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Action Plan on Gestiona: What is it?
The Action Plan (5W2H) is a set of activities that aim to achieve an objective.
It is a management tool used:
- When I am not achieving my proposed results;
- When I am predicting the need for a change in the results of my process;
- When we need to implement an opportunity for improvement.
It allows for details in the monitoring of the execution of the activities planned to achieve certain objectives and goals.
Usually, it is prepared in the form of a table where we establish the main KPIs necessary for the execution of activities.
5W2H
| Sigla | Definition |
| What | What action will be taken? |
| Who | Who will be responsible for implementation? |
| Why | Why is the execution of the action important? |
| When | Until when will it be executed? |
| Where | Where will the action be performed? |
| How | How will it be carried out? |
| How much | How much will the action cost? |
Steps to develop a 5W2H:
- Clearly define the objective you want to achieve;
- Analyze the causes – Identify the common causes of the last observed results;
- Use analysis tools whenever possible: fishbone, stratification (pareto, histogram), process redesign, brainstorm, among others;
- Prioritize the causes that have the greatest impact on the result;
- Propose countermeasures to prioritized causes, that is, WHAT can I do to cancel or minimize such impact;
- Prioritize the countermeasures that can most impact the result and that are within my field of activity or influence.
Followship:
What will effectively change the expected result is the execution of the actions proposed in the plan, and the most common is that, little by little, people leave the plan aside until they almost forget about it.
To prevent this from happening, the important thing is to schedule periodic dates for monitoring and reviewing the planned tasks, monitoring their execution and making it possible, whenever necessary, to improve the planning, so that the proposed goals are actually achieved.
Main Mistakes:
Below, we list the main mistales in the elaboration of an action plan:
a) Set an unreachable Goal: if the people involved do not believe that the goal is viable, they will not compromise. Which will make the plan just a bureaucracy to please those who are demanding it;
b) Not worrying about Execution Time: we must not forget that people will need time to implement what was proposed and, for that, they will have to make space in the agenda (usually already full) to be able to handle the additional tasks . It is up to the leadership to prioritize activities;
c) Changing priorities all the time: nothing worse for a plan than a constant change in priorities. So, before requesting it, really define if this is the goal to be achieved;
d) Set a Short Deadline for the Plan: in the anxiety of solving the problem soon, it is common to schedule short deadlines for carrying out the actions. When drawing up a plan, it is preferable to establish longer deadlines that can be effectively met by the team than to be reprogramming the actions;
e) Not Scheduling Revision Dates: make it clear for all the revision dates and follow up of the schedule and the results of the action plans. Establish a monthly follow up schedule and disclose it to everyone involved so that they can block the schedule to participate.
