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What does Action Planning mean in terms of the SAP?

One of the core outcomes when drafting a SAP is to develop it in a way that is easily translatable into action. It is important that the SAP addresses not only the high-level initiatives and over-arching goals, but that they get articulated into short term actions that will be required to achieve the programme. Key to this step is the translation of the agreed options and alternatives into Objectives and Actions. This step will need to be carefully managed by the Project Manager and the SAP Development Team.

As described earlier:

goals objectives actions.jpg

Action planning also includes specifying responsibilities, timelines and priorities with each objective and action, or who needs to do what and by when. It should also include methods to monitor and evaluate the SAP. Monitoring and Evaluation indicators are described in more detail in the next Section and in the Project Management Manual.

Usually, some form of budget is also included in the SAP. Budgets specify the money needed for the resources that are necessary to implement the SAP. Budgets also depict how the money will be spent, for example, for human resources, equipment, materials, etc.