Monitoring and Evaluating the Strategic Plan - Fall 2012

Hello class, this is session 14 and our topic today is

monitoring

and

evaluating

plan

by

plan

, of course, we are referring to the

strategic

plan. One of the most critical steps in the

monitoring

and evaluation phase is to create what we call key performance indicators to help you track. and monitor whether or not you will meet costs and results on time, so that is what we are going to talk mainly about today, the key questions you should ask and the time frame for the first year should be every three months and then If it is a plan For three years, you may want to do it twice a year, unless of course there are problems and you can do it more frequently.

The key questions to ask yourself are: Are we on the right path? Will the objectives be achieved within time? framework that we have assigned in the plan and if not, what is happening, why are they not understood? Is it that we need better resources, maybe more people, maybe more money, maybe different teams, they are external to the organization, but we must ask ourselves why they are not? The second part of that is being achieved, if the goals are not being achieved, ask yourself how realistic the goals were if they were postponed or changed. I know many organizations that have to postpone goals that cannot be met due to changing circumstances, so that is a legitimate option. reason and if you don't stop and follow up every 3 months you will end up at the end of the year without completing a goal and then wonder why this wasn't articulated and identified and moved to another date or postponed indefinitely if necessary.

That is the case and the last question you ask if the goals are not on time is: are the deadlines realistic? Are we embracing more than we can choose from, so to speak? We had a realistic plan that changed due to other circumstances, so are we? Let's ask ourselves these questions: why has the objective not been achieved? Are the goals themselves realistic and are the deadlines realistic now? The most important thing is to review what I like to call lessons, learn to talk about what we are learning about the process that we can use in the future, what are the good steps that we have taken that we can replicate, what are some of the signs of warning that we should be aware of, so let's always report on lessons learned, now let's take a look at those Key Performance Indicators These success indicators allow an organization to know exactly what they are doing, if they are on the right track. , ahead of schedule, are known as KPIs, key performance indicators, those responsible for implementing action plans, strategies and tactics, are responsible. to collect the data and provide the status report so that if it is delegated to a particular department or program, those are the people who collect the key performance indicators.

I'll come back to that and then if there are problems, get the right people in the room to determine why the particular performance is not being met based on the expected and identified indicator examine the action plans the strategies the tactics vice versa if the objective is on the right track and is being met. Using this information to determine if we can replicate this and use it elsewhere in the Strategic Plan process so that we can get better results elsewhere, the

strategic

planning committee as a whole should always take action based on performance results data, review and revise lagging or declining performance, as well as recognize and duplicate exceptional performance.

Here are some examples of key performance indicators. in some organizations, so if the strategic plan had as one of its objectives to provide quality customer service, perhaps one of the key performance indicators could be to identify and examine the number of complaints that have come in if the objective identifies As a result of the reduction in staff turnover, you may want to take a look at the number of voluntary redundancies to see how it is holding up. If filling staff vacancies in a timely manner is a goal, I would consider the time period between the start of the hiring phase. when you place the ad and receive the resume up to the actual hiring and start date and look at the time period to see if there are steps that can close the gap between the initial and final cost, the final hiring step or finally If the goal was to reduce program costs, you will certainly want to document and identify the cost per hour of service.

These are just a few examples of key performance indicators. Remember that if you can't measure it, you can't manage it and the data is collected by the program department responsible for overseeing the strategies and tactics of that particular program, it is collected by them and discussed in senior management along with the planning committee. strategic so that an assessment can be made as to whether or not they are on the right track or lagging behind and the reasons why Remember that the assessment process is ongoing even if changes are being made to strategies and tactics and even in action plans, the process of tracking measurement and performance reporting would and should continue, so here is a summary of what I talked about today, a combination of leading and lagging measures can provide early signals performance warning and use a scorecard or dashboard to compile the results.

I mentioned it before and said that for those of you who are interested, you can go online and learn more about how to use a scorecard or a dashboard. They are both very visual and often use colors. Red light. Green light. Yellow light. To tell you if something was completed on time or if you have a problem. Remember to establish a process for reviewing and responding to measures, so that's the monthly or quarterly meeting for the first year. Remember that measuring alone is not what is important, then act on the measurements and the results. Course Correction Course correction may involve creating a new action plan and those components make sure to include who will do it, who will be the owner and who will work with the owner, identify the rest of the staff, when they will do it, when they will start , when is your milestone record and when is it expected.

Many organizations have multiple sites, some of them work with other organizations, so identifying where they do it helps create the action plan and then you have to ask what their strategies and tactics are, how they will do it. I like to ask that question three times, how will they do it, how else will they do it, how else will they do it and lastly, how long will it cost, how much will it cost and how long will it take? Do you expect it to be done in 3 months? 6 months one week two days how long will it take because time is a very expensive resource and how much will it also cost in dollars and cents? quick interview, overview of the strategic plan monitoring and evaluation segment.

I hope it has been useful and you know that it is a very important component of the strategic plan many times. Consultants offer to stay to help with initial follow-up and follow-up. The organization stays focused on its schedule and monitoring responsibilities. Many organizations don't want to pay for that phase, so a good consultant might put in an extra 10 or 20 hours just to get the organization off to a good start. and then you have a framework for what they need to do for themselves in the future. We will talk to you soon.