Team Assignment# 1: Five Page Briefing Note Prepare the following: As a Planner

Team Assignment# 1: Five Page Briefing Note
Prepare the following: As a Planner in a municipality or provincial ministry, you have been asked to prepare a short (5 pages, single-spaced) Briefing Note on either of the two topics set out below. Building on class #1 discussions of “The Perfect Implementation Plan”, the note should contain:
• A SMART Problem/Purpose Statement
• Well-researched background (with citations)
• A creative implementation plan with SMART, numbered Recommendations
• A MECE Issue Tree (in Appendix
Project: Activating a Revitalization Plan for the Dundas-Sherbourne Neighbourhood
The Issue Tree (Outline of Plan)
SMART Problem Statement → MECE Recommendations → SMART Implementation Plan
What Needs to be Delivered
Proposed revitalization plan for Dan Harrison
Plan for acquiring 214-230 Sherbourne Street
Full-scale community engagement process
These may become 3-point plan
Task 1: SMART Problem/Purpose Statement
SMARTSpecific, not general
Measurable
Action-oriented
Relevant to the issue
Time-bound
Example: To reduce bird deaths associated with high buildings by 70% within 5 years by updating bird safety guidelines.
To do:Make sure it doesn’t turn into a sales piece for my recommendations – must remain neutral
Give a hint of where money/resources will come from Task 2: Background Research
How did we get here?Decision history
Key considerationsFocuses on 3 things to tackle in recommendations (3-point plan)
Describe, in full sentences, our plan
Shape of the problem
Other relevant policies
History of Dan Harrison complex and 214-230 Sherbourne
To do:Do not make it terribly long
Challenges here must align with rule of three in plan
Task 3: MECE Issue Tree
3 recommendations
Mutually Exclusive, Comprehensively Exhaustive
Two dimensions:Mutually Exclusive: each heading cannot overlap; must deal with separate issues
Comprehensively Exhaustive: must address the problem statement in a comprehensive and exhaustive manner; will we address the problem statement? – address minimum 80% of the problem
Task 4: SMART Recommendations
Must be numbered and smart
Recommendation 1:3 sub-points
Timeframe, resources, funding
Recommendation 2:3 sub-points
Timeframe, resources, funding
Recommendation 3:3 sub-points
Timeframe, resources, funding
Take these off the right-hand side of the issue tree