4 steps on how to write the ultimate action plan?

An idea without action is just an idea. A plan without action is just a plan. A goal without action is just a goal.

Taking action is what separates the leaders from the average.

Most people go throughout their life and career wanting to do something, wanting to take action, but don’t. This is usually down to fear of failure. Those who do create opportunities to new, exciting and possibilities. They create their own luck and create their own success.

Taking action is the simple process of doing something to make something happen. But do you just go and do? How do you know what you are doing? How do you know the next step? How do you simplify the next step? How do you make your dreams come to reality? How do you implement a solution to a problem?

First you create a goal plan. Once you’ve established what your goals you need to take action through your action plan.

There are 4 steps for writing the ultimate action plan.

Step 1: Five Stages of How

The sure-fire way to create a solid action plan is the Five Stages of How. Once you establish the want, i.e. a goal or a solution to a problem, you need to ask yourself HOW you will do it a minimum of 5 times. For example, interpersonal relationships between co-workers can make a huge difference to performance, collaboration and delivery. Team members with strong relationships perform better. If the interpersonal relationships between team members was poor, this would lead to a negative environment and could damage performance. So how do we improve it? This is where the Five stages of how come into play.

“The first step towards change is always the hardest. Once you take it your done”

JT

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How 1?

Despite an open office environment the team currently work isolated and rely on emails rather than face to face communication. We need to get them to talk more.

How 2?

So how do we go about How 1? The office environment does not promote a social atmosphere. We need to improve the social atmosphere.

How 3?

So how do we go about How 2? We need to introduce break out areas and encourage discussions within the office.

How 3?

So how do we go about How 3? We need to talk to the office manager and create an action for them to arrange for these breakout areas to be installed. Also, we as the leaders need to start and encourage being more social.

How 4?

So how do we encourage people to be more social? Let’s implement more regular breaks and create an after work social event.

How 5?

So how do we organise this? Send out a memo to the team regarding the breaks and task someone with setting up a social event paid for by the company.

Step 2: Time-bound

Parkinson’s law states that “work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion”. It simple terms if you set a time limit of 3 weeks to complete an action, you will take 3 weeks. If you set yourself a limit of 1 week to complete, you will complete it within 1 week if you take action. So bound yourself by time and take action.

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Step 3: Take action

Like Nike, Just Do It! If you have created the plan then you know there is a need for change. The worst thing you can do is sit on a problem. It will not sort itself out, it needs a leader’s intervention. So proceed to assigning actions to people and put the plan into motion.

Step 4: Monitor and tweak

Plans are rarely flawless because there are many external influencing factors that can change your plan which you cannot control. For example, what if the team doesn’t like the social event we arranged. Therefore, we need to monitor our plan and gather feedback. Then tweak the plan as we go to best suit the condition.

Taking action creates a change. Implementing a change initiative no matter how large or small needs to be done whilst exhibiting the right behaviours. I have simplified this into 9 simple steps to implementing a change initiative.

Thanks for reading, JT.

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How to reference this article:

1. Toor, J. (2019). 4 steps on how to create an action plan? Available: https://pmgrowth.co/4-steps-on-how-to-write-the-ultimate-action-plan?