HOW TO USE THIS DOCUMENT
United We Dream Network is committed to empowering leaders in the field to take ownership of leading campaigns. To support affiliates and partners we have created a toolkit leaders can use to develop strong tactics and actions. The toolkit outlines the general national strategy and offers worksheets for teams to use in developing local tactics. The following toolkit includes:
Setting Goals, Outcomes, & Vision ……………..…….. Page 2
Setting up Team ………………………..……..………...……. Page 4
Planning & Delegation ………………...……...…….…….. Page 5
Team Accountability …………………………………………. Page 10
Debriefing, Learnings, & Celebration ………….…….. Page 11
Available Support ……………………………………....……. Page 12
Overview ……………………………………..…...... …….. Page 13
Setting Goals, Outcomes, and Vision for Action
Setting up a committed team to develop and execute a strong action begins with creating shared goals, outcomes, and vision. Below you will find a worksheet that will help you guide your team through this process.
GOALS
In developing an action you will want to set goals that will move your strategy forward and push you and your team to grow. In thinking about the action set goals include the number of participants you want to have join, the media attention you would like to have, you online impact, and how your organization can becomes stronger. In the space below place the goals for you action:
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OUTCOMES
After setting up your goals you will want to set up metrics to be able to measure success. With some goals it will be easy to include specific numbers. With others more subjective descriptions will need to be included. In the space below place the outcomes for your action:
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VISION
Along with setting goals and outcomes with your team you will need to develop a shared vision for the action. This starts with each team member to think about and draft out your own vision. In the space below draw out what you envision for the action. Each member of the team should take time to do the same. Make sure to include the four W’s, Who, What, Where, and When, while you are developing your vision.
Once everyone from the team has had an opportunity to draft out their vision set up a space where people can present the ideas, get critical feedback, and add on to other ideas. As folks are presenting their vision for the action use the space below to capture people’s ideas:
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To set a group vision you will want to lift up ideas that were common, bring together similar ideas, and also try to expand on any ideas that maybe strong but not similar to the others have said. You will be working towards developing a common vision. Use the space below to create and capture this new joint vision from leaders (draw new vision and write key words or phrases:
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YOUR LEADERSHIP TEAM
Teams are dynamic. They are made up of individuals working towards a common purpose or goal. Teams constantly go through change and are flexible to fit new circumstances. In organizing, this is even more the case. For each action we should bring together a new team to take ownership of its development and execution.
For each action we must think through who can take on ownership and responsibility. We need to pull from the diverse set of skills our leaders have. We will need to get clear commitment from them by directly asking them to join the team. Our teams can be a space where we challenge leaders to grow. Our teams can be a space where we bring in new leaders and give them real opportunity to contribute. We just need to intentional about creating this space.
As we step into action we need to focus on setting up a team that will be most effective at the time. There must be clear roles and responsibilities for each individual. Below is a sample of common roles used in developing actions:
ROLE / RESPONSIBILITY / TEAM MEMBERTeam Coordinator
Program Coordinator
Recruitment Coordinator
Online Lead
Media Lead
Artavism & Visuals Lead
Logistics Coordinator
As you develop your team new roles may need to be developed. An important point is that each of these roles ideally would create teams where work can be delegated out to expand the capacity of the organization.
Planning & Delegation
The first step to delegation and accountability is planning out what needs to get done. Many times because of the time constraints and urgency of campaigns we jump straight into work. Research shows that for every 1 minute you spend in planning, you will gain 10 in execution. There is a simple tool used by UWD Organizers that has led to hosting some amazing and powerful actions. But first we must be able to identify our big rocks.
BIG ROCKS/PRIORITIES
To get us to understand what big rocks are we can read the “Rocks in the Bucket Story “
An instructor was lecturing on the subject of time and he started with a bucket and enough big rocks to fill it up.
He put the big rocks in the bucket and asked us “is this full?”
Everyone said yes.
Then he put small stones around the big rocks and asked us if the bucket was full.
“Probably not” we said.
Next he dumped in some sand and gave it a shake and then asked us again, “is it full?”
“No,” we said.
Finally he grabbed a pitcher of water and filled the bucket to the top with water.
“Not it’s full!”
Then he asked. “What’s the point?”
Somebody said. “Well, there are gaps in time and you can always fit more into your life.”
“No.” he said. “The point is: Unless you put in the big rocks in first, you won’t get them in at all”
In other words: Plan times slots for your big issues before anything else or the inevitable sand and water issues will fill up your days and you won’t be able to fit in the big issues.
- Stephen R. Convey
The first step in planning is identify those big rocks or priorities. When the O-team starts actions we like to think about “buckets of work” or the overall category of work. These buckets are usually but not always in conjunction with the roles we identify as needed for the planning of the action. You will need to start brainstorming all the large and smaller rocks that will be needed to be accomplished. You start to place those rocks into the buckets of work where you can prioritize, set deadlines, and delegate work. All this can be done using a simple tool called the “workstream”.
WORKSTREAM
The workstream was developed by the Management Center, a non-profit in DC dedicated to supporting progressive organizations learn to use management practices to get superior results. When brought down to its basic concept the workstream is just a super organized “to do list”. Below you will see a sample workstream:
Sample Workstream
PROJECT | Place name of project and a brief description
DATES | Place date the project is due or event will happen
THIS PROJECT WILL BE A SUCCESS IF
Place you outcomes that describe what success looks like
WE WILL COORDINATE AND COMMUNICATE ALONG THE WAY BY
Decided on team meetings and other forms of communication
Area of Work(“Stream”) / Steps/Action / Due / MOCHA / Status/Notes
The workstream is a live document that needs to regularly updated. To start filling out the workstream you will want to place the name of the project with a brief description, set the due date project or day of event, and list out what success looks like. You will want to decide on regular team meetings or call to be able to check on the status of work, be able to get or give feedback, and to identify areas where team members need support or need to collaborate.
When filling out the chart you will want to start by placing all the Areas of Work or “Streams”. These are the broad category of work or “buckets” where other steps or actions will fall. Under each “stream” you will need to fill in the steps or actions portions. Think in terms of “big rocks”, what are the larger steps you need to accomplish to be able to work on the smaller details. As you move forward with work this will be an area where new items will need to place in as you get into the details and finalizing you plans. Next you will want to place due dates for each of the steps or actions. These due dates are not set in stone but are your best estimate of when steps or actions need to be completed. There will need to be accountability to the due dates so they must be agreed upon by the person taking on the responsibility of completing the step.
The last column is a place for your team to track progress. This should be updated during your chosen dates for meetings or calls to coordinate project.
DELEGATION & ASSIGNING RESPONSIBILITY
To explain and give you all a tool on how to delegate responsibility we will use another tool developed by the management center. It is called MOCHA and is described on the following
Assigning Responsibilities
Progressive organizations often place high value on involving multiple stakeholders inside or outside the organization in its work. Such widespread involvement can generate greater buy-in and better outcomes, but it can also generate confusion about who is responsible for what. The “MOCHA” model[1] can help managers more clearly articulate who should play what role throughout the course of work and thereby generate better results.
MANAGER | Assigns responsibility and holds owner accountable. Makes suggestions, asks hard questions, reviews progress, serves as a resource, and intervenes if the work is off-track.
OWNER | Has overall responsibility for the success or failure of the project. Ensures that all the work gets done (directly or with helpers) and that others are involved appropriately. There should only be one owner.
CONSULTED | Should be asked for input or needs to be bought in to the project.
HELPER | Assists with or does some of the work.
APPROVER | Signs off on decisions before they’re final. May be the manager, though might also be the executive director, external partner, or board chair.
Managers can use a very simple table to make clear who is assigned to what role. Note that the same individual might be assigned to more than one box:
Project: Setting agenda for annual convention
Manager / Owner / Consulted / Helper(s) / ApproverRuth (Dep. Director) / Carlos (Dir. of Programs) / Ray (board chair), all program team members, Alex / Alex (on logistics), Dean (for input from members) / Melissa (ED)
In your workstream there is a column named MOCHA. You will want to place your full MOCHA for each Area of Work or “Stream”. For the each step or action you will want to make sure to place the Owner and add any additional parts of the MOCHA that will be helpful for you to track work, ensure team members get support, and have clarity on responsibilities.
Team Accountability
Holding leaders accountable is one of the most difficult things to do in organizing. We are all deeply committed to the work but also are balancing out with our responsibilities to school, work, and family. When someone doesn’t meet a deadline or goal for the most part it’s not from disinterests or laziness. We know that so at times it’s hard to push them to meet a deadline. But without accountability our teams will not reach our goals. It’s about creating the correct type of accountability that holds leaders responsible but also encourages them and provides support.
TIPS ON DELEGATION
The first part of accountability is to get is making sure you team has good delegation. There are many times we hold back from delegation. We want to make sure the job is done right, and we are certain that we are the best people to get it done. It is not easy to give up control, especially when so much is on the line. The problem is that when we are unwilling to give up responsibility, we often take on too much, which leads us to get burned out. That is the result that successful delegation helps avoid.
There are simple steps to follow to ensure what is delegated out to team member is accomplished. The Management Center has identified three clear steps in the delegation process:
1. Agree on expectations. Ensure that the leader understands what you want achieved
2. Stay engaged. Make sure the work is on track to succeed before it’s too late.
3. Create accountability and learning. Reinforce responsibility for good or bad results, and draw lessons for the future
Someone from you team will need to be responsible for checking in and coaching the leaders who take on large responsibilities. Using your MOCHA that you set up in the previous section will help you identify who those team members are. As you set up individual responsibilities through delegation you will need to set up systems where the whole team can be accountable to each other.
TEAM ACCOUNTABILITY
Holding leaders accountable is one of the most difficult things to do in organizing. We are all deeply committed to the work but also are balancing out with our responsibilities to school, work, and family. When someone doesn’t meet a deadline or goal for the most part it’s not from disinterests or laziness. We know that so at times it’s hard to push them to meet a deadline or ask questions as to why something was not accomplished. But without accountability our teams will not reach our goals. It’s about creating the correct type of accountability that holds leaders responsible but also encourages them and provides support.
Working on large actions UWD leaders have set up a check-in and check-out systems to track the progress of work. These check-in and check-out meetings bring together the leaders who are holding major responsibilities for the planning and execution of the action. It has been best to do these in person but conference calls have also been effective. These meeting can be focused on group progress but can also be used as a space where the team can discuss ideas and make decisions. Below are sample agendas: