INTRODUCTION
RAP—Review and Action Planning— is the single most powerful tool to achieve your organization's goals and simultaneously develop your managers and reduce the burden on the Executive Director.

Many nonprofit organizations conduct a monthly or quarterly management meeting where the management team meets and analyzes the organization's finances. Unfortunately, many of these meetings are not productive and some are just a down right waste of time. In the typical session, the Executive Director or Business Manager leads a line-by-line discussion of each item, comparing budget to actual, and this month with the same month last year. Whenever there is a variance, the appropriate individual is called upon to explain the discrepancy.

Before long, the individuals involved are devoting a great deal of time preparing their explanations and excuses. Much discussion is spent on the accuracy of the data. By the end of such a session, the organization usually has a better idea of why the "actuals" did not conform to the budgeted figures, but there has been no problem-solving or commitment to make changes so that next month's performance is improved. The climate in such a meeting is often one of "blaming", "explaining" and "justifying." Once such a meeting is over, there is a lot of wiping of brows and feelings of "I survived that one," BUT little or no real benefit to the organization and its performance.

Faust Management Corporation and have developed a different approach to these meetings which aims at accomplishing these results:

1. Develop each participant's managerial effectiveness.
2. Increase the responsibility that each participant takes for the organization's performance as a whole.
3. Keep the energy and value high in review meetings.
4. Create a proactive, problem-solving organizational culture.
5. Successfully delegate more and more from the Executive Director to department heads.
6. Break down barriers between departments.

The period of the review (e.g.: weekly, monthly or quarterly) is selected so that there is enough time between reviews to collect meaningful data and to take meaningful action to impact the results. Some organizations review too often, others too seldom, and many review the wrong data.

In most organizations a four-hour RAP meeting is the minimal time. It takes this long to get used to the RAP process and to truly solve problems. If all the work is done sooner, just end the meeting early. This is preferred to setting a one or two hour meeting and running short of time.

When the RAP meeting is functioning well, it is at the very core of the management process to deliver the organization's desired performance.

Preparation for a RAP Meeting

1. Management reports must be compiled and published very quickly after the closing of the month or quarter. First increase speed and then improve accuracy; not vice versa.

2. Information/data the reports should provide:
   • Financial reports must compare planned (budgeted) performance with actual on both a period (this month or this quarter) and year-to-date basis. Comparisons with similar periods last year are also very useful (i.e. this month compared to this month last year).

   • The status of other critical management data such as: key indicators, plans, goals and objectives should be included in the report.

     Note: Each department or unit of the organization should have a limited set of key success indicators. These are measures (often ratios or percentages) that assess the most important elements of that unit's performance. These indicators may be identified by asking a department head and his or her colleagues "what are the smallest numbers of key indicators that if known would tell you whether this department is on track and working successfully in the short and the long run?"

     These indicators should be selected after considerable thought and discussion, and should be specific to each individual unit. The measures should be whatever is right for the unit. Reports on these key success indicators become a regular part of the monthly management information.

     (Good management thinking from two different directions encourages businesses to find the ONE critical number to manage to. See Jim Collins 'economic driver' in his book Good To Great. Several "Great Game of Business" conferences, which focus on open book management, stress the concept of one critical number. Not six numbers, not three numbers and definitely not a financial report. Selecting the one critical number that drives all other numbers requires you to do some thinking about your business and understand it very well. In the business sector, the best single numbers are ratios such as revenue per employee, sales by product type, number of new clients per advertising dollar, percent of pizzas delivered in over 30 minutes, etc. For a non-profit organization it might be clients served per dollar raised, number of people served per dollar spent, number of positive visitor experiences per staff, etc.)

   • Assumptions or changes in trends which may have an impact on organizational performance. These should have been identified and articulated in the planning process. If not, do it now!

3. Department Heads: All reports to be reviewed in the meeting are distributed to each member of the management team prior to the session, and early enough so that they can complete the following assessment.
   • Identify significant deviations for each area of the budget that you are responsible for, and for each type of information provided on your department. A significant deviation represents a meaningful difference between what you planned/budgeted and what you got (actual). If there is an easy explanation for why a deviation occurred, and it is not something you could do anything about, (for example, a period problem, such as a short week or an extra pay period in the month) it is not "significant." You are looking for the deviations that are big enough to impact the organization, which you believe you can influence or control. A maximum of three (3) key deviations should be identified in your area of responsibility. More than three loses focus.

     Some significant deviations may appear to be positive when they are not. If you plan low and actually produce high, the deviation is significant, and on the surface seems completely good. However, it is worrisome for it shows that even though you actually performed well, you can't plan accurately or confidently.

   • Be prepared to justify your rationale as to why these are significant deviations.

   • Define the causes of the deviation.

   • Prepare a brief and concise plan on what you will do to improve performance on your significant deviations. Be sure to spell out what, how, and by when your actions will begin to have an impact on the organization's financial performance or on other measurable indicators.

   • If you are not satisfied with your solutions, say so to the team and ask for help.

   • Identify significant changes in any assumptions or other factors upon which the budget was or should have been based.

   • Be prepared to explain how you believe we should respond to these changes.

4. The Executive Director: You should independently review the performance of each budget area, and also identify the key deviations for each area (3 maximum) from your perspective. In addition, you should identify significant changes in assumptions or other factors upon which the plan is based. Think through how you would address the gaps and select dates by when the gap should be closed. This review might be conducted in concert with the Business Manager.

   (This can be a lot of work for the Executive Director. Be patient. If you conduct your RAP sessions well, your workload will be reduced while organization's performance improves.)

IN THE MEETING
In the meeting itself, it is necessary to minimize time spent on explanations and justifications, and focus primarily on identifying the truly significant gaps and solving problems. Do not spend more than 20-30% of the meeting time on reports and their explanations.

It helps to divide the meeting into 2 distinct parts: (1) Unit Reviews (20-30%), and (2) Team Problem-Solving and Action-Planning (70-80%).

1. Unit and Organization Reviews
   • Each department or unit head presents his or her view of key deviations (maximum three per person) and the rationale for them being key. Be brief and hard-hitting. The unit head now presents his or her plan for making corrections to each of the key deviations. These plans should be brief. Make sure results are spelled out as well as actions. Have a clear date by when the results will be achieved.

   • Whenever the leader is concerned about:
     • correct identification of significant deviations
     • appropriate solutions to these
     • timeliness of the solution, make a note of the concern and add it to the problem-solving agenda (see number 2 below). Avoid lots of discussion. Move on so all the reports get on the table quickly.

   • Participants may ask questions to clarify their understanding, but keep the questions brief and to the point. If the question and answer take more than two minutes, you are starting a discussion. Make a note to come back to this in the problem solving agenda (see number 2 below).

   • Have a time limit for each unit presentation. Stick to it. Use a timer. Give the presenter a warning when 80% of the time is used up.

   • It is important that all management team members go through the above process for all of their key deviations (maximum three per person) fast enough so that at least 70% of the meeting time is left to come back to a more intensive problem-solving focus. As the review part of the meeting ends, each team member may use the Personal Action Plan (attached) to record agreed-upon action items. Remember: Good action plans spell out who will do what, by when and how.

   • It is now time for a report on the whole organization. The Executive Director asks his team to select individually and privately what they think are the three most significant deviations of all those reviewed.

     Individuals share their view of the top three.

     Now the Executive Director shares his or her top three. Who is in synch with the CEO? If the department heads' priorities are different, is there something they do not see or is there something the CEO does not see? Add any gaps to the Problem Solving Agenda in 2 below.

     Issue of the Month: If there are no significant deviations, the team should solicit potential Issues of the Month. These are important issues the organization should address before they become significant deviations.

2. Problem-Solving and Action-Planning

   After all reviews are complete you should have created a list of the "issues of the month." These are best posted on a board or flip-chart as they come up. Before you leap into the problem-solving discussions you may wish to take a short (10-15 minute) break to reinforce the transition to a new type of meeting.

   When you return:

   • The Executive Director sets a sequence of issues to attack, based on priorities and input from other participants.

   • Take the first priority item and decide if an assignment is more prudent than a discussion:
     • If key people are not present, or only 1 or 2 of those present are involved in an issue, create an individual or team assignment of the issue (use Task Assignment Worksheet at end of this Briefing). Be sure you have enough dialogue to ensure clear definition of the task.

     • If key people are present, proceed to problem-solving

   • Problem-Solving/Issue Discussion:

     Problem-solving can take several forms, some more formal than others. Generally, the key to all team-based problem-solving is to:

     1. ensure you understand the problem before you start the solving

     2. listen to alternate points of view

     3. use some systematic process to ensure thoroughness

     4. get out lots of ideas for solutions

     5. take the time to create a realistic solution

     6. make a clear decision as to who will do what by when and how (your solution)

     (More elaborate problem-solving processes are presented in other management briefings, and in Responsible Managers Get Results chapters 5-9.)

     One approach to take a team through the above six steps is outlined below.

     Issue presenter states "the current situation/the problem" as clearly as he/she can.

     1. Each person in turn (e.g., go to right around the table) now can ask a clarifying question as each tries to better understand the problem. (Rule: No solutions on the first or second time around the room.)

     2. When clarification of the solution is complete, start a "solutions or suggestions go round." Each person who has one presents a possible approach to solving the problem. As suggestions are presented they can be clarified by the "issue-presenter" or others, or discussed to work out details. People can present new approaches or approaches based on previously suggested ones. (Suggestion: Remind the meeting facilitator to take notes at this stage.)

     3. Keep things aggressive and fast-paced. When suggestions are completed or the time limit for this issue is reached, ask the issue-presenter to summarize what he/she learned and to state what they are going to do based on the discussion. They add these "action commitments" to their personal action summary.

     4. When done go on to the next issues.

     5. If time runs short and all the issues can not be addressed, decide whether to extend the meeting, call another meeting, or postpone until the next RAP meeting.

As people leave they should hand in a copy of their personal action plans to the Executive Director.

The Next Meeting
Follow-up is the key to solid performance in action plans. People should be reminded of action items, and meetings and deadlines should be actively managed. Subsequent meetings begin with a progress report on the previous meeting's action items.

Additional Guidelines
Here are some guidelines that often help to structure a more successful meeting. Your management team should review these and decide which are needed in order to improve the performance of your team.

1. The facilitator or leader of the meeting must clearly understand the purpose of these meetings as outlined above and the methods for achieving them. The facilitator should keep the pace lively, help everyone focus on learning and problem-solving, and assure that minutes are kept of all assignments.

2. The starting and ending time of the meetings should be spelled out and adhered to. Start on time and don't go longer than the scheduled time without getting permission from all attendees.

3. No interruptions should be allowed for phone messages, questions, etc. Use a message pocket on the door or a message board so messages are waiting outside the room when the team takes a break. Inform receptionists and colleagues of this rule.

4. Everyone should attend full-time from start to end. If breaks are needed, they should be taken by everyone together.

5. If a problem-solving discussion only involves 2 people and will be long, put the work off line for action and report. Make an assignment.

I. Unit Presentations

1. Progress on last month's action items.
   • Items completed.
   • Items in progress.
   • Changes to assignments.

2. Deviations in last month's performance: maximum of three per unit.
   • Deviation.
   • Rationale for importance.
   • Proposed actions (changes) to correct problem.
   • Deadline by when the proposed action will correct the deviation.

3. Identification of items where Executive Director and direct reports have different views and priorities. These items are added to the Problem Solving Agenda for dialogue and education.

4. Issues/problems for the "Issue of the Month" agenda.

   BREAK no more than 10-15 minutes.

1. Prioritize issues/problems.

2. Decide if items can be handled off-line (consider in priority order).
   1. Assignments (complete assignment sheets).
   2. Issue Roundtable or Problem-Solution.
      1. Issue presentation.
      2. Clarifying questions (around the table).
      3. Suggestions/ solutions explored.
      4. Action review (decision by presenter).

• Review of Personal Action Summaries.
• Brief Reflection on Process and Output of Session.

***************************************************

PERSONAL ACTION PLAN

Name:

Date:

Based on today's session, list below what actions you will take.

1. Significant Deviation:
   • Why significant?

   • Desired Results or Outcome?

   • Cause of the deviation?

2. By When (will desired result will happen)

3. How(solution):

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TASK ASSIGNMENT WORKSHEET
For Deviations to be Solved outside of the RAP Meeting

WORK UNIT: DATE:
HEAD OF TEAM:
NAME OF TEAM:

1. THE DEVIATION: Write a clear and brief statement to describe the problem area to be addressed.

2. Task Description: Convert the deviation to a task statement that describes what should be done to address the problem. Be positive and specific.

3. Clarify what the task is not—specify any constraints and boundaries.

4. Clarify the objectives. What result should a solution produce?

5. Specify the type of output: _____ Research _____ Recommend _____ Solve

6. Resources which may be used such as money, space and equipment.

7. Deadlines:
   1. Start by
   2. Finish by
      1. Key Milestones
      2. Dates:

8. Intensity of Effort:

   Frequency Length

9. Who Should Work on This Task? If it is a team, select the Decider and then the Doers and Experts. People can be permanent (P) or temporary (T) expert witnesses.

      NAME   PHONE   EMAIL

10. Follow Up Evaluation: What can be measured or observed to indicate success? Will this be monitored? By whom? When?

    ***************************************************

    The Assignment Card is for less complex tasks generally assigned to a single individual.

    DATE:

    WHO assigned:

    WHAT to do:

    WHEN it's due:

    HOW - suggestions, constraints:

    ***************************************************

    Post this sign on your meeting room door:

    PLEASE

    DO NOT
    DISTURB

    MEETING IN PROGRESS

    Stick messages for participants on the door.

    NEXT BREAK AT:

    MEETING ENDS AT: