Smart plans
Featured in the Developing Teams: The Leader's Role training manual
By Aileen Goodman & Caroline Love
Category: Team Building
Credit price: 4 download credits (Single user)
Planning is an attempt to control the future. Some people just 'let it happen'; team leaders cannot adopt this approach. They have to think ahead, sometimes a few years ahead, sometimes just to the task ahead. Plans usually have constraints - such as staffing, time, objectives, budgets - and these are often given by others. However, planning involves the same skills and processes, whether it is in a work setting such as introducing a new communication system, or a home setting like moving house.
Small teams work through a structured process to plan a social event. They use their experiences to learn about both planning and about how they learn from working together. To start the activity, participants think about their personal objectives, before the teams clarify the team objectives. They then review their learning and identify the behaviours that help the team work together. Each team then works through the rest of the planning process, using a proforma for drawing up a schedule of tasks. Team members give feedback to each other about their learning and follow this with a fun, competitive exercise to reinforce the planning process. Participants complete a learning log individually to finish the activity.
Who is it for: This training activity is intended for use by trainers with team leaders to help them recognise the need to involve their teams in planning.
| Resource Type: | Activity |
| Min Group Size: | 6 |
| Max Group Size: | 20 |
| Typical Duration: | 02:30:00 |
| No of Pages: | 27 |
Resources: View standard resources for Fenman training activities
Additional resources: Coloured sheets of A4 paper - a different colour for each group member; and 3 different colours for photocopying TB15.11 on to; A C5 envelope for each team; A bag of stones of different sizes, textures, colour and shapes, for prizes; An atlas of France an
Purpose: This training activity is intended for use by trainers with team leaders to help them explore the use of analytical planning as a team-learning opportunity, and to enable them to recognise their role in involving their teams in the planning process. It can be used in programmes on Developing Teams: The Leader's Role, and in other team programmes such as Leading a Team, Team Communications, and Team Development. It is particularly useful for Processes and Techniques for Planning.
Download the training activity, Smart plans as featured in the Fenman training manual; Developing Teams: The Leader's Role