Overview of the Start-up Workshop
Overview of the Start-Up Workshop
The Start-Up Workshop Kicks Off the 30-Day Race
At this Workshop, the Team sets its 30-Day Goal and develops its 30-Day Plan. The Team also elects its Team Leader, and decides on its governance structure (Team Operating Agreement).
If the Focus Area in the Project Charter is a general direction of the race, the 30-Day Goal is the precise destination of the race. And the Work Plan is the roadmap of the race – how the Team will get to that destination.
As part of the workshop, The Team will experience self-governance, inclusive decision-making, and other new ways of working that signal that it is NOT business as usual.
Day ONE of the 30-Day race begins the day after the Start-Up Workshop.
Workshop Outputs
Watch the video to understand the “What” and “Why” of the Start-up Workshop (note this is for 100-Day Projects (Challenges). But the same elements apply.
Key outputs
- 30-Day Goal, with some unique elements you will learn about.
- 30-Day Plan that involves some experimentation (not business as usual).
- Team Agreement – that sets out the way the Team will manage itself in the next 30 days
How do we Know that the Start-up Workshop was Successful?
Naturally, it’ll be important that the team generates the three outputs of the workshop that are outlined above. Or at least that good progress has been made towards generating these outputs.
Beyond this, here are other softer signs of success that can be observed by the end of the workshop:
- Team members have begun to act like a high-performing team: They feel excited about the commitment they made (the 30-day Goal they set), they are a little anxious about it, and they are eager to start implementing the plan they developed.
- Team members developed connections with each other, and they have begun to understand and appreciate the skills that each one brings to this team effort.
- Team members are looking forward to the next 30 days as a fun and enriching experience.
Start-Up Workshop Main Agenda Items
What makes these 30-Day Projects unique?
Setting our 30-Day Goal
Shaping our Team Agreement
Developing our 30-Day Plan
These main agenda items are sandwiched in between an opening session and a closing session. Project Sponsors participate in these two sessions, while Team Coaches play a lead role guiding the Team throughout the Workshop, and facilitating Team conversations.
In the opening session, Project Sponsors answer questions Team members may have about the Challenge Note. And in the closing session, Project Sponsors give the Team feedback about their 30-Day Goal and 30-Day Plan. And hopefully give them their blessing!
Unlike traditional workshops, there are no long speeches at the start. It is important that right from the start 30-Day Team members feel that this is not business as usual. They can ask questions, and they can expect frank answers to these. The feeling of the Workshop needs to be that of an extended working session: informal and interactive.
Questions Frequently Asked By Team Members
Below are questions Challenge Strategists or Team Coaches might get before or during the Start-Up Workshop, with suggested responses. If any of these responses feels “off key” to you, please reach out to the World of Impact by email or during the Ask a Guru Office Hour and share your concern. This may help clarify things that are important to be aware of at the Workshop.
What do you (Challenge Strategist or Team Coach) think the 30-Day Goal should be?
“This is up to you, the 30-Day Team. All we ask is that the 30-Day Goal you set meets the SMURF attributes that you will learn about you later in the workshop.”
Who will be at the Start-Up Workshop?
“The Team and the Coach. The Project Sponsors will be there at the start to answer questions about the Project Charter, and she will be there at the end to give feedback on the 30-Day Goal the Team sets and the 30-Day Plan the Team develops.”
What preparations do we need to do for the Start-Up Workshop?
“Read the Project Charter, and bring your questions about it to the Workshop.
Talk to your colleagues about the focus of the 30-Day Project, and solicit their perspectives about the issues and potential solutions.
If there is data about the focus area that describes past or current performance, bring this with you to the Workshop.”
Could I send someone from my department to represent me, as I may not be able to free myself up for the whole day?
“No. If you miss the Start-Up Workshop, it will be very difficult for you to rejoin the 30-Day Team. In fact, the group of people invited to the Workshop become a team during the Workshop.”
Who is the Team Leader?
“The Team Leader will be elected by the 30-Day Team, at the Workshop.”
What happens after the 30 days are over?
“The work of the Team will be done. But work will continue to ensure that the impact the Team makes is sustained and is replicated. This will be the responsibility of the Project Sponsors. Some Team members may continue to be involved, but this will be determined with the Project Sponsors towards the end of the 30 days.”
What if we are not able to make any progress on the Project?
“Some Projects are by design really tough to tackle. A 30-Day Team that collaborated, innovated and persisted despite the setbacks must be viewed as successful, even if little progress is made on the Project. In these situations, the value of the work done by the 100-Day Team will be in the learning and insights gained about the focus area of the Project.”
Can we implement idea X (specific idea) during the 30 days?
“It is up to the Team to decide on this. The Project Charter provides guidelines and guardrails. Please be mindful of these. And if in doubt whether an idea is OK to implement, consult with the Project Sponsor after you have developed your 30-Day Plan.”
What extra resources will we have?
“To the extent possible, use your existing resources. If additional resources are needed or need to be allocated, you can make a case for this to the Project Sponsors when you present your 30-Day Plan at the end of the Workshop.”
What is our budget?
“If the 30-Day Plan the team develops requires a budget, the Team will need to raise the funds for it, with support of the Project Sponsors of course.”
What if you don’t know the answer?
Why This is the Most Important Workshop
A quick google search on “team definition in business” yielded 518 million entries. The first 20 of these had two things in common:
A team is a group of people, two or more, with a shared goal.
Most likely, all other 517,999,980 entries will have had these two things in them.
The Start-Up Workshop is where a group of people become a team. The group walks into the workshop with a Challenge, and they leave with a shared goal: something they committed to accomplishing in 30 days. By definition, they become a team by the end of the workshop!
And what is so special about becoming a team?
Conventional wisdom and a lot of research suggest that teams get things done. They get things done because they trust each other, they rely on each other, they support each other, they encourage each other, and they help each other grow and develop as professionals and as human beings. Not all teams are blessed with all these attributes, but the most productive and successful teams are.
The Start-Up workshop is designed to mould groups, often strangers, into the most effective kind of teams – ones that have all the above attributes – and more. We refer to teams that experienced the 30-Day Projects Start-Up Workshop as “30-Day Teams.”
