Taskboarding a Project

• Introduce the exercise to the group as a key project management and time management tool and explain its aim and learning objectives.
• The whole group, including yourself as project manager, should work together on this exercise. Distribute the task sheet.
• Encourage the group to brainstorm the tasks required to complete the chosen project. Each task, along with the timescale required to complete it, should be written individually on a Post-it note and stuck onto the flipchart or wall. All team members can write and stick at the same time.
• When they have finished, ask the group to re-order the Post-it notes chronologically on the flipchart.

Review Activity (15 Minutes)

When the group are satisfied with the sequence, stand back and review it, to check that it is the most logical and effective order. Consider the following:

• Is this really the most effective sequence?
• Can you identify any problem areas, or blockages in the chain? What part of the process might be causing, or could potentially cause, problems?
• If so, why are they/might they occur(ring), and what action is needed to resolve them?
• Would it help to change the sequence?

Apply Learning (15 Minutes)

• If you are using this exercise to resolve problems with a current project, or anticipate problems in an imminent project, then the group should draw up an action plan for addressing problem areas or blockages or changing the sequence. Assign priorities, timescales and responsibilities as necessary.
• To ensure that the key learning points from this exercise are applied to the project, and to check on how the solutions to the problems are progressing, it is a good idea to arrange a follow-up session with the group a week or so after completing the exercise, to review what you learned, what has been put into practice, and what further support is needed to help the project team implement the action plan.
• If the processes and flow require further, more detailed analysis, you may wish to use a Gantt chart. Alternatively, you could use ‘Critical Path Analysis’, which describes the comprehensive project management model.

Taskboarding – Task Sheet

Everyone knows how important thorough preparation and planning is when undertaking a project of some significance. Taskboarding is an excellent tool for analyzing the processes involved in a project: to either plan ahead for a new project, anticipating potential problems before they arise; or to review a current project, pinpointing areas of difficulty and the causes behind them.

Use this exercise to break down a project into a logical and sequential series of steps, and, thus, to identify how the process can be improved.

Task

• As a group, take the following steps to analyze your project:
• Write all relevant activities and tasks on separate sticky-backed notes or filing cards, along with the timescales required for completing them. These should all be essential to the completion of the project. You can all complete these sticky-backed notes simultaneously. Tell the others your thoughts as they occur, write them down and stick them onto a flipchart or wall.
• Place them in a logical sequence to represent the phases of the project.
• It is important to remember that some tasks can run concurrently and that the ordering of certain activities will not matter.
• Continue to arrange the tasks in sequence until the whole group is agreed on the most logical workflow.
• Stand back and review the completed process. Is this really the most effective sequence? Can you identify any problem areas with this sequence, or blockages in the chain? If so, why are they occurring, and what action is needed to clear them? Can you change the sequence?
• The advantage of the sticky-backed notes is that they can be moved easily as you analyze the process and see more logical steps in the workflow.