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Working Groups

What a Working Group is

A working group is a team that is assembled for a fixed amount of time to solve a specific problem or define a specific outcome. Working groups should be used to improve a part of the Banno culture or address an issue that is sufficiently complex to warrant the broad expertise of a small team to solve. Working groups are comprised of individuals with the most knowledge or competency in the area being worked on and can come from any part of the organization.

This document outlines how a working group is formed, how they work, and the expected output and outcomes of a working group.

Forming

  1. Working groups can be formed at any level of the team, provided the formation is sufficiently communicated and stakeholders are notified.
  2. Once it is determined a working group is needed for an item a person to facilitate the group should be identified.
  3. Create a public Slack channel for the proposed working group.
    1. If you can’t use a public Slack channel and feel you need a private one then maybe this isn’t actually a working group?
    2. Working group Slack channels should follow the format #wg-[name].
  4. A public announcement of the problem to solve, process to improve, evaluation to occur, etc., should be made in the Slack channel #team-digital, an email to staff@banno.com and added to the News/Updates. You should also Include a link to the public Slack channel for this working group in your announcement and a call to action for any interested in joining the group.
  5. The working group should include individuals with:
    1. Knowledge or competency in the area(s) that the group is working in.
    2. Influence or responsibility in area(s) that this working group will touch.
      1. An extreme example of what to avoid might be working on a suggestion for improved HR processes but not having anyone from HR in that working group.
    3. Strive for diversity of experiences in members and a cross section of the organization when forming the group as much as possible.
    4. Care and concern for the problem (need more definition here but trying to name that some who cares deeply about it should be able to participate).
  6. A group should have no more than five members.
    1. Beyond this and the group starts to be held back by its size.
    2. Banno is comprised of smart, mature, and capable people. If you want to join a working group and there are more than the ideal range you should ask yourself if you add something to the group that someone else doesn’t or if you simply find the topic interesting. In some cases it is not enough to simply be interested in a group’s topic, you should have something to add that is not being provided by someone else in the group.
    3. If a group can not determine the members and keep the number at five or below then the facilitator will make the determination after listening to the group’s potential members outline their experience and competency. The facilitator should strive for a balanced group that draws from as many parts of the organization as possible while also factoring in backgrounds/experiences.
    4. Those not part of the working group may weigh in on the working groups public Slack channel by asking questions, providing additional context around a topic, or participating in general conversation with the group. Those not part of the group should understand that at the end of the day the working group is trying to strike a balance between many groups within Banno and that this might result in a decision that deoptimizes one group for the greater good of Banno.
  7. Schedule a kick-off meeting with potential members.
    1. Determine and document:
    2. Purpose and charter of the group.
    3. Members of the group, including the facilitator
    4. Cadence of meetings

Working

  1. First meeting of the working group:
    1. Designate a facilitator that will keep the group on topic and drive the group to decisions. The facilitator is not in-charge and is not the decision maker.
    2. Create a public document that is pinned to the public Slack channel that includes:
      1. Members of the working group
        1. If there are decision makers for particular areas this should be noted.
      2. Outline exactly what the group is trying to solve, fix, improve, etc.
      3. What is success for this group? How will the group know when it is done? What is the expected outcome?
      4. Rituals of the group
        1. How often will you meet?
        2. Will decisions be made in Slack or only in group meetings?
        3. Where will working items be tracked?
          1. Jira? Trello? A list in a document somewhere?
        4. Schedule to completion if applicable and possible
  2. Things to keep in mind:
    1. Don’t just focus on what is wrong or what you are trying to fix/adjust. Determine what is working well in the situation and figure out how you can build on that success across the organization.
    2. Groups should meet regularly to keep progress going.
    3. Guard against scope creep in the group. Don’t be afraid to say that a topic is not in scope and should be pushed out to another group or a secondary phase of the existing group.

Completing

  1. Document outcome(s)
    1. Documents should live in BannoDocs(formerly known as wiki) or a DR in an appropriate repo.
      1. Org-wide decision records should exist in the DR section and follow the guidelines there
      2. It is entirely possible, and generally promoted, to have multiple atomic decision records rather than a large multi-faceted decision record
    2. Ensure you include the process of coming to the outcome, what alternatives were evaluated, and why the final outcome was the best option.
    3. Outline steps to implement the outcome
      1. Who is involved?
      2. Who is impacted?
      3. Schedule
      4. Specific process to implement
      5. What will the perception of this outcome be to the wider group at Banno?
      6. What will the perception of this outcome be to the wider JHA at large?
    4. It might be relevant to include a milestone in the future that evaluates the outcome for success or failure and if the outcome should be revisited given new information.
  2. Communicate the outcome
    1. The working group must present the outcome to a leadership or management sponsor.
      1. The sponsor must accept the decision on behalf of any group that is impacted by the working groups proposal in order for the working group to move forward. The sponsor must have the authority to make decisions that impact groups that are affected. If the sponsor does not accept they must provide feedback to the working group for them to refactor their decision.
      2. The working group will work with the leadership sponsor to determine the best path to communicating the outcome. Possible outcomes:
        1. Simple outcome: post a link to the outcome document in #team-banno.
        2. Complex outcome: A presentation in the monthly Banno All Hands.
          1. Complex outcome may include 1:1 conversations with pertinent individuals that the outcome affects.
          2. May also include layered leadership group conversations.
    2. If an outcome spans many teams or parts of the organization it will be necessary to get buy-in by evangelizing the outcome beyond the initial communication.
      1. Although a decision has been made the group will need to work to ensure the outcome is communicated effectively and follow through occurs.
      2. You will need to work to get cross organizational understanding of the problem, the possible solutions, and the decided upon solution. This should be covered in the outcome document.