You may think you know exactly what is wrong in your organization. You may have a sneaking suspicion that there is a problem, but you’re not quite sure what it is. You may think that there is nothing wrong at all.
Whichever group you fall into, if you haven’t taken a good, hard look at your organization in the last several years, now may be a good time. Just like getting a regular medical exam, organizational diagnosis can uncover problems that you didn’t know about, or help you address pains that you’ve been experiencing but didn’t know why, an organizational assessment can help your organization take a healthy step towards positive change. So how does it work?
Hiring a consultant to conduct your organizational assessment is useful because it brings an outside perspective, although it is not required. Keep in mind that it can be difficult or even impossible to examine yourself.
Organizational assessment and diagnosis is a 7-step process:
- Kick off. The process begins with an initial meeting; allowing an opportunity for you and the consultant to get to know each other. Your consultant, like your doctor, will be delving into the personal and sensitive issues. Having good rapport with him or her is extremely important.
- Expectations. Once you’ve clarified your goals and expectations, and understand the approach that the consultant will take, draft a written contract that clearly states the goals and objectives of the assessment process, the allowed (and disallowed) activities, and a delivery date for presentation of the results. Work begins once the contract is signed.
- Data Gathering. An assessment is only as good as the information on which it is based. Data gathering is accomplished through a combination of interviews with staff, environmental scans, facilities review, surveys, discussion with stakeholders, document review, staff workshops, and observation. The consultant will (ideally) immerse him or herself in the organization’s culture. The organization should be comprehensively reviewed and information gathered about its history, structure, and reputation. Narrative data including stories, anecdotes, and consultant impressions should be recorded as well.
- Analysis. During the analysis stage, the consultant creates a detailed account of the organization based on the data gathered, factual and interpretative. It describes all aspects of the organization and forms the basis for making recommendations for action.
- Feedback. The consultant will present the analysis to the organizational staff in order to gauge it’s accuracy, discuss strategic issues, and begin to formulate an action plan.
- Action stage. After processing the feedback and making necessary adjustments to the assessment report, the consultant can work with the organization to develop an action plan that will bring about changes that address systemic, process, or interpersonal issues that decrease the effectiveness of the organization.
- Exit. The consultant will exit the organization at a time and in manner agreed upon in the initial contract.
Some organizations may stop after step five, using the results of the assessment internally. Many will continue to step six, embarking on a strategic planning process based on the results of the assessment.
Too often, organizations will skip to step six without doing a thorough review of the organization, resulting in a planning effort that lacks adequate and/or accurate information.
It is especially tempting to skimp on data gathering when the leadership feels that they already know what the problem is, and are looking for a quick solution.
However, sometimes the problem is not the problem!
Taking the time to thoroughly understand the internal and external factors that affect your organization, contributing to your successes and failures, will help you develop strategies that effectively improve services, and your bottom line.
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