2016 will soon be past and 2017 will begin. At this time of the year, many will review the achievements of the last year and plan goals for the new year.
Achieving goals in life, be it personally or professionally, is nigh on impossible without knowing what we need to accomplish and how to get there.
In business, objectives are often complex and long-term which makes the creation of an action plan essential. An action plan organises the strategies you have developed into an organised, prioritised and executable plan. Whatever the timeframes you’ve attached to your business goals, an action plan can be used to map out exactly what you need to do to achieve them.
Although they are often used by businesses, action plans can also be used by individuals in order to work out how to reach professional or personal goals.
How to create an effective action plan
Here are our steps for creating an effective action plan.
· Know where you’re going – Not having a clear vision of what you want to achieve is likely to result in a muddled action plan.
· Be specific – Your goal should be specific, as well as your intentions and the tasks or steps that will move you toward the completion of that goal.
· Make it measurable – Once you know what you want to achieve and the targets you need to hit, it’s important to add measurable milestones to your action plan.
· List your tasks – Create a list of specific tasks as well as a timeline for their completion in order to hit your milestones.
· Break large tasks into smaller, more manageable actions – It might not be practical or time efficient to tackle some tasks without breaking them down into smaller, more manageable actions first. Assess the complexity of each task you need to undertake.
· Assign a time to everything – If you don’t allocate specific time frames and deadlines to tasks, work will inevitably build up and some tasks may never get completed.
· Make it visual – Once you’ve drawn up your actions and set a specific timeline, you should create a visual representation of your plan. This could be in the form of a flowchart, a spreadsheet or a timeline.
Put your plan into action – Once you’ve established your plan you should work on it daily and follow up with other parties that have been delegated tasks to ensure that those tasks you’re not responsible for are not being neglected.
· Don’t let enforced timeline revisions affect your focus – It’s inevitable that circumstances or unforeseen events will impede your ability to complete tasks, meet deadlines and ultimately achieve your goal from time to time. If this happens revise your plan accordingly and continue working to meet your targets.
Listening to Your Voice is a consultancy business that specialises in business leadership development and improving employee motivation. With our help you can create and maintain an action plan to help yourself, or your team, achieve its goals in 2017.
