ACTION PLANNING APAMSA Leadership Development Module

Action Planning  Short-term planning involves: what needs to be done how to do it who will do it when it will be done  Consider the following guidelines to effectively organize and coordinate team efforts Task-Oriented Behaviors Source: G. Yukl, Leadership In Organizations (New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2006, p )

Task-Oriented Behaviors  Action Planning Consider your team goals, priorities, strategies, organization, responsibilities, schedule, and resources Identify one team goal for any given project and briefly describe the action steps and schedule planned to accomplish this goal Leadership Challenge (6)

Action Planning  Identify necessary action steps  Optimal sequence of action steps  Time needed for action steps  Start dates and deadlines  Costs  Assignment of responsibility  Monitor progress Guidelines For Action Planning Source: G. Yukl, Leadership In Organizations (New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2006, p )

Action Planning  Before creating an action plan, review team goals and priorities  Brainstorm different strategies for action steps to accomplish key objectives  Goal: Organize and coordinate work activities, and allow effective use of resources Identify Necessary Action Steps Source: G. Yukl, Leadership In Organizations (New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2006, p )

Action Planning  Prioritize action steps relative to the importance of each objective/goal being targeted  Schedule action steps well in advance of deadlines for key objectives Optimal Sequence Of Action Steps Source: G. Yukl, Leadership In Organizations (New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2006, p )

Action Planning  Estimate the time needed to carry out each action step  Ensure enough time is allotted to perform all action steps prior to key objective deadlines  Set up several checkpoints to monitor progress in advance of actual deadlines Time Needed For Action Steps Source: G. Yukl, Leadership In Organizations (New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2006, p )

Action Planning  Divide a large task into a sequence of several action steps  Schedule a sequence of informal deadlines for each action step before the actual objective deadline  Reanalyze and reformulate action plans each day, week, or month Start Dates & Deadlines Source: G. Yukl, Leadership In Organizations (New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2006, p )

Action Planning  Estimate costs for each action step  Ensure that tasks are within budget and resources are adequately allocated to accomplish each action step  Inability to perform one action step may jeopardize the entire project Costs Source: G. Yukl, Leadership In Organizations (New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2006, p )

Action Planning  Someone must be held accountable for the management of each action step  Organize a committee to delegate responsibility and coordinate work activities  Adequate authority should be provided for officers to implement action steps and make important decisions Assignment Of Responsibility Source: G. Yukl, Leadership In Organizations (New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2006, p )

Action Planning  Monitor progress of work activities and direct officers relative to their level of experience and importance of responsibilities  Organize periodic conference meetings with officers to assess action plans and work performance Monitor Progress Source: G. Yukl, Leadership In Organizations (New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2006, p )

Task-Oriented Behaviors  Action Planning Action planning allows effective organization and coordination of team activities Short-term planning determines what needs to be done, how to do it, who will do it, and when it will be done Utilize these guidelines to better implement action plans and direct team activities Summary

Task-Oriented Behaviors  Formulating Strategy Our next module discusses guidelines to develop an effective plan to accomplish important objectives for the organization Next Topic…

Task-Oriented Behaviors  G. Yukl, Leadership In Organizations, New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2006, p  Free Management Library Sources