Before beginning any change, it is important to have a view of the roadmap of how you will get there. An improvement plan is composed of the following:

• Identified workstreams with defined scope and success criteria.
• Clearly articulated deliverables for each workstream, sometimes called the ‘work breakdown structure’. 
• Identified risks and interdependencies and how you might mitigate them. 
• Effective governance plan with named owners for each  workstream.
• Recognition of how these improvements will be sustained long-term. 

You should begin planning for change once you have established a baseline and identified, through evidence, your priority improvement opportunities. ‍

‍Much like exercises carried out in the diagnostic stage, it is often beneficial to adopt a multi-agency approach to implementation planning – involving individuals who will be directly involved in the change will help give them the opportunity to suggest the best approach.

Planning is an important step that can save you time and resource further down the line. It allows you to:

• Think through dependencies and risks to ensure you have the most effective route to achieving your goals and key mitigations in place to support overcoming any potential pitfalls.
• Communicate with key stakeholders what you are trying to achieve and how it is progressing.
• Build and align teams on the direction that keeps activities running smoothly.

It is important that the outcomes of the changes and the approach to achieving those are clearly defined:

• Ensure the appropriate local area partners are involved in shaping the outcomes. 
• Connect with networks who have experience of implementing similar changes – this could be another local area!
• Identifying the right approach by using pilots or co-design phases depending on the nature of the change. 

There are many ways to structure change programmes but the key areas worth considering are:

Milestones – are there any key milestones you need to work towards, such as key governance meetings or stakeholder engagement sessions? How does the work break down to meet the goals set for each stage?

Teams & resource – have you got the right capability, capacity and funding to deliver on the work you have planned?

Metrics – within your defined success criteria, how will you have an objective measure of progress in both the short and long term?

Governance – what are the key forums that are accountable for the programme? Which forums are important to keep informed? Do you have effective escalation routes to resolve challenges?

Risks – how have you identified your risks? What mitigations are you putting in place?