Worksheet4 Agreeing the workplan


Agreeing the workplan | 4.7

 

The result of all this activity will hopefully be to produce some options for taking the work of the group forward. Unless you are very fortunate with resources, you are unlikely to be able to do everything straight away, and you will need to engage with a process which one of the Collaborate pilot groups termed “finding the focus within the focus”.

There are no easy rules for doing this, and several of the Collaborate pilot groups found that they needed more than one meeting – and in some cases had to reopen possibilities that they had previously placed lower down the order of priorities. It is worth bearing in mind that all good design processes allow for iterations before the final choice is made – time spent getting it right at this stage can help you avoid wasted effort and failure further down the line.

Ultimately, the choice will be determined by a balance between priority, opportunity and achievability – you are looking for the option which stands the best chance of delivering real benefit to all of the members of the group.

Main themes and parallel activities

It may help to simplify the choice to remember that there are some things that can go on alongside the main activity and which require relatively little resource. Examples are setting up a library of policies and procedures on Dropbox, and developing a comprehensive list of training providers and resources (although setting up a training consortium does require a substantial input of time from someone). Once these are set up, time could be set aside at the next couple of Core Group meetings to review each one in turn – to look at the picture which has emerged, and discuss ways in which the group might build on this to develop shared resources.

Getting your Board on board

Before you finalise the plan, each member of the cluster should consider whether they need the approval of their Board before going ahead. If so, you'll then need to decide whether a formal agreement such as a Memorandum of Understanding is needed. There is little more frustrating than starting out on a project only to find that it has stalled because one of the partners needs Board approval.

Whether you need Board approval will largely depend on the level of risk involved. In most cases, this is not high enough to need Board consent, and things are conducted on a basis of trust. However, while Board consent may not be needed, engaging and enthusing Board members with the project is important, and can pay big dividends later.

Finalising the plan

Once a way forward has been agreed, write it down in a formal plan so that everyone knows what is intended. This will help you to track progress, identify any unexpected gains, and provide a benchmark for evaluating how the programme is working once it has been running for a while. Contents of this plan might include:

And finally...

If you have got to this stage, good luck! In the words of one of the Collaborate pilot groups:

“Do it, but don’t overstretch yourselves. Have a clear plan and targets. Be aware of the resource implications, but don’t be put off.”