ACTION PLANNING
APAMSA Leadership Development Module
Action Planning
Task-Oriented Behaviors
 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
Source: G. Yukl, Leadership In Organizations (New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2006, p. 68-69)
Task-Oriented Behaviors
Leadership Challenge (6)
 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
Action Planning
Guidelines For 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
Source: G. Yukl, Leadership In Organizations (New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2006, p. 68-69)
Action Planning
Identify Necessary Action Steps
 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
Source: G. Yukl, Leadership In Organizations (New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2006, p. 68-69)
Action Planning
Optimal Sequence Of Action Steps
 Prioritize
action steps relative to the importance
of each objective/goal being targeted
 Schedule
action steps well in advance of
deadlines for key objectives
Source: G. Yukl, Leadership In Organizations (New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2006, p. 68-69)
Action Planning
Time Needed For Action Steps
 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
Source: G. Yukl, Leadership In Organizations (New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2006, p. 68-69)
Action Planning
Start Dates & Deadlines

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
Source: G. Yukl, Leadership In Organizations (New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2006, p. 68-69)
Action Planning
Costs
 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
Source: G. Yukl, Leadership In Organizations (New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2006, p. 68-69)
Action Planning
Assignment Of Responsibility
 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
Source: G. Yukl, Leadership In Organizations (New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2006, p. 68-69)
Action Planning
Monitor Progress
 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
Source: G. Yukl, Leadership In Organizations (New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2006, p. 68-69)
Task-Oriented Behaviors
Summary
 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
Task-Oriented Behaviors
Next Topic…
 Formulating

Strategy
Our next module discusses guidelines to develop an effective
plan to accomplish important objectives for the organization
Task-Oriented Behaviors
Sources
 G.
Yukl, Leadership In Organizations, New Jersey:
Pearson Prentice Hall, 2006, p. 68-69
 Free
Management Library
 www.managementhelp.org/ldrship/ldrship.htm