The document provides guidance on how to write an effective management plan. It recommends determining management structure, describing roles and responsibilities of management team members, and establishing policies and procedures for key business operations. The management plan should then be reviewed by consultants, approved by owners, and committed to ongoing revisions to ensure it remains effective over time.

1. How to Write a Management Plan
Co-authored by Michael R. Lewis
Last Updated: May 25, 2019 References
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A management plan describes how an organization or business is run. Writing a management
plan allows you to formalize your management structure and operations. It also ensures that
everyone is on the same page and that your goals will be accomplished. You can easily write your
own management plan with a few simple steps.
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Part
1 Starting Your Management Plan
Determine the need for a management plan. The management plan serves the
purpose of formalizing the procedures and policies crucial to your organization and
the responsibilities and authorities of everyone involved in running it. Without a plan,
your operations may be inconsistent, responsibilities might be unclear, and the
organization may be unprepared for certain events.
A management plan allows everyone in the organization to clearly see their place,
including who they report to, who reports to them, and the responsibilities of their
position.
Defining roles also creates accountability by making it clear who's fault it was that
something did or did not happen.
Outline your plan. Your management plan will have to contain a number of key
elements. Create a simple outline, perhaps on a whiteboard or word processor, that
shows the parts of your management plan so that you and your team can move through
them. Your plan should include the following sections:
A description of management structure.
A section detailing management members and their responsibilities and authorities.
A chart of section detailing interactions between and responsibilities of each level of
the organization.
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A section explaining different aspects of your organization being managed and the
policies and procedures of that management.
A schedule for updating, enhancing, and growing management and the
management plan.
Describe your management structure. Each organization or business has a
slightly different management structure. At the start of your plan, outline clearly with
words or diagrams your management structure. Identify who makes the final decisions,
whether it is management, a board, or one person. Include external and internal
decision-makers and consultants. If necessary, explain how decision-making is
allocated to different levels of the hierarchy.
List different aspects of your organization being managed under the plan.
Divide up all of the processes and functions being managed as part of the
management plan into categories. These categories may be different departments in a
large business or business processes in a small one. Common aspects of operations
might include managing employees, overseeing finances, controlling inventory or
supplies, marketing or public relationships, and operations (like manufacturing or
sales). Split up the different aspects of your organization so that you can define
management roles and procedures for each.
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Part
2 Describing Ownership and Management
Note what type of ownership policies are in place. Describe your company's
ownership in clear terms. You should distinguish if it is a public, private, or non-
profit organization. Furthermore, if there are multiple owners or investors, you may
need to indicate how authority, liability, and stock are distributed. For example,
ownership might be divided in a partnership agreement or to holders of stock in the
company.
Name your board members. If your business has a board, you should clearly
identify its members. Write a brief summary of their leadership capabilities, past
experiences, strengths, and weaknesses. Small private business will probably not
have a board of directors. You do not need to include this section if you do not have a
board.
Include a copy of board policies, including election policies, term length,
responsibility, authority, and conflict resolution. This information should already be
stated in your operating agreement or other founding documents.
Introduce the key management members. Present each member's qualifications
and experience. In addition to your owners and board members, this may include
investors, executives, managers, important employees and staff, and entrepreneurs.
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Layout the background of these members, along with their characteristics and how
each will contribute to the success of the business.
Present the strengths of each individual in the management team. Describe
how these qualities are valuable to the positions that each manager holds. Include
attributes such as motivational skills, financial talents, and business proficiency.
List past positions and duties of each member that apply to their current
management obligations. Explain how these obligations highlight applicable skills
and strengthen the management positions.
Highlight all relevant educational backgrounds for each of the managers. Explain
how their training will benefit the company. Only include the education that is
relevant to the positions that they currently hold.
If you are the only employee in your business, be sure to include your own
experience and strengths.
Describe the hiring process. Explain the basis on which new employees will be
hired. Mention what kind of qualifications and experience is needed for each
role.This is especially important if you have not hired any managers yet. Include the
training process and any incentive or reward programs you have implemented. A
description of the company's benefits program can also be added.
Name any outside consultants or advisors you will be hiring. These are the
people that you may contact for marketing, personnel advice, and financial
knowledge. For example, your business might hire:
Lawyers.
Accountants.
Insurance brokers.
Consultants.
Summarize your management team's abilities. Write a short summary of why
this is a successful team. At the end of the management plan, you should
specifically state why this team will ensure success for the business. Clearly identify
how this combination of managers within this particular business model will help your
business in the coming years. This should tie up all the various points of your plan.
For example, “Our team, with its diverse array of skills, have a combined forty years
of experience in this field. With our coordinated democratic structure, they can work
together effectively to produce results. With this team, we are confident that our
business will become profitable in two years.”
Describe relationships between management, ownership, and employees. A
key aspect of your management operations will be interactions between
management levels and between management/owners and employees. Make clear the
authorities, responsibilities, and roles of each level for each aspect of operations.
Include processes for shared decision-making and collaboration, along with any
required meetings or lines of communication. Work with each level to make sure
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4. everyone is on the same page when it comes to resolving disputes and sharing
power.[12]
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Part
3 Writing Out Policies and Procedures
Consider your need for written policies. Written policies serve the purpose of
formalizing operations across a large organization. They create consistency and
make sure that all processes run smoothly. However, a very small business or
organization may have no need of such a set of policies. In fact, defining them in this
way may limit collaboration and slow down work for a small group. Think about the size
and needs of your organization before taking the time to define policies.
Gather a group of relevant management members and employees. For each
aspect of operations considered, gather a group of management and employees
who are directly impacted by or responsible for that process or area. Work on defining
the policies and procedures for that area with the group, taking input and confirming
details as you go. This will allow for the plan to be grounded in real operations and will
give your employees a sense of ownership in the plan.
Write out policies and procedures for each aspect of the business. These will
be used together to tell your management and employees how to operate a given
section of the organization. Policies, the philosophy and rules of your organization, are
designed to further your goals and keep your operations true to the organization's
principles. These policies are expressed through your procedures, which are specific
methods for how things are to be done.
For example, a policy might be using and selling only green materials and products.
The procedures to support that policy might be shopping from approved green
vendors or checking the environmental impact of each material or product used.
Check that the policies fit in with your culture and philosophy. Your policies,
and by extension your procedures, should be designed in line with your
overarching philosophies and goals in mind. Check over each one that you've created
to make sure that they are all working together towards the same end. If some do not
seem to fit or you find some questionable procedures, amend them to better fit your
mission.
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Part
4 Revising Your Plan

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Proofread your plan carefully. You want your management plan to look
professional. It should be free of spelling and grammatical errors as well as any
typos. It should be printed on white paper that is unwrinkled and free of stains.
Format your plan for clarity. The formatting of the management plan should be
the same as the rest of your business proposal. You may choose to mark off major
sections with bold headings. The font should be readable. Times New Roman font at 12
point size is standard. You can use bullet points to list experience, abilities, and
responsibilities, or you can have short paragraphs providing all of the essential
information.
Consider asking a business consultant to look it over. The more people who
read your plan, the better. A business consultant or financial planner will be able to
provide better advice once you have a draft of your management plan than before. Sit
down with the consultant. They may be able to identify any holes or conflicts you have
in your business plan.
Send it out to all owners. It is important that all owners and high level managers
of the company agree on the management plan. Make sure that each owner has
a copy. They may send you edits and revisions. Consider these carefully. If you
disagree with any of their changes, sit down with them so that you can find a
compromise for your business.
When they approve, have all owners sign the plan before you submit it to your
investors, bank, or fundraising bodies.
Make a commitment to amend your plan as necessary. Any management plan
you create will be untested and will likely need revision as you begin to implement
it. Therefore, you'll need to include provisions by which the plan can be amended and
revised throughout its life. Start by creating a schedule for assessment, stating times at
which a group will meet to discuss the effectiveness of the plan and the success or
failure of its implementation.
Make sure there is a way for all management and employees to submit their
feedback regarding the plan.
Then, create a method by which changes to the plan can be approved and
instituted.
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Community Q&A
Question
Where can I find an example of a management plan?
Community Answer

6. Many websites offer templates and examples of management plans. The US Small
Business Administration has tools that can help you format and write your plan.
SCORE.org also offers business plan models and templates; these include
management proposals. Remember that management plans vary based on the type of
business you have and its organizational structure. Always adapt the template towards
your own needs.
Tips
Many investors will read the management section of your business plan before any
other section, including marketing and finances, so you want to make sure that you
have the best proposal possible.[20]
Warnings
Do not neglect your management plan in favor of your financial plans. Both are equally
important to a business plan.
References
1. http://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/leadership/effective-manager/management-
plan/main
2. https://www.thebalance.com/how-to-write-the-management-summary-2951561
3. https://www.brown.edu/research/conducting-research-brown/preparing-
proposal/proposal-development-services/writing-management-plan
4. http://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/leadership/effective-manager/management-
plan/main
5. https://www.sba.gov/starting-business/write-your-business-plan/organization-
management
10 Steps How to Write a Project Management Plan

7. 6. https://www.sba.gov/starting-business/write-your-business-plan/organization-
management
7. https://www.sba.gov/starting-business/write-your-business-plan/organization-
management
8. http://www.business-plans-guide.com/management-plan.html
9. http://www.business-plans-guide.com/management-plan.html
10. https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/241072
11. https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/241072
12. https://www.thebalance.com/how-to-write-the-management-summary-2951561
13. http://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/leadership/effective-manager/management-
plan/main
14. https://www.thebalance.com/how-to-write-the-management-summary-2951561
15. http://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/leadership/effective-manager/management-
plan/main
16. http://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/leadership/effective-manager/management-
plan/main
17. http://www.va.gov/osdbu/docs/vepBusinessPlanOutline.pdf
18. http://www.businessnewsdaily.com/4533-business-plan-outline.html
19. http://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/leadership/effective-manager/management-
plan/main
20. http://www.business-plans-guide.com/management-plan.html