Elsewhere on this blog, I have written about the importance of a meeting agenda and the importance of having meaningful meeting minutes and meeting minutes. Agendas and minutes are the backbone of effective meetings and are the mechanisms for accountability, shared expectations and tracking progress. The backbone, however, needs strong connecting muscles to guide and direct the motion and movement. I believe that the muscle of performance improvement is found in the development and management of meaningful workplans.

At the most elemental level a workplan defines 1) what is the goal or end product; 2) what tasks are needed to accomplish the goal; 3) what person will do what tasks, 4) what are the deadlines for the tasks, and, 5) how will you measure progress along the way. If you are to look at the hierarchy the facilitation process it looks like this: the Workplan defines the structure of the entire process => Meeting Agenda creates the guidance for team-based action of the workplan => Meeting Minutes documents and informs the progress of the workplan. Repeat the cycle. When used in concert, these three tools create the seamless communication about workflow, which is the heart of the facilitation process.

So what does a workplan look like? Most often they are pretty standard columns or grids, sometimes color coded. Okay, that is generic and non-descriptive because, truth be told, there is no one way to create a workplan. In fact, over the years I have collected a number of workplan models and provide a link to an Excel Spreadsheet with four workplan templates. Personally I wonder about the effectiveness of workplans that are static on paper and I believe that teams should work more visually. Here are three possible visual workplan strategies:

1. A dry erase maker board in a conference room or strategic hallway would provide an excellent visual space. Using a dry erase maker board offers the ability to color code easily and make rapid changes to the plan. Milestones met can be erased or highlighted. One suggestion if you do use a dry erase maker board is to create a schedule to create an archive of the workplan taking photos of the digital camera. Capturing digital photos will also create a back-up if the workplan is inadvertently erased.
2. A similar strategy is to use a dry erase maker board but capture each element of the workplan on color-coded sticky notepads. This allows for steps to be rearranged as needed. Using sticky notes is a common strategy for the initial development of a workplan by a group because they can be used to combine brainstorming, narrowing and ordering of ideas. In a similar way, a digital camera can be used to capture a historical record of the workplan.
3. A third visual strategy is to technology to create and manage workplans. For example your organization may already have project management or collaboration software. For those without such software you can readily use an online WIKI or other collaboration tools for creating and managing workplans. Free WIKI websites (such as wetpaint.com and wikidot.com) or other fee-based online collaboration tools (such as brainkeeper.com) can provide a way for teams to make a workplan a living document.

Whatever strategy you pursue, your team needs to start with making the culture shift that recognizes the importance and value of workplans to facilitate performance improvements. This understanding often comes from implementing small pilots, engaging in reflective dialogue and experimenting with new personal behaviors. While change may take time, the benefits of improving your facilitation and process by using workplans will be seen in greater efficiency, accountability and improved performance.

note: 8/28/09 – I have posted a companion blog on developing workplans linked here.