Excerpts from the NCI Charrette Management and Facilitation Training

A successful charrette depends on efficient operations. It can be very distracting and a drain on the team’s energy to be dealing with operational breakdowns like blown fuse boxes, slow internet providers, or lack of air conditioning. It may sound obvious, but there are numerous examples of charrettes in which productivity was hindered by a poor facility, not to mention the quality of the overall experience for the charrette team and participants.

In order to avoid fatal operational failures, the charrette manager should “kick the tires” at the charrette studio well ahead of time. The next best option is to have a local partner who you trust visit the location. Never make assumptions or trust someone’s word about the following list of issues. The NCI Charrette Management and Facilitation Certificate Training provides an exhaustive studio set-up checklist but here are a few of the highlights:

• Is the internet connection robust enough for large file transfers?
• Is there adequate electrical capacity? If it is an old facility with fuse boxes, are there enough fuses on hand? Where are the breakers/fuse boxes?
• Will the heating and air conditioning work when you need it?
• Do you have 24-hour access to the facility?
• Is there adequate security when the facility is not occupied?
• Do you have access to local printing facilities?
• Are your lunches and dinners planned?