Action Plan Templates
10 Step Action Plan (with Excel templates)
Jul
Last week Sean was working with a local business setting up a new product launch. To ensure the project stayed on track, and within budget, they created a series of mini action plans. Think of them as atomic project plans.
As the business owner is fairly good at Excel (not an expert but knows how to create burndown charts), Sean modified our action plan template for his project.
Later I was discussing this with Sean and asked him to flag three of the most common problems small business owners face when creating action plans.
He said it typically came down to the following:
#1 Lack of specificity
A value target might say “Increase sales” instead of “Boost online sales by 15% within 3 months through targeted social media campaigns” which is more specific.
#2 Unrealistic timelines
Setting a goal to “Double customer base in 1 month” without considering current growth rates or market conditions. So, you need to be realistic about your goals. Creating ‘aggressive’ timelines sounds fine but if it means you have to adjust these timelines later on because they were never realistic, then choose a more realistic target date.
#3 Insufficient resource allocation
Planning to “Launch new product line” without budgeting for additional staff or equipment needed.
Look at the potential impediments, setbacks, and other blockers which could potentially arise. This doesn’t mean you’re being negative, rather it’s to ensure you understand the challenges that lay ahead and can plan accordingly.
Finally, I asked him how he modified out Excel templates.
Here’s how to do this in Excel:
Specificity template
Create a worksheet with the following columns:
A: Goal
B: Measurable Target
C: Deadline
D: Specific Actions
E: Person Responsible
This structure forces you to break down vague goals into specific, measurable actions.
Gantt chart for timelines
– List tasks in column A
– Start dates in column B
– Duration in column C
– Use a stacked bar chart
– X-axis: dates
– Y-axis: tasks
– Bars represent task duration
This visual representation helps identify unrealistic timelines and overlapping tasks.
Resource allocation sheet
A: Task
B: Required Resources (e.g., staff, equipment)
C: Estimated Cost
D: Available Budget
E: Variance (=D-C)
Use conditional formatting to highlight negative variances, indicating insufficient resources.
In the following section, we look at how to setup Excel to manage your Action Plans. The template pack includes sample spreadsheets to get you started.
How to Setup Excel for Action Plans
If you need a sample action plan to get your business in shape, then use the following guidelines to design your next MS Word template. An Action Plan is a series of steps that helps you achieve your goals in measurable ways.
The key is to tie your goals to targets you can reach – and measure your success at each step! Here’s how to do it.
10 Step Action Plan
Use these ten steps to create your next action plan.
#1 Identify Major Goals
Write a one page document that identifies what you want to accomplish.
Break out the main objectives, budget, timelines and then drill down into the key assumptions, risks and issues that may arise and the contingencies to address these.
To make your action plan more realistic, identify the issues you are likely to encounter as otherwise it may prove impractical to implement.
#2 Create Tasks
The next step is to assign tasks to different team members.
Depending on your setup, assign tasks by name or by role.
For example, if you work in a large software company, and the turnover is high, then enter the role of the person rather than the title. Otherwise, you will need to revise the MS Word docs every time a person comes or goes!
#3 Assign Tasks Based on Skills
Delegate tasks to team members who can perform these skills.
Otherwise the person you assigned it to may not prove equal to the task, thereby undermining the project’s success.
#4 Lists Action Steps
Each task should cover one specific and measurable activity.
Don’t merge two tasks into one line in the worksheet.
Keep tasks as unique as possible as this helps trace the root cause should an issue arise.
#5 Update Status
In your MS Excel file, create a column and enter in the Status of the task.
Example fields may be Assigned, Completed, and Under Review.
Also if you have a list of tasks that need to be performed in order, then create a master To Do spreadsheet and rank them in sequential order.
#6 Prioritize Tasks
As some action steps are more important that others, give these a higher ranking in the Excel file.
This helps you identify the key tasks that need to be performed first, then second and so on.
It also helps you see at a glance where/who needs to be chased up if needs be.
Delete tasks once completed or update their status.
#7 Get Feedback
Communicate with all team members during the writing, reviewing and assessment phases.
Include as much feedback as possible as update the documents to reflect these changes.
Use Track Changes in MS Word to track all the changes to the document and when revising the template.
#8 Execute Tasks
Once you have finished building the Action Plan Template, send it to all team members. If necessary, post it on the Intranet.
Track all the tasks in the MS Word and Excel templates and share the status updates in the Progress Reports.
#9 Assess Success and Failures
Make sure all team members perform their tasks as per the deadlines.
If these dates prove to be difficult to achieve, then revise the dates after consulting the other project stakeholders.
When you see an error, capture it immediately, update the document template.
Destroy previous versions.
#10 Monitor Results
Finally, check to see how successful the action plan was implemented.
It’s naive to think that the first release will be perfect.
Expect issues to arise and make the adjustments as necessary.
Use an Excel file to track your results and keep this for future projects. Also, thank everyone for their involvement.
[Get MS Word and Excel Action Plan templates here]
Next Steps
Action Plans work if they are achievable, results-orientated, and measurable.
Where most Action Plans fail is when the team cannot perform the tasks within the timeframes or the results are not measured and reconfigured accordingly.
Next week, we will look at this and show you how to create Action Plans that resolve these issues by closing the gap between abstract ideas and concrete results.
