Articles on: Decisions and Actions

Understanding Actions

Actions capture your strategic execution plan—the specific work you're doing to advance your organization's strategies. They show how your group's efforts connect to the bigger picture and help track progress on strategic initiatives.

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What Actions Are

Actions are the strategic work your group is doing to advance organizational strategies and strategic priorities. They're not every task on your to-do list—they're the commitments that directly connect to moving your organization's purpose forward.

Examples of Actions:

"Recruit 15 youth participants for Chicago cohort by May 1"
"Develop youth leadership curriculum with input from 5 peer organizations by April 15"
"Secure $150K in funding for youth programming by June 30"
"Launch community listening sessions in three neighborhoods by March"

These are strategic commitments worth making visible across the organization.

Where You Capture Actions

The Planner is where you create and track your strategic Actions.

Think of Actions as your planning mechanism—the roadmap showing how your group's work activates strategy. The Planner is where you map out this strategic work and track progress over time.

When to Use Actions

Use Actions when:

You're planning how to execute on organizational strategies
You want to map out strategic work and track progress
You need to show how your group's efforts connect to the bigger picture

Example situations:

Planning the specific work needed to launch a new program
Breaking down strategic initiatives into trackable milestones
Creating visibility across the organization about what's underway

Important: Actions appear on strategic reports. They show how your group is executing on organizational strategies and create organization-wide visibility to your strategic work.

What Makes Something an Action

Actions are strategic commitments that align with organizational strategies or strategic priorities. Ask yourself:

Does this connect to our strategic goals?
Will this change how we advance our mission?
Is this the kind of work we want to make visible across the organization?

Routine tasks that don't need organization-wide visibility belong in Commitments, where your group can track them internally.

Linking Actions to Strategy

Actions are strategic commitments that align with organizational strategies or strategic priorities. Ask yourself:

Does this connect to our strategic goals?
Will this change how we advance our mission?

Actions vs. Commitments vs. Decisions

Commitment:

"Jordan updates volunteer database every Friday"

Group work that doesn't need organizational reporting
Not on strategic reports
Internal group visibility

Decision (Strategic Agreement):

"Launch pilot youth leadership cohort in Chicago and Atlanta by June"

Strategic-level agreement your group made
Appears on strategic reports

Action (Strategic Execution):

"Recruit 15 youth participants for Chicago cohort by May 1"

Strategic work that executes on the Decision
Appears on strategic reports when Active or Completed
Can be moved to Backlog (doesn't appear on reports) if deferring work

Think of it this way: Decisions are what you agreed to do strategically. Actions are how you're actually doing it. Commitments are the work that supports both, tracked within your group.

Adding An Action

Adding an Action

Action States

Actions move through four states as your work progresses:

Active

Work currently underway. Most of your Actions will be in this state as you're executing your strategic plan. Active Actions appear on strategic reports.

Complete

The Action is finished and achieved. Mark Actions as Complete when the work is done so your group can see progress. Completed Actions appear on strategic reports showing what you've accomplished.

Backlog

Actions you plan to pursue later, but not right now. Think of Backlog as your "future work" queue. These Actions are important enough to track but aren't being actively worked on yet.

Important: Backlog Actions do not appear on strategic reports. Only Active and Closed: Complete Actions show up in reports. Use Backlog when you want to preserve an Action for later without it cluttering your current strategic reporting.

Deleting an Action

Note: You can delete an Action, but this is different from changing its state. When you delete an Action, an email notification is sent to all Group Sponsors and Conveners, similar to how Decision deletions work. The system suggests using Backlog instead of deletion if there's a chance you might return to this work in the future—preserving the Action maintains institutional knowledge about what was considered.

Tracking Progress with Activity

As you work on an Action, you can track progress by adding Activity updates. This creates a visible record of the Action's journey—what's happening, what's been accomplished, and where things stand.

Capturing Strategic Action Activity

How Activity Works:

Each Action has an Activity section where team members can:

Add updates as work progresses
Share milestones, challenges, or next steps
Keep the team informed without separate emails or meetings
Document the journey of getting this strategic work done

Activity updates appear in reverse chronological order (newest first), creating a timeline anyone can review to understand where the Action is in its journey.

When to Add Activity:

After completing a major milestone
When something changes that affects the Action
To share progress updates with your team
When you hit a roadblock that others should know about
To document key conversations or decisions related to the Action

This isn't about micromanaging tasks—it's about keeping strategic work visible. When everyone can see progress (or lack thereof), your team can collaborate more effectively and Group Leads can support where needed.

What Makes an Effective Action

Connect to Strategy

Every Action should clearly align with organizational strategies or strategic priorities. If you can't draw a clear line from the Action to an organizational strategy, reconsider whether it should be an Action.

Make Them Strategic

❌ Not an Action (doesn't need organizational visibility):

"Order office supplies for Q2"

✅ Good Action (strategic):

"Secure $150K in funding for youth programming by June 30"

Routine tasks that your group can track internally don't need to be Actions.

Assign a Point Person

Every Action should have a Point Person—a Group Lead (Sponsor or Convener) who shepherds the Action. This person isn't necessarily responsible for completing all the work, but they are responsible for:

Presenting/explaining the Action during Group Lead reviews
Being the go-to person for questions about the Action
Coordinating the work even if multiple people are involved
Tracking progress and adding Activity updates
Keeping the Action moving forward

Think of the Point Person as the shepherd for this strategic work—guiding it, tending to it, and ensuring it doesn't get lost.

Note: Only Group Leads can be assigned as Point Persons.

Be Realistic

Don't create 50 Actions if you only have capacity for 10. Better to have fewer Actions that you actually complete than a long list that never gets done.

Update States as Work Progresses

Don't leave everything as "Active" forever. Mark things Complete, move them to Backlog, or Delete them so your group can see real progress and learn from what worked (or didn't).

How Actions Work with Other Tools

Actions often connect to Decisions and are supported by Commitments:

Decision (What we agreed to):

"Launch pilot youth leadership cohort in Chicago and Atlanta by June"

Actions (How we're executing it):

"Develop youth leadership curriculum by April 15" - Point Person: Jordan
"Secure funding for youth programming by June 30" - Point Person: Wei
"Identify and secure program facilities in both cities by May 15" - Point Person: Alex

Commitments (Supporting work):

"Jordan drafts recruitment materials by March 15"
"Wei schedules facility tours by March 20"
"Alex follows up with foundation contacts this week"

The Decision sets direction. Actions show your strategic execution plan, each with a Point Person shepherding it. Commitments handle the supporting work, tracked within your group.

Actions Don't Have to Come from Decisions

While Actions often relate to Decisions, they don't have to. You might create Actions in the Planner that represent ongoing strategic work, not tied to any specific group decision.

Example:

Your group might have an Action like "Maintain relationships with 15 key partner organizations throughout the year" that doesn't come from a specific Decision—it's just strategic work that needs to happen.

Actions are your broader strategic execution plan, not just a to-do list for Decisions.

Practical Tips

In Planning Sessions:

Review organizational strategies—what strategic work will activate them?
Create Actions that show how your group contributes
Assign a Point Person for each Action
Check: Are these truly strategic? Do they connect to organizational priorities?
Keep work that doesn't need organizational visibility in Commitments

As Work Progresses:

Point Persons should add Activity updates to keep work visible
Update Action states regularly (Active, Backlog, Complete, Delete)
Don't let Actions sit as "Active" indefinitely—if they're not progressing, investigate why
Move Actions to Backlog when you need to defer work rather than deleting them
Delete Actions when you learn they're no longer needed

For Strategic Visibility:

Remember: Active and Completed Actions appear on strategic reports (Backlog does not)
They show the organization where strategic work is underway and what's been accomplished
Choose Actions that you want leadership and other groups to see
Use Activity updates to tell the story of progress

Common Questions

How many Actions should our group have?

There's no magic number, but be realistic about capacity. If you have 30 Actions listed and nothing's getting done, you probably need fewer, more focused Actions.

What's the difference between Active and Backlog?

Active Actions are being worked on right now and appear on strategic reports. Backlog Actions are for future work—you're preserving them for later but not actively pursuing them. Backlog Actions don't appear on reports, which keeps your current strategic work visible without clutter.

What if an Action becomes irrelevant?

Delete it. This shows adaptive planning, not failure.

Should we create Actions for everything in our work plan?

No. Only create Actions for strategic work that connects to organizational strategies. Other work belongs in Commitments or in other project management tools.

Can we have Actions that aren't tied to any Decision?

Yes! Actions represent your strategic execution plan. While they often relate to Decisions, they can also represent ongoing strategic work.

Who should be the Point Person for an Action?

Point Persons must be Group Leads (Sponsors or Conveners). Choose a Group Lead who has the capacity to shepherd the Action—tracking progress, coordinating work, and serving as the go-to person. This doesn't mean they do all the work themselves, but they're responsible for ensuring the Action moves forward and for presenting it during reviews.

The Bottom Line

Actions show how your group is executing on organizational strategies. They create visibility to your strategic work and help track progress on what matters most.

Use them for strategic execution. Keep work that doesn't need organizational reporting in Commitments. Capture strategic agreements as Decisions.

Key features that make Actions effective:

Four options (Active, Backlog, Complete, Delete) to reflect where work actually is
Activity tracking to document the journey and keep progress visible
Point Person to shepherd each Action and ensure accountability
Strategic reporting so leadership sees what's underway and what's been accomplished

Remember: Actions appear on strategic reports. They're how your organization sees where strategic work is happening. Choose them wisely, assign Point Persons to shepherd them, track progress through Activity updates, and update their states as reality unfolds. That's how your group shows it's activating strategy.

Learn about Commitments → | Learn about Decisions → | See the workflow →

Updated on: 05/01/2026

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