B. Strategies for Developing an Effective Work Plan

What is a Work Plan?

Work plans help the CDC staff accomplish the goals outlined in the strategic plan and objectives outlined in the business plan. A strategic plan is broad and encompasses a 3-5 year scope. A business plan identifies the objectives needed for the immediate year in order to accomplish the vision of the business strategy. A work plan identifies milestones to "bench mark" the steps needed throughout the year in order to accomplish the objectives of the business plan.

The work plan template lists tasks that are the smaller steps needed to achieve the milestones. A task may be a daily or weekly item of work, a milestone may be a monthly item and a business plan objective represents a major accomplishment for the year that helps implement the strategic plan and accomplish the CDC's mission.

In homeownership development, a work plan also consists of four basic categories that require specialized types of tasks. These four categories are:

Market Site Financing Management

Each of these categories have five phases that identify the change in work as development progresses. These phases are:

Formation of the development concept Feasibility study and analysis Deal making and getting commitments Project construction Sales or asset management

Within the category of financing, during the construction phase, capital needs to be completely identified and drawn down so construction can be completed on time and within the budget. Once construction is completed, the CDC moves into the sales phaseand the financing category tasks will reflect closing out permanent financing and shifting into managing revenue from sales.

What a Work Plan Template Must Include

Every work plan template should break out the following items:

What - are your milestones and tasks needed to accomplish the objectives within the business plan? When - does the milestone and task need to be accomplished by according to the business plan? Where - does the work need to take place or what sources or places may need to be visited in order to complete the work? Who - is going to be responsible or needed to accomplish the work?

Other levels of detail may be added such as subtasks and results, but remember a scope of work is a planning tool and should be simple and clear to follow.

What Type of Work Plan Works for You

There are many types of work plan templates and ways to use them. Whether you develop a monthly, weekly or daily work plan, you must prioritize tasks and allocate time for completion so those milestones are achieved. Depending on the size of the CDC a template should be customized so that there is as little confusion as possible.

Work plans also should be broken out so that people can see what is needed on a monthly, weekly and daily level. Some work plan formats show all three levels at once where others have slightly different templates for each time period. A monthly work plan may only need to show the What, When and Who; whereas, a daily work plan template may have greater levels of detail with subtasks, outcomes, contacts and room for side notes.

Take some time to look around at different planning tools such as software applications like Microsoft Outlook or Act, Palm Pilots or other personal digital assistance devices (PDAs), daily planners, calendar workbooks. It may be best to develop your own template on the computer using Microsoft Word or Excel (See Sample Templates). When choosing a software package or a template keep in mind the following:

To what degree can you customize the format for phased housing development? How many people will be sharing this? How accessible are refills or how often will you have to upgrade?

You should also create a development timetable that is a collection of major milestones and activities to be completed which constitute the development process.

Download: B1. Sample Work Plan Template

Next: C. Cultivating Community and Political Support

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