Create a Company Level Action Plan Template

Objective

To create an action plan template at the Company level for use in the project's Action Plans tool.

Background

Creating action plan templates at the Company level allows your company to easily use the same or similar action plans across your projects without needing to completely recreate the action plans multiple times. By creating action plan templates, your company can establish standards for your quality process to serve as starting points for your projects' action plans that your project teams can modify as needed to meet each project's unique needs.

Things to Consider

Prerequisites

Steps

  1. Navigate to the Company level Admin tool.
  2. Under 'Tool Settings', click Action Plans.
  3. Navigate to the 'Templates' tab.
  4. Click Create Template.
  5. Complete the following action plan sections:

Add Default General Information

  1. Under 'General Information':
    • Enter a Name for the action plan.
    • Select a default Type for action plans created from this template. See Create Action Plan Types.
      OR
      To create a new type while creating the action plan template:
      • Click Create Type.
      • Enter a name for the type.
      • Click Create.
    • Mark the 'Private' checkbox to make the action plans created from this template visibile to only certain people. See Who can see private action plans?
      Note: Users can clear this checkbox when creating an action plan from the template.
    • Enter a default description for action plans created from this template.
  2. Click Create & Add Sections.
    A banner displays to confirm the action plan is created. The page is automatically refreshed and now includes the 'Sections and Items' section. See Add Default Sections and Items below.
    Note
    Clicking Create & Add Sections shifts the action plan template into 'Edit' mode. While in 'Edit' mode, any changes made to the action plan template's 'General Information' or 'Sections and Items' are saved automatically. The 'All Changes Saved' message displays at the bottom of the screen to confirm when the changes are saved successfully.

Add Default Sections and Items

  1. Enter a title for the first section.
  2. Complete the following for the first item within the first section:
    • Under 'Title', enter a name for the item.
    • Enter any 'Acceptance' Criteria for the item.
    • Click + Add Document to add files to the action plan for reference. 
      • Mark the checkboxes for the files you want to add or attach one or more files from your computer.
      • The action plan will always reference the latest versions of a specification or uploaded drawing.
    • Click Edit Assignees to assign responsible parties to the item and to designate whose signatures are requested. 
      1. Under 'Blocking Functionality', select whether the item needs a signature before other items can be done. See What is 'Blocking Functionality' in an action plan?
      2. Click Select Assignee and select the entity (e.g., 'Contractor') for the responsible party.
        Note: Specific users can be added as assignees when action plans are being performed.
      3. Select the Verification Method the assignee should use to verify the item's completion. See Create Action Plan Verification Methods.
        • If the verification method is not listed in the drop-down menu, click +Create New Verification Method.
          Note: You must have 'Admin' level permissions on the Company level Admin tool to perform this action.
        • Enter a name for the verification method. 
        • Click Create.
        • Click Save.
      4. Click Add Assignee to add additional responsible parties.
      5. Click Save.
    • Click Add Records to request one or more records to be included as part of the item's completion.
      • Click Inspections, Correspondence, or Forms and mark one more checkboxes next to the template or type you want to request.
        Note: 'Read Only' level permissions or higher on the corresponding Project level tool is required to request records for that tool.
      • Click Submittals, Meetings, Observations, Attachments (including Documents), or Photos and mark the checkbox to request that record.
      • Click Save after selecting the requested records for the item.
  3. Click Add Item to add a new item within the section.
  4. Click Add Section to add a new section.
  5. Continue adding sections and items as necessary.
  6. When you are finished adding sections and items, click Done to finish creating the action plan template.
    Note: Clicking Done shifts the action plan template into 'View' mode where it can be used to create a new action plan in a project.

Copy Sections and Items on an Action Plan

  1. Under 'Sections and Items', locate the section or item you want to copy.
  2. If you are copying a section, hover over the section title bar and click Duplicate icon-duplicate.png.
    OR
    If you are copying an item, hover over the item and click Duplicate icon-duplicate.png.
  3. Fill out the information as needed in the newly created section or item.
  4. Click Save Draft.
    OR
    Click Publish.

Bulk Edit Items

  1. Mark the checkboxes next to the items you want to edit.
  2. Select to Add, Edit, or Replace Assignees based on the change you want to make.
    • You can add Assignees, Records, or References.
    • You can edit Acceptance Criteria, Due Dates or Item Status. 
    • You can Replace Assignees and update their Verification Method.
  3. Enter the new information.
  4. Click Save.

Rearrange Sections or Items

  1. Hover your cursor over the beginning of the row with the section or item you want to move.
  2. Click and hold the vertical grip (⋮⋮) icon.
  3. Drag and drop the row to move it up or down in the table's order.

Delete a Section or Item

  1. Hover your cursor over the end of the row.
  2. Click the icon-delete-trash4.png icon.
  3. Click Delete.

Next Steps