🔐 Who can use this feature?
Roles:Account Administrator (to plan the change), Actions Full Permissions, All users (once enabled for the account)
Survey types:Attributed (Snapshot), Unattributed
Subscriptions: Any package with Engagement
Action Plans are the new way to turn survey results into actions, replacing the Action Framework for surveys that do not have actions set yet. Use this article to understand what is different, what changes for admins and report owners, and how to prepare your organization before your surveys move.
Some Action Framework features work differently or are not available, so it is worth reading before you share guidance with your team.
What you gain with Action Plans
Action plans keep the work going between surveys by giving you one place to create, share, and track plans.
One place to see every plan: See each plan, who owns it, and how far it has got. Filter by survey, status, focus area, or any demographic, then export to Excel.
Plans aimed at a group: Set a target group instead of relying only on the report the plan came from, and choose who can see each plan.
Progress from action items: Break a plan into action items with their own owners. Progress updates as items are completed, and people who can see the plan can comment.
Which surveys move to Action Plans
Surveys with no actions yet: Take action opens Action Plans.
Surveys that already have actions: These stay on the Action Framework, so the people working on them can finish what they started.
ℹ️ Note: You may have both experiences at the same time on your account, depending on the survey. Actions created in the Action Framework are not moved into Actions, and you cannot add them to Actions reporting. They stay available in the Action Framework.
What is different
| Action Framework (Old) | Action Plans (New) |
Create an action on a report | The Take action button on a report takes you to a separate flow. | The Take action button on a report becomes a menu with Create action plan and View all action plans. Plans are created in a side panel without leaving the report. |
Structure | Organizes actions under focus areas with one owner. | A plan can have several action items with their own owners, and the focus area is recorded as the plan's source. |
Inspirations | Separate Inspiration step. | No separate inspiration step. Select Start from a suggested action plan when you create a plan. |
Action owners | The person who created an action is its only owner. | A plan and each action item can have more than one owner. |
Audience/Visibility | Actions have limited audience based on the report or Action Dashboard. | Action Plans can target everyone or a specific demographic group, independent of the report it was created from. You can also choose who can see each plan. New plans start as Private. |
Drafts | No drafting option | You can save a plan as a draft and publish it later. |
Comments | No comments | People who can see a plan can comment on it. |
View of all Actions | Action Dashboard report for the specific survey | All action plans view across all surveys. See what replaces the Action Dashboard |
Email notifications | Report shared. Select a focus area reminder. Create an action reminder. Due date reminder. | Report shared. Select a focus area reminder. See what changes for notifications |
Action feedback | Action feedback survey limited to specific report viewers and action owners | People who can see a plan can comment and leave feedback. |
ℹ️ Coming soon: Creating action plans with Coach. Until then, you can use Coach to brainstorm actions and create the plan yourself.
Action plans from leader-based reports
It is also not possible to set the target group of an action to the full reporting line of a leader (Direct and indirect reports). Setting the target group to the Manager Email demographic (or hierarchy demographic on your account) will only include that leader's direct reports.
When creating an action plan from a leader-based report the target group will also not be automatically filled in.
Use demographics instead: To set the target group to the full reporting line of a leader, consider combining other demographics, for example Team and Department to achieve the same outcome.
Choosing a target group uses all account demographics
When someone creates an action plan for a specific group, they can choose from all of your account's demographics, not only the ones included in their report. This lets plans target the groups that matter for the work, such as a team, location, or job level, even when that demographic was not part of the report the plan started from.
Because the list is not limited by the report, keep these points in mind:
Everyone creating a plan sees the full list. People can see demographics they cannot normally see in reports, for example Race/Ethnicity, Performance, or Exit type.
Sensitive demographics are not shown. Demographics flagged as sensitive at the account level are left out of the list.
The list comes from your account's demographics, not the survey. It can include demographics that are out of date or not used in that survey.
It cannot be restricted yet. You cannot limit which demographics appear in the list for this release.
What you can do:
Check which demographics on your account are not flagged as sensitive, and flag any that should not be visible to report owners.
Keep using the Action Framework for surveys you release until you are ready. Surveys that do not have actions set yet move to Action Plans, so turn on the old experience for the surveys you want to stay on it.
What replaces the Action Dashboard
The Action plans view replaces the individual survey level Action dashboard.
See all plans: Use All action plans in the Action plans list to see the plans your role and each plan's visibility allow, across all surveys.
Filter and report: Filter by survey, focus area, status, due date, and demographic, then select Export action plans to get an Excel file. The export includes due dates, owners, and progress.
Admin oversight: Give the people who report on action progress an Actions role. See Control who can see and manage action plans.
ℹ️ Note: For surveys using Action Plans, Survey Creator and Survey Admin (Overall and Support) roles no longer give admin access to action plans. Give the people who need to see plans the Actions role.
What changes for notifications
Reminder to select a focus area: Still sent to report owners. The link now opens the survey report with the Create action plan panel open.
Report shared notification for report owners: Still sent. The link now opens the same panel.
Reminder to create an action: Not sent for surveys that use Actions.
Due date reminder: Not sent for action plans.
Plan activity: No notifications are sent when someone is added as an owner, a plan is published, a comment is added, or a due date passes.
Prepare your organization
Before your surveys move
Tell your report owners and report viewers that Take action changes to Create action plan. Share Create an action plan from a survey report.
Decide who needs to see every plan, and give them an Actions role. See Control who can see and manage action plans.
Decide who can create plans for Everyone in the organisation. Only Actions administrators can. See Actions Full Permission role
Update your internal guides and training that mention the Action Dashboard or feedback surveys.
Review your account demographics. Plans can target any account demographic, and everyone creating a plan sees the full list, so flag any that should stay hidden as sensitive. See Choosing a target group uses all account demographics.
While both experiences are running
Check the survey before you give guidance. A survey with actions uses the Action Framework, and a survey without uses Action Plans.
Agree on how owners will find out about new plans and comments, and how you will track due dates. For example, review Due soonest in the Action plans list each week.
Consider replacing the team feedback survey with a follow-up survey question set or a plan for leaving comments. See Guide to the Post Survey Action Questions.
After your surveys move
Use Export action plans on a regular schedule to report progress to leaders (if needed).
Review plan visibility settings so the right people can see the plans that matter to them.
➡️ Next steps
💬 Need help? Open a Support Conversation to speak with our Product Support team.