Taking action to overcome a problem in your business

High effort

High impact

If you think you’ve found a potential problem in your business, the next step is to decide on the actions you’re going to take in response. What you decide to do – and how quickly you do it – will be pivotal in determining whether the problem can be solved at a small scale or whether it develops into a new, bigger challenge.

We’ve designed our action plans to be completed in the order of steps laid out and explained why each step is important
Customising your action plan lets you set your own completion dates, assign tasks to others and get notifications
Helpful tools are provided for certain steps while a tracking metric at the end will help you determine the long-term success of your effort
A downloadable PDF version of each action plan is available if you’d like to compete it offline

What's involved? Ways to use this action plan Measuring impact

Spend time understanding the problem and getting to the root cause to check it isn’t emblematic of a broader issue

Impact: medium

Why will this help?

Establishing the root cause of an issue will make sure you have a thorough understanding of the problem before you take any action.

Getting to the root cause of a problem

If you’ve identified a problem in your business, it’s important to get to the root cause before you take action.

Speak to relevant employees or colleagues about the steps they would take to tackle the problem

Impact: medium

Why will this help?

If someone has experienced the problem developing first hand, they may be able to provide valuable input on why it happened and how to solve it.

Reach out to peers in your network to find out whether they have experienced similar problems and what action they took as a result

Impact: medium

Why will this help?

Learning from the experiences of peers can better inform your own decision making.

Develop a plan to overcome the problem and complete a risk management exercise to identify any issues with it

Impact: high

Why will this help?

Once you’ve completed your research, it’s time to start planning. A risk management exercise can help you avoid any pitfalls and point you in the right direction.

Managing risk in your business

Working through a risk management matrix is a useful way to assess and mitigate potential risks. Download and fill in this template to start.

Take action to overcome the problem, using the research you’ve done so far to inform your decisions

Impact: high

Why will this help?

Once you’ve done the research, it’s down to you to make a decision and take the leap.

What can I do with this Action Plan?

Start this Action Plan

Add some extra information to this plan and we’ll help you get it done.

We’ve designed our action plans to be completed in the order of steps laid out and explained why each step is important
Customising your action plan lets you set your own completion dates, assign tasks to others and get notifications
Helpful tools are provided for certain steps while a tracking metric at the end will help you determine the long-term success of your effort
A downloadable PDF version of each action plan is available if you’d like to compete it offline

Download and print

Get a printable template for this Action Plan, fill it in with some target dates, and share it with your team. Pin it on the wall where everyone can see it.

Get the printable Action Plan

Learning Groups

We also run Learning Groups on these topics where you can join other leaders tackling the same challenges.

Find a Learning Group

How will I know if my action plan is working?

Business health check results

Reviewing the risks that exist in your business.

Why this metric?

Business health checks allow you to identify areas with potential problems and measure the impact of improvements.

How do I start tracking?

Complete a business health check each quarter and compare the results to previous quarters to track where you’ve made the most progress.