Political Work

One "Battalion and Company Routine Work Checklist" Gives Battalion and Company Building a "Navigation Map"

一张“营连经常性工作清单”，让营连抓建有了“导航图”

PLA Daily (解放军报) 26 May 2026

Summary

A battalion of an unnamed brigade under the 82nd Group Army developed a color-coded 'Battalion and Company Routine Work Checklist' (营连日常工作清单) that maps every recurring task—from NCO promotion to seasonal equipment maintenance—against its regulatory basis and time cycle, and the brigade has since adopted it across all subordinate units. The article documents a persistent grassroots management problem in PLA battalion and company building: cadres know general procedures but lack command of specific implementation standards, producing last-minute scrambles and compliance gaps. The checklist's brigade-wide adoption fits the PLA's ongoing push for 按纲抓建 (regulation-based building) at the lowest echelons, though the article gives no data on whether task completion rates or inspection scores actually improved.

Translation

A certain battalion of a certain brigade under the 82nd Group Army creatively compiles and refines a "Battalion and Company Routine Work Checklist"——

Battalion and Company Building Now Has a "Navigation Map"

■ PLA Daily Special Correspondent Liu Fan / Illustrated by Xie Yan

"Referencing the checklist schedule, several current priority tasks can be advanced simultaneously…" In early summer, at a corner of the training ground of a certain brigade under the 82nd Group Army, a battalion cadre was using a break between training sessions to plan near-term work with several company commanders. What caught the reporter's attention was that each of them was holding a printed table.

The reporter observed that the table was divided by work cycles of year, half-year, quarter, month, week, and day, with each item of work and its relevant regulatory basis clearly marked in different colors.

"This is the 'Battalion and Company Routine Work Checklist' we compiled in accordance with the requirements of various regulations. It helps everyone clarify their work thinking, 'illuminate' blind spots in implementation, and serves as our 'navigation map' for day-to-day regulation-based building (按纲抓建)." Battalion Instructor Zhang introduced that grassroots work is multifaceted. For phased priority tasks such as noncommissioned officer selection and promotion and seasonal equipment maintenance, many officers and soldiers can describe the general procedures from experience, but their understanding of the specific implementation standards is not comprehensive enough. This easily leads to omissions and gaps.

How to solve this problem? An offhand remark from a company commander gave Instructor Zhang the inspiration he needed.

In the spring of last year, Instructor Zhang had compiled a "Battalion and Company Party Organization Law-Based Operations Work Checklist" as a reference for the instructors of each company. At the time, one company commander saw the checklist and could not help but remark: "How great it would be if the military commanders could also have a reference checklist like this!"

Upon hearing this, Instructor Zhang immediately decided to compile a reference checklist covering the routine work of all domains across battalions and companies. Soon, through collective study by the battalion Party committee, the first edition of the "Battalion and Company Routine Work Checklist" was completed and distributed to all cadres and backbone personnel.

However, after the checklist had been distributed for some time, the work efficiency of each company had not improved significantly. Why was this?

After conducting a round of investigation and research, Instructor Zhang identified the root of the problem: the checklist only solved the problem of "letting everyone know what needs to be done," but did not specify the concrete steps, target requirements, completion deadlines, and other content.

To address this, Instructor Zhang joined with several battalion and company cadres and backbone personnel to optimize and adjust the checklist: on one hand, they refined the work content item by item and clarified normative requirements in light of battalion and company realities; on the other hand, they used different colors to mark overlapping tasks from different time periods that could be advanced in a coordinated manner, so that anyone picking up the checklist could take in all tasks at a glance. They also stipulated that after the checklist was distributed, each company could make minor adjustments to its implementation plan based on its own circumstances, ensuring alignment with each unit's own work rhythm.

The checklist was distributed again. What were the actual results? Company Instructor Zhang Qixuan told the reporter his story.

At the end of last year, Zhang Qixuan was assigned as instructor to a certain company in the battalion. Shortly after taking up the post, he happened to encounter several tasks advancing simultaneously: seasonal equipment maintenance, year-end work summaries, meritorious service and honors commendations, and Party member development. At that very moment, the company commander happened to take emergency leave due to an urgent family matter, leaving all company work squarely on Zhang Qixuan's shoulders alone.

"Having just taken over the company's work, I wasn't familiar with the requirements and procedures for each task—I was genuinely a bit flustered at the time," Zhang Qixuan recalled. During those days, he followed the chronological order and task-consolidation recommendations marked in the checklist, breaking down tasks one by one and advancing multiple items in an interleaved and simultaneous fashion. He said: "This checklist was like a work 'navigation map' for me—it spelled out clearly what needed to be done, when to do it, and which regulation to follow." In the end, Zhang Qixuan not only completed all tasks successfully, but was also commended by the battalion Party committee for his efficient coordination.

In order to make the checklist content more closely aligned with grassroots realities, at the beginning of this year the battalion dynamically optimized the checklist content in light of field garrison training and exercise-training missions, refined specific task steps, and proactively planned ahead for priority work, further activating the intrinsic motivation (内生动力) of officers and soldiers to take initiative.

In the past, constrained by the battalion and company situation of "passively waiting for notifications and rushing to complete tasks at the last minute," battalion clerk Xie Peng frequently worked overtime until late at night, constantly worried about missing data or causing delays. After the new checklist was distributed, he and the clerks of each company made advance preparations in accordance with the types of materials indicated by the checklist, reversing the state of reactive busyness. During the recent seasonal maintenance work, before receiving notification from the higher headquarters, Xie Peng had already obtained the relevant materials that each company had compiled and reported in advance. Once the headquarters notification came down, he only needed to sort and categorize the materials against the template and could submit all data and information on time. "Before, the work was chasing me. Now I can prepare in advance and no longer have to pull all-nighters rushing through urgent tasks." There was noticeably more composure in his words.

One "navigation map" has opened up a new situation. Since the "Battalion and Company Routine Work Checklist" was distributed more than a year ago, the conduct of all work across the battalion has become more standardized and orderly, and the level of building has improved significantly. This initiative has now been promoted and applied across the entire brigade, becoming a practical tool for grassroots battalions and companies to optimize work coordination and activate the drive for autonomous building (自主抓建).

Original Chinese

第八十二集团军某旅某营创造性总结梳理“营连经常性工作清单”—— 营连抓建有了“导航图” ■解放军报特约记者刘凡谢岩绘 “参考清单计划，当前几项重点工作可以同步推进……”初夏时节，第82集团军某旅训练场一隅，某营干部正利用训练间隙带着几名连主官筹划近期工作。让记者好奇的是，他们每人手里都拿着一张表格。记者看到，这张表格按照年、半年、季度、月、周、日的工作周期划分，以不同颜色清晰标注着各项工作内容与相关法规依据。 “这是我们结合各项法规要求制作的《营连经常性工作清单》，它能帮助大家厘清工作思路、‘照亮’落实盲区，是我们日常按纲抓建的‘导航图’。”该营张教导员介绍，基层工作繁多，对于军士选晋、换季保养这类阶段性重点工作，不少官兵虽能凭经验说出大致流程，但对具体实施规范了解还不够全面。这就容易出现缺项漏项。如何解决这一问题？一名连长无意中一句感慨，给了张教导员启发。去年春天，张教导员梳理了一份《营连党组织依法运行工作清单》，作为各连指导员的工作参考。当时，一名连长看到清单后，不禁感慨：“如果军事主官也能有这样一份参考清单该多好！” 闻听此言，张教导员当即决定梳理一份覆盖营连全领域经常性工作的参考清单。很快，在营党委共同研究下，第一版《营连经常性工作清单》梳理完成，并下发至所有干部骨干。然而，清单下发一段时间后，各连的工作效率并没有显著提升。这是为何？经过一番调研，张教导员找到问题根源：清单只解决了“让大家知道要干什么”的问题，却没有明确具体步骤、目标要求、完成时限等内容。为此，张教导员联合多名营连干部骨干，对清单进行优化调整：一方面结合营连实际，逐条细化工作内容、明确规范要求；另一方面，用不同颜色标注出不同时段可以统筹推进的交叉工作，让大家拿到清单就能对所有工作一目了然。同时提出，清单下发后，各连可根据自身情况，对落实方案进行微调，确保契合各自工作节奏。清单再次下发，效果究竟如何？某连指导员张齐轩对记者讲述了他的故事。去年底，张齐轩到该营某连担任指导员。刚上任不久，恰巧赶上装备换季保养、年终工作总结、功勋荣誉表彰、党员发展等多项工作同步推进。而此时，偏偏连长因家中急事临时休假，连队工作全部压在他一个人肩上。 “刚接手连队工作，对各项工作要求、流程都不熟，当时真有点慌了神。”张齐轩回忆道，那些天，他按照清单中标注的时间顺序和事项合并建议，逐项拆解任务，将多项工作穿插推进、同步落实。他说：“这份清单对我来说，就像是一份工作‘导航图’，把该干什么、什么时候干、依据哪条法规干写得一清二楚。”最终，张齐轩不仅圆满完成了所有工作，还因统筹高效受到营党委肯定。为了让清单内容更加贴近基层实际，今年初，该营结合野外驻训、演训任务等情况，动态优化清单内容，细化具体任务步骤，前瞻谋划重点工作，进一步激活了官兵主动作为的内生动力。过去，受限于营连“被动等通知、临时赶任务”的状况，该营文书谢鹏常常加班到深夜，生怕漏报数据、延误时间。新的清单下发后，他和各连文书对照清单提示的资料类型进行预先准备，被动忙碌状态得到扭转。前不久的换季保养工作中，接到机关通知之前，谢鹏就已经掌握了各连提前梳理上报的相关材料，机关通知一下发，他只需对照模板进行归类梳理，即可按时上报各类数据信息。“以前是工作追着我跑，现在可以提前做准备，再也不用熬夜赶急活。”话语间，谢鹏多了几分从容。一张“导航图”，打开新局面。《营连经常性工作清单》下发一年多来，该营各项工作开展更加规范有序，建设水平显著提升。目前，这一举措已在全旅推广应用，成为基层营连优化工作统筹、激活自主抓建动力的实用抓手。