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STEP 1: Link Team Project Planning To Your Team’s Strategic Framework: Vision, Mission, MCA, PM, QS, DCP.

STEP 2: Brainstorm Current And Anticipated Projects, Activities, Actions To Accomplish Quality Standards Set For Customers.

STEP 3: Identify The Vital Few, Most Critical Projects/Activities
(Two Per Quality Standard. Prioritize These Using Alignment Criteria And Library Principles/Values.)

STEP 4: Write Team Project Statements Using SMART Criteria: Specific, Measurable, Attainable/Aggressive, Result-Oriented, Time Bound.

STEP 5: Identify Obstacles and Resource Requirements.

STEP 6: Reach Intra-Team Agreement, Accountability, Commitment.

STEP 7: Seek Inter-Team And Library Alignment.

STEP 8: Plan The Implementation.

STEP 9: Develop Strategies For Tracking, Follow-Up, Continuous Learning.

HELPFUL HANDHOUTS FOR USE WITH YOUR TEAM

Using the Affinity tool:

• Post each team Quality Standard
• Taking one at a time, have the team silently brainstorm on post-its necessary actions to accomplish the Quality Standard (one idea per post-it)
• Cue the team to think "outside the box", focus on the "what’s" not the "how’s".

• Consider using the Balance Scorecard: external customer, internal processes, stakeholders, learning/growth to enrich and expand the team’s thinking.
• Have Team Members post their ideas on the wall under the Quality Standard heading. Read what others have written and generate additional ideas.
• Have the Team silently group ideas into categories.
• Ask someone to read the post-its in each category and generate Headers.
• Review Header categories and check for alignment with the quality standard. Ask:

• Did we leave anything out?
• Will these projects/activities/tasks enable us to reach the quality standard?
• What else do we need to add?

A.    Review and Assess Brainstormed Activities

Use the following questions to assist your team to select the 1-2 most important projects to meet the quality standard you are working. These questions are designed to help you test whether you have identified the team’s critical activities in the previous step or need to generate additional activities.

Note: These questions have been duplicated in a Vital Few Questions handout for use with your team.

• Is this the most important action(s) our Team can take to meet this quality standard?
• Will this project help us move in the right direction?
• Is this the best thing(s) we could be doing this year?
• Is this project in sync with Library alignment criteria:

• customer driven
• strategic driven
• benefits whole Library
• maximizes return on invested effort

• Does this project reflect Library Principles/Values?
• Customer Focus
• Diversity
• Integrity
• Flexibility
• Continuous Learning

 

Note: Some Team Members may be tempted to select projects that meet their individual needs over what the Team needs to do to satisfy the customer. Remind Team Members their selection should be grounded in the Team’s Strategic Framework.
 

• Facilitate a multi-vote process with your Team. Have each Team Member select their top two projects. This will give you and the Team an initial reading.
• Use colored dots or a high;, medium, low ranking to assign a priority rating.
• Complete a decision matrix with the Team’s project on the horizontal axis and key criteria, Library principles, key questions on the vertical axis. Rate each project against the criteria and determine the top two.

Be sure to check your project statements against the SMART criteria:

Specific
Measurable
Attainable/Aggressive
Result-Oriented
Time Bound

Use the following example to help you get started on your own Project Statements. Note: this example is also available as a handout to use with your Team

Once the Team has identified its team projects, it’s natural for team members to be thinking about potential problems and resources required for accomplishing them. This step will let you plan for how you can overcome potential obstacles and successfully achieve your Projects.

• Adequate Budget, Staff
• Realistic Time
• Required Expertise, Education, Skills
• Required Materials, Supplies, Tools
• Sufficient Information
• Other

Note: If this is the right thing to do for your customers, if it is an urgent customer need, then all obstacles are surmountable. Find a way for the Team to overcome it, make a case for additional resources and/or ask for outside help.

Review your project statements. For each project statement, identify what resources will be needed. Consider:

• Team skills
• Money
• Staff
• Information
• Tools
• Education
• Experts

Assess The Team’s Work Thus Far

This step allows your Team an opportunity to step back and look at your Team Project Statements to assess:

• unresolved issues and identify how you will resolve them
• and build Team agreement
• and determine how you will define accountability
• and build a shared commitment to your plan

• Post your Team’s Project Statements on the wall so they are easily visible for Team members.

• Facilitate a skillful discussion with your team to reach agreement on each Project Statement (reference and hand out copies of Leading Your Team To Consensus: Using Skillful Discussion). Inquire into how team members are understanding what the project statement means for them and the team. Advocate how you see the project and its link to meeting the Team’s Quality Standard. Give each team member an opportunity to respond. For larger teams, consider breaking into trios, dyads or smaller groups.

• Confirm that team members have a shared understanding of the planned projects and ask for each person’s agreement/commitment.

• Be sure to allow enough time for a rich discussion to create a shared understanding and sense of team ownership.

• If there is not shared agreement, identify on a flip chart where you are in agreement and where you are not. Separating areas of agreement from disagreement will help clarify core issues. If people are reluctant to share issues, consider using a nominal group process to have team members silently identify problems.

• Take areas of disagreement one at a time. Explore them more fully. Exploring the source of the disagreement will help clarify the problem. Sources might include: level of priority - this really isn’t one of the vital few, time frame, impact on customer, resources….
• Maintain a big picture focus - ask, how the source of disagreement affects the Team/Quality Standard/Customer vs the individual. Refocus the discussion with the Vital Few Question criteria to keep the discussion objective and focused on the Strategic Framework. Focus on the issues not on the person.

• Take the time to fully discuss areas of concern and explore the problem. Use active listening and skillful discussion to help each team member feel heard.
• Once you have identified the problem/area of disagreement, brainstorm changes/solutions and modify the Project Statement so all can agree. Ask, Can you live with it?

Accountability is a key feature of any Performance Management System. We are defining accountability as the ability to account for Library, Team and individual performance. The ability to account for performance is linked to having certain systems in place to provide timely performance feedback. Organizations and individual performers need to know when they are on or off course so that they can make course corrections and learn from their actions.

Specifying what is expected and creating timely feedback systems to provide information on how that expectation is being met are essential for accountability. Also essential is a shared understanding of the consequences for meeting or not meeting performance expectations.

As a Team, review Library expectations, in particular those pertaining to your projects. What will your Team need to do to meet Library expectations and hold each other accountable for performance? What early warning system can you design to tell you how you are performing against your plan? Use the following questions to help direct this important team discussion.

• How will you determine when the Team and/or individual Team members are on and off-course?
• What data will you use for feedback and how will you obtain it?
• What standard of performance are you expecting for your Team projects?
• What is non-performance? (Is the Team/Team member not performing because of learning gap, lack of resources or effort?
• What are the consequences for non-performance?
• How will Team members hold each other accountable for Team results?

Expectations are closely linked to motivation, performance and accountability. The work of Porter, Lawler and Hackman indicates that high performance to occur, there needs to be mutual understanding and alignment between individual and organizational expectations. This worksheet will assist your Team to collaboratively clarify expectations for performance and accountability.

Organizational Expectations: Library and Team

• Library strategic direction and Principles/Values have been communicated.
• Each Team will complete the Performance Project deliverables on time to successfully implement a Performance Effectiveness Management System to achieve strategic outcomes and continuous learning.
• Team/Work Team Leaders will attend the Pink Band Sessions and continue the process, share the learning with their Teams.
• The Team’s Strategic Framework is grounded in meeting Library expectations and defines many of the performance expectations of the Team, including: Vision, Mission, MCA’s, PMs, QS, DCP, projects and developmental plans.
• Each Team will strive to meet identified Quality Standards or change them to more effectively meet customer needs.
• Each Team will identify the vital few projects to meet quality standards.
• Project Statements use SMART criteria to spell out exactly what’s expected and by when.
• Any Library Team Member will be able to report on theTeam’s progress toward reaching Project milestones to the Library, including: what milestones have been reached, which haven’t, why and what the team is doing about it.
• Team/Work Team Leaders will have their team members regularly update each other, give feedback and assess progress towards goals prior to the Library report.
• Team/Work Team Leaders have a special responsibility to hold team members accountable for meeting Team performance expectations including: clarifying expectations, providing resources and learning opportunities and consequences for non-performance.
• Each Team member will assume responsibility for Team performance expectations and learning opportunities.
• Each Team as they plan the implementation will scope out overall project responsibilities and expectations.
• Each Project Team will define project milestones, standards for performance, time frames, resources needed, project responsibilities and track and communicate progress.
• Each Team will determine what measurement criteria and data collection process they will use to tell them if they are on or off course with their projects. Measurement criteria can include standards around volume, due date, service time, quality, quantity, accuracy, error rate, waste, attendance, innovation, customer response.....
• Team/Work Team Leaders and members foster learning organization principles of personal mastery, team learning, and systems thinking to support continuous learning for all Library staff.
• How performance will be rewarded (consider monetary and non-monetary ways the Library/Team can meet the individual’s needs, values, skills) will be identified and communicated.

• The worksheet in Step 8 provides individual Team Members the opportunity to identify their capabilities, values, needs, wants and project interest.
• Step 6 checks for mutual understanding of selected projects. It is important for Project Teams to continue this dialogue and set clear performance milestones, standards for performance and how they will be measured?
• Encourage Project Team members to discuss how much interaction they will need to discuss decisions around deadlines, time allocation, priorities, future tasks, resources, problem solving....
• What feedback, coaching or development opportunities do Team members desire? How does the Team see their performance?

Documenting the outcome of the discussion is valuable to use as a summary and a reference. Since most plans are not contracts but rather working documents, they will most likely need to be updated throughout the year.

Track Accomplishments and Results and Develop Strategies for Continuous Learning

• What results were achieved? What milestones were reached or not reached?
• What does the Team plan to do about it?
• What can the Team do to ensure results continue to meet expected outcomes/quality standards?

Align the Team’s Project Plan with Other Teams and the Library as a Whole

This step will provide teams an opportunity to collaborate, share resources and learnings. Scheduled for May 18, 1998, this Community Alignment Session will provide teams with an opportunity to review each other’s Strategic Framework and specifically focus on the Project Statements to assess inter-team and Library alignment and the construction of Team Project Statements. This step will provide your team with feedback prior to the scheduled Poster Session on May 22, 1998.

The following questions will be used to facilitate discussion around alignment at the May 18^th meeting.

• Will the Team’s Project Statements lead to achieving their Quality Standards?
• Are the Statements S.M.A.R.T. (specific, measurable, attainable/aggressive, result-oriented and time bound)?
• Does each Statement specify: who, will do what, by when, with what result/outcome for the customer?
• Are the Project Statements in sync with Library alignment criteria: customer driven, strategic driven, benefits whole Library, maximizes return on invested effort, Library Principles/Values?
• Are there areas for cooperation/collaboration and opportunities for shared learnings?
• Are there areas of duplication and overlap?
• Are teams providing consistent level of service quality to customers?
• Are there opportunities to combine data collection methods to reduce customer requests for data?
• Other?

Assessing Current Work

This initial step is an opportunity for both the Team and individual members to rethink, re-prioritize work activities to accomplish the new Team mandate. The Start, Stop, Continue process will assist your team to look at what is currently on the individuals’ and team’s plate to determine how to move forward.

Facilitate Start, Stop, Continue Process with Your Team

• use a nominal group process, where individuals brainstorm silently and then share results
• work together as a full team
• generate this information in smaller groups and then share full group

Determining Assignments

This segment will look at determining assignments based on individual, team and Library needs. Typically, when team’s assign work, they consider who has the experience and/or capability to most efficiently accomplish the task. They may also consider an individual’s career needs in making team assignments. We are encouraging you to think both short and long term. How can team assignments help both the team and team members grow?

We are also recommending you adopt a learning orientation for helping you decide who is best suited for a particular assignment. Consider the elements of a learning organization: personal mastery, team learning and systems thinking. What skills are needed in the future and how can the team and team members build them through strategically assigning Team Projects?

Use the following worksheet to assist the team and its members to think outside the box.
 

TEAM PROJECT STATEMENT:
 

SCOPE OUT THE PROJECT: What are the overall project responsibilities and expectations? Summarize major elements of the project.

IDENTIFY PROJECT CAPABILITY REQUIREMENTS: What skills, knowledge, attitudes are needed? Where is the Project on the Capability Index: level of urgency of current/anticipated customer need and individual/team capability?

BUILD A LEARNING ORGANIZATION FOR CONTINUOUS LEARNING:*

A Learning organization is continually expanding its capacity to create its future.

The Library’s Performance Management System is designed to support three of the core disciplines of a learning organization. These disciplines include:

• Personal Mastery

• Team Learning

• Systems Thinking

*Based on the work of Peter Senge, The Fifth Discipline
 

Scope out the project to maximize learning potential in making project assignments. Consider:

Personal Mastery: What skills, capabilities does the Library need now and in the future? How can Project assignments help to build these for individuals?

Team Learning: How can the team strategically make assignments to foster cross-training and cross-functional learning and team competency.

Systems Thinking: What skills and competencies will the Library need to meet it’s future strategic requirements? How can Team Project assignments support developing these?
 

IDENTIFY TEAM MEMBER CAPABILITIES, VALUES, NEEDS, WANTS:

Consider the unique profile of each team member. What are their current capabilities (skills, knowledge, expertise…), personal interests and values, career needs and professional goals? This step of the process may work best if you have each member of the team self - assess their capabilities and interests in light of projected projects, to use later with the full Team in making project assignments. This allows you to survey Team member interest prior to making Team assignments.

Note: There is a handout to survey Team member interests in the appendix.

Name: Skills, Values, Needs, Interests Projects of Interest

 
MAXIMIZE THE FIT: Considering Library, Team, learning and individual needs, strategically assign team members to projects. In making selections, be sure to balance the degree of risk with the degree of reward. Look for opportunities for both the team and the individual to succeed and grow.

Project Assigned Team Member(s)
 

Complete an Action Plan

Action plans put the Team’s Strategic Framework into motion. They contain the essential steps to accomplish Team Projects. Action plans typically include milestones, activities in the sequence they will occur, time frames for each, resources needed and team member(s) responsible. You may want to use the Action Plan handout as a template for planning with your team.

The continuous improvement process is best exemplified by the Shewhart Plan, Do, Study, Act cycle. This cycle depicts planning in four phases:

• Collecting customer data, assessing value-added options and developing the plan (Your Team Strategic Framework).
• Putting the plan into action.
• Measuring the results of the plan - did it accomplish the outcomes intended?
• Modifying the plan if needed and acting to standardize processes that work. This process continues by cycling back to step 1 on its continuous improvement journey.

Review your Team’s Strategic Framework and the agreements reached around Team accountability in Step 6. What data will you collect to let you know that you are on or off course? What strategies will you put in place to continuously improve and learn? How will you link progress to team and individual portfolios?
 

• Is this the most important action(s) our Team can take to meet this quality standard?
• Will this project help us move in the right direction?
• Is this the best thing(s) we could be doing this year?
• Is this project in sync with Library alignment criteria:

• customer driven
• strategic driven
• benefits whole Library
• maximizes return on invested effort

•   Does this project reflect Library Principles/Values?

• Customer Focus
• Diversity
• Integrity
• Flexibility
• Continuous Learning

Write a Team Project Statement for each of your vital few projects to meet quality standards using the following format. Indicate:  

Who: Team Name
Will Do What?
By When? `
With What Result/Outcome? Impact on Customer

Be sure to check your project statements against the SMART criteria:

Specific
Measurable
Attainable/Aggressive
Result-Oriented
Time Bound

Use the following example to help you get started on your own Project Statements.

Feedback For Team:

Provided by:

• Will the Team’s Project Statements lead to achieving their Quality Standards?

• Are the Statements S.M.A.R.T. (specific, measurable, attainable/aggressive, result-oriented and time bound)?

• Does each Statement specify: who, will do what, by when, with what result/outcome for the customer?

• Are the Project Statements in sync with Library alignment criteria: customer driven, strategic driven, benefits whole Library, maximizes return on invested effort, Library Principles/Values?

• Are there areas for cooperation/collaboration and opportunities for shared learnings?

• Are there areas of duplication and overlap?

• Are teams providing consistent level of service quality to customers?

• Are there opportunities to combine data collection methods to reduce customer requests for data?

• Other?

open- overview the morning agenda
overview the project planning process
 

Step 1 - Ground the project planning process in the Team’s Strategic Framework - Shelley walks through her chart?
 

Step 2 - Begins the process by brainstorming current and anticipated  projected need to accomplish quality standards. Ask Network teams to select one member’s quality standards to use for today’s work. Select one that is somewhat familiar to all the Network team members.

• Use affinity process
• post the quality standard
• think outside the box
• post the Balanced Scorecard: external customer, internal

• Review headers & check for alignment with the QS - ask questions: did we leave anything out? Will these enable us to reach the standard. What else do we need to add?

Step 4 - Writing the statements using the SMART criteria and template.

Step 5 - Natural once the statements have been written to think about potential problems, resources. Review statements, brainstorm (affinity, nominal group, full group) strategies for overcoming them.

List out all of the projects that the Team has identified.  

Team Projects:

Capabilities, Values, Needs, Wants:

Review each project and consider your unique profile of skills and interests as they relate to each. What are your current capabilities (skills, knowledge, expertise…), personal interests and values, career needs and professional goals? Look for projects where you can make a contribution to the Library’s and Team’s success and where you can continue to learn and grow. Consider where you can build personal mastery in needed skills, where you can assist others on the Team to develop and how you can contribute to the Library’s future success.

List out your skills and interests and indicate which projects you would be the best fit for you and the Team.

Name Skills, Values, Needs, Interests Projects of Interest