100-Day Challenges for Team coaches

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Developing our 100-Day Work Plan 

100-Day Challenges for Team coaches Week minus 1 – Getting ready to facilitate the Start-up Workshop Developing our 100-Day Work Plan 

Developing our 100-Day Workplan

If the 100-Day Goal is the equivalent of the Team’s mission and purpose, the Work Plan is the equivalent of its strategy. The 100-Day Plan is the Team’s best guess of the actions that need to be taken between day 1 and day 100 to achieve the Goal. As the team moves into action and tries new things, the 100-Day Plan may evolve and expand. Without the 100-Day Plan and the disciplined implementation that follows it, the Goal is merely wishful thinking. 

 Process time: 90 min

This Learning Deep Dive is primarily addressed to the Team Coach. Naturally, others can use it if they are filling in for the Team Coach.

We suggest that you use 5 steps to help the Team develop its 100-Day Plan.

Generate ideas

Cluster the iease into themes

Create a plan for each theme, on a 100-Day Timeline

Make sure these thematic plans synch up with each other, and add up to the 100-Day Goal

Stress-test the 100-Day Plan

Step 1 - Generating Ideas (15 min)

Start by brainstorming on a flip chart using post-it notes. 

  • Hand each team member a packet of post-it notes and a pen. Ask them to think about actions, ideas, or strategies that can help them make progress towards the 100-Day Goal. Ask them to write one action/idea/strategy on a post-it note. 
  • After a brief period of idea generation, ask the group to look at the wall of Post-it notes to see if this inspires additional ideas. You can do another round of individual “ideation” with post-it notes. If the ideas are all related to doing things a little better, challenge them to come up with completely new ideas. 
The slides below are examples of what the wall might look like if the Goal is to organise a dinner party for 20 friends that 80% of them will rate as the “most amazing party” they have ever been to in 100 days. 

Step 2 - Cluster Ideas into Themes (10 min)

Ask the group to start clustering the post-its that go together and to label each cluster with a heading (theme) that best describes the cluster. These themes help the Team divide and conquer (2-3 team members will focus next on a cluster and turn it into a thematic plan.

Step 3 - Creating Thematic Plans (20 min)

Before the session, you had created a blank timeline with several “swim lanes” on flip charts (see the diagram below). Each swim lane will be used to turn a cluster of post-its into a thematic plan.

Solicit the help of the Team Leader to assign each cluster to 2-3 team members (sub-group). Then ask each sub-group to review the post-it’s and turn these into an organised plan, in one swim lane. The plan will be comprised of a number of action steps that are written out on post-it notes and placed in the appropriate sequence and timing in their respective swim lane. 

Each sub-group will label its swim lane with the theme of the cluster: Food, Music, Activities, Etc. The swim lane will capture all the action steps related to its particular theme. For example, the action steps in the Music theme could include:

  • Ask invitees about their favourite music sets and the music they cannot stand.
  • Create a playlist based on the above research
  • Buy booster speakers to ensure sound quality
  • Set up the speaker system
  • Designate someone as the DJ so they adjust the music depending on the mood. 
Note that each of these action steps starts with an action verb. 

In some cases, the sub-groups can add a sub-goal to its swim lane. This typically relates to the 100-Day Goal but is focused on a particular theme. For example, when it comes to the music theme, the sub-goal could be: “At the end of the party, 75% of the guests will agree that their favourite piece of music was played, 100% of them will agree that there was no “annoying” music played, and 80% will agree that the music played fit the mood perfectly.”

Finally, the sub-group suggests a Team member who will be responsible for making sure that each action step happens. The name of the Team member is added to the post-it note. 

Step 4 - Synch up the Thematic Plans (20 min)

 The whole Team looks over all the swim lanes to see if the timing between them synchs up. For example, the party activities may need to be decided on before the decision on the food is finalised to ensure that the food lends itself to the types of party activities that are planned. So the step of deciding on party activities may need to be moved up in time to allow the food planning and preparation to proceed on time. 

The Team also reviews the totality of the 100-Day Plan to determine if implementing all these actions will achieve the overall 100-Day Goal. If not, what is missing? What new themes need to be added? For example, if there are extreme introverts among the guests, we may need to create a “quiet space” that allows them to recover from all the interactions with others. Otherwise, their assessment of the party will likely be negative. If this is the case, the team might add a “please the introverts” theme, add a swim lane, and build a plan for the swim lane. 

Step 5 - Stress-Testing the Plan (15 min)

The Team reviews the overall plan and adjusts action steps as needed. It is okay to have the swim lanes crowded in the first month and less crowded in months two and three. 

Review sessions with the Challenge Strategist can be added to the Plan. 

Ask the Team if they need to add actions related to the following:

  • Communicating with key stakeholders?
  • Assessing the baseline or creating one if none exists?
  • Creating a way to track progress against the goal?

The Team Leader can volunteer or assign someone to transcribe the timeline into a work-planning template. Click on the button to download it. 

Action Planning Template Explained

Creating Planning Swim Lanes

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Thought starter reflection questions

Jot down thoughts on these questions – to the extent they are relevant to your experience at the session:
  • When did the mood in the event shift from “why are we here?” to “this could be interesting – I am excited to be part of this.” What triggered this shift? 
  • When did you have to go “off script” on the agenda or to change the agenda? What triggered this? What did you adjust? How did it go?
  • What was most surprising to you at the event?
  • What new insights did you gain about the issue at hand, and about the way leaders in the system interacted with each other?
  • Where did the conversation get stuck? What got it unstuck?
  • How would you characterise the level of trust among participants in the meeting? To what extent did this shift as the meeting progressed? To what do you attribute this shift, if indeed it happened?

Thought starter...

Reflection Questions 

Jot down thoughts on these questions – to the extent they are relevant to your experience at the session:

  • When did the mood in the event shift from “why are we here?” to “this could be interesting – I am excited to be part of this.” What triggered this shift? 
  • When did you have to go “off script” on the agenda or to change the agenda? What triggered this? What did you adjust? How did it go?
  • What was most surprising to you at the event?
  • What new insights did you gain about the issue at hand, and about the way leaders in the system interacted with each other?
  • Where did the conversation get stuck? What got it unstuck?
These are 100-Day Challenge Mentors. 

They did some work before you received the Challenge Note. This included:

  • Writing the Challenge Note, and making sure that the leaders of all the organisations represented on the team are comfortable with it – and committed to supporting the work of the team
  • Helping the leaders of these organisation recruit you and your colleagues to the team
  • Gathering some baseline data and other information that will help you and your teammates set your 100-Day goal and develop your plan.
  • Making sure all the preparations are made for a successful Lift-Off workshop, when you and your teammates will meet and get your 100-Day Challenge started. This includes venue, facilitation support, food, swags, comms, travel arrangements and whatever else is needed.

 

Mentors will participate in all or part of the Lift-Off Workshop, mostly at the start to provide context and answer questions, and at the end to give you and your teammates feedback about the goal and plan you develop.

During the 100 days following the Lift-Off Workshop, here’s what the Mentors will do:  

  • They will check in every two weeks with the team leaders to see how the team is doing and what support they and the team need.
  • They will keep other organisational leaders informed and engaged during the 100 days, and pull them in to help as needed.
  • They will participate in the last part of the Refuelling Workshop, halfway through the 100 days, to see what additional support the team needs, and to begin to plan with the team for sustainability and scale-up.
  • They will work with the team at the Sustainability Workshop to finalise recommendations on sustaining the results and building on the work of the team.