensure that your goals are time-bound, meaning they have a deadline for completion. Deadlines keep your team accountable and help maintain a sense of urgency, which is crucial for staying on track and achieving your objectives. A clear timeframe also allows you to measure your progress and adjust your plans as needed. For instance, you could set a goal to expand your customer base by 10% within the next quarter.

Assigning Roles and Responsibilities

When creating an action plan, it’s important to assign roles and responsibilities to your team members. This helps ensure tasks are completed efficiently and everyone is clear about their duties. Here’s how to do it effectively:

  • First, identify the necessary tasks to achieve your goal. Be specific about what needs to be done and break it down into smaller steps if needed. For example, if your action plan involves promoting a new product, tasks could include designing promotional materials, creating social media posts, and reaching out to potential partners.
  • Next, evaluate the skills and expertise of your team members. Consider their strengths, weaknesses, and past experiences with similar projects. This will help you match team members with tasks that best suit their abilities. For instance, someone with graphic design expertise should be responsible for creating promotional materials.
  • Once you’ve determined which team members are best suited for each task, clearly communicate their roles and responsibilities. This can be done through a project management tool, an email, or a team meeting. Make sure everyone is aware of their duties and the deadlines for each task.
  • Keep track of everyone’s progress, and hold regular check-ins to see how each team member is doing with their assigned tasks.
  • Be open to adjusting your action plan and roles as necessary. Sometimes, unforeseen challenges can arise and require you to modify your plan.

Creating a Time Frame

When working on your action plan, it’s important to establish a realistic time frame for achieving your goals. This helps you stay on track and prioritize tasks effectively. We will walk you through the process of creating a time frame for your action plan.

  • First, break down your primary goal into smaller, manageable tasks. Think of these tasks as stepping stones that will lead you toward your overall objective. For example, if your goal is to start a new business, your tasks might include researching your target market, establishing a budget, and developing a marketing strategy.
  • Next, assign a deadline to each task. Deadlines should be specific and set in stone but make sure to be flexible enough to adjust as necessary. Use a calendar or planner to visualize your timeline, marking important dates and milestones. For example, you could set a four-month deadline for completing market research and a six-month deadline for securing initial funding.
  • To keep yourself accountable, set reminders or notifications for important deadlines. This can be done using digital tools like smartphone apps or traditional methods, such as sticky notes on your workspace. Regularly reviewing your progress and adjusting your time frame when needed will help you stay on track.
  • Lastly, consider any external factors that might impact your time frame. Are there seasonal events, holidays, or industry-specific deadlines that could affect your ability to complete tasks? Factor in these considerations as you build your timeline.

Resource Allocation

When creating an action plan, resource allocation plays a major role. You’ll need to determine the resources required for each task and how they’ll be distributed among team members. This usually includes time, budget, and human resources.

  • Start by estimating the time each task will take. Break tasks down into smaller chunks and allocate a specific deadline to each. This will help you prioritize tasks and balance workloads for your team members. For example, if designing a marketing campaign takes four weeks, divide it into weekly tasks like conducting market research, creating promotional materials, and setting up advertisements.
  • Next, determine the budget needed to complete your project. Identify any expenses such as salaries, equipment, software, and project-related costs like travel. Create a budget for each task to avoid overspending, and allocate funds accordingly. Using our marketing campaign example, allocate separate budgets for market research tools, graphic design tools, and advertising platforms.
  • Lastly, allocate human resources to tasks based on their skills and expertise. Delegate responsibilities to your team members, ensuring that everyone has a clear understanding of their role in the project. If needed, identify additional hires or outside consultants to fill gaps in your team’s expertise. For instance, if your team lacks graphic design experience, consider hiring a graphic designer or outsourcing the work to a design agency.
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Blog Training and Development

What is an Action Plan & How to Write One [With Examples]

By Danesh Ramuthi , Oct 26, 2023

action plan

An action plan is a meticulously structured strategy that pinpoints specific steps, tasks and resources vital to turning a goal into reality. It is extremely useful in any project management. 

Crafting an action plan is like plotting a route for a cross-country journey. It’s the strategic map that outlines every step, decision and pitstop needed to reach your ultimate destination.

With a well-thought-out action plan, you’re not just shooting in the dark; you’re making informed, purposeful strides towards your goals. Dive deep with our guide and witness real-world examples that will inspire and guide you.

Need a tool to kickstart your planning? Try out the Venngage business plan maker and explore their extensive collection of action plan templates .

Click to jump ahead: 

What is the purpose of an action plan?

When to develop an action plan, 7 components of a actions plan, 15 action plan examples.

  • How to Write an action plan?

Final thoughts

An action plan serves as a strategic tool designed to outline specific steps, tasks and goals necessary to achieve a particular objective.

Its primary purpose is to provide a clear roadmap and direction for individuals, teams or organizations to follow in order to efficiently and effectively accomplish their goals. 

Action plans break down complex projects into manageable, actionable components, making it easier to track progress and stay on course.

Moreover, action plans play a crucial role in fostering accountability and coordination among team members. By assigning responsibilities and deadlines for each task or milestone, they ensure that everyone involved is aware of their roles and the overall timeline, reducing confusion and enhancing teamwork. 

Additionally, action plans help in resource allocation, budgeting and risk management by enabling stakeholders to identify potential challenges and plan for contingencies. 

Overall, the purpose of an action plan is to transform abstract goals into concrete actions, making them more achievable and measurable while ensuring that the resources and efforts are aligned with the desired outcomes.

Developing an action plan is crucial when you’re looking to achieve a specific goal or outcome. Here are instances when you should consider developing an action plan:

  • Start of an organization : Ideally, an action plan should be developed within the first six months to one year of the start of an organization. This initial plan lays the groundwork for the future direction and growth of the entity.
  • Project initiation : At the start of any project, an action plan helps to clearly define the tasks, responsibilities, and timelines.
  • Goal setting : Whenever you or your organization sets a new goal. Action plans transform these goals from abstract ideas into concrete steps.
  • Strategic planning : For long-term visions and missions, action plans break down the journey into manageable pieces, each with its timeline and responsible parties.
  • Performance improvement : If there are areas where performance is lacking, whether it’s personal or organizational, an action plan can outline the steps needed to elevate performance.

An action plan is a detailed outline that breaks down the steps necessary to achieve a specific goal. Here are the typical components of an action plan.

1. Objective or Goal

The cornerstone of your action plan is the objective or goal. This should be a clear and concise statement outlining the desired outcome or result. Having a well-defined objective provides a direction and purpose to the entire plan, ensuring all tasks and actions are aligned towards achieving this singular aim.

2. Tasks or Actions

Once the objective is set, the next step is to list down the specific tasks or actions required to achieve this goal. These tasks should be broken down into detailed steps, ensuring no essential activity is overlooked. The granularity of these tasks can vary based on the complexity of the goal.

3. Set deadline

For each task or action, set a realistic and achievable deadline. This timeline ensures that the plan stays on track and that momentum is maintained throughout the execution. It also allows for monitoring progress and identifying potential delays early.

4. Resources needed to complete the project

It’s crucial to recognize and list the resources you’ll need to complete the tasks. This can encompass financial resources, human resources, equipment, technological tools or any other assets. Identifying these early ensures that there are no bottlenecks during execution due to a lack of necessary resources.

5. Person responsible

Assign a person or a team for each task. This designation ensures accountability and clarity. When individuals are aware of their responsibilities, it reduces overlap, confusion and ensures that every task has someone overseeing its completion.

6. Potential barriers or challenges

Every plan will face challenges. By anticipating potential barriers or obstacles, you can be better prepared to address them. This proactive approach ensures smoother execution and less reactionary problem-solving.

7. Measurement of key performance indicators (KPIs)

Determine how you’ll measure the success of each task or the plan overall. KPIs are tangible metrics that allow you to gauge progress and determine whether you’re moving closer to your goals and objectives. They offer a quantifiable means to evaluate success.

Action plans serve as blueprints, guiding the steps and resources needed to achieve a specific goal. 

They come in various formats, tailored to different scenarios and objectives. Here, we present a range of action plan examples that cater to diverse purposes and situations. 

From business strategies to simple task lists, these examples illustrate the versatility and importance of well-structured planning.

Business action plan example

A business action plan is essentially a strategy roadmap, meticulously tailored for realizing broader business objectives. By crafting a solid action plan, businesses can channel their resources, manpower and strategies in a direction that harmonizes with their larger vision.

Purple Business Action Plan Template

Key to this plan is the identification and alignment of steps that resonate with the company’s comprehensive strategy, ambitions of growth and aspirations for operational enhancements. 

While this might entail a myriad of specific steps based on unique business goals, some common elements include setting clear key performance indicators (KPIs), undertaking a thorough SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis to grasp the current business landscape and establishing a timeline to keep track of progress.

Business Action Plan Template

Furthermore, allocating responsibilities to team members or individuals ensures that every aspect of the strategy has a dedicated focus. Budgeting, essential to the success of the action plan, ensures that every initiative is financially viable and sustainable. 

Red Business Action Plan Template

Regular reviews and iterations based on feedback and changing market dynamics keep the action plan agile and relevant.

Related: 5 Steps to Create an Actionable Employee Development Plan [with Templates & Examples]

Company action plan example

A comprehensive company action plan serves as the strategic linchpin, ensuring a coherent and coordinated approach to realizing organizational goals. Central to this plan is the incorporation of rigorous market research and analysis, which provides insights into consumer behaviors, market trends and potential opportunities. 

Clean Green And Gray Action Plan

Equally vital is the focus on product development and procurement, ensuring that the offerings align with market demands and stand out in terms of quality and relevance. 

Alongside, adept legal and financial management safeguards the company’s interests, ensuring compliance with regulations and prudent fiscal oversight.

Simple Green And Orange Company Action Plan

Moreover, the essence of any successful company action plan lies in its sales and marketing strategies. These define how the products or services are positioned and promoted in the market, ensuring visibility and engagement with the target audience. 

Navy And Yellow Modern Minimalist Action Plan

However, while acquisition is crucial, retention plays an equally significant role. Hence, impeccable customer service and nurturing relationships become indispensable components, fostering loyalty and ensuring that clients remain ambassadors for the brand long after the initial transaction.

Related: 30+ Project Plan Examples to Visualize Your Strategy (2023)

Sales action plan example

A well-structured sales action plan serves as the backbone for systematic and efficient progress. Central to this plan is the identification and utilization of the most effective sales channels, whether they are direct, online or through third-party avenues. 

Strategic Food Sales Action Plan Template

Clarity on the products and services on offer, combined with their unique selling propositions, facilitates tailored and resonant sales pitches. 

Budget considerations ensure that resources are judiciously allocated, balancing the act between expenditures and potential returns. This financial prudence is complemented by setting realistic sales projections, which act as both a motivational target and a yardstick for success.

Timelines, or proposed deadlines, infuse the process with a sense of urgency, ensuring that the momentum of the sales drive is maintained. 

business action plan goal

However, the true measure of the action plan’s efficacy lies in its key performance indicators (KPIs). These metrics, be it lead conversion rates or customer retention figures, serve as tangible markers, highlighting the plan’s strengths and signaling areas that might require recalibration to increase sales.

Food Retailer Sales Action Plan Template

Corrective action plan example

The essence of a corrective action plan lies in its meticulous structure, tailored to address and rectify deviations or inefficiencies identified within an organization. At its core, each action item serves as a focal point, detailing specific areas or processes that require intervention. 

Black and Green Corrective Action Plan

Accompanying each action item is a clear description that provides a comprehensive understanding of the issue at hand. 

However, merely identifying a problem isn’t enough; delving deep into its origins through root cause analysis ensures that solutions target the fundamental issues, rather than just addressing superficial symptoms. 

Green Minimalist Corrective Action Plan

This analysis then paves the way for defining the corrective action, a tangible step or series of steps designed to mitigate the identified problem and prevent its recurrence.

Besides, to ensure the plan’s effectiveness, assigning a responsible person to each action item is paramount. This individual or team is entrusted with the task’s execution, ensuring accountability and focus. 

business action plan goal

The status of each action keeps stakeholders informed about the progress, be it in the planning phase, ongoing, or completed. 

Lastly, setting a due date for each corrective action introduces a sense of urgency and purpose, ensuring that issues are addressed in a timely manner, minimizing disruptions and maximizing operational efficiency.

Simple action plan example

A simple action plan strips away the layers of complexity, offering a concise and direct approach to achieving a goal or addressing an issue. This type of plan is characterized by its straightforward structure, devoid of extraneous details, yet powerfully effective in its clarity. 

It is specifically designed for tasks or objectives that don’t necessitate elaborate strategies or multi-layered approaches.

White and Red Simple Corrective Action Plan

The core components of a simple action plan usually include a clear statement of the task or objective at hand, followed by a sequence of actions or steps to be taken. 

Each step is described succinctly, ensuring that anyone involved has a clear understanding of what is expected. Responsibilities are defined clearly, with each task allocated to an individual or a team, ensuring accountability. Timelines might be integrated, providing a clear framework for completion, even if they’re just broad milestones. 

Simple Yellow And Black Action Plan

Regular check-ins or assessments, although minimal, might be incorporated to monitor progress. 

The beauty of a simple action plan lies in its agility and adaptability, making it particularly suited for individual projects, short-term tasks or situations where a rapid response is required.

Simple Action Plan Flow Chart Template

How to write an action plan?

Creating an effective action plan is a foundational step towards turning aspirations into tangible results. It provides a clear roadmap, ensuring that each step taken aligns with the overall objective.

Whether you’re aiming to enhance a business process or achieve a personal goal, a well-drafted action plan can be your guiding light. Here’s key steps on how you can craft one:

  • Step 1: Establish SMART goals: Initiating with a goal that is specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound ensures you have a clear and focused endpoint in sight. Smart goals serves as the cornerstone for your entire strategic blueprint.
  • Step 2: Determine necessary tasks: Decompose your overarching objective into smaller, actionable tasks. This modular approach not only makes the mission less daunting but also provides a sequential pathway to goal attainment.
  • Step 3: Assign essential resources: Depending on the tasks at hand, designate necessary resources, be they human, financial or technological. This ensures that every activity has the backing it needs for successful execution.
  • Step 4: Prioritize tasks by importance: Not all tasks hold equal weight. Determine the hierarchy of tasks based on their impact on the goal and their time sensitivity. This allows for a systematic progression.
  • Step 5: Outline timelines and key markers: With tasks in hand, set clear deadlines for each. Introduce milestones, which act as periodic check-ins, ensuring you’re on track and allowing for celebrations of smaller victories.
  • Step 6: Oversee and modify your strategy blueprint: As you progress, there will invariably be learnings and challenges. Regularly review your plan to make necessary adjustments, ensuring its relevance and effectiveness.
  • Step 7: Consider ready-to-use templates: If starting from scratch feels overwhelming, lean on structured templates to guide your planning. There’s plenty of business plan softwares and platforms such as  Venngage that offer a plethora of action plan templates , tailored to various needs, which can significantly streamline the process.

An action plan is more than just an action steps, it’s a strategic blueprint that bridges the gap between aspirations and realizations. 

Through this comprehensive guide, I’ve walked you through the purpose, ideal timings, core components, and practical examples of action plans across various domains. 

Leveraging tools of project management , you can track progress, assign tasks and ensure every team member stays on the same page. 

It’s not just about setting goals, but about strategically planning every step, ensuring tasks completed align with the larger project goals. 

Remember, success isn’t just about having goals but about charting the right course to achieve them

And if you’re looking to supercharge your planning efforts, don’t miss out on the Venngage business plan maker. 

Dive into their extensive collection of action plan templates and make your strategic planning both efficient and effective. 

What is an Action Plan? Learn with Templates and Examples

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Planning on turning your vision into reality? And what’s your best way to avoid challenges and problems during this journey? A solid action plan.

We have outlined 6 steps explaining how to write an action plan. Once you familiarize yourself with them, go ahead and use the editable templates below to start planning right away.

What is an Action Plan?

Why you need an action plan, how to write an action plan, action plan templates.

An action plan is a specific list of tasks in order to achieve a particular goal. It can be regarded as a proposed strategy to execute a specific project to achieve a specific or general goal effectively and efficiently. It outlines steps to take and helps stay focused and organized, whether it’s personal or work-related. Breaking down the goal into smaller, manageable steps, makes it easier to stay motivated and track progress.

It’s an essential part of the strategic planning process and helps with improving teamwork planning Not only in project management, but action plans can be used by individuals to prepare a strategy to achieve their own personal goals as well.

Components of an action plan include

  • A well-defined description of the goal to be achieved
  • Tasks/ steps that need to be carried out to reach the goal
  • People who will be in charge of carrying out each task
  • When will these tasks be completed (deadlines and milestones)
  • Resources needed to complete the tasks
  • Measures to evaluate progress

What’s great about having everything listed down on one location is that it makes it easier to track progress and effectively plan things out.

An action plan is not something set in stone. As your organization grows, and surrounding circumstances change, you will have to revisit and make adjustments to meet the latest needs.

Sometimes businesses don’t spend much time on developing an action plan before an initiative, which, in most cases, leads to failure. If you haven’t heard, “failing to plan is planning to fail” said Benjamin Franklin supposedly once.

Planning helps you prepare for the obstacles ahead and keep you on track. And with an effective action plan, you can boost your productivity and keep yourself focused.  

Here are some benefits of an action plan you should know;

  • It gives you a clear direction. As an action plan highlights exactly what steps to be taken and when they should be completed, you will know exactly what you need to do.
  • Having your goals written down and planned out in steps will give you a reason to stay motivated and committed throughout the project.  
  • With an action plan, you can track your progress toward your goal.
  • Since you are listing down all the steps you need to complete in your action plan, it will help you prioritize your tasks based on effort and impact.

From the looks of it, creating an action plan seems fairly easy. But there are several important steps you need to follow with caution in order to get the best out of it. Here’s how to write an action plan explained in 6 easy steps.

Step 1: Define your end goal

If you are not clear about what you want to do and what you want to achieve, you are setting yourself up for failure.

Planning a new initiative? Start by defining where you are and where you want to be.

Solving a problem? Analyze the situation and explore possible solutions before prioritizing them.

Then write down your goal. And before you move on to the next step, run your goal through the SMART criteria . Or in other words, make sure that it is

  • Specific – well-defined and clear
  • Measurable – include measurable indicators to track progress  
  • Attainable – realistic and achievable within the resources, time, money, experience, etc. you have
  • Relevant – align with your other goals
  • Timely – has a finishing date

Use this SMART goal worksheet to simplify this process. Share it with others to get their input as well.  

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And refer to our easy guide to the goal-setting process to learn more about setting and planning your goals.

Step 2: List down the steps to be followed

The goal is clear. What exactly should you do to realize it?

Create a rough template to list down all the tasks to be performed, due dates and people responsible.

It’s important that you make sure that the entire team is involved in this process and has access to the document. This way everyone will be aware of their roles and responsibilities in the project.

Make sure that each task is clearly defined and is attainable. If you come across larger and more complex tasks, break them down to smaller ones that are easier to execute and manage.

Tips: Use a RACI Matrix template to clarify project roles and responsibilities, and plan projects

Step 3: Prioritize tasks and add deadlines

It’s time to reorganize the list by prioritizing the tasks . Some steps, you may need to prioritize as they can be blocking other sub-steps.

Add deadlines, and make sure that they are realistic. Consult with the person responsible for carrying it out to understand his or her capacity before deciding on deadlines.

Step 4: Set milestones

Milestones can be considered mini goals leading up to the main goal at the end. The advantage of adding milestones is that they give the team members to look forward to something and help them stay motivated even though the final due date is far away.

Start from the end goal and work your way back as you set milestones . Remember not to keep too little or too much time in between the milestone you set. It’s a best practice to space milestones two weeks apart.  

Step 5: Identify the resources needed

Before you start your project, it’s crucial to ensure that you have all the necessary resources at hand to complete the tasks. And if they are not currently available, you need to first make a plan to acquire them.

This should also include your budget. You can assign a column of your action plan to mark the cost of each task if there are any.  

Step 6: Visualize your action plan

The point of this step is to create something that everyone can understand at a glance and that can be shared with everyone.

Whether your action plan comes in the shape of a flowchart , Gantt chart , or table , make sure that it clearly communicates the elements we have identified so far – tasks, task owners, deadlines, resources, etc.

This document should be easily accessible to everyone and should be editable.

Step 7: Monitor, evaluate and update

Allocate some time to evaluate the progress you’ve made with your team.

You can mark tasks that are completed as done on this final action plan, bringing attention to how you’ve progressed toward the goal.

This will also bring out the tasks that are pending or delayed, in which case you need to figure out why and find suitable solutions. And then update the action plan accordingly.

Business action plan

You may like to read: The Easy Guide to Making a Business Plan for Presentations

Marketing action plan

Strategic action plan, corrective action plan template.

Learn more about: Corrective Action Plan template .

Additional resources: The Easy Guide to Creating a Business Contingency Plan

Simple action plan template

Any more tips on creating an action plan.

An action plan is designed to guide your way to accomplishing your goals. It turns your vision into actionable goals and steps. And it helps you stay focused and motivated.

From an individual employee in an organization to larger departments can make use of action plans to steer their way towards completing their goals.

Maybe you are about to create your very first action plan, or you are already a pro at writing them. Either way, we’d like to hear your opinions on how to write an action plan. Do share them with us in the comments section below.

Join over thousands of organizations that use Creately to brainstorm, plan, analyze, and execute their projects successfully.

FAQs About Action Plan

Lack of clarity on goals: Make sure the team understands the goals and objectives of the action plan. The goals should be specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART).

Unclear responsibilities: Assign clear roles and responsibilities for each team member to avoid confusion and ensure accountability.

Overcomplicating the plan: Keep the action plan simple and easy to understand. Avoid adding unnecessary complexity or detail that may confuse the team.

Failure to prioritize tasks: Prioritize tasks based on their importance and urgency. This will ensure that the team focuses on the most critical tasks first.

Inadequate resources: Ensure that the team has access to the necessary resources such as time, budget, and equipment, to carry out the action plan successfully.

Lack of communication: Effective communication is crucial to the success of any action plan. Ensure that team members are regularly updated on progress and any changes to the plan.

Failure to monitor progress: Regularly monitor progress and adjust the action plan as needed to ensure that it stays on track and achieves its goals.

Strategic action plan: This type of plan outlines the long-term goals and objectives of an organization, and the actions that will be taken to achieve them. It typically covers a period of several years and includes high-level strategies and initiatives.

Operational action plan: This plan focuses on the day-to-day operations of an organization, outlining the actions that will be taken to achieve short-term goals and objectives. It typically covers a period of one year or less and includes specific actions and timelines.

Project action plan: This type of plan is used for individual projects and outlines the actions that will be taken to achieve specific project goals and objectives. It includes a detailed breakdown of tasks, timelines, and responsibilities.

Sales action plan: This plan focuses on the actions that will be taken to increase sales and revenue. It includes specific strategies for marketing, sales, and customer service.

Marketing action plan: This plan outlines the actions that will be taken to promote a product or service and increase brand awareness. It includes strategies for advertising, social media, public relations, and other marketing initiatives.

Crisis management action plan: This type of plan outlines the actions that will be taken in the event of a crisis, such as a natural disaster or security breach. It includes specific protocols for communication, evacuation, and other emergency procedures.

An action plan can be used by anyone who wants to achieve specific goals or objectives. It is a useful tool for individuals, teams, and organizations in a variety of contexts. Here are some examples:

Individuals: An individual can use an action plan to achieve personal goals such as losing weight, completing a degree, or starting a business.

Teams: A team can use an action plan to achieve goals related to a specific project or initiative. For example, a marketing team may use an action plan to launch a new product.

Small businesses: Small businesses can use an action plan to achieve goals related to sales, marketing, operations, or finance.

Non-profit organizations: Non-profit organizations can use an action plan to achieve goals related to fundraising, volunteer recruitment, or program implementation.

Government agencies: Government agencies can use an action plan to achieve goals related to policy implementation, disaster response, or public safety.

Educational institutions: Educational institutions can use an action plan to achieve goals related to improving student outcomes, increasing enrollment, or expanding programs.

More Related Articles

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Amanda Athuraliya is the communication specialist/content writer at Creately, online diagramming and collaboration tool. She is an avid reader, a budding writer and a passionate researcher who loves to write about all kinds of topics.

How to Write and Develop an Action Plan for Your Small Business

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6 min. read

Updated October 29, 2023

Taking action at the appropriate time is critical to turning your visions into a viable reality. However, doing so without a proper strategy can be a recipe for disaster. 

A well-designed and concrete action plan that weighs all the benefits and possible challenges is the key to executing your vision successfully. Furthermore, it makes tracking progress easier, which in turn helps you attain your goals. 

Whether it’s a business, personal, or career goal you are going after, the right action plan can be your roadmap to success. A comprehensive plan details all the information regarding your objectives and projects, such as the resources required, the complexity level of tasks, etc.

Let’s figure out how you can build one to achieve your goals successfully and efficiently.

  • What is an action plan and why is it important?

An action plan serves as a trajectory for the tasks or steps you need to accomplish to reach your goals and objectives. It is a crucial part of your strategic process that helps you improve teamwork planning significantly. Also, a proper action plan allows you to manage projects efficiently.

You have all the essential information in a centralized location that your team can access, making it easier for everybody to monitor progress and plan things successfully. As your company grows and circumstances change, you can revisit and make modifications to meet your latest requirements.

Planning of action items helps you prepare for any obstacles ahead. You’re your teams on track while ensuring impactful results. Furthermore, it also boosts your productivity and keeps everybody focused on urgent tasks.  

Here are some of the reasons why an action plan is vital for you:

  • It gives you a clear sense of direction by highlighting precisely the steps you need to take when you need to take that and what it will help you accomplish 
  • Having your objectives and goals on paper with structured steps keeps the team members motivated and dedicated throughout the project
  • You can gauge your and member’s progress and contribution toward the collective goals
  • You can turn your visions into reality, increase accountability and efficiency within your organization

How to create an effective action plan 

When it comes to creating an action plan, various practical methods and tools can help you develop a robust action program. Begin by following this straightforward 7-step strategy.

Following these steps for structuring your action plan incidentally also acts as a brilliant roadmap for your idea’s overall presentation and can effectively create a clear goal.

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1. Define your scope

It is essential to define your scope, create a roadmap, and align it with your strategic planning . Make sure your actions guide you toward company goals. Start by gauging how your team members can contribute and help you achieve your objectives.

If you don’t have a clear understanding of what you want to achieve, it might be challenging for you to plan a new initiative. Defining your current status and where you see your company helps you analyze the situation, explore potential solutions and implement strategies successfully.

2. Set S.M.A.R.T. goals

S.M.A.R.T. (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-bound) objectives or goals is a method of objective setting that enables employees and managers to set, monitor, and achieve their long-term and short-term goals. This approach brings tractability and structure together.

Once you map out your plan, scope, and aim to accomplish, the next step requires you to set well-defined goals and measurable tools. Create a template to highlight all the tasks that your team needs to perform and deadlines.

It is vital to make sure that your entire team is on the same page, involved in the process, and has access to the document. This way, the projects become manageable while also boosting team productivity.

Furthermore, ensure that the tasks are attainable. If you have more complex tasks, it’s essential to break them down into manageable parts for easy execution. 

3. Visualize your plan

Once you plan on the action items, prioritize tasks, and set milestones, the next step is creating a visual representation of your action plan. This visualization helps you engage your team and allow everyone to follow through to carry out activities.

A graphical presentation also makes it easier to get a bird’s eye view of your project. This way, you can identify your objectives and tasks that you weren’t able to execute or reach, allowing you to prioritize them to accomplish them.

You can elaborate your action plan with the help of a concept map that can help you explicitly communicate all the essential elements and information — task owners, tasks owners, resources, goals, objectives, deadlines, etc. Also, make sure the document is easily accessible to all. 

Additionally, you can also leverage online visual collaboration platforms to help you seamlessly visualize and structure your simple and complex concepts.

4. Prioritize your tasks

It is imperative to align all your activities with specific goals and assign them to relevant team members. When you list and prioritize all your tasks, it helps keep track of your projects’ status, progress, and completion. 

You could also structure your task list by importance. This way, everyone knows what needs to be done first to meet your deadlines effectively while ensuring that your employees can manage those tasks. That way, your team will also know their responsibilities and tasks to get done and engage them with a clear vision.

5. Set milestones 

Milestones are the objectives that your team aims to achieve to keep a specific project progressing at a steady pace. Your work will have a lot smoother flow when everybody is clear with goals.

When you set milestones , it serves as mini-goals that help you achieve your central goal towards the end. Adding milestones to your action plan is crucial to give your team members something to look forward to and encourage them to stay motivated throughout.

6. Identify your resources

Before starting your project, it is imperative to ensure that you have the critical resources to complete the tasks successfully. And if you don’t have adequate resources, devise a strategy to leverage what you have effectively. Include all the essential components such as the number of projects, budget, timelines, etc., to make sure you don’t miss out on vital aspects.

Knowing what you have to work with will ensure that any tasks or projects you set out to accomplish have a better chance of succeeding. If you don’t have enough cash, a large enough team, or even enough time to manage every project, you’ll soon find yourself struggling to meet milestones and deadlines.

7. Monitor, gauge, and update

It is pivotal to allocate time and resources to evaluate your projects’ and teams’ progress. Make sure you conduct frequent follow-ups with team members to see if everybody is on track. 

For this reason, you need to elaborate on the follow-up and assessment of teams in your action plan. This will help you implement the strategies that work well and eradicate the ineffective ones.

  • A guide to reaching your goals

An action plan is an indispensable tool that helps you guide your way to realizing your goals. It turns your visualization into actionable steps and milestones. 

From larger departments in an organization to individual employees, an action plan is a defined methodology that helps you outline your activities, tasks, resources, budget, objectives, etc. This, in turn, allows you to achieve desired outcomes.

See why 1.2 million entrepreneurs have written their business plans with LivePlan

Content Author: JT Ripton

JT Ripton is a business consultant and a freelance writer out of Tampa. JT has written for companies like T-Mobile and others.

Check out LivePlan

Table of Contents

  • How to create an effective action plan 

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How to Write an Action Plan (Examples Included)

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Before you start any project, you have to draw up a plan to manage, organize, and realize the project’s goals. Planning is a crucial component of the project initiation phase of the project management life cycle.

The best way to turn your project objectives and goals into reality, and to avoid risks and challenges during the project management life cycle , is to use a solid action plan. You can use an action plan to create a clear path to success for any goal (personal, business, or financial goal ).

In this article, you will learn how to write an effective action plan and why you need one for your project.

Let’s get started.

What is an Action Plan?

An action plan is a comprehensive plan on how to reach a goal. This is a step-by-step process you have to perform to attain your goal.

Every organization has a guideline or strategy in place to achieve its goal, be it small or big. An action plan can work towards a quarterly or yearly goal. This will include setting goals and objectives that are realistic to achieve.

A goal is the primary objective of an action plan. An action plan does not only exist in organizations, but it is very useful in our day-to-day life.

When you set a goal, an action plan has to be in motion to bring such a goal to life. Some processes or structures have to be in place to create an action plan.

Ask the following questions before you write an action plan.

  • What are the goals you need to achieve?
  • What methods will go into achieving them?
  • What is the end goal of these goals and objectives?

You also need to follow processes to set an effective action plan.

1. Setting A Goal

The first step for writing an action plan is to set a goal. When you discover the goal of the whole operation, you can then draw up an action plan to achieve it. The purpose of this is to create or have a picture of what the goal is going to be about. This ensures that you set a realistic goal.

During the process of setting a goal, consider the following.

  • The goal must be clear and actionable
  • Must be realistic
  • Must have a completion date

Organizations at this phase create a project charter to sketch out the goals and objectives.

Project Charter Template - Excel-PMT

2. Structures to Achieve the Goal

These are the guidelines or step-by-step plans to achieve the goal. During this stage, you write a well-described and outlined plan. The action plan is a guideline for achieving the already set goal.

Break down the goal of the project into smaller units and tasks that will lead to the eventual progress of the goal. Set targets and deadlines, and share responsibilities and resources needed to achieve the goal.

Some of these structures to achieve the goal include:

  • Listing the steps to be followed
  • Establishing key goals and targets
  • Identifying available resources
  • Visualizing the goal

Why You Need an Action Plan

An action plan is a framework for how to complete a project effectively. One of the reasons why projects fail is due to a lack of planning. Many projects fail because they either did not carry out extensive research or they did not have a solid plan to bring all their goals to fruition.

Every goal must have a to-do list of all tasks that need to be accomplished to achieve an objective. An action plan guarantees a well-organized objective. You need this plan to stay on track and manage the progress of the project or goal.

1. Provides Motivation and Eliminates Procrastination

An action plan is simply a to-do list that one checks till a task or goal is accomplished. A well outlined and organized arrangement of your plan encourages one to start and complete the task. Breaking the task into smaller units makes it feel less overwhelming and cumbersome.

Ticking your to-do list makes the progress of the goal visible. You can easily track milestones and accomplishments of the set objective.

2. Sets Direction and Priorities

One of the benefits of writing an action plan is that it establishes direction and priorities for your goal. It defines the whole purpose of the operation. In an organizational setting, it can be likened to a project charter. This represents a sketch of what the end goal should look like or should be.

An action plan helps the project team to stay on track and focus on the purpose of the project without going outside of the main objective. This prevents the waste of time and resources on scope creep . If eventually, you have to make changes, there will be adjustments that will easily fit into the project.

3. Uncovers Weaknesses and Opportunities

In the course of drawing up an action plan, one uncovers both the strengths and weaknesses of the project. An action plan provides you with a better chance of adjusting and creating a better plan for your goal or project.

The weaknesses uncovered could be the risk involved in the project. The action plan helps you discover the weaknesses and how to quickly eliminate them before the project begins.

During the process of writing an action plan, one can also find opportunities that can be generated from it. An action plan will force you to think strategically to deliver insights that will improve your project.

How to Write an Action Plan

There are seven steps to follow that serve as a guideline for writing a strategically well-detailed action plan.

1. Define Your Goals

The first step to writing a good action plan is to define the goal, be it a personal or business plan . Break down the overall goal into smaller, easier, and understandable sub-goals.

The reason for this is that, when people start to accomplish a task, the first impression they will develop is that it will take lots of time and energy. Breaking down the goal into smaller units will make it easier to understand and accomplish

By defining the goal, you understand what it takes to achieve it. It is at this stage you decide if you can go through with the plan. The goal you define should be SMART – Specific, Measurable, Actionable, Realistic, and Timely.

SMART - specific - measurable - attainable - relevant - time-based by indeed

2. List the Key Objectives

Listing priorities is another important step when writing an effective action plan. What are these priorities? They are the key elements that form the goal of what you want to achieve.

By listing the key objectives , you know where to focus on majorly or areas that will require more attention.

3. Create a Step-by-Step Guideline to Achieve Your Goal

A guideline ensures you do not get stuck during the process of achieving your aim. Many businesses have failed due to getting to a particular segment of achieving their goal and not knowing what to do next. Creating a step-by-step guideline ensures there is the next thing to do.

4. Set Targets and Deadlines

Time is a very important factor when setting a goal. During the process of trying to achieve the aim of the project, you can easily lose track of time if you do not track it.

When a goal drags on for a particular period, it can lead to loss of interest or the goal might fail to accomplish what it was intended for.

5. Identify Available Resources

An action plan should have an estimate of the resources available. When talking about resources, this is not just in terms of financial resources but also human resources. This refers to the number of teams on the ground to achieve the goal.

The essence of identifying available resources is to manage them effectively to achieve a specific goal.

6. Set Milestones

In every sector of life, the show of success no matter how little serves as a morale booster. Setting milestones helps you keep track of the project’s progress.

When working on a project, after completing a milestone, no matter how little the step is, it is important to celebrate or mark that milestone.

Milestones show progress. The essence of setting milestones is to give morale and motivation to your team members to do more work. A good practice is to reward team members when they accomplish a set milestone to show appreciation for their effort and encourage them to accomplish more.

7. Monitor and Evaluate the Plan

Monitoring and evaluating the plan is the last section of an action plan. This is where you evaluate the whole plan, check for the loopholes, and whatever was missed when writing the plan. It also leaves room for adjustments and scope creep.

Tips for Writing an Effective Action Plan

1. involve team members and experts.

This goes with the saying that “no man is an island.” No matter how much you understand a project, you need to involve team members and experts for better opinions and inputs. Following this tip allows for growth and communication among the team.

When opinions are welcomed from the team, this helps develop the project and might even uncover a greater benefit to the project. There are certain aspects of the project you may miss which your team members can pick up.

2. Have a Timeline

Getting your timing right is key to the success of any project. Having a timeline guiding all the activities you want to carry out in the project is crucial. A well-established timeline for your project ensures that you accomplish all tasks and milestones at the appropriate time.

3. Communicate the Plan

Communication is the foundation upon which a project can develop. When communication is in place, there will be a smooth transfer of information from one section to another. This is key because, without communication, the goal will remain stagnant.

4. Tick Off Items As You Accomplish Them

After completing an item or task in your project, mark them as completed. Doing this will make it easy for you to know the items or tasks you have completed and the ones that are still pending.

Ticking off items as you accomplish them can boost the morale of the team and encourage them to put in more effort to achieve the project.

5. Write an Action Plan Template

Writing an action plan template helps you save time and energy. Instead of having to create an action plan from scratch each time you need one, you can write or collect action plan templates you can edit to fit your needs.

Since the format for writing an action plan is similar for many projects or goals, writing an action plan template is a great idea.

6. Use a Project Management Tool

The best project management tools help you write effective action plans and keep you on track. Project management software like Monday.com, ClickUp, and Wrike have project planning and reporting features that help you monitor the progress of your project and the performance of your project team.

Action Plan Template

An action plan template makes it easier and faster for you to create an action plan for your goal or project. While almost every action plan template follows the same format, modifications vary depending on its purpose and the industry.

1. Business Action Plan

Business Action Plan Template

2. Marketing Action Plan

Marketing Action Plan Template

3. Sales Action Plan

Sales Action Plan

4. Project Action Plan

Project action plan

5. Corrective Action Plan Template

Corrective action plan

Action Plan Example

An example of an action plan for a marketing agency.

Problem: Slow growth due to lack of sufficient employees and clients.

Goal: Increase profit by 50% within three years.

We expect our marketing agency to increase our profitability by 150% as we increase our marketing and customer service team and attract more clients over the next three years.

Current State of Our Agency: Annual profit of $100,000, six employees, and fifteen clients.

Our Agency in Six Months: Training for our existing customers in marketing and customer service and our profit will increase by 10%.

Our Agency in 12 Months: Annual profit of $150,000, ten employees, and 25 clients.

Our Agency in Three Years: Annual profit of $225,000, fifteen employees, and fifty clients.

Action Plan to Achieve Our Goal

Task 1 – Training

Action: Train all employees in the latest marketing and sales trends, client acquisition, and customer service.

Completion Date: August 2022

Person Responsible: Project Manager

Task 2 – Recruitment

Action: Work with the HR manager to hire new employees that fit the skill sets needed to achieve the agency’s goal.

Completion Date: November 2023

Task 3 – Improve Customer Service

Action: Improve relations with clients to convert them into repeat customers by updating the agency’s website, taking note of their birthdays, and sending customized gifts showing the agency’s logo to them.

Completion Date: Ongoing

Person Responsible: IT Manager

Task 4 – Generate More Sales

Action: Organize meetings with clients and in-house staff to develop the best strategies for increasing sales conversions.

Completion Date: January 2024

Person Responsible: Sales Manager

Action: Run marketing campaigns on Google, Facebook, and Instagram to generate more sales for clients.

Completion Date: March 2024

Person Responsible: Marketing Manager

Task 5 – Reduce Friction at Payment Channels

Action: Optimize your payment clients for a seamless payment experience for your clients and increase the number of payment channels

Completion Date: May 2024

Task 6 – Expand Client Base

Action: Participate in relevant regional marketing summits to hunt for high-paying clients.

Completion Date: June 2024

Action: Target weaknesses in competitors’ services and offers and create better deals to attract more clients.

Completion Date: October 2024

Evidence of Success: Annual profit of $225,000 or more. Tracking and Evaluation Process: Assess staff size, client number, and profits.

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Anastasia has been a professional blogger and researcher since 2014. She loves to perform in-depth software reviews to help software buyers make informed decisions when choosing project management software, CRM tools, website builders, and everything around growing a startup business.

Anastasia worked in management consulting and tech startups, so she has lots of experience in helping professionals choosing the right business software.

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What Is an Action Plan? (With Example and Template)

June 8, 2023 - 10 min read

Kelechi Udoagwu

An action plan is a definitive checklist of tasks and resources needed to complete a project or achieve a goal. You can think of it as a visual countdown to the project delivery or a list of tasks needed to achieve desired results.

Now you may be thinking, “What is the purpose of an action plan vs. a to-do list ?” The most significant difference between action plans and to-do lists is that action plans focus on achieving a specific goal. In contrast, to-do lists are ongoing and include tasks for different goals and projects. 

Understanding this distinction, it becomes clear that action plans are powerful tools for goal setting and project execution. They help teams manage resources, adhere to schedules, and track progress toward specific goals and projects.

In this article, we’ll go through the purposes of action plans, the key steps usually included in them, how you can use action plans to help your project management, and step-by-step instructions on how to put one together yourself.

And as a bonus, we’ll also give you information on Wrike’s pre-built action plan template , which can jump-start your action plan process. Here is a preview of what the action plan template looks like:

What is the purpose of an action plan?

Action plans help order project tasks in a sequential and timely manner to achieve a goal. Project managers and individuals can use action plans to achieve their work and personal project goals.

Developing an action plan clarifies goals to be achieved, teams and service providers to involve, tasks, dependencies, milestones, and resources needed to complete the project.

Working with an action plan ensures you complete every task and requirement to meet the expected standards of a project. As you develop an action plan, you identify any critical paths and dependencies. 

Keep in mind that a developed action plan is not set in stone. It should be a dynamic document you can adjust as your environment changes.

Why are action plans important in project management?

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An action plan in project management is a quick and easy way to manage projects. You can quickly map out the resources and requirements you need and sketch a timeline to complete tasks. 

Because of their simplicity and ease of setup, action plans help maintain operational efficiency without taking much time. They declutter managers ’ minds and provide a framework for structuring new projects in a sensible order. Action plans also clarify the objectives of the project and build consensus on how the work should be done.

Action plans prepare you for predictable and preventable challenges and focus your resources to achieve your main goals. Effective action plans maximize personal and team productivity and resource allocation.

Following action plan steps also:

  • Reduces the possibility of forgetting tasks in the project
  • Generates a goal-driven workflow, so you know what to work on throughout the project
  • Provides a way to track progress as you check tasks off the action plan as you complete them

Action plan vs. project plan

Action plans should not be confused with project plans . Both list the tasks, resources, and timelines required to achieve a desired goal, but project plans go deeper, including details such as contingency action steps, risk mitigation strategies, quality assessment criteria, and stakeholder communication schedules. In contrast, action plans simply list the tasks, resources, and timelines needed to achieve a goal. 

Think of it this way: For big, long-term, or complex projects, you create a project plan first. Once your project plan is in place, an action plan helps you detail the steps and flow for allocating resources, sharing and executing tasks, and setting deadlines.

In summary, action plans and project plans differ in the following ways: 

  • Complexity: Action plans are simpler than project plans. They focus solely on the tasks, resources, and timelines required to achieve a goal. Project plans include sections for other measures, standards, and procedures for completing a project. 
  • Duration: Action plans focus on specific, short-term goals. These may be for standalone goals or part of a larger project. Project plans are more encompassing — covering longer-term objectives, which may take months or years to complete. 
  • Flow: Action plans are linear, one task following another until the goal is achieved. Project plans may have multiple phases, e.g., planning, executing, monitoring, controlling, and reviewing, with each stage containing its own distinct tasks and deliverables.

The components of an action plan

Let’s take a look at the essential components of an action plan:

  • Action plan objectives: The action plan objectives serve as the guide for the action plan, defining and communicating what the plan seeks to achieve. 
  • Action plan steps:   Action plan steps form the core of the action plan. They detail crucial targets and milestones that must be completed to reach the goal. These steps divide the goal or project into manageable chunks and provide a framework for identifying tasks (action items), allocating resources, and determining timelines. 
  • Action plan items: Action plan items are the nitty-gritty details of the action plan — the actual tasks to be performed. Each action plan item must be clearly defined, actionable, and understood by the team involved. 
  • Action plan timeline : The action plan timeline maps out the plan schedule from start to finish. It’s crucial for setting expectations, tracking progress and performance, and ensuring the project stays on schedule. 
  • Action plan resources: These are the inputs required to execute the plan, e.g., labor, time, tools, and funds. Identifying action plan resources before delving into execution helps ensure tasks are not delayed or compromised due to resource constraints. 
  • Action plan matrix: The action plan matrix provides a structured layout for planning tasks. It serves as a roadmap and helps to categorize your action steps and tasks based on priority, status, and resource allocation. This alignment helps identify any dependencies or potential bottlenecks.
  • Action plan report: The action plan report provides an overview of the progress made in executing the action plan. It includes details like the tasks completed, time taken, costs incurred, resources used, and any deviations from the plan.
  • Assignments: Each task should be assigned to a person, team, or group. Clear assignment of responsibility is crucial for accountability and the successful execution of any action plan. 

What are the key steps of an action plan?

The main point of an action plan is to ensure you don ’ t overlook critical tasks and milestones of your project. In its simplest form, developing an action plan entails listing tasks you need to complete and prioritizing them. 

As you develop your action plan, you decide which tasks you can delegate, outsource, or delay. The steps below map out how to write a sound action plan to increase your chance of success. 

Step 1: Define your goal 

Get clear on what you want to achieve with your project. Define where you are and where you want to be. If you have alternative methods to achieve your goal, assess your situation and decide the best chances of success depending on your resources. 

Step 2: List tasks

Once you have your goal, list the tasks and activities you must complete to achieve it. Then order them sequentially by adding key dates and deadlines.

business action plan goal

Step 3: Identify critical tasks

Are there any steps that must be completed before others can start? These are critical tasks with dependencies. Prioritize these tasks and set realistic deadlines. If you plan to assign them to team members, be sure to let them know the dependencies and allow them enough time to deliver them. 

business action plan goal

Step 4: Assign tasks

Now the project is broken down, you can start assigning tasks. Will you be handling some yourself in addition to managing the project? Make sure you allocate time and human resources carefully — you may choose to delegate or outsource specific tasks. 

Step 5: Assess and improve

At the end of each project, assess performance and take lessons to improve your action planning and project execution. If you work with a team, collect feedback and improvement suggestions from team members for better future performance. 

business action plan goal

Action plan best practices

Following these best practices will mean you ’ re more likely to succeed: 

  • Involve your team: When working with a team, involve them early in the planning process to get their input and save time. Get team members ’ work schedules before assigning tasks to avoid conflicts. Communicate clearly to enable them to prepare for their responsibilities.
  • Set SMART goals: SMART goals are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and timely. Ensure your action plan starts with a strong foundation by defining clear and SMART goals that add value, either as a personal project or at work. 
  • Make your action plans into templates: To get more benefits from your action plans, make them into templates for similar projects. After assessing your action plans at the end of a completed project, make a copy of the plan and remove all project-specific details, so you ’ re able to use the action plan template in future projects. This reduces rework and saves a lot of time and also mistakes. 

Who needs to write an action plan?

Action plans are not solely used in project management. They are handy for project managers, professional service providers, and individuals, and useful for both personal and business projects. Action plans can also be used alone or with a team.

In teams, the leader develops the action plan with input from team members. Developing an action plan helps individuals, managers, and organizations complete more successful projects. They are great for kick-starting, tracking, and maintaining progress on any project. Remember to check off tasks as they are done, update the plans, and communicate with your team as your project progresses.

Action plan example

Action plans are quick and easy to create. It’s all about putting down what you need to accomplish your goal or project. 

Here’s a simple action plan example for a marketing team working on a new campaign:

Action plan objective: Increase brand awareness and boost product sales by 30% by the end of Q4 2023 through a localized multimedia marketing campaign.

Action plan template

business action plan goal

Wrike’s action plan template simplifies goal and project management with an intuitive interface designed to help teams plan and launch projects with teams of any size. This template’s features enable real-time collaboration, easy task assignments, time tracking, and reporting.

Common issues like a lack of visibility on remote workers’ assignments and confusing project priorities are mitigated with functionalities such as: 

  • Organizing tasks by departments into folders, making the journey from “To Do” to “In Progress” to “Completed” smooth
  • Identifying dependencies and defining the priority of tasks to determine which tasks need to be done first
  • Providing a snapshot of the tasks due now and in the coming weeks, ensuring the project schedule is adhered to
  • Securing sensitive data from unauthorized personnel with permissions levels offering various levels of access and visibility for collaborators and stakeholders

How to create an action plan with Wrike

Using project management tools helps to organize your action plan visually. With software such as Wrike, you can easily input your project resources, requirements, and timelines, and track your progress throughout the project.

As outlined above, the best way to jump-start your action plan is to use our pre-built template. It helps you take control of your task management by providing sample folders to organize tasks, a calendar for project scheduling, and pre-built dashboards for monitoring progress. All you have to do is add your tasks and due dates to get a complete overview of project work.

If you’re ready to develop action plans and track your progress while executing projects better, you need Wrike. We make it easy to plan, execute, and ensure success, even when you’re on the go.

Click here to start your free two-week trial and kick off your action plan today.

Kelechi Udoagwu

Kelechi Udoagwu

Kelechi is a freelance writer and founder of Week of Saturdays, a platform for digital freelancers and remote workers living in Africa.

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How to Write a Killer Sales Pitch (With Examples)

How to Write a Killer Sales Pitch (With Examples)

An effective sales pitch email is a gamechanger for teams wanting to reach the next level. It sounds difficult, but our guide on how to write a sales pitch that wins clients will provide all the tips you need to convert leads.  Keep reading to learn more about why sales pitches are important plus tips for how to write a good sales pitch no matter what you’re selling. After, discover good sales pitch examples you can use to inspire your own.  Why are sales pitches important? If your customer or revenue goals are being fulfilled on autopilot every month then you can probably skip sales pitches. But if you’re like most businesses, you’ll greatly benefit from sales pitches that provide the company-wide benefits of better relationships and completed goals.  Chances are, the people you’re reaching out to have not yet heard about your company — otherwise, they may have already become customers by now. Sales pitches give you the opportunity to introduce your brand and show how you can help the customer with their pain points. They’re also a great way for you and your entire sales team to improve together.  But in order to win more clients, you’ll first need to learn how to write a sales pitch that gets results. Otherwise, you may not see these benefits right away. Even if you already know how to write a sales pitch, the following tips will help you improve your ROI rates.  Tips for writing a good sales pitch The best advice for writing a good sales pitch is to follow the three-step structure we’ve outlined below. Whether you’re leaving a voicemail or meeting in person, the following tips will help you make a strategic and strong first impression.  Tip 1: Grab attention When you first learn how to write a sales pitch, you have to start from the very beginning. Make the opening line of your sales pitch engaging so that the customer doesn’t close your email before they finish reading it. In general, you should always aim at the emotional side of the client’s mind – not the rational one. Here are three ways to grab attention in your sales pitch:  Find a creative phrase to start your proposal. This can be a joke, a piece of news, or an interesting fact. For example, you can start with the sentence, “If it saves you $50,000 per year, wouldn’t you consider spending $1,000 now?” Or show that there’s proof of the value you bring by using quantitative indicators. Engage your prospect with figures and relevant statistics right from the start. Include a relevant fact such as “more than 75% of your potential clients spend at least five hours a day on their smartphones. You can benefit from this — ! let me show you how.” Alternatively, consider personalizing your message so that your prospect knows you’re reaching out to them specifically with a tailored offer. Emphasize that your proposal is unique and available only for certain clients.  Put yourself in the customer’s shoes. What are you more likely to choose: a product available for everyone or something tailored exclusively for you? Feel this difference and create customer-focused messages.  Tip 2: Offer solutions As you continue learning how to write a sales pitch, it’s important to have a clear ‘why’ when starting out. Why are you writing to this person? Why do they need your services or products? Why are your solutions the best?  But before you tell your potential client what you can do to help, you must first acknowledge their real pain points. For example, if you’re a budget-conscious wedding planner, you may open with: “You probably think that to arrange a dream wedding, you’ll need Jeff Bezos’ fortune. We’ll show you the other way to do it.” Next, explain how you can help. That means providing real solutions to customers’ problems. Make it clear that all the client needs to do is purchase your product and put the pain out of their mind.  For example, you could write, ”We specialize in transforming outdated web design into user-friendly interfaces that are a pleasure to work with. Our best solutions are attached.” Then, include an example specifically chosen for this pain point.  Lastly, make the client admire the benefits you provide. Supplement your product with unexpected options or advantages. For example, if your service is catering, emphasize the unique benefits you provide, such as free wait staff or a cake created especially for the client’s event. Your customer will be impressed by the bargain. Tip 3: Clarify next steps If you really want to learn how to write a sales pitch that people actually respond to, you have to practice giving instructions in the form of next steps.  At the end of the email, briefly emphasize the best statements of your proposal. Choose the ones most relevant to the customer’s needs and those that are most persuasive. Then, make a clear and concise offer, so you don’t mislead your customer on what they should do next. Write this in the form of a one to two-sentence call-to-action.  You can also set a time limit. Explain that a decision should be made quickly and within the given time frame. Point out the unique benefit within your proposal that is valid for “only five days.” That stimulates the client to decide faster and to get to the next step in the sales process. For example, you can say “If you decide within 14 days, we promise you the best price with a 15% discount.” Tips for writing an email sales pitch Email, like any form of digital communication, has its own unique set of best practices and uses. As a sales tool, it’s great for either resurfacing old threads or starting fresh with a cold message. It’s so great, in fact, Inc. reported that a recent McKinsey & Co. study found email is 40 times more effective at major social media websites at winning new business. In that same article, Inc. went as far as to dub email as “the best way to reach customers.”  Here are some tips for how to get the most out of this powerful sales pitch channel:  Keep it short and sweet. In our personal experience, a three-sentence email is more likely to be read and responded to than a long-form message.  Link out to key points. If you mention your portfolio, make sure to link out to it. You can also link to screenshots of results you’ve achieved or your personal LinkedIn if you think it will help you make the sale.  Mention your famous clients. Name dropping is a great way to prove your expertise in an email sales pitch. Mention your best clients or, at the very least, the solutions and projects you’ve done for clients like them. Don’t forget about real figures to emphasize the results. Align with marketing. Collaborating with marketing ensures that your message is on brand and relevant for your email list. Your marketing team may even create or provide original content to help strengthen your pitch. Whether it’s a well-designed client testimonial or a pitch video edit, they’re a great resource for making a fantastic and cohesive customer journey from Day 1.  Good sales pitch examples Learning from the best will help you overcome common beginner mistakes and get that much closer to closing. Below are some of our favorite examples of good sales pitches that can teach you how to write a sales pitch that actually works.  Alphalake Ai’s artificial intelligence pitch video There are two things that stand out about this sales pitch. The first is the fact that it uses artificial intelligence to generate a speaking avatar, something that few can say they’ve seen in their inboxes lately. The second is that it’s quite personal. Not only does the avatar look like the sender, but it’s also a great representation of the brand itself since they offer AI products.  Shopify’s whitepaper for client sales pitches In 2019, Shopify created a sales guide for merchants who want to pitch Shopify as their platform of choice. The whitepaper itself doesn’t give a specific pitch email. However, it does outline the following key talking points:  The benefits of using a fully hosted eCommerce solution Shopify’s key solutions for merchants Simple payment plans You can easily use any combination of these points to persuade a new user to join your site. Or have your customers do the selling for you with a guide like Shopify’s.  Lavender’s foolproof LinkedIn message pitch Co-founder Will Allred recently shared this great sales pitch template that leaders at the company have had success with:  “Hey ____, Saw you're growing the sales team by 20% this quarter. Would knowing which reps are at risk of missing email quota (and why) be helpful?” With social media, it’s best to keep your sales pitches even shorter and sweeter than email, just like Allred did here.  Now that you know how to write a sales pitch that works, it’s time to continue breaking down the wall between sales and marketing with Wrike’s project management platform. Start your two-week free trial today and begin organizing lead conversion projects more efficiently and effectively.

What Are Segmentation Bases in Marketing?

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Cycle Time vs. Lead Time: Everything You Should Know

Cycle Time vs. Lead Time: Everything You Should Know

Lead time and cycle time are often confused with one another. Both cycle and lead time are important time metrics in manufacturing, but they’re also important strategic tools for project management. Project managers and team leaders need to fully understand their differences and similarities to harness their power.  In this article, we’ll go over cycle time vs. lead time and what they do. We’ll also share some tips on managing both cycle time and lead time in your project management solution to achieve better results.  An introduction to cycle time vs. lead time In a nutshell, cycle time measures the time it takes for a team to make a product, while lead time measures the time between the customer order and order fulfillment. Lead time is always longer than cycle time because cycle time fits into the timeline of lead time. In Scrum methodologies, cycle times are equivalent to a sprint.  Here, we’ll discuss the differences and similarities between the two metrics. Keep reading to discover the answers to your most common questions about cycle time vs. lead time.  What are the differences between lead time and cycle time? The cycle time is the time it takes for a developer or a team to finish a project. It is typically the time between when the work item is in progress and when it has been completed. The cycle time officially starts when an item is moved to “In Progress” and ends when it is marked “Done” in whatever project management solution you’re using.  For example, when a marketing manager builds a social media campaign for Twitter, the cycle time begins when the team starts preparing the content.  The lead time is the time it takes for a single unit of product to be created and added to the backlog when it is shipped. This is typically the time it takes for one project to be completed and sent to the customer. If you’re using a Kanban board, the lead time will begin once the item is added to the “To Do” list column.  In the marketing example scenario above, the lead time will end once all the content is published on the platform.  By measuring cycle time, you can identify areas of concern that need to be addressed to improve the efficiency of your team. But by measuring lead time, you can determine how many items are flowing into your queue and how long it takes for your team to check them off.  And when it comes to testing the system's efficiency, focus on the lead time, not on the overall development process. In simpler terms, lead time refers to the time that has already passed, while cycle time refers to the time it would take. They are not easily compared side by side for this reason.  What are the similarities between lead time and cycle time? First and foremost, lead time and cycle time both measure the minutes, hours, days, weeks, or months it takes a product to get from a starting point to an ending point. Those points are different for each, but they do represent a quantifiable period of time.  If those measurements are consistent, then teams can achieve business continuity. If they aren’t, they may need to adjust in order to better plan and execute projects.  Because of this, both lead time and cycle time offer insight into the efficiency of teams and their processes. These values examined simultaneously create an accurate picture of how a company uses its time when properly monitored and measured. From there, project managers and team leads can create realistic benchmarks. They can easily make the necessary adjustments, calculate these values again, and weigh the results side by side to see if any progress has been made.  Lead time and cycle time are also values that represent effort versus output. After all, not all effort resolves in progress and not all output leads to outcomes you’re looking for. What does it really take to create this product? And what does it take to create this product once our team makes it? What about our customer orders — do those match up with our fulfillment plans?  All of these questions and more can be answered with the help of these two tools.  What do both lead time and cycle time metrics miss? Lead time and cycle time metrics miss the human element of project management. Although there are ideal turnaround times for a product or service, there may be interferences that you simply can’t account for in a mathematical model. For example, unexpected supply chain hiccups or sudden team shakeups from the Great Resignation may create longer than average cycle or lead times.  Also, they may be great for predicting issues, but they’re not useful for diagnosing them. Only a holistic project management software can give you the full picture of what’s going on. Even if you know you need to make a change, simply relying on lead time and cycle time to determine your course of action may negatively impact other areas of your business if not used wisely.  Cycle time vs. lead time vs. takt time The cycle time, lead time, and takt time are the three key factors that determine the average time it takes to produce a product. To better understand what they are and how they compare, let’s take a look at how to calculate each one:  Cycle time: When the team begins to fill one customer order/ number of units in one customer order Lead time: When the incoming work request is received — the time it takes to deliver the end product Takt time: Total number of work hours available/ total number of products needed to meet total customer demand  As you look at these equations, it’s easy to spot the differences. Cycle time and lead time refer to a singular order, whereas takt time refers to overall customer demand. This means that cycle time and lead time are smaller values within takt time.  Lead time is useful for setting customer expectations of delivery times. The lag time between when the order is placed and the cycle time begins can sometimes take longer than the time it takes to create the product itself. This means that it’s important to incorporate the entire lead time in with delivery estimates. If you only use the cycle time to set expectations, customers may feel disappointed when their product takes longer to get to them than they were originally told.  To summarize:  Cycle time measures the time it takes your team to complete an order. Lead time measures the time it takes between order input and fulfillment. Lead time measures how long it takes to fulfill one order. Takt time measures the total number of hours you have available and how many average orders you can fulfill within that time frame. How to manage time metrics with Wrike Understanding both cycle time and lead time metrics will help you keep track of your team’s progress. It will also provide insight into how to pick up the pace and ensure that your customers are satisfied. There are plenty of tools available to help you determine cycle and lead time, but understanding how they're calculated can be helpful in planning releases. Project management solutions like Wrike add context to your metrics and make it possible to plan, monitor, and measure different strategies to improve them.  One of the biggest obstacles to accurately measuring both cycle time and lead time is updating progress statuses. From order input to order fulfillment, there are quite a few different phases a request can go through. If even one status update is missed, the entire team can lose track of where they are in the fulfillment cycle.  Wrike offers a few different features to help keep track of the statuses of all your projects, orders, and tasks. First, there are detailed task views which allow users to choose from a customizable menu of status updates.  Then, once the task is marked as ready for review or ready for the next phase, Wrike will automatically trigger a notification to the next responsible party, saving time on individual updates and eliminating the opportunity for team members to miss the change on their own.  Wrike also has time tracking, a must-have data feature for measuring cycle time and lead time. Time tracking is automatically recorded and measured so that project leaders can measure progress. This information helps laser focus on which phases or team members are responsible for higher than expected numbers. And with Wrike’s reporting capabilities, it’s easy to turn those insights into actionable adjustments.  Now that you understand the nuances of cycle time vs. lead time, you’re ready to apply what you’ve learned with Wrike. Improve productivity, manage resources more efficiently, and better understand which processes are or not working with Wrike’s two-week free trial. 

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How to Write an Action Plan (Example Included)

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What Is an Action Plan?

In project management, an action plan is a document that lists the action steps needed to achieve project goals and objectives. Therefore, an action plan clarifies what resources you’ll need to reach those goals, makes a timeline for the tasks or action items and determines what team members you’ll need. We’ll define what project goals, project objectives, action items and action steps are later in this guide.

An action plan documents the execution of the project plan; it’s a detailed list of the work that must be done to complete the project goals, including the action steps that are involved in getting from the start of the project to the finish. An action plan is similar to a project implementation plan and it’s very helpful during the project planning and project execution phases.

Not only are you figuring out the action steps and timeline, but you’ll also determine who you’ll assemble for your project team to work on those tasks. This requires robust project management software like ProjectManager . ProjectManager offers multiple action planning tools such as Gantt charts, kanban boards, project calendars and more. Best of all, these project planning views sync with project dashboards, timesheets and workload charts to keep track of progress, project resources and costs.

ProjectManager's Gantt chart showing a construction action plan

Action Plan Components

An action plan answers the who, what and when of what you’re proposing. Those questions are answered by the various components that make up an action plan. The following are the basic building blocks of a successful action plan.

  • Action Plan Steps: The action plan steps are the answer to the question of what. They’re the activities that’ll lead to achieving your goal. Action plan steps detail what will happen, and the more detail, the better.
  • Action Items: The action items are the specific, small tasks that make up the action plan steps. These are the tasks that, when executed, lead to the next action plan step.
  • Action Plan Timeline: An action plan timeline is the whole action plan laid out from start to finish. It shows the full duration of the action plan and every step and task is also plotted on this timeline, including their start and end dates.
  • Action Plan Resources: Resources are anything needed to execute the action plan. That includes labor, materials, equipment, etc. You’ll want to identify the resources you’ll need for the action plan and attach them to the tasks to which they’ll be applied.
  • Action Plan Matrix: A matrix is just a tool to help you determine which tasks you need to complete and in what order. Use our free action plan template to outline the steps, items, timeline and resources you’ll need to get the plan done right.
  • Action Plan Report: Once you start to execute the action plan, you’ll need to ensure your actual progress matches your planned progress. To track progress, you’ll want to use an action plan report, which is a snapshot of your time, costs and more over a specific period.

business action plan goal

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Action Plan Template

Use this free Action Plan Template for Excel to manage your projects better.

Types of Action Plans

There are many different types of action plans that are used on various kinds of strategic initiatives. Each is similar in makeup but differs in their goals. Here are a few of the varieties of action plans.

Business Action Plan

A business action plan is used to set goals and tasks when you want to start a business or grow an existing business. It outlines the vision for the business and the actions you’ll take to achieve that vision.

Project Action Plan

An action plan for a project is really no different from a general action plan. The only difference is that it’s about producing a deliverable at the end of the plan, whether that be a product or service.

Personal Action Plan

Again, a personal action plan differs little from any other action plan except for the goal. For example, a personal action plan might be for an individual to exercise more. Therefore, the goal might be to walk for a half-hour a day, say, during lunchtime.

Action Plan Sample

Take a look at this sample of an action plan. We used our free action plan template for Excel  and filled out some potential marketing tasks, phases and assignees. Download this action plan template for free from our site, and get started on your own plan today.

action plan sample and free action plan template for Excel

How to Write an Action Plan for Project Management in 10 Steps

The benefits of an action plan are simple: you’ve now outlined what action steps and what resources are needed to reach your stated project goals. By having this collected in a single project management document, you can more successfully plan out how to execute your project plan.

People get overwhelmed by project management jargon when having to plan out a project, but the word “action” everyone can understand. The fundamentals to getting an action plan together for any project follow these four project planning basic steps:

1. Define Your Project Goals

There’s a difference between project goals and project objectives. Project goals refer to the high-level goals that the project will achieve. Those generally align with the strategic planning and business objectives of organizations.

2. Define Your Project Objectives

The project objectives are much more specific than the project goals. Project objectives refer to the deliverables and milestones that need to be completed to achieve your project goals.

3. Define Action Steps

The action steps are a group of related tasks or action items that must be executed to produce project deliverables.

4. Identify and Prioritize Action Items

Action items are small, individual tasks that make up the action steps that are outlined in your action plan. First, you need to identify task dependencies among them, and then assign those action items a priority level so that they’re executed sequentially.

5. Define Roles & Responsibilities

Now that you’ve divided the work required to accomplish your action plan, you’ll need to assign action items to your project team members and define their roles and responsibilities.

6. Allocate Resources

As with your project plan, your action plan has resource requirements. Having identified your action steps and action items will help you understand what resources are needed for each task and allocate them accordingly.

7. Set SMART Goals

Your action plan needs to be monitored and controlled to measure its performance. That’s why it’s important that you set SMART goals for your action items, action steps and your project objectives. SMART goals stand for specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and timely.

8. Set a Timeline for Your Action Plan

As a project manager, you’ll need to do your best to estimate how long it’ll take to complete your action items and action steps. Once you do so, you’ll have a timeline. You can use project management techniques like PERT charts or the critical path method to better estimate the duration of your project action plan.

9. Write an Action Plan Template

Create or use a simple action plan template to collect tasks, deadlines and assignments. This is the place where everything task-related goes in your project action plan, so you have a place for all this crucial information.

Writing an action plan template it’s a great idea because you’ll need to use that format throughout the project. That’s why we’ve created a free action plan template that you can download. There are also dozens of other free project management templates for Excel and Word that can help you with every phase of your project.

10. Use a Project Management Tool

Use a project management tool to keep you on task. ProjectManager has project planning features that help you monitor and report on project progress and performance. Get a high-level view of the action plan with our live dashboards. Unlike other tools, we don’t make you set up the dashboard.

Once you’ve mapped out your action plan, you can use project planning tools to zoom into all the details about your action steps and action items. With ProjectManager, you can calculate various metrics, such as project variance, workload and more. They’re displayed in easy-to-read charts and graphs. Share them with stakeholders to give them updates on action steps whenever they want.

ProjectManager's dashboard showing a marketing action plan

Tips to Write an Action Plan

Once you have an action plan, how do you work with it to run a successful project? Here are some tips to help with implementing your action plan:

  • Focus on priorities and what’s due now when identifying action steps and setting your action plan timeline
  • When you complete action steps, mark them off
  • Have your team members work on one project management platform
  • Set up alerts
  • Discuss pending or overdue tasks

Action Plan Example

We’ve been talking a lot about an action plan, but let’s take a look at one in-depth. Below, you’ll see our free action plan template . It’s set up for the development of a website.

It’s broken down into phases, the first being the project planning phase , which includes the action steps, market research and the design of the site. You’ll see that tasks are outlined for each action step, including a description of that task, who’s assigned to execute it, the priority and even the status of its completion.

This is followed by the third action step, which is the launch of the site. This is the execution phase of the action plan, but it follows the same format, such as noting the priority, who’s responsible for the work, what that work is and its status.

action plan steps and action items

There’s also a timeline to define the start dates of each of the tasks in the action steps, including the planned hours. This allows you to determine the length of each task and the duration of the entire action plan, from start to finish.

action plan timeline

Finally, there’s a place to add your resources. They’re broken down into departments, for example, marketing, web development, etc. Then the materials that are required for each task are listed, including their costs. This allows you to estimate the cost of the plan.

action plan resource

How to Make An Action Plan With ProjectManager

Follow along with this action plan example to see how action plans are typically laid out using project planning software .

1. Map Action Plan Steps Using Multiple Project Views

ProjectManager can help you build your action plan and then execute it. Collect all your action steps tasks on our list view, which does more than light-weight to-do list apps because it allows you to then map your action plan with Gantt charts , project calendars and kanban boards. These robust project management tools allow you to prioritize action items, customize tags and show the percentage complete for each task. Our online project management software gives you real-time data to help you create an action plan and stick to it.

ProjectManager's list view

2. Assign Action Items to Your Team Members

Once you’ve mapped out your action plan steps with ProjectManager’s project planning tools , you can assign tasks to your team members and indicate what resources are needed for the completion of each action item. Indicate their roles and responsibilities and set priority levels for each task to ensure the work is carried out properly.

3. Set Action Plan Steps and Deliverables

It’s important to note all the phases of the project timeline to know what action steps and tasks will take place and when. In addition, ProjectManager’s Gantt chart allows you to identify project phases, find the critical path, and set due dates for project milestones and deliverables

4. Track Progress With Real-Time Dashboards

Once you start the project, you’ll need to chart the progress of the work being done. This leads us to the real-time project dashboard , where you’ll check whether your action plan is on schedule and under budget.

Manage Your Project With an Action Plan

Getting a plan together is only the first part of managing a project . Remember, it’s not something to write and put away, but rather it’s a living document that should follow you throughout the project life cycle. Jennifer Bridges, PMP, offers more tips on how to write an action plan in the video below.

Here’s a screenshot for your reference:

project planning fundamentals

ProjectManager’s Action Planning Tools are Ideal for Managing Action Plans

If you’re looking to make an action plan and then take action on it by executing, monitoring and reporting on a project, then you’ll want ProjectManager. Our online project management software lets you make an action plan online with multiple project planning tools such as Gantt charts, task lists, kanban boards and project calendars. Then, you can use timesheets, project dashboards and resource management tools to keep track of progress, time and costs.

Plan & Schedule With Gantt Charts

ProjectManager’s Gantt chart is ideal to map out your action plan on an interactive project timeline that helps you organize your tasks, link dependencies and set milestones. More than that, you can filter for the critical path. When you’re done scheduling your action steps you can set a baseline. This allows you to always see the planned versus actual progress of your action plan to help you stay on track.

ProjectManager's Gantt chart is ideal to map out action plans

Manage Action Items with Kanban Boards, Task Lists and Project Calendars

Once you’ve used the Gantt chart to create a timeline for your action plan, you can zoom into the nitty-gritty details of everyday work with kanban boards , task lists and project calendars. With these tools, you can assign tasks and give teams a collaborative platform to comment and share relevant documents with unlimited file storage and real-time communication features.

ProjectManager's kanban board showing action steps from an action plan

Track Progress, Resources and Costs With Real-Time Action Plan Dashboards

ProjectManager’s real-time action plan dashboards sync with all its project management tools so you can check the status of your action plan at any time. You can check on your team members’ progress to see who’s over or underallocated, check labor costs and track whether your team is on schedule.

dashboard showing project metrics in real-time

ProjectManager gives you all the tools you need to create and implement a successful action plan. Regardless of the type of action plan that you need to create, our award-winning project management software makes it easy to do so. Get started with a free 30-day trial today. 

Click here to browse ProjectManager's free templates

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How to make an action plan to achieve your goals and follow it

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What’s the purpose of an action plan?

It starts with smart goals, what does an action plan look like, sample action plan, push yourself across the finish line.

Here’s a statistic that may surprise you: 92% of people fail to achieve their goals . Despite the popular belief that goals are vital to success, most people rarely make it across the finish line.

There could be many reasons for this. If you regularly set targets but rarely hit them, you may not have leveraged the correct intrinsic or extrinsic motivators . You may also have an underlying fear of failure or success that’s holding you back. 

But most likely, it’s because you don’t create strong action plans.

An action plan is your roadmap to achieving your goal. Without one, you risk succumbing to pressures like procrastination or self-doubt that pull you away from reaching your full potential. 

Here’s a practical example. You may want to train for an upcoming marathon. You start strong, spending every weeknight on the treadmill. But, due to the excitement, you push too hard and feel sore and tired. So you skip one day, then another. Eventually, enough time elapses that it’s too late to restart. You’re behind in your training and decide not to register.

Training for a marathon is difficult, but that’s not why you failed. Had you created clear action steps, you could have performed more consistently without hurting yourself. In this case, you were the obstacle standing between you and your goal. 

If this example resonates with you, don’t beat yourself up. As we said earlier, most people don’t reach the milestones they set for themselves. But if you can learn how to make an action plan to achieve your goals, you can beat the odds. Here’s how.

An action plan is a document that lays out the steps or tasks you must complete to achieve a goal. Like an instruction manual, each item builds on the last, inching you toward a finish line.

In the business world, this is a fundamental strategic planning and project management tool that keeps teams on task. You’d assign a team member to each item and give them a clear due date to ensure everyone is working on a specific task to move the project forward. 

In your personal life, an action plan can help you meet your goals related to your well-being or self-improvement . But instead of having a team to back you up, you're responsible for completing each item on your own. 

(D2C) BetterUp Blog - elevate potential_half size_v1

The nature of your goal is the biggest determinant of whether you will reach it. You have to ensure your targets are SMART, meaning they have each of these qualities:

Specific: What does success look like? Make sure you have a clear vision that’s beyond misinterpretation. Instead of, “I want to improve my sleep hygiene ,” you can try, “I want to sleep for eight hours for 30 nights straight.”

Measurable: What metric will you use to track progress? In the example above, the number of nights slept for eight hours would be a clear and appropriate measurement. Using a sleep tracker could help you track the data. 

Attainable: Can you reach your goal with your current resources? If you have a toddler who regularly cries in the middle of the night, eight hours of sleep may be an unreasonable goal. Aim for something smaller instead, like six hours a night and an afternoon nap.

Relevant: Does your goal fit within your wider life ambitions? Eight hours of sleep is a noble target, but you will likely fail unless you have a clear “why.” A good reason would be “to give me more energy to excel at work and improve my work-life balance.”

Time-bound: What’s your deadline? You may be unable to sleep for 30 nights straight away. A more reasonable target would be to achieve this goal within the next six months. This would give you time to make the necessary lifestyle changes and develop healthy habits , like going to sleep earlier and getting more exercise .

Businessman-sitting-at-workstation-of-startup-office-working-on-project-on-laptop-how-to-make-an-action-plan-to-achieve-goals

It’s normal to have several SMART goals in your life. You might have a long-term professional goal of becoming a manager and a short-term personal goal of learning one song on the guitar. Both are valid, and both benefit from action plans. 

Try listing and saving all your goals in one place to constantly remind you what you’re working toward.

Now that you have your targets, it’s time to take action. Open a document or notebook and prepare to create a step-by-step task list for achieving your goals.

Here’s what to do.

1. Focus on one goal at a time

Taking on too much too fast dooms you to failure. Review your list of goals and choose one to focus on in each area of your life. Try putting your energy into a short-term goal that feels most valuable right now or inch you toward one of your long-term goals. 

For example, in your personal life, you might prioritize finishing a book in your free time rather than learning a new instrument. At work, you could choose to learn a new skill in service of your wider ambition of earning a promotion.

This is more reasonable than trying to learn to code, improve your leadership skills, and take on extra projects to get noticed by upper management all at once.

Portrait-of-female-small-business-owner-in-her-store-how-to-make-an-action-plan-to-achieve-goals

2. Do your research

Study as much as you can about how to achieve your goal. Read blogs, listen to informative podcasts, and talk to people who have done it before. This will help you define the important steps necessary for hitting your targets. If you want to become an entrepreneur, who better to ask than people who have successfully launched their own businesses? 

3. Lay out your steps in a timeline

Armed with the right information, you can start the planning process. The steps of an action plan act as mini goals toward your desired outcome. As SMART goals demand, each item should have the following:

A specific and clear result. If you’re learning a new song, your first step might be to master the chorus. Then you can move on to the next step, which is memorizing the verse and the bridge. Afterward, you can learn how to connect them together. By the end of your task list, you’ll have achieved multiple concrete outcomes that add up to the whole song.

Clear deadlines. Any good to-do list will have time frames for each item. Look at the deadline of your SMART goal and work backward from there. Can you reasonably complete each task item between now and then? If not, you may have to extend your deadline to give yourself some breathing room or divide this goal into several smaller ones.

The success of some items may depend on the completion of earlier ones. It’s important to order your to-do list based on what should be completed first and set your deadlines accordingly. You can’t run before you know how to walk.

4. Track your progress

The best part of having an effective action plan involves witnessing your progress. Once you set goals, brainstorm tasks, and put them in a document, print out your list and put it somewhere visible. As you complete each item, tick them off one by one. This helps you feel accomplished with each step. 

Alternatively, you could download an app that serves the same function. If you digitize your list of tasks, your smartphone can remind you of key deadlines before you reach them — a useful feature to encourage good time management .

5. Reward yourself

After working diligently toward your end goal, remember to treat yourself . Decide on a reward schedule and stick to it. You could eat your favorite snack after a week of running three miles every day or pay for a night out with your employees after collectively meeting your business goals.

6. Don’t give up!

Achieving goals is hard work . Creating an action will help you stay motivated , but that doesn’t mean the path will be easy. Sometimes, you’ll want to stay in bed rather than wake up to write another book chapter. It’s important to rest if you need it, but powering through could give you the second wind you need.

Cheerful-man-celebrating-victory-online-with-laptop-how-to-make-an-action-plan-to-achieve-goals

As you work on your own action items, here’s an action plan example to inspire you. Here, we want to launch a personal website showcasing a creative portfolio . Pay attention to how the smaller tasks align with our big goal and how each deadline builds on the last.

GOAL: It’s currently September. I want to launch my personal creative website by mid-October.

To accomplish this goal, I need to:

Pick a web host and purchase a domain name (due September 5)

Curate the work I want to showcase on my website (due September 8)

Choose a website template that would be suitable for my work (due September 10)

Reach out to previous clients for testimonials about the quality of my work (due September 11)

Follow up with previous clients who haven’t yet sent their testimonials (due September 15)

Create a generic resume to feature on my website highlighting my biggest accomplishments (due September 15)

Draft descriptions for the videos I want to feature on my “Audio/Visual Production” page (due September 18)

Draft descriptions for the photos I want to feature on my “Photography” page (due September 18)

Create separate web pages titled “About Me,” “Resume,” “Photography,” “Writing,” “Audio/Visual Production,” and “Client testimonials” (due September 20)

Write the information for the “About Me” page (due September 23)

Upload my resume to my website’s “Resume” page and format it appropriately (due September 25)

Upload client testimonials to my “Client Testimonials” page (due September 25)

Upload my bio and a headshot to my “About Me” page (due September 25)

Upload and organize my photography to my “Photography” page (due September 25)

Upload and format my writing samples on my “Writing” page (due September 30)

Upload my videos and descriptions to my “Audio/Visual Production” page (due September 30)

Have a friend review my website privately for any typos, broken links, or other glaring errors (due October 10)

Launch website (due October 15)

Chinese-woman-standing-behind-glass-how-to-make-an-action-plan-to-achieve-goals

Whether you’re shooting for a promotion or training for a marathon, learning how to make an action plan to achieve goals can ensure you succeed. A well-developed task list will help keep you motivated and accountable on days when you’d rather stay in bed.

An action plan isn’t a silver bullet. Your success will live or die based on whether you can overcome these obstacles: 

Procrastination

Self-criticism

Lack of confidence

Perfectionism

But if you remember to be kind to yourself, work hard, and set realistic goals , we’re confident you’ll succeed.

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Elizabeth Perry

Content Marketing Manager, ACC

10 tips to set goals and achieve them

Learn how to be your own best ally for reaching your goals, what are financial goals 6 tips on how to stash your cash, examples of behavioral goals: 7 career objectives, how to set short-term professional goals, learn how to improve self-control to achieve your goals, ready to be inspired here are 11 self-motivation examples, the ultimate guide to motivating a team — and why it matters, the 3 year plan: build a roadmap to success, similar articles, all eyes on it: how to make a page-turning portfolio, going somewhere write the 5-year plan you need to achieve it, your 6-step guide on how to make an action plan for management, hit the ground running with this ultimate 30-60-90 day plan, what’s a project scope, and how do you write one, what is an action plan how to become a real-life action hero, feeling distracted here’s how to focus on your goals, stay connected with betterup, get our newsletter, event invites, plus product insights and research..

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A SMARTER business plan of action: the major steps you’re missing

business action plan goal

You’re probably familiar with the S.M.A.R.T. goals framework. It’s all about making sure your goals are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-related (or Time-bound).

And it’s a common framework to use when crafting a new plan of action.

But is it the best way?

The short answer is: no.

It’s not enough to be S.M.A.R.T. anymore.

By adding 2 simple steps to the end of your business plan of action analysis, you can drive stronger results from a happier team.

In this article we’ll walk you through what a plan of action is and how to make one using the SMARTER framework.

It’s time to take your S.M.A.R.T. approach, and make it SMARTER.

Let’s dive in.

What is a plan of action (and why does every business need one)?

Have you ever stood in front of the refrigerator half-asleep in the middle of the night, knowing you’re hungry but not sure what to do about it? That’s your business without a plan of action.

An action plan is a series of steps to get you from where you are to where you want to go. It’s a detailed plan that will help you achieve your goal.

If you’re operating without a defined plan of action for each business goal, you’re fumbling in the dark. If you have a plan of action that’s not clear — well, now it’s like you have a flashlight with almost-dead batteries.

To create a detailed action plan you need the following details:

  • Goal to achieve — what you want to accomplish (I.e., stop being hungry)
  • Related objective — what you’ll do to reach your goal (make and eat a sandwich)
  • List of detailed actions or tasks to complete the objective (get ingredients out of fridge, get knife and plate, etc.)
  • Responsible personnel for each action (who’s going to get the ingredients, who will assemble the sandwich)
  • Status of each step (how far into making this sandwich are we?)
  • Timeline for each action and the overall plan (when you’re going to eat)
  • Constraints — anything stopping you from meeting your goal (you’re almost out of mayo)

Not quite sure what the difference is between a goal and objective? Check out this post which breaks it down.

The biggest challenge when crafting a plan of action is making sure it’s actually, you know, actionable.

If you’re too high-level, vague, or generic, the plan falls apart.

How do you prevent that?

Make sure your plan is S.M.A.R.T. Then make it SMARTER.

Get started with monday.com

How to determine if your action plan is S.M.A.R.T.

Specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time-related. Those are the 5 measurable components of S.M.A.R.T. business plans of action.

Here are the simple questions to ask yourself (and your team) when evaluating your action plan to make sure it hits all these key points:

  • Specific: can you define every step of your goal process (and the goal itself) in clear detail or is it open to interpretation?
  • Measurable:  is the success of each task in your action plan measurable? What data must you consider?
  • Attainable: on a broad scale, is your goal attainable? On a smaller scale, is each step of your plan of action achievable?
  • Relevant: is every step of your plan truly relevant to achieving your goal? Why is the goal important to you?
  • Time-Related:  have you attached a concrete time frame to your plan? Will the steps take a reasonable amount of time to complete?

The S.M.A.R.T. method of analyzing your business action plan.

The S.M.A.R.T. framework for evaluating your action plan is crucial to providing structure  and tracking outcomes for you and your team.

Leslie Riopel, MSc.(Northwood University) states to Positive Psychology  that setting a specific and timely goal “motivates us into action and holds us accountable”.

Riopel goes on to say that setting group goals “helps create a sense of community, as well as a deeper sense of meaning, and a greater feeling of belonging and satisfaction”.

If S.M.A.R.T. is the benchmark for evaluating a plan of action, why mess with a good thing? The answer is simple.

Why is the S.M.A.R.T. approach not enough?

Make no mistake: S.M.A.R.T. is a great start for action plan cultivation, but it’s time to add a forecast of results into the equation to drive performance.

Giving your team an Endgame  — where you’re headed — to look towards , and providing Rewards — why they should care — for getting there are 2 simple, actionable steps to make your S.M.A.R.T. approach even SMARTER.

SMARTER business plans of action also analyze endgame and rewards

It’s time to add results-based focus into the S.M.A.R.T. goals framework for your business plan of action.

We know that teams will deliver higher-quality output and feel more positive about the journey if the endgame and rewards are outlined.

The objective is to make your organization’s main goal feel like a personal goal to each team member. Implementation of endgame and rewards to your action planning achieves that.

SMARTER analysis chart for business plan of action

Why does your plan of action’s endgame matter?

A fully realized business plan of action needs to keep an eye on results, not just the process.

At monday.com, we realize that accomplishing planning activities starts by working backwards from the final goal.

Keeping the endgame for success in the front of your team’s minds is so valuable in keeping productivity up and morale high.

There’s empirical data  that employees with high self-efficacy commit to bigger goals.

In other words, if your team knows it is heading in a confident direction, it’ll naturally commit to greater production and bigger goals.

The more specific a goal is, the more likely a person is to try to achieve it. It’s crucial that your goal — and the plan of action attached to it — is fully laid out for your team in advance.

Give your team a concrete endgame — not just where you’re going, but why, with forward-looking checkpoints along the way.

Once you do that, step forward to the last piece of your SMARTER action plan analysis. Give your team a tantalizing treat for their performance.

Tying rewards into goal-setting drives stronger results.

Focusing on rewards-based analysis of your plan of action directly leads to enhanced performance and stronger results.

If your team knows how a plan of action will benefit everyone, they are more likely to deliver higher effort and stronger results.

82%  of workers consider recognition a key component of their workplace happiness, and 68% of workers believe recognition directly impacts their ability to advance and earn promotions.

82% of workers directly tie recognition to happiness at work.

In short — setting up rewards  will motivate employees to commit to your action plan.

If you think including rewards in your SMARTER business plan of action is going to cost you money, you’re wrong. Rewards create higher employee retention. Employee retention saves you money.

58%  of employees stay at their jobs because they work for a “great boss”. More workers leave jobs because of poor workplace culture than because of poor pay.

The average cost  to replace an employee is 6 to 9 months of her/his salary. The average American salary  in business operations was $78,130 in 2019.

It costs a lot less to retain team members with strong rewards than it does to spend $39,000 or more on a new employee.

Your rewards are set up, your team is happy and engaged — now it’s time to create your plan of action.

Make your plans smarter with monday.com’s work plan template

So now that you’re all in, it’s time to create your plan of action, analyze it with S.M.A.R.T. measurable tools, and then boost it to a SMARTER action plan.

And we’re here to help you do just that. Welcome to the monday.com work plan template .

The monday.com Work Plan Template drives a SMARTER business plan of action.

It’s a fully itemized breakdown of every step in your action plan. You can easily populate everything in the work plan template, and customize it to fit your business needs.

It’s the perfect way to guarantee you’re working with a SMARTER business action plan template.

  • Create specific  tactics with itemized task lists.
  • Add measurable  related goals.
  • Set attainable  targets for assigned personnel and teams.
  • Show relevancy  by highlighting objectives within your board.
  • And make it all time-related  with the use of statuses and deadline trackers.

But what about the endgame  and rewards  we added to your SMARTER action plan?

The work plan template highlights the overall endgame and engages your team with big-picture focus. Updating individual tasks on one board allows you and your team to track where those tasks are leading and how they fit into the overall plan.

Rewards are easy to assign with the work plan template  as well. Color-coded objectives and status updates allow you to identify your most productive, action-oriented team members, so you can reward them accordingly. You can also easily tie team-based rewards to hitting milestones or progress goals. .

If it feels like we created this template with your business in mind, that’s because we did. We’re here to make sure your action items drive you to one end goal that rewards team success.

Work SMARTER, reach your goals and celebrate

monday.com cares about how your business creates its goals, but also where those goals are going.

It’s important to foster an environment where all the members of your team not only know where they’re going, but why.

What’s at the end of the rainbow, and does it benefit everyone involved? The monday.com work plan template  nurtures your plan of action from start to finish, truly making your S.M.A.R.T. plan even SMARTER.

Got the Work Plan Template already? Great! Now, let’s take control of your goals.

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10 Free Action Plan Templates in Word, Excel, & ClickUp

Content Partnership Specialist

February 15, 2024

Blueprint, action plan, roadmap— tomato, to-mah-to! 🍅

Whether you’re pursuing a professional goal , developing a product, or building a house, you always start with a detailed plan to guide your next steps.

But it’s a little easier said than done. 👀

Powerful project management software is the key to creating and overseeing comprehensive action plans. And choosing the right action plan template for your software is the key to saving time on this step-by-step process while making sure you cover all the bases! 🔑

Even simple projects and goals require organized action plans, and action plan templates provide the perfect framework to help you turn these plans into a reality! While there are tons of templates at your disposal, they each carry a unique set of features and value depending on the size of your team, project, or goal.

Instead of combing through pages and pages of search results, start here, with 10 of the best action plan templates for ClickUp , Excel, and Word. You can access each template directly from this blog, and did mention they’re all completely free? 💸

What is an Action Plan Template?

What features make for a good action plan template, 1. clickup action plan template, 2. clickup corrective action plan template, 3. clickup employee engagement action plan template, 4. clickup cybersecurity action plan template, 5. clickup smart action plan template, 6. clickup daily action plan template, 7. clickup action priority matrix whiteboard template, 8. clickup management action plan template, 9. microsoft word action plan template, 10. excel business action plan template, step 1: define your end goal, step 2: break down the goal into manageable tasks, step 3: organize tasks into a timeline, step 4: assign responsibilities, step 5: define success metrics, step 6: review and adapt the plan, step 7: communicate and implement the plan, step 8: monitor progress and update as necessary, step 9: complete and review.

Your action plan is a detailed checklist of items that must happen in order to complete a project or reach a goal. You can make an action plan for virtually anything —and you probably already have!

Think of your action plan as a thorough list of every task included in a workflow or steps in a process. But what makes your action plan different than a simple to-do list is the amount of organization, information, and detail involved.

Your plan justifies the who, what, where, and when of your project and shows how each related task ties back to those ideas. This helps project managers streamline workflows and ensures that every action item is absolutely necessary.

Action plan templates take the “set up” out of setting up your roadmap. Your template may come in the form of a pre-built flowchart, list, document, or table where you can essentially plug and play your project’s information in the proper areas to guide your next steps in the process.

They’re excellent resources to have on hand for fleshing-out fresh ideas, during employee performance reviews when you’re planning professional growth, and so much more. Plus, action plan templates can be customized to more specific use cases and are designed to help you think more proactively and strategically about building processes .

What are the best features to look for in your next action plan template? In a nutshell, there’s a lot to keep in mind.

An action plan template helps you stay on top of your workflows and be more strategic about how you approach them. And since projects vary in complexity, industry, scope, and timelines, no two action plan templates will look or function the same. That’s why it’s so important to make sure you’re looking for the template that best suits your needs, rather than the one that’s just doing the most.

A good rule of thumb is to stick to these five qualities:

  • Multiple views : The ability to choose the way you visualize and complete tasks will put the power back in your hands when it comes to structuring and executing your projects. Every team member works differently, and whether you’re a visual learner or prefer working from a list, multiple views make every person’s preference possible.
  • Highly visual : Especially during brainstorming sessions and R&D, having the option to map out steps in a process is a major asset. Whether your team is using a digital whiteboard or mind map software , highly visual flowcharts and diagrams turn action planning into a more collaborative experience.
  • Intuitive UI : Your template might have all the right features, but if the team can’t figure out how to use them, the value is gone! Make sure your action plan template is easy to navigate, customize, and edit.
  • Collaborative and sharable : An action plan template can be for the entire team, not just the project manager. Everyone involved (including stakeholders) should have easy access to your template and the ability to add updates as needed.
  • Tons of integrations : Integrations extend the functionality of your project management software and fill any feature gaps your template might have.

And that’s just to name a few! Your team or project might require a few other more specific features, but starting with these five will guarantee a powerful and useful business action plan template .

10 Free Action Plan Templates

Now that you’ve got the essentials down, it’s time to set your search in motion! Luckily, project management is kind of our thing. 🤓

We’ve done our homework to bring you 10 of the best project action plan templates for ClickUp, Excel, Word, and more. And the best part? You can download them directly from this blog without even spending a dime. 💰

ClickUp Action Plan Template

Taking the time to create a plan with actionable steps can provide invaluable structure for simple to complex projects!

The ClickUp Action Plan Template sets the stage to review action plans daily, weekly, monthly, and quarterly on a Whiteboard. This process will help make goal-setting easier by providing a simple way to structure the action items, determine deadlines and resources, and track progress toward your objectives. 

If this is your first time using a digital whiteboard , no worries! The Getting Started guide inside this template will walk you through how to set up your canvas. 🎨

ClickUp Corrective Action Plan Template

A Corrective Action Plan (CAP) is a structured action plan outlining the steps needed to address problems and improve the performance of a role, process, or system.

With the ClickUp Corrective Action Plan Template , it’s easy to consolidate data and ideas so everything is in one place. The main elements of a CAP in this Whiteboard project action plan template are organized to shorten the time it takes from identifying a mistake to implementing a solution:

  • Areas for Improvement : Identify the fields around your business operations or team performance that needs changes and attention
  • Problems and Root Causes : Define the challenges, roadblocks, and supporting information of each to analyze and develop a solution
  • Possible Solutions : Consider every factor involved in your corrective plan, and list down all the possible solutions to make a change for improvement
  • Measure of Success : Define your success that’s measurable through key performance indicators or metrics that are applicable and beneficial to your team and overall operations
  • Task Owners : Assign specific team members to every task 
  • Timeline: Allocate enough time to prepare for transitions and improvement as you go through this template

ClickUp Employee Engagement Action Plan Template

The ClickUp Employee Engagement Action Plan Template is a Doc packed with examples to increase employee satisfaction and engagement. It offers step-by-step instructions to get the most out of your template to measure progress on common HR goals :

  • Business strategy
  • People strategy
  • Strategic priorities
  • Communication plans

And that’s just the beginning! You can assign tasks directly in the Doc or connect your employee action plan template to tasks and share it with stakeholders. This reduces the number of feedback channels and shortens the time it takes to approve a plan or assign tasks to team members. 

Pro tip : Use subpages to add training programs, reward systems, and other related activities to keep all your work in one place!

ClickUp Cybersecurity Action Plan Template

A Cybersecurity Action Plan is a written framework outlining the steps and resources required to improve security posture. TechTarget defines security posture as “an organization’s overall cybersecurity strength and how well it can predict, prevent and respond to ever-changing cyber threats.” 

A comprehensive cybersecurity action plan starts with an assessment of an organization’s current security posture —analyzing existing policies, procedures, systems, and infrastructure in order to identify any gaps or areas of vulnerability.

Based on this assessment, actionable steps can be taken to improve technical and non-technical aspects of security like implementing new technologies, processes, and practices. ⚙️

The ClickUp Cybersecurity Action Plan Template is a beautifully-designed Doc for any Security team to quickly customize for audience impact and understanding. As you go through the action plan process, you can collaborate with your team in real-time or async! 

Use this free template to easily protect your ClickUp Docs with the Privacy and Edit controls to prevent unwanted changes to the content of your Pages.

ClickUp SMART Action Plan Template

The ClickUp SMART Action Plan Template helps project managers break down complex tasks into more manageable steps while considering the barriers of time, resources, and expertise. 

The acronym SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Timely. This template organizes each SMART goal category while providing helpful prompts for success! After you’ve filled out each category, highlight your text to create actionable tasks and assign a completion date.

From there, you can navigate between your Doc and tasks easily without opening more browser tabs. 

Need to tweak or make mental notes on your action plan? There’s a section in this template just for that—the Follow Through section. Jot down the review date, key accomplishments, improvement areas, and support needed to keep track of all your work! 

ClickUp Daily Action Plan Template

The ClickUp Daily Action Plan Template is a worthy rival to your coveted to-do list on your company-branded notepad. 

A daily action plan is a blueprint template for organizing and prioritizing tasks throughout the day. It helps us to stay focused and productive, while also helping us to better manage our time. The process involves creating a list of tasks that need to be accomplished each day, assigning a time frame for each task, and most importantly, committing to completing them within that time frame. ⏳

Individuals or teams will benefit from its organized layout and connected view of organizational goals. To begin, open the Getting Started guide within the project action plan template to make it your own so you can use it every day! 

Discover more to-do list templates !

ClickUp Action Priority Matrix Whiteboard Template

An Action Priority Matrix is a visualization tool to help anyone assess and rank tasks based on how much effort is required and how important completing the task is for achieving the overall goal. 

The action priority matrix typically includes four sections: action item/task, importance level, timeline, and completion status. This allows teams to easily rank action items by importance so they can make sure important tasks are completed first and within the allotted time frame. 

Tasks with the potential to improve performance or mitigate risks should be given higher priority than those with no direct impact. Similarly, tasks with short-term deadlines should be treated as a higher priority than long-term goals in an action plan’s timeline.

The ClickUp Action Priority Matrix Whiteboard Template is perfect for project managers looking to optimize their action plans in order to improve performance over time. Teams can more easily identify which tasks need attention first while tracking progress along the way. The Getting Started guide in this template includes formatting tips and examples to get your Whiteboard action plan ready!

Check out more matrix templates and matrix structure examples .

 ClickUp Management Action Plan Template

This ClickUp Management Action Plan Template is built to handle any project, but it’s especially helpful for larger or more complex situations. It provides a structured framework to explain your approaches while tracking progress!

The Doc comes with helpful tips and is organized by the following sections:

  • Introduction to provide context on the problem
  • Goals to list the plan’s success criteria and desired results
  • Action Plan to detail specific tasks, projects, and team members
  • Review and Approval to assign the responsible party

Microsoft Word Business Action Plan Template

This detailed work plan template in Microsoft Word gives you an organized space to document a clear planning process. To track progress on your detailed work plan template, consider using a project management platform (like ClickUp) so you can bridge the necessary resources!

Excel Team Action Plan Template

If you’re looking for a free sales action plan template in Microsoft Excel , we recommend this one! It comes with all the essential categories ( Action Item, Rank, Priority, Owner, Assigned, Due, Done, Status , and Notes ) to develop an effective action plan. 

Listing sales team members might become an administrative burden as roles change or new hires come on board. (Try the No. 6 ClickUp Daily Action Plan Template to avoid this issue!) 

You can also use this as a sales action plan template to keep track of budgets, progression, and sales employees. Using this as a sales action plan template could be a faster way to track your team’s work.

Explore other ClickUp action plan templates:

  • Community Engagement Action Plan Template
  • Real Estate Action Plan Template
  • Fundraising Action Plan Template
  • Construction Action Plan Template
  • Outreach Action Plan Template
  • Contingency Plan Templates

How to Create an Action Plan to Complete Tasks?

Creating an effective action plan is a critical step for businesses seeking to achieve strategic goals and operational improvements. This is where a comprehensive business action plan template becomes invaluable. Use the steps below along with one (or more!) of the ClickUp action plan templates above to get started!

Before diving into the planning process, it’s vital to have a clear understanding of what you aim to achieve with the project. This overarching objective will guide all subsequent actions and decisions, ensuring that every task contributes effectively to the end goal.

Once your goal is defined , list down all the tasks that need to be completed to achieve the goal. Breaking down the goal into smaller, more manageable tasks will make the action plan more approachable and easier to manage.

After task identification, organize them into a logical sequence with a start and end date. Consider dependencies between tasks and ensure there is a realistic timeline that accommodates potential delays or challenges.

Determine who in your team is best equipped to take on each task. Assigning tasks to individuals or teams based on their skills , expertise, and workload to ensure a balanced distribution of responsibilities.

It’s crucial to establish clear metrics for success to evaluate the progress and completion of tasks. This will help keep the project on track and ensure that the outcomes meet the expected standards.

An action plan should be a living document. Periodically review the plan to assess progress and make adjustments as needed. This allows you to address any issues promptly and adapt to changing circumstances.

Ensure that all team members understand the action plan and their roles within it. Clear communication is key to effective implementation. Once everyone is on board, put the plan into action.

As tasks are executed, continuously monitor progress against the plan’s timeline and success metrics. Update the plan as necessary to reflect any changes or shifts in strategy.

Upon completion of all tasks, conduct a final review of the project against your initial goals. This is a time to evaluate the effectiveness of the action plan and gather insights for future projects.

Create a Project Action Plan Template by ClickUp

Any of these 10 templates will start your project planning off on the right foot. But while they all share similarities, a select few stand out for their ease of use, customization abilities, power, and functionality…

Templates by ClickUp. 🙌🏼

ClickUp is more than your average project management tool—it’s the ultimate productivity platform and the only software powerful enough to centralize your work across apps into one collaborative hub.

In fact, ClickUp Whiteboards , Docs, and its 15+ unique project views are just a few of the reasons why teams across industries rely on ClickUp, and how it makes your action plans more valuable from start to finish.

Access the templates linked above and hundreds more from ClickUp’s Template Library , and tons of rich project management features across every pricing plan . Plus, ClickUp integrates with more than 1,000 other work tools to streamline business processes even further.

Sign up for ClickUp today and watch your action plans come to life. 🏆

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Small Business Trends

What is an action plan and how to create one + an example.

An action plan is an organized list of steps that you can take to reach a desired goal. Creating an action plan requires carefully considering resources, goals, and available time. With a well-structured action plan, you can reach your goals in the most efficient way possible. Here’s how to create an action plan – plus some helpful examples and time-saving tips to guide you during your strategic planning process.

Table of Contents

What is an Action Plan?

At one point or another, you may have a task that seems larger than life. But an action plan helps.

In essence, an action plan is a systematic, detailed blueprint, or a comprehensive document, that lays out the strategy to achieve a certain goal or set of goals. It’s similar to a roadmap, providing clear directions on how you can move from your current status to your desired state.

The concept of an action plan is not limited to any specific domain, making it a versatile tool. It can be applied in various fields such as business, education, project management, personal growth, healthcare, and so forth.

A well-crafted action plan typically encompasses several elements:

  • Objective: The objective is the ultimate goal that you aim to achieve. It needs to be clear and precise. This is the “destination” you’re striving to reach, so it’s vital to define it in a way that leaves no room for ambiguity. Often, the SMART framework (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound) is used to frame these objectives.

Action plan - objectives

  • Steps or Tasks: Once the goal is set, the next stage is to break it down into smaller, manageable steps or tasks. Each task should be straightforward, feasible, and should contribute directly to the attainment of the ultimate goal. For example, when you break down a large project into smaller, manageable tasks, it keeps you on track to success, and makes staying motivated in business easier during tough projects.

Action plan - tasks

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  • Resources: For each task, you should also identify the necessary resources. These can be physical resources, such as equipment or materials, or human resources, like specific skills or personnel. By identifying these upfront, you can better plan and mitigate potential bottlenecks.

Action plan - resources

  • Timeline: It’s also crucial to set a timeline for each task, which includes a start and an end date. This not only instills a sense of urgency but also helps to track progress over time. A well-planned schedule can also prevent tasks from overlapping or clashing.

action plan - timeline

  • Responsibility Assignment: Each task needs a responsible person or team who will see it through to completion. Defining this ensures accountability and prevents tasks from being overlooked.

Action plan - responsibility assignment

  • Contingency Plan: Despite the best of planning, unforeseen circumstances may arise. Having a contingency plan prepares you for such scenarios, ensuring that your plan remains robust and flexible.

action plan -contingency plan

  • Tracking and Evaluation: An important aspect of an action plan is tracking progress and evaluating outcomes. This step is essential as it allows you to adjust your plan as needed, based on the performance of each task or changing circumstances.

Action plan Tracking and Evaluation

Creating an Effective Action Plan

Creating an effective action plan is an integral part of achieving any goal. In the following video, Brian Tracy, a well-known speaker and author in the field of self-development, outlines his method for formulating such a plan. Tracy’s process, built from years of experience, provides clear and practical steps that can be applied to any project or objective.

How to Write an Action Plan

An effective action plan operates as a guiding light, leading the way towards achieving specific objectives, milestones, and goals. For any project or substantial task, it can be the pivotal element that swings the balance between success and failure.

To make the process of creating an action plan easier, we’ve provided a summary table below. This table functions like a checklist, outlining clear steps and eliminating any confusion about what needs to be done next.

Having this overview can be a great starting point, but a deeper understanding of each step will further assist you in crafting a robust action plan. So let’s get started and explore each of these steps in more detail.

Step 1: Define the goal

business action plan goal

Defining project goals is a critical first step in the action-planning process. It involves establishing a clear and concise objective that guides the rest of the plan. A well-defined goal serves as a roadmap for the team, providing direction and focus for their efforts. It also helps to keep everyone aligned and on track, ensuring that the plan is executed effectively.

To define a goal effectively, it is important to consider several key factors. First, the goal should be specific, meaning that it should clearly state what is to be achieved. Second, it should be measurable, allowing for progress to be tracked and evaluated.

Third, it should be attainable, meaning that it should be realistic and achievable given the available resources and constraints. Fourth, the goal should be relevant and aligned with the organization’s overall strategy and goals. Finally, it should have a specific timeline, with deadlines established to ensure that the goal is achieved within a reasonable period of time.

Step 2: Project management – Identify the necessary actions

business action plan goal

This step outlines the specific tasks and activities that need to be performed in order to achieve the defined goal. It involves breaking down the goal into smaller, manageable steps and determining what needs to be done to accomplish each step. The actions should be specific, measurable, and have clear deliverables.

Project management plays a vital role in this step, as it helps to ensure that the necessary actions are planned and executed effectively. Project managers use a variety of tools and techniques to identify the necessary actions, such as creating a work breakdown structure, creating a project schedule, and identifying project dependencies.

They also work closely with the team to ensure that the necessary resources are available, that risks are identified and managed, and that progress is tracked and reported. Using project management best practices, the team can ensure that the necessary actions are performed efficiently and effectively and that the project remains on track and on schedule.

Step 3: Assign tasks and responsibilities to project managers and any person responsible

Assign tasks and responsibilities to project managers and any person responsible

Assigning tasks and responsibilities is a key step in the action planning process, as it ensures that all the tasks have a designated person responsible for their completion. This step involves identifying who will be responsible for each of the necessary actions identified in the previous step and assigning ownership for the delivery of each task. It is important to ensure that responsibilities are clearly defined and that each person understands their role and what is expected of them.

Project managers play a central role in assigning responsibilities, as they are responsible for ensuring that the right person is assigned to each task. They work closely with team members to understand their strengths, skills, and availability, and make assignments based on this information.

They may also assign backup resources to ensure the team can complete tasks even if the primary person responsible is unavailable. It is important to remember that assigning responsibilities is a collaborative process, and that team members should have the opportunity to provide input and feedback. Employ team building exercises to promote teamwork, and provide streamlined methods for employees to communicate with managers and decision makers.

Step 4: Determine the timeline and deadlines

business action plan goal

This step involves creating a timeline that outlines when each task should start and finish, and when milestones should be reached. The timeline should be based on the scope of the project, the availability of resources, and any other constraints. Use a calendar or gannt chart to outline the exact schedule for each step.

Having a clear timeline and deadlines helps to keep the project on track and ensures that tasks are completed in a timely manner. It also provides a clear visual representation of the project’s progress and helps to identify any potential issues or delays.

Deadlines also help to keep team members accountable and focused, as they know when they need to have their tasks completed. Deadlines also help to prioritize tasks and ensure that the most important work is completed first.

Step 5: Establish a system for monitoring progress

business action plan goal

Establishing a system for monitoring progress provides a way to track the project’s progress and identify any issues or challenges that may arise. This step involves implementing tools, processes, and metrics that can be used to measure the project’s progress against the timeline and goals. The system for monitoring progress should be simple, efficient, and easy to use.

Having a system for monitoring progress is important for several reasons. First, it provides real-time visibility into the project’s progress, allowing the project manager and team to quickly identify any issues or challenges that may arise.

Second, it helps to keep everyone accountable and focused, as team members know that their work will be monitored and evaluated. Third, it allows for continuous improvement, as the project manager can use the data and metrics collected to identify areas for improvement and make adjustments as needed.

Step 6: Track progress, evaluate, and adjust as necessary

business action plan goal

Evaluating and adjusting as necessary is a critical step in the action planning process, as it provides a way to ensure that the project remains on track and is executed effectively.

This step involves regularly reviewing the actual progress of the project and making any necessary adjustments to the plan, timeline, and actions. The evaluation should be based on the system for monitoring progress that was established in a previous step.

Tracking progress is an important part of this step, as it provides the data and metrics needed to evaluate the project’s progress and identify any areas for improvement. The project manager should use the system for monitoring progress to track key metrics, such as task completion rates, timeline progress, and resource utilization. This information can then be used to assess the project’s progress against the goals and timeline and to identify any areas for improvement.

By evaluating and adjusting as necessary, the project manager can ensure that the project remains on track and is executed effectively. This helps to minimize disruptions and delays and ensures that the project stays aligned with the goals and objectives.

The process of evaluating and adjusting should be continuous, with regular evaluations and progress reviews. This allows the project manager to respond quickly to any changes or challenges that may arise, and to make any necessary adjustments to keep the project moving forward. For example, you may need to employ some time saving tips or delegate to get back on schedule. Alternatively, you may need to try some new call to action examples to more effectively impact customer behavior to meet your goals.

Do I Need an Action Plan?

Everyone who has set business goals should strive for effective business planning . Without an action plan, it’s very easy to become overwhelmed by significant goals or lose sight of what perspectives should guide the decision-making process. Having an organized, realistic plan is how to stay motivated and stay focused on reaching success.

This is especially true for larger companies that are trying to navigate complex projects or launch multiple initiatives at the same time. An action plan can help them stay organized, track project progress, anticipate potential challenges, and simplify hiring .

Smaller businesses can also benefit from having an action plan, as it will provide a road map for scaling up operations in the future. An effective action plan should include strategies, resources, timelines, revenue targets , and measures of success. The business budget and cash flow should always be taken into account when creating an action plan.

action plan

Why Your Business Should Have an Action Plan

Every business should have an action plan as it’s essential to success and keeping your company on track. Here are five reasons your business needs one:

  • Clarity of Purpose: An action plan lets everyone in your company know exactly what they need to accomplish, so they can stay focused and productive. Set call-to-action examples and performance expectations so everyone knows what to strive for.
  • Measurable Results: Having specific goals and a timeline helps you keep track of your progress, see what’s working, and adjust plans when needed.
  • Achievable Goals: Action plans make sure that you don’t set yourself up for failure by setting unrealistic objectives. Outline steps for success in manageable pieces.
  • Effective Use of Resources : An action plan helps you prioritize tasks and resources, so you can get the best return on investment (ROI). Public relations strategies and campaigns are two common examples.
  • Increased Accountability: By clearly defining roles, responsibilities, deadlines, and expectations, everyone involved is more accountable for their tasks and the success of the project overall.

Plan of Action Example (Template)

business action plan goal

A well-structured action plan helps to keep the project on track and on schedule providing a clear path to success. Here’s an action plan template example you can use to inspire you for your own projects:

I. Define the goal:

A. Objective: Launch a new product line

B. SMART Goal: To launch a new product line in 6 months, generating $500,000 in revenue within the first year.

II. Identify necessary actions:

A. Conduct market research to determine the target audience and demand

B. Develop product prototypes and conduct testing

C. Create marketing materials and promotional campaigns

D. Set up the supply chain and logistics

E. Launch product through digital and physical channels

III. Assign responsibilities:

A. Market research: Marketing team

B. Product development: R&D team

C. Marketing plan , materials, and campaigns: Marketing team

D. Supply chain and logistics: Operations team

E. Product launch: Marketing and Operations teams

IV. Determine timeline and deadlines:

A. Market research: Month 1-2

B. Product development: Month 2-4

C. Marketing materials and campaigns: Month 4-5

D. Supply chain and logistics: Month 5-6

E. Product launch: Month 6

V. Establish a system for monitoring progress:

A. Key metrics: Revenue, market share, customer satisfaction

B. Tools: Project management software, weekly progress meetings

C. Progress review meetings: Every 2 weeks

VI. Evaluate and adjust as necessary:

A. Regularly review revenue and customer satisfaction data

B. Adjust marketing strategy and promotions as necessary

C. Monitor supply chain and logistics, and make adjustments as needed

D. Evaluate timeline and deadlines, and adjust as necessary to ensure a timely product launch.

Tips for Building a Fantastic Action Plan

Building an action plan is the first step to reaching your business goals. Here are five tips for creating a fantastic action plan:

  • Be Clear & Specific: Make sure that everyone involved in the project understands what needs to be done and when it needs to be completed. Set measurable and achievable targets, with specific timelines and deadlines.
  • Prioritize Tasks: Identify which tasks should take priority so you can focus on what’s important right now, while still having a plan for the future.
  • Start Small: Break large projects down into smaller components that you can do in stages, rather than trying to accomplish everything at once. Team-building exercises are a great way to keep energy and motivation high.
  • Outline Resources Needed: Research ahead of time what resources will be needed for each task and make sure you have everything in place beforehand.
  • Include Room for Change: The reality is that things don’t always go as planned so be prepared to adjust timelines or objectives as needed along the way.

Action Plan Vs To-Do List

Action plans and to-do lists may seem similar at first glance, but they are two different tools that serve specific purposes. An action plan is an organized approach to achieving a goal. It helps you break down larger tasks into smaller, manageable pieces and outlines the steps you need to take in order to reach your objectives.

A to-do list is a tool used to keep track of day-to-day tasks or items that need attention. It’s typically used as a checklist for getting things done in a certain timeframe. While both can be helpful when it comes to staying organized and productive, action plans offer a more comprehensive approach to reaching longer-term goals.

Action Plan Vs Strategic Plan

An action plan and a strategic plan are two distinct frameworks used in planning and executing goals, each serving its unique function. An action plan is a detailed outline of the specific, immediate steps required to achieve a short-term objective. It focuses on the ‘how’ aspect, breaking down larger tasks into smaller, actionable items, typically with a shorter time horizon.

On the other hand, a strategic plan is a comprehensive roadmap designed for long-term goals. It involves a broader perspective, focusing on the ‘why’ behind the goals. This plan outlines the organization’s vision, mission, and core objectives over a more extended period, often including market analysis, competitive positioning, and long-term resource allocation. While action plans are more about tactical execution, strategic plans provide the overarching direction and purpose that guide these actions.

Both plans are crucial: the strategic plan sets the course, and the action plan drives the day-to-day activities needed to steer the ship towards the destination outlined in the strategic plan.

Action Plan Vs Project Plan

An action plan and a project plan are both tools used to help maintain organization and productivity when working toward a specific goal. Action plans focus on smaller tasks that need to be completed and prioritize them in an organized list.

Project plans are more comprehensive, providing an overview of all the steps required for completing a particular project. They usually include timelines, deadlines, resources needed, and other specifics. While action plans can help define the daily tasks necessary for completing a project, they should ultimately be formulated as part of the larger project plan.

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Project Management

The Beginners Guide to Creating An Action Plan

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Max 9 min read

The Beginners Guide to Creating An Action Plan

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Imagine being a conductor of a world-class orchestra with no musical score, each member of the ensemble playing their own tune.

Harmony is disrupted; chaos takes center stage. Similarly, the lack of an action plan in any business can lead to inefficiency, confusion, and missed opportunities.

An action plan serves as that indispensable compass, the essential score. It offers clear direction, keeps everyone aligned, and orchestrates a harmonious path toward business goals.

With an action plan, you turn the chaos of the unknown into a well-synchronized dance of progress and productivity.

In this article, we delve deep into the world of action plans. We’ll explore their building blocks and learn why they are more than just a set of tasks or to-dos.

Through a step-by-step guide, you will understand how to create an action plan that is tailored to your business’s unique needs, along with ways to efficiently implement and monitor it.

And to give you a head start, we’ll even dissect some action plan samples, pulling out the essential ingredients that you can use in your recipe for success.

Ready to dive in? Let’s embark on this journey toward crafting and executing an effective action plan.

The DNA of an Action Plan

The DNA of an Action Plan

Every flourishing venture, big or small, has a secret formula behind it – a detailed action plan. But what exactly is an action plan? It’s a roadmap for success, a sequence of action steps for goals meticulously designed to drive your business toward its objectives.

An action plan is a detailed layout that outlines a set of specific actions needed to reach your goals. It serves as a reliable GPS, directing your business operations with clarity and focus. But this GPS is more than just your route; it’s your pit stops, rest areas, and destination.

Breaking down the structure, the components of an action plan include:

  • Clear Goals: Every action plan starts with defining what you aim to achieve. Goals are your end-point, your desired outcome. They are the ‘why’ of your action plan, giving purpose and direction to your journey.
  • Action Steps: These are the ‘what’ of your plan, the specific tasks or activities you need to perform to reach your goals. Each action step is a critical milestone on your road to success.
  • Responsibilities: Accountability is key in any action plan. By designating who is responsible for each action step, everyone on your team knows exactly what their role is, fostering a sense of ownership and commitment.
  • Resources: Be it monetary funds, time, equipment, or human resources, clearly identifying what you need to carry out each action step will help ensure smooth execution.
  • Timeframes: A sense of urgency and a clear timeline are vital for maintaining momentum. By setting deadlines for each action step, you can monitor progress effectively and keep your journey on track.
  • Measurable Outcomes: What does success look like for each action step? Having clear metrics in place allows you to evaluate performance objectively.
  • Follow-up Mechanisms: Lastly, defining how you’ll track, review, and adjust progress ensures your action plan remains flexible and responsive to changing business dynamics.

Writing an action plan involves creating this blueprint, a precise path that clearly defines ‘how to write a plan of action.’ This process, though meticulous, is a strategic investment. It translates your grand visions into manageable, bite-sized tasks, making the climb towards your goal a series of achievable steps.

The beauty of an action plan lies in its adaptability. It’s not a rigid map but a dynamic guide that adjusts to your evolving business journey. Its purpose is to offer a clear direction while accommodating detours, helping you navigate the complex business terrain with confidence and control.

Why Do We Need Action Plans

Why Do We Need Action Plans?

The necessity and potency of action plans lie in their innate ability to turn nebulous goals into concrete action steps. Their purpose is to make the daunting achievable, bringing your aspirations from the realm of ideas into the world of action.

Here’s why an action plan is a compelling necessity in different scenarios:

Launching a New Product

Imagine launching a new product, a complex and multifaceted endeavor that can feel akin to exploring uncharted territories.

However, an action plan serves as your torchlight, illuminating the path.

By setting clear steps, resources, responsibilities, timelines, and success metrics, an action plan transforms the product launch maze into a well-lit pathway, guiding you from concept to market.

Enhancing Customer Service

Consider a company striving to elevate its customer service quality. Without a clear plan, improvement efforts can be disjointed and ineffective.

However, with an action plan, the company can outline systematic and strategic action steps. These steps might include employee training, updating service protocols, or integrating new tech tools.

Each step is targeted and measured, ensuring a cohesive, organized approach towards enhancing customer satisfaction.

Personal and Community Projects

The purpose of action plans transcends the confines of corporate walls. They are equally powerful in personal and community contexts.

Are you aiming to run a marathon, planning a community fundraiser, or working on a university project?

An action plan is your route to success, breaking down grand ambitions into manageable steps. It’s the difference between a lofty dream and a reachable goal.

So, the purpose of an action plan?

It’s about transforming your ‘why’ into ‘how.’ It’s about taking the journey from intention to action, from aspiration to achievement. It’s your strategic companion on the road to success, ensuring each step you take is purposeful and progress-driven.

How to Write an Action Plan

How to Write an Action Plan

Writing an action plan is like crafting a detailed itinerary for your journey to success. But how do we plot this itinerary?

Here’s a step-by-step guide to help you ‘write an action plan’ with precision, turning your lofty goals into actionable steps.

Step 1: Identify Clear Goals

The first step in ‘writing an action plan’ is to define clear, concise goals. What is it that you aim to achieve? Be specific and use measurable terms wherever possible. Remember, the goal is your destination; hence, it should be well-defined to provide a clear sense of direction.

Bonus Tip: Use the SMART framework for goal setting – Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound.

Step 2: Create a List of Action Steps

Now, break down your goal into ‘action steps for goals’. These are the tasks you need to perform to achieve your goal. Each action step should be clear, specific, and concise, serving as a direct path towards your goal.

Bonus Tip: For complex goals, consider creating sub-tasks for each action step. This will help break down your tasks even further, making them more manageable.

Step 3: Assign Responsibilities

Once you’ve identified your action steps, it’s time to assign responsibilities. Who will be responsible for each task? Ensure that every member of your team knows exactly what they’re accountable for.

Bonus Tip: When assigning tasks, consider the strengths, skills, and workload of your team members to ensure optimal task allocation.

Step 4: Identify Necessary Resources

Next, pinpoint the resources required to complete each action step. This could be financial resources, human resources, equipment, or anything else you need to execute your plan effectively.

Bonus Tip: Be realistic and comprehensive when listing your resources. Remember, inadequate resources can lead to bottlenecks in plan execution.

Step 5: Set a Timeline

Now, it’s time to ‘create an action plan’ timeline. When will each task start, and when should it be completed? Having a clear timeline ensures that your project stays on track and maintains momentum.

Bonus Tip: Allow some buffer time in your schedule to account for unexpected delays or setbacks.

Step 6: Define Success Metrics

How will you know if you’ve achieved your goal? Define clear, measurable outcomes for each action step. This will help you evaluate progress objectively and make necessary adjustments along the way.

Bonus Tip: Keep your success metrics relevant and achievable. Overly ambitious metrics can lead to demotivation and burnout.

Step 7: Establish a Follow-up Mechanism

Finally, create a process for tracking, reviewing, and adjusting progress. Regular follow-ups help ensure that your plan remains flexible and adaptable to evolving circumstances.

Bonus Tip: Regularly share progress updates with your team. Celebrating small wins along the way can boost morale and keep your team motivated.

Action Plan Success Tips

Action Plan Success Tips

The journey from writing an action plan to setting it in motion is all about commitment, focus, and adaptability. Ensure every team member understands their role and responsibilities, and create a supportive environment where everyone is comfortable discussing progress, challenges, and suggestions.

Regular progress tracking is key. Schedule routine check-ins to evaluate whether your ‘action steps for goals’ are being carried out as planned and assess the effectiveness of your strategies. This ongoing review is crucial to maintain momentum and to make real-time adjustments as needed.

Bonus Tip: Use project management tools to aid in tracking progress and collaboration. A tool like Teamly is designed to support your team with real-time chat features, screen capturing, and task management.

Samples and Templates

A sample action plan can serve as a handy reference, particularly for those creating their first action plan. It provides a structured overview of how goals can be broken down into action steps, how responsibilities can be assigned, and how timelines can be set.

However, remember that each project is unique. While an action plan sample can be a good starting point, it needs to be tailored to fit your specific goals, team, and resources.

Similarly, templates can be useful when creating an action plan. They provide structure and guide you through the planning process, ensuring you don’t miss critical elements. However, templates aren’t without their drawbacks.

They can be rigid, restricting creativity and flexibility, which are essential when planning for dynamic goals or environments. Thus, while templates can be a good starting point, always remember to customize them to suit your unique needs.

Transitioning your action plan from a document to a roadmap for success demands perseverance, vigilance, and flexibility. The real power of an action plan comes to life only when it’s put into practice.

Action Plan Samples

Action Plan Samples

Looking at real-life examples can truly illuminate the process of creating effective action plans.

Let’s delve into three action plan samples to uncover the insights they hold.

Example 1: Local Cafe’s Customer Retention Strategy

Imagine a local café aiming to boost customer retention by 15% over six months. Here’s a simplified snapshot of their action plan:

  • Goal: Increase customer retention by 15% over six months.
  • Action Steps: Implement a loyalty program, introduce limited-time menu items, host monthly community events.
  • Responsibilities: Manager designs the loyalty program, Chef curates unique menu items, Marketing team organizes community events.
  • Timeline: Roll out each initiative at the start of consecutive months.
  • Success Metrics: Track return customer rate, loyalty program participation, event attendance.
  • Follow-Up: Bi-weekly team meetings to assess progress.

This action plan example emphasizes the importance of customer-centric strategies in boosting retention. It illustrates the direct correlation between clear action steps, assigned responsibilities, and success metrics with the ultimate goal.

Example 2: Software Startup’s Product Development Plan

Consider a software startup working towards launching a new app feature in the next quarter. Their action plan might look something like this:

  • Goal: Launch a new feature within the next quarter.
  • Action Steps: Conduct market research, design and develop the feature, perform testing, prepare for launch.
  • Responsibilities: Research team handles market research, developers design and build the feature, QA team performs testing, marketing prepares the launch.
  • Timeline: Each action step has a dedicated timeframe within the quarter.
  • Success Metrics: Completion of each action step on time, usability test results, customer feedback post-launch.
  • Follow-Up: Weekly check-ins to review progress and troubleshoot issues.

This action plan illustrates the phases of product development and highlights the significance of regular follow-ups to ensure smooth execution.

Example 3: Nonprofit Organization’s Fundraising Campaign

Imagine a nonprofit planning a fundraising campaign to support a new initiative. Their action plan could look like:

  • Goal: Raise $50,000 in two months.
  • Action Steps: Identify potential donors, organize fundraising events, launch online donation drives.
  • Responsibilities: Fundraising team identifies donors and organizes events, the digital team handles online donation drives.
  • Timeline: Stagger events and drives over the two-month period.
  • Success Metrics: Amount of funds raised, number of donors, event attendance, online donations.
  • Follow-Up: Post-event debriefs to discuss what worked and what needs improvement.

This example demonstrates how an action plan facilitates the organization of large-scale events, focusing on the objective of raising a specific amount of funds within a defined period.

Each of these examples emphasizes the elements of an effective action plan and provides a practical, relatable context. By adapting these principles to your unique situation, you’ll be well on your way to ‘creating an action plan’ that drives success.

Each goal, each team, each organization comes with its unique context and dynamics. Tailoring your action plan to reflect these nuances is key.

While action plans are intended to guide you towards your goal, they’re not set in stone. They’re meant to serve you, not constrain you. When circumstances change, as they often do, don’t hesitate to revisit and revise your plan.

Because the most successful action plan is the one that adapts, grows, and evolves with you.

So, go ahead and harness the power of action plans. Begin by identifying your goal, breaking it down into action steps, assigning responsibilities, setting a timeline, defining success metrics, and determining a follow-up process.

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How to write an action plan: definition, best practices

  • Productivity
  • Uncategorized

Egor Okrepilov

The great Benjamin Franklin once said, “by failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail,” and it cannot be truer in business. It is a war out there and the only way you can win is to have a solid action plan in your arsenal. 

With research numbers revealing that 20% of new businesses fail during the first two years, 45% during the first five years and 65% during the first ten years, creating that action plan has become a must today. 

The first step to do is understanding what is an action plan, why you need it and how you can get it right. 

What is an action plan?

In essence, an action plan is a checklist or a series of lists that contain the tasks or steps needed to complete or achieve a goal. 

Forming one of the foundations of any business strategy, an action plan breaks down your goal into attainable tasks that you must achieve within a specified timeline. So you have a clearer picture of what needs to get done to get to where you want to be.

But an action plan doesn’t just provide you with the steps to achieving your goals. It also goes into detail about when each task should be done, who will be involved in these tasks and how you should manage and follow up on them to make sure nothing gets neglected or skipped because that will affect your end goal. 

Having an action plan also helps you minimize and mitigate risks, avoid costly errors and make the most of your time, money and resources.

Why an action plan is essential?

If you’re already in business and you still don’t know how to write an action plan, you’re actually not the first. 

In fact, a lot of businesses get so caught up with the pressures of developing a great product, preparing for a successful launch and running a marketing campaign that they forget to develop an action plan. They only realize that mistake when it’s already too late.

Developing a concrete action plan is essential for the following reasons:

It helps you stay on track

It’s very easy to get distracted when you have too much on your plate. But when you have a concrete action plan that tells you exactly what to do and when it should be done, you can focus your efforts on achieving your goals and not get sidetracked by other tasks that are not central to what you’re trying to accomplish. 

You can also make sure that no important details or steps are missed to avoid mishaps that could lead to failure.

It keeps you motivated

You need commitment and motivation to run a successful business, but that’s not always easy to maintain. Paper writing down your goals and the steps on how to achieve them will keep you committed to following all the tasks that you need to hit your targets. 

Knowing where you’re going is also one of the best ways to keep yourself motivated even during the toughest times.

It helps you prioritize

If you want to accomplish anything in business, you need to know how to prioritize tasks. With an action plan, it would be easier for you to determine tasks that should be on top of your list because they have the most impact towards your goals. 

It would also help you know who should be working with you on certain tasks so you can delegate well within your team and maximize everyone’s capabilities, talents and resources.

business action plan goal

It allows you to improve your business

Here’s the reality: you don’t have control over everything in your business, but what you can control, you have to take advantage of. 

With a written action plan, it’s easier for you to know your strengths and weaknesses as a business, so you can improve any loopholes that could hinder you from reaching your goals. 

An action plan also helps you build a certain level of credibility for your business because it projects a sense of organization in your business.

The right people and time to create an action plan

Every business needs a concrete action plan, but it can also be used in different situations. You can create your own action plan as an entrepreneur and so can your managers, leaders and supervisors to make sure that they achieve their own goals that will ultimately lead to what you’re trying to achieve as a business.

Ideally, you should put an action plan the moment you build your business. Some experts also say that you should give yourself the first six months from starting to create an action plan since by this time, you should have your goals, objectives , mission and vision in place. 

But if it’s been a year or two years since you started your business and you still don’t have an action plan, you can always begin now. 

This will still give you the opportunity to get back on track with your goals, correct any mistakes and have a clearer path where you can navigate your business more smoothly. 

The best practices in creating an action plan

Whether you’re a startup or you’ve been in business for years, these action plan best practices will help you create a smart, actionable and consistent action plan that will guide you towards achieving your goals:

Define your goal

This is a no-brainer. What do you want to achieve by the end of this action plan? You have to know what you want to achieve and where you want to be or else, you’re just setting yourself up for failure. 

Although it’s every entrepreneur’s goal to earn well and grow, you have to be more specific with smaller goals in order to achieve those bigger, grander goals. 

Whether it’s solving a problem, starting a new idea or just improving what you already have, it’s very important to define your goal because it will form the foundation of your action plan.

Determine your tasks

Now that you have an end goal in mind, you can start brainstorming the specific tasks that need to be done in order to reach that goal. To avoid feeling overwhelmed, focus on the first task first and work your way from there. Involve your team in identifying your tasks so you don’t miss anything that needs prioritizing.

Work on the details

It’s not enough that you make a list of all the tasks that need to be accomplished to reach your goal. 

To make sure that you really tick of those lists, you must be specific with them by creating a timeline, describing each task and delegating the right people to complete them. This will make it easier for you to follow up on the process and make sure that no tasks are left undone.

Communicate your plan

You can’t accomplish your goals alone, so it’s very important to communicate your plan with the rest of your team so that everyone is on the same page. 

Explain how each team member will play a role in your action plan and how each task will fit into achieving your end goal. This will make it easier for you to ensure that everyone knows exactly what they need to do to contribute to the success of your business.

Create a follow-up process

You can’t just get the ball rolling your action plan and let it do its work. If you want to accomplish something, you have to be consistent in following up and measuring your progress. 

That is when a follow-up process becomes beneficial because it allows you to know which areas are performing and which are falling behind. This way, you can make improvements before things get out of control and recognize people who are doing more than expected to help you reach your goals.

Visualize your action plan

Visuals are so much more meaningful for human eyes than words. When you take time, sit down in front of a laptop or take a notebook and pen in your hands, start outlining plans, and enhance them with drawings, you get this mind-body connection and a feeling of control over the situation. You can set more clear objectives, work out further steps, and reduce the risk of falling into procrastination. So, to stay focused on your goals and achieve them faster, map your action plan out:

Even though you may need an action plan for business purposes, don’t ignore bringing a little piece of design into it. You’ll see how more self-explanatory and inspiring it will appear for both you and the team.

To create a visualized, still, formal action plan, think about adding pie charts, schemes, flowcharts, and matrices. Use colors, arrows, and overlays – to build interrelations or show spans. Also, add icons, simple geometric shapes, borders, and other designs so that the big picture will look self-explanatory and less verbose.

If you can include even more visualization – go ahead, do it. Sometimes, photography or GIF may be straight into the bowl and worth a thousand words. For a modern twist, consider using an online GIF maker to create animations that can make your action plan more interactive and informative, ensuring complex information is digested at a glance.

Re-evaluate your action plan

No matter how meticulously done an action plan is, you may still need to improve it along the way. To re-evaluate what you already created, try to use the SCHEMES acronym, which stands for Space, Cash, Helpers, Equipment, Materials, Expertise, Systems. 

This guide will help you determine if you have everything that you need to reach your end goal in the most efficient way possible.

An action plan is essential, whether you’re a huge company, an organization, a small group or even as individuals. With an end goal in mind, it’s easier to navigate your way through all the challenges, tasks and milestones in the business.

You can also create a more cohesive system within your team since everyone knows exactly what they need to do to contribute to what you’re trying to accomplish.

At the end of the day, it’s all about being smart with your choices as a business and organization. 

Creating a solid action plan is definitely one of the best decisions you’ll ever make not only for yourself but for the success and growth of your entire business.

Action plan example

When building both personal and work-related action plans, always start with the goal. For a simplified version, it’s better to use flowcharts because they’re more neat and representative. But if you need a detailed action plan, it’s better to proceed with a ready-made Weje template.

business action plan goal

Make sure your action plan consists of not only tasks but also includes resources and assignees’ names. Also, add time estimates and expected outputs for each step. This will allow you to assess ongoing progress and see when you fall behind the schedule. 

And make it easy on planning. Don’t invest too much time in the action plan building and use tools that can help. Here’s how you can create the action plan with Weje – in 6 steps and with less than 6 minutes:

  • Sign up with email, log in, and navigate to the user dashboard
  • Click “+” to create a blank whiteboard or pick up a template, e.g. “Workflow”

business action plan goal

  • If you started with a blank canvas, create a card and name it as to your goal. Then – create distinct cards for every step and place them in order on your online board. If you started with a template, edit it, accordingly.
  • When the plan’s layout is ready, start filling it in. You can create more cards for notes and correspond them to respective steps through dragging and dropping. Or – you can write down ideas using online sticky notes or mind map maker .
  • If you need visuals, e.g. icons or pictures, upload them on your whiteboards or copy and paste from the Internet
  • After your action plan is ready, you can download it and print, or email it to somebody for discussing or reviewing. If you have collaborators, share the board with them so that the team can contribute to the plan.

Egor Okrepilov

Avoid people who didn't make mistakes, as they just got lucky with the circumstances. Appreciate those who have made hundreds of them and learned how to find solutions to any situation.

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What Is an Action Plan? (With Example)

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30-sec summary:

What is the secret of transforming a vision into a reality ?

Is there a structured approach to breaking down complex goals into manageable tasks ?

How do businesses and individuals ensure they’re using resources effectively?

When faced with challenges , how can one make sure their plan remains flexible and effective ?

Read this article to find the answers and learn how an action plan really works.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

The Purpose of an Action Plan

Key components of an action plan, the process of creating an action plan.

  • Differences Between Various Plans

Implementing an Action Plan Successfully

Examples of action plans.

  • Use This HR Software To Manage Your Team ✅

People and organizations use action plans to get to where they want to go. It’s more than just planning; it’s about efficiency, clarity, and a systematic way to achieve goals:

business action plan goal

Clarifying Resources Required to Reach the Goal

The action plan helps make sure there aren’t unexpected roadblocks in reaching the goal, whether it’s human, financial, or technological resources. It also fosters trust among stakeholders, since they can see a clear allocation of resources , making sure everything is on track.

Formulating a Timeline for Task Completion

A project’s time is often the most important thing. An action plan details when each task should start and end , so everyone knows what’s going on. If the timeline’s clear, it doesn’t just keep everyone on track, but also makes sure stakeholders know what’s going on. In the end, a well-defined timeline reduces delays and ensures tasks are done on time.

Breaking Down Larger Projects into Manageable Steps

Creating an action plan allows you to break down big projects into smaller , more manageable tasks. This step-by-step approach makes sure that each task gets the attention it deserves , and complexities are handled easily. Additionally, it makes sure each phase of the project goes smoothly and efficiently.

Using an action plan, you can turn your vision into actionable tasks , ensuring systematic progress towards your goals. Here’s what it looks like:

business action plan goal

Clear and Specific Goals

Any action plan’s goal needs to be clear and specific , so it gives you a direction to follow. Ambiguity can lead to confusion, so it’s important to define these goals clearly, so there’s no room for misinterpretation.

Detailed Tasks or Steps

Having set the goals, it’s time to break them down into actionable steps. These steps are the building blocks for the action plan, ensuring everything is covered. Individuals and teams get a clear roadmap on what to do and when, so they know what to do.

Allocation of Resources (team members, budget, equipment)

Tasks need resources to be executed effectively. This part of the action plan shows how to allocate them . This section makes sure that every task has everything it needs to be successful, whether it’s assigning team members to specific tasks, setting budgets, or getting the right equipment.

Prioritization of Tasks

In order to manage time efficiently and ensure the most impactful tasks get the attention they deserve, prioritizing tasks ensures critical ones are addressed first.

Deadlines and Milestones

Timebound action plans are time-bound. Setting deadlines ensures each task gets done on time, and milestones make sure everything’s on track. Teams use milestones as a way to recognize and celebrate achievements and measure how far they’ve come.

Monitoring and Revision Mechanisms

During execution , there might be adjustments needed. This component makes sure there’s a way to keep an eye on the progress of the action plan and to make necessary changes. It keeps the plan relevant and effective , even if something unexpected happens.

Action plans are a systematic process that takes thought, research, and collaboration . It’s about turning abstract goals into concrete steps, ensuring a clear path to success.

business action plan goal

Setting a SMART Goal (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound)

SMART criteria ensure that the goal is well-defined and realistic. They set out what needs to be done, how success will be measured, and when it needs to be accomplished.

Identifying Necessary Tasks

After you have a clear goal in mind, the next step is to identify the tasks that need to be done to accomplish it. Each task should be clear and specific , so there’s no ambiguity.

Allocating Resources and Assigning Responsibilities

It takes resources, whether they’re human, financial, or material, for every task. In this step, we determine what resources are needed and make sure they’re available. We also assign responsibilities , so everyone knows what their role is and what to expect.

Prioritizing Tasks Based on Importance and Sequence

In order to make sure resources are used efficiently and tasks are completed in the right order, prioritizing tasks ensures that critical activities are addressed first.

Setting Deadlines and Defining Milestones

Setting deadlines ensures accountability and timely completion of tasks. Also, defining milestones gives teams a way to assess progress, celebrate accomplishments, and stay motivated along the way.

Monitoring Progress and Making Necessary Adjustments

The action plan needs to be monitored as it gets executed. This involves checking how tasks are being done and assessing the quality of the work . In case there’s a discrepancy or a problem, we adjust the plan.

Difference Between Actions Plans & Other Plans

Various types of plans serve different purposes, but their objectives, structures, and applications can vary a lot. Here’s how they differ.

Action Plan vs. Plan B (Contingency Plan)

  • Action Plan: The roadmap breaks down the goal into actionable steps, sets timelines, allocates resources, and defines responsibilities to accomplish the goal.
  • Plan B (Contingency Plan): The backup plan is foreseeing potential risks and coming up with strategies to mitigate them.
  • Key Difference: Contingency plans are reactive, designed for unforeseen challenges, while action plans are proactive and focused on achieving a goal.

Action Plan vs. Project Plan

  • Action Plan: Describes how to accomplish a particular objective within the bigger project, and it’s a subset of the project plan.
  • Project Plan: This document outlines everything about the project, from its initiation to its completion. It includes objectives, scope, budget, timelines, risks, and stakeholders.
  • Key Difference: Action plans focus on specific tasks or objectives within the project, while project plans give an overview.

Action Plan vs. To-do List

  • Action Plan: This document breaks down a goal into tasks, allocates resources, sets deadlines, and prioritizes.
  • To-do List: It’s just a list of things that need to be done, with no breakdown of resources, timelines, or priorities.
  • Key Difference: Action plans are comprehensive and strategic, while to-do lists are basic and lack the depth and structure of plans.

A well-crafted action plan is only half the battle; its implementation determines if you meet your goals. In order to execute an action plan successfully, you need a combination of tools, strategies, and proactive measures . Here’s how to do it:

Utilizing a Management Software

Teams can track progress, assign tasks, set deadlines, and collaborate in real-time with a management software , which allows them to establish goals, track progress, assign tasks, and set deadlines . With platforms like Factorial HR , you can help your team succeed.

Using Templates for Consistency and Efficiency

Templates provide a standardized structure for action plans. By using templates, teams can make sure every action plan keeps a consistent format, so they’re easier to understand and execute. Templates also save time , because teams don’t have to start over every time.

Setting Up Real-time Alerts and Dependencies

A real-time alert lets team members know when deadlines are , so they’re on time. Dependencies, on the other hand, make sure tasks go in the right order . For example, if Task B depends on Task A, team members will be reminded to finish Task A before moving on.

Checking Off Completed Tasks

Checking off completed tasks gives you a sense of accomplishment. Not only does it boost morale, but it gives you a clear visual representation of your progress. You should update your action plan regularly to make sure everyone knows what’s been accomplished and what still needs to be done.

Addressing and Discussing Any Delays or Issues Promptly

It’s inevitable that there’s going to be challenges in every project. The key is to deal with them right away. If there’s a delay or an issue, talk to the team right away. When you work together on problems, you’ll come up with innovative solutions, and you’ll stay on track despite obstacles.

There are many kinds of action plans. They serve as structured roadmaps that help people and teams reach specific goals. Here are a few examples:

Business Action Plan

  • Objective: Expand business operations to another region within the next year.
  • Tasks: Market research, securing funding, hiring local staff, finding a suitable location, and launching a marketing campaign.
  • Resources: Research team, financial advisors, HR team, and marketing professionals.
  • Timeline: 12 months with monthly milestones.

Marketing Action Plan

  • Objective: Increase brand awareness by 30% over the next six months.
  • Tasks: Conducting a SWOT analysis , identifying target audience segments, creating a content calendar, launching ad campaigns, and monitoring engagement metrics.
  • Resources: Marketing team, content creators, ad budget, and analytics tools.
  • Timeline: 6 months with bi-weekly check-ins.

Sales Action Plan

  • Objective: Boost sales by 20% in the upcoming quarter.
  • Tasks: Identifying potential leads, training sales team on new strategies, offering promotional discounts, and gathering customer feedback.
  • Resources: Sales team, CRM software, training materials, and feedback forms.
  • Timeline: 3 months with weekly sales targets.

Personal Development Action Plan

  • Objective: Improve leadership skills over the next year.
  • Tasks: Attending leadership workshops, reading relevant books, seeking mentorship, and taking on challenging projects.
  • Resources: Workshop fees, reading materials, mentor’s time, and real-world projects.
  • Timeline: 12 months with quarterly self-assessments.

A comprehensive solution like Factorial HR is an excellent choice for managing your teams efficiently.

Test Your Knowledge about Action Plans With This Quiz!

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COMMENTS

  1. Create an Effective Action Plan in 6 Steps [2023] • Asana

    January 8th, 2023 6 min read Jump to section Summary An action plan outlines precisely how you're planning to accomplish your goals. It's the perfect way to approach goals systematically and keep your team on target. In this article, we will cover how to create an action plan in six steps and how to implement it successfully.

  2. How To Write an Action Plan (With Template and Example)

    Create an action plan to help you achieve your goal by following these five steps: Set SMART goals. Create a list of actions. Set a timeline. Designate resources. Monitor the progress. 1. Set SMART goals Image description Before you start writing your action plan, consider using the SMART outline to set the right goal. Your goal should be:

  3. How To Create An Action Plan (FREE Templates & Examples)

    An action plan is a detailed blueprint that outlines the steps you, your team, or your organization will take to achieve a specific goal. It includes specific tasks or actions with due dates and assignees, a timeline, and the resources required to accomplish your goal. Action plans include detailed information, such as:

  4. How to Write an Action Plan: Step-by-Step (Examples)

    Actions: 1. Improve online presence a) Revamp website design - Due October 15th b) Optimize website for SEO - Due November 1st c) Post regularly on social media (1x/week min) - Ongoing 2. Reach out to potential clients a) Create email marketing campaign - Due September 15th b) Start cold calling campaign (10 calls/day) - Start October 1st 3.

  5. What is an Action Plan & How to Write One [With Examples]

    By Danesh Ramuthi, Oct 26, 2023 An action plan is a meticulously structured strategy that pinpoints specific steps, tasks and resources vital to turning a goal into reality. It is extremely useful in any project management. Crafting an action plan is like plotting a route for a cross-country journey.

  6. What is an Action Plan? Learn with Templates and Examples

    An action plan is a specific list of tasks in order to achieve a particular goal. It can be regarded as a proposed strategy to execute a specific project to achieve a specific or general goal effectively and efficiently. It outlines steps to take and helps stay focused and organized, whether it's personal or work-related.

  7. How to Create an Effective Action Plan (Examples & Templates)

    Blog Design for Business How to Create an Effective Action Plan (Examples & Templates) Written by: Raja Mandal Jul 05, 2022 Since you're here, you might be struggling to achieve your personal, professional or company goals.

  8. How to Write and Develop an Action Plan for Your Small Business

    1. Define your scope It is essential to define your scope, create a roadmap, and align it with your strategic planning. Make sure your actions guide you toward company goals. Start by gauging how your team members can contribute and help you achieve your objectives.

  9. 7 steps to create an action plan for your business strategy

    1. Involve your team early on. Your team's participation will make or break the action plan. They should be involved from the beginning as you develop the action plan and other elements of the strategic plan. "The owner can't do it alone," Drepaul says. "Delegation and accountability are key.

  10. How to Write an Action Plan (Examples Included)

    1. Setting A Goal The first step for writing an action plan is to set a goal. When you discover the goal of the whole operation, you can then draw up an action plan to achieve it. The purpose of this is to create or have a picture of what the goal is going to be about. This ensures that you set a realistic goal.

  11. What Is an Action Plan? (With Example and Template)

    An action plan template is a preformatted document providing a framework to outline, execute, and track the tasks and actions needed to accomplish your goal. It simplifies the action planning process by providing a ready-to-use format you can quickly fill out to create a robust action plan. Wrike's action plan template simplifies goal and ...

  12. What is an action plan? Steps, template, and examples

    Define goals 2. Build your framework and task list 3. Define roles and responsibilities 4. Communicate and get feedback 5. Update your action plan Action plan template 5 tips to build an action plan that drives value 1. Create multiple action plans 2. Identify milestones and critical tasks 3.

  13. How to Write an Action Plan (Example Included)

    Planning, Task Management How to Write an Action Plan (Example Included) by Jennifer Bridges | Apr 21, 2023 What Is an Action Plan? In project management, an action plan is a document that lists the action steps needed to achieve project goals and objectives.

  14. How to make an action plan to achieve your goals and follow it

    4. Track your progress. The best part of having an effective action plan involves witnessing your progress. Once you set goals, brainstorm tasks, and put them in a document, print out your list and put it somewhere visible. As you complete each item, tick them off one by one.

  15. Action Plan: Definition, Examples, & How to Write One

    Action Plan Example 2 A much larger goal that is currently being addressed with an action plan is Harvard Business School's current ambition to advance racial equity. This is an extremely large, multifaceted, long-term goal involving the contributions of a large number of people.

  16. Creating Action Plans for Your Business Plan

    The action plan is one name for the portion of the business plan in which you account for business operations that weren't covered in the marketing and sales plans. The marketing and sales plans spell out the steps your business will take to achieve its financial and sales goals. The action plan explains how you will operate and manage your ...

  17. Free Action Plan Templates for Every Goal [2023] • Asana

    These goals will act as a north star for your action plan template. Once they're set, you can refer to your goals to make sure your tasks align with long-term initiatives. This helps ensure your action steps are purposeful and connected, eliminating unnecessary and duplicate " work about work .". 2. Create task lists.

  18. A SMARTER Business Plan of Action

    SMARTER business plans of action also analyze endgame and rewards. It's time to add results-based focus into the S.M.A.R.T. goals framework for your business plan of action. We know that teams will deliver higher-quality output and feel more positive about the journey if the endgame and rewards are outlined.

  19. 10 Free Action Plan Templates in Word, Excel, & ClickUp

    10. Excel Business Action Plan Template. via Vertex42. If you're looking for a free sales action plan template in Microsoft Excel, we recommend this one! It comes with all the essential categories ( Action Item, Rank, Priority, Owner, Assigned, Due, Done, Status, and Notes) to develop an effective action plan.

  20. What is an Action Plan and How to Create One + an Example

    An action plan is an organized list of steps that you can take to reach a desired goal. Creating an action plan requires carefully considering resources, goals, and available time. With a well-structured action plan, you can reach your goals in the most efficient way possible.

  21. What is an Action Plan, Benefits, Steps to Write & Samples

    Goals are your end-point, your desired outcome. They are the 'why' of your action plan, giving purpose and direction to your journey. Action Steps: These are the 'what' of your plan, the specific tasks or activities you need to perform to reach your goals. Each action step is a critical milestone on your road to success.

  22. How to write an action plan: definition, best practices

    Forming one of the foundations of any business strategy, an action plan breaks down your goal into attainable tasks that you must achieve within a specified timeline. So you have a clearer picture of what needs to get done to get to where you want to be. But an action plan doesn't just provide you with the steps to achieving your goals.

  23. What Is an Action Plan? (With Example)

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  24. PDF Equity Action Plan Summary: U.S. Small Business Administration

    2023 Equity Action Plan Summary: U.S. Small Business Administration. New strategies to advance equity. 6. 5. Improve access to investment capital. Small businesses and startups

  25. PDF 2023 Equity Action Plan

    SBA's 2022 Equity Action Plan, in alignment with SBA's Strategic Plan: FY 2022-2026 and Agency Priority Goal s, and in accordance with EO 14091, the 2023 Equity Action Plan update outlines the following strategies: • Improve Access to Loan Capital by enrolling new lenders with a capacity to reach