2(c) Developing concept and action plans

Figure 1. Planning well is the key to success (Taylor, CC BY 2.0)

Now it’s time to plan for action. There are two types of plans that you will likely need to make at this point: a concept plan and an action plan.

Concept plans / Concept note / Social business model canvas

A concept plan / concept note is a short document that outlines the key aspects of your intervention. It is used to help you clarify what you want to do and how you want to do it. But it is also used to help get others involved. It is also often required by individuals or organisations who might give you money for your project. In a school context it would help to gain the support of school administration or your parent-teacher association. You will learn more about funding a project in Module 2(e).

In order to prepare a successful concept plan / concept note, you have to spend time carefully thinking and planning the action. How well you plan the action will influence how good the results are. The shorter the better! For Youth Mayors projects, we would suggest a concept plan of no more than 2 pages. A concept plan/concept note has several key parts:

  • Title

  • Background

  • Objectives (consider linking to one or more Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) or the Doughnut Model

  • Outputs

  • Project plan (you can link to a Gantt chart, see next section)

  • Beneficiaries (who will benefit from your action) and impacts

  • Project management

  • Budget (see Module 2(d) for information about how to construct a budget)

Photograph of a calculator

Figure 2. Planning, including a budget, is an important part of taking effective action (Cohen, CC BY 2.0)

Another way of outlining your project that is particularly suited to ones that will earn revenue (money), is a social business model canvas. This is an adaptation of a business model canvas for social enterprises, ones that are not solely focused on profit. This tool puts all the key information about a project on one page, in different blocks. It includes a budget broken down into costs and revenues (see Module 2(d) for more information about budgets). Figure 3 shows what this looks like:

Image of the social business model canvas

Figure 3. Social business model canvas (Tandemic)

Action plans

To carry out a project successfully, you also need a detailed Action Plan. An action plan can help you organise activities that need to be carried out, planning what needs to be done and when. Many activities will overlap in timing, so a good project plan will help you visualise everything that needs to be done.


A Gantt chart is a standard way of doing an action plan. It is a visual chart that lists the activities that need to be done, the time period when it will be done and who is in charge of getting that activity done. A Gantt chart looks like Figure 4, done by a student for an IB Middle Years Personal Project.

Sample Gantt chart

Figure 4. A sample Gantt chart for part of a project (Nyquist)

Notice that the student has listed all the tasks in the first column, has listed a start and end date, the actual completion date, how much of the step has been completed and filled in cells to indicate the time period so he/she can see it visually. It is also easier to see when activities overlap this way.


Your Gantt chart does not need to be so detailed. For example, you can leave out the columns for start and end date, since you see that through the colored table cells. However, you might want to include an additional column to indicate who is in charge of that activity if you are working in a group.


Gantt charts can be linked to a concept plan / concept note, or a visual included, to help third parties see your project’s timeline and activities.

Practice Activity

  1. Access this template for making a Gantt chart. Make a copy of it. You can add or delete columns and rows as necessary.

  2. Practice using the Gantt chart by making a plan for making toast. You can adjust the labels for the time columns to minutes, rather than weeks.

Project Activity

Access this template for making a Gantt chart. Make a copy of it and start planning how you will carry out your project. You can add or delete columns as necessary.

Examples in different contexts

Reducing plastic in the household

A concept plan for the multiple actions was created and presented to the household for feedback, taking the place of a pilot (part of Stage 3 Taking Action).
A Gantt chart (link is an example for this project) was created for the entire project to map out the different project stages.

Mitigating CO2 emissions in the school

The students wrote a concept plan to provide background information on CO2 emissions and climate change to convince school administration to grant permission for the tree-planting. Included in the concept plan was information on the budget needed, fundraising plans, and long-term care plans for the trees.
The students did not include the other two actions (signs about electricity use and informing to change mental models) since these were not necessary for external support.
The students also created a Gantt chart (link is an example for this project) to outline all the stages of the project. This was linked in the concept plan.

Informing people with Down syndrome about social distancing during a pandemic

The situation with the pandemic was developing fast, so the students needed to move quickly to ensure that the materials were made available. They wrote a concept plan with background about the availability of easy-read materials which was shared with the local Down syndrome association.The plan also included information about:Content: text for the easy-read materials, based on local regulations; photos of people with Down syndrome and obtaining consent to use them;
Equipment: slideshow/video software (Google slides/MS ppt).
Human resources: three students were involved; two people working on the text and the photos, one person focused on video-editing.
Action Timeline: Because of the urgency of the project, the students decided that they would take 5 days in total to:
  • write the text and obtain consent for using photos (2 days),
  • create the video and pilot it (2 days)
  • polish it out and share it with the relevant stakeholders (1 day)

Since everyone was taking part in this project from home, the students held a daily meeting at 12pm via Google Meet to make sure everything was on track.

Tools

CONCEPT PLAN / CONCEPT NOTE

A template for a concept plan so you can concisely outline your project to communicate, seek permission and support, or fundraise for your project.

SOCIAL BUSINESS MODEL CANVAS

A one-page template for capturing the most important information about your project to communicate, seek permission and support, or fundraise for your project.

GANTT CHART

Instructions for constructing a project plan, with detailed steps, timing, and responsibilities. An example is given, along with links to tools for making Gantt charts.

Displays for exhibitions and reports

Don’t forget to document your work. For a reminder about documentation, see Module 1(e).

Ideas for documentation in this section include:

  • Completed concept plan / concept note

  • Completed social business model canvas

  • Completed Gantt chart

Works cited

Cohen, Mike. “Planning.” Flickr, Yahoo!, 20 July 2018, https://tinyurl.com/y7nrx5jv.


Nyquist, Amelia. Gantt Chart. 2020.


“Tandemic.” Social Business Model Canvas, 16 Mar. 2020, www.socialbusinessmodelcanvas.com/.


Taylor, Tim. “Pencil.” Flickr, Yahoo!, 7 Jan. 2012, https://tinyurl.com/y7o99dc6.


Images for examples in different contexts source information:

Samoilov, Yuri. “Coronavirus.” Flickr, Yahoo!, 20 Mar. 2020, https://tinyurl.com/ya2ngksd. CC BY 2.0

Webster, Tony. “Plastic Bottles - Waste.” Flickr, Yahoo!, 16 Sept. 2012, www.flickr.com/photos/87296837@N00/7992944072. CC BY 2.0

XoMEoX. “Tree.” Flickr, Yahoo!, 28 May 2017, https://tinyurl.com/y8bw46ns. CC BY 2.0