Use To Do Lists To Improve Action Plans
To bring your Action Plan to life,
create a To Do lists in MS Excel. Once
you have developed your
Action Plan, allocate time to each
activity so you can monitor its progress. To Do lists are one of the
simplest ways to track, monitor and improve your Action Plan’s
task list and see where you're making the most progress.
Action Plan - Chapter 4, Continuous Monitoring
Action Plans: Creating To Do Lists
The key to creating To Do lists is to setup
a simple tracking system in
MS Excel that is easy to manage. The easier is it to use, the
more others will use it. Don’t go too high-tech!
-
Create a column in Excel for your daily
"to do list".
-
Create a column to prioritize the tasks
you want to achieve each day.
-
Create a column to show the High,
Medium and Low priority tasks.
-
Filter the list.
Writing To Do Lists
When writing the To Do lists, follow these
writing guidelines:
-
Use positive language -
don’t write what must not be done, instead write what must be
performed. For example: Call ten companies in five days.
-
Use simple words - don’t
use pretentious words or phrases that sounds important. Write as
though talking to a good friend.
Don’t write: ‘Utilize electronic communications to
search information systems.’
Write: ‘Use the internet to send emails’.
-
Use direct phrasing - In
other words, don’t write what must not be done, write what must be
performed.
Conclusion
Use the spreadsheet to keep track of your
tasks. If you find that you cannot
perform the tasks in the time periods you entered, then be realistic and
update the file.
Once tasks as completed change the status
from Draft to Final or
Completed. Use can also jazz up the template by color coding
the columns and tabs.
About the Author: Ivan
Walsh is a Business Plan Consultant who has worked for IBM, Intel and
NEC in the US, Europe and China. Get his
Action Plan Templates and
Free Business
Writing Tips here.
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