1 SWP w Instructions and Burden Statement

(If applicable)

Standardized Work Plan (SWP) Guidance
The Standardized Work Plan (SWP) organizes and documents project elements including goals, objectives,
sub-objectives, activities, and deliverables. By aligning the Bureau of Health Workforce’s program goals
and outcomes to the grant or cooperative agreement’s project objectives and activities, project and BHW
program staff will be better equipped to execute operational strategies, monitor project progress, and
improve program outcomes. Identification of key activities and their target completion time and/or
frequency provides a blueprint for implementation and a benchmark for evaluating progress. This form
highlights project elements throughout the length of the grant or cooperative agreement. Please read the
Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) thoroughly for any additional instructions.
The SWP must be completed according to the following instructions:

1. Organization Name: Enter the legal name of the applicant. This name must be the same name
that appears in box 5 of the SF-424 R&R form.
2. Project Title: Insert the project title. This title must be the same title that appears in box 11 of
the SF-424 R&R form. This project title is used in the application and throughout the entire
length of the project.
3. Budget period: The Standardized Work Plan must be organized by budget year. For example, if
the funding opportunity has a project/budget period of two years, insert all of year 1's goals,
objectives, sub-objectives, and activities; then click ‘Add Budget Period’ to complete the goals,
objectives, sub-objectives, and activities for budget period 2. The same goals, objectives, and
sub-objectives will be auto-populated into subsequent budget periods.
4. Project Goals: The project goal(s) must correspond to and mirror the program’s goal(s) located
in the in the Notice of Funding Opportunity. The BHW programmatic goals are
statements/general guidelines describing what the project aims to achieve.
5. Objectives and if applicable, sub-objectives: Include your project’s objectives/sub-objectives as
stated in your project narrative. If the Notice of Funding Opportunity has specific program
objectives, the program’s objectives must be used. Once all activities corresponding to the first
objective are entered, click ‘Add Objective’ or ‘Add Sub-Objective’ to input subsequent
objectives/sub-objectives and activities for the same budget period. The objectives must be the
same for all subsequent budget periods. For example, a two year project with three objectives
will have the same objectives in the SWP organized as such:
a. Budget Period 1: Objective 1, Objective 2, Sub-Objective 2.1, Objective 3
b. Budget Period 2: Objective 1, Objective 2, Sub-Objective 2.1, Objective 3
6. Organizational Priority: If applicable, link project objectives to a Department of Health &
Human Services (HHS), Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), or BHW priority
that best fits. Use the checkmark tool to select the priority. If a department or agency priority is

not listed, please select “other” and document the priority. If an objective or sub-objective does
not associate with a priority, choose “N/A”.
7. Other Organizational Priority: Document other or an additional organizational priority. If
applicable, other priority linkage options will be listed in the Notice of Funding Opportunity
Instructions.
8. Milestone Activities: Milestone Activities are key project activities needed to successfully
achieve each objective. It is likely that more than one Milestone Activity will be needed in order
to produce deliverables. A maximum of 25 Milestone Activities may be listed for each objective.
9. Description: Briefly describe the activity. Because multiple Milestone Activities may result in a
single output, activities should be listed chronologically to demonstrate the connection
between activities and objectives.
10. Outcomes and Deliverables: Provide outcome(s) for the activities. If applicable, provide
deliverable(s). Deliverables are the direct, tangible results of activities. Deliverables may include
but are not limited to the following:
a. Documents produced, curricula or education materials developed, research, etc.
b. The number of classes taught, meetings held, or materials produced and distributed;
program participation rates; or
c. Hours of each type of service provided
11. Responsible Staff: List all staff roles/members directly working on an activity. For example, if
the Project Director is involved with the activity, simply document: “Project Director (Dr. John
Doe)” If the staff member’s name is not available due to projected hiring, list the staff role.
12. Target Quarter/Frequency: Identify realistic target quarters within the budget period when
work on each activity will occur. If work on the activity spans across multiple quarters, please
mark each quarter that the activity takes place.
Note: A budget year (period) is divided into four quarters and starts at the beginning of the
project. For example, if a program’s project and budget year starts July 1, the first quarter for
that program starts July 1 (i.e., Q1: Jul-Sep, Q2: Oct-Dec, Q3: Jan-Mar, Q4: Apr-Jun).
13. Administrative Activities: The following Administrative Activities should be included under
applicable objectives and should be listed after all Milestone Activities:
a. Rapid Cycle Quality Improvement

For electronic submission of your application, please review the NOFO and the SF-424 R&R Application
Guide. Note the following additional guidance for completing the SWP:

1. Once you fill out the SF-424 R&R with the official title of your project, insert the same title to the
Standardized Work Plan “Project Title” field.
2. All open fields are required and an error message will pop up for fields left blank in the form.
Please use N/A in fields that are not applicable.
3. Applicants should add only one activity at a time. If the applicant adds many activity fields
without filling in the information, there will be multiple error messages due to incomplete fields.
4. The SWP should be organized by budget period, not objectives. For example, if your project has
three objectives for three years than you should organize your SWP listing all of year 1’s
objectives; then start on year 2, and complete the form with the same objectives from year 1.
5. When you add a Budget Period to the form, your goals and objectives from the previous year
will transfer to the new budget period. Applicants will have the ability to edit and delete these
objectives and objective statements if they are not necessary for the work plan in a subsequent
budget period.