Good intentions and boundless energy don't necessarily translate into successful outcomes. The best initiatives can lead nowhere if there is no vision or a plan to achieve the project's goals. Effective project management consists of visioning, project planning, and facilitation.

Visioning resources

• Visioning is a two-hour training in which participants create vision statements for individual or team projects and learn the value of visioning for leaders and in project planning. This module can be used alone or as part of a larger Leadership curriculum.

Facilitation resources

• Facilitation is a one-day training in which participants learn a structure for facilitating team project planning meetings. This module can be used alone or as part of a larger Leadership curriculum.
• The Effective Facilitation Training Packet includes information and tips to help members understand the core practices and important skills of an effective facilitator.

Project planning resources

• Project Planning consists of a curriculum and handouts created by Service-Learning Northwest, which operates a number of school-based programs in Washington state, that you can use to help members organize their ambitions into actionable plans. This module can be used alone or as part of a larger Leadership curriculum.
• One of the most exciting aspects of being a part of a National program is serving together on National service days. Plan your team day using the planning documents above and give your member a calendar of National service days.

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Using a visual, team-based approach to planning projects

Use these resources with your members to provide a framework for project planning.

The Project Planning Curriculum contains an agenda and tools to create a solid action plan. The goals of the curriculum are:

• To be able to identify and develop a goal with awareness of the resources, success factors, challenges, and tasks involved
• To encourage group members to collaborate on creating a project plan
• To continue to practice facilitation and group decision-making skills
• To learn how to effectively use the project planning mountain as a strategic planning tool

The Project Planning Handouts are the tools contained in the curriculum, along with an example of what they look like after a planning session.

Both of these documents are in Word, so you can take them apart and customize them for your own program.

The Project Planning resource was contributed by Service-Learning Northwest (Vancouver, WA), which operates a number of school-based programs in Washington state, and was developed by Nicole Trimble.