Developing an Action Plan

In a team, it is important to allocate roles and responsibilities amongst the members and come up with an action plan together. This action plan should be designed to eventually achieve the service and learning objectives set (click to find out more about setting service and learning objectives).

An action plan describes concrete steps your team will use to meet your objectives.

Each action step to be carried out should include the following information:

• What actions will occur
• Who will carry out these changes
• By when they will take place, and for how long
• What resources (i.e., money, manpower) are needed to carry out these steps? See segment below for resources on funding.
• Communication (who should know what?)

Use the following factors to evaluate the effectiveness of your action plan:

• Complete? Does it list all the action steps you are going to take at all points of your service process to achieve your goals?
• Clear? Is it apparent who will do what by when?
• Current? Is the action plan up to date? Does it anticipate newly emerging opportunities and barriers?

References: Community Tool Box, University of Kansas; A handbook on service learning (National Youth Council, 2000)

Here are some resources to help you in the planning of your service project: