1. Complete this Phase 1 work plan
One remote meeting
Judith, other key NABCI players, and Mike complete this work plan via a Plan-to-Plan meeting hosted via interactive telephone or Zoom call (1-2 hours) collaboratively developing this mind map chart.
NABCI players will be required to study the mind map in deatail prior to the Plan-to-Plan meeting.
After finalization of the mind map Mike will convert it to a Gantt chart or other sequenced scheduling tool for the Project Managers to use for Phase 1 project implementation.
2. Make Phase 1 project
management decisions
1. 'Appoint' the Phase 1 Project Managers
I expect this to be pro forma to Judith and Mike, but this is the opportunity add any other key staff as needed; but it is better for this to be as a small team as possible.
2. Assign and empower an RPF Writing Team
or RFP Project Planning Staff
If an RFP Writing Team is needed, create it here and secure meaningful time commitments from these people. I expect that their work will be,
Reading assignments from the Project Managers (Judith and Mke).
Attending virtual planning meetings and coming to these fully prepared to discuss details of project management and make collaborative decisions on RFP development, participate in any asynchronous activities such as brainstorming.
And review and comment on drafts of the RFP.
3. Adopt general time lines for
RFP development and Phase 2 completion
I expect these are already known as Judith articulated, but these general time frames need to be known to the entire team working on RFP development. I see this as a short, simple communication and, probably, pro forma agreement. This team needs to know both the RFP development timeline and the timeline for the strategic plan development.
4. Define broad deliverables for Phase 2
This is to be a broadly defined list of work products you might like to include as 'deliverables' in the final RFP; but this is just a beginning. Later, the Writing Team will build out this list in considerable detail. At that time we will separate this brainstorm into 'Must-Have', 'Nice-to-Have', and 'Not-Needed' categories. For example, this tentative list of deliverables could include,
Stakeholder needs assessment.
SWOT or modified SWOT analysis.
Performance assessment of the current plan.
Detailed Fit-to-Purpose assessment of the current pan.
Contractor's recommendations for plan management/implementation or ongoing consultation.
Recommendations (or a plan) for monitoring and evaluating implementation and performance of the new plan.
etc.
5. Define internal reporting/approval/delegation of
authority protocols for RFP development
Simple list of decision points with needed approvals at each point that the RFP must go through. For example,
Project Manager (Judith)
Project Planning Team
NABCI ExCom
AFWA leadership
AFWA legal
AFWA financials
Stakeholders (if included, they would likely be in a 'keep informed' category, not a decision making role)
NABCI funders/grantors (again, most likely a 'keep informed' category, not a decision making role)
3. 'Look Back' analysis of current plan
(i.e., Fit to Purpose Analyses)
This is an initial assessment so the Writing Team knows how to scope the RFP. For example, considering the topic of review/modification to the NABCI goals, your Phase 2 contractor needs to know which deliverable to produce,
Major revision
Modearte tweaking
Minor tweaking
No substantive change, editing only
For examle, this can be done with an ashnchronous tool (e.g., Mike's Tweat-O-Meter survey) and/or synchronous, interactive remote meetings of Writing Team members or, even, a broader audience as you decide is needed.
1. The reason we exist
Vision Statement
Mission Statement
Value Proposition
2. Desired results
Goal I
Subgoals
(Objectives)
Goal II
Subgoals
(Objectives)
Goal III
Subgoals
(Objectives)
3. Implementation performance
Decide if this is the right time to 'Look Back' at implementation successes of Actions and Tasks in the current plan.
Propbably use a combination of asynchronous and synchronous tools.
But, this will be a large work effort, not one I have included in this budegiting propsal.
4. RFP Content Decisions
1. Develop the detailed time line;
focused around explicit decision points
2. Brainstorm and decide on a list of required
Phase 2 deliverables from your contractor
For example,
Develop a work plan?
Define stakeholder involvement requirements? Reporting requirement?
'Look Back' Aanalysis
'Look Forward' Analysis
Facilitator (includes conflict resolution) of decision making by the Writing Team or other NABCI groups?
Meeting convener and platform provider?
Write the drafts of the evolving plan?
Provide secondary staff like note takers, adjunct facilitators in the meetings are large, etc.
3. Format decisions
Decide between specifying a desired format versus letting the contractor propose a format. If your last plan is sufficient, just use that format again.
Decide if there are any ancilliary products you want your contractor to create once the plan is final (.e.g., a video presenting the plan to your community, interactive posting on your website, brochure, webpage copy). Convert these to explicit deliverables in the RFP.
Decide if you need any special chapter needs (e.g., historical review of NACBI, list of past accomplishments, list of testimonials from affected customers and partners). Convert these to explicit deliverables in the RFP.
4. Content decisions
This is the place to decide,
What chapters you want in the final plan.
How far down in the plan hierarchy you want the contractor to include in his/her research, facilitations, and plan writing,
Vision
Mission
Value proposition
Goals
Sub-goals
Actions
Tasks
5. Prepare the RFP
1. Define detailed deliverables for
Phase 2 to write into the RFP
Plan content deliverables
Carry over and finalize the list from Activity 4.
For example,
Develop a work plan?
Define stakeholder involvement requirements? Reporting requirement?
'Look Forward' Analysis: assessment of the work environment that NABCI will be heading into in the next few years.
'Look Back' Aanalysis: how ‘fit-to-purpose’ are the components of the existing strategic plan in response to that assessment.
Facilitator (includes conflict resolution) of decision making by the Writing Team or other NABCI groups?
Meeting convener and platform provider?
Write the drafts of the evolving plan?
Provide secondary staff like note takers, adjunct facilitators in the meetings are large, etc.
Decide if you want the contracto to create secondary deliverables like videos, brochures, etc.
Decide how far down in the plan hierarchy you want the contractor to include (from Activity 4.4).
Vision
Mission
Value proposition
Goals
Sub-goals
Actions
Tasks
Work plan
For example,
Gantt chart or other task sequencing and scheduling tool.
Reporting expectations, mechanisms and protocols
for contractor and interactions with NABCI leadership
For example, how do you want your Phase 2 contractor to interact with,
NABCI Manger
EcComm
Stakeholders
AFWA Leadership
etc.?
Frequency and method of status reporting from your Phase 2 contractor?
Plan for mid-course changes
For example,
NACBI expectations for early-warning/rapid-response capacity (likely not needed here)?
NACBI expectations for contractor initiative to do independent conflict resolution and problem solving?
NACBI expectations for contractor initiative to propose solutions along with problem identification?
etc.
Interim (milestone) work products
For example,
List of milestones and sub-deliverables expected at each (usually ad hoc oral reports, status report meetings, chapter drafts, closing reports on research tasks, if any).
Schedule for routine check-in reporting (usually an increment of time such as monthly or by the phases of the planning process that is in the contract). Balance between enough reporting to keep you informed but not engage your contractor in so much reporting that it might impeded progress on the deliverables (i.e., balance contractor time allocation beteen status reporting with product development).
The number and timing for delivery of drafts of the evolving plan (NACBI should provide for the contractor its requirements and also make commitments for NACBI responsciveness for review and decision making on these drafts).
Contractor experience requirements
Usually not an issue, but if you have desires like, fish and wildlife, planning, mediation, senior executive, or other experience you wish the contractor's principal staff to have, spell it out.
Payments
Propose or ask in the RFP for the contrator to propose a payment plan (usually geared around milestones in the project plan).
2. Drafting
Format
Give the contractor any needed explict direction on your format and content expectations.
Work assignments
The usual commitments about what is to be done (i.e., spell out a scope of work for individual tasks) and who will do it.
Internal review process
For each draft of the plan, give your contractor a definative list of audiences, expectations from these specific audiences, and commitments NCBI is making to the contractor for providing review inputs (e.g., deadline setting, documenting changes, who is final decision maker for deciding which review inputs to use and not use).
I can suggest ahead of time that some kind of asynchronous input gathering tool be used to easily capture a record of these in one place (e.g., Goggle doc; blog conversation, or other shared-authoring tool).
DELIVERABLE
The Deliverable from this Phase 1 work
is an RFP for creating a new
NABCI Strategic Plan
NABCI Plan to Plan - Option 1
2
67
NABCI
Plan to Plan
Option 1
1. Complete this Phase 1 work plan
One remote meeting
Judith, other key NABCI players, and Mike complete this work plan via a Plan-to-Plan meeting hosted via interactive telephone or Zoom call (1-2 hours) collaboratively developing this mind map chart.
NABCI players will be required to study the mind map in deatail prior to the Plan-to-Plan meeting.
After finalization of the mind map Mike will convert it to a Gantt chart or other sequenced scheduling tool for the Project Managers to use for Phase 1 project implementation.
2. Make Phase 1 project
management decisions
1. 'Appoint' the Phase 1 Project Managers
I expect this to be pro forma to Judith and Mike, but this is the opportunity add any other key staff as needed; but it is better for this to be as a small team as possible.
2. Assign and empower an RPF Writing Team
or RFP Project Planning Staff
If an RFP Writing Team is needed, create it here and secure meaningful time commitments from these people. I expect that their work will be,
Reading assignments from the Project Managers (Judith and Mke).
Attending virtual planning meetings and coming to these fully prepared to discuss details of project management and make collaborative decisions on RFP development, participate in any asynchronous activities such as brainstorming.
And review and comment on drafts of the RFP.
3. Adopt general time lines for
RFP development and Phase 2 completion
I expect these are already known as Judith articulated, but these general time frames need to be known to the entire team working on RFP development. I see this as a short, simple communication and, probably, pro forma agreement. This team needs to know both the RFP development timeline and the timeline for the strategic plan development.
4. Define broad deliverables for Phase 2
This is to be a broadly defined list of work products you might like to include as 'deliverables' in the final RFP; but this is just a beginning. Later, the Writing Team will build out this list in considerable detail. At that time we will separate this brainstorm into 'Must-Have', 'Nice-to-Have', and 'Not-Needed' categories. For example, this tentative list of deliverables could include,
Stakeholder needs assessment.
SWOT or modified SWOT analysis.
Performance assessment of the current plan.
Detailed Fit-to-Purpose assessment of the current pan.
Contractor's recommendations for plan management/implementation or ongoing consultation.
Recommendations (or a plan) for monitoring and evaluating implementation and performance of the new plan.
etc.
5. Define internal reporting/approval/delegation of
authority protocols for RFP development
Simple list of decision points with needed approvals at each point that the RFP must go through. For example,
Project Manager (Judith)
Project Planning Team
NABCI ExCom
AFWA leadership
AFWA legal
AFWA financials
Stakeholders (if included, they would likely be in a 'keep informed' category, not a decision making role)
NABCI funders/grantors (again, most likely a 'keep informed' category, not a decision making role)
3. 'Look Back' analysis of current plan
(i.e., Fit to Purpose Analyses)
This is an initial assessment so the Writing Team knows how to scope the RFP. For example, considering the topic of review/modification to the NABCI goals, your Phase 2 contractor needs to know which deliverable to produce,
Major revision
Modearte tweaking
Minor tweaking
No substantive change, editing only
For examle, this can be done with an ashnchronous tool (e.g., Mike's Tweat-O-Meter survey) and/or synchronous, interactive remote meetings of Writing Team members or, even, a broader audience as you decide is needed.
1. The reason we exist
Vision Statement
Mission Statement
Value Proposition
2. Desired results
Goal I
Subgoals
(Objectives)
Goal II
Subgoals
(Objectives)
Goal III
Subgoals
(Objectives)
3. Implementation performance
Decide if this is the right time to 'Look Back' at implementation successes of Actions and Tasks in the current plan.
Propbably use a combination of asynchronous and synchronous tools.
But, this will be a large work effort, not one I have included in this budegiting propsal.
4. RFP Content Decisions
1. Develop the detailed time line;
focused around explicit decision points
2. Brainstorm and decide on a list of required
Phase 2 deliverables from your contractor
For example,
Develop a work plan?
Define stakeholder involvement requirements? Reporting requirement?
'Look Back' Aanalysis
'Look Forward' Analysis
Facilitator (includes conflict resolution) of decision making by the Writing Team or other NABCI groups?
Meeting convener and platform provider?
Write the drafts of the evolving plan?
Provide secondary staff like note takers, adjunct facilitators in the meetings are large, etc.
3. Format decisions
Decide between specifying a desired format versus letting the contractor propose a format. If your last plan is sufficient, just use that format again.
Decide if there are any ancilliary products you want your contractor to create once the plan is final (.e.g., a video presenting the plan to your community, interactive posting on your website, brochure, webpage copy). Convert these to explicit deliverables in the RFP.
Decide if you need any special chapter needs (e.g., historical review of NACBI, list of past accomplishments, list of testimonials from affected customers and partners). Convert these to explicit deliverables in the RFP.
4. Content decisions
This is the place to decide,
What chapters you want in the final plan.
How far down in the plan hierarchy you want the contractor to include in his/her research, facilitations, and plan writing,
Vision
Mission
Value proposition
Goals
Sub-goals
Actions
Tasks
5. Prepare the RFP
1. Define detailed deliverables for
Phase 2 to write into the RFP
Plan content deliverables
Carry over and finalize the list from Activity 4.
For example,
Develop a work plan?
Define stakeholder involvement requirements? Reporting requirement?
'Look Forward' Analysis: assessment of the work environment that NABCI will be heading into in the next few years.
'Look Back' Aanalysis: how ‘fit-to-purpose’ are the components of the existing strategic plan in response to that assessment.
Facilitator (includes conflict resolution) of decision making by the Writing Team or other NABCI groups?
Meeting convener and platform provider?
Write the drafts of the evolving plan?
Provide secondary staff like note takers, adjunct facilitators in the meetings are large, etc.
Decide if you want the contracto to create secondary deliverables like videos, brochures, etc.
Decide how far down in the plan hierarchy you want the contractor to include (from Activity 4.4).
Vision
Mission
Value proposition
Goals
Sub-goals
Actions
Tasks
Work plan
For example,
Gantt chart or other task sequencing and scheduling tool.
Reporting expectations, mechanisms and protocols
for contractor and interactions with NABCI leadership
For example, how do you want your Phase 2 contractor to interact with,
NABCI Manger
EcComm
Stakeholders
AFWA Leadership
etc.?
Frequency and method of status reporting from your Phase 2 contractor?
Plan for mid-course changes
For example,
NACBI expectations for early-warning/rapid-response capacity (likely not needed here)?
NACBI expectations for contractor initiative to do independent conflict resolution and problem solving?
NACBI expectations for contractor initiative to propose solutions along with problem identification?
etc.
Interim (milestone) work products
For example,
List of milestones and sub-deliverables expected at each (usually ad hoc oral reports, status report meetings, chapter drafts, closing reports on research tasks, if any).
Schedule for routine check-in reporting (usually an increment of time such as monthly or by the phases of the planning process that is in the contract). Balance between enough reporting to keep you informed but not engage your contractor in so much reporting that it might impeded progress on the deliverables (i.e., balance contractor time allocation beteen status reporting with product development).
The number and timing for delivery of drafts of the evolving plan (NACBI should provide for the contractor its requirements and also make commitments for NACBI responsciveness for review and decision making on these drafts).
Contractor experience requirements
Usually not an issue, but if you have desires like, fish and wildlife, planning, mediation, senior executive, or other experience you wish the contractor's principal staff to have, spell it out.
Payments
Propose or ask in the RFP for the contrator to propose a payment plan (usually geared around milestones in the project plan).
2. Drafting
Format
Give the contractor any needed explict direction on your format and content expectations.
Work assignments
The usual commitments about what is to be done (i.e., spell out a scope of work for individual tasks) and who will do it.
Internal review process
For each draft of the plan, give your contractor a definative list of audiences, expectations from these specific audiences, and commitments NCBI is making to the contractor for providing review inputs (e.g., deadline setting, documenting changes, who is final decision maker for deciding which review inputs to use and not use).
I can suggest ahead of time that some kind of asynchronous input gathering tool be used to easily capture a record of these in one place (e.g., Goggle doc; blog conversation, or other shared-authoring tool).