Why self-assessment?

To enable you to undertake your own meaningful performance assessment and embrace continuous improvement without over-dependency on external assistance.

Example

We have used the European Foundation for Quality Management's Excellence Model with the senior management teams of a number of organisations. The Excellence Model is a framework that can be used to assess and diagnose performance. It fits all sizes and shapes from a detailed self-assessment of a large organisation to a quick glance at a small one. The information from the assessment is used to plan improvements in ways of working and to develop strategic and business plans.

Here is an example of an organisational assessment exercise we have facilitated with a senior management team showing how the Model has been used:

1. What key results and impact are you looking for as an organisation? (e.g. where would you want to be and what would you want to have achieved by 2004?).

2. Having narrowed the target down to around half a dozen key objectives the next step is to look at what needs to happen under the Excellence Model headings of: Leadership, Policy & Strategy, People (staff etc.), Partnerships & Resources and Processes to achieve these objectives.

3. We would then look at what you already know and what you would need to know to understand how successful you are being in (a) achieving these results and (b) maintaining business as usual. This would be achieved by looking at what happens, and what needs to happen, on the "results" side of the model under the headings of: Customer Results, People results, Society Results, Key Performance Results.

4. Summarise the direction, next steps and improvement actions identified. These will then inform the business plan.