20 Best Free Action Plan Microsoft Word Templates for 2021

Are you looking for a good action plan template for Word? If you are, then you’re in the right place. Follow along in this article for ways to get organized with action plans.

action plan template word — Premium action plan templates for Word provide great designs and ease of customization.

Action plans help you get more organized and track your progress towards goals. Here's just some of what you can do with a good action plan:

Break down projects into specific tasks.
Track your progress towards deadlines.
Make sure everything gets done in your action plan.

While you can create an action plan from scratch, you save time if you start with an action plan in Word. Plus, your document will look more professional.

In this article, you’ll find both free and premium templates for action plans in Word.

Premium Word Templates for Any Professional Use

For the most professional designs and ease of customization, use premium templates for Word. Envato Elements has thousands of Word templates and other creative assets for one low monthly subscription.

Action plan templates for Word on Envato Elements — Get unlimited downloads of Word templates and other creative assets with an Envato Elements subscription.

But if you create only the occasional Word project, another great source of Microsoft Word templates is GraphicRiver. Like Elements, GraphicRiver has thousands of creative assets you need for every communication and marketing project. You pay only for each single use of an item. For the infrequent Word user, this is a budget-friendly option.

5 Best Premium Action Plan Templates for Word

For the best designs and usability, start your project with premium action plan template downloads for Word. Premium templates are created by professional graphic designers who always have their pulse on the latest trends. They also design Word templates that are customizable by users in a variety of applications and industries.

Below are five of the best Word templates you can use to create your action plan:

1. Project Action Plan

The Project Action Plan template for Word helps you stay organized and on-track. For each project, it breaks down the actions, responsible person, duration, start date, and finish date. This way, easily check off each item as it’s completed.

This Word template is customizable with your branding colors, logo, and other company information. And if you use Adobe InDesign, a INDD version of the template is also included.

2. Business Plan

While not an action plan template per se, the Business Plan template can be used to present a more detailed project plan. It contains all the sections you need to provide context for your action plan. Infographics and diagrams are included to help you visualize your action plan.

Or you could also use the Operation Plan layout by itself if you want to focus only on the project’s tasks and activities. The template comes in A4 size and can also be edited in InDesign.

3. Daily Planner

Looking for an action plan template download to help you get organized every day? That’s exactly what the Daily Planner template does for you. It comes with:

two month-at-a-glance pages
two weekly Pages
one to-do list/checklist
one activities page
notes pages
quotes pages

You’ll enjoy customizing this template and then using it to super-charge your productivity.

4. Project Planner Template

The Project Planner template offers a clean, no-frills design and the ability to apply your own brand colors. The template has four columns for:

Action Plan
Description
Due Date
Completed.

Configure these according to your needs. The designer of this template used paragraph styles, which makes it easy to customize in MS Word. The template pack also includes files for InDesign.

5. Startup Business Plan

The Startup Business Plan template can be used to present a detailed action plan for any project. Pick and choose only the page layouts you need.

For a bare-bones action plan template, the Operation Plan layout may be all you need. To provide more context, include and adapt the pages for:

Business Description
Main Services
Financial Plan.

18+ Top Free MS Word Action Plan Template Examples to Download (2021)

Before looking for a free action plan templates for Word on the web, check Envato's free offerings first. Try out various premium template files (not always action plan templates at no cost to you.

Envato Elements Free Files — Each month Envato Elements offers a different selection of free files for you to try. You can also find free files each month on GraphicRiver.

Here's the deal:

Every month Envato Elements offers 12 different hand-selected files, (fonts, presentations, videos, and more). Create a free account to download this month's free premium files now.
Or try Envato Market for free. They offer seven handpicked monthly freebies. Log in with your Envato Market account to get this month's handpicked premium freebies.

We’ve also scoured the internet to find free action plan templates for Word. Below are 20 of the best Word action plan templates we found.

1. Free Action Plan Template Word Document

This is an action plan template for Word that’s in table form. Add your company logo and contact information.

2. Recruitment and Retention Action Plan Template

Here’s a template created specifically for recruitment and retention action plans.

3. One Page Action Plan Template

The name says it all. This free action plan template Word document captures your project goal and planned actions all on one page. It can also be used as part of a full-blown business plan.

4. Team Action Plan Template for Word

This is another template for creating an action plan in table form. There’s space to assign specific tasks to different team members.

5. Project Action Plan Template for Word

The Project Action Plan template groups tasks according to goals and formats the action plan like a spreadsheet.

6. Employee Action Plan Template for Word

This free action plan template Word document is specifically for employee development planning. The table includes space to list supervisors, team members, and trainers.

7. Work Action Plan Template for Word

Here’s another table format action plan. It includes a column for Potential Hazards that could get in the way of completing a task.

8. Sales Action Plan Template for Word

This action plan template for Word also groups tasks per goal. Unlike other templates in table layout, this one is in portrait orientation.

9. Project Planning Timeline

This project planning template from Microsoft Office organizes tasks per week in a table form.

10. Meeting Minutes With Action Items

Another template from Microsoft Office, this turns meeting minutes into an action plan.

11. Tactical Business Marketing Plan

This marketing plan template includes a cover and three-page layout for a more detailed action plan.

12. Action Plan Template 02

This is a yearly action plan template for MS Word in table format, with tasks broken down by quarter. It also includes a guide for filling out the different cells.

13. Action Plan Template 03

This action plan template is in portrait-oriented table form. It provides space for plenty of context about the project, including risks and assumptions and monitoring arrangements.

14. Action Plan Template 08

This super simple action plan template captures the goals, beneficiaries, required resources, next steps, and more.

15. Action Plan In Microsoft Word Document Format

The page provides two versions of an action plan for Word:

one blank file to print out or fill out in Word
another version with sample information to serve as a guide for how to use the template

16. Goal Setting Action Planner Template

This free action planner template is designed to help you break down goals into specific steps. It’s free but you need to sign up to get access.

17. Evaluation Action Plan Template Download

This template creates an action plan for evaluating training programs within a company or organization.

18. Social Media Action Plan Template

This is a template for an action plan specifically to organize social media activities. It’s provided free by Lethbridge College in Canada.

19. Action Plan Template (Word)

This Improvement Skills Action plan provided by NHS Education for Scotland is simple and easy to fill out.

5 Quick Tips to Make Action Plan Documents in Word 2021

No matter which action plan template download you use, you can take steps to ensure that your action plan is as effective as it can be. Here are some tips:

1. Begin With the End in Mind

Get clear on the goals of the project you’re planning for, because every item on your action plan must contribute to a goal.

action plan template download — Begin your action plan by specifying a SMART goal for the project.

Use the SMART framework to express each goal. SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. If you’re up to it, you can even make your goals SMART-ER by adding steps for Evaluation and Readjusting the plan.

2. Break Actions Down Into Doable Chunks

An action plan is more useful and effective if activities are broken down into smaller tasks. If a big activity has several components or phases, those should be listed separately in an action plan. This more “granular” view makes it easier for you to keep an eye on everything that needs to get done. Otherwise, smaller tasks can easily get overlooked or forgotten.

3. Include a Time Dimension

If you set SMART goals, then your actions will naturally have a time dimension as well. This means simply setting a deadline for when each task should be completed. One way to come up with appropriate deadlines is by starting at the end. Determine the due date for the whole project. Then, work backwards from there to figure out the deadline for each activity.

sample action plan template set deadlines — An action plan helps you meet deadlines.

4. Specify the Required Resources

Another critical element of an action plan is the list of resources needed to complete each task. By identifying these requirements upfront, they can be sourced or prepared on time for activity implementers. Knowing the required requirements is also helpful for drawing up an accurate budget for the project.

5. Make It Scannable

While you want the action plan to have all the information the project manager and implementers may need, remember that you also need to keep it easy to scan. You can achieve this in several ways:

avoid long blocks of text.
use bullet points and descriptive phrases instead of full sentences.
break sections with headings and sub-headings.
group activities by goal, sub-project, or project phase.

Discover More Top Microsoft Word Template Designs

As someone who plans, runs, or manages projects, you may find yourself needing to create different documents. For other business planning and management uses, consider these Word template designs:

Learn More About Making Great Word Documents in 2021

Learning how to use Microsoft Word is a skill that pays off, whether at work, business, school, or home. You don’t have to be an advanced user to make the most of the robust features of MS Word. And the more you use it, the easier it gets. If you want to strengthen your Word skills, we’ve compiled our best walkthroughs in this MS Word tutorial guide.

Here are some tutorials to get started with:

Boost Your Productivity with Motivating Action Plans

If you want to be as productive and effective as possible, action plans can help you stay organized with your projects. Whether for business, school, or personal undertakings, action plans are useful and motivating. They help you spot delays as soon as they occur, so you can take the necessary steps to get back on track. Checking off each completed activity gives you a feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment.

Get started by using one of the free action plan templates for Word listed above. We’ve found action plan templates for different uses, and all of them can be edited in Word.

But if you want the benefits of premium templates then get a professionally designed action plan template for Word from either Envato Elements or GraphicRiver.

Envato Elements gives you unlimited downloads of Word templates, fonts, photos, and other creative assets you need—and all for one low monthly subscription. For the one-off project, you’ll find GraphicRiver’s pay-per-use arrangement to be a budget-friendly option. Either way, you’ll have everything you could possibly need to create outstanding materials.

18+ Best Free Action Plan Microsoft Word Templates to Download 2021