Program planning 2 2012

Editor's Notes

• #13: 1. Stage One: Imagine and Inspire ("Can the dream be realized?")2. Stage Two: Found and Frame ("How are we going to pull this off?")3. Stage Three: Ground and Grow ("How can we build this to be viable?")4. Stage Four: Produce and Sustain ("How can the momentum be sustained?")5. Stage Five: Review and Renew ("What do we need to redesign?")
• #17: Facilitate Management’s Thinking - Really Produce Data/Verify Results Produce valid comparisons between programsFully examine & describe effective programs
• #18: Make it an annual focus
• #19: Activity: BoardChief ExecutiveSenior StaffEmployeesKey Customers (Internal & External)
• #22: For example:80% of your profits come from 20% of your customers80% of your complaints come from 20% of your customers80% of your profits come from 20% of the time you spend80% of your sales come from 20% of your products80% of your sales are made by 20% of your sales staffMicrosoft noted that by fixing the top 20% of the most reported bugs, 80% of the errors and crashes would be eliminated
• #27: Questions What are the real issues at stake? With which viewpoint do you agree? Could you argue the opposing side? If you were involved in the planning process, what steps would you follow? Who should be involved? Would earlier planning procedures have prevented the conflict?To what degree can the planning process be considered rational?
• #28: Structural Frame - Social Architecture & Organizational DesignHuman Resource Frame - How Characteristics of Organizations and People Shape What they Do for One AnotherPolitical Frame – Power, Conflict & CoalitionSymbolic Frame - Organizational Culture & Symbols
• #30: Defines Relationship Based on Degrees of High or LowStrong Ties vs Weak TiesChartingIndividualProgram/ProjectOrganizational
• #32: Program inputs are the various resources needed to run the program, e.g., money, facilities, customers (internal or external), employees, etc. The process is how the program's products are delivered, e.g., products are provided to internal or external customers (internal or external), customers (internal or external) are served, etc. The outputs are the units of service, e.g., number of customers (internal or external) served. Outcomes are the impacts on the customers (internal or external) who are receiving the products, e.g., increased quality of products for customers (internal or external), enhanced safety in the workplace for internal customers (internal or external), enhanced mental health for customers (internal or external), etc.
• #34: Adaptive Capacity - the ability of a nonprofit organization to monitor, assess and respond to internal and external changesManagement Capacity - the ability of a nonprofit organization to ensure the effective and efficient use of organizational resourcesLeadership Capacity - the ability of all organizational leaders to create and sustain the vision, inspire, model, prioritize, make decisions, provide direction and innovate, all in an effort to achieve the organizational missionTechnical Capacity - the ability of a nonprofit organization to implement all of the key organizational and programmatic functionsKey Resources - the one or more critically needed resourcesthat most directly support programs and services
• #37: Systems thinking also needs the disciplines of building shared vision, mental models, team learning, and personal mastery to realize its potential. Building shared vision fosters a commitment to the long term. Mental models focus on the openness needed to unearth shortcomings in our present ways of seeing the world. Team learning develops the skills of groups of people to look for the larger picture beyond individual perspectives. Personal mastery fosters the personal motivation to continually learn how our actions affect our world
• #38: "One, two, three, four, I declare a thumb war","Five, six, seven, eight, try to keep your thumb straight."
• #39: DISCOVER: The identification of organizational processes that work well.DREAM: The envisioning of processes that would work well in the future.DESIGN: Planning and prioritizing processes that would work well.DESTINY (or DELIVER): The implementation (execution) of the proposed design
• #41: Program GoalsProgram goal(s) should come from and be closely associated with the organization's overall strategic goals. Think about what, e.g., three to five major accomplishments must be reached to attain each overall goal. Goals are an overall status to be reached through continued efforts in the program. Goals should be described such that the organization can assess whether it's reached the goal or not. The goal should establish clear direction for the organization and portray that direction to others. The program's goal may be to fix a problem or meet a need among customers (internal or external) -- not to fix a problem in your organization.For example, if you are just starting out to develop a new program, typical overall goals might include: develop employees, pilot services to one group of customers (internal or external), evaluate the program process and finalize program process based on evaluation results.Program ObjectivesThink about each goal and what sub-goals, or objectives, you need to accomplish to reach that goal. (Depending on your nature, it may work to instead think of how the program process will be carried out and then identify specific milestones, or objectives, in carrying out the process. This approach is somewhat like the reverse of thinking about goals and associating objectives.)Objectives should be worded such that one can rather easily discern if it's been reached or not. They should specify who is going to do what to whom and when and how much.For example, referring to the above goals, associated objectives might be: recruit employees, train them, obtain facilities and equipment, install the equipment, develop advertising materials, distribute the materials, recruit customers (internal or external) for the pilot, develop procedures for delivery of products/services, deliver products/services over a fixed period of time, conduct evaluation of the program's process and results/outcomes, generate recommendations from the evaluation, update policies and procedures in the program's process, and update the overall program plan. Program ProcessBy now, establishing the program's process should be quite straightforward and depend mostly on the nature of the product/service provided by the program. Program planners' thoughts about the processes needed to reach each of the program objectives (above) often culminate in the overall program process as well. After documenting the planned general process for the program, take time to reflect on whether that process will really accomplish the results/outcomes you set out to accomplish for your customers (internal or external).
• #42: Program Resources and BudgetExamine the program's process to the extent that you can associate what resources are needed to carry out that process. Consider: personnel costs (salaries and wages, fringe benefits, consultants), training, space, equipment purchase or rental, travel, copier, telephone, general office supplies, etc. Develop a program budget by estimating the cost for each resource identified above. Note that this budgeting activity is almost always required in a proposal if the organization wants to find an investor for the new program.
• #45: Program EvaluationPrograms should be evaluated on at least a yearly basis to discern if the programs are reaching their goals, achieving their outcomes and if they are doing so in an efficient manner. Small businesses seldom have the resources to conduct evaluations of a program's goals, outcomes and process. However, they can think about where they have the most concerns about a program and then gear an evaluation to look at that aspect of the program.Program evaluation holds numerous advantages. It can verify or increase the results/outcomes on customers (internal or external). It can fine tune delivery of program services, which, in turn, saves costs and time. Evaluations often provide wonderful testimonials that can be used for public relations and credibility of the program. In fact, evaluations are often used by program planners to ensure that the program is indeed carrying out the original process planned for the program in the first place. Often, the program plan ends up changing dramatically over time as program employees are overcome by events. Program processes can naturally deviate from the original plan because program plans were flawed in the first place, the program's environment changed a great deal or program employees simply found a much better way to deliver products/services to customers (internal or external).
• #50: What impact will this have on our mission? What impact will this have on our community? What resources will the program require?What determines the program scope with the activities & deliverables?