An action plan is the document that brings a vision, such in the agency’s strategic plan, to life. An action plan establishes a set and sequence of actions that will achieve a vision. An action plan aligns with and supplements other strategic plans by incorporating the steps needed to achieve the vision and goals in strategic plans.
An agency capability-building action plan is directed at the use of specific strategies used to develop essential capabilities.
The agency capability action planning steps are to:
- Determine Scope includes using the ACB Framework to determine which change forces matter most, what needs to focus on and what strategies are likely to support the selected need(s)
- Build a Vision means determining what needs to be achieved within the scope of the effort, how it aligns with other strategic initiatives and what measures can be used to communicate the vision
- Select/Develop Strategies includes selecting a set of strategies, and adding sufficient detail so that they can be appropriately implemented
- Create Actions is documenting the set and sequence of actions that will achieve the vision, including who will do what and by when
- Build a Team includes determining at a tactical level who will conduct the capability building actions, ensuring leadership support, creating an “elevator speech” and other mechanisms to communicate the effort and facilitate change management
- Monitor and Adjust includes periodic check-ins on progress of the implementation, designing reporting mechanisms and triggers for adjusting the approach, and designing a feedback loop to establish a foundation for future action plans.
Developing an ACB action plan creates a scope for the capability-building effort. It builds a vision for the end goal, incorporates strategies to guide actions, establishes actions to achieve the vision based on those strategies. It relies on building a team to carry out the plan, and allows for monitoring and adjusting the approach as needed to both achieve the goal and create a baseline for future action plans. While this chapter depicts a six-step action-planning process, it is flexible enough to be scaled back into a less complex incremental process or can be made more detailed if warranted to implement a more comprehensive transformational action plan.