Implementing Community

Action Plan
Lesson 7
 1. How does action planning help
the community?

Answer the 2. Why is action planning

important?
following
questions: 3. When should you create an
action plan?

4. What are the major steps in

initiating an action plan?
Task1
Instruction: Compose an of not less than 200
words regarding your prior knowledge on
. Don’t forget to include the following
basic parts of an essay/ article: write your answer in
a short bond paper. :
a. Introduction Points
Mechanics 10
b. Body Organization 5
c. Concluding paragraph Content 20
Cleanliness 5
Total 40pts
How does action
planning help a
community?
 Understand the community’s
REGARDLESS OF THE
perception of both the issue
DIFFICULTY OF THE at hand and its potential
PROBLEM AT HAND
WITHIN YOUR solutions
COMMUNITY, ACTION
PLANNING HELPS YOU:
Assure inclusive and
integrated participation
across community sectors in
the planning process
 Build consensus on what can
REGARDLESS OF THE
and should be done based on
DIFFICULTY OF THE the community’s unique
PROBLEM AT HAND
WITHIN YOUR assets and needs
COMMUNITY, ACTION
PLANNING HELPS YOU:
Specify concrete ways in
which members of the
community coalition can take
action (Jenette Nagy n.d.)
 The list above describes how an
action plan helps different sectors
and residents within a community as
they work together to attain a
common vision. This tool will address
each item and provide guidance for
your action planning work that lies
ahead. (Jenette Nagy n.d.)
WHY IS ACTION
PLANNING
IMPORTANT?
Proper planning of any initiative is vital
for yielding the best results or outcomes
possible. An action plan, while an
important investment of time and
energy, can be an effective tool that
grounds all collaborators with a mutual
purpose. Developing an action plan is a
critical first step toward ensuring project
success. (Jenette Nagy n.d.)
An No detail is unnoticed
action
plan
assures
that: Proposed action steps are
practicable and/or realistic

Collaborators follow through

with their obligations

Measurable activities are

documented and evaluated
Overall, action planning is
important because it provides a
reference point with a thorough
time line and assignment of
accountability for achieving tasks
along the path towards making a
difference. (Jenette Nagy n.d.)
Research findings of the Center for
Community Health and
Development recommended that
there are a number of aspects that
appear to have a positive effect on
rates of community and system
change—and one of those
includes action planning:
Aspects that • Analyzing Information About the
Problem, Goals, and Factors
• Developing Leadership
• Implementing Effective
Affecting Them
appear to • Establishing Your Group's Vision
Interventions

have a and Mission

• Defining Organizational
• Assuring Technical
Assistance
positive effect Structure and Operating
Mechanisms • Documenting Progress
on rates of • Developing a Framework or
and Using Feedback
• Making Outcomes Matter
Model of Change
community • Developing and Using Strategic • Sustaining the Work
and system and Action Plans
• Arranging for Community
(Jenette Nagy n.d.)

change Mobilizers
WHAT IS ACTION
PLANNING?
The overall goal of action planning is
to increase your community’s ability
to work together to affect conditions
and outcomes that matter to its
residents—and to do so both over
time and across issues of interest.
(Jenette Nagy n.d.)
As your community works towards a broad vision
of health for all, making supportive environments
for change requires all-inclusive efforts among
varied sectors of the community. These include
health organizations, faith communities, schools,
and businesses. Representatives of each sector
come together to form a community partnership.
Your community partnership can strive to
influence systems changes—programs, policies,
and practices that can improve the community’s
capacity to be a healthy environment. (Jenette
Nagy n.d.)
A community partnership initiates its work
by generating an action plan. An action
plan outlines what should happen to
achieve the vision for a healthy community.
Desirable changes and proposed activities
(action steps), timelines, and assignment
of accountability provide a detailed road
map for collaborators to follow. (Jenette
Nagy n.d.)
WHEN SHOULD YOU
CREATE AN ACTION
PLAN?
Ideally, you should develop an action
plan within the first six to twelve months
of the start of an initiative or
organization. Once an action plan is
made, it should be revisited often (e.g.,
as often as monthly but at least
annually) so it can be improved to meet
the changing needs of your community.
(Jenette Nagy n.d.)
 Refining Your Action
Plan: Building
Consensus on Proposed
Changes
Step 1: Checking the Proposed Changes for Completeness. The group
should examine proposed changes for each sector, as well as
collectively. To review the proposed changes in each community sector,
we recommend asking two questions: Collectively, do these proposed
changes make the most of this sector's contribution to the mission of
fostering healthy youth development? What other changes in programs,
policies, or practices could or should be made in this sector? To review
the set of proposed changes and their completeness, we suggest asking:
Would all the changes, collectively, be enough to increase youth health
to desired levels? What other changes in programs, policies, or practices
could or should be made in the community? (Vincent T. Francisco, et al.
2002)
Step 2: Using a Survey (or More Informal Review) to Build
Consensus. To help attract and preserve commitments, it is
important to build agreement on the changes to be sought. The
group may use a survey to review the proposed changes. This can
also be done less formally, such as individually or in small groups.
We recommend listing all the proposed changes, organized by
community sector, along with questions about their importance
and viability for addressing the mission of promoting health for all.
(Vincent T. Francisco, et al. 2002)
For each change to be sought, we recommend asking: Is
this proposed change important to the mission of reducing
increasing healthy development among youth? Is the
proposed change possible? The following is an example of
a useful survey for building consensus on your action plan.
(Vincent T. Francisco, et al. 2002)
Proposed Changes in the Schools: How important is it to… How
feasible is it to...
Not at all | Very good
Provide skills training in 12345|12345
conflict resolution.
Provide adequate lighting on 12345|12345
school grounds.
Distribute surveys to all key audiences
(e.g., community members, school
staff, representatives of funding
sources, and experts in youth
development.) then gather the
completed surveys and compute an
average rating for the importance and
feasibility of each proposed change.
Results of this survey can be used
to guide final choices of
community changes to be
pursued. Proposed changes with
high importance and high
feasibility ratings should be given
higher importance for action; those
with lower importance or
feasibility, a lower priority. It may
be helpful to set a deadline for
choosing priorities.
For example, perhaps only those proposed changes
with an average rating of 4 or higher on importance, and
3 or higher on feasibility might be included on the final
action plan. An additional tool you may want to utilize
for this is http://www.conceptsystems.com. This suite
of software is designed to support activities for sorting
and rating concepts (e.g. proposed actions) among a
great number of stakeholders. Tailored reporting tools
are also provided, making it likely to produce final
reports of findings efficiently. (Vincent T. Francisco, et
al. 2002)
Step 3: Securing a Formal Decision from
the Entire Group. Seek formal support of
the proposed changes by the members of
the initiative. A one-half day action
planning retreat or working session can be
used to do this effectively. Seek
agreement. Use a formal vote to resolve
disagreements about changes only when
necessary. When the action plan is
complete, arrange for all members to vote
on the completed plan. (Vincent T.
Francisco, et al. 2002)
Finalizing Your
Action Plan: Listing
Action Steps for
Proposed Changes
Step 1: Identify Major Action Steps for
Each Change. To prepare action steps
for your action plan, define the following
for each proposed change: What
actions will be taken, the responsible
agents (by whom), timeline, resources
and support needed, and potential
barriers and resistance.(Vincent T.
Francisco, et al. 2002)
Step 2: Review of Earlier Analysis. Use the
information gathered in the previous chapters to
direct your initiative’s action steps for carrying about
identified community and systems changes.
(Vincent T. Francisco, et al. 2002)
Step 3: Finalize and Communicate the Plan. A
strong, comprehensive action plan needs a
group that is united and organized. This should
include the list of changes by community
sector, related action steps, and a proposed
time frame. (Vincent T. Francisco, et al. 2002)
 Sample of Important
Actions Steps in
Implementing
Community Action Plan
Task 1: Make an outline or plan on
how a community action is to be
implemented using the sample
format: