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60 Examples of Key Activities

John Spacey, updated on July 12, 2024

Key activities are the things that an organization does to achieve its objectives and deliver value. These include processes, procedures, tasks and practices. Key activities are commonly documented as part of strategic planning exercises such as a business model canvas. They also have a broad range of planning and organizational uses in areas such as architecture, design, requirements, job descriptions and performance management. The following are common key activities.

Sales	Marketing
Branding	Service delivery
Customer service	Customer support
Customer relationship management	Customer retention
Customer experience	Market research
Product development	Production
Order fulfillment	Payment processing
Logistics	Reverse logistics
Returns & refunds	Promotion
Distribution	Shipping
Receiving	Pricing
Cost control	Strategy
Planning	Project management
Project delivery	Change management
Process improvement	Process reengineering
Go-to-market	Reporting
Data analytics	Risk management
Compliance	Regulatory reporting
Financial management	Accounting
Quality assurance	Quality control
Inventory management	Billing
Customer feedback	Customer advocacy
Product improvement	Systems development
IT operations	Help desk
Process automation	Cybersecurity
Incident & problem management	Procurement
Partner management	Facility management
Asset management	Performance management
Maintenance & repair	Backup & restore
Business continuity	Disaster resilience

Key Activities in the Business Model Canvas

Business model canvas is a common strategy planning tool that asks participants to fill out sections such as key partners, key activities, key resources, value propositions, customer relationships, channels, customer segments, cost and revenue streams. In this context, key activities are the actions and processes that are required to deliver your value proposition. This includes everything that you need to develop and manage such as a developing a product, launching it, closing sales and managing customer relationships.

What Qualifies as a Key Activity?

Anything that you need to do as an organization can be documented as a key activity. This includes one time actions such as launching a product and repeated processes such as order fulfillment.

Who Uses Key Activities?

Key activities can be used by anyone in your organization to plan and manage business initiatives and day-to-day processes. The following are common uses of key activities.

Strategic planning activities such as business model canvas.
Documented in strategy plans and business plans.
Used to architect and design business processes.
Used to define standard operating procedures.
Captured in manuals and documentation of work procedures.
Outlined in policies and guidelines.
Used to define job descriptions and job roles.
Key activities can be used to identify performance metrics and KPIs for reporting.
Used to plan projects and tasks.
Key activities are reported in status reports such as a weekly project report.
Used to define training materials and training programs.
Key activities are a basic entity that is used to plan and improve a business.

Summary

Key activities are anything that you need to do as an organization to achieve objectives. These can be actions, tasks, meetings, events, processes or ongoing responsibilities. Key activities are commonly documented in strategies, business plans, project plans, procedures, policies, action plans and status reports. They are also prominently listed as part of the planning activity known as business model canvas.

Overview: Key Activities
Type	Business Model Canvas
Definition	Things that you do to add value.
Types	Actions Events Tasks Processes
Related Concepts	Business Model Canvas » Value Proposition » Standard Operating Procedures »