Goals are easy to set. Hitting them? That’s where things get messy.
One task turns into ten. Priorities shift. People lose track of who’s doing what, and suddenly, that ‘clear plan’ isn’t so clear anymore.
But it doesn’t have to be this way.
An action plan template helps you lay out exactly what needs to get done, who’s doing it, and when it’s due without starting from scratch each time.
In this blog post, you’ll find a selection of free action plan templates to move from goal-setting to goal-getting, minus the chaos.
Let’s get to it! 📝
Free Action Plan Templates to Organize Goals and Track Progress
What Is an Action Plan?
An action plan is a detailed strategy outlining the specific steps needed to achieve a particular goal or objective. It breaks down larger projects into smaller, manageable tasks with clearly defined deadlines and responsibilities.
Action plans ensure that all responsible parties understand their roles and what needs to be done to meet the target. They help track progress, identify potential roadblocks, and adjust strategies as needed.
🧠 Fun Fact: Action plans were part of ancient military strategies. Generals in Ancient Rome and China documented step-by-step battle strategies—early versions of action plans.
💡 Pro Tip: Plan for sabotage (yep, from your future self). Future-you might get lazy, overwhelmed, or distracted. Write one line under each task: ‘If I don’t feel like doing this, I will…’ It’s a built-in counterattack.
20 Free Action Plan Templates
Starting with a blank page slows things down. Whether you’re launching a project or aligning your team, a ready-made business action plan template can make all the difference.
, the everything app for work, offers templates for real teams, goals, and progress.
Let’s explore some of the best templates from this project management platform that you can start using instantly. 🤩
1. Action Plan Template
The Action Plan Template is your go-to space for turning big-picture goals into focused, manageable tasks on a digital whiteboard. It’s built to break down your strategy into clear steps and see how your work progresses in real time.
The blank action plan template is organized into three horizontal rows: Weekly Review, Monthly Review, and Quarterly Review. You can map out tasks using sticky notes and sort them into three simple columns: To Do, Doing, and Done. This setup in Whiteboards gives you a clear rhythm for evaluating progress and adjusting priorities.
Need to customize it? You can tweak sections, add details, and adapt the layout for anything from onboarding checklists to social media rollouts.
📌 Ideal for: Teams aiming to break down complex projects into manageable tasks, ensuring clear steps toward goal achievement.
📮 Insight: Building an action plan is one thing—sticking to the right priorities is another. Our survey shows that 76% of professionals use their own system to manage tasks, but 65% still default to easy wins over meaningful progress.
helps action plans stay focused. With AI-powered workflows and custom priority flags, you can highlight what matters most and move through your plan with clarity and purpose.
2. Corrective Action Plan Template
The Corrective Action Plan Template helps you quickly and clearly move from identifying issues to implementing fixes. It’s laid out to make problem-solving less overwhelming and more actionable, especially when stakes are high and time matters.
You can use this as a performance review template to:
- Spot and define what’s not working: Start with ‘Areas for Improvement’ to pinpoint where performance gaps exist
- Document root causes: Lay out each problem and dig into why it’s happening, using the dedicated ‘Problems and Root Causes’ section
- Explore real solutions: Use the ‘Possible Solutions’ area to brainstorm and weigh different approaches before jumping to conclusions
- Define success in numbers: Set up your ‘Measure of Success’ section with KPIs or specific metrics
📌 Ideal for: Teams addressing process inefficiencies by identifying root causes and implementing preventive measures to enhance operational workflows.
3. Employee Engagement Action Plan Template
If you’re planning a team offsite or rolling out a new internal comms strategy, you need an engagement action plan to run things smoothly. The Employee Engagement Action Plan Template provides a concrete way to map these initiatives and align goals for better team development.
This is a structured, editable Doc filled with ready-to-use examples.
Here’s what you can do with it:
- List and organize action items, such as feedback sessions or training programs
- Assign tasks directly in the Doc with owners and deadlines
- Share updates, get approvals, and keep everything in one place
- Track measurable outcomes to see what’s working and what’s not
📌 Ideal for: HR professionals and team leaders focused on increasing workplace morale through targeted initiatives and measurable outcomes.
🔍 Did You Know? Walt Disney used a form of action planning for creative projects. He reportedly broke every idea into three stages: the dreamer, the realist, and the critic—essentially planning, execution, and review.
4. Engagement Survey Action Plan Template
Got a stack of engagement survey results and not sure where to start? The Engagement Survey Action Plan Template helps you move employee and customer responses to focused, measurable action.
Inside the template, you’ll find editable tables that help you:
- Log survey findings in the ‘Problem Description’ and ‘Area’ columns to capture where the issues are showing up, whether it’s within a specific team or process
- Use the ‘Root Cause’ and ‘4M 1E’ sections to go deeper and identify what’s really driving dissatisfaction
- Track impact using the ‘Solution Metrics’ column. Set benchmarks so you know if the change is helping
- Fill out the ‘Responsible’ and ‘Completion Date’ fields to make sure every action item is moving forward with accountability
📌 Ideal for: HR managers analyzing employee feedback to develop actionable strategies to improve engagement and satisfaction.
5. Small Business Emergency Action Plan Template
Think of this template as your ‘break glass in case of emergency’ plan.
The Small Business Emergency Action Plan Template lays out exactly what happens next—who does what, where to go, and how to keep the business running even when everything else feels chaotic.
For example, a power outage hits the local bakery during peak morning hours. With this template, you already have a step-by-step plan that kicks in—staff communication, backup power contacts, refund procedures, and a checklist to move perishable inventory.
Use this template to:
- Document clear, simple response actions for different emergencies based on your real business needs
- Organize emergency contact details, like the local fire department, landlord, insurance reps, or IT support, in one secure, accessible place
- Assign roles across your team so everyone knows their responsibility under pressure
- Schedule drills or refreshers using task due dates and recurring reminders
- Add detailed notes, floor plans, and key files into each section
📌 Ideal for: Small business owners preparing for unforeseen events, ensuring a structured response to maintain operations.
💡 Pro Tip: Use emojis as urgency markers in your action plan. You can try intuitive emoji codes: fire for urgent, turtle for slow burn, and hourglass for deadline-driven. It’s fun, and your brain processes visuals faster than words.
6. Construction Emergency Action Plan Template
A collapsed scaffold, a burst gas line, or a heatstroke incident—construction emergencies escalate fast, and hesitation isn’t an option.
The Construction Emergency Action Plan Template gives you a practical, ready-to-use framework for handling crisis situations on active job sites. You’ll have predefined steps, assigned roles, and safety protocols ready to go.
Here’s what you can do with it:
- Map out emergency scenarios so every crew member knows what actions to take, based on the specific threats of your job site
- Assign emergency roles like safety officer, first responder lead, and communications handler
- Use visuals and tables to create intuitive checklists and site-specific diagrams
📌 Ideal for: Construction site managers creating detailed emergency procedures to safeguard workers and comply with safety regulations.
7. Workplace Emergency Action Plan Template
The Workplace Emergency Action Plan Template allows you to plan, track, and execute every step of your emergency response.
With built-in task management, you can track the progress of safety drills and emergency preparedness. The template also allows you to keep all relevant emergency protocols and contact lists in one place, ensuring easy access during a crisis.
Milestones and Automations in schedule and track regular drills, ensuring your team stays prepared. Additionally, they help you document post-crisis recovery tasks and assign responsibilities to resume operations quickly.
📌 Ideal for: Organizations developing comprehensive evacuation plans and safety protocols to protect employees during emergencies.
8. Incident Action Plan Template
A cybersecurity breach at 2 a.m. isn’t the time to figure out who’s doing what or where the recovery files are saved. That’s where the Incident Action Plan Template delivers.
If your IT systems crash across multiple locations, this template helps you take fast, organized action by clearly outlining the next steps. Add key details under sections like:
- Situation Summary: Include maps, system status, or relevant context for quick clarity
- Execution Plan: Break down tasks with owners, deadlines, and dependencies
- Incident Team Contact Info: List roles, phone numbers, and responsibilities for fast coordination
- Incident Plan Approval: Use built-in sign-off fields to log approvals and track accountability
Unlike the previous template, which focuses on proactive preparedness, the Incident Action Plan Template is tailored for immediate, reactive response and ongoing incident management.
📌 Ideal for: Crisis management teams coordinating responses to incidents, ensuring swift and effective action to mitigate impacts.
Bonus: Check out these action plan templates in Excel as well!
9. SMART Action Plan Template
Trying to reduce customer churn by 15% over the next quarter? That’s a solid goal, but it’s useless unless you break it down into clear steps, assign responsibilities, and set deadlines that stick. The SMART Action Plan Template turns that big, vague objective into a concrete game plan.
It’s a structured document that helps you define and document SMART goals so you can create a comprehensive plan with tasks and the resources needed to complete them.
Inside the template, you’ll have:
- A SMART goal breakdown table that gives you five structured fields to define the scope of each objective clearly
- Prompts to guide you through each part
- A Follow Through section where you can add key outcomes, list support needed, and track review dates
📌 Ideal for: Individuals and teams setting SMART goals with clear action steps and key performance indicators (KPIs).
💡 Pro Tip: Write one task you’ll purposely skip. Call it your ‘sacrifice task.’ Build the flexibility to ditch something if life happens. It trains you to focus on the essentials and avoid burnout.
10. SMART Goal Action Plan Template
Launching a new customer feedback loop within 30 days sounds great on paper until you realize no one is clear on the deliverables or who owns them. The SMART Goal Action Plan Template helps close that gap.
Though it may look similar to the SMART Action Plan Template, this one serves a different purpose. While both templates are grounded in the SMART methodology, the previous one is more suited for comprehensive project execution with a focus on task management. Meanwhile, this particular template is tailored to set goals and track progress towards specific objectives.
Use status labels like Planning, Execution, Evaluation, and Complete to set professional goals for work. These are especially useful when working with multiple contributors or reporting upward.
📌 Ideal for: Professionals outlining detailed plans to achieve SMART goals, enhancing focus and accountability.
💡 Pro Tip: Leverage the built-in goal health tracking section to course-correct before falling behind. It’s great for anything from hitting quarterly performance metrics to launching a new training initiative across departments.
11. Daily Action Plan Template
The Daily Action Plan Template organizes your day with more intention.
You can use it to map out a clear, action-oriented plan for the day. For example, say you’re juggling a client presentation, two stakeholder updates, and reviewing sprint tickets. Instead of a scattered list, this template helps you structure the day with quick planning and flexible adjustments.
This template allows you to:
- Highlight high-impact work so you’re not buried under reactive items
- Allocate realistic time blocks to each task to keep the day manageable
- Use Custom Fields like Department, Task Type, Task Complexity, and Goal Progress to organize specific tasks
- Monitor progress as you go with built-in task status tags and visual indicators for progress
📌 Ideal for: Daily planners organizing tasks to maximize productivity and ensure successful completion of objectives.
12. Action Priority Matrix Template
Some decisions don’t need long meetings. They just need a clear matrix template and a few sticky notes.
Suppose you’re mid-project and your backlog keeps growing. You’re juggling bug fixes, feature updates, internal reviews, and last-minute feedback from stakeholders. The Action Priority Matrix Template helps you drag and drop tasks into one of four clear categories:
- Quick Wins (High Impact, Low Effort): A two-line code fix that improves user experience immediately
- Big Projects (High Impact, High Effort): Similar to overhauling your onboarding flow, which takes time but delivers long-term value
- Fill-ins (Low Impact, High Effort): Tasks that drain resources but don’t move the needle. Good candidates to reconsider
- Thankless Tasks (Low Impact, Low Effort): These won’t change much. Either delegate or let them go
Start with the gray zone on the side—dump all your tasks there using digital sticky notes. Then, once you’ve assessed effort and impact, move them across the action priority matrix. You can even color-code the notes to reflect departments, owners, or urgency.
📌 Ideal for: Teams prioritizing tasks based on impact and effort, facilitating strategic decision-making and resource allocation.
🔍 Did You Know? Research analyzing 94 different studies found that people who create specific action plans—like deciding when, where, and how to act—are much more likely to follow through. That extra bit of structure makes all the difference.
13. Management Action Plan Template
The Management Action Plan Template is designed to launch a strategic plan, manage a high-stakes response, or align teams around operational improvements.
Suppose you’re leading a company-wide initiative to automate employee onboarding—working with IT to set up accounts, HR to streamline document collection, and operations to coordinate equipment delivery.
Key actions you can take using this template:
- Outline your onboarding goals in the Objectives section so each department knows its role and deliverables
- Break the initiative into subtasks like ‘Create onboarding checklist,’ ‘Provision software,’ or ‘Ship welcome kits,’ each with timelines and owners
- Flag potential blockers and document mitigation plans within each action item to stay proactive
📌 Ideal for: Leaders developing structured strategies to achieve organizational objectives, aligning team efforts with business and project goals.
14. Mutual Action Plan Template
Mutual action plans only work when both sides commit to every step it takes to achieve task completion. The Mutual Action Plan Template gives you the structure to make that happen without back-and-forth emails, dropped handoffs, or shifting expectations.
As the project leader, you’re managing a customer onboarding process after the deal is signed. Your team is handling internal deadlines like kickoff meetings and system setup, while the client is responsible for tasks like access provisioning and stakeholder alignment.
This template helps you define shared objectives at the start, like onboarding success metrics or pilot goals, so progress always ties back to outcomes. Additionally, you can surface blockers early using comments, task updates, or deadline changes so your plan adapts as needed.
📌 Ideal for: Cross-functional teams and project managers who need to align on shared goals, define responsibilities, and track progress on the business process collaboratively.
15. Marketing Action Plan Template
Launching a product next quarter and moving from strategy to action is not easy. The Marketing Action Plan Template gives you a task-ready space to map out every detail of your marketing campaigns.
Suppose you’re planning a rollout for a new software feature. You’ll need a real plan to complete the product marketing project successfully. It provides ready-to-use tasks that help you build that plan from the ground up and plug it directly into execution.
This is how it helps you get things done:
- Measure progress with goals like lead volume, website traffic targets, or conversion rates
- Break down customer personas, pain points, and preferred channels to fine-tune outreach
- Document project details from past campaigns so you’re not repeating mistakes
- Use color-coded dropdowns and assignee fields to define ownership and deadlines
- Upload campaign decks, ad creatives, or email copy drafts right into the template
📌 Ideal for: Marketing teams planning campaigns, allocating resources, and tracking performance across various channels.
💡 Pro Tip: Give your plan a weird internal codename. Call it ‘Operation Spaghetti,’ ‘Project Snooze Crusher,’ or anything fun. It creates personal investment and makes updates feel less dry.
16. Recruitment Action Plan Template
Hiring across multiple roles requires coordination. With the right structure and visibility, you can move fast without missing critical steps. That’s precisely what the Recruitment Action Plan Template offers.
The template comes preloaded with a recruitment checklist that covers every critical stage—from resume review to offer letter. Each step is assignable, so you can delegate items like ‘Schedule first interview’ to a recruiter and ‘Final candidate review’ to the hiring manager.
This to-do list template helps you:
- Review the cover letter/resume to ensure skills alignment
- Set up first interview
- Sync internally with the recruiter/hiring manager
- Schedule final candidate internal reviews
- Prepare/send offer letters (if applicable)
📌 Ideal for: HR departments streamlining the hiring process, from job postings to onboarding, ensuring efficient talent acquisition.
17. Internal Communication Strategy and Action Plan Template
When teams grow or spread across locations, communication can quickly become chaotic. The Internal Communication Strategy and Action Plan Template provides a framework to fix that by identifying gaps, streamlining updates, and building a system that scales with your team.
Let’s say your department is expanding across time zones, and updates are getting lost across chats, emails, and meetings. This template helps you build a structured plan that clarifies what gets communicated, where, how often, and who owns it.
With this template, you can:
- Audit existing communication habits, map team workflows, and capture where things are breaking down
- Build a step-by-step strategy with timelines and measurable outcomes
- Use features like nested subtasks, priority tags, multiple assignees, and custom labels to organize actions, delegate ownership, and track improvements
- Document stakeholder feedback, team preferences, and ongoing blockers so your communication strategy evolves as your team grows
📌 Ideal for: Communication teams who want to devise strategies for better information flow and engagement within the organization.
18. 30-60-90 Day Plan Template
The 30-60-90 Day Plan Template gives you a structured launchpad to get someone fully ramped within their first three months.
Say you’re onboarding a new project owner responsible for streamlining operations across departments. You can break their ramp-up into three focused phases:
- First 30 days: Assign tasks to help them observe workflows, meet key team members, and document pain points
- Next 30 days: Set goals to introduce improvements, lead pilot initiatives, and start owning team standups
- Final 30 days: Move into leadership mode—delegate confidently, refine systems, and report measurable wins
📌 Ideal for: New hires outlining their objectives and strategies for the first three months, ensuring a structured onboarding process.
19. Project Work Plan Template
Let’s say you’re rolling out a new internal tool across three departments. You’ve got dependencies, varying start dates, and tasks with completely different effort levels. The Project Work Plan Template gives you everything you need to manage it without losing track of the minute details.
You can log actual start dates, compare scheduled vs. real durations, and flag delays instantly. Use the Schedule Field to spot risk early: green means you’re on track, amber shows minor slippage, and red warns you about tasks that need attention now.
You’ll also have Custom Fields like:
- Effort (1–5) to capture task complexity
- Actual Duration Days to assess timeline accuracy
- Delays (Days) to pinpoint bottlenecks
- Duration Days to plan smarter for future projects
📌 Ideal for: Project managers detailing project scopes, timelines, and deliverables to ensure successful project execution.
💡 Pro Tip: Use 1-5-10 Year goal examples to break down long-term planning into manageable steps. This makes it easier to align daily tasks with big-picture milestones and stay focused over time.
20. Daily Goal Template
Similar to the Daily Action Plan Template, the Daily Goal Template supports busy schedules by connecting your daily actions to long-term outcomes. What makes it different is its outcome-first focus, making it ideal for setting clear goals and tracking progress each day.
Suppose you’re leading a product launch and juggling long-term milestones with daily check-ins, design reviews, and ad-hoc fixes. This template helps you map those micro-goals each morning so your day feeds directly into the broader strategy.
You can use built-in views like Daily Notes, Notes List, and a Getting Started Guide to keep priorities and progress tied together for a cohesive approach. Easily shift incomplete action items to the next day without losing momentum and tick off goals as you complete them or realign them when plans shift.
📌 Ideal for: Individuals who want to set daily goals, stay accountable, and make steady progress toward bigger objectives.
How to Create an Action Plan
Now that we’ve explored the best action templates out there, let’s run a short refresher on action plans.
You’ve set your goal. Now it’s time to map out how it will get done. Here’s how to build an action plan that keeps things moving. 👇
- Define your goal: Begin by clearly articulating what you aim to achieve. Ensure the goal is Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound (SMART)
- List actionable steps: Identify the key tasks that will move the project forward. Be precise, each action should have a clear purpose and outcome
- Assign responsibilities: Determine who will be responsible for each task. Clear assignment of duties enhances accountability and efficiency
- Set deadlines: Establish realistic timelines for each task. Deadlines help maintain momentum and ensure timely project completion
- Allocate resources: Set aside the tools, budget, and materials required for each task. This way, you keep progress flowing smoothly without scrambling for resources mid-way
- Monitor progress: Regularly review the progress of each task. This allows for timely adjustments and keeps the action plan on track
- Evaluate and adjust: Regularly check progress against your plan and be ready to adjust as needed. If something isn’t working, make the necessary changes
What Makes a Good Action Plan Template?
And how do you choose an action plan template that’s right for you?
A good project action plan template shows you exactly what needs to be done, who’s doing it, and when it’s due. Let’s break down the qualities that make a template truly effective. 🎯
- Includes adaptable sections: Features optional fields that can be customized, added, or removed depending on the project’s needs
- Encourages consistent input: Uses structured fields like tables or checklists to keep entries uniform across users
- Clarifies task ownership: Separates fields for assignees, deadlines, and dependencies so responsibilities are easy to track
- Allows ongoing updates: Supports real-time changes to statuses, notes, or timing without breaking the template format
- Supports collaborative use: Accommodates multiple contributors with dedicated space for comments or shared milestones
- Prioritizes visual clarity: Uses consistent spacing, typography, and headings to make the content scannable at a glance
- Offers built-in guidance: Includes brief prompts or placeholder text to help users fill out each section accurately
Make Every Action Count With
No matter the size of your team or the complexity of your goals, a solid business action plan template creates a clear path to success. It brings clarity, sets priorities, and keeps everyone focused on the right tasks with well-defined steps and a to-do list.
With ’s free templates to provide direction, you can save time and skip the setup to jump straight into execution and progress tracking. Just pick one that fits your needs, customize it to match your workflow, and get moving.
And that’s not all. With tasks, documents, chat, and analytics all in one easy-to-use AI-powered platform, helps you get everything done without switching between a dozen different apps.
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