An action plan is a plan to put a particular objective into action. Action plans can apply to goals you have for yourself (or your call center staff) or they can be aimed toward other areas of your personal or professional development. They outline  a feasible, logical scheme for following through with your intentions. In this article, you'll become aware of a simple way to develop a noteworthy action plan.

The best way to construct a good action plan is to arrange the goal into an arrangement of indefinite, feasible, and subsequent steps. A well-written goal articulates what will be improved, by how much, and by when. The action plan also states how this will be achieved.

A couple of sample action plans follow (along with their affiliated goals). They demonstrate a couple of different, yet equally effective styles—the paragraph and bulleted list.

Sample 1

Goal: I'll finish the revision of the monitoring log before October 3rd.

Action Plan: I'll create an outline of the form by Friday of this week and then all team managers and I will use it while coaching the following week. We'll have a group discussion at the end of the week to calibrate results and make improvements to the form as necessary. I'll get Paula's authorization on the final draft by the 28th and then I'll roll it out to the agents the day after.

Sample 2

Goal: Create reasonable standards for the customer service team before August 28th.

Action Plan:

• Create a list of current performance standards and job responsibilities. Due date: June 1st
• Assemble a team of job experts who will help define and analyze standards. Due date: June 8th
• Hold an information meeting with job experts to come up with and review standards. Due date: June 17th
• Finalize list of new standards. Due date: June 21st
• Submit the list of standards to the management team for approval. Due date: June 27th
• Revise standards based upon recommendations from management. Due date: August 1st
• Announce final list of standards to human resources and quality assurance departments. Due date: August 7th

Developing action plans is a fundamental practice that shows you're serious and committed to continuous improvement. If you're a manager or trainer, you can use the process outlined in this article to create action plans for your staff or learners.

About the Author

Impact Learning Systems offers industry-accredited customer service training for frontline service, sales, and support professionals. Endorsed by leading trade associations, our training is research-validated to yield significant improvement in customer satisfaction, time-to-resolution, call handle times, and sales results as well as increased employee motivation. We generate positive business results!

This article was written and edited by team members of Impact Learning Systems, a leader in customer service training and consulting.