The workshop began with a slide show and discussion, then the attendees formed five groups, each of which focused on a specific use of POE.

Quick Response Studies
Decision-Focused Evaluations
Create Design Guides
Create a Knowledge Base
Improve the process of building delivery and management

Each group was asked to address the following questions:

1. What should be the initial focus?
2. How it might help me and my department?
3. Who should be the "hero"?Who should initiate and run the project?
4. Who should be involved?
5. How can we integrate it with daily activities in the DGS?
6. What barriers are there to implementation? For example, finding funding for changes that the users might identify?
7. How can we overcome the barriers?

Group 1 (Quick-response studies) charge
Your task is to explore how quick-response studies (QRS) might be developed in the Department of General Services. A QRS is a brief study 2-3 months after taking occupancy, with the goal of determining what modest improvements might result in higher satisfaction and productivity by the users. (Often users' needs have changed since programming or they have realized opportunities when they start working in the building.) The goal for QRS is to improve a recently completed building rather than specifically feed-forward, although it may result in useful lessons for subsequent projects. A QRS involves several steps:

• Assemble the QRS team—usually the Project Manager for the given project and several other people.
• Conduct and analyze a very brief mail-out or online questionnaire
• Conduct a "touring interview"—a walkthrough of the space with end-users
• Prioritize QRS feedback as well as other requests
• Provide feedback to users

Quick reponse study breakout notes

Group 2 (Decision-focused evaluations) charge
Your task is to explore how decision-focused evaluations might be developed in the DGS. A decision-focused evaluation is aimed at informing specific upcoming decisions, such as:

• Contribute to key planning or programmatic decisions that are particularly expensive, uncertain or contentious
• Diagnose troubled projects
• Test innovations, such as new building types, new technologies, new design approaches, including sustainable designs, new officing arrangements, high-tech schools or classrooms, etc.

Decision-focused evaluations breakout notes

Group 3 (Create design guides) charge
Your task is to explore how design guides might be developed in the DGS. A design guide provides recommendations about the planning, design and specifics for a building type or component. It might be for a routine building that is repeated with only modest site adjustment-perhaps Forestry fire stations-or may provide overall layout and planning suggestions for a complex building type such as school buildings or courthouses, where each overall building is unique but elements such as classrooms or courtrooms might be repeated.

Some key components of design guides:

• They are of critical, repeated building types or elements
• They focus on key decisions and components-lobbies and mail-sorting areas in post offices, chambers and courtrooms in courthouses
• They are developed jointly with the client and other stakeholders
• They involve multiple constituencies
• They include benchmarks, best practices, best research
•  They are constantly improved and updated through evaluation

Create design guides breakout notes

Group 4 (Create a knowledge base) charge
Your task is to explore how knowledge bases might be developed in the DGS. A knowledge base is centralized resource-probably available on the internet or intranet-that might include several elements:

• Benchmarks of key project information
• POE results and trends across POEs
• Links to the clients' key business drivers: productivity, satisfaction, etc.
• Experience with materials, building elements
• Access to research
• Less formal lessons-learned

Create a knowledge base breakout group notes

Group 5 (Improve the process of building delivery and management) charge
Your task is to explore how POE might be used in the DGS to improve the process of building delivery and management. For example, several kinds of studies might be conducted:

• Tie contractor or consultant remuneration to performance, such as outcome of a POE
• Consider ways to improve budgeting or funding
• Study the process of building delivery with specific repeat or important clients to identify possible areas for improvement.

Improve the process of building delivery and management breakout group notes