Build a team that works with this simple workshop

How we established the Information Technology Strategy 2016–2020 (IT Strategy) Action 7 and 8 team and delivered a new open source guide for the Victorian Government

We needed to deliver 6 new Victorian Government Digital Standards to uplift Victorian Public Servant (VPS) capability in digital delivery. To do this we needed to consult widely with subject matter experts from across government, research, design, test, seek approval and publish. We had looming public-facing deadlines, with the first deadline due less than 3 months after recruiting 2 new staff members.

So, I set out to create a workshop plan to establish our team on day 1 of the project.

What did I know?

• We had a small team of 3, so we needed to work well together and accomplish a lot.
• We had a mix of roles with some overlapping capabilities: project management, policy and content design.
• One team member was new to the branch while the other 2 were existing staff allocated or recruited to the project.
• We had looming deadlines, so we needed to make a start…yesterday.

What did we need to do to become a team?

• We needed to get to know each other beyond names and job titles and understand how to work together.
• We needed to know what we were good at and what we each could bring to the team.
• We needed to understand why the work was important and linking it to the outcomes beyond the deliverables themselves.

What did I learn?

• I learned that giving people the time and space to talk about how they like to work and what they are good at is time well spent and sets you up as a successful team.
• I learned that connecting project activities to the ‘why’ is critical to help staff engage with the work you need to do.

This workshop run sheet can help newly formed teams gain understanding of each other’s roles and build strong foundations for successful ongoing teamwork.

We originally used this format for a face to face workshop but have some tips to make it happen online. For instance, you can simply substitute physical post-its and butchers’ paper for online tools (think IdeaBoardz). You could even do a really lo-fi version where your team members simply add individual comments in a Skype for Business / Teams / Zoom / Slack chat, while talking through their answers with the group.

Before the workshop

• Find a 1 hour time slot that your whole team is available for this workshop. If your team is larger than 5, you’ll need more time.
• It’s important to find a time that everyone can attend for this team building session to be successful.

The important thing is to have the conversations and make the decisions as a team.

This is important for teams who are forming remotely, because without face-to-face interaction we’ve lost many of the subtle interactions that forge shared understanding and bonds across a team.

Activity 1: Who we are

Goals

• Help the team get to know each other.
• Encourage team members to self-identify their role and strengths.
• Show team members where roles overlap / differentiate.
• Help the team see how the people we have will help us deliver the project.

Instructions

Allowing a few minutes, each team member writes their answers to the following questions. Once everyone has finished, team members take it in turns to explain.

• What tasks will I do and what am I responsible for?
• What are the strengths I will bring to the team?
• Who can we rely on for help outside our team?

Activity 2: How we will work together

Goals

• Collaboratively agree our ways of working.
• Make a record of ways of working we can come back to and use as a reminder.

Instructions

As a team, discuss each question below. Document the final agreed answer on post-it notes (or in a shared electronic document):

• How will we communicate on a day-to-day basis?
• How often will we catch up in person?
• How will we run our in-person catch ups?
• Where will we store our knowledge base, files, decisions?
• Where will we track our tasks?
• How available do we expect each other to be?
• What values do we want to uphold as a team?
• What attitudes help us do our best work?
• How will we know we are working well as a team?
• How will we celebrate as a team?

Activity 3: Why this work is valuable

Goals

• To help the team connect their work to the value it will have for themselves and others.
• To provide the team a shared purpose and reason ‘to get out of bed every day’.

Instructions

As a team, go through each major deliverable for the project. Discuss and document the following:

• Why is this valuable for us?
• Why is this valuable for government?
• Why is this valuable for citizens?

After the workshop

• Make sure the outputs are visible and accessible to the team.
• Make sure meetings and systems are set up to enable agreed ways of working.

Note: This workshop is focussed on the ‘who’, the ‘how’ and the ‘why’. The ‘what’ (planning your program of work) usually needs its own session.

Want to know more?

You might also be interested in this competency framework (developed by UK innovation foundation Nesta). It will help you identify skills and attitudes to develop strong teams for successful public problem solving.

At its heart, the framework is a tool for reflection, prompting people to have conversations about the skills and attitudes that we’ve found to be fundamental to innovative teams.

Check out these blogs for how we engaged with government and industry to get the open source standard ready and for a practitioner perspective on why the open source standard is so important for government.