Project+1

Project 1: Needs Assessment Plan  Your first project is to write an optimal needs assessment plan. In other words, "How would you (and your team) assess the needs of a particular organization given an optimal amount of time and resources?" A sample table of contents for your plan is provided in Figure 1. An additional example of completed NA Plans are provided under the " Resources " link.  I. Title Page II. Executive Summary III. Table of Contents IV. Overview · Context ( e.g., mission, size, location, initiating factors) · Problem Statement · Purpose · Rationale V. Method · Information Sources · Data Gathering Tools and Techniques · <span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Procedure · <span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Constraints <span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">VI. Proposed Budget <span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">VII. Appendix (e.g., data collection instruments) || <span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Figure 1. Sample table of contents for Needs Assessment Plan <span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">As your write your Needs Assessment (NA) Plan, you should always keep in mind who you are writing it for and why. In many cases, the NA Plan serves as a proposal which, if accepted, becomes a contract between you (the assessor) and your client (people who want you to conduct the needs assessment). As such, you must convince readers that you know what you are doing and that it is worth the time and resources to conduct the needs assessment. You must clearly state what you are going to do, when and why. <span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">You must also demonstrate that you understand the context and the system that you are going to assess. Whether you are an outside consultant or an employee of the organization, chances are you will also be asked to include a "budget" as a part of the proposal / plan as required for this course. <span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Similarly, your NA plan serves as a tool for communicating your intentions to others within the organization. One of your primary tasks of human performance technologist is to gain buy-in and support for your needs assessment. To be successful (i.e., people feel that your assessment is valid, and believe in and support your recommendations), people within the organization must feel like they are an integral part of, and have contributed to the needs assessment process including the identification of the recommended solution(s). <span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Dissemination of a well written needs assessment plan, and/or parts of the plan will help establish your expertise, clarify the roles of various stakeholders, and promote the validity of the assessment; all of which will help to gain buy-in and support for your actions. <span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The NA Plan also serves to focus your efforts and intentions. You will confront many different variables as you initiate a needs assessment. A well written plan will help keep you on track so that you do not waste your time on tasks that may not be relevant to your purpose. <span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Writing the plan will help you identify key aspects of the system as well as develop your understanding of the system. Development of your plan will also help you prioritize your tasks so that you can allocate your resources accordingly. <span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In writing your NA Plan, remember that readers may have little to no knowledge of the assessment process. Each section of your NA Plan should start with a brief introduction (1-3 sentences) about what you're going to tell them in that section. <span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">For example, under Sources and Types of Information, do not just list the sources and the types of information you will collect. Start with a few sentences stating that the following sources will be used to gather information about optimal levels of performance, actual levels of performance, causes for any discrepancies between optimal and actual performance, and proposed solutions from varied sources. <span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The following provide more detailed description of each major section that should be contained in your NA Plan including the criteria that will be used to grade your plan. <span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Below is a breakdown of the different section and subsections. There is also a rubric that can be found under the " <span style="color: #003399; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Resources <span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">" link. · **<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Title Page (2 pts) **<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> <span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">- Includes: (a) brief, descriptive title for needs assessment plan/proposal; (b) name of organization, (c) list of team members, (d) date submitted. · **<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Executive Summary (6 pts) **<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> <span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">- One page overview describing components of plan/proposal, including context, perceived problem, purpose, planned method and results. · **<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Table of Contents (2 pts) **<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> <span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">- Page listing major components of plan/proposal. · **<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Context (10 pts) **<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> <span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">- brief description of the context, such as the primary mission, size, and location of the organization, and the factors that lead up to the needs assessments. · **<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Problem Statement (10 pts) **<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> <span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">- A concise, results-oriented, statement of the problem. Should be measurable, quantified and address a performance discrepancy at the product, output or outcome level. · **<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Purpose (5 pts) **<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> <span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">- A concise statement about what you are doing and why. · **<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Rationale (10 pts) **<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> <span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">- Extension of purpose statement that further delineates why you are conducting the needs assessment. What results are expected and how would they benefit the organization (e.g., Return on Investment - ROI). · **<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Information Sources (15 pts) **<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> <span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">- Lists and provides a brief description of your sources of needs assessment data. If the source is a person(s), you should list title(s) and the number of people with such a title from which you plan to gather data. If the source is a document, you should provide a short description of the document including who wrote it. Your description should also identify what type of NA data you plan to gather from each source (e.g., optimal, actual, causes or potential solutions). · **<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Data Gathering Tools and Techniques (10 pts) **<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> <span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">- Lists and provides a brief description of the tools and techniques you plan to use to gather needs assessment data. Rossett makes a distinction between tools and techniques. However, in my experience, I have found that making the distinction often confuses readers not versed in the needs assessment process. Therefore, I recommend that you combine tools and techniques into one section. · **<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Table 1 (5 pts) **<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> <span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">- You NA proposal should include at least one table that clearly identifies and illustrates the relationship between information sources, types and data gathering tools and techniques. Your table should be numbered and include a short, but descriptive title (see APA Style Guide). References to your table, including a description of contents should be included in the two previous sections. · **<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Schedule / Procedure (5 pts) **<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> <span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">- Your schedule should list all of the tasks that must be completed to finish your assessment in chronological order all the way up to submitting your needs assessment report. You should also include projected start dates for each task as well as the person(s) who will have primary responsibility for making sure the task is complete. It is recommended that your schedule be presented in tabular format as well. · **<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Constraints (5 pts) **<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> <span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">- Identify and describe any factors that may affect the validity or reliability of your needs assessment. · **<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Budget (5 pts) **<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> <span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">- List the resources and projected cost for each resource necessary to conduct your proposed needs assessment. Budgets typically include a column for: item number, unit cost (cost for one item), and extension (item x unit cost). NA items typically include personnel, materials (e.g., making 500 copies of a survey) and services (e.g., mailing). · **<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Instruments (10 pts) **<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> <span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">- At minimum, your appendix should include a sample of each of the instruments you plan to use to collect needs assessment data. Be sure that your instruments focus on the four primary purposes of conducting needs assessment (i.e., to determine optimals, actuals, cause and solutions). All directions should be clear and your assessment items should be properly formatted and well written. · **<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Other Documents (0 pts) **<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> <span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">- Additional documents may be included in your NA proposal to help present your plan (e.g., mandates, memos).
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">OVERVIEW **<span style="color: #003399; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 17.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">PERFORMANCE CRITERIA **<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Front End Matter (10 pts) **<span style="color: #003399; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 17.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Overview (35 pts) **<span style="color: #003399; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 17.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Method (40 pts) **<span style="color: #003399; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 17.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Proposed Budget (5 pts) **<span style="color: #003399; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 17.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Appendix (10 pts) **<span style="color: #003399; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 17.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">