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 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.
Explore Action Plan Templates for Microsoft Word Now
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 (2022)
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.
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We’ve also scoured the internet to find free action plan templates for Word. Below are over 18 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 to this free action plan template.
2. Recruitment and Retention Action Plan Template
Here’s a free action plan 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 sample 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 free action plan template. 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 sample 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 sample action plan template is in portrait-oriented table form. This free action plan template word 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 a free action plan template 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 plan template Word 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 free action plan template Word creates an action plan for evaluating training programs within a company or organization.
18. Social Media Action Plan Template
This is a free action plan template Word for an action plan specifically to organize social media activities. It’s provided free by Lethbridge College in Canada.
19. Action Plan Template 05
This free action plan template has room for five actionable steps. Included are columns for responsibility, timeline, resources, potential barriers, and communication.
How to Make Your Next Action Plan Quickly
Now that you've got your Word action plan template, it's time to customize it. This includes adding the actual content of the document to it and changing the design to fit your companies brand.
For this tutorial, we'll be using the premium template, Business Proposal, PowerPoint & Word 20 Pages.
1. Choose Your Pages
Before you can begin customizing your document, you need to choose the template pages that you are going to use. Chances are that all the pages in the template aren't going to be needed for your particular document.
To delete a blank page on your document, first delete all the content on that page. Then click on the top of the page and click backspace. This deletes the page.
2. Add in Your Content
Now it's time to add in your text. The template has text placeholders on each of the pages. We'll add in our text by double clicking the text placeholder text.
Then you can right click and paste in your desired text. We'll do this on every page of the document.
3. Add in Images
There are image placeholders on our template as well. To add in images into these placeholders, click on the Insert main menu tab. From there choose the Pictures option and then select Picture from File...
Next, choose the image you want to add. Then resize the image and place it over the image placeholder. You can also delete the placeholder if you like by clicking on the object and hitting backspace.
4. Change the Color Scheme
Now it's time to change the color scheme to match our companies colors. To change the color scheme, we'll go to the Design tab. Next, click the Colors option. From there, we can change the color of the template to match our companies branding.
Let's now go over a few quick tips for creating the content of your action plan documents.
5 Quick Tips to Make Action Plan Documents in Word 2022
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.
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 should 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.
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.
Top 5 Design Trends for Plan of Action Templates for 2022
It's important to stay on top of design trends for your plan of action templates. In this next section, we'll cover the top five design trends that you can implement in any of your designs:
1. Layered Design
Layered designs give your presentation a more three dimensional look. Try layering text, solid colored shapes, and icons on top of your images. This type of layering makes your presentation look more professional.
2. Include Timelines
Timelines are essential in plan of action templates. They give the audience an idea of what steps need to be taken and how long they'll take. Include the timeline at the beginning on the presentation to give your reader an overview of the project.
3. Black, White, & Gray
The black, white, and gray color scheme is timeless. This color scheme gives your plan of action template a more professional look and instantly grab your audience's attention. Use gray as the highlight color.
4. Add Graphs & Charts
Graphs and charts are a great way to show a plan of action. They give the audience a visual cue of the action that can be taken and the results of this action.
5. Include Lots of Images & Icons
Images and icons make your action plan templates more interesting. They also help inspire action.
If your presentation lacks images and icons, it'll be much harder to get your audience to take action. Create a design that leaves plenty of room for images and icons.
Let's now go over even more designs that you can download.
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:
20 Best Free Microsoft Word Timeline Templates to Download for 2022
20 Best Free Microsoft Word Meeting Agenda Templates to Download 2022
20 Best Free Professional MS Word Business Report Templates to Download 2022
5 Benefits of Using the Best PowerPoint Presentation Templates With Pro Designs (In 2022)
Still not sure if you should purchase a premium plan of actions templates? Wouldn't it be best to just hire someone to create a design for you?
In this section, we'll cover five reasons on why using templates with pro designs are the best choice for you.
- You get a professional design. The designs in premium plan of action templates are created by professionals. So, you don't gain anything extra from hiring someone to create a template from scratch.
- You save money. Hiring a designer to create a custom template can be quite expensive.
- You save time. Besides spending more money, hiring a designer takes a lot more time. You've got to find the designer, hire them, and then wait for them to finish the design.
- You can still customize. Premium action plan templates are fully customizable. You don't have to give up any customization with a template. You can customize the colors, fonts, and anything else you can see on the design.
- You can generate ideas. The professional action plan templates for Word can help you generate new ideas for your design that you never would've thought of yourself.
Benefits of Envato Elements (The Power of Unlimited Use)
Envato Elements is a unique service. It's a flat-rate subscription that includes thousands of great PPT templates for a single flat-rate price.
Sign up for Envato Elements. You'll get access to thousands of unlimited use creative assets. Choose from web themes to presentation templates, and more—all for one low price.
Learn More About Making Great Word Documents in 2022
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:
How to Quickly Format Basic Text Styles in Microsoft Word Documents
How to Make Awesome Page Layout Designs in Microsoft Word (+Video)
How to Quickly Find, Edit, & Use Microsoft Word Templates (MS Theme Files)
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.
Editorial Note: This post has been updated with contributions from Daniel Strongin. Daniel is a freelance instructor for Envato Tuts+.
