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What Is an Implementation Plan? (Template & Example Included)

What Is Project Implementation?

Project implementation, or project execution, is the process of completing tasks to deliver a project successfully. These tasks are initially described in the project plan, a comprehensive document that covers all areas of project management. However, a secondary action plan, known as an implementation plan, should be created to help team members and project managers better execute and track the project .

What Is an Implementation Plan?

An implementation plan is a document that describes the necessary steps for the execution of a project. Implementation plans break down the project implementation process by defining the timeline, the teams and the resources that’ll be needed.

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Implementation Plan Template

Use this free Implementation Plan Template for Excel to manage your projects better.

Implementation Plan vs. Project Plan

A project plan is a comprehensive project management document that should describe everything about your project including the project schedule, project budget, scope management plan, risk management plan, stakeholder management plan and other important components. An implementation plan, on the other hand, is a simplified version of your project plan that includes only the information that’s needed by the team members who will actually participate in the project execution phase, such as their roles, responsibilities, daily tasks and deadlines.

Project management software like ProjectManager greatly simplifies the implementation planning process. Schedule and execute your implementation plan with our robust online Gantt charts. Assign work, link dependencies and track progress in real time with one chart. Plus, if your team wants to work with something other than a Gantt chart, our software offers four other project views for managing work: task lists, kanban boards, calendars and sheets. Try it for free today.

Key Steps In Project Implementation

Here are some of the key steps that you must oversee as a project manager during the project execution phase . Your project implementation plan should have the necessary components to help you achieve these steps.

1. Communicate Goals and Objectives

Once you’ve outlined the project goals and objectives, the next step is to ensure that the team understands them. For the project to succeed, there must be buy-in from the project team. A meeting is a good way to communicate this, though having project documents that they can refer to is also viable.

2. Define Team Roles and Responsibilities

The project manager will define the roles and responsibilities and communicate them to the project team . They should understand what they’re expected to do and who they can reach out to with questions about their work, all of which leads to a smooth-running project.

3. Establish the Success Criteria for Deliverables

The project deliverables need to meet quality standards, and to do this there must be a success criteria for handing off these deliverables. You want to have something in place to determine if the deliverable is what it’s supposed to be. The measurement is called a success criteria and it applies to any deliverable, whether it’s tangible or intangible.

4. Schedule Work on a Project Timeline

All projects require a schedule , which at its most basic is a start date and an end date for your project. In between those two points, you’ll have phases and tasks, which also have start and finish dates. To manage these deadlines, use a project timeline to visually map everything in one place.

Free Implementation Plan Template

Use this implementation plan template for Excel to define your strategy, scope, resource plan, timeline and more. It’s the ideal way to begin your implementation process. Download your template today.

5. Monitor Cost, Time and Performance

To make sure that you’re keeping to your schedule and budget, you need to keep a close eye on the project during the execution phase. Some of the things you should monitor are your costs, time and performance. Costs refer to your budget , time refers to your schedule and performance impacts both as well as quality. By keeping track of these metrics, you can make adjustments to stay on schedule and on budget.

6. Report to Project Stakeholders

While the project manager is monitoring the project, the stakeholders, who have a vested interest in the project, are also going to want to stay informed. To manage their expectations and show them that the project is hitting all its milestones, you’ll want to have project reports , such as project status reports. These can then be presented to the stakeholders regularly to keep them updated.

What Are the Key Components of an Implementation Plan?

There’s no standard one-size-fits-all solution when it comes to creating your implementation plan. However, we’ve created an implementation plan outline for your projects. Here are its components.

• Project goals & objectives: The project goal is the ultimate goal of your project, while the objectives are the key milestones or achievements that must be completed to reach it.
• Success criteria: The project manager must reach an agreement with stakeholders to define the project success criteria.
• Project deliverables: Project deliverables are tangible or intangible outputs from project tasks.
• Scope statement: The scope statement briefly describes your project scope, which can be simply defined as the project work to be performed.
• Resource plan: Create a simple resource plan that outlines the human resources, equipment and materials needed for your project.
• Risk analysis: Use a risk assessment tool like a SWOT analysis or risk register. There are different tools with different levels of detail for your risk analysis.
• Implementation timeline: Any implementation plan needs a clear project timeline to be executed properly. You should use an advanced tool such as a Gantt chart to create one.
• Implementation plan milestones: You need to identify key milestones of your implementation plan so that you can easily keep track of its progress.
• Team roles & responsibilities: The implementation plan won’t execute itself. You’ll need to assign roles and responsibilities to your team members.
• Implementation plan metrics: You’ll need KPIs, OKRs or any other performance metrics you can use to control the progress of your implementation plan.

How to Write an Implementation Plan

Follow these steps to create an implementation plan for your project or business. You can also consider using project management software like ProjectManager to help you with the implementation process.

1. Review Your Project Plan

Start by identifying what you’ll need for the execution of your implementation plan:

• What teams need to be involved to achieve the strategic goals?
• How long will it take to make the strategic goals happen?
• What resources should be allocated ?

By interviewing stakeholders, key partners, customers and team members, you can determine the most crucial assignments needed and prioritize them accordingly. It’s also at this stage that you should list out all the goals you’re looking to achieve to cross-embed the strategic plan with the implementation plan. Everything must tie back to that strategic plan in order for your implementation plan to work.

2. Map Out Assumptions and Risks

This acts as an extension to the research and discovery phase, but it’s also important to point out assumptions and risks in your implementation plan. This can include anything that might affect the execution of the implementation plan, such as paid time off or holidays you didn’t factor into your timeline , budget constraints, losing personnel, market instability or even tools that require repair before your implementation can commence.

3. Identify Task Owners

Each activity in your implementation plan must include a primary task owner or champion to be the owner of it. For tasks to be properly assigned, this champion will need to do the delegating. This means that they ensure that all systems are working as per usual, keep track of their teams’ productivity and more. Project planning software is practically essential for this aspect.

4. Define Project Tasks

Next, you need to finalize all the little activities to round out your plan. Start by asking yourself the following questions:

• What are the steps or milestones that make up the plan?
• What are the activities needed to complete each step?
• Who needs to be involved in the plan?
• What are the stakeholder requirements?
• What resources should be allocated?
• Are there any milestones we need to list?
• What are the risks involved based on the assumptions we notated?
• Are there any dependencies for any of the tasks?

Once all activities are outlined, all resources are listed and all stakeholders have approved (but no actions have been taken just yet), you can consider your implementation plan complete and ready for execution.

Implementation Plan Example

Implementation plans are used by companies across industries on a daily basis. Here’s a simple project implementation plan example we’ve created using ProjectManager to help you better understand how implementation plans work. Let’s imagine a software development team is creating a new app.

• Project goal: Create a new app
• Project objectives: All the project deliverables that must be achieved to reach that ultimate goal.
• Success criteria: The development team needs to communicate with the project stakeholders and agree upon success criteria.
• Scope statement: Here’s where the development team will document all the work needed to develop the app. That work is broken down into tasks, which are known as user stories in product and software development. Here, the team must also note all the exceptions, which means everything that won’t be done.
• Resource plan: In this case, the resources are all the professionals involved in the software development process, as well as any equipment needed by the team.
• Risk analysis: Using a risk register, the product manager can list all the potential risks that might affect the app development process.
• Timeline, milestones and metrics: Here’s an image of an implementation plan timeline we created using ProjectManager’s Gantt chart view. The diamond symbols represent the implementation plan milestones.
• Team roles & responsibilities: Similarly, we used a Gantt chart to assign implementation plan tasks to team members according to their roles and responsibilities.

Benefits of an Implementation Plan for the Project Implementation Process

The implementation plan plays a large role in the success of your overall strategic plan. But more than that, communicating both your strategic plan and the implementation of it therein to your team members helps them feel as if they have a sense of ownership within the company’s long-term direction.

Increased Cooperation

An implementation plan that’s well communicated also helps to increase cooperation across all teams through all the steps of the implementation process. It’s easy to work in a silo—you know exactly what your daily process is and how to execute it. But reaching across the aisle and making sure your team is aligned on the project goals that you’re also trying to meet? That’s another story entirely. With an implementation plan in place, it helps to bridge the divide just a little easier.

Additionally, with an implementation plan that’s thoroughly researched and well-defined, you can ensure buy-in from stakeholders and key partners involved in the project. And no matter which milestone you’re at, you can continue to get that buy-in time and time again with proper documentation.

At the end of the day, the biggest benefit of an implementation plan is that it makes it that much easier for the company to meet its long-term goals. When everyone across all teams knows exactly what you want to accomplish and how to do it, it’s easy to make it happen.

Implementation Plan FAQ

There’s more to know about implementation plans. It’s a big subject and we’ve tried to be thorough as possible, but if you have any further questions, hopefully we’ve answered them below.

What Is the Difference Between an Action Plan and an Implementation Plan?

The main difference between an action plan and an implementation plan is that an action plan focuses exclusively on describing work packages and tasks, while the implementation plan is more holistic and addresses other variables that affect the implementation process such as risks, resources and team roles & responsibilities.

What Is an Implementation Plan in Business?

A business implementation plan is the set of steps that a company follows to execute its strategic plan and achieve all the business goals that are described there.

What Is an Implementation Plan in Project Management?

Implementation plans have many uses in project management. They’re a planning tool that allows project managers to control smaller projects within their project plan. For example, they might need an implementation plan to execute risk mitigation actions, change requests or produce specific deliverables.

How to Make an Implementation Plan With ProjectManager

Creating and managing an implementation plan is a huge responsibility and one that requires diligence, patience and great organizational skills.

When it comes to a project implementation plan, there are many ways to make one that’s best suited for your team. With ProjectManager , you get access to both agile and waterfall planning so you can plan in sprints for large or small projects, track issues and collaborate easily. Try kanban boards for managing backlogs or for making workflows in departments.

Switching up the activities after a milestone meeting with stakeholders? You can easily update your implementation plan with our software features. Add new tasks, set due dates, and track how far along your team is on their current activities.

Implementation plans are the backbone of an organization’s strategic overall plan. With ProjectManager, give your organization the project management software they need to gain insight into all resources needed, view activities on their lists and collaborate with ease. Sign up for our free 30-day trial today.

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Defining Strategy, Implementation, and Execution

The three are different, though their boundaries are hard to draw.

It is striking how much confusion there is between strategy, implementation, and execution . Is “strategy” a matter of making choices about where we want to go, where we play and how we win, of setting goals and actions, about how we create and capture economic value over time? Does it include creating solutions to unforeseen problems and running with unexpected opportunities? Is “getting things done” what we mean by implementation or execution? Do you “execute” or “implement” a strategy?  And can you separate these from strategy formation ?

• KF Ken Favaro is a former CEO of Marakon Associates, the chief strategy officer of BERA Brand Management, and a guest instructor at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business.

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How to create an effective implementation plan

An implementation plan is a formal document outlining step-by-step instructions and specific tasks required of team members to successfully achieve project goals or objectives. It’s a crucial component of project management , serving as a helpful roadmap for completing projects that support larger strategic initiatives. 

Once organizational strategies have been determined, the individual actions and step-by-step process of achieving these strategic objectives necessitate introducing an implementation plan.  

According to KBV Research, the global Project Management Software Market is anticipated to reach $17.75 billion by 2030 . However, additional research shows that up to 80% of IT projects fail to meet their objectives and experience considerable delays or exceed planned costs.

This article explores the vital role of an implementation plan in project management, covering its definition, benefits, challenges, and essential components. It also guides readers in creating their own plans, offering key advice for successful project outcomes.

What is an implementation plan?

An implementation plan is a formal document detailing the individual steps and tangible actions project teams must take when pursuing a shared goal or objective.

The plan is a process in project management and supports an organization’s wider strategic busi n ess priorities , setting out the specific requirements and responsibilities for orchestrating successful project execution.

The plan provides project teams with a holistic view, giving them insights into a range of factors, i.e., the project’s value proposition, budgetary requirements, timeframes, potential risks, and time-to-completion. 

It should encompass the end-to-end project lifecycle, enabling teams to determine the scope (the extent of what the project covers) and scale (the size or proportion of the project) while ensuring all actions are aligned with overarching strategic prerogatives.

11 Essential components of an implementation plan

Implementation plans will undoubtedly differ depending on the project’s scale, scope, perceived time-to-value driving organizational objectives, etc. 

The foundation of any effective implementation plan, however, includes meeting some essential criteria, which include :

1. Outline project objectives

Before the project launch, an implementation plan should identify the project’s end goal to create a consensus on project parameters. Project leaders can refer to SMART criteria to define specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound objectives to make up key project milestones. 

Defining the project’s ultimate aim better enables teams to ensure project activities align with the organization’s wider strategic direction. To keep things on track, create a checklist that monitors the completion rate of key project goals, milestones, and other strategy-dependent factors.

2. Create a scope statement

A scope statement outlines the project’s actions and deliverables, identifies the project boundaries, and sets standards for meeting acceptance criteria. 

An implementation plan should produce a structured document for stakeholder alignment. This will give them a critical reference throughout the project timeline and clearly communicate what is within and outside the project trajectory to clarify its parameters. 

Scope statements help provide a clear understanding of what is expected–helping to prevent misunderstandings and ensure alignment between teams and stakeholders.

3. Launch a thorough risk analysis

Identifying potential risks and uncertainties raises awareness of any unforeseen challenges that may affect the project’s success. 

Implement risk mitigation strategies such as a SWOT analysis that gives teams a robust framework for honing in on any Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats that may arise throughout project execution. 

Implementation plans should aim to include contingency plans that provide project teams with solutions for combatting project obstacles, i.e., missed deadlines or budget limitations, and regularly revisit and update risk management efforts as the project progresses.

4. Success criteria

Success criteria outline ideal project outcomes, identifying the milestones shaping what success means for your project. 

Start by connecting these criteria to your project’s goals that turn abstract objectives into tangible accomplishments. Involve stakeholders in determining viewpoints, giving teams a well-rounded understanding of what exactly project success looks like. 

Collaboratively refine these criteria, incorporating different data points to establish a comprehensive evaluation framework. Regularly reassessing and adapting the requirements as your project unfolds allows your team to navigate changing dynamics and enables a more targeted path to project success.

5. Outline of project deliverables

Project deliverables are the tangible outcomes that define project success. For example, in an implementation plan for an IT project, teams establish project deliverables through key steps. The team first figures out exactly what they want the system to do and writes it down in a detailed plan (Functional Specifications Document). 

Then, they start building the system by writing the code and creating a guide on how to test it (Test Case Documentation). After testing to make sure everything works and tracking any issues, they release the final product (Live System) along with guides for users (User Manuals). 

Each of these steps outlines concrete project deliverables, making it clear and organized for everyone involved.

6. Team roles and responsibilities

In crafting an implementation plan, defining team roles and responsibilities is pivotal. Start by envisioning the project landscape, identifying the key players and their distinct contributions. 

Foster open communication channels to ensure a shared understanding of each team member’s role, promoting collaboration. Use clear communication tools and regular check-ins to reinforce accountability and streamline workflow. 

This approach to team roles and responsibilities ensures a cohesive and efficient working environment, where each member contributes strategically to the project’s success.

7. Project resource plan

Develop a resource plan outlining the required personnel, equipment, and materials. Address resource constraints and explore alternatives. Regularly monitor and adjust the resource plan to accommodate changing project needs. 

8. Implementation timeline

Create a detailed timeline outlining key milestones and activities. Use project management software to visualize dependencies and critical paths. Regularly update and communicate the timeline to keep all stakeholders informed.

9. Implementation plan milestones

Establish significant milestones to mark key achievements throughout the implementation process. Celebrate these milestones to boost team morale and maintain momentum. Ensure milestones are well-defined and aligned with project objectives.

10. Implementation plan metrics

Identify and establish key metrics to measure the success of the implementation plan. Regularly track and analyze these metrics to gauge progress and identify areas for improvement. Adjust the plan as needed based on metric insights.

What are the benefits of an implementation plan?

Implementing a robust implementation plan in project management can be a game-changer, offering a range of benefits. A clear roadmap for streamlined processes and enhanced resource efficiency brings plentiful advantages.

Let’s explore further: 

Clarity of purpose

Implementation plans provide a clear roadmap, offering a tangible structure for project teams to follow. This clarity of purpose aligns everyone involved with the project’s overarching goals and objectives.

Efficient resource allocation

A well-crafted implementation plan helps efficiently allocate resources, be it human, financial, or technological. This optimization ensures that resources are utilized judiciously, preventing unnecessary bottlenecks.

Risk mitigation

One of the primary advantages of an implementation plan is its ability to identify potential risks and challenges early. This foresight enables teams to develop effective risk mitigation strategies, minimizing the impact of unforeseen obstacles.

Enhanced communication

Implementation plans establish a foundation for effective communication. Team members, stakeholders, and management are kept informed about project milestones, progress, and potential hurdles, fostering a collaborative work environment.

Measurable progress

Breaking down the project into milestones with defined deadlines allows for measuring progress. This keeps the project on track and provides stakeholders with a tangible sense of achievement.

What are the challenges of an implementation plan?

While the plan provides structure and guidance, adaptability and responsiveness to evolving circumstances are equally critical for navigating the dynamic landscape of project execution.

Finding balance in the implementation process is important for realizing the full potential of a well-crafted plan. This will mean identifying and understanding several challenges that may arise during project implementation. 

Resistance to change

Team members often resist implementing a new plan because they have become accustomed to existing processes. Overcoming this resistance requires effective change management strategies and clear communication about the benefits of the new plan.

Resource constraints

Despite meticulous planning, resource constraints may arise, leading to potential delays. This challenge requires ongoing monitoring and flexibility to adjust the plan as needed.

Balancing detail and flexibility

Striking the right balance between a detailed plan and the flexibility to adapt is challenging. Too much rigidity can stifle creativity and problem-solving, while excessive flexibility may lead to a lack of accountability.

Communication overload

While effective communication is a benefit, an overload of information can lead to confusion. Finding the right cadence and channels for communication is essential to prevent information fatigue.

How to create an implementation plan

The implementation plan drives a project forward in project management, fusing strategic blueprints and plans into concrete results. 

Project leaders must follow a structured approach encompassing several key steps to navigate this crucial stage successfully.

Define project goals

A clear articulation of project goals is at the heart of any successful implementation plan. Often aligned with broader organizational objectives, these goals act as the guiding lights that inform subsequent decisions and actions. Defining these goals with precision not only provides a sense of direction, but also facilitates the establishment of measurable success criteria.

Conduct research

A thorough understanding of the project’s landscape is essential for effective implementation. Research involves delving into industry best practices, analyzing market trends, and evaluating similar projects. This information enriches decision-making and enables teams to expect challenges and devise adaptive strategies.

Define project outcomes and deliverables

Building on the foundation of project goals, the next step involves clearly defining the outcomes and deliverables expected from the implementation. These tangible markers serve as benchmarks for success and guide the team’s efforts toward producing measurable and impactful results.

Identify potential risks and challenges

In any project, uncertainties and obstacles are inevitable. Identifying potential risks and challenges allows project managers to develop risk mitigation strategies. This proactive approach empowers teams to navigate unforeseen hurdles with agility, ensuring the project stays on course.

Set project milestones and deadlines

Breaking down the implementation process into manageable milestones is essential for tracking progress and maintaining momentum. Establishing deadlines for each milestone creates a sense of urgency and accountability, fostering a structured and time-bound approach to project execution.

Assign team roles and responsibilities

Successful implementation hinges on the collaboration and coordination of a well-structured team. Assigning clear roles and responsibilities ensures that each team member understands their contribution to the project. This clarity minimizes confusion, optimizes workflow, and enhances overall efficiency.

Determine resources needed

Resource allocation is a critical aspect of implementation planning. This step involves identifying and securing the human, financial, and technological resources required for successful project execution. Adequate resource planning prevents bottlenecks and delays, ensuring a smoother implementation process.

Acquire management and stakeholder buy-In

Securing the support and buy-in of key stakeholders and upper management is fundamental to the success of any project. Communicating the value proposition, addressing concerns, and aligning expectations fosters a collaborative environment that enhances the likelihood of success.

Ensuring swift project management in the digital transformation era

Implementation plans are indispensable roadmaps in project management, gaining heightened significance in our technology-driven era. 

Beyond basic guidance, they are pivotal in optimizing resource usage, addressing risks, and facilitating seamless communication. Their importance lies in their ability to provide a detailed and well-coordinated approach, guiding businesses through the intricacies of digital transformation with precision. 

Implementation plans emerge as essential tools, ensuring projects align with objectives and successfully navigate the challenges posed by technological advancements. 

As organizations strive to stay ahead in this dynamic environment, the strategic nature of these plans becomes increasingly evident, offering a structured path for effective project execution amidst the complexities of technological evolution.

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Your Guide to Implementation Plan: What It Is & How to Create One

Organizations are successful because of good implementation, not good business plans ~Guy Kawasaki

Planning is necessary to map out what you need to do in order to achieve your goals. However, without the execution of those plans, you won’t get anywhere. The implementation of an idea is how you start your journey towards achieving your goals and eventually reach your destination.

For businesses, an implementation plan plays a crucial role in the development and execution of an idea, project, or methodology. In fact, the  Harvard Business Review reported  that companies with an implementation and execution plan saw 70 percent greater returns than those who don’t have one. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

Let’s first quickly understand what is an implementation plan, how do you make one, and how to execute it successfully? Read on…

What is an Implementation Plan? (Definition)

The implementation plan facilitates the execution of a plan, idea, model, design, specification, standard, algorithm, or policy by presenting clear implementation steps that need to follow. Thus, an implementation plan is the documented steps you need to take to successfully achieve your implementation pursuits.

Implementation plans are usually made to support the strategic plan created by an organization. Now, what is a strategic plan you ask? Well, a strategic plan is a document defining the strategy by which your team will accomplish certain goals or make decisions. Strategic plans are made to guide a business decision, a new business venture, or an upcoming project or initiative.

Therefore, the goal of the implementation plan is to effectively implement company strategy and lay down the step-by-step process of bringing the project to success.

What are the Benefits of an Implementation Plan?

An implementation plan puts organizational resources to use and develops a tactical plan to execute the strategic initiative. It thus plays a huge role in the success of your overall strategic plan. Even if you have the greatest, iron-clad plan or strategy, it’s totally pointless if you don’t put the plan into action. Here are some of the many benefits of an implementation plan:

1. Provides Clarity

Writing an implementation plan gives you better clarity of thought and improves your own understanding of the project. When you are forced to think things through, you are better able to document as well as communicate the plan to team members, upper management, and get everyone on board.

2. Keeps Everyone on Track

Your implementation plan lays down exactly what tasks need to be done, how to do them, who needs to do them, keeping everyone on board, and removing any sort of confusion or doubts. When everyone knows what their roles and responsibilities are, it’s easier to stay on track and keep everyone accountable.

3. Improved Cooperation

Working on projects requires the cooperation and collaboration of many employees. The better the cooperation amongst team members, the better the synergy and the overall execution.

Read more:  How to Create a Strategic Process Improvement Plan?

4. Increased Buy-In

When you have a solid implementation plan that is well researched, documented, and presented, you ensure buy-in from all key stakeholders of your organization. When upper management is on board, it’s easier to get resources allocated to your project and ensure smooth project execution.

6 Key Components of an Implementation Plan

Every implementation plan comprises of some key components that need to be analyzed and thought-through before communicating the plan with your team:

1. Outline Goals/Objectives:  Start with defining the goals and objectives of the implementation plan. What do you want to accomplish? What is the project scope ? Why are these goals important? How do these goals fit into the overall organizational vision and mission?

2. Assign Responsibilities:  Assigning roles and responsibilities provides a clear picture of what needs to be done and by whom. The clearer you define these responsibilities, the easier it will be to keep people accountable.

3. Implementation Schedule:  Schedules help track, communicate, and keep an eye on progress for your project, keeping all stakeholders in the loop with what’s going on.

4. Resource Allocation:  One of the main purposes of an implementation plan is to make sure that your team has access to enough resources in order to execute the plan effectively and without any hiccups. Make sure you know exactly what you need, how much you already have, and how you will procure what’s needed.

5. Define Metrics:  How will you determine project success? Every implementation plan must identify KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) to establish how it will measure success and failure. This also allows you to measure progress and celebrate milestones to keep the team excited.

6. Contingency Plan :  Planning for challenges is as important as planning for success. Make a plan for how your team will navigate rough waters in case you go over budget, don’t have enough resources, or are approaching deadlines. This way you won’t get off-track when challenges arise, and you will be able to steer clear of them easily.

Now that you know the key components of an implementation plan, it’s time to put this knowledge to use and learn how to write an implementation plan for yourself…

Read more:  How to Create an Effective Operational Plan for Your Business?

How to Write an Implementation Plan? Follow these Steps and Processes:

Okay Folks, it’s time to get into the ‘how’ of the implementation plan and create a solid document. When creating such a document, you need to be more detailed and thorough, explaining everything clearly to all team members who will be viewing this document.

Make sure you include the following steps in your implementation plan:

Step 1. Introduction

Kickoff your implementation plan with a brief introduction, outlining the vision, mission, and purpose of your project or initiative. You can additionally include how this project ties up with the overall organizational mission and lay down all the assumptions or limitations of your project.

Step 2.  Team Members Involved

In this segment, you can describe the team involved in the implementation of the project. Include the names, roles, and responsibilities of key project stakeholders, and key points of contact.

Step 3.  Tasks

This is an important area in your implementation plan as here you need to describe the key tasks and steps involved in the implementation of the strategy. If you have already begun with a task, note down the status and progress of the task in this section.

Step 4.  Implementation Schedule

An implementation schedule outlines project timeframes and milestones. Schedules keep everyone on track with task progress and help to keep everything on time and under budget.

Step 5.  Resource Management

Describe the resources needed (people, time, money, equipment, software, departmental help, etc.) to support successful implementation. Think through this section thoroughly to ensure smooth project implementation, and support fair asset allocation.

Step 6.  Additional Documentation

In this segment, you can attach any other documentation that supports your implementation plan. This could include proof of successful past project executions or a PDF of your strategic plan.

Step 7.  Define Metrics

Without specifying success metrics, you will never know if you are on the right track or are even executing the right strategy. Define the metrics you will use to measure success and how and when will you review your progress.

Step 8.  Project Approval

If you need upper management’s approval before kicking off implementation, add some space for a formal signoff.

Read more:   Change Management Plan: What, Why, and How to Write?

Use a Documentation Tool like Bit to Create a Robust Implementation Plan

The key to successful planning and implementation is…*drumroll*… DOCUMENTATION. This is exactly why all smart project managers use documentation tools like Bit.ai to create a solid, interactive, and visually appealing implementation plan for their team.

What the heck is Bit.ai? Well, it’s an all-in-one document collaboration platform designed for the modern-day workplace. Using Bit, your team can collaborate in real-time and create implementation plans and all other documents – under one single roof!

1. Pre-Built, Beautiful & Fully Responsive Templates: Okay, you’ve created the implementation plan for your team to understand their goals and responsibilities. But, what if the plan itself looks dull and poorly formatted? Your team members won’t understand a thing, and that’s for sure.

You might not have the time to pay attention to the presentation aspect but don’t worry, because Bit does the formatting and designing for you! Bit.ai has over 90 fully responsive and gorgeous templates . Just pick one, insert your content and let Bit handle the rest.

Few documents templates you might be interested in:

• SWOT Analysis Template
• Business Proposal Template
• Business Plan Template
• Competitor Research Template
• Project Proposal Template
• Company Fact Sheet
• Executive Summary Template
• Operational Plan Template
• Pitch Deck Template

2. Rich Embeds:  What if you could embed all your important files – in one single document? We’re talking about those charts, excel sheets, presentations, and the other files that you created while brainstorming the strategies.

Won’t that make your implementation plan so much more comprehensive? And your team won’t have to jump through different files to get information! Luckily, Bit lets you embed over 100 rich media integrations ! That means you can create media-rich and interactive, modern workplace documents!

3. Real-time collaboration : If your team members work on the implementation plan together and take inputs and ideas from one other, it is bound to be perfect! Luckily, Bit.ai helps you with that.

It allows you and your team to collaborate on a Bit document in real-time using @mentions, highlight features, and comments. Every document comes with a separate comment stream!

4. Organized Workspaces & Folders:  An implementation plan isn’t a “one-size-fits-all” thing. You’ve to customize it for every project that your company undertakes. This is exactly why you need to use Bit! On Bit, you can create infinite workspaces around projects, teams, departments, and clients to keep all your work organized.

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What are You Waiting For?!

Without implementation plans, your strategic initiatives will never see the light of the day. Good implementation planning lays the foundation for successful project execution.

It creates a blueprint which your team can follow to successfully execute projects and measure their progress along the way. With tools like Bit, creating such documentation is easier than ever. So, what are you waiting for? Sign up for a free account and start creating your implementation plan today!

Further reads:

How to Create a Procurement Management Plan: Step by Step Guide

Business Development Plan: What Is It And How To Create A Perfect One?

Risk Management Plan: What, Why, and How to Write?

Cost Management Plan: What, Why, and How?

How to Create a Product Plan the Right Way?

How to Create a Project Management Communication Plan?

What is a Marketing Plan and How to Create One for Your Business?

What is Product Adoption & How to do it Right?

Top Email Automation Software for Marketers!

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From Strategy to Execution: How to Create a Sustainable, Repeatable Implementation Plan

By Kate Eby | December 14, 2017

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In this article, you’ll learn the fundamental elements of a strategic implementation process, and how you can create a comprehensive implementation plan. We’ve also included free, downloadable implementation plan templates to get you started. 

Included on this page, you’ll find the components of an implementation plan , how to write an implementation plan , and tools for successful implementation planning .

What Is an Implementation Strategy?

An implementation strategy is based on a strategic plan , which defines the strategy used to accomplish certain goals or make decisions. Organizations can make strategic plans to guide organizational direction, a particular department’s efforts, or any project or initiative.

Implementation strategy is the process of defining how to bring the strategic plan to life. To execute the objectives outlined in the strategic plan, you must define how you will implement each aspect, from funding and personnel to organization and deliverables. Therefore, without an implementation strategy, it can be difficult to identify how you will achieve each of your stated goals and objectives. 

Ray McKenzie is the Founder and Managing Director of Red Beach Advisors . He breaks down the differences between strategy, implementation, and execution: “Implementation planning is the act of developing a tactical plan to complete a strategic initiative. Strategy is the overarching plan to move the organization, department, or project forward. Implementation is the act of putting the strategy into place utilizing resources within an organization or department. Execution is completing the tasks as part of the implementation plan to complete the strategic initiative through resources of the organized team.”

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What Is the Strategic Implementation Process?

The strategic implementation process refers to the concrete steps that you take to turn your strategic plan into action. The implementation tactics you use and steps you take will depend on the specific undertaking, organization, and goals.

A strategic implementation plan (SIP) is the document that you use to define your implementation strategy. Typically, it outlines the resources, assumptions, short- and long-term outcomes, roles and responsibilities, and budget. (Later on, we’ll show you how to create one.) An SIP is often integrated with an execution plan , but the two are distinct. 

The SIP outlines the activities and decisions necessary to turn the strategic goals into reality, and the execution plan is a schedule of concrete actions and activities to achieve goals and drive success. You can consider your strategy “implemented” once you determine that you have the requisite resources to meet your strategic needs, but you haven’t “executed” until you’ve actually taken action and achieved objectives. You can read more about the differences between strategy, implementation, and execution in this article by the Harvard Business Review . 

The strategic implementation process is often compared to the following activities:

Jennifer Hancock is the author of several books and Founder of Humanist Learning Systems , an organization that provides online personal and professional development training in humanistic business management, along with science-based harassment training. She describes the difference between organizational and implementation planning: “Organizational planning is the structure of the organization: What work needs to be done? How does it relate to the other work that needs to be done? Who is responsible for getting it done? How are the parts of the organization going to work together to accomplish shared objectives? Implementation planning has to do with specific projects and processes. For instance, an organization may have an HR department — that is, organizational planning. Implementation is when the HR department rolls out a new set of benefits or a new health care plan.”

‌ Download Organizational Change Management Plan

• Strategic Management Process: This is the ongoing effort to manage an organization, including both the decisions and actions that flow from the organizational strategy. Continuous strategic management can inform organizational planning by providing a strategy that outlines the organization’s goals. 
• Change Management: Change management is how you prepare and manage organizational planning, from the high-level processes and culture down to individual roles. Effective change management involves strategy and careful monitoring so that you can plan for change rather than react to it. 

Download Change Management Process Template

• Differentiated Planning: This is a reordering method that you can use to identify which resources you need based on the frequency with which you typically use them. Separate the items on your reorder list into three categories: routine, regular, and rare. This will give you a rough idea of the different demand levels for each resource, so you don’t have to spend time considering whether or not to restock. Because identifying and accumulating resources is an important component of implementation planning, it’s useful to understand differentiated planning. 

Why Implementation Is Important

Implementation planning largely determines project success because without it, your strategic goals remain unactionable. Therefore, implementation is the necessary step that transforms your strategic plans into action to achieve your goals. 

There are many examples where implementation planning heightens project success. In fact, the Harvard Business Review reported that companies with an implementation and execution plan saw 70 percent greater returns. 

McKenzie says that implementation planning is critical to project success. “This is the stage which allows the planned strategy to be executed,” he says. “The primary benefits to implementation and implementation planning are the abilities to outline the tasks needed to complete the project, identify the personnel and resources needed, and document the timeline for project completion to ensure you’re meeting the strategic goals.”

Hancock agrees. “If you don’t implement your plan — you don’t get anything done,” she says. “So, implementation is crucial. [Even] if you have the best plan in the world, it’s totally irrelevant if you don’t put the plan into action,” she adds.

Fiona Adler writes about entrepreneurship at DoTheThings.com and is the Founder of Actioned.com , a productivity tool for individuals and teams. With an MBA, multiple business successes, and a family living in a foreign country, she enjoys pushing the envelope to get the most out of life and loves helping others do the same. Adler explains that implementation is often more crucial than the strategy itself. She says, “In my opinion, implementation is far more important than strategic planning. After all, it doesn't matter if you have the best plan in the world. All that really matters is what you end up doing!”

The practice of implementation planning is also important in some of today’s organizational shifts. Most notably, implementation plays a part in the current shift from reactionary to strategic companies — in other words, organizations that plan for change and adaptation rather than react to it. Additionally, implementation supports the movement toward employee-oriented organizations, which it does by valuing communication, encouraging mutually-supported goals, and emphasizing accountability. Implementation planning is necessarily a human (and team) endeavor and making it a part of your daily processes helps ensure collaboration, trust, and transparency among project team members all the way up to C-suite management. 

What Is the Implementation Plan of a Project?

Implementation plans are commonly used for discrete projects, technology deployment within a company, and inventory planning. You can also create an implementation plan for personal use if it will help you organize and take actionable steps toward your goal(s).

A project implementation plan is the plan that you create to successfully move your project plan into action. This document identifies your goals and objectives (both short and long-term), lists the project tasks, defines roles and responsibilities, outlines the budget and necessary resources, and lists any assumptions. A project implementation plan sometimes includes a rough schedule, but teams usually set the hard timeline in the execution plan. 

In the following sections, we’ll delve deeper into each component of an implementation plan and show you how to write your own. 

Components of an Implementation Plan

The following are the key components of and questions that drive a successful implementation plan:

• Define Goals/Objectives: What do you want to accomplish? The scope of these goals will depend on the size of your undertaking.
• Schedule Milestones: While task deadlines and project timelines will be formally set in the execution plan, it’s a good idea to outline your schedule in the implementation phase.
• Allocate Resources: One of the core purposes of an implementation plan is to ensure that you have adequate resources (time, money, and personnel) to successfully execute. So, gather all the data and information you need to determine whether or not you have sufficient resources, and decide how you will procure what’s missing.
• Designate Team Member Responsibilities: Assign roles. This doesn’t necessarily mean you must define who will execute each individual task, but you should create a general team plan with overall roles that each team member will play. 
• Define Metrics for Success: How will you determine whether or not you are successful? What data (whether quantitative or qualitative) will you use to measure your results, and how will you accrue the necessary data?
• Define How You Will Adapt: Make a plan for how you will adapt, if necessary, to changes in your plan. Be sure to consider factors outside your control that could significantly alter the schedule or success of your project, and create emergent strategies ahead of time, so you don’t get derailed down the road — doing so helps build a culture of flexibility, agility, and fast action. 
• Evaluate Success: In addition to defining your metrics for success, decide how often you will evaluate your progress (e.g., quarterly reviews). 

In the following section, we’ll break down each element of a successful implementation plan to show you how to write one yourself. 

How to Write an Implementation Plan

Implementation plans are split into sections. Each section should be detailed, combining the information from your strategic plan and incorporating the necessary research and data to make your objectives actionable. Here’s how to write each component in an implementation plan:

• Introduction: The introduction of your implementation plan explains the purpose, vision, and mission statement of your project or initiative. You should identify the high-level risk areas, include any assumptions, and describe how you will identify the value stream in your proposed work. 
• Management Overview: In this section, you describe how implementation will be managed. This includes who is managing it, the underlying roles and responsibilities, and key points of contact. You should identify the strategy director, who is the person that develops and steers the strategy (this may or not be the same person who is leading implementation). 
• Major Tasks: This is where you list and describe the specific tasks, actions, and targets in implementation. You should also note the status of any tasks that are already in progress. 
• Implementation Schedule: You do not need to create a detailed, inflexible task schedule in your implementation plan — we’ll talk later on about how to create a schedule in the execution plan. At this stage, it’s appropriate to simply list the task order and predicted phase durations to roughly outline and allot for all the many moving pieces. 
• Security and Privacy: Discuss the privacy features and considerations of the software tools, processes, or information that you may use in implementation. Address security issues and how to handle sensitive information (personal data, medical history, financials, etc.). 
• Implementation Support/Resources List: Describe the various tools, activities, and departments that you require to support successful implementation. These might include hardware or software tools, facilities, and additional external human resources or services.
• Documentation: In this section, you must attach any other documentation that supports your implementation plan. This could include your strategic plan, confirmation of adequate materials and resources, and a history of past successful projects. 
• Monitoring Performance: Define the metrics by which you will measure success. How and when will you review your progress? 
• Acceptance Criteria: How will you define implementation “completion?” This differs from performance monitoring because rather than defining metrics for milestones and appropriate implementation, here, you describe how you will know when you have buy-in from management on your implementation plan. 
• Glossary: Define any key terms used in your implementation plan. 
• References: Indicate where you received your information, or list people who support your plan.
• Project Approval: If you need management’s approval before moving into execution, this section provides space for official signoff. 

To make it easy, you can also use a template to write your implementation plan. This will ensure that you don’t overlook any steps or sections and also provide a professional layout that you can use to deliver to management, clients, or other stakeholders. Download the template for free, and edit the fields to fit the needs of your specific project  — for example, for enterprise resource planning (ERP) . 

‌ Download Project Implementation Plan Template - Word

Software deployment is another common category of initiative that merits an implementation plan. Use the following template to create a software and systems implementation plan. 

‌ Download Software Systems Implementation Plan Template - Word

Implementation Planning Best Practices

Although you should include all the detailed aspects listed above in your implementation plan, simply having all these components will not ensure success. Instead, you should focus on the process of implementation and foster the following behaviors within your team:

• Create a Designated Implementation Team: An implementation team is the team responsible for ensuring successful implementation of a particular initiative. While it’s possible to move through implementation without creating a specific, organized body to oversee the processes, doing so heightens your chances of success. 
• Create a Shared Vision among All Team Members: Establish “why” you are making strategic changes so that team members have both a greater understanding of the root cause and a deeper connection to their work. Ensure individual compliance, so people don’t feel like their voices went unheard. Adler emphasizes, “Involve the people who will actually be implementing the change during the planning phase. Ideally, the idea will even come from them. This inclusion greatly increases the buy-in and commitment that the team has to actually getting the project implemented.”
• Choose a Strong Team Leader: The team leader should coach and educate team members along the way and seek out guidance from past implementation plan leaders to improve upon existing implementation processes within the organization. Adler explains that there can be multiple team leaders with slightly different responsibilities: “Each initiative needs a team. The team includes a ’champion,’ someone who is ultimately responsible for getting the thing done. They should also have a ’management sponsor,’ someone that can help the team get through any blocks they might have,” she says.
• Define Actionable Goals: Stay specific, define current issues, and identify root causes. Methods for defining current problems include brainstorming, surveys, and new member information forms. You can also use the note card method: Ask each team member to answer three questions anonymously ( What is the single biggest issue facing our team?, What will be the most important issue in five years?, What is the best way for our team to be involved in these issues? ), separate the cards into piles with similar answers, and count which answers are the most common within the group. Use the highest ranking similar answers to stimulate discussion of how to proceed. 
• Create an Action-Oriented Plan: Regardless of the size or predicted duration of your goals, create a plan focused on incremental action (rather than on continual planning). Small steps add up, so stay positive and focus on the future. That said, Hancock reiterates that your plan must be realistic: “Make sure your plan is reality-based,” she says. “You need to know what problem you really should be solving so that you don’t end up solving proxy problems (problems you think are your problem but really aren’t — an example of this is praying for rain when your real problem is that you need water on your field). You need to know what is really going to impact your problem so that you don’t pray for rain, which doesn’t affect anything. And, finally, you need to know what you really need to do to get the work done. What resources do you need? Do you have the resources you need? Can you get the resources you need? If not, your plan won’t work” she continues.
• Value Communication: The team leader should not only value others’ input, but also make active participation an expectation. Open, honest communication keeps processes transparent and helps generate new ideas. 
• Continually Monitor Incremental Success: Perform analysis and hold regular progress meetings to analyze your development. Closely monitoring your progress enables you to make adjustments before crisis hits and allows you to adapt before processes or expectations become solidified. Additionally, treating incremental milestones as successes helps foster a culture where employees feel valued for their contributions. Adler explains, “Building a culture where employees expect that projects will be successfully implemented is important. Celebrate successes and reference previous projects frequently.”
• Involve the Correct People at the Correct Times: This includes defining when and why it is appropriate to involve upper management. As McKenzie says, “Include the critical stakeholders that are part of the project. The beginning of planning should only include the decision makers and not every team member that is part of the project. Outline the critical tasks that are needed first. Once the tasks are outlined, dictate the personnel who will be responsible for the tasks. Once you identify the personnel, then bring in the additional resources to find what other tasks are needed to complete the larger tasks. To draft a proper implementation plan, it is imperative to include the critical stakeholders to outline the initiative.”
• Publicize Your Plan: While you don’t necessarily want every stakeholder’s input at all times during implementation planning, you do want to maintain transparency with other teams and management. Make your plan available to higher-ups to keep your team accountable down the line.

Difficulties in Implementation Planning

While implementation planning is critical to successful execution, there are several hurdles:

• Unless you are disciplined about moving into the execution phase, you can get stuck in planning and never get your project off the ground. 
• In any project, you may struggle to gain buy-in from key stakeholders. 
• It can also be difficult to break down every goal into an actionable step. If you keep your goals tangible, you can more easily identify targeted actions that will move you toward them. 
• No matter how well you plan, all projects have a high propensity for failure. Don’t get discouraged, though — dedicated, strategic implementation planning will raise the likelihood of project success. 

Although the above hurdles can be time-consuming and tedious, they are investments that will help you create a culture of trust. Because implementation is an ongoing team effort, you can’t afford to lack buy-in and commitment from any member of your team or direct stakeholders. So, communicate often and honestly, and prioritize teamwork when implementing your strategic plan. 

Still, even though inclusion and teamwork are key to a successful strategy, McKenzie reiterates that implementation planning won’t work if too many people are involved. “Implementation planning often gets derailed due to the input from various people that are not involved in the project,” he says. “There needs to be a clear line between the implementation team who is responsible for the execution and final project completion and the customers, internal or external, who are the recipients of the project. The customers can outline their requirements, but the implementation, tasks, and deliverables should be guided by the implementation team,” he concludes.

Adler explains that another common mistake is taking on too much at once. “It takes a lot of work to get something significantly new implemented,” she notes. “For this reason, the fewer initiatives the business takes on simultaneously, the greater the chances of success. Each initiative will take its team members away from their 'normal' work to some degree, and the business needs to be able to support this. If there are six things the business wants to implement, it is better to take on one or two at a time than to try to tackle all six at once,” she points out.

Tools for Successful Implementation Planning

While the implementation plan itself is a relatively low-tech document, software tools can help you track and manage your progress. From Gantt charts to advancements in information and communication technology, you’ll find popular implementation planning tools and their benefits below.

A Gantt chart is a graphical bar chart that you can use as a project timeline, and many software programs exist that allow you to create these online charts. As you move from implementation to execution, a Gantt chart can help you track individual task progress, see relationships among tasks, and identify critical or at-risk tasks. 

Download Basic Gantt with Dependencies Template 

Excel | Smartsheet

You can use a PERT (program evaluation and review technique) chart to forecast project duration by creating a timeline for individual tasks and identifying dependent tasks. PERT requires you to forecast three separate timetables — the shortest possible, the most likely, and the longest possible — which forces you to stay flexible in your planning, so you can adapt your schedule as factors inevitably change over the course of a project. 

When you have successfully implemented your plan, you’re ready to move to project execution. Execution planning and monitoring is outside the scope of this article, but below you’ll find more helpful templates to move your project toward successful completion. 

Download General Action Plan Template

Download Project Timeline Template

Download Project Charter Template 

Excel | Word | Smartsheet

Advancements in information and communication technology (ICT) have led to the development of cloud-based software that allows for anytime, anywhere access and multiple users. This technological capability is especially helpful for group work, in which multiple team members need to access a certain file simultaneously while also avoiding version control issues. For example, organizations commonly use cloud-based software to create a project management system or performance management system.

Using software to manage your implementation plan can provide the following benefits:

• Drive Accountability: By creating a single record of project progress, you build transparency (both in team members and processes) and reliability. 
• Keep Everyone up to Date: All users can access the most current information, which, in turn, cuts out unnecessary communication or erroneous double-work. 
• Improve Flexibility: Project management software can help you identify bottlenecks and potential problems early on, so you are able to adapt in anticipation. If you are attempting Agile project management, flexibility is crucial. 
• Support Organizational Commitment: Using a software tool often provides the transparency necessary to get executives to support your project. Once they have visibility into processes and progress, they will be more likely to grant the buy-in you need to procure resources and succeed.

When deciding which tool to use, consider the following:

• Buying Tools vs. Developing Software Internally: This will depend on the capabilities and availability of your in-house developers as well as on your budget. Additionally, consider whether or not you have the bandwidth to engage with a vendor and maintain the relationship over time. 
• Open Source vs. Free vs. Subscription: Open source software provides a great opportunity for organizations with limited budgets and development resources to build on top of the existing open platforms. There are also many free programs available (not open source). However, be wary that free options may have limited functionality. For organizations with larger budgets and a greater need for powerful functionality, most paid platforms bill on a subscription basis.
• Usability Requirements: Consider your team’s skill level. While you might be drawn to a tool with fancy functionality, it will be pointless (and perhaps even detract from project success) if it is too difficult for your team to use or learn. 

Ultimately, software tools are a fantastic way not only to elevate the accuracy of tracking project metrics and progress, but also to save time, build flexibility, and stimulate communication among your team. 

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The Ultimate Guide to Implementation Plans

May 4, 2022 - 10 min read

Implementation plans provide step-by-step instructions for everything from digital marketing campaigns to ending hunger in rural communities . They’re used to transform abstract concepts within strategy plans into real-world action. The only downside is that implementation plans can be challenging to pull off. Some industries see as much as a 75% failure rate in plan execution. 

The good news is you can succeed where others have failed by creating a successful implementation plan with the tips and strategies outlined in this guide. 

Keep reading to discover must-have components for implementation plans, a thorough step-by-step planning method, and advice on how to avoid common pitfalls. 

What is an implementation plan?

A project implementation plan (also called a strategic plan) is a combination of strategy, process, and action. It outlines the steps a team will use to achieve a shared objective. An implementation plan covers all aspects of a project , including the budget, timeline, and personnel.

The perfect project plan includes: 

• Objectives, requirements
• Scope assessment
• An outline of deliverables
• Task due dates
• Risk assessment
• Stakeholder, team, and process management plans
• Team member roles and responsibilities
• Resource management
• Communication tools

Roadmap planning breaks down big-picture goals into measurable project phases, tasks, and subtasks. Each category is clearly defined with its own deadlines and resource allocations. Tasks and subtasks are assigned to team members who will complete and approve each one. 

In other words, if the goal is the "what," the implementation plan is the "how."  

An implementation plan is often presented as a written document or planned in a project management solution . The latter is a better fit for this particular roadmap because, as you can probably tell, implementation plans are complex and comprehensive. Implementation plans should all contain solutions for:

• Tasks and subtasks
• Timelines 
• Collaborators
• Any additional resources

It’s also important to note that having a flexible implementation plan is key for dealing with changes that come up once the project is live. 

What are the benefits of implementation planning?

The benefits of implementation planning range from organizational to relationship-building to increased profitability. A solid implementation plan: 

• Creates an actionable roadmap from project inception to completion
• Makes communication simple and crystal clear
• Improves employee retention in the long-term
• Organizes all resources in one manageable place
• Helps businesses be proactive instead of reactive
• Offers transparency to clients and collaborators
• Builds trust among stakeholders
• Holds everyone accountable
• Outlines a daily and weekly workflow the whole team can follow
• Improves the likelihood of buy-in
• Makes collaboration more fluid and synergistic
• Helps businesses commit to long-term goals
• Gets everyone’s thoughts out of their heads and into one accessible place

When do you begin implementation planning?

Because it’s so involved, it’s important that you don’t begin implementation planning too early or too late. 

Why? The process of creating an implementation plan is time-consuming. Most of the tasks involved require you to wait on communication or approvals from multiple stakeholders. The process also requires lots of research, goal-setting, gathering or defining resources, and getting team availability together. 

Avoid planning too early by waiting until the project is officially greenlit. The definition of greenlit means something different to every agency. However, most would agree that a signed contract and successful deposit payment are good markers. 

After those client onboarding tasks are complete, you can begin implementation planning. Remember, the project can’t begin without these plans, so have a system in place to kick off and support implementation planning ahead of time. 

What is an implementation timeline? 

An implementation timeline is a visual representation of all project-related due dates. That includes:

• The final project due date
• Dates your team needs to complete each phase by 
• Due dates for individual tasks and subtasks 

These dates aren’t set in stone yet. However, accurately forecasting effort and mini-milestones now will make the implementation phase that much easier. 

Implementation timelines are often represented by visual Gantt charts . A Gantt chart uses bars to track the progress of each phase, task, and subtask all at once. Wrike users can add task dependencies, which trigger automatic chart updates and notifications to team members in charge of the next steps. 

Gantt charts also help project managers identify possible roadblocks. With every single step laid out, it’s easy to see where resources are stretched too thin and whether or not milestones are realistic. 

How do you make an implementation plan?

Follow these steps to create a successful implementation plan: 

• Choose an implementation planning tool Project management solutions like Wrike can help teams share information, start and complete approvals, and set up timelines with ease. 
• Holidays or upcoming PTO
• Delivery time for goods and materials
• Additional training or onboarding of outside team members
• Review the strategic plan Ask yourself, where do the implementation plan and strategic plan align so far? Where does it conflict? When in doubt, always edit your implementation plan to support your strategic plan. 
• What the project is
• Why it’s important
• Who is involved 
• What is each person’s role in the project 
• What all parties hope to achieve
• The obstacles you foresee and how your team will overcome them
• Which ROIs you’ll use to measure success
• Is available for the project as a whole 
• Should be allocated to each key phase
• Will be monitored, and who will oversee it
• Will be broken down into trackable categories
• Collect related materials Gather the documents you need to plan and execute the project all in one place. Include data from past projects that may help you accurately forecast this one. 
• Define how progress will be measured and monitored Choose KPIs that align with your project goals, then chart progress within your project management solution. Come up with a plan for who is in charge and how often they’ll check in. 
• Outline management buy-in criteria Get crystal clear on what managers are looking for, what information they need to approve or reject, and any other information that will decrease resistance. 
• Do a stakeholder analysis Create a chart that defines each stakeholder’s level of impact, influence, and attitude. Explain the evaluations further and create an action plan for each person or group. 
• Clarify day-to-day operations Include a work plan that goes over which processes will be used, which will be changed, and how future changes will be dealt with down the road. Choose who is responsible for approving, managing, and finalizing adjustments as they come up. 
• Everyone’s preferred mode of communication
• What type of updates are expected when 
• And how information will be shared  Also, designate communication channels and leaders who will oversee them.  Don’t forget to loop in both your implementation leader and strategy director. Stakeholders do not need to sign off on this section. However, you may choose to share it with them so they can see how you plan to keep everyone on track. 
• Identify key project phases, tasks, and subtasks Break the project goal down into actionable steps. Give each phase a name, deadline, and set of related tasks. Use project status updates in Wrike to communicate task and subtask due date expectations with everyone involved. Updates are formatted as dropdown menu options which make it easy for individuals to quickly update the entire team when they’ve moved on to the next step.  After, assign team members to complete and approve each task. Set up task dependencies within Wrike, so status notifications are automatically sent to those who were waiting to move on to the next step. 
• Go over security needs If your project deals with sensitive data, outline what you’ll need to keep the entire project and team compliant throughout. List all digital and physical information sources that require privacy (think sensitive company financial data, home addresses, credit or bank account information, etc.). 
• Provide a glossary Include industry terms that clients, stakeholders, and teams will need to know throughout the course of the project. Add project-related abbreviations, slang, or resource nicknames you expect will come up in communications. 

What are the components of an implementation plan?

There are 13 components every implementation plan needs to have:

• Selected tools
• Preliminary research
• Strategic plan alignment
• Project summary
• Resource and materials list
• Goal monitoring and measurement
• Buy-in criteria
• Stakeholder management
• Operations plan
• Management plan
• Key phases and tasks
• Glossary of terms

A simple implementation plan template

Your own project implementation plan will have lots of information included, but a simple table including the steps needed to launch the project is always a good place to start.

In this example, a small business is preparing to launch an online store to sell its products. Let's take a look at how this looks on a simple table. 

What are implementation planning best practices?

• Always be as specific as possible 
• Don’t shy away from consulting experts and conducting additional research as needed 
• Pull data from similar past projects (successful and unsuccessful), then apply what you learned 
• Remember that 100% alignment between all stakeholders and personnel across the board is unrealistic 
• Use a project management solution to quickly update plans when changes come up 
• Centralize communication to save time and keep everyone on the same page 

What information do you put in an implementation schedule?

Include an outline of the project timeline, goals, and tasks to keep teams on the same page. Combine that with key updates on:

• The progress of major phases
• Adjustments made to budgets, timelines, or personnel
• Upcoming challenges and planned solutions

Implementation schedules are also meant for stakeholders, so the information you put in one needs to be tailored toward their needs. Identify each stakeholder’s level of involvement and what information they want to receive. 

What is the implementation process?

The implementation process is the step-by-step plan a team follows to achieve a shared objective. Each step is concrete and actionable. These instructions should be easily understood by anyone who reads them. 

What is a good implementation plan example? 

One good implementation plan example comes from Outdoor Equipment Manufacturer MTD . The brand uses Wrike to optimize its complex product development process. 

Their projects involve having multiple active tasks open across a variety of teams at the same time. As a result, their implementation plan relies on custom workflows, visual progress updates, and a bird’s eye view of what’s going on across the entire organization. 

Who creates implementation plans?

Project managers create implementation plans. They may choose to collaborate with team leads, subject experts, suppliers, and stakeholders to add important details. However, project managers are responsible for drafting, revising, and monitoring implementation plans the whole way through. 

What are the challenges of an implementation plan?

• Foggy vision Implementation plans are only as good as the strategy they’re based on. Connect back to your original goals and strategy plan frequently when drafting the implementation process. 
• Bad communication Instant messenger notes and email updates tend to get lost over the course of a project. Centralize all communication in your project management platform. In Wrike, use @ mentions to loop in stakeholders and collaborators. 
• Lack of training Hire outside specialists or plan time for proper employee training on new projects, especially if those skill sets come with a learning curve. 

How to use Wrike as implementation planning software

Create a foolproof project plan using Wrike’s visual Gantt charts, detailed task options, and robust templates . Each of these features helps project managers easily make and monitor progress. Use our two-week free trial to save time with customizable implementation plan templates you can use over and over again.

Maria Waida

Maria is a freelance content writer who specializes in blogging and other marketing materials for enterprise software businesses.

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• What is strategy implementation? 6 key ...

What is strategy implementation? 6 key steps to success

Strategy implementation is the process of turning your strategic plan into action. Whether you’re executing a new marketing plan to increase sales or introducing a new work management software to increase efficiency—your plan is only as valuable as the implementation. In this article, we cover the pitfalls of strategy implementation and how you can avoid them. Plus check out different frameworks associated with this process to set you up for success.

Having a strategic plan is great, but unless you have the bandwidth, resources, and support to implement your plan it’s not going to drive actual change in your organization.

We’re going to cover the key steps of strategy implementation, including potential pitfalls and how you can avoid them, and introduce you to a few frameworks to help you successfully implement any strategy you’re currently working on.

The 6 key strategy implementation steps

Before you can implement your strategy you need to create a strategic plan .

Your strategic or implementation plan outlines the steps your team or organization needs to take in order to achieve a goal or objective. Your implementation plan is the roadmap to a successful strategy execution and should include the following steps:

Define your goals

Conduct proper research

Map out any risks

Schedule all milestones

Assign tasks

Allocate helpful resources

Once your strategic plan is set, it’s time to get it on the road! There are six steps to follow on your way to a successful implementation.

Step 1: Set and communicate clear, strategic goals

The first step is where your strategic plan and your strategy implementation overlap.  

To implement a new strategy, you first must identify clear and attainable goals. As with all things, communication is key. Your goals should include your vision and mission statements , long-term goals , and KPIs . 

The clearer the picture, the easier the rest of your strategy implementation will be for your team and organization—simply because everyone will be working towards the same goals. 

Step 2: Engage your team

To implement your strategy both effectively and efficiently , you need to create focus and drive accountability. There are a few ways in which you can keep your team engaged throughout the implementation process:

Determine roles and responsibilities early on. Use a RACI matrix to clarify your teammate’s roles and ensure that there are no responsibility gaps.

Delegate work effectively . While it can be tempting to have your eyes on everything, micromanagement will only hold you back. Once you’ve defined everyone’s roles and responsibilities, trust that your team will execute their tasks according to the implementation plan.

Communicate with your team and ensure that everyone knows how their individual work contributes to the project. This will keep everyone motivated and on track.

Step 3: Execute the strategic plan

Allocate necessary resources —like funding for strategic or operational budgets—so your team can put the strategic plan into action. If you don’t have the right resources you won’t be able to achieve your strategic plan, so this should be a top priority. Here’s how you can ensure that your team has the resources they need:

Start with the end in mind to effectively align your project’s objectives, key deliverables, milestones, and timeline.

Identify available resources like your team’s capacity, your available budget, required tools or skills, and any other unconventional resources

Define a clear project scope so you know exactly what your project needs when.

Share your project plan with everyone involved in the implementation process using a work management tool.

The better built out your strategic plan is, the easier it will be to implement it.

Step 4: Stay agile

You’ll inevitably run into issues as you begin implementing your strategy. When this happens, shift your goals or your approach to work around them. 

Create a schedule so you can frequently update the status of your goals or implementation strategy changes. Depending on the strategy you’re implementing, you can create weekly, monthly, or quarterly project status reports . Share these updates with your external stakeholders, as well as your internal team, to keep everyone in the loop.

Having a central source of truth where you can update your team in real time will help you streamline this process. Asana’s work management software allows your team to coordinate projects, tasks, and processes in real time but also gives you the freedom to get work done asynchronously —providing everyone with the visibility they need to understand who’s doing what.

Step 5: Get closure

Once you implement the strategy, connect with everyone involved to confirm that their work feels complete. Implementing a strategy isn’t like a puzzle that’s finished when the last piece is set. It’s like planting a garden that continues to grow and change even when you think you’re done with your work.

Getting closure from your team will be the second to last milestone of your strategy implementation and is a crucial step toward completion.

Step 6: Reflect

Conduct a post-mortem or retrospective to reflect on the implemented strategy, as well as evaluate the success of the implementation process and the strategy itself. This step is a chance to uncover lessons learned for upcoming projects and strategies which will allow you to avoid potential pitfalls and embrace new opportunities in the future.

What you need to implement a strategy

No matter how well thought out your strategy is, you’ll need these five key components to successfully implement any strategy.

You’ll need a team that not only understands the strategy you want to implement but also has the skills and bandwidth to support you. Appoint, hire, and train the right people for the job and ensure that the competencies needed to succeed are present in your project team.

Asana’s Customer Success team was invaluable to our implementation process. They took the time to understand our business and showed us how to create practical workflows and processes to get the most out of Asana. We couldn’t have done it without them.”

Effective resource allocation is one of the most important parts in strategy implementation. Resources can be both financial (e.g., cost of labor) and non-financial (e.g., time to implement strategy).

Organization

Everyone in your organization needs to know what their responsibilities are so they can be accountable for their part in implementing the strategy. This also means that the chain of command has to be defined and communicated so everyone knows who to communicate with during the implementation process.

The tools, capabilities, and systems you’ve put in place are another key component. You have to know what the functions of each of these systems are and how they will support your strategic management process during and after the implementation. 

The final key component is the organizational culture within your company. Rolling out new strategies can be confusing and stressful for teams. Ensuring that everyone knows what they need to know and feels valued and included is crucial for a successful and effective implementation.

McKinsey’s 7S framework

McKinsey & Company is a world-renowned management consulting firm that, among other things, created a framework of seven factors needed to implement a strategy successfully.

The factors can be split into hard elements (strategy, structure, and systems) and soft elements (shared values, skills, style, and staff). While the hard elements are easy to identify and influence directly, the soft elements are less tangible and typically influenced by the company culture versus a manager or other direct contact.

Let’s take a quick look at the McKinsey 7S Model, beginning with the hard elements:

Strategy: Your organization’s plan to establish or maintain a competitive advantage over others in the field

Structure: Your company’s organizational structure

Systems: The day-to-day procedures and activities performed by your teams

These are the soft elements of the framework:

Style: The leadership style in your organization

Staff: Your team and their general capabilities

Skills: Your team’s competencies and skills

Shared values: Your organization's core values

You can apply this framework to your strategy implementation process by looking at your organization’s shared values first and ensuring that they align with your hard elements. Next, identify how well your hard elements support one another and where changes could improve their interaction. After you’ve established that, do the same for your soft elements.

This analysis helps you identify elements that are working well and elements that need improvement. Applying this framework to your strategic plan and strategy implementation process helps you get a better feel for how well your organization can implement change.

The three Cs of implementing strategy

Business consultant and author Scott Edinger coined the three Cs of implementing strategy —clarity, communication, and cascade. They’re the three steps you should keep in mind if you want to implement your strategy successfully.

Let’s take a closer look at what they represent.

Clarify your strategy. Ideally, strategy was well received in the boardroom and your stakeholders and executives are on board. However, if it’s not clearly defined, you may lose your mid-level and frontline team members along the way. Your team can only implement a strategy they understand, so be clear with what your goals and strategic objectives are.

Communicate your strategy. A poster, announcement, or newsletter won’t be enough to communicate a new strategy to your organization. Diversify your communication strategy to ensure that teams know what’s going on and create opportunities to ask questions so everyone feels like they’re part of the process.

Cascade your strategy. A well implemented strategy cascades through your entire organization. Involve your organization’s managers and ensure that they understand the strategy so they can forward relevant information, tactics, and processes to their teams. While you may have informed your organization during the communication stage, this step is crucial in aligning every last teammate with your new strategy.

Next, let’s have a look at some of the challenges you’ll encounter during strategy implementation.

Strategy implementation pitfalls and solutions

A big undertaking like the implementation of a new strategy comes with its fair share of obstacles. Below are four of the most common pitfalls you’ll encounter when implementing a strategy plus a few tips on how you can create solutions for your team. 

1.  Overwhelming or meaningless strategic plan

Problem: If the strategic implementation lacks meaning and potential or if there is an overwhelming number of puzzle pieces to consider, it can really put a wrench in your implementation. 

Solution: Use SMART goals to ensure that your strategic plan is specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-bound. This framework will ensure that your strategic plan is both meaningful and possible to implement.

2. No implementation in sight

Problem: It’s great to have a strategic plan but without the resources and support from upper management, the implementation may never happen.

Solution: Your strategic plan should include clear goals, consequences, and requirements to inspire the actual implementation of your strategy. The clearer the document, the easier it will be to get the resources needed to turn it into action.

3. Lack of communication and ownership

Problem: A team that’s not 100% sure what the strategy actually is and doesn’t feel confident about their respective tasks can make your implementation process come to a halt before it’s even begun.

Solution: Clearly define each team member's responsibilities and delegate any relevant work. This gives team members a sense of ownership over the outcome of the strategy implementation. Ensure that your teammates have the authority and resources to execute their tasks.

4. Lack of accountability and empowerment

Problem: Low visibility and a lack of accountability can make your team feel helpless. 

Solution: Schedule regular strategy review and team meetings to discuss each team member’s progress, issues that are arising, and strategy shifts that can contribute to the success of your implementation. Track the progress to give your team a sense of accomplishment whenever they check off another goal they’ve met.

As long as you’re aware of the challenges, you can tackle them head on and avoid unnecessary setbacks.

Plan, implement, celebrate

Change isn’t easy but in order for your team to grow, it’s crucial that your organization does too.

Whether you’re in the midst of developing your strategic plan with a small project team or you’re already communicating your strategy to the entire organization, reliable project management software is critical in ensuring that everyone has access to the resources they need.

And once the strategy is successfully implemented, don’t forget to give yourself and your team a pat on the back. After all, celebrating milestones like these is important too!

Sources: Harvard Business School | MindTools | OnStrategy

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How to Create an Implementation Plan: a Step-by-Step Guide

Learn how to create an implementation plan with our step-by-step guide. Get practical insights and tips to guarantee your plan’s successful implementation.

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As much as we’d love for it to be true, ideas and visions alone are not enough to bring about transformative change. Whether it’s a groundbreaking business strategy or an ambitious personal goal, success hinges on the ability to execute plans effectively.

Implementation plans translate vision into action, turning your aspirations into tangible achievements.

This article covers everything you need to know about implementation plans, from what they should include to how to create one.

What is an implementation plan?

An implementation plan is a strategic roadmap that outlines the steps, resources, and  timeline  required to bring an idea or vision to fruition. It provides a detailed framework for translating goals and objectives into practical actions.

An effective implementation plan goes beyond simply assigning tasks to team members to include various components that collectively help the team execute the plan.

It typically includes specific activities, milestones, and deadlines to keep everyone on track. It also identifies the resources each task needs, including the required people, tools, and materials.

At the end of the day, an implementation plan allows for better coordination and communication among team members, making sure that everyone is working toward the same goal.

Key components of an implementation plan

An implementation plan is made up of several components that are crucial for a project’s success.

Let’s take a closer look at each of them.

‎Goals and objectives

Think about the desired outcomes and objectives for the implementation plan. What do you hope to achieve through the project? Your goals should be specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART).

Clearly defined work goals  help ensure a shared understanding and direction for everyone involved in the project. Without them, your project will be more likely to fail.

Scope and deliverables

Define the implementation plan’s boundaries and scope. What specific deliverables or milestones need to be accomplished? This helps set clear expectations and establish a timeline.

Timeline and milestones

What are the project’s time restraints? Create a detailed timeline that outlines the implementation process’s major phases, activities, and milestones. This  time management strategy  allows for better planning and progress tracking.

Roles and responsibilities

Identify the individuals or teams responsible for carrying out different tasks and activities. Clarify each person’s roles, responsibilities, and reporting structures to ensure accountability and coordination.

Resources and budget

At least  85% of every project  is over budget to some degree due to unforeseen events. To reduce the likelihood of running out of funds, determine the resources your team needs to successfully execute the  plan of action  and allocate a budget. Ensure  your team has the right technological tools  at their disposal.

Risk assessment and mitigation strategies

Identify potential risks and challenges that may arise during implementation. Develop strategies and contingency plans to mitigate those risks and minimize their impact on the project.

Communication plan

Establish a plan for effective communication throughout the implementation process. Define the target audience, key messages, communication channels, and frequency of updates to keep stakeholders informed and engaged.

According to a report on business communication,  72% of business leaders  believe that effective communication increases their team’s productivity.

Training and support

Determine the training needs of the individuals involved in the implementation, and develop a plan to provide the necessary training and support. This ensures everyone has the knowledge and skills to carry out their assigned tasks.

According to the World Economic Forum,  six in ten workers  will require training before 2027, but only half have access to adequate training opportunities today.

Evaluation and monitoring

Define the metrics and evaluation criteria to assess the progress and success of the implementation plan. Regularly monitor and measure the outcomes against the established objectives.

Documentation and reporting

Establish a system for documenting all relevant information, including project plans, progress reports, and any changes made during the implementation. This ensures transparency and provides a record for future reference.

Benefits of creating an implementation plan

Creating an implementation plan can be a difficult process. But when done well, it can bring many benefits for your team and a project’s success. We’ll discuss a few of them below.

‎Ensuring alignment and clarity of goals

A crucial aspect of any implementation plan is clearly defined outcomes and objectives, which give all stakeholders a shared understanding of what needs to be achieved. This alignment minimizes confusion and keeps everyone focused on the same target.

Facilitating effective resource management

An implementation plan gives teams a comprehensive overview of the required resources, including finances, personnel, and materials. This allows for better planning and allocation, ensuring that the right resources are available at the right times.

Project managers can easily identify potential resource gaps or bottlenecks early and take proactive measures to avoid them.

Minimizing risks and addressing potential obstacles

Implementation plans serve as a helpful tool to predict and handle problems while putting a plan into action.

They provide a structured way to identify and evaluate potential risks and challenges so that steps can be taken in advance to reduce their impact. Managers can monitor progress and make the necessary adjustments to ensure the project stays on track.

Enhancing communication and coordination among team members

A well-thought-out implementation plan becomes a structured framework for sharing information and providing progress updates. Roles, responsibilities, and dependencies are clarified, promoting seamless teamwork. This fosters effective communication, improves collaboration, and helps ensure that everyone is on the same page.

‎For example, a team member may not know the plan’s next stage, or a project manager may want to follow up on a task’s progress. Instead of sending emails back and forth, they can both refer to the implementation plan as a source of truth.

Providing a framework for monitoring and evaluation

Implementation plans establish clear metrics and evaluation criteria, serving as benchmarks to assess the success of the plan. This systematic approach helps monitor key milestones and outcomes, empowering teams to make data-driven, informed decisions.

For example, say a non-profit organization develops an implementation plan for a community outreach program. The plan includes specific metrics to monitor the program’s success, such as the number of individuals reached, the impact of educational workshops, and participant feedback.

Regularly tracking these metrics and evaluating the program’s effectiveness means the organization can make informed decisions, identify areas for improvement, and demonstrate the program’s value to stakeholders and funders.

7 steps to create an implementation plan

Creating an implementation plan requires seven important steps. Let’s break down each one and use the example of a team developing a mobile app to illustrate the process.

Step 1: Define the objective and desired outcomes

The first step is to clearly define the objective of the mobile app or product launch. For example, the objective could be to develop a user-friendly app that simplifies online shopping, and the desired outcome could be a high user adoption rate and positive customer feedback.

Step 2: Identify the key stakeholders and their roles

Identify the key stakeholders involved in the development and launch process, such as the  product team , designers, developers, marketing team, and customer support. Clarify their roles and responsibilities to ensure effective collaboration and smooth project execution.

Step 3: Break down the objective into actionable tasks and steps

Break down the objective into smaller tasks and steps that need to be accomplished. These tasks could include conducting market research, designing a user interface, developing an app, creating marketing materials, and setting up customer support channels.

Step 4: Allocate resources and create a timeline

Allocate the necessary resources, including the budget, personnel, and technology, to support the project’s development and launch.  Create a detailed timeline  with specific deadlines for each task to help ensure that the development process stays on track.

Step 5: Conduct a risk assessment and develop mitigation strategies

Identify potential risks that may arise during the development and launch phase. These risks could include technical issues, competition, or market changes. Develop strategies to mitigate these risks, such as conducting thorough testing, staying updated on market trends, and establishing backup plans.

Step 6: Monitor progress and make the necessary adjustments

Regularly monitor the progress of the development and launch activities. Keep track of milestones, such as completing design iterations or reaching development checkpoints. If any issues or challenges arise, make necessary adjustments to the plan, such as reallocating resources or adjusting the timeline.

Step 7: Evaluate the outcomes and lessons learned

Once the mobile app or product is launched, evaluate its performance against the defined objectives in your implementation plan. Analyze user feedback, adoption rates, and sales data to measure success. Identify lessons learned from the development and launch process to improve future product releases.

Simplify your implementation plan process with Motion

With proper planning and a clear implementation plan, even the most ambitious ideas can become tangible realities. And the right tools make this process all the more efficient. That’s where  Motion’s Project Manager  comes in.

Say goodbye to tedious manual tasks and hello to streamlined efficiency with Motion. The app automates time-consuming aspects of your implementation plan, freeing up your team’s energy for what really matters: executing your vision. With Motion, you can easily align your team, track progress, and achieve successful project outcomes.

Simplify your implementation plan and supercharge your team’s productivity with Motion.  Sign up for a free 7-day trial today .

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What is an Implementation Plan? [& How to Do Yours Right]

Updated: November 12, 2021

Published: May 10, 2021

Project management doesn't exactly lend itself to freestyling. You can't really wing it and bank on your intuition to successfully guide you as you go. You have to put in a lot of thought, carefully plan, determine relevant metrics, and observe progress on an ongoing basis if you want your project to come to fruition.

And you can't just trust your memory to address all those actions and elements. You need something known as an implementation plan — a document that covers most aspects of your project's blueprint and preferred trajectory. 

Here, we'll explore the concept a bit further, review how you can make one of your own, cover the key components yours should include, and look at an example of one done right.

What is an implementation plan?

An implementation plan is a step-by-step list of tasks — all with specific owners and deadlines — designed to outline and guide a strategic plan for carrying out a project. It keeps a project's timeline, stakeholder responsibilities, team dynamics, and resource allocation clear through the implementation process.

Your implementation plan serves as a backbone for your project and a consistent reference point to ensure that you and your team are on track to deliver what you need to on time. It should be well-structured, carefully sequenced, and readily visible to everyone involved.

Everyone from management to lower-level stakeholders needs a comprehensive picture of what's going on, their specific responsibilities, and what to expect from the rest of their team.

The nature and structure of implementation plans vary from organization to organization and project to project. So there's no standard format for what one should look like. Still, there are some key points to consider and components to cover when creating yours.

How to Create an Implementation Plan

1. pin down your objectives..

The how, what, where , and when of an implementation plan can't be effectively guided without a firm understanding of the why . What's the endgame? What are you hoping to achieve? What do you stand to gain? Who will benefit if it's carried out correctly? How will you know if you succeeded? What metrics will you use to gauge your success?

You need to have a firm grasp on all of those questions before jumping into the rest of this process. Your objective frames the rest of your implementation, dictates how you set goals, and informs how you adapt to new challenges as they emerge.

2. Tap a specific owner for the implementation process.

Your implementation plan is likely going to involve multiple stakeholders, but in most cases, a project can't be carried out efficiently if it's done exclusively by committee. You need to have one primary owner at the helm of the process, keeping everything in check and on track.

This person will be responsible for tasks like assigning responsibilities, keeping tabs on the plan's progress, monitoring lower-level stakeholders, ensuring the execution remains productive, and any other broader actions that keep the broader project moving.

3. Conduct a risk assessment.

You need to have as comprehensive a picture of what might go wrong with your project as possible before you launch into it. That way, you can anticipate any potential hitches and plan how to address them accordingly.

That's why conducting a risk assessment for your implementation plan is so crucial. You need to thoroughly cover your bases to avoid issues like spending outside your budget or missing deadlines.

If you don't know where to start, take a look at similar projects your company or competition might have carried out. See any issues they ran into, and ensure that you have safeguards in place to deal with those problems, should they arise.

4. Set a budget

If your project warrants creating an implementation plan, it's not going to be free. You'll have some funding, but that probably won't come in the form of a blank check. You need to determine an appropriate price range that accounts for what you think the project will cost and what you're comfortable spending to see it through.

You're best off methodically considering how much the individual tasks that compose the plan will cost and applying the findings of your risk assessment to account for other financial issues that might arise. It might also be worth looking into similar projects and using their budgets as a reference point for yours.

5. Allocate individual responsibilities to team members.

Here's one of the key points where your project owner demonstrates why you tapped them for the job. They need to thoughtfully and effectively delegate tasks to the team you've put together. Every task in the plan needs to have someone personally accountable for it.

Team members need to know which pieces of the project they're responsible for, why those pieces are necessary, and why they — specifically — are responsible for them. You also need to clearly establish the results you expect to see from each task. Keep your standards and intentions clear, and you'll get the most out of each stage of the project.

6. Develop a plan schedule.

Once you have the building blocks of your plan squared away, it's time to put a timeline together. Organize your tasks, and set deadlines for when they need to be accomplished and broader milestones that track the project's overall progress.

That said, you should be willing to account for potential hiccups, like scope creep or communication breakdowns. One way or another, you need to put together a tight, well-defined schedule that lends itself to efficiency and positive morale.

Implementation Plan Components

• Relevant Team Members
• Schedule and Milestones
• Resource Allocation
• Key Metrics for Success
• Acceptance Criteria
• Success Evaluation

1. Relevant Team Members

Identifying who's going to be involved in a project is one of the points to consider when putting an implementation plan together. You need to have a clearly defined picture of all the stakeholders who will be assuming any responsibilities throughout the implementation process. If you don't, you can't clearly allocate tasks, keep tabs on progress, and ensure your implementation is as organized and well-oiled as possible.

2. Key Tasks

At its core, an implementation plan is meant to document a series of actions, so you can't exactly have one if you don't know what those actions are. When you put your plan together, you have to outline what steps you intend to take to get from start to finish.

3. Schedule and Milestones

As I mentioned in the last section, you need a firm schedule in place to hold stakeholders accountable, keep your implementation on track, and ensure that everyone involved in your project is on the same page.

4. Resource Allocation

Virtually any task specified in an implementation plan — like any task in any context — requires resources. You need to ensure that every stakeholder involved has access to whatever they need to fulfill the responsibilities you've assigned to them. You don't want to leave any team member high and dry without the means to get their job done.

5. Key Metrics for Success

You'll have a hard time determining whether your implementation plan is successful without defining how your success should be measured. By monitoring specific, relevant metrics throughout your project, you can have a pulse on whether your current strategy is effective or if you might need to shift gears.

6. Acceptance Criteria

How will you know when your project is done? What will tell you when your implementation plan has actually been implemented? You need to define the criteria that let you answer those questions before creating your plan and setting it in motion.

7. Success Evaluation

As a sort of extension of the point above, you need to know how you're going to evaluate whether your plan actually worked — and the extent to which it did. Have certain metrics and benchmarks prepared to tell you whether your project accomplished what it needed to.

Implementation Plan Example

Your implementation plan is going to be unique to your team and the project you're carrying out — and the format you go with will likely reflect that specificity. Here is an example of what one could look like.

Image Source: Service Engineering Lab

Your implementation is going to be exactly that — your implementation plan. It's going to be specific to your needs and project specifications. You might not include every component listed here, or you might include some more. Yours could look like the example we've listed, or it could wind up looking different.

Still, this article provides a solid starting point for you to consider when putting yours together. If there's anything to take away from this piece it's this — have a plan in place for your implementation, document it, and track it as your project progresses. If you take those strides, you'll put yourself in the best possible position to see your project through to the other side smoothly and efficiently.

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A Manager’s Guide to Successful Strategy Implementation

• 16 Jan 2024

To address business challenges and concerns, organizations must constantly monitor, evaluate, and adjust their strategic initiatives . When it’s time to implement a new strategy, it’s typically up to managers to do so.

Access your free e-book today.

What Is Strategy Implementation?

According to the online course Strategy Execution , strategy implementation is the process of turning plans into action to reach business goals and objectives . In other words, it’s the art of getting stuff done.

Your organization’s success rests on your ability to implement decisions and execute processes efficiently, effectively, and consistently. Yet, that’s often easier said than done.

“If you've looked at the news lately, you've probably seen stories of businesses with great strategies that have failed,” says Harvard Business School Professor Robert Simons, who teaches Strategy Execution . “In each, we find a business strategy that was well formulated but poorly executed.”

You can learn a lot from failed strategies , and understanding how to implement a successful one is vital to leading change. Here are steps you can take to effectively roll out your business strategy .

4 Steps in the Strategy Implementation Process

1. handle tension.

Making tough choices isn’t easy, and you need to manage any tension that arises with change.

In strategy implementation, tension often exists between innovating to grow your business and controlling internal processes and procedures.

For example, leaders at ride-hailing company Uber have faced challenges in balancing growth and control. While Uber has transformed the transportation industry, its need to expand has led to several instances of misconduct due to insufficient internal controls .

You can manage tension and find balance by designing and implementing levers of control , which comprise:

• Belief systems : Organizational definitions you communicate and reinforce to provide direction to employees
• Boundary systems : Negatively phrased statements that tell employees what behaviors are forbidden
• Diagnostic control systems : Formal information systems that help monitor organizational outcomes
• Interactive control systems : Formal systems managers use to involve themselves in subordinates' decisions that impact strategic uncertainties

These levers help create opposing forces throughout strategy implementation that continuously balance each other. While half of them (belief systems and interactive control systems) promote innovation and inspiration, the others (boundary systems and diagnostic control systems) establish boundaries and threats of punishment when employees cross the line.

To ensure your strategy execution succeeds , use the power of tension when designing management control systems.

2. Align Job Design to Strategy

No matter how well-formulated your business strategy is, it can’t succeed without your team. To prime employees for success, it’s essential to design jobs with strategy in mind.

Job design is structuring jobs’ components to enhance organizational efficiency. Its common elements include task allocation, job development, and feedback and communication.

“Job design is a critical part of strategy execution,” Simons says in Strategy Execution . “If individuals don't have the resources they need and aren’t accountable in the right way, they won’t be able to work to their potential.”

According to Simons, you can use the Job Design Optimization Tool (JDOT) to design or test jobs by analyzing their balance of demands and resources.

The tool prompts you to consider:

• What resources do employees have to get the job done?
• What measure will we use to evaluate their performance?
• Who must they influence to achieve their goals?
• How much support can they expect when reaching out for help?

By answering these questions and ensuring they align with your strategy, employees can directly support your initiatives.

3. Inspire Employee Buy-In

Even if you position employees for success through effective job design, you must still gain their buy-in for strategic goals . According to a Gallup survey , organizations with strong employee engagement experience 10 percent greater customer loyalty and 23 percent higher profitability.

You can garner their support by communicating your organization’s core values —its purpose that impacts what employees should do and how they should act.

According to Strategy Execution , effective core values possess two attributes:

• Inspiration: They make employees proud of where they work.
• Guidance: They ensure employees know whose interests to prioritize when making difficult decisions.

Communicating your organization’s core values doesn’t just help bolster support for strategic initiatives; it also provides employees with a purpose to improve performance and workplace accountability .

Another useful tool is ranking systems.

“Ranking systems—which are quite common in practice—have really good features that managers can use to stimulate performance,” says HBS Professor Susan Gallani in Strategy Execution .

Ranking systems provide clear measures—like leadership capabilities—for employees to determine their ownership in your business strategy. Gallani says establishing such measures helps eliminate unknowns that create anxiety.

“What the ranking system does—it takes that shock away,” Gallani says in Strategy Execution . “Everybody's compared at the same level, and that's good because it really highlights the individual contribution of different workers and points out who did better and who did worse.”

By implementing ranking systems, achievement-driven employees can be more likely to invest in your business strategy.

Related: How to Get Employee Buy-In to Execute Your Strategic Initiatives

4. Manage Risk

Even if you take these steps when implementing your business strategy, your initiatives can still fail.

“Competing successfully in any industry involves some level of risk,” Simons says in Strategy Execution . “But high-performing businesses with high-pressure cultures are especially vulnerable. As a manager, you need to know how and why these risks arise and how to avoid them.”

Engaging in risk management —the systematic process of identifying, assessing, and mitigating threats or uncertainties that can affect your organization—is crucial to long-term success.

Three types of pressures that make you vulnerable to risk are:

• Information management

Business risks aren’t always obvious, making it critical to identify unexpected events or conditions that could impede your organization’s business strategy .

“I think one of the challenges firms face is the ability to properly identify their risks,” says HBS Professor Eugene Soltes in Strategy Execution .

For example, the automotive industry heavily relies on semiconductors. However, due to an unexpected disruption in manufacturing priorities during the COVID-19 pandemic, companies had to navigate production during a semiconductor shortage .

By understanding your strategy’s vulnerabilities, you can prevent failures because of unanticipated events and protect your organization from challenges like increased market competition, evolving technologies, and shifting customer needs .

Learn How to Oversee Strategy Implementation

Implementing strategy successfully is challenging.

By taking an online strategy course , such as Strategy Execution , you can draw insights from real-world business examples and build the strategy execution skills and knowledge to achieve your organization’s objectives.

Do you want to improve your strategy implementation? Explore Strategy Execution —one of our online strategy courses —and download our free strategy e-book to take the first step toward doing so.

This post was updated and republished on January 16, 2024. It was originally published on February 25, 2020.

About the Author

Project management

Implementation plan: What to include and 5 essential steps

A project plan or project implementation plan is a key strategic document that keeps teams on track throughout a project, indicating how a project is expected to run along with who’s responsible for what. It’s an extremely valuable planning tool — one that can be the difference between project success and project failure.

It’s also a fairly comprehensive document, and if you’ve never built one before, the concept can feel a bit overwhelming.

In this post, we’ll give you a five-step plan for building and implementing a project plan. First, we’ll walk you through what a project implementation plan looks like, why you should create one for every project, and what each plan should include.

• What is a project implementation plan?

A project implementation plan is a document that defines how a project will be executed. Implementation plans outline the project's goals, scope, and purpose, as well as listing the resources (including team members) necessary for a successful project.

Project implementation plans are sometimes called “strategic plans” because they lay out the strategy proposed for a project. But we like the longer name because it conveys more than just strategy: It suggests a process going into action, and it answers the question of how a team will arrive at a goal.

A project implementation plan serves as a critical reference point throughout the project's lifecycle, ensuring everyone is on the same page and everything is on the right track. It's a vital document for guiding decision-making, mitigating risks, and ultimately ensuring the successful completion of the project from start to finish.

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• Why every project should start with an implementation plan

Why start each project with an implementation plan? Simple: because you want the project to succeed, and you want an objective way to know if it succeeded.

Starting each project with an implementation plan accomplishes quite a bit for most teams and businesses, primarily because it creates a shared sense of vision and understanding and points toward a clearly defined goal.

Most teams realize these four benefits (and plenty more) when they create a thorough and functional project implementation plan:

It creates an actionable roadmap of the scope of work

Projects run the gamut from extremely simple to lengthy and complex. The more complicated and interconnected the project, the greater the chance for confusion.

Whatever the level of complexity, chaos ensues when team members aren’t clear on what to do, when to do it, or why they’re doing it.

A project implementation plan is the antidote to this kind of chaos because it shows all parties what the path forward looks like (the roadmap ) — as well as what is and isn’t on that path (the scope of work).

It makes goals and communication transparent to all stakeholders

When all parties understand the goals of a project, you lessen confusion around those goals. There may still be disagreement on how to best achieve a goal, but there’s no confusion about what the team is aiming to accomplish.

Also, a central, accessible document containing all relevant aspects of a project creates a single source of truth for teams, managers, executives, vendors, customers, and more. When anyone and everyone associated with a project is working from the same playbook, teams and businesses enjoy clearer, more focused, and more transparent communication .

It holds your team members accountable

Around 70% of businesses report having at least one failed project in the last year. We’ve all been part of a project where no one seemed accountable for problems or even total project failure. Of course, no one likes taking the blame and finding a scapegoat isn’t always terribly productive. Still, if you have a team member or business unit that’s consistently failing to deliver, you want to know.

A strong project implementation plan makes clear who’s responsible for what within a project. It gives project managers and team leads a stronger understanding of task accountability, helping to hold team members accountable for their work.

And most of the time, better accountability comes with better results!

It helps your entire team stay on the same page

You’ll never completely eliminate scope creep (something that occurred within more than a third of projects in 2021), nor should you. Parameters for various deliverables or even the entire project can and do change over the course of a project, and sometimes a change in scope is clearly the right decision.

But not all scope creep is good. Especially with longer or more complex projects, it’s common for team members to lose focus on the top-level goals — not to mention the specific steps needed to reach those goals.

This loss of focus is preventable, though, as is the scope creep that grows from it. A project implementation plan keeps the big-picture goals and the steps required to meet them in focus. When a change in scope is warranted, it should be documented within or alongside the implementation plan.

• Essential components of a great implementation plan

Most well-designed implementation plans contain these essential items, though it’s important to note that implementation plans vary widely, just like the projects they’re attached to.

These elements comprise a solid foundation for your next implementation plan. Start with these, but feel free to add additional elements that make sense for your industry or project type.

1) Scope statement

The scope statement outlines the scope of the project — essentially, what work will be performed in the project (and what work would be considered out of scope).

2) Project milestones, goals, and key objectives

Project goals are the high-level outcomes the project aims to achieve. Key objectives are the steps or intermediate outcomes that will occur throughout the project in support of the project goals. Project milestones are the points of measurement along the way, usually significant or tangible in some way.

Examples of milestones across a few industry contexts include wireframe completed, beta launch, copy drafted, or the completion of a phase, segment, or function that’s part of the whole.

3) Detailed resource plan

A project’s resource plan indicates which human resources are involved along with their time or workload commitment. You should also include materials and equipment (typically, only what’s beyond the standard stuff every employee already has) needed for successful project completion.

4) Estimated implementation timeline

A key element of any implementation plan is a concrete timeframe for the project (and its implementation). These dates are rarely perfect at the outset of a project, but they provide a goal to work toward and give stakeholders some context for what they’re signing off on.

Most project teams use project management software for creating project timelines , often in the form of a Gantt chart.

5) Implementation plan milestones

Your implementation plan may benefit from its own set of internal milestones, separate from the broader project milestones. These internal milestones are more useful on highly complex projects with multiple levels of approval and numerous departments supplying information.

Implementation plan milestones could look like these: initial stakeholder information gathered, plan drafted, plan discussed and feedback incorporated, final sign-off by all stakeholders.

6) Implementation plan KPIs & metrics

Your key performance indicators (KPIs) or other metrics reveal how well the team is accomplishing the implementation plan. Establish measurable indicators, state what they are within the plan itself, and then track them over the course of the project.

Here, a quality project management tool is essential if you want to succeed with measurements that span the length of a project.

• 5 easy steps to create your project implementation plan

Now you know what needs to go into your project implementation plan — but how do you actually create one and get the implementation process started?

We know this process can seem daunting at first, and it does take some upfront work. But the process doesn’t have to be as complicated as it seems. Follow these five easy steps to create an implementation plan that helps keep your project and your team on track. Then, as future projects arise, use these questions as a template of sorts to create a quality implementation and management plan for each one.

Teamwork.com’s project management template is an easy way to start building your plan today.

• 1) Define your goals and milestones

Before you can create a plan for how to get where you want to go, you need to spend some time deciding where you want to go .

So, before you start building out any other part of a project implementation or action plan, start by devoting time to the what and the where:

What are you trying to accomplish? (Project-level goals)

What needs to happen to reach those goals? (Project objectives)

What are the intermediate steps or milestones that demonstrate progress along the path toward the project’s goals? (Project milestones)

Once you establish goals, objectives, and milestones — and achieve buy-in from key stakeholders and project team members on those goals and milestones — you’re ready to proceed to step two.

• 2) Conduct research by interviewing, surveying, or observing

Research is one key element of a successful implementation plan. In many project contexts, this research looks like interviewing or surveying various stakeholders, subject matter experts, department leaders, and so on — gathering the information necessary to build your implementation strategy.

Sometimes observation is a key strategy as well: Watching what another team (or vendor or external organization) does or has done on a similar project can provide valuable insights.

• 3) Brainstorm and map out potential risks

Every project has inherent potential risks. Some of these can be foreseen, while others seem to come out of nowhere. Take the pandemic as one example of the latter category. Yes, businesses should have business continuity and disaster management policies in place, but few — if any — businesses had a concrete plan of action lined up for a global pandemic.

So, there are risks you can’t plan for and could never predict. But there are plenty of risks that, with a little bit of brainstorming and planning, should be easy to discover. These are the ones you need to target as you perform a risk assessment.

Map out the known risks, along with potential impacts and mitigation strategies for each one. Some risks are entirely avoidable so long as you take appropriate risk management actions. Others may not be completely preventable, but having a plan in place will greatly reduce their impact.

• 4) Assign and delegate essential tasks

Every good implementation plan will include a work plan or action plan that lists out the tasks within the project to a certain level of granularity. These tasks eventually get plugged into a calendar or schedule of some sort, often within project planning software suites like Teamwork.com .

No matter what method or platform you’re using, at this stage, you need to map out or schedule these tasks. As a part of this step, make sure you assign and delegate tasks to specific resources (or, at minimum, specific departments or work groups).

This step is key to successful project execution, as it assigns responsibility and accountability for every task included in the plan, bringing clarity to who’s doing what and when.

• 5) Finalize your plan and allocate resources

Next up is allocating resources. You already assigned tasks to people (or departments) in the previous step, so what do we mean here that’s any different?

Put simply, there’s a difference between putting on paper that “Sam will handle task 35” (assigning tasks) and actually making sure that Sam has the capacity to handle task 35 (allocating resources).

In step 4, all you really did was determine who’s doing what. Now, during resource allocation, you make sure that your assignment plan is achievable. Resource allocation means assigning tasks to resources that are actually available. In other words, you need to make sure task 35 doesn’t land on Sam’s desk the same day as 10 other tasks.

Last, once everything else about your plan has been crafted, vetted, and approved, it’s time to finalize the plan. Usually, this involves sending out the completed plan for a final round of approvals.

Once approved, the project implementation plan becomes a single source of truth for the team and other stakeholders. So make sure to store the plan in a central, accessible location. ( Teamwork.com is a great place for this , if you ask us!)

• Create an effective project plan with Teamwork.com

Creating a project implementation plan requires careful planning and attention to innumerable details, but the results are worth the investment. Increase your project success rate, productivity, morale, and more by keeping teams focused on the right shared outcomes.

We’ve hinted at this a few times already, but project implementation planning (along with all the other documents and documentation you need to prepare to get a project off the ground) is infinitely easier when you use the right tools.

Teamwork.com is a powerful all-in-one platform for client work — including complete operations control and project management — that gives you a central location to store project data, robust yet flexible templates, and visibility into current and past project data. Teamwork.com can cut down on the detail work and keep your information organized in a digestible, more user-friendly way, ultimately empowering you and your teams to achieve better work for your clients, be more profitable, and stay on track.

See more of what Teamwork.com can do for your business now — get started now for free, view our comprehensive pricing plans , or book a demo today.

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• Small Business
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The 6 Steps for Creating the Perfect Implementation Plan

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Our Small Business Expert

Whether you’re starting a new business, creating a new team, or trying out a new marketing strategy, you can’t dive right in and throw money at the first solution you stumble upon.

Strategic project planning is the cornerstone of a successful venture, just like every other business decision you make. You need an implementation plan to help you navigate the treacherous waters of undertaking a new strategic decision.

Overview: What is an implementation plan?

An implementation plan supports a strategic action plan process for all kinds of business operations and practices, whether you’re executing a new marketing plan or introducing a new software platform to your organization.

The implementation plan dictates the actions and methods you’ll use to turn your strategy into reality.

How to create an implementation plan

Building your strategic implementation plan may seem daunting the first time but don’t worry, I’ve laid out the six implementation plan steps.

Step 1: Brainstorm your desired outcomes

The first step is envisioning and determining what the final outcomes will be. Whether it’s the adoption of a new software tool or a change in your team management strategy. Start with the endgame in mind.

Here are a few questions you need to answer about these outcomes:

• Who stands to benefit from this change or addition?
• How will they benefit?
• What metrics will measure success?

Keep in mind the answers to these questions may shift as your implementation progresses. Just think of your answers as a springboard for the process.

Tips for brainstorming your desired outcomes

To help the process along, I’ve come up with a couple of tips to help you structure your outcomes.

• Set goals: Base the goals of your implementation on the best possible scenarios, including launch dates, secured clients, improved productivity numbers, etc.
• List contingencies: Implementing anything into your business strategy is a long process, prone to change. That’s why it’s important to brainstorm contingent scenarios. The risk assessment you conduct later in this process will help clarify these scenarios and contingencies.

Step 2: Assign implementation responsibility to an owner

While it’s too early to start delegating individual responsibilities, it’s important to establish an overall owner for this implementation process. This owner will take charge of tracking team productivity, assign individual tasks, and steer the implementation when the team veers off course.

Tips for assigning the implementation to an owner

One of the hardest decisions you’ll make during this entire process is choosing someone to lead the planning and execution of your implementation strategy. Here are a few tips to help you make that choice.

• Look for a great communicator: Everything about an implementation strategy or project is dependent on great communication, especially from those responsible for its success. Make sure the owner you choose has a long history of quality and timely communication with their teammates and superiors.
• Look for an innovative thinker: The best leaders operate well under pressure and find innovative ways to solve unique problems. Your implementation will hit a few bumps along the way, so it’s best to have someone competent behind the wheel.

Step 3: Conduct a risk assessment

It’s time to ensure you understand all of the pitfalls before you proceed with your implementation plan. You don’t want to work halfway through the process before you realize you didn’t plan out buffer days to handle scope creep or additional panic funding in the budget.

This is why it’s crucial to conduct a risk assessment before committing to this implementation.

Tips for conducting a risk assessment

Developing your risk assessment is your best defense against issues that might derail your entire implementation strategy. Here are a couple of tips for identifying and mitigating those risks.

• Make your risk assessment a group effort: It’s not possible for your implementation owner to know every issue the team might face. It’s crucial to bring the team together for brainstorming sessions to gather all types of perspectives for risk and solution identification.
• Evaluate case studies similar to your own implementation strategy: Nothing beats learning about the risks facing your project than studying those who’ve executed similar strategies to yours. Find out what worked and what didn’t from the primary sources rather than only relying on hypothetical speculation.

Step 4: Establish a budget

Budgeting. Everybody’s favorite project pastime (except mine). The key to a helpful implementation plan budget is to make all items and expenditures easy to measure and track.

Keep everything organized using spreadsheets or interactive budget tools offered by many project management platforms, such as Mavenlink or monday.com .

The two most pressing questions of this phase are:

• What will it take to make this implementation plan a success?
• How much are you willing to spend to make it a success?

Tips for creating a budget

Creating a budget is intimidating, but with the help of a few tips, you’ll be filling out your line items with ease.

• Take your risks into account: Risks pose a threat to any budget, whether those risks lead to longer execution windows, additional teammates, or the need for supplementary resources. Make sure you build buffers into your budget to make room for these issues.
• Use similar implementation examples as a baseline: Like creating a risk register, it’s always best to use similar scenarios to inform the decisions you make with your current implementation plan.

Step 5: Create and delegate your implementation plan tasks

Your implementation has an owner, and so should every task in the process. These owners are responsible for executing said tasks in your plan and reporting back progress to the overall manager. These owners are also responsible for handling the respective risks associated with these tasks.

Tips for delegating your tasks

Your tasks are specific to the type of implementation plan you put together, so I will leave that to you. Instead, I want to focus on giving you a couple of pointers for delegating your tasks.

• Communicate your reasons to each team member: It’s one thing to hand out roles, and it’s another to explain the reason for each choice. Explaining the rationale behind each choice will provide purpose and motivation for each team member to succeed in their tasks.
• Set clear expectations: While the line “impress me” has its place in movies and TV shows, it isn’t a very effective mindset to use on your employees. Instead of leaving the end product up to your team, make sure you set clear expectations of what you want to see in your project deliverables. Clear expectations produce clear results.

Step 6: Develop your implementation plan schedule

You’ve gathered foundational information and now it’s time to take that and construct your plan. Like any well-crafted narrative, your implementation project schedule will include a beginning, middle, and end.

The beginning includes all of your initiation actions (setup, delegation, etc.), the middle consists of all your execution actions and progress tracking, and the finale includes all of your assessments and last-minute quality control.

You’ll want to make sure the scheduling decisions you make lead to the quickest and most cost-effective implementation without sacrificing quality. Use tools and strategies such as the work breakdown structure and critical path method to plan out the most efficient handling of tasks.

Tips for developing your schedule

This may be your first time putting together an implementation plan. If so, these tips will help you map out your process.

• Break tasks into milestones: Milestones provide your team with motivation and an ability to measure progress through grouped task signoffs.
• Create schedule buffers: Your implementation schedule is where you take the possibility of scope creep into account. Make sure you plan out scheduling buffers to account for inflated process times.

The best project management tools for creating an implementation plan

You don’t have to create your implementation plan all by yourself in spreadsheets and Word documents. You’ll find lots of project management software options out there well-suited to help you plan, manage, execute, and evaluate your implementation strategy.

To make it easy for you, I’ve listed three options that’ll cover all of your needs.

1. Mavenlink

Mavenlink is the perfect “do everything” project management software for enterprise-level users. It’s a simple, powerful tool that’ll provide you with every function you need to plan and carry out strategy implementation and project steps, from task dependencies to budget reports.

Mavenlink is a powerful and “by the book” project management tool that’ll handle anything you throw at it. Image source: Author

Mavenlink is far better suited to enterprise-level users due to its pricing but if you can afford this platform, it is well worth the money. I’d especially recommend this software option to users looking for an experience that’ll show them the ropes of project management software.

Scoro is fantastic for many reasons. It’s easy to navigate (although learning some functions involves a learning curve), it offers nearly every project management feature you could ask for, and the report selection is extensive.

I want to focus on that last benefit because Scoro gives you some of the best reporting options I’ve ever seen.

Scoro offers detailed and actionable dashboards. Image source: Author

While the execution actions of your implementation strategy are important, tracking your progress is the key to ensuring and showing that success. Scoro gives you all kinds of report options that’ll help you measure activity, budgets, and even the “success rates” of tasks.

I’d recommend Scoro to users who are dealing with complicated implementation plans with many moving parts that require consistent attention.

3. monday.com

When it comes to a combination of ease of use and versatility, monday.com is second to none. It is one of the easiest project management tools I’ve ever used and I would recommend this platform for nearly any user of any experience level.

Unlike the other two options, monday.com relies on its customizability to provide you with all kinds of features you’d use to plan out your implementation strategy.

monday.com’s user interface is very simple to learn and pleasant to use. Image source: Author

Using what it calls a “board” system, you are able to track your implementation plan tasks, delegate responsibilities, create dependencies, measure success through reports, and even create budgets.

This is the perfect tool for anyone looking to step away from the traditional project software experience and try something new.

The Ascent has your back beyond the implementation plan

Project management and business strategy are about more than planning. Growing your business requires solid execution and thorough after-the-fact evaluation.

That’s why we at The Ascent want to help you every step of the way with countless guides, from project management basics and best practices to detailed software reviews and alternatives pieces.

We regularly post and update our content to reflect the constant changes you’ll face while completing projects (even when dealing with the current COVID-19 pandemic ), so be sure to stay up to date on everything we have to offer.

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What is an Implementation Plan & How Do I Create One

The primary purpose of creating a project plan is to execute the project successfully. Successful execution of a project is impossible without an implementation plan.

An organization may get stuck on how to execute its project or may execute it incorrectly without an implementation plan.

Project managers can easily and effectively manage the project process if they follow the steps highlighted in the project implementation plan and get the desired result.

You can avoid failure in the project execution phase and attain project success with a well-detailed implementation plan.

This article will reveal every important detail you need to know to create an effective implementation plan.

Let’s get started.

What is an Implementation Plan in Project Management?

You can define an implementation plan as a project management tool that outlines a step-by-step process to bring a project from start to completion.

In other words, your implementation plan lays down the process or procedure a project manager and the project team must follow to execute a project successfully.

A project implementation plan is a detailed document containing a list of tasks with individual roles and responsibilities . It determines the project goals, timeline, and resources needed to support successful implementation.

There is a difference between a strategic plan and an implementation plan. The simple difference is that strategic plans describe the project manager's implementation strategy while implementation plans convert a strategy into an actual task.

Key Components of an Implementation Plan

1. project goals and objective.

A project needs to have a goal or objective. An object is a key milestone that the project team must complete to achieve the goal. The organization can choose an objective during strategic planning sessions.

2. Success Criteria

Key stakeholders and project leaders have to reach a mutual conclusion on what would be described as the project’s critical success factor ( CSF ) and how to measure success.

3. Scope Statement

The scope statement is a critical component of an implementation plan. It is a brief description of your project scope. Proper project scope management is critical for effective project planning .

4. Resource Plan

A resource plan is one of the key components of an implementation plan. Create a detailed resource plan containing every resource needed for successfully implementing the project.

These resources can be human resources, equipment, and every material required to carry out the project.

5. Risk Analysis

You can effectively use risk assessment tools to identify all the potential project risks you may encounter.

6. Implementation Timeline

To have a successful implementation plan, you will require a clear project timeline . You get a clear overview of individual tasks in your project and project deliverables with a project timeline.

7. Implementation Plan Milestone

If you want to measure progress when executing your project implementation plan, it is vital to identify key milestones which you will use to track project progress. Schedule milestones in your project execution plan around due dates set for project completion.

8. Team Roles and Responsibility

There is a need to assign responsibilities to team members, with everyone knowing what role or responsibility is assigned.

9. Implementation Plan Metrix

Define metrics such as the Key Performance Indicators ( KPIs ) and other key metrics to control the implementation plan's progress effectively.

How to Write a Project Implementation Plan

You must have accurate knowledge to create a solid implementation plan. Here is a detailed outline of how to write a project implementation plan.

1. Research and Discovery

The first step is identifying what you require to create an effective project implementation plan. You will have to conduct research to answer these questions.

• What kind of teams are needed to achieve the strategic goals?
• What is the time duration required to execute the strategic plan?
• What resources are required, and what quantity should be allocated from the budget?

You must conduct a strategic interview with key stakeholders, key partners, customers, and team members to gather the required information.

This strategic interview aims to determine what components and assignments are essential and what factors are of greater importance so you can prioritize. List all the set project goals you wish to achieve and cross-embed the strategic plan with the implementation plan.

Finally, everything must align with the strategic plan for the project implementation plan to work.

2. Identify Assumptions and Risks

Identifying risks and assumptions in your implementation plan is important. Examples of assumptions and risks in your implementation plan include paid time off or holidays, market instability, damaged tools, budget constraints, and losing personnel.

You must consider all these factors before executing the implementation plan.

3. Assign Responsibility

Assigning responsibilities is vital when carrying out each activity in the implementation plan. For a task to be properly assigned, the manager must delegate specific roles and responsibilities to team members.

After assigning tasks, monitor them to ensure that all assigned tasks are carried out effectively.

4. Determine Activities

Finally, you must recognize all the important activities to complete your plan. Here are some questions that can help you decide on important activities to include in your implementation plan.

• What is the organizational structure?
• Who are the project’s key players?
• What are the crucial steps and key milestones you want to accomplish?
• Do you have task dependencies you need to factor in?
• Which activities are essential for completing the project’s strategic initiative?
• What are the stakeholder requirements?
• What are the allocated resources?
• What are all the potential risks involved in the project?

After implementing these questions, your implantation plan is complete and ready for execution.

You may need project approval from the top executives before you can start implementing your plan.

Implementation Plan Example

Implementation plans are widely used across various organizations and have wholesome benefits.

The primary goal of an implementation plan is to implement company strategy effectively and create a workable step-by-step process of bringing the project to completion.

Here is a detailed example of how an implementation plan works.

Benefits of an Implementation Plan

The implementation plan plays a key role in the success of the overall strategic plan. Without the implementation plan, project managers will not be able to execute the project’s implementation strategy, resulting in project completion.

Throughout the project's implementation phase, the project manager, key stakeholders, and the entire team have a clear direction to execute the project easily.

1. Increased Cooperation

If each team member works in isolation or does not work well with other team members, it will affect the project’s result. With an implementation plan in place, you can foster cooperation within the team.

Working with other members is easier when everyone knows what is expected of them and the steps to be followed in the implementation plan with their tasks.

An implementation plan helps to bridge the gap between team members to ensure everyone works in sync with themselves.

Buy-in in project management means getting stakeholders on board with the project mission and vision and involved in the decision-making process.

Suppose you do a thorough job in your research and acquire all the relevant information for successfully implementing the strategic plan. In that case, you can buy in from key project stakeholders and important partners involved in the entire project.

The up-side to this is that you can always get buy-in with a well-structured and detailed implementation plan.

3. Meeting Goals to Ensure Project Success

Communication and clear understanding are key to accomplishing project goals. Setting a goal and getting every team member to understand how to accomplish this goal is possible through the implementation plan.

Ensure you carry along the strategy director and implementation leader when creating communication channels for the implementation plan.

Best Practices for Implementation Planning

Putting these principles to work within your team while executing the implementation plan will guarantee success in executing the project.

1. Create a Designated Implementation Team

A specific team focused on ensuring the productive implementation of a particular plan is essential. Create a specific team burdened with the responsibility of ensuring that the success of an implementation plan increases the chances of success even though it is not compulsory.

2. Create a Shared Vision Among All Team Members

Your team members must clearly understand the implementation plan's purpose. If the vision is clear to them, a deeper connection to the work will be established, which will serve as a motivating factor.

Always encourage team members to express their views on the strategic and implementation plans.

3. Choose a Dependable Team Leader

The team leader has to properly orient and coach the team members on the best ways to carry out their implementation plan tasks.

This individual should seek guidance from past implementation plan leaders and use the information gatherers to improve the implementation process.

In certain cases, you can have more than one team leader (multiple team leaders), and their responsibilities will differ a little from each other.

Within the team, a champion will be mostly responsible for getting things done, and a viable management sponsor who helps the team scale obstacles will be required.

4. Define Actionable Plans

To make remarkable changes in the implementation process, you must stay on course, identify challenges and discover the reasons for these problems.

You can identify these challenges through

• Brainstorming
• New-members information form
• Notecard method

With these techniques, you can easily identify various project management challenges , gain more insights into the project implementation plan and create solutions to the identified challenges.

You can effectively implement the Notecard method in this manner. You need to ask the team members three important questions.

• What is the single biggest challenge facing the team?
• What will be the most relevant issue in the next five years?
• What is the best strategy to tackle these issues?

After the cards have been submitted, the next step is to identify the most similar answers and isolate them to be deliberated.

5. Create an Action-Oriented Plan

Create an action plan focused on incremental action and not just having continuous discussions. Your plan must encourage you to take significant steps that will accumulate in you getting the desired result.

While creating a project implementation plan, ensure it is reality-based. Creating a non-reality-based plan means trying to achieve something you cannot. In other words, your plan should not be trying to solve a proxy problem.

In creating your plan, it is important to identify what you require to impact the identified challenges and make notable changes.

For example

• What organizational resources are required to get the work done?
• How do you allocate resources to the needed areas?
• What are the additional resources required to complete the project?

You will create a detailed plan to impact the identified issues with this knowledge.

6. Value Communication

Constant communication with the team enables you to see the project better, keeps the project transparent, helps generate new ideas and strategic initiatives, and ensures everyone is on the same page.

Regular and honest communication among team members will foster cooperation and enhance productivity. Ensure that the team’s contributions during discussions are perceived as valuables and let them know they are expected to contribute.

You can use team management software to foster better communication among your teams and manage your teams effectively.

7. Monitor Progress and Incremental Success Consistently

Ensure you perform constant evaluations and analyses to ensure you are still on track regarding the implementation process. You can hold progress report meetings to measure and analyze development.

By constantly monitoring progress, you will be able to identify potential risks, make the necessary adjustment before a crisis hits, and allow you to adapt before processes or expectations become solidified.

Celebrating milestones encourages team members and helps them to feel valued and part of something that works. The team will remain motivated and willing to see the process through by celebrating milestones. You can use project tracker software to track your tasks and projects.

8. Involve the Right at the Appropriate Time

This best practice involves discovering the best time to involve upper management. In the project initiation phase , you must include key decision makers and not just any team member.

You should list out critical tasks that you must execute and select the right personnel to carry out these tasks. The next move is allocating resources and determining what tasks you require to complete the larger task.

Having the right people working with you will guarantee the success of the project implementation plans.

9. Publicize Your Plan

Maintaining transparency with team members and management is important to the success of the implementation plan. During implementation planning, it is not advisable to indulge stakeholders' involvement at all times.

Ensure you make your plan available to higher-ups to keep your team accountable down the line.

Implementation Plan FAQs

The most significant difference between an action plan and an implementation plan is that an implementation plan addresses various factors that affect the implementation process, such as risks, resources, and team roles and responsibilities. On the other hand, an action plan is focused on describing work packages and tasks.

The project manager is responsible for creating the implementation plan for a particular project or series of projects.  With the help of stakeholders and certain team members, the project manager can develop a comprehensive implementation plan. 

The implementation process in project management is a series of events in which plans, strategies, and goals are converted into actions to accomplish strategic project objectives and goals.

Useful Project Management Software for Successful Implementation Planning

You do not have to go through the rigorous stress of creating your implementation plan in a spreadsheet or Word document.

Many simple project management software tools help you create your implementation plan with an implementation schedule best suited for your implementation and execution plan.

Here are the project management software tools that will give you your desired results.

• Monday.com is a highly-customizable project management tool that provides users with various tools for creating and tracking your implementation plan, dependencies and budgets, and delegating responsibilities.
• ClickUp is an affordable project management software that offers the most inclusive free-forever plan with extensive functions not limited to successful project implementation planning and execution.
• Wrike is a powerful project planning tool that helps you create and execute your strategic implementation plan.

Every wise project manager knows that having a well-structured implementation plan increases the likelihood of completing the entire project. Taking the implementation planning process as a vital part of the project is very important because a lot depends on this process. With the right software tool, you can easily create an implementation plan suited to your specific project need.

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Anastasia belyh.

Anastasia has been a professional blogger and researcher since 2014. She loves to perform in-depth software reviews to help software buyers make informed decisions when choosing project management software, CRM tools, website builders, and everything around growing a startup business.

Anastasia worked in management consulting and tech startups, so she has lots of experience in helping professionals choosing the right business software.

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Implementation plan: how to carry out your project from A-Z

Managing a new project is like baking. If you want to control the results, you need to follow a recipe. Even if you’re tackling something completely new, re-using steps and processes from a related product can help you avoid certain setbacks and headaches.

Developing and optimizing an implementation plan can help you keep teams on track, avoid duplicate work, and minimize time-consuming decision-making. It’s one of the best ways to bring big strategic goals to life without overusing resources.

In this article, we’ll cover what an implementation plan is, why it matters, and the optimal way to create your own.

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What is an implementation plan in project management?

An implementation plan is essentially a detailed, step-by-step recipe for completing a project, process, or business objective.

It outlines specific steps and who’s responsible for them. It goes beyond deliverables like in a work breakdown structure (WBS) and dives deeper than strategic objectives, scope, and milestones like in a product roadmap. An implementation plan gets down to brass tacks and lays out the process, so even the newest of new hires fully understands it.

For example, if your high-level goal is to improve your marketing campaign, you can break it down into tangible steps such as: creating flyers, updating your website landing pages, and more.

Then you can assign each activity an owner and add important information about its status, timeline, priority, progress, and more.

Companies often develop an implementation plan to reach specific objectives from a strategic planning meeting. In the example above, the strategic objective of the month’s project is to improve marketing campaign performance. The team broke that goal down into separate deliverables:

• Site redesign
• New banner ads

Because the board builds the workflow onto the table, there’s no need to further separate the tasks into design, development, and final approval stages. All team members can see important information at a glance.

Even if you use another view, like a Kanban board , you could easily add columns to represent your workflow, rather than creating extra cards and confusion.

With other planning strategies out there though, do you really need to learn another method? We’ll break down why it may be worthwhile.

Why do you need a solid implementation plan?

In 2020, research found that 31% of projects failed—at least partially—due to poor upfront planning. A solid plan reduces the chances of failure with a better, smoother process for everyone involved. Let’s take a closer look at 4 benefits of implementation planning:

Benefit #1: It facilitates smooth collaboration between teams and leaders

Structure makes it easier for teams to work together. A shared implementation plan and schedule gives every team member and leader insight into who’s doing what at any given time. So if someone has something to contribute at any stage, they can easily step up. A shared plan also boosts communication when everyone can see the full picture and ask questions or receive help along the way.

Benefit#2. Everyone stays on track

With a solid plan, there’s never any doubt about the next steps to take. That helps keep everyone on track throughout the project. Your team doesn’t miss a step wondering what comes next after they finish a task. With a project management implementation plan, everything is laid out clearly from start to finish.

Benefit #3. Implementation plans ensure teams see core benefits

The implementation plan can act as the compass guiding your team towards true north, in this case, the end benefits and strategic objectives. When your marketing team renews a campaign, the objective isn’t to make something new. The goal is to improve the ROI or reach a new demographic.

( Image Source )

When done right, the plan goes beyond outcomes to make sure that your company benefits from the project.

Benefit #4. Follow the shortest path to the desired outcome.

There are a lot of ways to get from point A to D. The plan should help your team avoid scope creep and stick to the shortest path to success. Like a GPS, a plan helps you avoid windy country roads that considerably slow you down. As a company, enjoying the view is rarely a priority.

Before we start diving in to creating one—those were some pretty nice benefits, after all—let’s take stock of what’s needed on our end to make it happen.

What does a project implementation plan consist of?

A thorough plan includes objectives, activities, a schedule, teams and responsibilities, milestones, KPIs, and even some contingency plans. Together, these elements are the building blocks of a solid foundation for project execution.

Of course, the must-haves depend on the scope of the project. Replacing the company printer probably only needs a 3-step action plan. Let’s break down what’s typically included in a project implementation plan:

• Goals or objectives

Your project should have a specific goal or objective. Aimless projects are a great way to empty company coffers for no reason. On the other hand, you don’t need to brainstorm a new goal from scratch every time. You can choose objectives from strategy planning sessions or meetings with customers or stakeholders.

• Core deliverables and activities to make objectives a reality

What do you need to deliver on the project goals? Break down these core deliverables into a step-by-step work plan. These action steps are what most employees think of when they hear the word plan.

• Implementation schedule

It’s not enough to just plan out the specific actions to take. When you do what matters. A schedule is essential for implementing a project effectively. If you’re working on a building site, carpenters won’t have much to do if they arrive before the foundation is finished.

• Teams, roles, and responsibilities

Who will work on the project and what deliverables will they own? A clear division of labor is a necessity, at least at the team level, to avoid duplication and confusion.

• KPIs and milestones

If your objective is to deliver a physical product, you can set logical milestones, like finished design, prototype, user testing, etc. If you’re working to improve a process or marketing campaign, single out key performance indicators (KPIs). Below, you can see an example of KPIs for improving a Google Ads campaign. They include both platform-specific KPIs and actual output KPIs.

• Contingency planning

What will your team do if something goes wrong? If there are any likely or high-impact risks, you need to address these in a contingency plan.

If it seems like there’s a lot that goes into an implementation plan, you’re not wrong. Luckily, we have a way to break it down into smaller bites.

How to create an implementation plan in 5 simple steps

Here’s how to create an implementation plan that will make a difference.

#1. Start with the objectives

Start with the objectives and figure out what your company or team needs to deliver to get there.

The initial high-level project outline doesn’t need to be detailed. If you’re improving an existing product, start including external stakeholders like customers and retailers at this stage of the process to identify what outcomes they’d like to see.

#2. Figure out the necessary people, roles, teams, and resources

Once you’ve got your deliverables down, you need to figure out how you can make that happen.

• Do you need to bring in some talent from other departments?
• How much budget do you need?
• Do you need to use company vehicles or other equipment?
• Who should own what deliverables?

It’s better to make these decisions early on in the project and let domain experts assist with planning and scheduling specific activities.

#3. Map out core activities and start scheduling

Once you’ve got a few senior engineers, developers, or other experts on board, it’s time to start planning in detail. They can help you avoid costly changes as you move out of the design stage of the project.

Break deliverables down into smaller, actionable steps in this stage and schedule each activity in a way that makes sense. The action plan should be as accurate as possible, but not 100% set in stone. You may have to change it to adapt to the market.

#4. Set clear milestones and expectations

Everyone, from your team to your clients, should be crystal clear about what will be considered a successful project.

#5. Add buffers and contingencies

For larger projects, thorough requirement and risk analysis is a must. Those learnings should shape your resource allocation and scheduling. It’s a good idea to add safety buffers into the schedule to ensure smooth execution. You also need to budget in contingencies for common risks, such as if a team member takes time off.

Bonus step: choose a platform that makes implementation planning easier and more effective

Trying to do project management without the right features is possible, but it’s also an unnecessarily slow and painful process. On the monday.com Work OS, you get access to every feature a project manager could ever want, including:

• Gantt chart or other timeline visualization – want to visualize the timeline of your project? Set up a Gantt chart with a few clicks. You can even edit the schedule in the drag-and-drop timeline view. That makes it easy to check and touch up a project schedule.

• Task assignment with responsibilities and notifications – easily assign work items and entire workflows to teams or individuals. They’ll automatically get reminders for changes, milestones, and deadlines.
• Real-time communication – communicate directly on assigned work item cards with mentions, file attachments, and threaded discussions. That way, there’s no risk of essential information getting lost in a wave of new messages.

• Detailed reporting and dashboards – Stay on top of the project execution and meet your milestones with custom dashboards and reports. Use widgets for status overview, resource management , time tracking, calendar milestones, and more. No organization should leave its projects up to chance. Follow the data.

And that’s just naming a few. To bake the perfect recipe, you need all the ingredients and all of the steps. monday.com can help.

Carry out successful projects with a solid plan

It’s difficult to turn any project from an idea into reality without a solid plan. The risk of creating duplicate work, decreasing team focus, and losing track during changing markets and objectives are exceedingly high. An implementation plan outlines the tangible steps and schedule that helps you manage a project successfully without feeling overwhelmed.

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Creating an effective implementation project plan: essential steps and what to include

An implementation plan in a project is a comprehensive strategy that outlines the steps and processes required to transform project objectives into tangible outcomes. It serves as a roadmap, detailing the tasks, timelines, resources, and responsibilities needed to successfully execute a project. It ensures that all team members are aligned, resources appropriately allocated, and potential risks managed effectively. By providing a structured approach, an implementation plan helps to streamline efforts, maintain focus, and facilitate the achievement of project goals within the set timeframe and budget.

‍ Understanding the importance of an implementation project plan

Creating an implementation plan is crucial because it provides a clear and structured framework for executing a project. It helps ensure that all team members are aligned on their roles and responsibilities, which leads to better coordination and accountability. The plan also helps making sure all resources are allocated, minimizing waste and optimizing productivity. Lastly, it makes it easier to identify potential risks and challenges early on, allowing you to set mitigation strategies.

By establishing a timeline with specific milestones, an implementation project plan keeps the project on track, ensuring that objectives are met within the designated timeframe and budget. It's the cornerstone of every project's success.

Key elements of an effective implementation project plan

The primary component of an effective implementation project plan is defining the project scope. Understanding the project’s goals allows for precise action and resource management while mitigating unforeseen challenges. Additionally, the plan should highlight key milestones, marking significant achievements throughout the project. These checkpoints enable progress monitoring against the timeline, ensuring timely completion. Lastly, a flexible strategy is crucial for navigating unexpected obstacles, providing alternative approaches to maintain momentum and achieve business objectives seamlessly.

Clearly defined goals and objectives

Project management involves setting clearly defined goals and objectives at the project's inception. It's about getting a clear picture of what needs to be done and how to do it.

Establishing a detailed project lifecycle is essential for project completion, which includes marking important project milestones. Objectives should be SMART - Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-bound, for ensuring the efficiency of project execution.

Besides, mitigating project risks is a fundamental part of the business implementation plan, along with ensuring timely delivery of project deliverables within the prescribed project timeline. Proper planning is key to the project's overall success.

Comprehensive project scope

The project scope outlines the whole essence of project management in aligning project goals and objectives, setting timelines, identifying required resources, and mapping out the project lifecycle. It lays out the nitty-gritty details, the tasks, and the end game.

Moreover, the project scope provides an overview of potential project risks and the strategies to mitigate them. It showcases a comprehensive business implementation plan and highlights the details of its implementation strategy.

Identifying stakeholders and their roles

In project management, identification of stakeholders and their roles is crucial. The stakeholders significantly influence project outcomes and are essential in establishing project objectives, managing project risks, and determining the project timeline. They're the key players in the whole setup.

Stakeholders include everyone involved in the project from inception to completion. They contribute to the project lifecycle, providing necessary project resources and helping in meeting project goals. They assist in devising an implementation strategy for a smooth business implementation plan.

Their involvement ensures the achievement of project milestones and ensures the delivery of project deliverables within the decided timeframe.

Resource allocation and budgeting

In project management, resource allocation and budgeting are critical in achieving project goals. This involves carefully balancing project resources throughout the project lifecycle, ensuring that all aspects of the project are adequately funded until project completion.

Key elements within this process include:

• Scrutinizing project scope to identify required resources and potential project risks.
• Mapping out project milestones and deliverables on the project timeline.
• Developing a sound business implementation plan with a clear implementation strategy.

Effective budgeting and resource allocation can make the difference between project success and failure, ensuring project execution aligns with objectives.

Project timeline and milestones

The project timeline effectively coordinates tasks and schedules towards project completion. Key project milestones indicate significant checkpoints that measure the progress, directly derived from the project objectives. It's like a roadmap with pit stops along the way.

Project risks are systematically identified and mitigated during project execution. A complete business implementation plan is then established, outlining the project lifecycle from inception, implementation planning, deployment of project deliverables, and eventually project completion.

Risk management strategies

Risk management strategies are vital in project management for the successful completion of project goals. These strategies involve identifying and analyzing potential project risks that can adversely affect the project objectives. It's all about staying ahead of the game and keeping things on track.

Effective strategies align with the project scope and ensure efficient use of project resources. They involve setting clear project milestones and revising the project timeline if necessary. Always remember, robust risk management fuels successful business implementation plans.

Steps to create an implementation project plan

Creating an implementation project plan starts with a bang by defining those big, hairy project goals and objectives. It’s like setting the GPS for your project journey. This step is the meat and potatoes, giving you the what, when, and how of your project timeline.

Next, you’ll need to round up your project resources, making sure you’ve got all the right tools in your belt. This includes eyeballing any project risks that might throw a spanner in the works.

Finally, crafting a comprehensive implementation strategy is key. It’s the secret sauce that’ll see your project through from the kickoff to the final whistle.

1. Initiating the project

The initiation phase is where you roll up your sleeves and define the project scope and goals. It’s like laying the foundation for your project house.

It also involves a clear outline of project objectives, doing the legwork for implementation planning, and deciding on project milestones. This is where you set the stage for a seamless project performance, ensuring all tasks are in sync with the project timeline.

Lastly, the business implementation plan makes sure that project deliverables are ready to roll out on schedule, keeping the project lifecycle humming.

2. Planning the project

In the project management kick-off, you set clear project goals and objectives. It’s like drawing the map for your project treasure hunt.

Implementation planning needs a robust strategy to ensure you’re not just spinning your wheels. It’s about spotting potential project potholes and planning a detour.

Executing the project plan Project execution is where the rubber meets the road in the project management lifecycle. It's time, using all the resources and strategies from your business implementation plan to hit those project objectives.

Meticulous implementation planning is your compass for navigating potential project risks and setting up the necessary detours. Keeping an eye on project milestones is crucial to crossing the project finish line within the defined scope.

3. Monitoring and controlling the project

Keeping tabs on the project is like being the project’s shepherd, making sure it’s all moving towards those project goals and objectives. This stage ensures everything is in line with the project scope.

This phase also involves juggling project resources effectively, keeping a weather eye on project risks, and making sure project milestones are hit on time. It’s a pivotal role in the project execution and planning, leading to a tip-top project completion.

4. Closing the project

When you cross the project finish line, it’s time to make sure all the i’s are dotted and the t’s are crossed according to the project scope. It’s like the final curtain call after a blockbuster performance.

Our project resources’ meaningful usage will be put under the microscope, and any project risks that popped up will be filed away as lessons learned. Wrapping up the project paves the way for setting the stage for future projects.

Utilizing Bonsai project management tool for implementation

Project management tools are the ace up your sleeve for creating nifty implementation strategies to reach those project goals. They’re like the Swiss Army knife for understanding the project scope and keeping track of all the moving parts.

Bonsai project management software stands out as the ultimate tool for project planning, offering a comprehensive suite of features designed to streamline workflows. It integrates task management, time tracking, and financial tools, enabling teams to collaborate effectively from ideation to completion.

With Bonsai, users can create detailed project timelines, allocate resources efficiently, and monitor progress in real-time. Its user-friendly interface simplifies complex projects, making it accessible for both novice and experienced project managers.

Best practices for implementing a project plan

Getting a project plan off the ground means you gotta be tight with project management principles and have a game plan ready to roll. You need to spell out the project scope, objectives, and goals so everyone’s clued in. Plus, making the most of your project resources from start to finish is key to nailing the execution and wrapping up on time.

Setting clear project milestones, spotting potential snags, and defining what you’re gonna deliver and when are all part of the mix. And hey, you’ve gotta be ready to zig when the project zags, tweaking your business plan to handle any curveballs during the planning phase.

Effective communication strategies

Talking things through right is super important at every step of the project, from day one to the finish line. It’s a big deal for hitting your project objectives, milestones, and for the whole project management dance.

Here’s the playbook:

• Keep everyone in the loop about project goals, risks, and the timeline.
• Talk straight and keep it simple in all your project deliverables.
• Have a solid plan for spreading the word effectively.

Remember, good chat helps keep the project resource use on point and your business plan humming.

Regular monitoring and evaluation

In the project management world, keeping a close eye on things and checking in regularly is non-negotiable. It’s all about managing your resources well, tweaking the project scope as needed, and making sure everything runs like clockwork. This step is your secret weapon for dodging risks, sticking to the timeline, and crossing the finish line within the rules.

Regular check-ups are your roadmap for the project, making sure you hit your objectives and milestones. So, a sharp implementation strategy always includes a solid plan for monitoring and evaluation.

To hit those project goals, you’ve gotta be all about that thorough and regular check-in life.

Flexibility and adaptability in project execution

Being able to pivot is a must-have for smooth project execution. These skills let your team switch gears fast if there’s a shake-up with the project scope, resources, or timeline. A savvy manager rolls with the punches, guiding the crew toward the project goals.

Being bendy and quick to adapt can make or break the project lifecycle. They’re your go-to moves for handling risks and meeting milestones. And they make sure that no matter what changes, your project deliverables still hit the mark, leading to a slick project wrap-up and a business plan that works.

So, a smart implementation strategy weaves in flexibility and adaptability, making sure you can tweak the plan, shuffle resources, change up timelines, and still smash those project objectives.

Common challenges in project plan implementation and how to overcome them

Rolling out a project plan comes with its fair share of hurdles. One biggie is setting a project scope that’s doable and lines up with your project goals. This usually means some serious project management to make sure you’re hitting those milestones on schedule. If things don’t line up, you might burn through resources and lag behind.

The project journey also means spotting and managing risks that could throw a wrench in your plans. That’s why having a solid business plan and a trusty strategy is crucial for delivering on your project objectives and deliverables.

Conclusion: the role of an implementation project plan in agency success

An implementation project plan is a big player in an agency’s win column by laying out the project scope, objectives, and resources needed for a smooth run. Getting these key parts right boosts project management, keeps the timeline in check, and makes sure you wrap up in line with the agency’s business plan. Plus, by flagging project risks and having a sharp strategy, the plan plays a big part in reaching project goals and milestones.

Discover effective strategies for accelerating success with product-led growth marketing. Learn how to leverage your product to drive growth and achieve business goals.

Uncover the importance of the S-curve across different fields, highlighting its role in growth, development, and project management.

Explore the concept of 'PMO': its definitions, roles, and the potential it holds for enhancing project management and organizational success.

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Implementing Your Business Plan: A Marathon AND a Sprint

As a runner, I know the feeling of lacing up my shoes, stepping out the door, and hitting the pavement. It's not always easy. Some days, I'm full of energy and ready to take on the world. Other days, it's a struggle just to get out the door. But no matter how I feel, I know that consistency is key. I can't just run on the days I feel like it; I have to stick with it, day in and day out.

Implementing a business plan is a lot like my running routine. Like training and preparing for race day, you've done the hard work of business planning, secured the funding, and now you're ready to put that plan into action. (If you're still in the process of finding potential investors, check out our post on how to build an investor funnel .)

Just as I have to pace myself during my runs, manage my energy reserves, and adjust my strategy based on the weather or how I'm feeling that day, a startup must also manage its resources, and adapt its strategy based on real-world conditions.

In the next sections, we'll delve into the challenges of implementing a business plan and provide actionable steps to help you navigate the race. So, lace up your metaphorical shoes and let's get started.

The Challenge of Implementation

Implementing a business plan is a unique challenge. It's not just about taking an idea and turning it into a business. It's about taking a document—a business plan, often aimed at securing funding—and applying it into a living, breathing organization that evolves and grows over time.

A business plan isn't a set of turn-by-turn directions. It won't tell you exactly what to do every day. Instead, it's a roadmap, showing you the general path towards your destination. But the journey along that path? That's up to you.

This is where strategic planning comes into play. When you were creating your business plan, you weren't just thinking about securing funding. You were also thinking about how you would implement that plan. You were considering your resources, your timeline, your team. You were thinking about the market conditions, the potential challenges, the opportunities for growth.

But even with all that planning, the implementation phase can still feel daunting. It's like standing at the starting line of a marathon. You've trained, you've prepared, but now you have to actually run the race. And just like a marathon, implementing a business plan requires endurance, strategy, and the ability to adapt when conditions change.

Knowing When It's Time To Sprint

So, how do you run this marathon? How do you take this comprehensive, detailed business plan and put it into action? The key is to break it down into manageable chunks.

Think about it in terms of my running routine. If I focused on the entire distance I had to run each time I laced up my shoes, I'd likely feel overwhelmed. But instead, I focus on one mile at a time, one step at a time. This approach makes the task feel less daunting and more achievable.

The same concept applies to implementing your business plan. Instead of trying to tackle everything at once, break it down into smaller, more manageable tasks.

But here's the twist: Implementing a business plan is not just a marathon—it's also a sprint. It's a series of focused, intense efforts to achieve specific goals in a short amount of time. This is where the sprint methodology from Jake Knapp's book Sprint: How to Solve Big Problems and Test New Ideas in Just Five Days comes into play.

In a sprint, you set an aggressive, focused goal for a short period. During this time, you concentrate your efforts on achieving this goal, minimizing distractions and other tasks.

But a sprint isn't about brainstorming or planning—it's about doing. It's about making to-do lists, categorizing everything that needs to be done before you open the doors, and checking those boxes off. It's about taking concrete, tangible steps towards your goal.

Here are some key elements of a sprint:

• Block off your schedule : All of your energy needs to be on your sprint goal (in our case, launching your business). This means minimizing distractions and other tasks as much as possible.
• Get things on paper : Write down your tasks, objectives, and progress. Use whiteboards, sticky notes, or whatever tools work best for you.
• Make decisions and execute : Don't get stuck in endless debates. It's time to act.
• Test as you go with target customers : Get feedback early and often. This will help you make adjustments as needed.
• Reframe problems as opportunities : Challenges will arise. Instead of seeing them as roadblocks, view them as opportunities to learn and grow.
• Accept that you can't know everything : You'll learn as you go. Be open to new insights and be ready to adjust accordingly.

In the book, it's a 5-day sprint with a strict project team and timeline. But for my marketing plan, I've been doing a 30-day sprint, blocking off time each day to focus on my project implementation plan. The key is to maintain momentum and make significant progress in a short amount of time.

Action Steps for Business Plan Implementation

Step 1: hire the right people.

The first step in implementing your business plan is building your team. Your business plan should have already outlined the key roles and skills needed for your startup. Now, it's time to bring that team to life.

Start by reviewing the roles that your business plan identified as critical to your operations. For each of these roles, you'll need to create a detailed job description. If you need help with this, there are many resources available online, such as this guide from Indeed .

Next, start the recruitment process. This could involve posting job ads, reaching out to your network, or working with a recruitment agency. Keep in mind that hiring is not just about finding someone who can do the job—it's about finding someone who fits your company culture and contributes to the achievement of your organizational goals and objectives.

The right team will not only bring the necessary skills and experience to your business but also serve as a valuable resource for your project team, bringing fresh ideas, perspectives, and energy to the table.

Once you've hired your team, it's time to delegate. You've hired these individuals because they have the skills and expertise that your business needs. Trust them to take on some of the implementation tasks. This will not only lighten your load but also empower your team and give them a sense of ownership and investment in the success of the business.

Step 2: Develop Your Marketing Plan

Your business plan should have provided a high-level overview of your marketing strategy, including your target audience, key messaging, and marketing channels. Now, it's time to take that strategy and turn it into a detailed, actionable marketing plan.

Start by reviewing the marketing information in your business plan. This should include your customer personas, marketing channels, and any promotions or campaigns you plan to run. Use this information as the foundation for your marketing plan.

In the early stages of your business, it's crucial to prioritize the marketing efforts that are most likely to generate revenue. This might mean focusing on the channels where your target customers are most active, or the tactics that have the shortest sales cycles. Generating revenue as quickly as possible will not only help fund your ongoing operations but also provide valuable feedback on your marketing strategy.

For more detailed advice on implementing your marketing plan, especially in the early stages of your business, check out our post on early stage marketing . Additionally, HubSpot's Marketing Plan Template Generator can be a useful tool for outlining your marketing strategy and identifying top initiatives.

Step 3: Get Compliant

Ensuring legal and regulatory compliance is key to your successful implementation process. Start by reviewing the legal and regulatory requirements outlined in your business plan. This could include business licenses and permits, insurance requirements, employment laws, privacy regulations, etc.

Next, take steps to meet these requirements. This might involve filing paperwork, purchasing insurance, developing privacy policies, or consulting a lawyer or compliance expert to help navigate the complexities.

Non-compliance can result in fines, penalties, and damage to your business's reputation. It's worth investing the time and resources to ensure you're fully compliant from the start. The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) provides a comprehensive guide on how to apply for licenses and permits , covering both federal and state requirements.

Step 4: Establish Efficient Systems and Processes

As you start to implement your business plan, it's vital to establish clear systems and processes. These will serve as the backbone of your operations, helping your business run smoothly and efficiently.

Start by dividing your business into key areas, or "frames". These frames align with sections of a standard business plan and include Executive, Legal, Products & Services, Business Intelligence, Sales & Marketing, Management & HR, and Finance. For each of these frames, outline the main tasks and processes involved, and assign a member of the team to oversee its progress.

Incorporating the right tools is an integral part of establishing your systems and processes. For example, a good Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system like HubSpot can help you manage your customer interactions more effectively. Similarly, a project management system like Basecamp can be a great way to organize tasks and keep your projects on track. 

One important document to establish early on is an employee handbook. This should outline your company's policies, procedures, and expectations. It's a key tool for onboarding new hires and ensuring everyone is on the same page. The Employee Handbook Guide from Indeed, which includes a free downloadable template, is a good starting point. 

Remember, your systems and processes should be designed to support your strategic objectives and make your life as a business owner easier, not more complicated. They should be flexible and adaptable, able to evolve as your business grows and changes.

Setting and Measuring Performance Goals

The objectives outlined in your business plan are your big-picture goals, such as revenue targets or customer acquisition numbers. The challenge now is to translate these into actionable tasks that you and your team can work on daily.

This is where SMART goals come into play. SMART is an acronym that stands for:

• Specific : Your goals should be clear and specific, rather than vague and general. Instead of saying "increase revenue," specify a target revenue figure you aim to reach.
• Measurable : You should be able to track your progress towards your objective. This means setting goals that are quantifiable.
• Attainable : While it's good to be ambitious, your goals should also be realistic. Set targets that are high, but within reach given your resources and constraints.
• Relevant : Your goals should align with your overall business plan and contribute to its success.
• Time-bound : Your goals should have a clear timeline. Setting a deadline creates a sense of urgency and gives you a timeframe for measuring progress.

Once you've set your SMART goals, the next step is to break them down into smaller tasks. For instance, if your goal is to acquire a certain number of new customers by the end of the quarter, you might break this down to: "reach out to 50 potential leads per week," "write and publish a weekly blog post," and "launch a customer referral program by the end of the month."

Peak Performance: The Payoff of Proper Training

In a marathon, your performance is a direct reflection of the training effort you've put in. Similarly, the success of your business is a mirror image of the strategic planning process and the work invested in your business plan. It's important to remember that a good business plan goes beyond securing funding—it's about preparing to execute your business model. A business plan without a clear path to implementation is akin to a training plan that leaves you unprepared for race day.

I'll leave you with this last thought: In his book 'Sprint', Jack Knapp advises us to “Start at the End”. This means that your strategic planning should be done with a clear vision of its execution. Picture what success looks like for your business, then work backwards to identify the steps needed to get there.

And with that, you're off to the races!

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Implementation Plan In Project Management

Projects are created based on the strategic plan of the company. They support the strategy that stakeholders have defined and help get closer to the ultimate goal. 

But in order to get to the goals, a project must be implemented correctly and in a way that aligns with the businesses’ values and ethics. To help with that, project managers design implementation plans for their projects, so that they can bring them to life in the best and most efficient way possible. 

Today we will talk about the main benefits, components, and tips for successful planning of the implementation plan using online task organization tools .

What is a project implementation plan?

A project implementation plan is also known as a strategic plan. Essentially, it is a step-by-step guideline that:

• Helps the project team identify what needs to be done and in what order to get to the desired outcome, allowing them to work with their daily planners and task tracking apps efficiently.
• Considers all variables that influence the project plan implementation, like risks and resources.

There is no single format that the strategic implementation plan should come in but it’s usually provided in the form of a Word document or a PowerPoint presentation. A project implementation plan is similar to a business plan, so it is best delivered in a single file where all details and nuances can be described in detail.

An implementation plan is needed for every business initiative to guarantee the best results. Kind of like when you plan a 90-day trip around the world with 30 countries to visit. You will probably still manage without a plan, but you will definitely experience delays, pay more than you initially budgeted for, miss a few countries, and have all sorts of situations along the way.

Why do you need a project implementation plan?

We’ve already mentioned that implementation plans support the project goals and ensure there are no deviations that will cause dissatisfactory project results.

But let’s go into a bit more detail about it and look at the main reasons to add the implementation plan to your project management routine:

• Have a clear structure that you can fall back on. Everything is outlined, including the timeframes, so you just simply follow the instructions.
• You get to think through the tasks in a time planner app and activities in online schedule maker that must be completed, so there is less risk of wasting time on duplicating or busywork.
• There is less downtime associated with figuring out what to do next or waiting on previous tasks to be finished because no one considered co-dependencies.
• Project resource allocation is optimized to the max. You won’t run into an empty pocket three weeks into the project.
• There’s a plan for dealing with change, made in team management tools , so your team can make the most of the changing environment.
• It’s easier to communicate and collaborate on the project. For workers that work online you should use remote team management tool .

In general, the main goal of the implementation plan is to guarantee clarity of who, what, when, and how of the project before it is officially launched. 

What does the implementation plan consist of?

A good implementation plan needs to be all-encompassing but also precise and to the point.  Below is what each plan should include: 

• List of goals and project objectives. If you’ve done a scope statement before, then include it here as well for more detail and insight, in case somebody wants to dig deeper.
• Project deliverables which are the tangible goals of the project.
• Project tasks with deadlines that will go on the team’s digital to-do lists , you can use online soft for this such as schedule weekly planner for teams .
• Roles and responsibilities within a project (might be less relevant for Lean projects than more formal ones, but makes sense to outline them at least approximately in any case).
• Budget information: how much is available for the entire project.
• Resource allocation information: how are budget, people, time, and other resources allocated across all tasks and goals.
• Timeframes, implementation schedule, and project milestones .
• Change management plan.
• Risk assessment and management plan.
• Evaluation criteria: KPIs and other success metrics, frequency of evaluations (e.g. every week, after each sprint in sprint reviews , once a quarter).

How to create your implementation plan

It’s not a one-size-fits-all situation but there are general tips and tricks that we can recommend to all projects, industries, and methodologies.  

An implementation plan is, in some sense, just a fancy-sounding alternative to an action plan.

Step 1: Identify goals and objectives

You can’t get to your destination if you don’t know where it is. Once you know your goals, it will be harder to derail from the original plan and add tasks that don’t generate value.

Talk to stakeholders, ask them questions, and brainstorm together. Then have a meeting with the project team to go through all goals and objectives that you’ve established with the stakeholders. It makes sense to run the goals by the team as they are the ones who will be actively working on the project. They have the expertise and experience, so they’ll quickly point out any incoherence or potential issue.

Talk through the acceptance criteria and KPIs that will be used by stakeholders to approve or decline the project. These things should be written down and have formal approvals from key stakeholders.

Tip: Because you already have the stakeholders’ attention, it might be helpful to touch on potential risks and change management with them. Also, schedule a recurring reminder in your work calendar planner to catch up with stakeholders throughout the project and ensure they’re still on the same page with you.

Step 2: Do your research

We are not talking about market research where you look for clues on whether the project idea is feasible or not. Such issues can be solved for you by saas marketing agency .

Rather we refer to the project-related research. One of the many roles of a project manager is to identify how much time the project will take, how much budget it requires and how many people must be hired to complete the work on time.

Those aspects along with the project scope are known as the project management triangle and they must be estimated precisely to ensure the project will be a success.

Tip: When researching, project managers are recommended to collaborate with the team and stakeholders but also use their previous experience as a reference point. Project management is highly dynamic, and changes occur all the time. Therefore, PMs have the best chance of making correct estimations when they both ask for advice and trust their guts.

Step 3: Brainstorm risks and plan for mitigation

Once the goals are finalized, and the resources requirements with timeline are known, it is time to dig deeper into risk management.

Yes, we know, it’s not fun and you’d rather do something else. However, risk assessment in the early days of the project implementation planning will significantly reduce the chance of failure later on.

A lot of the risks are rather a threat that can be avoided, mitigated, or eliminated if spotted on time. For example, if you are planning for a trip around the world, it makes sense to factor in the risk of having your passport stolen. As a risk mitigation measure, you can keep it separately from your wallet, leave it in the vault in the hotel room, or keep copies with your personal information that you can show in the embassy.

Once you’ve identified all possible risks, use SWOT analysis and Risk Assessment Matrix . These tools are widely spread and easy to use. They will both give you a comprehensive overview of where you are and help identify top risks that you should focus on immediately.

Tip:  not all risks are predictable or preventable. Plan for the unforeseen. That means identifying who will be dealing with risks that nobody knew were coming, who they will notify about those risks, and a rough action plan. Also, make sure your project implementation plan is efficient but there is some wiggle room that allows you to pause and deal with an issue without immediately damaging the project’s timeline and everything else.

Step 4: Map out the change management plan

A change management plan helps streamline and standardize the process of dealing with change.

There are 2 types of changes that happen during the project:

• Internal change requests: a stakeholder has a change of heart, something was planned incorrectly initially and has to be adjusted.
• External change: something beyond the company’s control happens and pushes us to change course. Things like competitors launching similar features earlier than us, global pandemics, and economic hardships – all force the project management team to re-think their original goals and plans.

What should the change management plan include?

It’s okay to keep it short and sweet but make sure the key points are included:

• What changes are declined by default.
• How internal change requests are submitted.
• Who reviews the change requests.
• Who implements the change requests.

Once completed, approve the change management plan with key stakeholders and upload it to the team’s project management software so everyone can see it.

Step 5: Create a task list and identify co-dependencies

By now you probably already have a good idea of what tasks and assignments will be included in the project.

In step 5 we finalize the to-do list and make sure it contains everything. Once we have the tasks, we can identify the co-dependencies.

Knowing about task co-dependencies will do several things:

• Will help us plan project execution smarter to avoid needless downtime. Often, projects get delayed because someone needs to wait for another job to be finished. We don’t want that.
• Allow us to schedule tasks in parallel and reduce the project’s timeline. The sooner the product or service is released to the market, the better. If there is a harmless way to speed the process up – why not use it?
• Should something go wrong and the project is delayed, knowing about co-dependencies will help us get it back on track with techniques like Fast-Tracking or crashing.

Step 6: Define and schedule milestones

Project milestones are like checkpoints or metrics that are spread across the project’s timeline. Milestones help us track the progress, look back at what was achieved, and see how well the execution is going.

An example of a milestone in construction can be receiving all permits that are required to start building the house. Or it can be finalizing the plan with the architect.

Milestones can coincide with the end of project phases, like design or implementation in Waterfall , but they can be completely separate. You might add milestones based on your preference and allocate them anywhere you’d like on the project timeline because milestones don’t require time to complete, they just happen.

Tip: Don’t forget to check back with the team members and key project stakeholders. Maybe they’ll come up with cool milestones that will be really meaningful for everyone involved in the project. You can use free daily schedule maker for teams to controll the progress.

Step 7: Allocate resources

The final step of the project implementation plan comprises allocating resources across the project tasks.

Resources include time, money, team members, software, physical equipment, and anything else really. Allocating resources at this point in the project, before it officially kicked off, will serve as an extra safety level. You will see if there are, in fact, enough resources to go by or if you need to re-adjust some things to remain within the budget and the timeline.

If it turns out that there are not enough resources, look for ways to optimize the process and make sure the top priority tasks have enough.

Tip: If you work with project management philosophies like Agile , you might not need to assign team members to tasks right away because they are supposed to be picked up by whoever has the bandwidth and expertise. Naturally, that wouldn’t work with formal methodologies like Prince2 . In any case, have a rough estimate or who picks up what to guarantee that you will have enough people to meet the demands of the project.

Common struggles of the implementation plan

It’s not all a bed of roses and, unfortunately, there are known difficulties associated with the implementation plan.

It’s good to be aware of what they are, so you can deal with them or avoid them altogether: 

• The risk of not going ahead but rather getting stuck in the planning phase. Know when to stop planning and start doing.
• Stakeholder issues. They might not approve the plan or just not follow it. Stakeholder management is a separate art form. Don’t underestimate their influence on the project as they are known to create all sorts of delays and bottlenecks.
• Not every goal is easily translated into an action step or something measurable. That can become a problem because abstract goals can be interpreted in too many different forms. Techniques like SMART goal planning can help deal with those goals.
• A good plan does not equal project success. You might still fail with a perfectly fine plan, so don’t consider the project implementation plan to be a cure-all.

Implementation plan best practices

Every project manager has their own tricks but here are some of the best practices that have been helping countless PMs across the globe:

• Engage with the team. Ideally find experts in different aspects of the project and include them in strategic planning. It will make your plan as complete and comprehensive as possible.
• Communicate why the implementation plan is being created and how it benefits the entire project team and all stakeholders.
• Be specific with goals/issues/root causes. Less ambiguity – more success.
• Communication is key! Ensure open communication for transparency, and get new creative ideas and participation from others. Create a communications plan for best results.
• Once the implementation plan is written and submitted, don’t forget about it! Go back to the plan to track how well you’re doing and see if your results match the original ideas.
• Keep the implementation plan online and available for anyone to see. It’s good if the team and stakeholders can have an occasional peek into the plan. They can use it for extra motivation, or to check on what’s next and coming. They won’t be bothering the PM for updates too if they can just see what’s planned for next week and what was done this week.
• Use project management software such as Bordio’s best virtual planner to simplify the project implementation process. Automation is your friend – you save time, there’s more transparency, and it’s easy to track success and provide reports. And insist on everyone on the team using the digital weekly planner that will keep them aware of the workload and help fight procrastination.

• If your project is not secret or sensitive in some way, you can share the finished implementation plan with an outsider (like someone in the company who has nothing to do with the project). If they can understand its logic and main points, then the plan is good.

Final thoughts on project implementation plan

Implementation is very important because it’s what brings the plan to life. There’s little point in having ambitious goals and plans if they are not put into action.

Make sure you dedicate enough time to planning and working out all the nuances. Remember that planning is never a waste of time. Every minute of planning saves proportionally much more time in execution.

Also, don’t overcook your implementation plan. It needs to be good but don’t be afraid to move on to the execution phase. 

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What Is a Business Plan?

Understanding business plans, how to write a business plan, common elements of a business plan, the bottom line, business plan: what it is, what's included, and how to write one.

Adam Hayes, Ph.D., CFA, is a financial writer with 15+ years Wall Street experience as a derivatives trader. Besides his extensive derivative trading expertise, Adam is an expert in economics and behavioral finance. Adam received his master's in economics from The New School for Social Research and his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in sociology. He is a CFA charterholder as well as holding FINRA Series 7, 55 & 63 licenses. He currently researches and teaches economic sociology and the social studies of finance at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

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A business plan is a document that outlines a company's goals and the strategies to achieve them. It's valuable for both startups and established companies. For startups, a well-crafted business plan is crucial for attracting potential lenders and investors. Established businesses use business plans to stay on track and aligned with their growth objectives. This article will explain the key components of an effective business plan and guidance on how to write one.

Key Takeaways

• A business plan is a document detailing a company's business activities and strategies for achieving its goals.
• Startup companies use business plans to launch their venture and to attract outside investors.
• For established companies, a business plan helps keep the executive team focused on short- and long-term objectives.
• There's no single required format for a business plan, but certain key elements are essential for most companies.

Investopedia / Ryan Oakley

Any new business should have a business plan in place before beginning operations. Banks and venture capital firms often want to see a business plan before considering making a loan or providing capital to new businesses.

Even if a company doesn't need additional funding, having a business plan helps it stay focused on its goals. Research from the University of Oregon shows that businesses with a plan are significantly more likely to secure funding than those without one. Moreover, companies with a business plan grow 30% faster than those that don't plan. According to a Harvard Business Review article, entrepreneurs who write formal plans are 16% more likely to achieve viability than those who don't.

A business plan should ideally be reviewed and updated periodically to reflect achieved goals or changes in direction. An established business moving in a new direction might even create an entirely new plan.

There are numerous benefits to creating (and sticking to) a well-conceived business plan. It allows for careful consideration of ideas before significant investment, highlights potential obstacles to success, and provides a tool for seeking objective feedback from trusted outsiders. A business plan may also help ensure that a company’s executive team remains aligned on strategic action items and priorities.

While business plans vary widely, even among competitors in the same industry, they often share basic elements detailed below.

A well-crafted business plan is essential for attracting investors and guiding a company's strategic growth. It should address market needs and investor requirements and provide clear financial projections.

While there are any number of templates that you can use to write a business plan, it's best to try to avoid producing a generic-looking one. Let your plan reflect the unique personality of your business.

Many business plans use some combination of the sections below, with varying levels of detail, depending on the company.

The length of a business plan can vary greatly from business to business. Regardless, gathering the basic information into a 15- to 25-page document is best. Any additional crucial elements, such as patent applications, can be referenced in the main document and included as appendices.

Common elements in many business plans include:

• Executive summary : This section introduces the company and includes its mission statement along with relevant information about the company's leadership, employees, operations, and locations.
• Products and services : Describe the products and services the company offers or plans to introduce. Include details on pricing, product lifespan, and unique consumer benefits. Mention production and manufacturing processes, relevant patents , proprietary technology , and research and development (R&D) information.
• Market analysis : Explain the current state of the industry and the competition. Detail where the company fits in, the types of customers it plans to target, and how it plans to capture market share from competitors.
• Marketing strategy : Outline the company's plans to attract and retain customers, including anticipated advertising and marketing campaigns. Describe the distribution channels that will be used to deliver products or services to consumers.
• Financial plans and projections : Established businesses should include financial statements, balance sheets, and other relevant financial information. New businesses should provide financial targets and estimates for the first few years. This section may also include any funding requests.

Investors want to see a clear exit strategy, expected returns, and a timeline for cashing out. It's likely a good idea to provide five-year profitability forecasts and realistic financial estimates.

2 Types of Business Plans

Business plans can vary in format, often categorized into traditional and lean startup plans. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) , the traditional business plan is the more common of the two.

• Traditional business plans : These are detailed and lengthy, requiring more effort to create but offering comprehensive information that can be persuasive to potential investors.
• Lean startup business plans : These are concise, sometimes just one page, and focus on key elements. While they save time, companies should be ready to provide additional details if requested by investors or lenders.

Why Do Business Plans Fail?

A business plan isn't a surefire recipe for success. The plan may have been unrealistic in its assumptions and projections. Markets and the economy might change in ways that couldn't have been foreseen. A competitor might introduce a revolutionary new product or service. All this calls for building flexibility into your plan, so you can pivot to a new course if needed.

How Often Should a Business Plan Be Updated?

How frequently a business plan needs to be revised will depend on its nature. Updating your business plan is crucial due to changes in external factors (market trends, competition, and regulations) and internal developments (like employee growth and new products). While a well-established business might want to review its plan once a year and make changes if necessary, a new or fast-growing business in a fiercely competitive market might want to revise it more often, such as quarterly.

What Does a Lean Startup Business Plan Include?

The lean startup business plan is ideal for quickly explaining a business, especially for new companies that don't have much information yet. Key sections may include a value proposition , major activities and advantages, resources (staff, intellectual property, and capital), partnerships, customer segments, and revenue sources.

A well-crafted business plan is crucial for any company, whether it's a startup looking for investment or an established business wanting to stay on course. It outlines goals and strategies, boosting a company's chances of securing funding and achieving growth.

As your business and the market change, update your business plan regularly. This keeps it relevant and aligned with your current goals and conditions. Think of your business plan as a living document that evolves with your company, not something carved in stone.

University of Oregon Department of Economics. " Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Business Planning Using Palo Alto's Business Plan Pro ." Eason Ding & Tim Hursey.

Bplans. " Do You Need a Business Plan? Scientific Research Says Yes ."

Harvard Business Review. " Research: Writing a Business Plan Makes Your Startup More Likely to Succeed ."

Harvard Business Review. " How to Write a Winning Business Plan ."

U.S. Small Business Administration. " Write Your Business Plan ."

SCORE. " When and Why Should You Review Your Business Plan? "

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Strategic Plan Vs. Implementation Plan

by Alan Valdez

Published on 26 Sep 2017

Vision without action is just daydreaming and action without vision is just passing the time. Good planning involves both vision (strategy) and action (implementation). Planning can be described as the act of envisioning of the possibilities open to the organization, as well as the development of procedures and operations conductive to achievement of the vision.

Strategic Plans

Strategic plans are concerned with the definition of objectives for the organization. They define the markets in which the organization will compete, as well as the tools that will be used to create a sustainable competitive advantage. As you must ground strategies in reality, the point of departure is the assessment of the customers, competitors and capabilities of the organization. A scope of three to five years is usual, as less than that may become too shortsighted while more will probably be too speculative given the ever-growing volatility of the business environment.

Implementation Plans

The strategic plan should be readily translatable into concrete, short-term objectives and achieved through specific functional areas such as marketing, finance and human resources. The implementation plans will be expressed in day-to-day terms and may involve monthly or quarterly periods and they will include mechanisms for monitoring, control and feedback.

Strategy to Implementation

The strategic plan must be integral to everyday management decisions and managers developing implementation and operational plans must keep the big picture in mind. While the strategic planning team must not replace the decision-making structure of the organization, it should meet periodically to asses the progress of the implementation. It must share progress reports with the management team and the feedback thus provided will help align implementation and strategy.

Common pitfalls

Strategic planning in itself is of little use to the organization, as the best plan in the world is useless without a good execution. A study of 94 CEOs of a wide range of businesses concluded that fewer than half of the interviewees even tried to integrate their strategic plans into the operations of the organization. The major causes of failure were lack of involvement/buy-in on behalf of the CEO, planning processes that failed to stimulate strategic thinking and planning processes that were not continuous, but sporadic and perceived as semi-academic exercises without specific implementation goals.

More From Forbes

The rise of digital banking: a paradigm shift in fintech.

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Founder and CEO of FortySeven Software Professionals , with over a decade of experience advising F500 companies and growth-stage startups.

We live in the era of digitalization. This is a well-known fact, and the banking industry specifically has recently been revolutionized by technology. The advent of digital banks—or neobanks as some refer to them—is changing the financial landscape. With the right approach, a digital bank can be more than just a platform for transactions. It can become a financial ecosystem, offering everything from banking to investment products all in one place.

This goes hand in hand with statistics that promise growth. A recent CB Insights report reveals that investment in fintech, although it saw a decline in Q1 of this year, it was the only sector to see an uptick in quarterly deal volume.

What Sets Apart Digital Banks?

Digital banks are essentially banks that operate without physical branches and are built to provide financial services remotely through digital platforms such as mobile apps and online portals. Of course, it reduces significant costs and therefore gives these banks the opportunity to invest in technologies to improve the business.

Digital banks utilize cloud computing to ensure scalability and reliability, enabling them to manage large volumes of transactions seamlessly. AI and ML can provide personalized banking experiences, fraud detection and predictive analytics. It's no surprise that the global AI in fintech market size was valued at $8.23 billion in 2021 and is projected to reach $61.30 billion by 2031.

Blockchain offers an unprecedented level of security and transparency in transactions. Digital banks incorporate multiple cybersecurity measures, including end-to-end encryption, multifactor authentication, KYC and more. These measures ensure customers' financial information remains protected, making digital banking as safe as, if not safer than, traditional banking.

The Future Of Fintech Funding—A Closer Look

Despite the investment fluctuations, the future of fintech funding remains bright. The $7.3 billion invested in Q1 2024 across 904 deals, as reported by CB Insights , is no small feat. It's a sign of the capital's continued belief in the promise of fintech and digital banking. U.S.-based fintech companies led the charge for this quarter, securing $3.3 billion across 393 deals, followed by the European fintech sector with $2.2 billion from 203 deals. Asian fintechs ranked third, with $1 billion from 210 deals. Noteworthy transactions include a $430 million funding round for the U.K.'s Monzo, led by Alphabet in March, and significant raises by U.S. firms Bilt Rewards and Kore.ai in January, totaling $200 million and $150 million, respectively.

The Rise Of Digital Banks: A Response To Consumer Preferences

The rise of digital banks is not only a technological endeavor but also a response to shifting consumer preferences. Today's customers expect services that fit within their digital lives. They want to manage their finances the same way they shop, communicate and live: digitally, seamlessly and on-demand.

The success of early disruptors like Revolut only underscores this shift. Most digital banks offer accounts that are easier to open, have lower fees and often come with features that make them more customer-centric, like included insurance or the possibility to make investments easily. In my own practice, we’ve built more than 100 digital banks, payment institutions and neobanks for new players on the market, and the one common thread is the mindset of the entrepreneurs who run these businesses: They are all eager to make people's lives easier.

And we see this with digital banks providing customers with the ability to pay or invest on the go. It’s not only about the preferences of the customers but more about the necessity of the real world. As an entrepreneur and owner of a company that has been part of this fintech transformation since its inception, as we look ahead, our vision for the future of finance is one that is inclusive, innovative and, most importantly, digital.

Investing In Innovation: The Key To Digital Banking Success

The industry is highly competitive, with new players entering the market regularly and established banking institutions quickly pivoting to offer digital solutions. To stay ahead, these banks invest heavily in technology, user experience and security. There are a lot of ways to build your own digital bank, and one of them is the implementation of the concept of "banking as a platform," where digital banks open their APIs to third-party developers, allowing them to create complementary services. This approach fosters a rich ecosystem of financial tools and benefits both the banks and their customers.

Since the implementation of cutting-edge technologies is crucial for the success of digital banks, it underscores the necessity of selecting the right technology partners. It's vital to thoroughly vet potential partners to ensure they meet all technical and business requirements. This includes assessing the scalability of their solutions, transaction capabilities, data storage practices and the costs associated with each service.

Choosing a partner that aligns with your own vision for innovation and customer service is key. Attention must be paid to where information is stored to comply with data protection regulations and understand the financial commitment required for scaling infrastructure to meet growing customer demands. This is a mistake that many startups make. In order to avoid it, check first how scalable the solution is.

This comprehensive approach ensures that digital banks can provide secure, efficient and cost-effective services to their users, paving the way for sustained growth and success in the competitive financial landscape.

Final Thoughts

The digital revolution in banking is not just a trend; it's a significant metamorphosis that is shaping how we manage our money, conduct our business and plan our futures. Digital banks are the architects of a more accessible, personalized and efficient financial world. With the right vision and investment, they can direct the way for a financial future that is dynamic and adaptable.

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• Government efficiency, transparency and accountability

Companies House business plan 2024 to 2025

• Companies House

Published 12 August 2024

© Crown copyright 2024

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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/companies-house-business-plan-2024-to-2025/companies-house-business-plan-2024-to-2025

Chair and chief executive’s foreword

As we begin the fifth and final year of delivering our 2020 to 2025 strategy, we are hugely excited to embark on the first stages of implementing the landmark Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023. It is without doubt one of the most significant moments for Companies House in our long history.

We have known for some time that UK companies have been misused by criminals to commit fraud, money laundering, and other forms of economic crime, and our thoughts have always been with those affected. With the legislation in place that has given the registrars new and enhanced powers, we will now be able to take unprecedented steps to crack down on fraudulent activities, help victims of identity fraud more quickly, and clean up the register by removing information we know to be incorrect or misleading.

These new and enhanced powers enable us to prevent further abuse of the register and to play an even greater role in the cross government approach in identifying, disrupting and preventing economic crime.

This will underpin our efforts to drive up the accuracy of the information held on the registers – improving the quality and reliability of our data which, in turn, will increase the value of the registers for businesses across the UK and beyond.

We will be focusing our attention this year on the highest priority areas of legislative reform and will be further ramping up our work in implementing the significant changes to our processes and systems. Our teams will be bringing in new ways of working and we will be testing, learning and evolving our skills and practices at pace to deliver on our new role.

Our ambition is clear – to act as quickly as possible in implementing the legislation and start to make a real difference. However, we have also been clear that we will continue to take a phased and prioritised approach to introducing these changes. Some changes will need a significant amount of secondary legislation, and some will require comprehensive change to our systems and processes – all of which will take time to achieve.

We also must ensure that while we’re implementing such a significant programme of change, we need to maintain our existing services for our customers, and continue to use our resources efficiently and effectively.

We are proud to be driving confidence in the economy by creating a transparent and accountable business environment. And that the use of our data informs business and consumer decisions, supports growth and helps disrupt economic crime. We remain confident that we can, and will continue to, balance the ease of doing business in the UK and effective regulation.

We are pleased to present Companies House’s corporate business plan for April 2024 to March 2025.

John Clarke - Chair of Companies House.

Louise Smyth - Chief Executive and Registrar of Companies for England and Wales.

About Companies House

Companies House is an executive agency of the UK Government, sponsored by the Department for Business and Trade (DBT). We hold the UK’s register of companies and the Register of Overseas Entities.

Through the accuracy and transparency of the information we make freely available about companies on the registers, we support and promote confidence and growth in the UK economy.

Over 1,400 people work for Companies House. We have offices in Cardiff, Edinburgh and Belfast. 

Louise Smyth is the Chief Executive of Companies House, the Registrar of Companies for England and Wales and the Regulator for Community Interest Companies. The Registrar of Companies for Scotland is Lisa Davis and Lynn Cooper is the Registrar of Companies for Northern Ireland.

Our main board consists of the chair, chief executive, executive directors and non-executive board members. The main board oversees all aspects of our organisation including performance, finances and strategic direction. The main board reports to the Department for Business and Trade on our governance, strategy, priorities and progress. 

Companies House is the home of company information. We:

• incorporate, maintain and dissolve companies
• publish company information to promote transparency and growth in the UK
• work in a cross government approach to disrupt and tackle economic crime

More than 5 million limited companies are registered in the UK, with over 500,000 new companies incorporated each year. We enable these businesses to fulfil their statutory obligations throughout a company’s ‘lifetime’ – from incorporation to dissolution.

We aim to make it as smooth as possible for legitimate businesses to set up and run a company. In exchange for granting limited liability, we publish valuable information about companies. This provides corporate transparency and deters those who would use the registers for fraudulent purposes.   

We publish company information which is easily accessible and available free of charge. There were over 14 billion searches of our information last year by a wide range of people including businesses, researchers, government and many public bodies, as well as the general public.

Companies House also holds and maintains the Register of Overseas Entities. Owners of land or property in the UK who are based overseas must register their beneficial owners or managing officers with Companies House.

We set up the Register of Overseas Entities in August 2022. Over 30,000 overseas entities are now registered, providing transparency about who owns land or property in the UK. This makes it more difficult for those thinking of using UK property to hide illicit wealth. The information on this register has been searched just under 1 million times so far.

We play a key role in the cross government approach to identifying and disrupting economic crime. This means we:

• carry out intelligence and analysis on the data we hold
• proactively share information with trusted external partners to aid investigations
• where appropriate, provide crucial evidence to tackle economic crime and other criminal activity

Companies House also has a good reputation globally. We collaborate and share best practice with many other business registries around the world. We continue to play an active role in the Corporate Registers Forum (CRF) and European Business Registry Association (EBRA), two of the leading international associations of business registries.

Our purpose, vision and strategy

In 2020 we set out an ambitious 5 year corporate strategy with a clear purpose and vision for Companies House.

Our purpose

Our purpose is to drive confidence in the UK economy.

Our vision is to be the most innovative, open and trusted register in the world – with brilliant services delivered by brilliant people.

Our strategy

Our strategy contains 6 strategic goals that reflect our vision for Companies House. Each goal has a set of strategic outcome statements that describe what we aim to achieve by the end of March 2025.

Strategic goal 1: Registers and data that inspire trust and confidence

The strategic outcomes for this goal are that:

• we are clear with our customers about their statutory duties
• using our new powers has improved the quality of the data on our registers
• trust in the value of the data on our registers has increased

Strategic goal 2: Maximising the value of our registers to the UK economy

The strategic outcome for this goal is that the value of our registers to the UK economy has increased.

Strategic goal 3: Combatting economic crime through active use of analysis and intelligence

The strategic outcomes for this goal are that we:

• have an intelligence hub and are proactively identifying and investigating suspicious activity and misuse of our registers
• pursue those who misuse our registers
• authorise corporate service providers and proactively investigate and report those who facilitate the misuse of the registers

Strategic goal 4: Brilliant services that give a great user experience

• external user satisfaction with our digital services is high
• we will commence digital communications with companies, as first choice
• our digital services are easy to use and accessible, enabling users to file and get information right first time, and minimising avoidable contact and complaints

Strategic goal 5: Our culture enables our brilliant people to flourish

• our people embrace and facilitate our organisational changes and focus on building an inclusive positive culture to ensure a great user experience and service delivery for our customers
• our leaders and managers are equipped with the skills to build the culture and commitment we need to deliver our strategic goals and outcomes
• our diversity and inclusion activity is data driven, evidence led, and delivery focused
• our roles are aligned to civil service professions resulting in clearly defined career paths and development opportunities
• hybrid ways of working to support our strategy and transformation have been embedded​​​​​​​
• our strategic workforce plans ensure we have the right people in place at the right time, with the right skills to support our future strategic outcomes and objectives

Strategic goal 6: Delivering value through efficient use of resources

• a financial funding and fees model is established to deliver our services and strategy
• our investments deliver realised benefits and public value
• our functional standards are managed and maintained
• we have met our efficiency target
• internal controls and budgetary discipline are in place and are effective in enabling us to operate services within our budget allocation

Implementing new legislation to improve corporate transparency and tackle economic crime

The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act (ECCT Act 2023) received Royal Assent in October 2023. The act introduces the biggest changes to Companies House since corporate registrations were established in 1844. We’ll have the power to play a far more significant role in tackling economic crime, supporting economic growth, and making sure the UK is one of the best places in the world to start and grow a business. 

The ECCT Act 2023 builds on the Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Act 2022, which introduced the Register of Overseas Entities. Together, they are a major step forward in strengthening Companies House’s role as outlined in the economic crime plans 1 and 2, to work across government on tackling economic crime and improving corporate transparency. 

The ECCT Act 2023 sets out 4 new objectives for the registrars to promote:

• ensure any person who is required to deliver a document to the register does so (and that the requirements for proper delivery are complied with)
• ensure information on the register is accurate and that the register contains everything it ought to contain
• ensure records kept by the registrar do not create a false or misleading impression to members of the public
• prevent companies and others from carrying out unlawful activities or facilitating the carrying out by others of unlawful activities

Delivering to these new objectives underpins our implementation of the ECCT Act 2023.

We have already begun to inform companies, and those submitting information on their behalf, of the changes to UK company law and their legal obligations. Throughout this year, as changes are rolled out, we will be continuing our information campaigns to ensure that the requirements for proper delivery are complied with. Alongside this we are making our systems and services easy to use and digital first, ensuring that our customers can do the right thing independently and easily.

We have already begun using our enhanced powers which came into effect on 4 March 2024. We are now able to query, remove and reject inaccurate information.  

Operating within our new compliance framework, we will make optimal use of our resources by adopting a targeted and proportionate approach.

We will also have a clear enforcement strategy in place and will be able to prosecute a number of new criminal offences. We will prosecute some of these offences directly. We’ll also work to investigate and prosecute in partnership with the Insolvency Service (INSS). These new criminal offences will result in a range of sanctions including imprisonment for the most severe of offences.

We will also have new sanctions specific to authorised corporate service providers (ACSPs). Under certain circumstances, the registrars will be able to suspend and de-authorise an ACSP from filing on the public register.

Through continued gathering and analysing of our own intelligence, and more proactive sharing across trusted partners across government and law enforcement agencies, we will now play a much more significant role in the fight against economic crime.

Our intelligence focus will align to our strategic intelligence assessment and support implementation of the registrars’ objectives. We will work closely with partners to tackle threats that apply to all of us, called ‘cross cutting threats’, ensuring that we prioritise those that cause significant harm to the public. Our intelligence function will also support our enforcement colleagues in dealing with non compliant companies. 

Having these new powers, combined with our intelligence and enforcement regime will help us:

• maintain the accuracy of the information on the register
• protect the public
• disrupt criminal activity

What we plan to deliver from April 2024 to March 2025

Strategic goal 1: our registers and data inspire trust and confidence.

Increasing the integrity and accuracy of information on the registers is central to our corporate vision and a fundamental part of the UK’s corporate transparency framework.

How we’ll progress towards strategic goal 1

We’ll prioritise cleaning up the existing information on the registers by identifying and removing information that we know to be inaccurate.

We’ll require companies to provide us with a registered email address and an appropriate registered office address. We’ll also issue a requirement for companies to confirm that they are forming the company for a lawful purpose when they incorporate and confirm that continued lawful purpose annually.

We’ll proactively use our new powers to ensure companies on the register have a legitimate address, in particular taking action against identity and address theft. We will stop the use of Royal Mail PO Boxes and equivalent services as an appropriate registered office address by the end of March 2025. We’ll take action against companies that do not have an appropriate office address or are using an address that has been hijacked, in line with the new legislation.

We’ll use our new and enhanced powers to query and reject information submitted to us, where it’s clear information is false, misleading or suspicious. In some cases, we will also annotate information on the register, at an individual and corporate level.

We’ll expedite the process of striking off companies so that we can act more quickly than we previously could, where we have evidence of fraudulent information. This is particularly important where personal information has been used without consent, and we will conduct appropriate investigations where this has happened.

We’ll introduce a registration process for third party agents to become authorised corporate service providers (ACSPs). This will be an early first stage of authorisation to become recognised to transact with us on behalf of a company and an important pre-cursor to completing an identity verification check. Setting up third party agents as ACSPs is a key measure to ensure only those who are authorised will be permitted to complete transactions with Companies House on behalf of registered companies.

We’ll get ready for the introduction of identity verification which will become mandatory for anyone setting up, running, owning or controlling a company in the UK, and those who file on behalf of companies. This year we will be developing the significant changes to our systems and service integrations required to release this major initiative. By the end of March 2025, we will have introduced the technical capability to verify an individual’s identity. This will begin a transition process for a phased roll out from Spring 2025 and beyond.

We’ll begin development of process changes to impose limits on the use of corporate directors, subject to certain exemptions, as set out under the Small Business Enterprise and Employment Act 2015.

We’ll develop processes that enable the suppression of personal information from the register, including suppression of the company’s registered office address, if it is a person’s residential address. We will also enable changes that will allow people who are personally at risk, rather than at risk due to the activities of the company, to apply for protection of their information.

We’ll scale up data governance processes within our new and existing services and data quality metrics, with measures in place for our most critical data points.

Informing companies and those affected by the new legislation is an important duty and the first of the registrars’ objectives. We’ll continue our external communications campaign to ensure that our customers, their agents and key stakeholders are fully aware of when and how they will be impacted by the changes and are confident about what they need do and by when.

Strategic goal 2: We maximise the value of our registers to the UK economy

The information we publish is used to support millions of business decisions, with its transparency contributing to the UK being regarded as a world leading place to do business. Research commissioned and published in 2019 estimated the value of the register to the UK economy to be worth over £1 to 3 billion per year.

We are confident that our work to improve the quality and availability of company information over the past 4 years of our strategy period, combined with the commitments we’re making this year, will:

• encourage greater confidence in the registers
• result in even greater use of the information on the registers
• contribute to maximising the value of our registers to the UK economy

As outlined throughout this business plan, the focus across the organisation this year will be on delivering the new legislation and enhanced powers and ensuring the promotion of the registrars’ new objectives.

All of the activities outlined under strategic goal 1 to clean up the register will improve the quality of the information we use and share, and as a result, will continue to increase confidence, trust and use of it.

In this way, we anticipate that the value of the information will continue to grow as we implement the reforms under the ECCT Act 2023. We plan to replicate the previous study we undertook to measure the value at a later date, when these changes have had time to embed.

We have also recently commissioned new research to understand the value of the information and intelligence we share with law enforcement partners and anti-money laundering regulated businesses. We will be working through and acting upon the findings and recommendations of this research throughout this financial year.

Strategic goal 3: We combat economic crime through active use of analysis and intelligence

With the ECCT Act 2023 in place, we can now:

• gather, analyse and proactively share more intelligence than ever before
• request data from other partners
• pursue collaborative working opportunities across government and with law enforcement organisations to disrupt and take action against criminal activity

We will develop a strategic intelligence assessment, alongside partners, to identify and assess strategic threats posed to the UK through misuse of corporate structures. We will also continually develop our understanding of how third party agents can be used to hide the identities of those seeking to abuse Companies House processes and the ways in which the true control of limited companies is obscured.  

Our strategic intelligence assessment will be followed by a control strategy and series of action plans to detail how we, working in collaboration with our partners, will focus our activities to take action related to each of those threats.

We have been onboarded to cross government intelligence sharing systems already.This, together with other data sets, will be used to take forward a multi agency disruption approach through proactive sharing of intelligence and analysis.

In addition, we have been receiving and scrutinising money laundering reports from entities required to carry out due diligence checks under the Money Laundering Regulations, called ‘obliged entities’ .

We already share data through European Union’s anti-money laundering regulations. We will continue building on this essential collaborative working this year and will pursue further partnerships that build on our cross working approach.

In addition, the economic crime plan 2 sets out an additional range of actions for us and our partners in this area. We will be taking these forward throughout the coming year.

To build our capability across all of our work in this new regulatory space we will be continually learning, testing and refining our approach, building in more checks to adapt to emerging integrity issues, and ensuring we continually make effective and consistent decisions that are proportionate to the problem.

How we’ll progress towards strategic goal 3

We’ll establish further relationships and memorandums of understanding (MOUs) with a range of law enforcement and intelligence agencies to share data and intelligence to enable a multi-agency disruption approach to tackling economic crime.

We’ll work with the Insolvency Service (INSS) to identify and take action in prosecution cases, with up to 250 cases referred to INSS each year.

We’ll increase data insights for intelligence and enforcement teams, required for identifying and analysing trends, taking action against non-compliance and pursuing enforcement action to tackle economic crime.

We’ll develop a strategic intelligence assessment, followed by a control strategy and series of action plans to take action, together with partners, against identified threats.

We’ll have an enforcement framework in place and take action in accordance with this for companies that are non-compliant We’ll ensure a process of continual learning, testing and refining our approach to compliance and enforcement.

We’ll build the systems, processes and capability to deliver a robust, joined up scrutiny process for onboarding ACSPs. We will undertake ongoing compliance, monitoring and enforcement where necessary, linking with anti-money laundering supervisors and the wider economic crime eco-system.

We’ll begin development of services that will enable the wide-ranging limited partnerships reforms which will bring legal requirements for limited partnerships in line with the requirements for limited companies. This will include the need for identify verification, increased transparency of data and invoking new powers to remove dormant partnerships.

Now that we have over 30,000 entities registered on the Register of Overseas Entities, our focus will switch to scrutinising the information on the register and understanding it’s impact. We will work with overseas company registers and UK Land Registry to identify those that have failed to comply with their obligations. We will actively follow up on information supplied and not updated, and use our querying powers to maintain and improve the accuracy of the information supplied, targeting individuals who attempt to avoid transparency.

We’ll work proactively, alongside our law enforcement colleagues, to disrupt the use of UK property to hide illicit wealth.

Strategic goal 4: Our brilliant services give a great user experience

Our corporate strategy set out our ambitions to become a digital first organisation where our digital services are designed to be easy to use and intuitive, so that our customers can do the right thing, first time.

We have achieved high levels of digital adoption of services already and are continuing to encourage customers to choose digital first. This is quicker for our customers, more efficient for us and saves costs for us all, while reducing our impact on the environment through reduced paper and post. 

We achieved consistently high digital service availability throughout 2023 to 2024 while managing a complex technology estate as well as innovating and responding rapidly to user needs. For example:

• 91% of over 14 million transactions per year are submitted and processed digitally
• 4.3 million advanced searches of the registers are made using advanced web functionality
• 99% of confirmation statements and incorporations are submitted digitally each year

This year we will maintain our existing infrastructure and aim to ensure that our digital services remain available for customers 99.5% of the time. 

Throughout this year we will be focusing on continuing the development and roll out of new services as we start to implement the changes brought about by the ECCT Act 2023. We will also be optimising our existing infrastructure to ensure we have reliable, secure and cost effective services that provide value for money.

How we’ll progress towards strategic goal 4

We’ll optimise our current IT services and infrastructure to ensure reliable, secure and cost-effective services that realise efficiencies and provide high performing, sustainable and accessible digital services for our customers and colleagues.

We’ll review and assess the future direction for an end to end service led model, consolidating our infrastructure, making it more flexible and adaptable to changing needs and leveraging new technologies including artificial intelligence (AI).

We are pleased with our audit report from the Welsh Language Commissioner in 2023 but are also committed to improving the bilingual services we offer from 2024.We’ll continue to build our Welsh language capability into our new digital services as they come on stream to comply with legal obligations. In addition we will take forward research with our service users, and prioritise our Welsh Language Scheme action plan.

We’ll continue to work with our customers and software vendors to help them prepare for future mandatory digital filing of financial accounts.

Strategic goal 5: Our culture enables our brilliant people to flourish and drives high performance

Our business plan could not be delivered without the commitment and dedication of our brilliant people. We continue to embrace and promote a positive and inclusive culture that supports everyone working at Companies House. We encourage everyone to bring their whole selves to work, celebrate diversity and provide opportunities for people at all levels to develop their skills. 

We are proud to have been recognised for the work we do to support our people through a Platinum Award by Investors in People (IIP). We’ve now received this award for the second time in a row, an accolade that only 5% of organisations across the world share.

This financial year brings huge opportunity and change to Companies House as we continue to transition to a more regulatory role, which is changing what we do and how we do it. Our fantastic people sit at the very heart of our transformation.

Over the year ahead our focus will be on ensuring we have the skills and capabilities we need to deliver on our new role. That will begin with phased recruitment, onboarding and training to new roles across the business.

As well as increasing our resource, we will ensure that we retain our excellent culture and build resilience at all levels by ensuring all our people feel involved, valued, engaged and heard. We will aim for our organisational behaviours and strong culture to be weaved through the fabric of our new role in society.

In 2023, our Edinburgh team moved to a new location within a Government Property Agency (GPA) hub. In 2024, our Northern Ireland office will change location. We will also be preparing for a potential move from our existing Cardiff office.

How we’ll progress towards strategic goal 5

We’ll continuously seek to innovate and improve our already strong employment brand and recruitment techniques. We will strengthen our outreach and employer brand campaigns to attract future talent and critical skills, particularly in digital and data. We will continue to build relationships with educational establishments and taking an innovative approach to attracting and developing our people by keeping abreast of the latest trends in industry.

We’ll continue to develop our workforce with a focus on building talent pipelines and career paths with the ongoing assessment and building of capability frameworks through Government Professions.

We’ll strive to build a true data culture at every level within the organisation through a commitment to delivering foundational data training to 90% of our people, new learning pathways for those roles responsible for data, and by growing our community of practice.

We’ll work collaboratively to drive high performance through increased levels of employee engagement and shared information. We’ll encourage an environment that embraces and facilitates change, celebrates success and is honest about our challenges. We’ll create opportunities for people’s voices to be heard and acted upon and championing our adaptable, bold and curious behaviours.

We’ll carry out the preparatory work for our confirmed and potential office moves. We’ll particularly focus on employee engagement and relations, maintaining our open and resilient culture, planning for effective use of space and place to enable new ways of working and high performance that is fit for the future.

Strategic goal 6: We deliver value through efficient use of resources

Companies House is committed to good governance and value for money.

Operating efficiently and effectively as part of central government is a core objective to achieve this strategic goal and underpins our work across Companies House. Working with others across government and more widely provides opportunities to be more efficient and effective within the resources available to us.

Throughout the coming year we focus on identifying and leveraging efficiencies through development and delivery of new and improved processes and systems that are needed to deliver our priorities.

We will continue to make evidence based decisions across all areas, including:

• how and when we prioritise our work
• identifying and implementing new ways of working that enable the most efficient use of our people
• looking for opportunities to invest to save where required
• outsourcing contracts where we can demonstrate it provides the best value for money

As technology continues to advance rapidly, we continue to explore opportunities and develop plans to achieve a digital infrastructure that is fit for the future. The government’s 2021 National AI Strategy highlighted the importance of using AI within the public sector and for the public good.

Following this, in March 2023 the Science and Technology Framework identified AI as one of the critical technologies for the UK to achieve its ambitions to be a science and technology superpower by 2030.

Throughout the coming year, we will continue to build our digital capabilities by seeking new and innovative ways to use technology to work smarter, increase automation, and gain efficiencies. This will include using machine learning and taking an incremental test and learn approach to the adoption of AI.

We will also continue to work across government to identify where shared services and joint working will support us to be able to deliver on our commitments and realise efficiencies.

How we’ll progress towards strategic goal 6

We’ll adopt the Government Efficiency Framework to support the delivery of efficiencies, by defining and categorising efficiency savings in line with government best practice.  

We’ll complete the move from our current office in Belfast to new premises and prepare for moving from our current Cardiff office, focusing on the efficient use of space and resource.

We’ll implement the Procurement Act 2023 which will involve updating our processes, guidance and documentation, and onboarding to the new central government portal for procurement, anticipated by autumn 2024.

We’ll achieve the Government Minimum Security Standards and reflect the expectations of the Government Security Group and National Technical Authorities in our policies and operations.

We’ll prepare a detailed AI adoption plan focused on improving productivity and delivery, and realising efficiencies.

Public targets

Our public targets for this year reflect the most significant commitments in our business plan for 2024 to 2025. These targets are agreed with the Minister of State, and published in both Houses of Parliament under their name.

Throughout the year we track and report progress against the delivery of these targets to our executive and main boards, and the Department for Business and Trade.

2024 public targets

1.Use our new powers to ensure companies on the register have a legitimate address - in particular, by taking action against identity and address theft:

• have been removed from the register;
• be pending removal; or,
• have been updated to an appropriate registered office address in accordance with the law
• eradicate the use of Royal Mail PO Boxes and equivalent services as a registered office address by companies on the register

2. Introduce the technical capability to verify an individual’s identity by March 2025: this will help ensure Companies House is prepared for the anticipated transition process whereby all new and existing company directors and persons of significant control will be required to verify their identity either directly through Companies House or through authorised third parties.

3. Develop a strategic intelligence assessment to identify the priority areas for action in the fight against economic crime, and act upon it.

4. Digital services are available for a minimum of 99.5% of the time.

5. All incoming calls into our contact centre are answered within an average of 4 minutes.

6. 80% of customers are satisfied with Companies House.

7. Manage expenditure within budgetary limits and utilise central government funding.

Monitoring and reporting

Companies House regularly monitors and reports progress against the commitments in this business plan throughout the year. In addition, Parliament and the public can review how Companies House is performing in our annual report and accounts .

More information can be found in Companies House official statistics and other public data sets.

Reports on the implementation and operation of parts 1 to 3 of the ECCT Act 2023 will be laid in Parliament in line with the statutory requirements.

Funding the plan

Companies House is funded through the Department for Business and Trade and through fees which are charged for services, as set out in legislation.

Fees are set on a cost recovery basis. This means that our fees must cover the cost of the services we deliver. We do not make a profit on our fees.  

In May 2024 we will increase our fees to cover the cost of the services we deliver and take future expenditure into account as we deliver the new powers and the wider package of reforms in the ECCT Act 2023. We will continue to review our fees every year to make sure they are set at the right level. 

Our transformation programme activity has benefited from financial support from the Department for Business and Trade following approval of our full business case in 2023 through to 31 March 2025.

Following a successful bid, we have secured additional funding via the Economic Crime (anti-money laundering) Levy (ECL) for a 3-year period, ending in March 2026. This funding will support our contribution to vision set out in the economic crime plan 2.

This table shows the Companies House budget delegations for 2024 to 2025.

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