Business Plan Review Design

Business Plan Review Design

Design and implement a weekly Business Plan Review (BPR) meeting structure with color-coded status reporting, consistent format, and clear rules for team alignment.

Token Budget: ~800 tokens (this prompt). Reserve tokens for output generation.

Constitutional Constraints (NEVER VIOLATE)

You MUST refuse to:

• Design review processes intended to micromanage or surveil employees
• Create status reporting systems designed to punish transparency
• Build meeting structures that exclude key stakeholders
• Design processes that weaponize information against team members

If asked to create a punitive review process: Refuse explicitly. Explain that effective BPR systems celebrate transparency and mobilize help.

When to Use

• User needs to establish regular team or organizational status reviews
• Current meetings lack structure, consistency, or clear status visibility
• User asks "How should we run status meetings?"
• Teams need better visibility into project or initiative progress
• Transitioning from ad-hoc updates to systematic review

Inputs

Input Validation:

• team_scope: Must describe people who will attend. Minimum 3 people for BPR value.
• initiatives: At least 3 trackable items to justify structured review.

Workflow

1. Define Status Reporting Structure

Create color-coded status definitions tailored to context:

Key principle: Red is the best color because it means we can help.

2. Design Meeting Agenda Template

Standard BPR agenda:

Step 1: Context Setting (5 min) - Business environment, recent developments

Step 2: Status Review (bulk of time) - Each initiative reports color + one-line status

Step 3: Help Requests (as needed) - Red items get "Who can help?" response

Step 4: SAR Scheduling (5 min) - Complex items move to Special Attention Reviews

Step 5: Close (5 min) - Summary of actions, next meeting confirmation

3. Establish Meeting Rules

Essential rules for psychological safety:

Step 1: Same time, same place, same format every meeting

Step 2: Attendance is mandatory; no one is more important than alignment

Step 3: No side conversations; respect the process

Step 4: No humor at anyone's expense; safety is paramount

Step 5: Status only; debates happen in SARs

Step 6: Start on time, end on time

Step 7: Information is never used as a weapon

Step 8: Celebrate transparency, especially reds

4. Define SAR Criteria

Special Attention Reviews (SARs) are scheduled when:

• An item needs more than 2 minutes of discussion
• Multiple stakeholders need to collaborate on a solution
• A red item requires deep problem-solving
• Cross-functional coordination is needed

5. Create Facilitation Guide

The facilitator role:

• Keep meeting on time and on format
• Respond to every red with "Thank you for the transparency. Who can help?"
• Prevent blame or criticism; redirect to problem-solving
• Ensure SAR scheduling for complex items
• Model expected behaviors

Outputs

BPR Design Document

# Business Plan Review: [Team/Organization Name]

## Meeting Logistics
- **Frequency:** [Weekly/Bi-weekly]
- **Day/Time:** [Day] at [Time] [Timezone]
- **Duration:** [X] minutes
- **Location:** [Room/Video link]
- **Attendance:** Mandatory for [list roles]

## Status Definitions

| Color | Meaning | Criteria | Response |
|-------|---------|----------|----------|
| Green | On plan | [specific criteria] | Continue, no action |
| Yellow | At risk, have plan | [specific criteria] | Monitor, offer support |
| Red | Need help | [specific criteria] | "Who can help?" + SAR if needed |

## Agenda Template

1. **Context Setting** ([X] min)
   - Business environment updates
   - Key announcements

2. **Initiative Status Review** ([X] min)
   [List each initiative with owner]
   - Initiative A - [Owner]
   - Initiative B - [Owner]
   - Initiative C - [Owner]

3. **Help Mobilization** (as needed)
   - Red items addressed with "Who can help?"
   - Resources assigned

4. **SAR Scheduling** ([X] min)
   - Items needing deep discussion scheduled

5. **Close** ([X] min)
   - Action summary
   - Next meeting confirmation

## Meeting Rules

1. Same time, same place, same format
2. Mandatory attendance
3. No side conversations
4. No humor at anyone's expense
5. Status only; debates in SARs
6. Start on time, end on time
7. Information is never used as a weapon
8. Celebrate transparency, especially reds

## SAR Criteria

Schedule a SAR when:
- Discussion exceeds 2 minutes
- Multiple stakeholders needed
- Red item requires problem-solving session
- Cross-functional coordination required

## Facilitator Checklist

Before meeting:
- [ ] Confirm attendance
- [ ] Review previous SAR outcomes
- [ ] Prepare context setting notes

During meeting:
- [ ] Start on time
- [ ] Keep to agenda
- [ ] Respond to reds with gratitude and help
- [ ] Schedule SARs for complex items
- [ ] End on time

After meeting:
- [ ] Send action summary
- [ ] Schedule SARs
- [ ] Follow up on help commitments

Error Handling

Constraints

• Do not oversimplify complex business realities
• Do not ignore resource and timeline constraints
• Acknowledge risks and uncertainties explicitly
• Honor stakeholder concerns and competing priorities
• Base recommendations on available evidence, not assumptions
• Consider second-order effects and unintended consequences

Example

Input:

team_scope: 15-person platform engineering team with 3 squad leads
initiatives: Infrastructure migration, Developer experience improvements,
            Security compliance, Performance optimization
frequency: weekly
duration: 60 minutes

Output: [Complete BPR Design Document with all sections filled in, status definitions tailored to engineering metrics, agenda with 4 initiative slots, and facilitator guide]

Integration

This skill integrates with:

• transparency-culture-launch - BPR provides the structure; transparency-culture provides the behavioral transformation
• alignment-check - BPR reveals alignment gaps; alignment-check diagnoses them
• expected-behaviors-design - BPR rules should reference team's expected behaviors

Source Expert: Alan Mulally - This skill implements the core operating mechanism of the Working Together management system.