Problem

A lack of transparency in how other teams operate makes it difficult to understand their priorities, progress, or challenges.

Workshop Title

"Making Work Visible: Enhancing Team Transparency"

Objectives

• Understand the impact of poor visibility on collaboration and performance.
• Develop strategies to improve transparency and information sharing.
• Create a shared plan to ensure ongoing visibility of work across teams.

Materials Needed

• Flipchart or whiteboard.
• Work Visibility Assessment templates.
• Markers and sticky notes.

Process

1. Welcome and Icebreaker (10 minutes)

Activity: What’s on Your Plate?
↳ Ask participants to share one major task or project they are currently working on that others might not know about.

2. Understanding the Problem (15 minutes)

Activity: Visibility Challenges
↳ In small groups, discuss:

• Why is work visibility a challenge?
• How does it impact collaboration, deadlines, and team morale?

↳ Groups share their insights, and the facilitator captures key themes on a flipchart or whiteboard.

3. Mapping the Current State (20 minutes)

Activity: Work Visibility Assessment
↳ Provide a template with questions like:

• What work is currently visible to others?
• What work is not visible but should be?
• How do we currently share progress and updates?

↳ Each group completes the assessment for their team.

4. Designing a Visibility Framework (25 minutes)

Activity: Improving Work Transparency
↳ In mixed-team groups, brainstorm strategies to improve work visibility, such as:

• Implementing shared project management tools.
• Scheduling regular cross-team updates.
• Creating visual dashboards or reports.

↳ Groups present their ideas, and the facilitator consolidates them into a draft "Visibility Framework."

5. Creating an Action Plan (15 minutes)

Activity: Commit to Change
↳ As a whole team, prioritise 3-5 actionable steps to implement the Visibility Framework.
↳ Assign owners to specific tasks (e.g., “Team A will create a shared task board by next week”).

6. Closing and Reflection (5 minutes)

Activity: Visibility Pledges
↳ Each participant shares one action they will take to improve work visibility (e.g., “I’ll update the shared task board daily”).

Facilitator Notes

• Welcome and Icebreaker (10 minutes): Purpose is to highlight the hidden work within teams and set the tone for transparency.
• Understanding the Problem (15 minutes): In the debrief emphasise that poor visibility is a common issue and can be addressed through better practices.
• Mapping the Current State (20 minutes): In the debrief discuss gaps in visibility and the reasons behind them.
• Designing a Visibility Framework (25 minutes): Output is a shared set of practices to improve transparency across teams.
• Creating an Action Plan (15 minutes): Output is a clear action plan with responsibilities and deadlines.
• Closing and Reflection (5 minutes): Reinforce that improving visibility is a collective effort.

Follow-up

Schedule a review meeting in 4-6 weeks to assess progress and refine the Visibility Framework based on feedback.