Communicating An Action Plan (Part Two)

As noted in the previous content (Part One), an Action Plan is extremely detailed. It has to communicate and justify its proposal, strategy, and design. We described the initial outline of an ‘Action Plan’, as having the following material:

• Acknowledgements – Listing the key players up front.
• Table of Contents – Denoting the breakdown and location of the content.
• Executive Summary – Providing a short but concise explanation of the action plan.
• Introduction – Providing the overview and reasons behind the plan.
• Overview – Describing in detail what is needed, who is affected, the definitions needed to be understood, and the approach taken to derive the findings.

After the above sections, we can now structure the document as follows:

Goals

Note the goals and strategy of the ‘Action Plan’

• Beginning – Describe how the plan will be initiated; the ‘why’, and the reasoning behind it. List all stakeholders and target audiences affected and any required agreements. Describe new policies and roles created; including any amendments.
• Building a team – Describe how a team will be formed; include partnerships and task forces.
• Building the infrastructure – Describe how the new organization will function.
• Setting the groundwork – Describe how to achieve the goal; include project schedule, resources, budgets, and any new standards or programs. Include everything that will be affected.
• Preparing the population or audience – Describe how the target audience will be notified and what education is required for understanding functionality and requirements, i.e., through meetings and seminars. Include how to measure the audience reaction and ROI, i.e., through voting or analysis.

Benefits

Note all benefits of the plan.

• State why the plan is needed, i.e., how it fills a void, or how it solves a persistent problem.
• List the benefits. For example, state how the client, organization, or target audience can function more efficiently, gain more momentum, or reap more rewards, such as decreased productivity costs, better communication between employees, more security, or providing advantages of a new product, application, or process.

Cost

Note the budget involved.

• State how the proposal will be accomplished within a budget. List future and current costs involved.
• List all financing and loans, such as where funds will be used, found, and the maximum budgeting involved, as well as grants, third party financing, etc.
• Note the tools that will be used to complete the project on schedule and what might be needed if the project lasts longer. Note down critical milestones.

Reporting

Note the required reports.

• Generate reports on the project status and its budget. Describe possible bottlenecks and problems, such as ‘What if it doesn’t work’, or ‘limitations if not completely accomplished’ and any unexpected issues.
• Provide analysis on ‘should wok be done a step at a time or go full force’ and ‘complete within x number of years, months, etc.’

Hope this has been helpful. As with any documentation, be precise and accurate. If you have previously created an action plan, please add to this content. Thank you.

Theresa Pojuner