How do I create a Game Plan for my team?

How to create the elements in a team Game Plan.

Overview

Team Game Plans communicate how a team will execute their part of the organization strategy for a particular period.

Game Plans are created at the start of the year and updated typically as a minimum at the start of each new period.

There are 7 core elements of a Game Plan:

• Vision & Purpose
• Values, Drivers & Principles
• OKRs
• Methods
• Commitments
• Interlocks
• What we will not do 

Teams will refer to both the organization strategy and higher-level team Game Plans to inform the decision making in their teams.

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2 ways to create Game Plan

Start fast by creating a draft on your own

You can do some pre-work on your own and with your manager to build the first version of the Game Plan and then share, discuss and improve the draft with the team.

This method may provide faster results and can also improve alignment towards higher level targets. 

Or run thorough workshops with your team to build the Game Plan

You can create Game Plans through deep involvement with the team through series of workshops, detailed below.

Involving the whole team from the start may allow for more engagement, and a wider platform to collect the best ideas for the Game Plan. It does take a bit more time, compared to the first method. 

Below you can see the steps to build the Game Plan with your team:

Game Plan Workshops

Workshop 1 - This can be run once a year (or as necessary)

Objectives

• Reinforce what is important to the team
• Articulate how the teamwork will together
• Create a team Vision & Purpose
• Create team Values, Drivers & Principles

Workshop 2 - This will run at the start of every period - and updated during the period

Objectives

• Identify priorities and goals for the upcoming period
• Create our OKRs for upcoming period
• Specify actions and methods to achieve the priorities and goals
• Highlight challenges, obstacles, and dependencies 

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Game Plan examples and workshop steps and questions used to derive them

Vision & Purpose

Steps

1. Review your organization's purpose and goals
2. Review higher level team Game Plans.
3. Decide the role your team plays in ensuring organizational success.

Questions to answer as a team

1. What is our team why?
2. What is the change / difference we want to make?
3. What do we as a team want to achieve?

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Values, Drivers & Principles

Steps

1. Consider team values: the beliefs and principles that guide team behavior and decision-making.
2. Consider team drivers: the factors that motivate and inspire the team to do their best work.
3. Consider team principles: the guidelines that the team uses to make decisions and interact with each other and external stakeholders.

Questions to answer as a team

1. What motivates us to pursue our vision and purpose?
2. How do we want to treat each other as team members?
3. What kind of relationships do we want to have with our stakeholders?

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OKRs

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Methods

Steps

1. Define how you want to achieve your Vision and goals.
2. Identify what needs to be done.
3. Identify the resources and time you need.

Questions to answer as a team

• How will we achieve our Vision?
• How will we achieve our goals - what specific actions do we need to take?
• What resources or time do we need to achieve our targets?

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Commitments

Steps

1. Confirm tasks and activities to achieve your Key Results.
2. Assign owners.
3. Agree individuals and/or teams that will be contributors.
4. Assign each a date to be completed by.

Questions to answer as a team

• What specific activities and tasks need to happen to achieve our Key Results?
• What are the most critical and urgent activities and tasks that will help us achieve our goals?
• Who is the best person to own each action?

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Interlocks

Steps:

1. Discuss where the interlocks with others occur.
2. Vote to prioritize and limit the number of interlocks to five.
3. Assign the top five interlocks to owners.

Questions to answer as a team

• Where are we dependent on others? 
• Who do we need support, participation, or a decision from to achieve our goals?
• Which interlocks are most critical to resolve, and how will we resolve them?

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What we will not do

Steps:

1. From our priorities, decide what will we not focus on during this period.
2. Decide what to to keep on our Game Plan but isn't a focus for the current period.

Questions to answer as a team

1. What did we decide not to include in our goals for this period?
2. What still feels important but is not a priority to help us reach our current goals this period?
3. What might be a distraction for us right now?

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