Tips for Effective Action Management

Introduction

We’ve all been there.

You leave a meeting with “just a few” to-dos scribbled on a piece of paper. Or someone emails you a task and it gets buried. Maybe you end up with a “must get round to” list that never shrinks. And only when it’s audit time do you realise that things weren’t actually being tracked effectively.

At Pisys, we’ve spent years talking to engineers, project managers, safety professionals and frustrated action owners from all kinds of industries, and some common themes keep coming up. So here are some practical tips to help make your action management actually work.

Tip #1: Use Verbs

A surprising number of “actions” are written without verbs — which means they don’t tell you what actually needs to be done.

For example:

❌ “Isolation process unclear”
✅ “Define the isolation process ”

The second version tells you exactly what the task is. Without that clarity, people have to guess — and guesswork kills accountability.

Tip #2: Keep It Simple - One Action, One Job

Too often we see big blocks of work lumped into a single action. The result? Confusion and missed deadlines.

It’s much clearer (and easier to track) when each action is focused on a single outcome — especially if different people are responsible for different parts of the work.

Tip #3: Put a Due Date On It

Open-ended actions rarely get finished. People are prone to procrastination — we tend to do things when they’re due. Assigning a sensible due date helps:

• Prioritise work
• Trigger reminders
• Show what’s overdue at a glance

At Pisys we use our own Action Tracker and find that notifications as deadlines approach — and even alerts to managers when dates slip — make a real difference in actually closing actions.

Tip #4: Prove It!

Have you ever walked into a meeting only to be asked for evidence that hundreds of actions were completed? One of our customers had exactly that experience — and because they couldn’t produce evidence, their production was suspended by a regulatory auditor. That’s the kind of situation no one wants.

Recording completion isn’t enough — you need to prove it . Whether that’s a document, photo, signature or approval, make sure you keep the proof attached to the action.

Tip #5: Manage Actions Centrally

Sticky notes and spreadsheets work when you’ve got one person on a small job.

They don’t work when you:

• Have actions spanning departments
• Need contractors or remote teams to update status
• Want to report on progress at audit time
• Need tight control over who can see and update what

A central system — like the Pisys Action Tracker — ensures everyone is looking at the same version of the truth, and that actions aren’t lost in someone’s inbox or local drive.

Tip #6: Record It Properly

Put your actions somewhere sensible — somewhere that:

• People can access when they need to
• Keeps action history and related documents together
• Lets you control who sees what
• Works across teams, projects, and partners

Shared drives or cloud docs help a bit, but they still struggle with workflow control and audit trails. That’s why organisations moving away from spreadsheets tend to adopt a proper action tracking system — which centralises records and makes them easier to manage and review.

Tip #7: Close Actions With Confidence

Actions aren’t done until they’re verified.

Just marking something as “complete” because someone says so isn’t enough. Good action management means:

• Reviewing what was done
• Having the right people sign off
• Recording comments or attached evidence
• Seeing all changes in an audit trail

These details matter when you need to demonstrate that an action wasn’t just closed, but done properly.

Tip #8: Think About User Experience

People are busy. Action tracking should help them, not slow them down.

A good system:

• Shows users only what they need to see
• Makes it easy to understand the task and context
• Lets people attach files or images as proof
• Keeps everyone in the loop with status updates

This reduces friction and makes it more likely that actions actually get finished.

Tip #9: Use Workflows That Stay Out of the Way

The technology should support the people doing the work, not burden them.

Look for processes that let reviewers approve or reject work flexibly, with comments to explain what needs fixing. This kind of workflow stops actions being “closed” prematurely and keeps everyone aligned.

Tip #10: Relevant Reporting

The real power of good action management is in the insights you can draw:

• What percentage of actions are overdue?
• Which teams consistently close actions on time?
• Do certain action types take longer than others?
• Is action completion affecting business outcomes?

Being able to report on these trends is what turns action tracking from a chore into a tool for improvement.

Final Thoughts

Effective action management doesn’t happen by accident — it’s a combination of how you describe tasks, how you track progress, and how you verify completion.

If you’re tired of loose ends, unclosed actions, and inconsistent reporting, it’s worth thinking about how you capture and manage actions — and whether the tools you’re using today help you with that.

Quick Summary

• Use verbs in your actions
• Keep actions simple and specific
• Always assign a due date
• Attach evidence of completion
• Store actions in a central system
• Let workflows help, not hinder
• Make it easy to report on progress

I hope you enjoyed this 'fly by' - If you're interested in finding out more about what Pisys could do to help you manage actions more effectively we'd be happy to show you our rather lovely Action Tracker which has been used for High Governance action tracking since the turn of the century !