Create Your Plan
Introduction
Nobody wants to feel like they are busy doing paperwork when they could be doing real work. It can be tempting to gloss over the process of creating a written roadmap for your project, but skipping this important step has real consequences.
In this activity, you will discover the basic elements of a plan and see why each is so important. Learn how to keep it simple, stay practical and create a plan that will actually help you get the real work done!
Would You Go On a Road Trip Without a Plan?
You might. And you would eventually arrive somewhere, but it might not be where you thought you'd be. You might have to make detours along the way, double back for a missed turn, or end up in a town full of "no vacancy" signs.
A little planning goes a long way. The same holds true for your project team. Spend a little time getting organized on paper and you'll find you work more effectively and stay on track.
Even better, you're not starting from scratch to do this. You can use all the data and resources you've gathered to this point to draw the step-by-step roadmap of your initiative. You will use your research to document what's happening in your community, what changes you want to institute, and how you will measure your success.
Once completed, use the roadmap to structure your plan for moving forward.
What's Your Plan?
This activity shows you what to include in your plan, when to tackle each part of the plan and what consequences you can avoid by being diligent about planning.
Explore each area and then dig into a few true-to-life scenarios to find out where planning most commonly goes wrong.
What to Include in Your Plan
Your plan includes seven key parts. Drag the pencil to each part of the plan to learn more.
Goals: What do we want to accomplish?
When writing your goals, ask yourself what you want to achieve in the long-term. Describe what you want to accomplish in a general way; your goal should be an overarching, broad statement.
Example: Reduce the level of bullying among middle grades youth (grades 6-8) in our school district.
A statement like this can guide your initiative without limiting you. Your goals should always be on your mind when you do any planning related to the initiative.
Hint: Your goal should never be an activity, such as "to implement a specific program."
Baseline Data: What do we know about the problem?
"If I had one hour to save the world, I would spend 55 minutes defining the problem and only five minutes finding the solution." -Einstein, Albert
The most important step in solving a problem is knowing what problem you want to solve. Write down what you know about how big the problem is, when it occurs and where it happens.
Think about what data sources you and your partners have. This will give a picture of the status quo, which serves as your baseline for making a change.
Be curious. Ask questions and gather facts. A well-defined problem is halfway to being solved.
Objectives: How do we want things to change?
It's time to narrow things down. What specific attitudes, skills, and behaviors do you want to change? By how much and by when?
You've probably heard about SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound) objectives. That's what you're identifying here.
Example: To reduce the percentage of students in grades 6-8 who report being bullied in the past 30 days by 15% from baseline by June 2014.
Measures: How will we know things have changed?
When you start a diet, you need to know your beginning weight (this is your "baseline data!") But to determine this, you need to have a scale.
When implementing your plan it's likewise important that you identify the "scale.". If you want to show that what you are doing is making a difference, it is important to keep your measures consistent. Use the same scale used to determine baseline to show your progress.
Example: If the baseline measure used was "the number of office referrals for bullying in the past 30 days;" do not use "the number of times students reported being bullied in the past 30 days."
Strategies: How will we do it?
What will cause your intended changes? You will pick one or more programs or services to address each objective you identified. Ideally, this will be an evidence-based program.
Example: Implement the Steps to Respect bullying prevention program for students aged 8 to 12.
Partners: Who is responsible for doing it?
As the saying goes, many hands make light work. You need to identify partners who will be responsible for implementing the strategies, programs and services you've selected.
Example: Mental health partner will assist with staff training. Teachers will deliver the bullying program.
Fidelity: Are we doing it well?
Fidelity is the degree to which a strategy, program or service is delivered as intended and as designed. Fidelity measures are focused on effort not objectives.
Example: If a program requires that you provide a full two days of training but you condense the training to a single day, you have not implemented the program with fidelity.
Fidelity addresses questions such as:
- How often?
- How long?
- How well?
When Does All This Happen?
Many of the parts you put in your plan are the byproducts of steps you have already taken. Drag the calendar to each part of the plan to see when each usually occurs.
Goals: What do we want to accomplish?
Early in the process of working together, you should clearly link your team's goals to the team's vision.
This often takes place in a team meeting where members work to define the common issue that unites the group.
Note: You may need to revisit your goals if digging deeper into the data revealed some unexpected results!
Baseline Data: What do we know about the problem?
Each partner will likely have an idea of the extent of the problem and that is what brings him or her to the table. The partnership needs to pool this information to get the most accurate picture of what is really happening.
You should always do this prior to implementing a new strategy.
Objectives: How do we want things to change?
You will identify objectives after you establish your vision and goals.
Measures: How will we know things have changed?
This is a natural byproduct of developing your desired objectives. It can happen simultaneously.
Strategies: How will we do it?
You should only develop strategies AFTER steps 1 to 4 are completed! You want to make sure that your activities link logically to the objectives you are seeking.
A common pitfall is starting with a strategy in mind. Your needs, goals, and objectives should guide your choice of activities, not vice-versa.
Partners: Who is responsible for doing it?
This is another step that might happen simultaneously with an earlier step. As you are selecting a strategy, you can consider how you will share responsibility for implementing that strategy.
Fidelity: Are we doing it well?
You should measure fidelity regularly and throughout the process of implementation. It is vital to confirm fidelity before any attempt to gauge progress towards goals and objectives.
What to Include in Your Plan
Your plan does not need to be complex, but it does need to be complete. Drag the eraser to each part of the plan to see what might happen if you skip any part.
Goals: What do we want to accomplish?
Without this:You may lack focus and direction.
Baseline Data: What do we know about the problem?
Without this:You may target the wrong population, underestimate the scope or have trouble gauging the impact of your strategies. If you don't know your baseline data, you won't know if you've made things better.
Objectives: How do we want things to change?
Without this:You may be unable to measure progress or determine the effectiveness of the strategies you select.
Measures: How will we know things have changed?
Without this:You may discover that you really don't have a data collection process for an objective.
Strategies: How will we do it?
Without this:You might end up doing lots of stuff with nothing to show for it!
Partners: Who is responsible for doing it?
Without this: You may assume by default that the partnership's convener has sole ownership and responsibility for implementing the plan. If you assume limited resources, you might also fail to create a comprehensive, collaborative plan to address the issue.
Fidelity: Are we doing it well?
Without this: You may not really be doing what you think you are doing! It is possible that your programs and services are not being delivered as designed and intended. That makes it very unlikely that you will achieve your goals and objectives.
The Pitfalls of Skipping Parts.
The following scenarios immerse you in a project team that has the best of intentions. In each scenario, your team has skipped an important step in the process.
Can you identify the skipped step?
The Pitfalls of Skipping Parts
Scenario 1
It has been over two years since you and your partners came together to address bullying in your district's schools. You identified a goal of "reducing the level of bullying at the elementary school' in your district and implemented the evidence-based "Second Step" program.
The program has been fully and faithfully implemented in all classrooms for over a year now. The school board is interested in hearing about how this program is making a difference. They will use this information to help them decide on whether to continue funding for this effort.
The team has collected data on the rates of reported bullying during the most recent school year. The district has provided a contracted evaluator to assist with data analysis and she has told you that she in unable to determine whether this program has made a difference.
Which question in the road mapping process do you seem to have skipped? (Select One)
- What do we want to accomplish? (Goals)
- What do we know about the problem? (Baseline data)
- How do we want things to change? (Objectives)
- How will we know things have changed? (Measures)
- How will we do it? (Strategies)
- Who is responsible for doing it? (Partners)
- Are we doing it well? (Fidelity)
Correct Answer: 2. What do we know about the problem? (Baseline data)
It appears that your team skipped the second step in the process: finding out what was really happening in the community. If you don't have baseline data, you can't really know if your efforts have made a difference.
The Pitfalls of Skipping Parts
Scenario 2
Two years ago you and your partners came together to address underage drinking in your community. Because the state biennial youth risk behaviors survey revealed that 25% of the district's middle school students had used alcohol in last 30 days, you identified a goal of "reducing underage drinking at the middle school level" in your district.
The evidence-based "Class Action" program has been fully and faithfully implemented in all classrooms for over a year now. The school board and city council are both interested in hearing about how this program is making a difference. They will use this information to help them decide on whether to continue funding for this effort.
The city has provided a contracted evaluator to assist with data analysis and she has told you that she in unable to determine whether this program has made a difference. You then provide her with the number of middle school students arrested for underage drinking in the last year, but she says she still cannot make that determination.
Which question in the road mapping process do you seem to have skipped? (Select One)
- What do we want to accomplish? (Goals)
- What do we know about the problem? (Baseline data)
- How do we want things to change? (Objectives)
- How will we know things have changed? (Measures)
- How will we do it? (Strategies)
- Who is responsible for doing it? (Partners)
- Are we doing it well? (Fidelity)
Correct Answer: How will we know things have changed? (Measures)
It looks like the baseline and data measures you chose are not consistent. The baseline data is from a student self-reported survey and the comparison is behavioral arrest data.
Because the baseline data came from a survey that is conducted every two years, they probably should have conducted their own survey in the interim. Be sure to use the same questions and to survey the same populations.
The Pitfalls of Skipping Parts
Scenario 3
Alarmed by the results of a county-wide survey, you and your partners came together two years ago to address early childhood expulsions. The survey of early childhood providers revealed that 15% of their pre-school students had been expelled from an early childhood program in the past year for behavioral reasons.
Based on this information, you identified a goal of "reducing the level of early childhood expulsions for preschoolers aged 2-5" in your community and implemented the evidence-based "Incredible Years" program. The county commissioners are interested in hearing about how this program is making a difference.
They will use this information to help them decide on whether to continue funding for this effort. The county evaluator is assisting with data analysis and you have given him the results of this year's provider survey, which indicates the same 15% rate. Your team takes this to mean that the program isn't effective, but the evaluator says she isn't sure that the program is at fault. She is unable to say with confidence whether this program has made a difference.
Which question in the road mapping process do you seem to have skipped? (Select One)
- What do we want to accomplish? (Goals)
- What do we know about the problem? (Baseline data)
- How do we want things to change? (Objectives)
- How will we know things have changed? (Measures)
- How will we do it? (Strategies)
- Who is responsible for doing it? (Partners)
- Are we doing it well? (Fidelity)
Correct Answer: 7. Are we doing it well? (Fidelity)
It looks your team may not have the fidelity measures needed to determine whether the program is being delivered as designed and intended. Without that, the evaluator knows that the team can't really say whether they are actually doing what they think they are doing!
Conclusion
So you've done it. You've worked through some straightforward steps you and your partners can take to create your plan.
Successful teams will testify that the process of creating a roadmap was a wise investment of time. Creating the plan is a great time to ask and answer some basic questions. And writing down your answers is simply a way to ensure you don't forget anything.
Your plan can keep you focused and organized, can help you avoid costly impulse decisions, and can boost your chances of success.