How to decide new action items

From Regional Knowledge Resource Kit

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Background

The aim of the task-setting meeting is to create specific actions your group will do to make progress against the knowledge strategy's priority areas in the next three months. By repeating this activity every three months at the section level the division begins to embed knowledge-related activities into their day to day business. It becomes second nature. The three-month time frame also feels achievable and tangible. It gives the sections something in the foreseeable future to aim for and the relatively short time frame also enables the sections to sense and respond to the changing needs and circumstances making them more nimble and resilient.

Facilitation level

A basic level of facilitation skill is required to lead this technique, although more advanced skills may be required to coach the 'friendly skeptic' on how to lead the action team.

Objectives

• Getting everyone involved in undertaking tasks to make progress
• Implementing projects identified in sensemaking and action design process

Materials

Whiteboard and markers for recording actions.

Time

The meeting will take about an hour.

Directions

The knowledge strategy process should have resulted in some objectives, which, might include things like:

• improve knowledge sharing
• enhance innovation
• reduce impact of people leaving (knowledge retention)
• build skills and know-how
• improve everyone's ability to find relevant knowledge when they need it
• improve how we learn from experience

Ideally, there should only be two or three objectives. Six is too many.

The process starts by giving each group within the organisation a sheet of paper, one for each objective.

Each sheet has four columns. The group lists, for each objective, the actions they are going to take over the next three months to help achieve the objectives. A senior member of staff works with the group acting as a friendly sceptic or coach. This coach's role (see 3rd Journey Coach Guidelines) is to ask question, helping the group to stretch their plans or to reign in over enthusiasm. At the end of the session, the coach sets a date to meet with the group again in three months where they will review how they went, what they learned and establish a new set of actions for the following three months.

The four columns to fill in for each objective are:

• the action to be done
• who is responsible for ensuring the action is completed - it must be an individual's name not a role name or a group's name
• the date the action will be completed
• a description of how the group will know the action has been completed

It’s important that the group focuses on actions and not goals. For example, if the objective is “improve knowledge sharing” then rather than provide a goal such as, “build better relationships with the policy division,” describe a tangible action like “organise three brown bag seminars with the policy division.”

By repeating this activity every three months the organisation begins to embed knowledge-related activities into their day to day business. It becomes second nature. The three-month time frame also feels achievable and tangible. It gives the groups something in the foreseeable future to aim for. One last benefit of a shorter time frame for action is that it enables the organisation to sense and respond to the changing business environment making it more nimble and resilient.

You might be thinking, “Yeah, but what about those initiatives that take longer than three months to accomplish?” Of course this will be the case. Sometimes the organisation will be able to identify longer-term initiatives, such as the adoption of communities of practice or an intranet implementation, in the initial knowledge strategy design which can be implemented organisation-wide. Here I am arguing for a balance between the more traditional approach to developing a knowledge strategy with a greater emphasis on embedding the knowledge actions.

For further information see: Maister, D. H. “Ready, Set, Go: Fast-track Strategy.” Strategy in Professional Business Retrieved 27 February, 2007, from http://davidmaister.com/podcasts/4/45/.

Debriefing

It is important that, at the end of the exercise, participants set a time and date for the next meeting.

Variations

It is possible to use other similar action setting techniques to achieve the same aim. However, be wary, that this process is designed to create short-term, doable activities that engage staff and enables the organisation to adapt to changes in the business environment. Unlike other techniques, it is not a linear process.

Tips

It's important to provide the participants with a good briefing before they have their first task setting session.

Ideally the participants will have thought of some tasks before coming to the task-setting meeting with the senior manager coach.

After the tasks have been agreed, they should be publicly visible, ideally in one spot (like the intranet or on a public wall) for everyone in the organisation to see.

We suggest your section gets familiar with the strategy's priority areas and start brainstorming possible actions.

It’s important that the group focuses on actions and not goals. For example, if the objective is “improve knowledge sharing” then rather than provide a goal such as, “build better relationships with the policy division,” describe a tangible action like “organise three brown bag seminars with the policy division.”

Coach Guidelines

Your coach is X. Their role is to ask question, helping the group to stretch their plans or to reign in over enthusiasm. But it is up to you as to what tasks you decide to pursue.

At the end of the session, the coach works with your section to select a date to meet again in three months where you will review how you went, what you learned and establish a new set of actions for the following three months. The role of the Coach is fourfold:

• demonstrate by your actions that you care about the strategy and the tasks that put the strategy into practice
• challenge and encourage the group's ideas
• cross-pollinate ideas from other coaches and teams
• to ensure the team commits to undertaking the tasks in the 3 month timeframe

It's important that the coach adopts a friendly, interested and committed demeanour. You are there to help them but not to direct them.

• Be curious but avoid an inquisition
• Encourage experimentation and a 'have a go' attitude
• Minimise your power position (avoid sitting at the head of the table, conducting the meeting in your office, speaking first and overtly disagreeing)
• Keep the meeting conversational
• Leave it to the team to define the agenda and facilitate the meeting. Your job is to care what happens and provide your experience and alternative perspectives.

Some questions to ask ...

• How will you know you have completed the task?
• Have we done this before? If so we should find out what happened.
• Sounds like a lot of work, are you sure we can achieve these tasks in the time frame?
• Perhaps we can do a little more. What other things can we do to make significant progress on these objectives?
• What unique contribution can this team make to the organisation's strategy?
• Where have you seen this really work well? What happened?
• Who else should we talk to about this?

Applications

Any process that requires short-term action planning.

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