Like other classes before them, their first problem was defining the task and focusing on possible solutions, according to Karen Nice, the human resources staffer who oversees the program. Each group starts out learning as much as it can about the newspaper. Participants spend time in each department, learning how that group works. Team members may go out on sales calls with advertising representatives or make deliveries with carriers. Once it has the education, the team often splits into subcommittees to gather data and attack individual elements of the problem.
Participants come back together to share what they have learned and plan their next steps.
All this is done in addition to their regular responsibilities. Supervisors try to be understanding about team members' new responsibilities, but they can't interfere with other work. It can get more, but it must justify it first. Nice says the 1998 group, whose task is to address customer satisfaction and loyalty, wants to visit nearby newspapers to see what works there. To they get the travel money, the group will have to demonstrate what it expects to learn.