Task and Finish: Programme Setup
The planning checklist for one cohort. Do the thinking before you book the room.
For whoever is organising a cohort, once a decision-maker has said yes. It takes about an hour, plus a colleague to sense-check it.
Rule: if a row is still blank when you send the first invitation, you haven’t finished planning.
1. Aim and success
| Question | Your answer |
|---|---|
| What should change? Which teaching, by whom? Not “better teaching”: better how? | |
| What counts as success? Set the bar now, before anyone has attended. | |
| Scope: which staff groups, which sites, how many cohorts? | |
| Who owns it? Which person or team is accountable for delivery and follow-up? | |
| Do the suggested outcomes fit your learners? The five outcomes are written for the content. Check them against who is coming and what they need; reword or replace what doesn’t fit. | |
| Is academic credit wanted? If so, agree it with the institution now: see Academic credit. |
2. Stakeholders
| Who | What they need from you | When |
|---|---|---|
| Sponsor | The Briefing for Decision-Makers and a clear ask: protected time | Before you announce it |
| Participants’ line managers | A short note: what this is, the time it takes, and that you’d like them to ask participants what changed | Before invitations |
| Participants | Honest framing: three 90-minute sessions, small tasks in between, and one session of their own to rebuild | Invitation |
| Facilitator | The session guides, and a named colleague to debrief with | Before Session 1 |
| L&D or CPD lead | Attendance record for portfolios and revalidation | After Session 3 |
The stakeholder most often missed is the line manager. Change at work depends on whether people are supported and held to account afterwards, not just on the training (Level 3 of the Kirkpatrick Model; see Kirkpatrick). Brief managers before the programme, not after.
3. Participants
| Question | Your answer |
|---|---|
| Who, and how many? Aim for 8–12. It works from 6 to 20. | |
| How are they chosen? Volunteers, nominated or required? Required attendance changes the mood in the room; tell the facilitator. Volunteers may flatter the results. | |
| What will they bring? One session they teach, or would like to teach. | |
| Access and equity: dyslexia, colour vision, English as an additional language, shift patterns, caring responsibilities. Plan for these before inviting. | |
| Minimum numbers: if you can’t confirm 6 two weeks before Session 1, postpone. |
4. Logistics
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Dates | Three sessions, 90 minutes each, one week apart. Same day and time each week if you can. |
| Room | Screen, whiteboard, chairs that move. Book all three now. |
| Facilitator and cover | Both named. The cover knows where the materials are. |
| Kit | Ask cards, pens, the canvas printed for each person, the bad-slide pack. See the Technical Brief. |
| Tools | Free Mentimeter and Kahoot accounts, set up and tested. Check local IG first. |
| Comms | Who sends invitations, reminders and the 30- and 90-day checks? |
5. Evaluation
Decide this before Session 1, not after Session 3. Use the design in the Evaluation Toolkit, including its governance steps, and name the person who will send the 30- and 90-day checks. If that’s you and you might move on, hand it to a colleague now.
6. Risks
| Risk | Likelihood | Impact | Mitigation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Participants pulled back to clinical work | High | High | Protected time agreed in writing with line managers before invitations |
| Facilitator unavailable | Medium | High | Named cover with all materials |
| People drop out after Session 1 | Medium | High | Reminder two days before; the ask card is read back at the start of each session |
| Required attendees arrive disengaged | Medium | Medium | Facilitator acknowledges it openly at the start |
| Tech fails | High | Low | Every tool has a low-tech fallback |
| No follow-up data | High | High | Name the follow-up owner and put the dates in their diary today |
| Nothing changes back at work | High | High | Brief line managers; each participant agrees with a named person (often their manager) who will hold them to it at 30 days, and the support they need |
Add your own rows. The risks you skip here are the ones that surprise you.
Sign-off
- Sponsor has read the Briefing and agreed protected time
- All three dates and the room are booked
- Line managers are briefed
- Facilitator and cover are named and have the session guides
- Mentimeter and Kahoot are set up and tested, with fallbacks ready
- The 30- and 90-day follow-up owner is named and the dates are in their diary