Planning an Effective Self-Assessment. The first step in your business improvement Journey

Transcription

1 Planning an Effective Self-Assessment The first step in your business improvement Journey

2 Contents Introduction What is Self-Assessment? The Self-Assessment Process On the Day of the Self-Assessment Prioritising Improvement Projects Managing Improvements Using RADAR Summary Of Key Activities Appendices A: Prioritisation Method, Impact vs Ease B: Prioritisation Method, Improve vs Maintain

3 Introduction The guide will explain the self-assessment process and help you to plan and conduct an effective self-assessment which results in tangible business improvement. It will also go on to explain how to analyse the results of your self-assessment to identify improvement activities and implement changes. What is Self-Assessment? Definition of Self-assessment: a comprehensive, systematic and regular review by the organisation of its activities and results referenced against a model of Excellence which allows an organisation to identify clearly its strengths and areas in which improvements can be made and culminates in planned improvement actions that are then monitored for progress in achieving its strategy. A Self-Assessment is usually a workshop which takes place in a day involving people from across the organisation. The group discuss the organisation and assess the evidence to establish the organisation s strengths and areas of improvement, using the EFQM Excellence Model as a benchmark. Following the self-assessment a second discussion and decision-making ½ day would be used to prioritise the list of potential improvement actions, assign ownership and agree timescales for delivery of the improvements. The team involved can consist of anyone from within the organisation one of main advantages of this self-assessment method is the opportunity to gain the active involvement of the management team. Each individual taking part should be made aware do the key strategic priorities, business plans and key processes. Open and honest discussion about the organisation s performance Use EFQM Model to structure discussions and to give an objective benchmark Self Assessment Cross-section of the organisation to be involved Not about problem solving

4 Using the EFQM Excellence Model for Self-Assessment The EFQM Excellence Model provides a generic framework, allowing any organisation, regardless of size or sector, to assess its current level of excellence. It will give you a holistic overview of your organisation. It can help you to: Understand how effectively you are deploying your strategy. Identify the cause and effect relationships between the things you do and the results you achieve. Identify your current strengths and prioritise opportunities for improvement against your strategic goals. Identify opportunities for benchmarking, both in terms of things you can share and things you want to learn. Establish a baseline position so you can measure your progress over time.

5 The Self-Assessment Process There are 8 key steps involved in the process. Most of these steps happen before the event itself because it is important to plan your self-assessment for it to be as effective as possible. It is important that those who are part of the self-assessment understand its purpose and are prepared to contribute. This guide will help to prepare you and execute your self-assessment. Step 8 Monitor Progress & Review Self- Assessment Process Step 1 Develop & retain management commitment Step 2 Plan the Self-Assessment Step 7 Plan and Implement Improvement Actions Self- Assessment Cycle Step 3 Develop and Deploy Communication Strategy Step 6 Prioritise Outcomes Step 5 Conduct Self- Assessment Step 4 Select and train people directly involved in the process

6 Involving Others Board & Management Commitment The Board and Management has a key role in your excellence journey and in your self-assessment. They have a key role to play in ensuring that the organisation benefits as fully as possible from the process. They should be the driving force behind the continuous improvement of the organisation, giving permission for time to be dedicated to the process and providing positive support for the lead officer. During the assessment they must be prepared to undertake and accept open and honest assessment of their own work, as well as the rest of the organisation. Depending on the projects chosen a Board member may also be asked to sponsor an improvement project, especially if it is in an area of their expertise. Quality Scotland has prepared a briefing note for Board Members to help you involve your Board members in the self-assessment process and continuous improvement journey. Staff As a member of staff you might be involved to participate in the self-assessment. During the self-assessment you will be asked to share your opinion on the organisation. Self-assessment has the biggest impact when it is carried out in an open and transparent manner and involves the whole organisation. Involving the whole organisation gives individuals from across the organisation the opportunity to learn about the challenges the others face therefore being honest gives more opportunity for you to learn about your organisation and how it can be improved. Following the self-assessment you may also be involved in implementing an improvement project and preparing for validation for Committed to Excellence.

7 Communication It is important that the people in your organisation understand the purpose of the selfassessment and the continuous improvement journey. It is therefore good practice to create a Communication Strategy. Every organisation is different but below are some questions and communication methods which may help you develop your communication strategy. Develop and Deploy a Communication Strategy What messages do you need to communicate? Why do you need to communicate these message? Who do you need to communicate these messages to? How will you communicate these messages? When will you communicate these messages? Who should communicate these messages? Where will you communicate these messages?

8 Where will you communicate these messages? It is important to choose the most appropriate medium for the target audience and ensure that they all understand your message Possible Communication Methods Team Meetings s Notice Boards/ Intranet Newsletters Reports Ad hoc presentation to raise awareness One-to-one meetings Networking Meetings

9 Select & Train People The next important step is to identify who will be involved in the self-assessment and in what capacity. All of these individuals need to be briefed on their role before the assessment. Sponsor Person responsible for overall continuous improvement journey Project Manager Person who implements the improvement project Staff Part of the self-assessment and might be involved in deploying the improvement projects. Who to Involve? Range of people from different functions at different levels and from different locations if your organisation is multisite. People who are enthusiastic. People who are constructive. People who want to be involved.

10 On the Day of the Self-Assessment Make sure everyone knows when and where the self-assessment will take place and circulate an agenda. Begin the assessment by brain storming the organisation strategy this will set the context for the rest of the assessment. Start with the easier criteria. Often self-assessments start with the People Criteria because everyone will be able to contribute and discuss their experience of working at the organisation. Begin each Enabler with a Brainstorm of the organisation s key approaches in that area e.g for Partnerships identify the organisation s Key Partners Keep to the facts. If someone makes a statement make sure that they are able to provide evidence to back up their opinion this will ensure that your assessment remains objective and is not compromised with bias opinions. Maintain meeting discipline and ensure that all members of the group have the opportunity to contribute. Agree some House rules at the beginning of the session. Agree next steps before leaving. Self-Assessment Agenda Finish Introduction Criteria 1-4 Lunch Criteria 5-9 Review 17.00

11 Using TSI Online Self-Assessment Tool Quality Scotland s exclusive TSI Online Self-Assessment Tool is an easy-to-use software application that allows organisations to assess performance and areas for improvement - straight from a computer. With no software to install, it is accessed through your internet browser and allows you to conduct self-assessment easily from anywhere. Finding a method of self-assessment which effectively evaluates your business but is not resource intensive can be challenging. However Quality Scotland has created a tool specifically designed for use by the TSI Network. Key Features An evidence based self-assessment against the 32 criterion parts of the EFQM Excellence Model. The ability to record your organisation s Approach & Deployment, Assessment & Refinement and Evidence against each statement. The ability to attach themes against each of your approaches to allow the results of your self-assessment to be filtered in excel to allow for effective prioritisation of improvement activities. A RADAR Scoring mechanism to give you quantitative performance results which you can easily use to benchmark your performance. The ability to use it to help identify 3 improvement projects for the Committed to Excellence award. A variety of reports so that you can easily evaluate the results of their selfassessment, including Areas for Improvement report; Score Reports; Traffic Light Reports. Filters to monitor your organisation s evidence for your funders and regulators.

12 Prioritising Improvement Projects Following your self-assessment you will identify lots of improvement opportunities. However it will not be possible or advisable for you try and tackle all the improvement projects at once, therefore you must go through a prioritisation process. Below are some methods which you could use to prioritise your improvements: Impact vs. Ease (Appendix A) Two factors are considered: 1. What will be the impact of this change? 2. How easy or difficult will it be to effect this change? Improve vs. Maintain (Appendix B) Another method is to analyse the strategic importance of the improvement projects; and to tackle the Areas for Improvement which are most strategically important. Strategically Important Urgent Improvement Action Required Maintain High Performance Strategically NOT Important Improve to Minimum Quality Levels Potential to Reduce Investment Pareto Analysis Areas for Improvement Strengths This is based on the idea that there is an inbuilt imbalance between causes and results, inputs and outputs and effort and reward. A minority of causes, inputs or effort usually lead to a majority of results, outputs or rewards.

13 Managing Improvement Using RADAR The RADAR logic is a dynamic assessment framework and powerful management tool that provides a structured approach to questioning the performance of an organisation. At the highest level, RADAR logic states that an organisation needs to: Determine the Results it is aiming to achieve as part of its strategy Plan and develop an integrated set of sound Approaches to deliver the required results both now and in the future Deploy the Approaches in a structured way to ensure implementation Assess and Refine the deployed Approaches based on monitoring and analysis of the results achieved and ongoing learning activities

14 The RADAR logic can be applied to managing improvement projects. Below are questions which the Project Manager should ask themselves when planning improvements to ensure that they are as effective as possible. There are separate questions for the Enablers and the Results. RADAR Questions: Enablers Approach Does the approach: Have a clear rationale? Focus on stakeholder needs? Support policy and strategy? Link to other approaches? Deployment Has the deployment of the approach: Been implemented in all potential areas across the organisation? Been implemented in a structured way? Assessment and Refinement Is the approach and its deployment: Measured appropriately for effectiveness and efficiency? Influenced by learning to identify internal and external good practices and improvement opportunities? Using creativity to generate new or changed approaches? Improved as a result of measurement and learning?

15 RADAR Questions: Results Relevance and Usability Does the scope of the results: Address the needs and expectations of relevant stakeholders? Demonstrate a consistency with the strategy and policies of the organisation i.e. measure the right things? Are the results: Timely, reliable and accurate? Appropriately segmented? Showing that the most important, Key Results, are identified and prioritised? Performance Do the results: Show positive trends or sustained good performance? If yes, for how long? Have targets? If yes, are the targets achieved? Have comparisons with others, for example competitors, industry averages or best in class? Compare well with others? Show a cause and effect link to approaches so that we can be confident in their sustaining good performance? Give a holistic picture? The Submission document for Committed to Excellence- Project Validation can help you to plan your improvement projects.

16 Summary of Key Activities Before the Self-Assessment Understand business context and link to strategy Define clear roles & responsibilities for those involved Data gathered Understand the model Explaing the process During the Self Assessment Planned agenda Objectives clearly defined Meeting discipline kept Start with "easier" criterion Listen to everyone's veiws Agree next steps before leaving Not problem solving yet After the Self-Asssessment Priorisation process agreed Ownership of improvement activity Consider solutions to multiple probelm areas Link activities to day to day activities where relevant Review progress on action plan Review Self- Assessment process

17 Appendix A: Prioritisation Method IMPACT / EASE OF CHANGE Two factors to consider 1) What will be the impact of this change? 2) How easy or difficult will it be to effect change? HIGH IMPACT EASY HARD LOW IMPACT

18 Appendix B IMPROVE VS. MAINTAIN Analyse the Strategic Importance of the improvement projects. Prioritise the Areas for Improvement which are of most strategic importance. Strategically Important AFIs Urgent Improvement Action Required STRENGTHS Maintain High Performance Strategically not important Improve to Minimum Quality Levels Potential to Reduce Investment