Action planning: Turning recommendations into actions
In this blog we give some suggestions of how to turn recommendations made in a report into useful actions providing an organisation with increased confidence (assurance) in their processes. Central to this is the importance of the process for agreeing actions with the aim of getting it right first time.
Agreeing actions: How to make actions an effective tool
We have seen the governance Boards of many clients frustrated with actions that are left in limbo and/or the same actions being raised again and again in different reviews, sometimes over several years! Below are some ideas on what should be considered to reduce the risk of an action slipping or not being implemented.
What?
Before committing to an action there needs to be clear agreement on what it is and how it will be tracked and implemented.
This sounds simple but is an area that can go wrong. Is the action SMART?
Why?
Linked to the what is the why. Without understanding and agreeing why the action has been committed to, and is important despite other priorities and pressures, there is likely to be less staff or management engagement with delivering it.
It is crucial that teams understand the value of an action, the impact that it would have to their daily work and how it contributes to:
- continuous improvement
- quality and safety
- compliance with regulatory requirements
- overall management of risks
Who?
Do actions have a clear owner, or multiple owners where this is appropriate? Owners should be involved before the action is agreed, to ensure that there is engagement with the what and the why, and afterwards to ensure that implementation is on track. Discussion and communication is key.
In our experience a key issue with actions not being implemented is where an action covers multi-disciplinary teams or different departments and there is not a holistic, end to end approach to ensure that everyone is involved who needs to be. This is one example of where assurance reviews can point to broader considerations for organisations, in this case whether there is a culture of working together across the organisation.
It is also an area where a structured assurance tool with the functionality to require sign off by multiple users can assist.
When?
An organisation should balance the risk associated with the action not being implemented against what a realistic timeframe is, and within this what changes or additional resources are required to speed up implementation if this is required.
We have often seen implementation dates slip and be revised again and again which can result in momentum being lost (or never really gained) and implementation being de-prioritised.
Whilst slippage can be due to unexpected events consideration should be given upfront to what is achievable.
How?
In agreeing the action consideration should be given to what an organisation can do to implement the action as well as what the organisation has the appetite to do.
What resources are available? Is there a clear understanding of what implementation means and will entail?
All of these areas interlink and should be considered together to agree an effective action and set an organisation up with the best chance of implementing it effectively.
Elsiarc - Internal Audit, Risk and Compliance Services
Elsiarc values relationship and collaborates with our clients to provide effective support in turning recommendations into actions. This can be done in a number of ways:
- Assisting in the setting of an action plan, facilitating the transition from recommendation to action by drawing both on our experience of common pitfalls and understanding of the client’s processes and risk profile
- Reviewing action plans already in place
- Providing training on setting and tracking effective action plans
Where we undertake assurance reviews we ensure that reports include recommendations based. If you want to explore any of these further with us, please get in touch with our team.