How to use it:
Write out the Action Plan for doing a task. List what needs to be done in the most direct possible steps, all the way from start to finish. Remember to include the people who will do each of the steps, and what resources they will need in order to do those steps.
An example:
An Action Plan for a local community clean-up campaign.
- Decide on a date for the clean-up, and tell everyone in your school about that date
- Encourage others to join up by placing a notice in local letterboxes, and sending out a message to people who might be interested
- Arrange for a recycling company to collect the material that is cleaned up
Why it’s important to use it:
It’s all very well to do some creative thinking, and to develop lots of wonderful ideas. It’s just that, in life, you sometimes need to put your thinking into action. Having an Action Plan will encourage you to get yourself organized. It also will challenge you to do something, rather than to just talk about it.
Some variations:
Once you have worked out the Action steps, think about these issues:
- Work out who is going to do what and when
- Write out the standards for each task
- Set the starting and finishing times for each task
- Develop some success indicators for the completed task
