Please see information below with regard to an on-line survey which will be collated by the RFU on behalf of Waterloo FC. The deadline for completing the survey is 7th April and the results will be available at the workshop on 12th April being held at the Club and facilitated by the RFU.

To complete the survey and have your say please follow the link : http://www.rfu.com/SelectSurveyNET/TakeSurvey.aspx?SurveyID=m6107p9

Note from the RFU
It is generally accepted that the most effective way for clubs to develop and improve is to plan more effectively. It is equally important, however, that such planning directly reflects your club’s own capacity and ambitions and that the RFU, while it has specific aims and objectives in mind, does not seek to impose a pre-determined agenda and plan format.

Our experience of these CDWs and the subsequent processes they lead to has confirmed the value of this approach and the response (and impact on the clubs involved) has been very positive.

RFU aim and objectives

Our primary objectives are that the CDW process will assist Waterloo RFC to:

 Identify and prioritise its aspirations and vision for the future.
 Look at how it might make more effective use of club resources (financial, physical, human) in this regard.
 Improve ‘ownership’ via involving members (beyond main committees) in planning and decision making.

Who should be involved?

It is important, particularly for the first CDW session, that a genuine cross-section of club members (that either represent, or bring a sound understanding of, all areas of club operation) take an active role. Subsequent work and actions may be guided and driven by smaller working groups. Our intention is to ensure that the CDW takes account of the size and capacity of , Waterloo RFC the volume of activity it presently accommodates and its ambition.

Pre-planning

To deliver the CDW, we need to confirm the following:

 Waterloo RFC will, prior to the CDW, encourage all its members to complete a (very short) pre-workshop web-based questionnaire. (This allows me, as the presenter, to use the findings to inform the workshop sessions).
 Waterloo RFC will circulate detail (and the relevant web-link information) about the survey to all its members and encourage them to complete it by 07/04/10.
 Waterloo RFC can make a suitable room available for the CDW. This should have capacity to accommodate the number of people anticipated to attend and enable you to ensure that disruptions can be kept to a minimum, for 3.5 hours on the evening in question.


The CDW – approximate timings

The CDW can, within reason, be as long as it needs to be. It is set out as a 2.5 - 3 hour exercise but it is possible to run through it more quickly or, where required, to allow more time. Our experience is that workshops tend to run out of time rather than delegates running out of issues to discuss). The format of the CDW is normally (assuming an 18.30 start time), approximately as follows:

18.15 Members arrive, coffee/tea/drinks available.
18.30 Introductions.
18.45 Assessment – present position and basic club vision.
19.00 ‘Guided working groups’ to discuss specific elements of the club.
20.00 Feedback (under each heading – top/’bottom’ 5).
20.30 Summarise & agree top 10 actions required: ID whether/how/by whom each will be tackled.
21.00 Actions agreed & how ‘development is to be co-ordinated (including RFU support).
21.15 Close.

Content

Without being too directive or dictating an ‘RFU agenda’, I would normally expect to stimulate debate by introducing a range of prompts and questions grouped under the following five headings

 People
 Member services
 Member welfare
 Community links
 Club management

By the end of the evening, as your facilitator I expect to have assisted club members to at least start to:

 Share and discuss the unique or specific qualities of your club.
 Consider a cross-section of aspects of club standing and operation.
 Have assisted those attending to improve clarity about (and record) areas in which the club is keenest to/or must develop in order to survive/expand/improve/be sustained!
 Visualise (and arrive at some initial consensus about) what they would like Waterloo RFC to look like/be doing in (say) 3-5 years time: ‘To become the club they want it to be’ - by.
 Agreeing a ‘vision’
 Determining what they would like to change/improve/achieve.
 Determining what they need to do better/more effectively
 Producing a ‘hit list’ of key elements of club development elements required

 Start to outline their key priorities, think about the steps they need to take: list the actions; identify who is to tackle what, by when & the change/improvement that should result - for (say) the next 12 months.
 Be aware of ‘off the shelf’ RFU tools/resources available to support the process. (The number, quality and ‘use-ability’ of these is improving all the time and I can keep you up to date with these as they become available).
 Establish a group (or start the process of so doing) to oversee development of a ‘whole club’ task list/action plan.
 Designate specific individuals to identified tasks with set deadlines for achievement
 Set a date for me to return to the club to map out the progress and linked review points.