How to run a Game Plan workshop

A suggested agenda of a Game Plan workshop for teams and questions to use in a Digital Facilitation.

Game Plan Workshop – a suggested high-level agenda 

 

Who
  • Function and Team level workshops facilitated by their manager
Pre-workshop steps
Decide the best format to run the workshop with your team:
    • Digital Facilitation
    • Whiteboard tool like Mural or Miro
    • Post Its / Sticky Notes
When utilizing Game Plan questions, it's crucial to find a method that ensures every team member can contribute effectively.

Agenda 
  • Share the context - any higher-level team and function Game Plans as a baseline for a team Game Plan.
  • Explain the rationale for why the organization is using Game Plans.
  • Complete the core components of the Game Plan using the Game Plan Questions.
  • Set outcome-based goals (OKRs) for the upcoming period.

Post workshop steps
  • Share and discuss your Game Plan with a manager and highlight Methods and Obstacles.
  • Put Game Plan and OKRs in TG
  • Ensure Game Plans continue to reflect the current OKR status during weekly or biweekly check-ins.

Core Components - Game Plan Questions

1. 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?

2. 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?
  4. How do we want to work together as a team?

3. Objectives and Key Results


For detailed information on how to plan and create OKRs see Planning OKRs for the upcoming period 

4. Methods

Steps

  1. Define how you want to achieve your Vision and goals.
  2. Identify what needs to be done and how you will need to work together.
  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?
  • How do we track our progress?
  • How do we ensure we are able to react to challenges?

5. 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?


6. Interlocks

Steps:

  1. Discuss where there might be obstacles or unclear dependencies with others.
  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?


7. What we will not do

Steps:

  1. From our priorities, decide what will we not focus on during this period.
  2. Decide what 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?