Plan Templates
Eureka moments and breakthroughs may happen to some. However, most people believe that success does not happen overnight. Success requires in-depth planning. One of the most critical building blocks in building a comprehensive, solid, and successful project or endeavor is the project plan. You may also see plan samples.
- 568+ Word Plan Templates
- 568+ Sample Plan Templates
Business Plan Template
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- Google Docs
- MS Word
- Pages
Size: A4, US
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Career Plan Template
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- Google Docs
- MS Word
- Pages
Size: A4, US
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Project Plan Template
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- Google Docs
- MS Word
- Pages
Size: A4, US
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Planning templates such as in the case of business plans and project plans make it possible for managers to allocate resources efficiently. It is the most basic yet very significant process that any institution has to consider. In terms of stability and productivity, plan samples and references can truly help businesses realize their vision and goals.
Lesson Plan Outline Template
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- Google Docs
- MS Word
- Pages
Size: A4, US
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Marketing Plan for Small Business Template
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- Google Docs
- MS Word
- Pages
Size: A4, US
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Test Plan Template
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- Google Docs
- MS Word
- Pages
Size: A4, US
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If you are running a business of your own, then check out this Plan Templates in Microsoft Word for your project. You need to have a thorough understanding of your goals, strategy, and other action plans are included in this Plan Templates.
Annual Plan Templates
Annual School Plan
olc.edu.hk
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- Doc
- Docx
Size: 575.5KB
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Annual Work Plan
info.undp.org
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- DOC
Size: 59 KB
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Annual HR Implementation Plan
dpsa.gov.za
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- DOC
Size: 45 KB
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Business Plan Templates
Small Business Legal Plan
fspa1.com
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- Doc
- Docx
Size: 180.7KB
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Business Plan for Restaurant
fastbusinessplans.com
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- Doc
- Docx
Size: 604.7KB
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Strategic Business Plan
rmamedicalsales.com
Career Plan Templates
Personal Career Plan
lagancollege.com
Individual Career Template
rps205.com
Academic Career Plan
doe.virginia.gov
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- Doc
- Docx
Size: 76.5KB
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Preparations for a Business Plan
Among the types of plan templates, business plans are widely used because of its critical significance. The success and failure of a business depends on how organized and comprehensive is its business plan. In writing a business plan, formats and outlines vary because of the various types of businesses that one has to consider. To help you boost your ideas in outlining one, consider the following steps:
- Create an outline for your plan. The existence of business plan templates made this step easy and convenient for you. In outlining your plan, you need to consider certain essential components. These components could refer to the executive summary, business vision, definition of the market, description of the products and services, management structure, marketing strategies, and many more.
- Specify the rationale behind the business plan. In here, you need to consider the type of business your planning to manage. For gym business plan templates, gym owners must know who are the target client s of the gym and the type of fitness plan the former is planning to adopt.
- Enumerate logically the goals of the business. Business plans must have specific and realistic goals. A good example would be in the case of a bakery business plan template. In planning a bakery business, the owners must have a clearly define their goals so as to come up with strategies that would satisfy them.
Diet Plan Templates
Blank Diet Plan
images.template.net
Weekly Diet Plan
forum.bodybuilding.com
3 Day Diet Plan
php5.archive.danielclayton.com
Event Plan Templates
Special Event Plan
ieee.org
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File Format
- DOC
Size: 11 KB
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Event Promotion Plan
stonybrook.edu
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- Doc
- Docx
Size: 67.6KB
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Event Action Plan
communities.qld.gov.au
Lesson Plan Templates
Daily Lesson Plan
d214.org
Formal Lesson Template
ccusd.org
Marketing Plan Templates
Sample Marketing Plan
iowacentral.edu
Details
File Format
- DOC
Size: 101 KB
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Marketing Plan for Real Estate
yourcharlotteconnection.com
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- DOC
Size: 77 KB
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Product Marketing Plan
fac.ksu.edu.sa
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- DOC
Size: 18 KB
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Comprehensive and Professional Plan Templates
The process of creating a plan for whatever purpose is not that easy. It demands time, resources, and patience on the business owners’ or managers’ end. Check out our list of comprehensive plan templates.
- Career Plan Templates – As you may observed, our plan templates are not just exclusively used for business purposes. For those who wants to create their very own career plan, these templates can give you a boost. Planning your career can give an advantage in terms of applying for a job. It is a way of building your ones confidence. If you know your personal career preferences, then it will be easy for you to focus and excel in a certain job.
- Business Plan Templates – Business strategies do not just come out from a vacuum. By using these templates, you can either build your business plan or enrich and updates its content, if ever you already have an existing one. Bear in mind that business plans also come in various types and thus you need to choose a template that can satisfy your business needs.
- Payment Plan Templates – Planning is also essential in terms of finances and management of monetary resources. Payment arrangements must be planned and structured in a clear and logical manner so as to prevent monetary disputes and complaints. In an employment setting, compensation plan templates ensure that employees get the reasonable payment scheme that they deserve as a matter of right.
- Test Plan and Seat Plan Templates – For teachers and instructors, test plans can help them in making a structured, clear, and systematic examination. Furthermore, seat plans can help them manage the classroom and ensure that every student is given reasonable attention and time.
- Session Plan Templates – These templates cater to gym session plans, sports session plans and etc. For time management purposes, session plan templates can help instructors or professionals monitor the flow and progress of the lessons.
Payment Plan Templates
Monthly Payment Plan
averett.edu
Student Payment Plan
unco.edu
Debt Payment Plan
courts.oregon.gov
Resource Plan Templates
Human Resource Development Plan
pdf.usaid.gov
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File Format
- Doc
- Docx
Size: 126KB
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National Water Resource Plan
extranet.ecbmb.nl
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- DOC
Size: 11 KB
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Seating Plan Templates
Wedding Seating Plan
eventtoolkit.co.uk
Classroom Seating Template
plk83.edu.hk
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- DOC
Size: 501 KB
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Seating Plan for Office
staff.whittleseasc.vic.edu.au
Test Plan Templates
Functional Test Plan
latech.edu
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- Doc
- Docx
Size: 93.7KB
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Sample Test Plan
softwaretestinghelp.com
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- Doc
- Docx
Size: 46.1KB
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Why is the Organization and Management Section of a Plan Significant?
With the exception of personal development plan templates that focus on the planning dynamics of a specific individual, most plans are used for an organization, company, or institution. That is why these plans must include an organization and management section so as to clearly define responsibilities and delegate tasks. In writing this section, you should consider the following:
- Come up with an organizational chart or framework. By using organizational chart templates, you can clearly define the structure of your organization. Organizational frameworks are applicable to most organizations such as in the church strategic plan and school strategic plan templates. For the former, the hierarchy of ministers and ecclesiastics must be outlined for the purpose of outlining the scope of their jurisdiction while for the latter, the administrative officers of the school must be made known to its beneficiaries for reference purposes.
- Describe the flow of your operations. In an organization or business, the procedures, protocols and flow of operations must be clearly defined. This is to ensure that the standards are clearly made known and uphold to the designated officers and members.
- Clearly determine and structure your management team. In an organization, there is always a group of appointed or elected individuals that the direct and lead the operations and transactions. You can enumerate here the appointment or election details, the qualifications, the test plan if ever it is required, examinations for them to get the position, and many more.
Vacation Plan Templates
Employee Vacation Plan
hr.ucdavis.edu
Family Vacation Plan
union.k12.pa.us
Work Plan Templates
Project Work Plan Template
mwsu.edu
Agency Work Plan
cdc.gov
Budget Work Plan
blackstonevalleytourismcouncil.org
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File Format
- DOC
Size: 28 KB
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Session Plan Templates
Gym Session Plan
readingcyclingclub.com
Sports Session Template
ausport.gov.au
How to Excel in Using Plan Templates?
Indeed, plan templates made your plan-making endeavors easy and convenient. However, these templates will not be functional without any interventions and strategies. You need to strategize every detail and aspect of your plan. To excel in writing a plan, consider the following tips:
- Have a deep understanding of your vision and goals. Every word, sentence, and page of your plan must be in line with your overarching vision and core values. Action plan templates can help you in making SMART objectives that are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and timely.
- There is no substitution for research. Investing more on your research and development arm can help boost the quality of your plan. In marketing plans, research can open your mind to new marketing ideas and trends. For budget plan templates, research allows you to know what are the new budgeting schemes and techniques that are perfect for you or your business.
- Engage with your members. For plans that are made for a large group of individuals, participatory and consultation processes must be in place. Democratizing the sphere of knowledge and sharing of ideas is a progressive way of building a comprehensive plan.
More in Plan Templates
Keep track of all your plans with handy, customizable templates for all your planning and tracking needs, whether for business or personal use. You’ll find ways to keep everything organized, including health and food journals, budgets for business or home, trip planning spreadsheets, sales call logs, and more.
Stay organized with planner and tracker templates
Maximize your productivity at work and home using free, customizable templates. It’s not easy staying organized these days, but using the right tools helps you prioritize and remember your most important tasks. Whether your run your own online business or need to plan out your busy social calendar, creating a personalized planner makes life easier. Setting ambitious goals for next year? Use a tracker template to measure your progress and see how far you’ve come. Choose a planner or tracker template and customize it to fit your unique needs. If you’re using a planner for work, add custom branding like your business’s logo or color palette. Try out new fonts and design elements that match your personal aesthetic. Once you’ve created your perfect planner or tracker, get ready for a productivity boost. Print out your design or share it digitally with your coworkers or family members. Don’t worry if your plans change—using a template makes it easy to revisit your designs and make updates in the future.
Are you looking for a good action plan template for Word? If you are, then you’re in the right place. Follow along in this article for ways to get organized with the top premium and free action plan templates for Word (including helpful tips).
A simple action plan template for free helps you get more organized and track your progress towards goals. Here’s just some of what you can do with a good action plan:
- Break down projects into specific tasks.
- Track your progress towards deadlines.
- Make sure everything gets done in your action plan.
While you can create an action plan from scratch, you save time if you start with an action plan in Word. Plus, your document will look more professional.
In this article, you’ll find both action plan templates for free and premium templates for action plans in Word.
Premium Word Templates for Any Professional Use
For the most professional designs and ease of customization, use premium templates for Word. Envato Elements has thousands of Word templates and other creative assets for one low monthly subscription (including the top MS Office action plan templates).
Explore Action Plan Templates for Microsoft Word Now
5 Best Premium Action Plan Templates for Word
For the best designs and usability, start your project with premium action plan template downloads for Word. Premium templates are created by professional graphic designers who always have their pulse on the latest trends. They also design Word templates that are customizable by users in a variety of applications and industries. These are just some of the advantages they’ve got over free action plan template Word documents.
Below are five of the best MS Office action plan templates to get your business going:
1. Project Action Plan: Premium Plan of Action Template
The Project Action Plan template for Word helps you stay organized and on track. For each project, it breaks down the actions, responsible person, duration, start date, and finish date. This way, easily check off each item as it’s completed.
This Word plan of action template is customizable with your branding colors, logo, and other company information. And if you use Adobe InDesign, an INDD version of the template is also included.
2. Business Plan: Top Action Plan Template
While not an action plan template per se, the Business Plan template can be used to present a more detailed project plan. It contains all the sections you need to provide context for your action plan. Infographics and diagrams are included to help you visualize your action plan.
Or you could also use the Operation Plan layout by itself if you want to focus only on the project’s tasks and activities. The template comes in A4 size and can also be edited in InDesign.
3. Daily Planner: Project Action Plan Template
Looking for an action plan template download to help you get organized every day? That’s exactly what the Daily Planner template does for you. It comes with:
- two month-at-a-glance pages
- two weekly Pages
- one to-do list/checklist
- one activities page
- notes pages
- quotes pages
You’ll enjoy customizing this project action plan template and then using it to super-charge your productivity. Plus, it’ll give you many more options than what you’ll get from an action plan template for free.
4. Action Plan: Sample Action Plan Template
Get all your business plans into action with this Word template! It’s got amazing features to keep your team organized and your eyes on the prize. Its straightforward design lets you visualize the different tasks, dates, goals, and more. It’ll become an invaluable tool to stay on track.
You can use Microsoft Word to work on this template. Or you can opt for editing it in InDesign if you feel more comfortable with that platform. In any case, this MS Office Action Plan Template has just what you need.
5. Business Plan
A thriving business needs a clear objective and steps to get to it. A template like this one can help you keep your focus and organize your information. Its clean and soothing design allows you to specify your business’ needs, plans, strategies, competitors, etc. With the help of this action plan template, you’ll be on your way to a successful business!
This business plan template is available in A4 size, to edit on Microsoft Word or InDesign.
18+ Top Free MS Word Action Plan Template Examples to Download (2022)
Before looking for an action plan template in Word for free download, check Envato’s free offerings first. Try out various premium template files (not always action plans at no cost to you).
Here’s the deal:
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Every month Envato Elements offers 12 different hand-selected files, (fonts, presentations, videos, and more). Create a free account to download this month’s free premium files now.
We’ve also scoured the internet to find free action plan templates for Word. Below are over 18 of the best free Word Document Action Plan Templates for Word we found:
1. Free Action Plan Template Word Document
This is the first free action plan template Word document on the list. This is an action plan template for Word that’s in table form. Add your company logo and contact information to this free action plan template.
2. Recruitment and Retention Action Plan Template for Free
Here’s a free action plan template created specifically for recruitment and retention action plans.
3. One Page Action Plan Template in Word for Free Download
The name says it all. This free action plan template Word document captures your project goal and planned actions all on one page. It can also be used as part of a full-blown business plan.
4. Team Action Plan Template for Word
This is another template for creating an action plan in table form. There’s space to assign specific tasks to different team members.
5. Project Action Plan Template for Word
The sample Project Action Plan template groups tasks according to goals and formats the action plan like a spreadsheet.
6. Employee Action Plan Template for Free
This free action plan template Word document is specifically for employee development planning. This simple action plan template for free includes space to list supervisors, team members, and trainers.
7. Work Action Plan Template in Word for Free Download
Here’s another table format free action plan template. It includes a column for Potential Hazards that could get in the way of completing a task.
8. Sales Word Document Action Plan Template for Word
This sample action plan template for Word also groups tasks per goal. Unlike other templates in table layout, this one is in portrait orientation.
9. Project Planning Timeline
This project planning template from Microsoft Office organizes tasks per week in a table form.
10. Meeting Minutes With Action Items — Action Plan Format
Another Word document action plan template for Word, this turns meeting minutes into a simple action plan template for free.
11. Tactical Business Marketing Plan
This marketing plan template includes a cover and three-page layout for a more detailed action plan.
12. Action Plan Template 02
This is a yearly action plan template for MS Word in table format, with tasks broken down by quarter. It also includes a guide for filling out the different cells.
13. Action Plan Template 03
This sample action plan template is in portrait-oriented table form. This free action plan template in Word provides space for plenty of context about the project, including risks and assumptions and monitoring arrangements.
14. Action Plan Template 08 — Action Plan Format
This super-simple action plan template captures the goals, beneficiaries, required resources, next steps, and more.
15. Action Plan In Microsoft Word Document Format
The page provides two versions of a free action plan template for Word:
- one simple action plan template for free in a blank file to print out or fill out in Word
- another version with sample information to serve as a guide for how to use the template
16. Goal Setting Action Planner Template
This free action plan template in Word is designed to help you break down goals into specific steps. It’s free but you need to sign up to get access.
17. Evaluation Action Plan Format for Download
This free action plan template for Word creates an action plan for evaluating training programs within a company or organization.
18. Social Media Action Plan Template
This is a free action plan template in Word for an action plan specifically to organize social media activities. It’s provided free by Lethbridge College in Canada.
19. Action Plan Template 05 — Action Plan Format
This sample action plan template for free has room for five actionable steps. Included are columns for responsibility, timeline, resources, potential barriers, and communication.
How to Make Your Next Action Plan Quickly
Now that you’ve got your Word action plan template, it’s time to customize it. This includes adding the actual content of the document to it and changing the design to fit your company’s brand. You know, filling out the action plan format.
For this tutorial, we’ll be using the premium template, Business Proposal, PowerPoint & Word 20 Pages.
This template has twenty custom layout pages, is fully customizable, and has PowerPoint and InDesign files. Let’s get started:
1. Choose Your Pages
Before you can begin customizing your document, you need to choose the template pages that you’re going to use. Chances are you won’t need all the pages in the template for your particular document.
To delete a blank page on your document, first delete all the content on that page. Then click on the top of the page and click backspace. This deletes the page.
2. Add in Your Content
Now it’s time to add in your text to the action plan format. The template has text placeholders on each of the pages. We’ll add in our text by double-clicking the text placeholder text.
Then you can right-click and paste in your desired text. We’ll do this on every page of the document.
3. Add in Images
There are image placeholders on our template as well. To add in images into these placeholders, click on the Insert main menu tab. From there choose the Pictures option and then select Picture from File.
Next, choose the image you want to add. Then, resize the image and place it over the image placeholder. You can also delete the placeholder if you like by clicking on the object and hitting backspace.
4. Change the Color Scheme
Now it’s time to change the color scheme to match our company’s colors. To change the color scheme, we’ll go to the Design tab. Next, click the Colors option. From there, we can change the color of the template to match our company’s branding. This will take your sample action plan template to the next level.
Let’s now go over a few quick tips for creating the content of your action plan documents.
5 Quick Tips to Make Action Plan Documents in Word 2022
No matter which template download you use, you can take steps to ensure that your action plan is as effective as it can be. Here are some tips:
1. Begin With the End in Mind
Get clear on the goals of the project you’re planning for, because every item on your action plan must contribute to a goal.
Use the SMART framework to express each goal. SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. If you’re up to it, you can even make your goals SMART-ER by adding steps for Evaluation and Readjusting the plan.
2. Break Actions Down Into Doable Chunks
An action plan is more useful and effective if activities are broken down into smaller tasks.
If a big activity has several components or phases, those should be listed separately in an action plan. This more “granular” view makes it easier for you to keep an eye on everything that needs to get done. Otherwise, smaller tasks can easily get overlooked or forgotten.
3. Include a Time Dimension
If you set SMART goals, then your actions should naturally have a time dimension as well. This means simply setting a deadline for when each task should be completed.
One way to come up with appropriate deadlines is by starting at the end. Determine the due date for the whole project. Then, work backwards from there to figure out the deadline for each activity.
4. Specify the Required Resources
Another critical element of an action plan is the list of resources needed to complete each task. By identifying these requirements upfront, they can be sourced or prepared on time for activity implementers. Knowing the required requirements is also helpful for drawing up an accurate budget for the project.
5. Make It Scannable
While you want the action plan to have all the information the project manager and implementers may need, remember that you also need to keep it easy to scan. You can achieve this in several ways:
- avoid long blocks of text.
- use bullet points and descriptive phrases instead of full sentences.
- break sections with headings and sub-headings.
- group activities by goal, sub-project, or project phase.
Top 5 Design Trends for MS Office Action Plan Templates in 2022
It’s important to stay on top of design trends for your plan of action templates. In this next section, we’ll cover the top five design trends that you can implement in any of your designs (including your plan of action templates):
1. Layered Design
Layered designs give your presentation a more three-dimensional look. Try layering text, solid-colored shapes, and icons on top of your images. This type of layering makes your presentation look more professional. Great for your project action plan templates!
2. Include Timelines
Timelines are essential in plan of action templates. They give the audience an idea of what steps need to be taken and how long they’ll take. Include the timeline at the beginning of the presentation to give your reader an overview of the project.
3. Black, White, & Gray
The black, white, and gray color scheme is timeless. This color scheme gives your plan of action template a more professional look and instantly grab your audience’s attention. Use gray as the highlight color.
4. Add Graphs & Charts
Graphs and charts are a great way to show a plan of action. They give the audience a visual cue of the action that can be taken and the results of this action. Make sure to include them in your plan of action template.
Include at least two different types of graphs or charts.
5. Include Lots of Images & Icons
Images and icons make your action plans more interesting. They also help inspire action and improve your plan of action template.
If your presentation lacks images and icons, it’ll be much harder to get your audience to take action. Create a design that leaves plenty of room for images and icons.
Let’s now go over even more designs that you can download.
Discover More Top Microsoft Word Template Designs
As someone who plans, runs, or manages projects, you may find yourself needing to create different documents. For other business planning and management uses, consider these Word template designs:
5 Benefits of Using the Best Action Plan Microsoft Word Templates With Pro Designs (In 2022)
Still not sure if you should purchase a premium MS Office action plan templates? Wouldn’t it be best to just hire someone to create a design for you?
In this section, we’ll cover five reasons why using templates with pro designs are the best choice for you.
- You get a professional design. The designs in a premium plan of action templates are created by professionals. So, you don’t gain anything extra from hiring someone to create a template from scratch.
- You save money. Hiring a designer to create a custom template can be quite expensive.
- You save time. Besides spending more money, hiring a designer takes a lot more time. You’ve got to find the designer, hire them, and then wait for them to finish the design.
- You can still customize. Premium action plan templates are fully customizable. You don’t have to give up any customization with a template. You can customize the colors, fonts, and anything else you can see on the design.
- You can generate ideas. The professional action plan templates for Word can help you generate new ideas for your design that you never would’ve thought of yourself.
Benefits of Envato Elements (The Power of Unlimited Use)
Envato Elements is a unique service. It’s a flat-rate subscription that includes thousands of great PPT templates for a single flat-rate price.
Sign up for Envato Elements. You’ll get access to thousands of unlimited-use creative assets. Choose from web themes to presentation templates, and more—all for one low price.
Common Microsoft Word Questions Answered (FAQ)
Whether you’ve just started using Microsoft Word, or are an experienced user, you may have some questions that need answers. To help you out, we’ve got a few of the most common Microsoft Word questions and their answers. Follow the guides below to learn more:
1. How Can I Make a Business Proposal on Microsoft Word?
An excellent business proposal can help you reach your business goals. Luckily, Microsoft Word’s business proposal templates can be a great option for your company’s needs. They’re professional to guarantee your business will look its best.
Take full advantage of the platform and its templates to create your business proposals. Read this guide to learn how:
2. How Can I Modify Section and Page Breaks in Microsoft Word?
Long Microsoft Word documents can be hard to read. Adding section and page breaks to your document can make them easier to get through. Moreover, defining sections and page breaks can help specify the document’s format. Plus, you’ll have better control over pagination.
All in all, inserting and modifying the sections and page breaks in your Microsoft Word documents can be very helpful. Learn how to do it with this tutorial:
3. How Can I Create My Own Microsoft Word Templates?
No matter the project you want to tackle, a great Microsoft Word Template can be an asset. If you’re working on similar documents, a Microsoft Word Template will make your job much easier and faster. You’ll have an awesome pre-designed layout that you can fill in with new information.
Learn to create Microsoft Word Templates and take full advantage of their potential with the tutorial below. You can even create your own MS Office action plan template! It’s got a video so you can get started on creating your template right away.
4. How Can I Make an Awesome Page Layout Designs in Microsoft Word?
A Microsoft Word document can help you put your ideas on digital paper. However, if you want to make your ideas stand out, you’ll need an awesome layout design. This will make your page look much better than the default. Plus, it’ll help you create easy-to-read documents that positively reflect on your business.
Look through this guide to make your Microsoft Word page layout designs stand out:
5. How Can I Check My Spelling and Grammar With MS Word?
It doesn’t matter how great your proposal or action plan is, a spelling or grammar mistake can completely ruin it. Luckily, there are tools that can help you avoid the embarrassment. Microsoft Word has a spelling and grammar checker that’ll find those mistakes so you can correct them.
Learn the basics about these tools so you never write a less-than perfect Word document again:
Learn More About Making Great Word Documents in 2022
Learning how to use Microsoft Word is a skill that pays off, whether at work, business, school, or home. You don’t have to be an advanced user to make the most of the robust features of MS Word. And the more you use it, the easier it gets. If you want to strengthen your Word skills, we’ve compiled our best walkthroughs in this MS Word tutorial guide.
Here are some tutorials to get started with:
Boost Your Productivity With Motivating Action Plans
If you want to be as productive and effective as possible, action plans can help you stay organized with your projects. Whether for business, school, or personal undertakings, action plans are useful and motivating. They help you spot delays as soon as they occur, so you can take the necessary steps to get back on track. Checking off each completed activity gives you a feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment.
Get started by using one of the free action plan templates for Word listed above. We’ve found action plan templates for different uses, and all of them can be edited in Word.
But if you want the benefits of premium plan of action templates then get a professionally designed action plan template for Word from Envato Elements.
Envato Elements gives you unlimited downloads of Word templates, fonts, photos, and other creative assets you need—and all for one low monthly subscription.
Editorial Note: This post has been updated with contributions from Daniel Strongin and Dacia Egurrola. Daniel is a freelance instructor for Envato Tuts+. Dacia is a staff writer with Envato Tuts+.
10 Free Event Planning Templates for Excel and Word
ProjectManager
Planning an event can range from a meeting at work to a convention and everything in between. It’s another project where you have to manage time, cost and scope (and don’t forget quality) to deliver on a deadline. Using planning templates can help you stay organized and keep to your budget and they allow you to schedule and create the kind of event that serves its purpose, whether that’s networking at a trade show or launching a team-building workshop.
ProjectManager is award-winning software that can help you plan, manage and track your events. We’re also the online hub for everything project management-related. You can read weekly blogs, guides and download free event planning templates for Excel and Word. We have free templates for every phase of a project. Below, we collected 10 free event planning templates that you can use to propose, plan and manage your next event.
1. Event Proposal Template
Every event starts as an idea. Someone or some organization wants to have an event and puts out requests for proposals (RFPs). Just as you’d bid for any project, you have to propose why you’re the best contractor to do the job. Convincing that potential client is where our free event proposal template for Word comes in. It gives you the space to prove to stakeholders that you can do what they need to deliver a successful event.
This free event template is broken up into customizable sections. You can add or remove sections that aren’t pertinent to your proposal, but we boiled down the event proposal to the essentials. You’ll find a field to fill in on the purpose of the event, similar to the mission statement. There’s also a place to define the event’s goals and objectives to show you understand what the client wants to achieve with the event. Further cementing your expertise is a field for the target audience you’ll attract to the event, marketing and promotions, value proposition and costs. This free event proposal template should seal the deal for you.
2. Event Plan Template
Once you get the job you’ll need an event plan template to show how the event will run from start to finish. Our free event plan template for Excel helps make sure that you’ll meet deadlines and do so within the budget approved by your client. No different than any other type of project plan, the free event planning template identifies resources and includes phases to make it easier to manage.
Best of all, there’s an option to skip the Excel spreadsheet and get a free trial of ProjectManager, award-winning project management software that can do much more than a static template. Open the software in the Gantt chart to organize your event tasks and add resources and associated costs. You can even make assignments, attach files and add descriptions, tags, priority and more. Everything you add to the spreadsheet populates on a visual timeline so you can see the event in one place, adding milestones and linking dependent tasks to avoid delays. Then set a baseline to track your planned effort against your actual effort in real time, something you can’t do on a spreadsheet. Get started with ProjectManager today for free.
3. Event Budget Template
You got the job and you’re making a plan, but you need to have an event budget to know what to bill your client. If your financial forecast is off, then you could possibly be out a large sum of money. It could be enough to make the whole event a loss for you. To avoid that disaster, you need to use our free event budget template for Excel. This allows you to more accurately estimate the costs of the event before you commit to it so you can make a profit and not lose money.
It’s hard to know how much an event will cost. There are a lot of variables and you have to consider risk, which might impact the event’s costs. Our free budget template lets you collect costs, such as those associated with labor, any consultant fees you might have, raw materials and more. Of course, no two events are exactly alike. That’s why our free template is customizable. You can add things like marketing and promotions or anything else that might be missing from the template to ensure you come up with an accurate figure. There are even columns to track your actual budget against your planned budget to keep on track.
4. Event Marketing Calendar Template
Speaking of marketing, no event is successful without a marketing campaign to attract the event’s target audience. That’s easier said than done. Just like the event plan, there are deadlines, resources and costs involved. It doesn’t matter if you’re working on an email blitz, direct mail or even billboards; there’s a lot to coordinate. Our free event marketing calendar template for Excel helps you put all those ducks in a row. This versatile tool shows you the marketing campaign on a monthly, quarterly or yearly calendar. You can see who’s responsible for what and when that work is due.
The deceptively simple design is very powerful for marketing management. It’s a grid, the same as what you’d see in any calendar, but it allows you to look at the big picture and see the marketing campaign laid out over the month, quarter or year. The template is broken up into tabs, each with the date on the left and the name of the campaign. Following that are the tasks associated with that campaign, including a description, due date and who’s responsible for completing that work. Then you can add the cost for that task, which is a line item of the total budget. There’s even space to add the goals of the campaign and the duration of the entire marketing campaign.
5. Event Task Tracker Template
We’ve talked about landing the job, planning for the event, estimating the budget and even the marketing and promotion campaign that’ll ensure that it’s well attended. What we’ve not talked about yet is how to ensure you’re staying on track. To do that, you need to compare the planned versus actual effort. That way you can see if you’re adhering to your event schedule or lagging behind. You don’t want to find out that you’re behind schedule when it’s too late to take action. You don’t have to worry if you use our free event task tracker template for Excel.
You’ll find everything you need to track your tasks. There’s a place to list the name of your tasks and add a description of the work. If there’s a dependency, you can also list that to avoid costly delays. Then add who on your team is assigned to that task. There’s a place to add the priority of the tasks to know which needs to be done first and the due dates, including start, planned end and actual end dates. Then add the task status to know if it’s delayed, paused open or completed.
6. Event Timeline Template
Of course, all of this must be done within a certain timeframe. Events take place over a specific time, day or days. There’s no wiggle room. Marketing materials have been sent out with the time of the event and nothing is going to change that. Producing that event on time means you have to schedule wisely. Using our free event timeline template for Excel can help you make sure that everything is done when it needs to be done.
With our event timeline, you have two parts. On the left is a spreadsheet, again fully customizable, in which we have four columns. There you can list the tasks, start dates, end dates and duration. On the right is a visual timeline, like a Gantt chart, which automatically populates the timeline for your event. You can make phases different colors to make them easy to discern as you get an overview of the event plan in one place.
7. Cost-Benefit Analysis Template
Before you propose to produce an event, you need to know that the project is going to bring a return on your investment. Otherwise, you’re a charity, not a business (though even charities need to remain solvent to continue their good work). To determine whether the event is worth bidding for, use our free cost-benefit analysis template for Excel and see if the expenses you have to put out are going to be recouped.
Our free event planning template does this by capturing the quantitative costs, such as indirect, intangible and opportunity, and pushes those out to whatever the length of your event plan is. Then you list the quantitative benefits, such as direct, indirect, intangible and competitive, again forecast out over the life cycle of the event. From that, the template calculates the total cost and compares that to the total benefit to help you make the right decision.
8. RACI Matrix Template
If you’ve bid and won the event, then you’ve already done a cost-benefit analysis, plan and schedule. Now you have to get your team to work and keep your client updated. They do, after all, have a vested interest in your success. This requires identifying the stakeholders and defining their roles and responsibilities, including your team, and how they relate to the project and its tasks. This is done with our free RACI matrix template for Excel.
RACI is an acronym for responsible, accountable, consulted and informed. Our free event planning template is a spreadsheet in which you can list the project tasks as rows and across the top list all the members of your team, each as an individual column. Then next to the box where their name meets the task, you can note whether they’re an R, A, C or I. This greatly improves your management of the project, team and client.
9. Stakeholder Map Template
Another tool to identify the stakeholders in your event project is our free stakeholder map template for Excel. Remember, stakeholders can be anyone from your team and the target audience for the event, and, of course, the client. Using this visual tool makes it easy for you to see each stakeholder’s impact and how they influence your work.
The free event planning template is easy to use. It’s broken up into a grid of four squares. First, list your stakeholders and color-code them either green to indicate they’re an advocate, yellow if they’re neutral and red if they’re critical and potentially can block work. Then add each to the grip, which is broken up by how to manage them, keep satisfied, manage closely, and the level of their influence, from low to high. This helps you create a stakeholder management and communication plan.
10. Timesheet Template
Finally, you’ll need to keep track of your team as they do their work. Timesheets are valuable tools not only for payroll but to keep track of the cost per hour, vacation and overtime of your team. Using our free timesheet template for Excel can help you manage your team’s time while keeping track of their hours.
The timesheet template helps you track your employees. Start with capturing the personal data, such as name, department, hourly rate, etc. Then define a timeframe for the timesheet and collect their hours. Add the total work hours and you’re able to keep track of where they are in terms of completing their tasks and ensure they’re paid promptly and accurately.
Use ProjectManager to Deliver a Successful Event
Free event planning templates are great, but only to a point. For example, our timesheet template has to be manually inputted and there’s no security. ProjectManager is award-winning project management software that has timesheet features that automatically populate and give managers a real-time look into how far they are in completing their tasks. But that’s just one feature of many to help you manage and deliver a quality event for your client.
Plan Your Event on a Gantt Chart
Rather than using an event planning template, timeline template, event budget, tracker, etc., our Gantt chart organizes your tasks, resources and costs and tracks your progress in real time. You can link all four task dependencies and set a schedule baseline, which allows our software to show you real-time data on your progress and performance. That’s how you stay on track and don’t go over budget.
![ProjectManager's Gantt chart](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg'%20viewBox='0%200%201568%20818'%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Track Your Progress on Real-Time Dashboards
It’s easy to edit the Gantt; just drag and drop as things change. All details of your event plan adjust accordingly. Then you can toggle over to our real-time dashboard and get a high-level view of everything from your time, cost to workload and the overall health of your project. You don’t have to waste time configuring it as you do with lightweight tools. It’s ready when you are.
Our software has more than Gantt charts, which are more suited for managers. There are kanban boards to visualize the workflow, task lists and calendars for your marketing and promotion push. The multiple project views all work in unison so no matter which tool you’re using, it has the most up-to-date data. Everyone is always on the same page.
Related Event Content
Whether you’re new to managing an event or have worked on dozens in the past, there’s always more to learn. Our site is an online hub for all things project management, which includes event planning. Here is a sampling of our weekly blogs, guides and tutorial videos.
- How to Plan an Event: Event Planning Steps, Tips & Checklist
- How to Plan a Virtual Event: Virtual Event Planning Checklist
- Event Management: A Quick Guide
- Event Project Management Software
- How to Create an Event Budget
ProjectManager is online software that empowers teams to plan, manage and track events in real time. Use our task management, risk management and resource management features to stay productive and on track. Our collaborative platform makes it easy to comment and share files wherever you are. Join teams at Avis, Nestle and Siemens who use our tool to deliver success. Get started with ProjectManager today for free.