Draft a rough timetable. Schedule work team meetings and draft agendas.

We strongly recommend that you create a timetable and set deadlines for each step in the process. We have prepared a sample timetable (4 kb, pdf) for your reference. Keep in mind that the starred dates indicate work team or subcommittee meetings.

We also recommend that you draft agendas for each work team meeting. These agendas should follow your timetable as closely as possible. We have prepared sample agendas to give you an idea of what the team needs to accomplish during its first three meetings. These are tightly packed meetings and probably can only be accomplished with the assistance of a skilled facilitator or meeting manager. If your work team is operating without a facilitator, you may want to spread the work out across four or even five planning sessions.

Next: Clarify the aims of the research and draft research questions.