contributed by HyperLink on 23/01/2012
No idea can ever be successful if it’s not taken the market. So, with a refined idea it’s time to make an action plan to get the message out. Action planning is about clarity of tasks and ownership and formed the final element of the Rapid Commercialisation workshop.
The challenge is to
turn good intentions at a planning meeting into tangible progress across
a group of employees who may well have varying levels of day-to-day
involvement with the business.
Keep it simple
Linked to this challenge is the issue of making a clear list of actions which are allocated to individuals in a way to which they can relate. It's also important that any system allows a team to share updates, demonstrate progress and flag up a particular action if progress has stalled.
Establishing this kind of action plan is even more important when it involves a wider group who are not working together every day.
The process of developing an action plan has a number of phases.
1. Get a group or team together and fully explore the challenges and opportunities you are facing, looking at all the possible scenarios, solutions and obstacles.
2. If there are many different ways to address these issues - and lots of different potential actions – then the group need to prioritise. Group discussion is one option, but this can be a slow process. Instead, as a way of prioritising, let each member of the group vote
for up to three actions.
3. Once the actions have been prioritised, they should be listed and described in terms of the desired outcome rather than the problem. e.g. FIX THIS rather than THIS IS BROKEN.
Taking ownership
Next,each action needs to be given an owner, someone who is responsible for making the implementation happen even if they don't possess all the skills and resources to do it themselves.
In a group setting, the owner volunteers for an action (nomination is OK) and once the owner is identified, they set any specific milestones and dates for the action.
This continues until everyone in the group is part of the plan and has a meaningful set of actions that are both realistic and challenging. The process can be done using a simple whiteboard or flip-chart.
This format works well within small group that are co-located but with larger, dispersed and cross-functional groups, the issue of
typing up, distributing and maintaining action plans can lead to a loss of focus.
On-line action planning
To overcome this, an on-line version of the flip-chart approach makes it possible to collect all the actions as they are discussed, including displaying the actions on a screen or projector. At the end of the meeting the plan can immediately be emailed to all participants, giving both an email record and a link to updating, maintaining and
sharing progress.
The process can lead to:
1. Clarity of actions, ownership, key milestones and expected completion targets
2.Elimination of ambiguity and unclear expectations amongst a group
3. A shared record of agreed actions which can help achieve directional progress towards an objective
4. A simple way of sharing progress and tracking and update actions and milestones as they are completed
5. A shared record to return back to when a group re-unites for progress reviews
Action planning can help a busy and diverse organisation make methodical progress towards long term objectives, despite peoples' other day-to-day responsibilities, giving 'virtual teams' the ability to reach goals and objectives that could otherwise prove elusive.
Keep focussed
Danny Sims, managing director at at DJS Research in Manchester, now stages annual action planning events as a way of helping staff to focus on what needs to be done to achieve key business targets.
“It's a common problem with many businesses that you are often too busy working on individuals projects to look at the bigger picture and look at those areas of the business that can help you grow and move forward.
“Action planing helps you do this but rather than simply attending an away day and then letting things slip, it gives you a mechanism to monitor and review progress and helps ensure that things really do get done.”
Key learning points:- Shared action planning increases alignment on direction and outcome
- Each task must be defined and the owner identified before the owner can commit to a timescale.
- Participative(voluntary) allocation of actions increases likelihood of the actions happening
- A shared record of what was agreed, which can be updated later, safeguards the agreement and increases the likelihood of achieving the outcome
- Collaborative action planning achieves alignment of purpose and clarity of objectives
This case study was provided by BBPN and its associates.You can download a PDF copy of this case study by clicking the link below.
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