How to use an Action Plan in Reminders
Action Plan Overview
An Action Plan provides a checklist of steps within a pre-configured series of steps that need to be carried out. This type of Reminder can be seen as progressing through, and checking off, items in the action plan as they are completed. Each step in an Action Plan can be assigned to a single user to make sure each step of a process is completed by the right person at the right time.
This article explains how to use Action Plans in your daily use of Sumac.
Creating a Reminder That Uses an Action Plan
You can enter a new Reminder that uses an Action Plan in a few different ways:
- In the Reminders list, click the "New" button
- In the Contact List, select the contact you want to create a Reminder for, then click "Add to Contact" > "Reminder"
- In the Contact record of the person you want to make a reminder for, go to the History tab, then click "Add to Contact" > "Reminder"
When you create a new Reminder, Sumac first asks whether or not you want to create a Reminder that uses an Action Plan. To use an Action Plan, select "Use Action Plan," then select the Action Plan you want to use from the corresponding drop-down menu. Then click OK.
Sumac presents you with the Reminder record displaying all the basic details of the Reminders on the left-hand side, and the Action Plan you selected on the right-hand side.
Click OK to save the "Reminder."
It's important to make sure the basic details of the Reminder are captured, like identifying the Contact this Reminder relates to and the Assigned User who this Reminder belongs to. For more information on the basic details of Reminders, review this article for more guidance.
Completing Steps in an Action Plan
To mark a step as complete, put an X in the "Done" box next to the step's name. When a step is marked as complete, Sumac records the date the step was completed, and the user who completed it.
When a step is marked as complete, Sumac also moves the Action Plan forward to the next step. This will update the Assigned User, What To Do information, and Bring Forward Date for you automatically.
In the example below, a user named "meaghan" completed the first step in the Action Plan. Sumac moved the Action Plan forward to the next step, assigned this to the "Executive Dir." user, and updated the What to Do information and Bring Forward date accordingly. Now this reminder is assigned to the Executive Director, and they will be reminded to complete their step on July 2, 2024.
When your Sumac Administrator(s) create an Action Plan, they define the rules for each step in the Action Plan (e.g. Step Name, Assigned User, What to Do information, Bring Forward details, etc.), and other rules for the Action Plan. This is how Sumac is able to move the Action Plan forward for you as you complete each step.
As users continue to complete steps in this Action Plan, Sumac records the history of interactions in the Action Plan to make it easy for you to see. This is a very useful feature, as it allows anyone on your team to quickly see where the Action Plan is today, and also look back at how this Action Plan was carried out, who was involved with each step, and when each step was completed.
Once each step in the Action Plan is complete, the user assigned to the final step can mark the Reminder as "Complete," and click "OK."
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