This year, 18F worked on 31 projects across government agencies. Our digital services projects ranged from supporting the launch of the IRS Direct File Pilot, to building the National Accuracy Clearinghouse with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and helping GSA’s Benefits studio launch Notify.gov.
In this post, we want to share five templates we have adopted as defaults across our projects.
- Project README: helps new teammates and leadership quickly gain context on a project
- Internal kickoff agenda: allows teams to connect and absorb background information at the start of a project
- Team charter: helps teams document roles, practices, and norms
- Weekly ship: ensures stakeholders know about a project’s status, blockers, and progress towards outcomes, so they aren’t taken by surprise
- Risk tracker: helps teams track risks and discuss mitigation plans throughout the project
18F receives inquiries from digital services teams from around the U.S. and across the world asking about how we work. If your team works on digital services projects, we hope these templates will be useful.
Want to work with us? Reach out at Inquiries18F@gsa.gov.