The Action Plan Canvas allows you to turn your solution or goal into action! This template was created by Ayoa CEO and creative thinking expert, Chris Griffiths, and is featured in his book, The Creative Thinking Handbook.
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What is the Action Plan Canvas?
Once you’ve decided on a solution, goal or innovation project (using the Smart Goals Canvas or Building Solutions Canvas), it’s time to put it into action! Our Action Plan template will give you a useful framework to help you define the steps you’re going to take next, as well as enable you to track your progress and results – so you can clearly see what worked.
Why use the Action Plan Canvas?
By proactive planning with the Action Plan Canvas, you’ll be able to break down your goal into smaller, more manageable steps. This will help you and your team to overcome the tendency for reactive thinking by ensuring that everyone’s responses and daily tasks are in line with your ultimate overarching goal. By involving others in the planning process, you’ll also be able to give them a chance to buy into the project and claim some ownership.
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How to use our Action Plan Canvas template
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Identify and map out all the tasks you’ll need to complete to achieve your goal, then group your tasks into the ‘Now’, ‘Next’ and ‘Soon’ columns by order of priority. Use sticky notes and lists to easily add these actions to the template.
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With these tasks in mind, consider what resources you’ll need in terms of people, money, facilities, time and expertise.
- Money – What financial resources will you need? Is the money available now?
- Time – Is there enough time to complete each task? Try to add timescales for each step.
- People – Is there sufficient human resource available to complete the project? Will you need to recruit? Take into account factors such as required roles and existing workloads, as well as skills and engagement.
- Equipment – What necessary equipment, systems and facilities will you need?
- Skills – Does your team have the knowledge and training required to carry out the tasks?
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As you communicate and implement your plan, it’s important to gather feedback and data to help you evaluate the project progress and success. As part of this review, you’ll need to judge the effectiveness of the process (the plan) as well as the output (the solution).
- Process – Was the plan carried out according to the proposed schedule? Were there sufficient resources? Were any aspects overlooked?
- Output – Depending on the type of solution, you may be able to track its effectiveness by comparing changes in quantities (quantitative data) or by tracking changes in people’s attitudes, opinions, satisfaction or morale (qualitative data)./li>
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