7Performance Improvement, vol. 46, no.1, January 2007
©2007 International Society for Performance Improvement
Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com)  •DOI: 10.1002/pfi.033 
DESIGNING FOR PERFORMANCE, PART 1:ALIGNING YOUR HPT DECISIONS FROM TOP TO BOTTOM
THE SUCCESS AND MERIT of any human performance
technology (HPT) are derived from its ability to accom-plish valuable results that are aligned with the strategicambitions of your organization and its partners. Andthough this may at first sound like a simple and straight-forward undertaking, don’t be fooled. The tasks associat-ed with identifying and selecting the right performancetechnologies for accomplishing useful results can often bemore taxing than those associated with developing andimplementing the selected performance interventions.
From clarifying the expected results to sorting through

the hundreds of potential performance technologies thatare available, the processes associated with aligning whatyou do with what you want to accomplish require a focusedand systematic approach. Just as you would use systematicdesign procedures for developing instructional materials orcreating an online performance support tool, you will bemost successful at identifying and selecting the right per-formance technologies when you formalize and continu-ally improve your decision-making processes.
This article, the first of three focusing on the system-
atic design of performance systems, provides a struc-tured process for aligning all your HPT decisions, fromtop to bottom. This alignment will verify that whichever

performance technologies you select for achieving resultswill produce valuable contributions to the long-termsuccess of your organization, its clients, and its partners.Because performance is all about achieving valuableresults, this first article will focus on identifying anddefining desired results. The second article in this serieswill then provide a useful framework for selecting theright set of performance technologies for accomplishing
those desired results. In the final article a systematicprocess for designing, developing, and continuallyimproving upon the results you are accomplishing willbe described. T ogether, these three articles can provideyou with a practical framework for developing perform-ance systems designed to accomplish valuable results.
Y our time and energy are precious commodities and,

thus, should be used wisely. Avoid spinning your wheelsdesigning, developing, and implementing performancetechnologies that may or may not accomplish the resultsdesired by your organization and its partners. Resist pre-mature selection of performance technologies, madebefore the desired outcomes are clearly defined. Achieveboth of these goals by starting with a systematic processRyan Watkins
Wanting to improve individual and organizational performance is a worthwhile ambition. Yet your

success in accomplishing this relies heavily on the suitable selection, design, and development of per-formance technologies. Only when capable performance technologies are systematically aligned withthe desired results of your organization and its partners will you achieve sustainable performanceimprovements. In this article, the first of a three-part series, you will find a systematic process for initi-ating the design of a performance system that will accomplish useful results. From identifying the per-formance expectations of internal and external partners to justifying the performance objectives youestablish as guides for future decision making, the systematic processes described in this article willprovide you with the initial tools for successfully selecting an integrated set of performance technolo-gies that have the capacity to accomplish valuable results.8 www.ispi.org •DOI: 10.1002/pfi •JANUARY 2007 that aligns all of your performance improvement deci-

sions. This ensures that the performance technologies you
select for development and implementation will be
aligned with achievement of worthwhile results.
WHAT IS PERFORMANCE AND WHY
MUST WE DESIGN FOR IT?
T o start with, performance should not be confused with
performing (Gilbert & Gilbert, 1989; Watkins & Leigh,
2001). This is an important yet often misunderstood dis-tinction. Performing is what we  do, whereas performance
is the useful result that we accomplish. Airplane pilots, forinstance, perform a variety of activities and safety proce-dures to ensure that the desired performance of a safe
landing is accomplished. Similarly, we brush our teetheach evening to achieve the desired result of no toothdecay. Performing and performance have an interdepend-ent relationship but distinctive characteristics.
In all professions and for all tasks, we benefit when we
can separate what we do (that is, performing ) from what
we accomplish (that is, performance ). This separation

allows us to focus on the performance as an objective andto subsequently select the processes for achieving that
performance from all the options available (Watkins,2006b). In other words, it allows us to accomplish resultswithout the constraints of preselected interventions.When this distinction is operat ive, the start of effective
efforts to improve performance is rooted in the accom-plishment of valuable results rather than just theimprovement of what people do.
Although both performance and performing can be

improved, improving the latter does not necessarilyensure that you will make gains in the former. Improvingthe efficiency of a process (for instance, using an electrictoothbrush to shorten the time required to brush yourteeth) does not necessarily mean that you are going toaccomplish useful and desirable results (fewer cavities).Many organizations have found this to be true. For exam-ple, increasing investments in training as a performancetechnology does not consistently lead to the intended ordesired results (Stolovitch, 2002; Clark & Estes, 2002).

The same lackluster results are equally familiar in men-toring, software development, leadership workshops,employee retention programs, and almost any other per-formance technologies you can imagine when they arenot properly aligned and associated with the accomplish-ment of desired performance.
An inappropriate or misaligned set of perfor-
mance interventions will not lead to sustainable per-formance improvements. Y our performance technologydecisions should therefore focus first and foremost on the

accomplishment of valuable results. Only after identifyingthe results you want to accomplish should you begin toselect the performance solutions (for example, careercounseling, workplace redesign, incentive systems, train-ing, computer systems) that will most efficiently andeffectively achieve those results. In this way you can alignall your HPT decisions from top to bottom. Decisions—from “What results do our clients’ clients want us toaccomplish?” to “Should we use a combination of bal-anced scorecards and team building?”—can then be madewith a principal focus on the accomplishment of desiredperformance (that is, results).
WHERE DOES ALIGNMENT BEGIN?
Alignment begins with the strategic goals and objectives
of individuals, organizations, communities, and societies.It begins with these intentions because they define the

expected results of any performance improvement effort.The anticipated results from your organization are, forexample, set by the clients, clients’ clients, and commu-nity partners that buy and use the products or servicesyour organization delivers. Likewise, your organizationexpects definable results from each division, department,team, project, employee, and supplier. All these anticipat-ed results make up a system of strategic goals and ambi-tions that should be the foundation for all the decisionsyou will make in selecting, designing, developing, andimplementing performance technologies.
The performance expec tations of most organizations

are readily communicated through strategic plans andrelated documents. Ideally, these planning documentsprovide practical guidance for decision making. Y ou canthen use them to align your performance initiativeswith the strategic objectives of your organization andits partners (Watkins, 2006b).
For employees at all levels of any organization,

strategic plans should offer guidance and support formaking personnel, acquisitions, time-management,performance improvement, and all the other decisionsthat are linked to organizational accomplishments. Y et,as most HPT professionals have witnessed, strategicplans are typically created every year or two only to siton the shelf and gather dust. These plans typically fail tofocus on intended results and instead merely identify awish list of new initiatives (Watkins, Triner, &Kaufman, 1996; Mintzberg, 1994), giving no clear guid-ance to essential decisions about which performancetechnologies to implement. This failure of strategicplans frequently leads to choices that are not alignedPerformance Improvement •Volume 46 •Number 1 •DOI: 10.1002/pfi    9* If your organization has not recently completed a systematic, results-focused strategic planning, needs assessment, or SWOT analysis, then you should champion

these efforts before making deci sions about which performance technologies to design, develop, and implement. Moving ahead without these guides to validate and
justify your decisions can lead to misinformed choices and less- than-desirable results.
Source: Based on Watkins, 2006b.STEP TOWARD
SUCCESSBRIEF DESCRIPTION
Look at strategic plans for client organizations, suppliers, competitors, regional community
groups, and any others who play a part in defining what results should be accomplishedwithin and by your organization. Also examine annual reports and other documents forclues about the results anticipated in the upcoming years and the ways those expectationsmay influence your decisions. Assess each strategic document for information that will helpyou align what you use, do, and produce with the results your organization delivers toclients and the contributions of those results to the local community and society (Kaufman,2000, 2006; Watkins, 2006a).

In practical terms assessment is a process used by individuals or organizations to determine
the value or worth of something (Scriven, 1967). Likewise, organizations use needs assess-ments as a structured process for identifying discrepancies between desired results (ideallyas defined at three levels through systemic strategic planning) and current results in order toassess their value or worth (see Kaufman, 2006). Needs assessments can provide informa-tion that is of exceptional value and often essential for selecting appropriate performancetechnologies. Conclusions derived from needs assessments will help you prioritize amongcompeting strategic ambitions.
A SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis identifies environmen-
tal and operational factors you should consider in defining the results you are going to
accomplish and thus your definitions of success. According to Leigh (2006), SWOT analy-

ses identify strengths as enhancers of desired performance and weaknesses as inhibitors,and both are within an organization’s control. For example, your strengths might includeemployee knowledge, reliable suppliers, or new technologies, and your thr eats might
include new competitors, employee recruitment, or limited raw materials. Opportunities are
also identified as enhancers of desired performance and threats as inhibitors, but both areoutside an organization’s control.
The final step in decoding the strategic direction is to set priorities among the numerous
goals and objectives that may be diverse or appear to be competing. Translate the desiredresults of multiple partners into a set of performance priorities that you can aim to achieve.

This can be challenging, but your analysis of the results of strategic planning, needs assess-
ments, and SWOT analyses (of factors both inter nal and external to your organization) will
give you the necessary data.
When prioritizing the expected results from numerous partners, you need to remain
focused on performance (that is, results). You should avoid confusing desired processes(such as quality management, leadership workshops, outsourcing, and other performancetechnologies) with the desired results at the individual or team, organizational, and societallevels. Desired performance at each of these levels will define the results your performanceimprovements should accomplish, thereby defining your success.TABLE 1 STEPS IN DECODING STRATEGIC DIRECTION
STEP TOWARD SUCCESS BRIEF DESCRIPTION
Step 1
Step 2

Step 1
Step 2
Step 3
Step 4Review strategic plans
and related documents
Review needs
assessment results
Review SWOT
analysis results*
Set prioritiesLook at strategic plans for client organizations, suppliers, competitors, regional community
groups, and any others who play a part in defining what results should be accomplishedwithin and by your organization. Also examine annual reports and other documents forclues about the results anticipated in the upcoming years and the ways those expectationsmay influence your decisions. Assess each strategic document for information that will helpyou align what you use, do, and produce with the results your organization delivers toclients and the contributions of those results to the local community and society (Kaufman, 2000, 2006; Watkins, 2006a).

the value or worth of something (Scriven, 1967). Likewise, organizations use needs assess-ments as a structured process for identifying discrepancies between desired results (ideallyas defined at three levels through systemic strategic planning) and current results in order toassess their value or worth (Kaufman, 2006). Needs assessments can provide informationthat is of exceptional value and often essential for selecting appropriate performance tech-nologies. Conclusions derived from needs assessments will help you prioritize among com-peting strategic ambitions.

When prioritizing the expected results from numerous partners, you should remain
focused on performance (that is, results). You should avoid confusing desired processes(such as quality management, leadership workshops, outsourcing, and other performancetechnologies) with the desired results at the individual or team, organizational, and societallevels. Desired performance at each of these levels will define the results your performanceimprovements should accomplish, thereby defining your success.Source: Based on Watkins, 2006b.
10 www.ispi.org •DOI: 10.1002/pfi •JANUARY 2007 Step 1
Step 2

Step 2
Step 3
Step 4Analyze strategic goals
Select your performance
objectives
Relate objectives and
current processes
Perform a task analysis
Step 5
Review and revise 
performance objectivesFrom the prioritized performance expectations of your organization and its partners, derive

Step 5
the specific results that will lead to attaining strategic goals. For example, if your organiza-tion has a strategic objective of increasing the number of successful sales calls to 50 per day,then you would want to analyze that objective to determine what interim results must beachieved to make it a reality (for example, motivated sales agents, phone systems that canhandle increased volumes, a receptionist who accurately assesses and forwards appropriatecalls). Only later on will you consider what performance technologies can accomplish thesedesired results (for example, incentive systems, mentoring, high-tech phone systems, recep-tionist training, job aids, or online performance support tools).
Carefully select the results you are committed to accomplishing. Prioritize, group, and review

the results of previous analyses, then identify a set of performance objectives that will guideyour decisions about which performance technologies to design, develop, and implement.
At the same time, use this effort as an opportunity to negotiate with internal and external
partners on the results criteria that will be used to evaluate success. Performance objectiveswill be the primary (if not sole) criteria used to evaluate the accomplishments of selected performance technologies.
You are likely to find that your organization is already making valuable contributions to the

achievement of the selected performance objectives. To capitalize on these current accom-plishments you should connect each performance objective with the current processes makingmeasurable contributions. For example, if one performance objective is the elimination of lostoffice supplies, then you should identify any current initiatives to track, store, or inventoryoffice supplies and also identify the results they are achieving. 
Complete a task analysis for each of the current organizational processes (both those achiev-
ing and not achieving desired levels of performance). Task analyses describe and documentcurrent processes in your organization, offering valuable insights that can inform decisionsfor improving performance. Performance technologies can then complement or supplementthe current activities to accomplish your selected performance objectives (Watkins, 2006b).

The task analysis technique(s) used to identify and document process activities and results
will depend on the process itself. Use hierarchical, if-then, model-based, or cognitive taskanalysis techniques, either individually or together, to review the details of the ways currentresults are being achieved (Jonassen, Tessmer, & Hannum, 1999; Watkins, 2006b). 
Given the information obtained through the task analyses, reexamine your selected perform-
ance objectives to verify that they should remain the focus of your improvement efforts.Frequently, while completing your task analyses, you will learn about new initiatives or aboutprograms that are being phased out. As a result you may want to change the performanceobjectives you strive to accomplish or the priorities that you established earlier.
This is also an excellent time to verify the alignment of performance expectations from top

to bottom. Review each of the strategic ambitions and related performance objectives toensure that the achievement of results at one level (such as the societal or organizational lev-els) is supported by the achievement of results at other levels (such as the organizational,team, or individual levels). This alignment of intended results is the only foundation on whichyou can base practical decisions about which performance technologies to select. TABLE 2 STEPS IN DERIVING PERFORMANCE OBJECTIVES
STEP TOWARD SUCCESS BRIEF DESCRIPTIONPerformance Improvement •Volume 46 •Number 1 •DOI: 10.1002/pfi    11with the strategic ambitions of the organization or its
partners (who range from clients, suppliers, and clients’
clients to society as a whole).
Aligning your HPT decisions with the desired

results of your organization and its partners is the sen-sible alternative. Knowing and accomplishing valuableresults is the key to your success, your organization’ssuccess, and its partners’ success. For instance, even thebest-developed online performance tool for sales man-agers is not worth the investment if it does not accom-plish results that add value to the individuals andorganizations that are part of the performance system.
DECODING STRATEGIC DIRECTION
Use a variety of sources and tools to align your deci-sions with the strategic ambitions of your organization
and its partners. Start by identifying the results thatshould be accomplished. Review the strategic plans of

your organization as well as the plans of clients, clients’clients, suppliers, and other external partners with astake in defining expected results. Then supplementthat information with the results of any needs assess-ments conducted by your organization or its partnersand the results of any analyses that have definedstrengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats(SWOT). Use all three of these resources to shape andcharacterize the desired results that will drive all yourperformance technology decisions (see Table 1). Fromyour intended results to your solution set of perform-ance technologies, let your decisions be guided bystrategic objectives.
DEFINING SUCCESS

The success of any performance technology is ultimate-ly defined by its ability to accomplish useful results, forindividuals and organizations alike. Y et the process ofdefining success for performance improvement efforts(and specific performance technologies) quicklybecomes convoluted and challenging as you begin to
analyze the criteria for success. After all, success is typi-cally more a perception than a fact, and not just a singleperception but the multiple perceptions of partners,sponsors, and clients. A performance technology proj-ect will likely have multiple players involved in theselection, design, deve lopment, implementation, and
evaluation of the technologies, and then it will havemultiple workers, superviso rs, clients, clients’ clients,
and other stakeholders evaluating the results long afterthe project has concluded; each of these individuals andgroups represents a different perspective on the success
of the project (Watkins, 2006a).

Adding to the challenge, most perspectives on success
are developed with few supporting data. Personalities,politics, budgets, personal agendas, and other variablesoften play an equal or greater role than the numbers do indetermining the generalized success of a performanceimprovement effort. In addition, HPT initiatives (as wellas many other professional activities) are frequentlydesigned, developed, or implemented following one set ofcriteria and then evaluated according to a different set.
Nevertheless, you should recognize and attend to the
diverse strategic goals and objectives of both internal andexternal partners in any improvement project. Theseexpected results can then guide your decision making andensure that your selected performance technologiesaccomplish valuable results.
Define success for your project with specific perform-

ance objectives that are aligned with the strategic ambi-tions of your organization and its partners. Y our definitionof success then describes the results you are committedto accomplishing; it does not distract you or others fromthose results by listing the performance technologiesthat may be used. This approach not only provides clearguidance for your HPT decisions but also ensures that
favorite solutions do not interfere with the accomplish-
ment of useful results.
STEPS FOR SETTING YOUR OBJECTIVES

Using the prioritized strategic ambitions, set your per-formance objectives. Far more than a list of desired bene-fits (such as increased profits, improved efficiency, or lessturnover), performance objectives describe the resultsto be accomplished, the criteria that will define success,and the ways those criteria will be assessed. The per-formance objectives you derive from the strategic goals ofyour organization and its partners will then guide yourThe process of defining success
for performance improvementefforts . . . quickly becomesconvoluted and challengingas you begin to analyze thecriteria for success.12 www.ispi.org •DOI: 10.1002/pfi •JANUARY 2007 decisions about the performance technologies that will
best achieve those results.
Expected results at the societal level are not defined

by a single organization, nor is it expected that anyone organization will accomplish them on its own(Kaufman, 2006). Likewise, no single performanceimprovement effort is expected to accomplish all thedesired results of an organization and its partners(Watkins, 2006a). Although performance technologiescan accomplish remarkable results, you must align yourimprovement efforts with prioritized strategic goals.This will not only guide your decision making duringthe selection of appropriate interventions but it willalso provide unambiguous criteria for evaluating anyperformance technologies that are developed andimplemented (see Table 2).
NEXT STEPS TO SUCCESS

The alignment of strategic ambitions with perform-ance objectives provides the ideal grounding for HPTdecisions. By focusing first and foremost on perform-ance expectations, you can systematically select per-formance interventions that will achieve those results.Use this foundation to guide your decisions, and youwill consistently select, design, and develop valuableperformance technologies.
Notice that up to this point no specific performance

technologies have been identified or selected for imple-mentation. And there is still one more step to completebefore you can systematically select a justifiable set ofperformance solutions. Before choosing any interven-tions you must define the performance assessmentslinked to each performance objective. Performanceassessments are used both to evaluate the performancecapacity of alternative technologies and to assess theaccomplishments of completed improvement efforts. Inthe next article of this series, a systematic process forusing these assessments to judge the value of potentialsolutions will be described in detail. Then steps forusing the performance pyramid (see Wedman &
Graham, 1998) will be offered as a systematic processfor identifying compatible performance technologiesthat when used in combination will accomplishdesired results.
In designing performance systems it is important to

begin with clear and measurable definitions of the per-formance that must be accomplished, and then let thosedesired results guide all your decisions. Start by com-pleting a practical examination of the strategic plans,needs assessments, and SWOT analysis findings of yourorganization and its external partners. Next, verify thatthe performance ambitions of each organization are
aligned and that your performance improvement effortswill contribute valuable results toward those ends. Alignall of your decisions with the accomplishment of theseresults, and your performance improvement efforts willbe successful.
References
Clark, R.E., & Estes, F. (2002). Turning research into results: A
guide to selecting the right performance solutions. Atlanta, GA:
CEP Press.
Gilbert, T., & Gilbert, M. (1989). Performance engineering:
Making human productivity a science. Performance and
Instruction, 28 (1), 3–9.

CEP Press.
Jonassen, D.H., T essmer, M., & Hannum, W.H. (1999). Task
analysis methods for instructional design. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Kaufman, R. (2000). Mega planning: Practical tools for organiza-
tional success. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Kaufman, R. (2006). Change, choices, and consequences: A guide
to mega thinking. Amherst, MA: HRD Press.
Leigh, D. (2006). SWOT analysis. In J. Pershing (Ed.), The
handbook of human performance technology (3rd ed., pp.
1089–1108). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass/Pfeiffer.
Mintzberg, H. (1994). The rise and fall of strategic planning.
New Y ork: Free Press.
Scriven, M. (1967). The methodology of evaluation. In R.W.
Tyler, R.M. Gagne, & M. Scriven (Eds.), Perspectives of curricu-
lum evaluation (pp. 39–83). Skokie, IL: Rand McNally.
Stolovitch, H. (2002). Front-end analysis, implementation

planning , and evaluation: Breaking out of the Pamela syn-
drome. Performance Improvement, 41 (4),5–7.
Watkins, R. (2006a). Aligning performance technologies with
organizational strategic plans. In J. Pershing (Ed.), The hand-
book of human performance technology (3rd ed., pp. 191–207).
San Francisco: Jossey-Bass/Pfeiffer.
Watkins, R. (2006b). Performance by design: The systematic
selection, design, and development of performance technologiesthat accomplish useful results. Amherst, MA: HRD Press.
Watkins, R., & Leigh, D. (2001). Performance improvement:
More than bettering the here and now. Performance
Improvement, 40 (8),10–15.
Watkins, R., Triner, D., & Kaufman, R. (1996). The death and
resurrection of strategic planning: A review of Mintzberg’s The

Performance Improvement •Volume 46 •Number 1 •DOI: 10.1002/pfi    13rise and fall of strategic planning .International Journal of
Educational Reform, 5 (3), 390–393.
Wedman, J.F., & Graham, S.W. (1998). Introducing the concept
of performance support using the performance pyramid.Journal of Continuing Higher Education, 46 (3), 8–20.
Related Readings
Brethower, D.M., & Dams, P .C. (1999). Systems thinking (and
systems doing). Performance Improvement, 38 (1), 37–52.
Brethower, D.M., & Smalley, K. (1998). Performance-based
instruction: Linking training to business results. San Francisco:
Jossey-Bass/Pfeiffer.
Harless, J.H. (1975). An ounce of analysis is worth a pound of
objectives. Newnan, GA: Harless Performance Guild.Kaufman, R., Oakley-Brown, H., Watkins, R., & Leigh, D.
(2003). Strategic planning for success: Aligning people, perform-

ance, and payoffs. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Leigh, D. (2003, June). Worthy performance, redux.
PerformanceXpress. Retrieved October 23, 2006, from
http://www.performancexpress.org/0306.
Mager, R., & Pipe, R. (1997). Analyzing performance problems
(3rd ed.). Atlanta: Center for Effective Performance.
Rossett, A. (1999). First things fast. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Watkins, R., Leigh, D., Platt, W., & Kaufman, R. (1998). Needs
assessment: A digest, review, and comparison of needs assess-
ment literature. Performance Improvement, 37 (7), 40–53.
Wedman, J.F., & Diggs, L.L. (2001). Identifying barriers to
technology-enhanced learning environments in teacher educa-tion. Computers in Human Behavior, 17 (4), 421–430.
RYAN WATKINS, PhD, author of Performance by Design: The Systematic Selection, Design, and

Development of Performance Technologies That Accomplish Useful Results, is an associate professor
of educational technology at the George Washington University in Washington, DC. Ryan is also an
author of four other books, including the best-selling 7 5 E-Learning Activities: Making Online Courses
More Interactive and the E-Learning Companion: A Student’s Guide to Online Success. He is also the
author of more than 60 articles and chapters. Recently, Ryan was a visiting scientist with National
Science Foundation, and he has been an active member of ISPI for the past decade. For more infor-
mation, you may reach Ryan at www.ryanrwatkins.com or email him at rwatkins@gwu.edu.9DESIGNING FOR PERFORMANCE, PART 2:
SELECTING YOUR PERFORMANCETECHNOLOGIES
Ryan Watkins

IN THIS, THE SECOND of three articles on designing
for performance, you will discover processes, tools, andtechniques that can guide your selection of worthwhileperformance technologies. Building on the steps de-scribed last month in “Designing for Performance:Aligning Y our HPT Decisions from T op to Bottom”(Part 1), you can use these resources to evaluate andselect appropriate performance technologies thataccomplish desired results. The systematic steps fordesigning, developing, and implementing the selectedperformance technologies will then be presented in thethird, and final, article.
PLANNING FOR PERFORMANCE

For individuals and organizations alike, planning is theessential first step in achieving desired results. Y et, plan-ning by itself is never enough. For intentions to be trans-formed into results, you have to select the right processes.This is always true, whether you are working to loseweight or working to improve individual or organization-al performance. The desire to achieve valuable resultsremains the same, but the available options vary based onthe context. When you choose to lose weight, for instance,you can select from options that include low-carb diets,low-fat diets, yoga, Thighmasters, and even grapefruitextracts. Equally, when you want to improve organiza-
tional performance you might consider a mix of perform-ance technologies such as balanced scorecards, financialrewards, classroom training, coaching programs, and jobaids to accomplish desired results.
Subsequently, the design of effective performance sys-

tems requires that you align strategic ambitions (that is,the results you and your partners want to accomplish)with practical processes (performance technologies) toaccomplish worthwhile results.
PERFORMANCE

During the transition from establishing a strategic plan toselecting and designing performance improvement sys-tems, a continuing focus on performance is essential.Hence, the operational definition you use for perform-ance should be central to your performance improvementefforts. In 1989, Gilbert and Gilbert defined performanceas a combination of both behaviors (what people do) andperformance (what people leave behind). However, thistwo-dimensional definition often blurs our focus whenwe are selecting performance technologies (see Watkins & Leigh, 2001). This blurring occurs because the two-dimensional definition assumes that there is a constantand direct relationship between improving how an Strategic plans and performance objectives define the results to be accomplished, but selecting a suit-

able set of performance technologies for your organizations requires more than just knowing theintended benefits. The systematic procedures described in the article will guide you through practicalprocesses and valuable tools for identifying potential performance technologies, evaluating alterna-tives, and developing a system of performance-focused activities that accomplish desired results.
Performance Improvement, vol. 46, no. 2, February 2007
Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com)  •DOI: 10.1002/pfi.102 
10 www.ispi.org •DOI: 10.1002/pfi •FEBRUARY 2007 individual, team, or organization performs and the results
accomplished. Unfortunately, this is not the case in mostsituations.
Improving how individuals or groups perform does

not guarantee that they will accomplish the desiredresults. Nor does improving their processes or proceduresnecessarily improve their performance (that is, results). Itis therefore important to distinguish between performingand performance. For performance improvement, youwill want to remain focused on the latter (that is, theresults to be accomplished) before you make any deci-sions about how those results can best be accomplished.By applying this results-oriented definition of perform-ance to your improvement efforts, you can better alignthe processes you select with the products, outputs, andoutcomes you desire.
PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENTS

As described in Part 1, the first practical step in translat-ing your strategic intentions into valuable results is to develop meaningful performance objectives. These performance objectives can now be used to guide yourdecision making throughout the remainder of yourimprovement efforts. Every decision, especially thoserelated to which performance technologies can be used toachieve results, should be measured by the standards setin the performance objectives.
Performance objectives by themselves, however, do not

provide all of the essential information for guidingimprovement decisions. The objectives you use in deci-sion making must be related to specific performanceassessments. For instance, if your performance objectiveis to lose weight, then the performance assessment youselect might be the weight indicated on your bathroomscale each morning. Similarly, if your organization’s per-formance objective is to improve workplace safety to thepoint where no employees are injured, your choice of per-formance assessment could include measures based onOSHA standards or records from your on-site safety offi-cers. In either case the statement about what is to beaccomplished is clarified by  the addition of practicalmeasures that will tell you when you are successful.
The clarity offered by performance assessments is espe-

cially critical when you are deciding which performancetechnologies should be selected, designed, developed, andimplemented in your organization. T ogether with the per-formance objectives, these assessments provide the criteriaand standards with which to evaluate various performancetechnologies. With the large number of performance tech-nologies now available (such as mentoring, electronic per-formance support, incentive systems, e-learning, andorganizational reengineering), choosing the right combi-
nation of technologies for your performance improve-ment system can be challenging. Performance assessmentsare key for making critical evaluations that identify theperformance technologies capable of accomplishing usefulresults (see Table 1).
As a Human Performance T echnology (HPT) profes-

sional, you will use the selected performance assessmentsto evaluate each and every performance technology that isconsidered a potential ingredient in your performanceimprovement system. From coaching to training andquality circles to 360-degree feedback, each performancetechnology alternative should be appraised as an optionfor your organization, using the same objectives andassessments as those that will be used to evaluate per-formance technology success after implementation. T oprovide fair appraisals of each option, it is important thatyou systematically identify or create the necessary assess-ments for each performance objective before you begin toidentify and review potential technology solutions.
PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS

Inevitably, you will require a comprehensive system of sev-eral performance technologies to accomplish most per-formance objectives. The accomplishment of performanceobjectives in your organization may require two, three,four, or even more performance technologies to achievestrategic ambitions. For example, combinations such as (1) workplace redesign and process reengineering or (2) recruitment programs, retention projects, and e-learn-ing resources may be used create an improvement systemthat achieves desired results. Although performance objec-tives and assessments provide criteria for selecting per-formance technologies, the performance analysis is anessential technique for determining the types and numberof performance technologies that you should consider.
Use a performance analysis to systematically analyze

each performance objective (or cluster of objectives) andto define the contributing results necessary for success.Because each performance objective will require theaccomplishment of a number of prerequisite results toproduce the achievement of the objective, use a perform-ance analysis process to identify those results and illus-trate their relationships across objectives. The results ofthe performance analysis will then provide you with aclear chart of the products that must be accomplished tosupport the attainment of desired performance.
Performance analysis should not, however, focus solely
on problems, root causes, or quick-fix solutions. Y ourperformance analysis should also identify factors that willstrengthen or increase results. Then you can identify thePerformance Improvement •Volume 46 •Number 2 •DOI: 10.1002/pfi    11contributing factors (for example, motivation, vision,

knowledge, skills, resources) that are necessary for theaccomplishment of performance objectives at every levelof your organization’s strategic direction. This forward-looking approach to performance analysis defines thebuilding-block results that are necessary for the achieve-ment of performance objectives.
By applying a systematic performance analysis process
(see Table 2), you can also identify barriers that are prevent-ing current processes from achieving desired results andimprovement opportunities to introduce new, complemen-tary processes. This will ensure that you have a completeperspective of what is required to accomplish your per-formance objectives. With the results of the performanceanalysis you can then verify that the performance technolo-gies you consider will achieve the desired results and notjust improve performing withou t improving performance.
At times, the results of a performance analysis will sug-

gest that variations of the current processes can achievenecessary results without adding new performance tech-nologies. More often than not, however, a performanceanalysis will identify necessary results that current
processes are not able to contribute. Here, use the per-formance analysis to identify the results to be contributedby selected performance technologies.
For example, your organization might be underusing
an employee retention program. A performance analysiscan identify supplemental performance technologies(such as current incentive systems, recruitment projects,or training)to assist the program in accomplishing target-ed performance objectives. Likewise, the analysis can alsoidentify necessary results that would benefit from thedesign and development of new performance technolo-gies. Y ou can use the performance pyramid (see Figure 1)to structure your performance analysis efforts.

The formality and duration of the performance analy-
sis can vary and should be related to the criticality (that is,short- and long-term costs and consequences) of the per-formance objectives. For example, a seven-week analysisto determine the desired characteristics of colored paperfor the office copier is likely more extravagant thanrequired. Similarly, a weeklong performance analysisTABLE 1 STEPS IN DEVELOPING USEFUL PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENTS
Step 1: Group objectives Capitalize on shared measures of performance and reduce redundancies in evaluating poten-

tial technologies by systematically aligning performance objectives. Analyze, link, and clusterperformance objectives that have related measures. Look for similarities, associations,sequences, and opportunities to share performance indicators throughout all divisions anddepartments in the organization. For example, identify the three or four performance objectivesthat will each require workplace safety records as a key element in their measurement andgroup these together.
Step 2: Define desirable For each performance objective or cluster of objectives, identify a set of desirable characteris-
characteristics tics in a performance assessment. For instance, you may want to include in your list financial

cost, personnel cost, number of indicators, partner agreement, validity, reliability, or a combina-tion of hard data and soft data. Only assessments that demonstrate these characteristics will beconsidered as measures for these objectives.
Step 3: Select or create Use both the clustered performance objectives and desired characteristics as guides for identify-
ing potential measures of success. Identify several potential measures for each performanceobjective. Having options is important; without them it is difficult to determine if you have themost appropriate measures.
Step 4: Verify alignment In pairing performance objectives with performance assessments, it is easy to lose focus and

select measures that are not quite aligned with the desired results detailed in the objectives.Review the complete set of selected assessments to ensure that together they support the neces-sary measurement of accomplishments of all performance objectives. Without this verificationyou could end up using inappropriate criteria to select a set of performance technologies and,as a result, end up with less than ideal results.STEPS TOWARD SUCCESS BRIEF DESCRIPTION
Source: Based on Watkins, 2007.12 www.ispi.org •DOI: 10.1002/pfi •FEBRUARY 2007 before moving forward with a million-dollar e-learning
purchase is not likely to be adequate for practical decisionmaking (see Watkins & Wedman, 2003; Harless, 1975).Use prioritized performance objectives and their relation-ship to the strategic directions of your organization andits partners to develop a performance analysis plan.

PERFORMANCE TECHNOLOGIES
For performance technologies to accomplish valuableresults, you must identify, evaluate, and select the rightmix of activities. Fortunately, a large number and greatvariety of performance technologies are available to
today’s organizations. From electronic-based technolo-gies (such as e-learning, podcasts, PDAs, and online per-formance support tools) to concept-based technologies(such as needs assessment procedures, strategic planningframeworks, and coaching models), you will have numer-ous performance technologies to evaluate when selectingthe set of solutions that will help you and your organiza-tion accomplish desired results.
T o begin, use the results of the performance analysis
to define the components of a complete performanceimprovement system that must be addressed throughTABLE 2 STEPS IN IDENTIFYING PERFORMANCE TECHNOLOGY OPTIONS
Step 1: Conduct a Performance analysis is more than just detailing the problems or shortcomings in an organiza-

performance analysis tion. To improve performance, look beyond current problems, failures, or challenges. Use sys-
tematic performance analysis to examine what results must be achieved for desired perform-ance objectives to be accomplished. Begin by examining a variety of contributing factors andtheir interactions to determine what processes can contribute to the accomplishment of usefulresults. Explore all of the performance factors that lead to desired results, noting that missing orfailing factors can jeopardize success. This process allows you to identify performance tech-nologies that both address current problems and capitalize on future opportunities.
Step 2: Identify potential Look for processes, tools, techniques, or resources that (a) accomplish the useful results defined

technologies in the performance objectives, (b) achieve the necessary results as measured by the perform-
ance assessment, and (c) address each of the contributing factors required for success. Reviewthe current literature in fields such as performance improvement, organizational management,computer science, psychology, human resource management, and other associated disciplines.
Find multiple performance technologies from which you can select the appropriate set of solu-
tions for meeting identified performance objectives. Your list of potential performance technolo-gies should be quite long, because each performance objective will have multiple options. Youcan use the performance pyramid (see Figure 1) to organize and cluster your HPT options.
Step 3: Evaluate your Use the criteria of each performance objective (or cluster of objectives) and the measures of

Step 3: Evaluate your Use the criteria of each performance objective (or cluster of objectives) and the measures of 
options each performance assessment to evaluate the alternative performance technologies. Most often
your performance objectives will require a number of performance technologies to achievedesired results. Routinely, favorite or preferred solutions will end up not being part of theimprovement effort after they have been evaluated based on the performance objectives andassessments.
Use the planning, assessment, and analysis results from each of the previous steps to justify
your selections. Data and systematic processes will help you defend the set of selected perform-ance technologies and gain vital support for the accomplishment of useful results.
Step 4: Select a set of Most often, single performance interventions cannot address each of the contributing factors to
technologies performance or accomplish all the necessary results for most organizations. Work with your

organizational partners to select the set of performance technologies that will best accomplishthe defined objectives. Often this process requires some level of compromise among the part-ners, because priorities will have to be established. When selecting solutions, be sure that theselected performance technologies will work in combination to accomplish the required results(and not contribute to performance problems in other parts of the organization).STEPS TOWARD SUCCESS BRIEF DESCRIPTION
Source: Based on Watkins, 2007.Performance Improvement •Volume 46 •Number 2 •DOI: 10.1002/pfi    13the performance technologies you select. Use the per-

formance pyramid to identify the building blocks thatshould be included in your system (such as strategicdirection, skills and knowledge, motivation and self-concept, or expectations and feedback). Use a systemat-ic and comprehensive process to identify the many performance technologies available for accomplishingeach performance objective (or cluster of objectives).The list of potential performance technologies shouldnot be limited to those used in your organization in thepast or to those suggested by internal or external clients.When looking for potential technology solutions, talkwith employees who currently perform related tasks,interview outside businesses that may have had similarexperiences, read journals and magazines from multipledisciplines, and take careful notes about each perform-ance technology that may be of value. Identify at leasttwo potential performance technologies for accomplish-ing results related to each building block of the perform-ance pyramid.Each potential performance technology should then be

evaluated against the criteria established in the perform-ance objectives and assessments. Use these as standardsfor making the often difficult choices among the variousoptions that are available. It is especially important to besystematic in your evaluation. The data used to evaluateeach option, and the orderly processes you apply in mak-ing your decisions, will be essential when you are justi-fying your choices and persuading colleagues to fully support the chosen performance interventions.
It is also useful to review the demands that new per-
formance solutions will place on those responsible fortheir implementation. Their capacity to apply the select-ed performance solutions should be a factor in  your deci-sion, along with their motivation and support for thechallenges and changes related to the introduction of anynew performance improvement system.
Y ou can also improve the odds of accomplishing

desired results by involving both internal and externalpartners in selecting the appropriate mix of performance
FIGURE 1. THE PERFORMANCE PYRAMID WITH ASSOCIATED PERFORMANCE TECHNOLOGIESStrategic, Tactical, & Operation Directions (including vision for community and society, organizational
mission objective, and individual and team objectives)Collaborative strategic planning, needs assessments, balanced scorecards, communication opportunities at retreats and round-tables, and so forthSkills & KnowledgeClassroom training, job aids, e-learning, mentoring, just-in-timetraining, after-work educationalopportunities, knowledge manage-ment, and so forth
Performance CapacityRecruitment programs, retention programs, resource allocations,workforce planning, new computertechnologies, and so forth

Expectations & FeedbackCommunication opportunities atretreats and roundtables, perform-ance reviews, balanced scorecards,participation in strategic planning,and so forthTools, Environment, &ProcessesComputer systems, workplaceredesign, process reengineering,ergonomics review, communications,and so forthRewards, Recognitions, &IncentivesAwards program, communications,monetary incentives, performancereviews, balanced scorecards, andso forthMotivation & Self-ConceptMentoring, career counseling, moti-vation workshops, team-building pro-grams, performance appraisals, andso forth
Source: Figure is based on similar graphic in Watkins, 2007; Watkins & Wedman, 2003; Wedman & Graham, 1998.14 www.ispi.org •DOI: 10.1002/pfi •FEBRUARY 2007 technologies. Share your identification and evaluation

processes, along with the criteria established through theperformance objectives, with each of your partners. Next,encourage them to champion aspects of the initiative thataffect their division or organization. They can then helpguide the individual interventions to the achievement ofuseful results.
Finally, before you begin to design, develop, and imple-
ment any performance technologies, you should again con-firm that the selected mix of performance technologies isadequately aligned with the desired results of your organi-zation and its partners. Verify that each performance tech-nology is clearly linked to the results of the performanceanalysis and the performance objectives established at theindividual or team, organizational, and societal levels. Y oucan use a simple table to make sure that each selected per-formance technology will make a valuable contribution tothe performance improvement system (see Table 3).
PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT 
SYSTEMS

SYSTEMS
Performance objectives define the results you wish to
accomplish based on your analysis of the strategic ambi-tions of your organization and its partners. Accomplish-ing these results is then left to the set of performancetechnologies that you select for implementation. This setmay be a combination of performance appraisals andcoaching for some performance objectives and a combi-nation of training, new equipment, and incentives forothers. No matter which performance technologies areincluded in your final set of solutions, it is your responsi-bility to ensure they work together to achieve the desiredresults of your organization and its partners.The development of a set of performance improve-

ment technologies involves not only the selection ofappropriate single interventions but also the developmentof a comprehensive system. As you move ahead with thedesign, development, and implementation of the multipleperformance technologies in your system, you shouldwork to avoid suboptimization (that is, the improvementof performance in one subsystem at the expense of per-formance in other subsystems or in the system as awhole). At each step on the path toward improved per-formance, verify that the decisions you make are develop-ing a comprehensive system that will accomplish desiredresults.
Performance improvement systems are only as strong

as their weakest performance technology. Y ou would not,for instance, want to develop costly training and perform-ance appraisal technologies only to learn later that reach-ing the desired objectives also requires an interventionaimed at performance capacity (such as an updatedrecruitment program or new resource allocation plan).Developing a complete performance system requires thatyou continually review your decisions from multiple per-spectives and apply systemic tools for selecting appropri-ate technology solutions.
The performance technologies selected for the perform-ance improvement system in your organization must bealigned with those factors known to contribute toachievement of useful results. The performance analysisprovides a systematic process that can both define thenecessary results and guide your search for potential per-formance technologies. From balanced scorecards and

TABLE 3VERIFY SELECTED PERFORMANCE TECHNOLOGIES ALIGN WITH 
PERFORMANCE OBJECTIVES
Objective A Competence: knowledge and skill a. E-learning
b. Job aidsc. After-work educational programs
Expectations and feedback a. Balanced scorecard initiative
b. Quarterly performance reviews
Motivation and self-concept a. Mentoring
b. Career counselingPERFORMANCE OBJECTIVESCONTRIBUTING FACTORS 
TO SUCCESSSELECTED PERFORMANCE
TECHNOLOGIES
Source: Based on Watkins, 2007.Performance Improvement •Volume 46 •Number 2 •DOI: 10.1002/pfi    15coaching programs to training and job aids, the perform-
ance technologies likely to produce useful results can thenbe evaluated, compared, and prioritized using groundedcriteria and standards established for each performanceobjective. This systematic process for identifying optionsand evaluating their value is an essential step to theachievement of useful results.
The selection of performance technologies based on

assumptions, organizational politics, or someone’sfavorite solutions is never advisable. These and othernonsystematic processes reduce your chances of accom-plishing desired results on a consistent basis. In contrast,the findings of a systematic selection process can aligntechnologies with performance objectives, justify yourdecisions, and improve performance (Watkins, 2007).
Although selecting the appropriate performance tech-

nologies is a critical step toward accomplishing desiredresults, the selected technologies still have to be designed,developed, tested, and implemented for desired results tobe achieved. Y ou will also want to use systematic process-es for designing and developing each of the performancetechnologies in your system. Managing the developmentof a performance system, therefore, requires skillful coor-dination and leadership to create a synergistic systemwhere desired results are achieved effectively and effi-ciently. In the third, and final, article in this series ondesigning for performance, you will find guides for pro-ducing performance technologies that accomplish resultsin your organization.
Instruction ,28(1), 3–9.

objectives . Newnan, GA: Harless Performance Guild.
Watkins, R. (2007). Performance by design: The systematic selec-
tion, design, and development of performance technologies thataccomplish useful results . Amherst, MA: HRD Press.Watkins, R., & Leigh, D. (2001). Performance improvement:
Improvement ,40(8), 10–15.
Watkins, R., & Wedman, J. (2003). A process for aligning per-
formance improvement resources and strategies. Performance
Improvement ,42(7), 9–17.
of performance support using the performance pyramid.Journal of Continuing Higher Education ,46(3), 8–20.

analysis methods for instructional design . Mahwah, NJ:
Erlbaum.
to mega thinking and planning . Amherst, MA: HRD Press.
Kaufman, R., Oakley-Brown, H., Watkins, R., & Leigh, D.
ance, and payoffs . San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Mager, B., & Pipe, R. (1997). Analyzing performance problems
(3rd ed.). Atlanta, GA: The Center for Effective Performance.
planning, and evaluation: Breaking out of the Pamela syn-drome. Performance Improvement ,41(4), 5–7.
Stolovitch, H. (2006). Three performance principles to keep

you on target. Workforce Performance Solutions ,2(5), 16.
Watkins, R. (2006). Aligning performance technologies with
technology-enhanced learning environments in teacher educa-tion. Computers in Human Behavior ,17(4), 421–430.
Development of Performance Technologies That Accomplish Useful Results, is associate professor of
educational technology at the George Washington University in Washington, DC. Ryan is also theauthor of four other books, including the best-selling 
75 E-Learning Activities: Making Online Courses

More Interactive, and the E-Learning Companion: A Student’s Guide to Online Success. In addition,
he is the author of more than 60 articles and chapters. Recently Ryan was a visiting scientist withNational Science Foundation, and he has been an active member of ISPI for the past decade. Ryanmay be reached at www.ryanwatkins.com or email him at rwatkins@gwu.edu.
42
Performance Improvement, vol. 46, no. 4, April 2007
Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com)  •DOI: 10.1002/pfi.124DESIGNING FOR PERFORMANCE, PART 3:DESIGN, DEVELOP , AND IMPROVE
In this final of three articles on how to design for performance, you will find practical

steps and useful tools for developing the performance technologies that make up a performance improvement system. Use these systemic and systematic processes as the starting place in creating performance technologies that achieve the strategic performance objectives of your organization and its partners. Then improve on these processes by customizing them for the specialized Human Performance Technology (HPT) solutions youhave selected for your performance improvement efforts.
THE ACCOMPLISHMENT OF V ALUABLE results rarely

occurs by chance. Rather, desired results are best achievedthrough the systemic and systematic design and develop-ment of comprehensive performance improvement sys-tems. These systems use multiple performancetechnologies (such as Six Sigma, balanced scorecards,retention programs, coaching, training, motivationalseminars, strategic planning, reengineering, and elec-tronic performance support) to accomplish desiredresults. Going beyond quick fixes or narrowly focusedefforts, the design of performance systems enables indi-viduals and organizations to achieve strategic ambitionsthrough processes that are both systemic and systematic.
The first article of this three-part series, “Designing for

Performance: Aligning Y our HPT Decisions from T op toBottom” (Watkins, 2007a), provided guidance for identi-fying the strategic objectives of your organization and itspartners as the starting place for defining what resultsshould be achieved through any performance improve-ment efforts. These strategic ambitions were then trans-lated into explicit performance objectives that could beused to guide decision making throughout the selection,design, and development of an improvement system. Inthe second article, “Designing for Performance: SelectingY our Performance T echnologies” (Watkins, 2007b),processes were offered for developing performance assess-ments that could be used to evaluate the alternative per-formance technologies available to today’s organizations.In addition, alternative performance technologies wereidentified for seven interdependent components ofa comprehensive system for improving performance(Watkins, 2007b, 2007c). Guidance was provided for

selecting the right combination of performance technolo-gies for accomplishing strategic objectives.
This final article in the series focuses on the design,
development, and implementation of the performancetechnologies that have been evaluated and selected toimprove performance. Building on the foundationalproducts of the first and second articles, this article offersprocesses, tools, and techniques for producing perform-ance technologies that are capable of accomplishing valu-able organizational results.
DESIGNING PERFORMANCE
The selection of performance technologies such as mentor-

ing, recruitment programs, e-learning, leadership retreats,coaching, and workplace redesign provides a blueprint forimplementing improvements within your organization.Although this blueprint can provide an essential map ofthe relationships between selected technologies and thedesired results, you have to design and develop, and laterimplement and improve, performance interventions foruseful results to be achieved. From executive coaching andprocess reengineering to job aids and performanceappraisals, the multiple performance technologies includedin your performance improvement system will requirevarying design and development processes. For instance,some technologies may require the creation of softwaresupport tools, while others may rely on the approval of newPerformance Improvement •Volume 46 •Number 4 •DOI: 10.1002/pfi    43organizational policies. Thus, the creation of each per-

formance technology will involve a different series of stepsas it moves from design and development to implementa-tion and continual improvement.
Just as no single solution will improve performance in
all organizations, no one set of performance technologiesis the right choice for all organizations. For that reason, asa Human Performance T echnology (HPT) professional,you should use a mix of performance technologies thataddress the complex performance discrepancies uniqueto your organization. These should also take into accountthe current processes of your organization, the contribut-ing factors, the organization’s culture, the people who willbe asked to change, and the input of external partners andclients.
Most of us enter any performance improvement process

with primary experience and skills related to the designand development of a specific performance technology.Whether they are instructional design processes for pro-ducing training interventions, multimedia developmentprocedures for creating electronic job aids, or steps forestablishing a comprehensive mentoring program, themajority of us are most familiar and experienced with thedesign and development processes of one or two perform-ance technologies at most (and these may or may not bethe selected performance technologies for this improve-ment effort). Generalizing these systemic and systematicprocesses is, therefore, a valuable first step toward success.
Many analogous processes can be applied across the

design and development efforts of various performancetechnologies. Comparable team structures, equivalent rolesand responsibilities, corresponding timelines, and similarformative evaluation requirements can help support thesystematic creation of a complete performance improve-ment system. In addition, many generalized project man-agement principles can help guide you toward success.
The tasks associated with designing and developing

performance solutions build on the results of the previousprocesses. Findings from your needs assessment andSWOT analysis, for instance, will help guide you in mak-ing useful performance improvement decisions through-out the design and development process. The performanceobjectives and assessments that you identified prior toselecting performance technologies will also provide guidance throughout implementation and formative eval-uations. Y ou can improve efficiencies within your per-formance improvement system by capitalizing on thecommon components found among diverse performancetechnologies (see Table 1). For example, if each of threeperformance technologies requires the input of expertperformers from the sales division, then all three designteams can work together to share data from their inter-views and performance observations with these experts.Planning for the coordination of the multiple per-

formance technology development processes within yourset of solutions is a priority in generating a comprehen-sive and synergistic performance improvement initiative.Maintain a systemic perspective throughout the designand development of selected performance technologies.This coordination of performance technologies ensuresthat all strategic performance objectives are addressed, allcontributing factors are responded to, and all technologyinterventions capitalize on the efforts of other improve-ment efforts to maximize efficiency and effectiveness(Watkins, 2007c).
Work to avoid “random acts of improvement” when

designing and developing the performance technologies.The sustained success of a performance improvement ini-tiative hinges on the capacity of distinct performancetechnologies to achieve desired results while supportingthe accomplishments of other performance technologiesin the performance system. Therefore, use systemic andsystematic processes to develop each technology interven-tion, producing consistent and sustainable results that arealigned with strategic performance objectives.
MANAGING THE DEVELOPMENT
PROCESSES
Most interventions selected to improve performance

PROCESSES
will necessitate changes for both the organization andthose who work within it (see Lick and Kaufman, 2000).As a consequence, develop a management plan thataligns information collected during the planning stagesof the improvement initiative to the implementationrequirements of the individuals, small groups, teams,divisions, and organizations tasked with accomplishinguseful results. This comprehensive management plancan then address the integration of the collaborativeperformance technologies, the procedures for develop-ing each distinct technology, and the successful imple-mentation of the technologies in your organization.
Successful performance improvement initiatives rely on

the support and commitment of key individuals within anorganization as well as the valuable backing of externalpartners. Organize and develop the support you requirefor accomplishing useful results as an ongoing responsibil-ity (see Table 2). This includes not only developing appro-priate performance technologies but also creating theinfrastructure capable of sustaining (and continuallyimproving) the performance initiative. Leading change inyour organization is a role you must take on when youdevelop a performance improvement system.
The design and development of performance technolo-
gies routinely requires specific procedures and processesthat are unique to each organization. For instance, in oneorganization, the development of an interactive e-learning

course may require a task analysis, while another organiza-tion may find that earlier task analyses provide the neces-sary information for its development process. Y et while thespecific steps in creating performance technologies mayrequire distinctive applications within an organization,there are generalizable development processes that can beapplied across multiple technology development projects.For example, the ADDIE (analyze, design, develop, imple-ment, and evaluate) process that is applied in manyinstructional design projects can also be applied in itsgeneric form to the development of many other perform-ance technologies (see Table 3).
Create a design and development plan for each perform-

ance technology selected for implementation. It is oftenhelpful to involve both internal and external partners in allsteps of creating the plans for each performance technologyto learn from their experience, expand their knowledge ofthe performance improvement system, and gain their sup-port for the specific performance technology.FORMATIVE EVALUATIONS

Include in the development of all performance technolo-gies time and resources for formative evaluations (seeTable 4). Formative evaluations provide multiple oppor-tunities for an intervention’s deliverables to be examinedby future users, demonstrated for experts, and pilot-tested in the performance environment. It is, therefore,valuable to plan for ongoing formative evaluationsthroughout the creation of each performance technology.Going beyond the interim revisions that are characteristicof most any project, formative evaluations are done toidentify specific design and development considerations.These considerations can add to the quality of perform-ance technologies and ensure that the performanceimprovement initiatives focus on accomplishments.
Be sure to incorporate formative evaluations into your
performance interventions prior to implementation. Keyroles for formative evaluations in any performanceimprovement initiative include receiving feedback, docu-

44 www.ispi.org •DOI: 10.1002/pfi •APRIL 2007 STEPS IN PLANNING FOR THE DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT OF 
TABLE 1 PERFORMANCE TECHNOLOGIES 
STEPS TOWARD 
SUCCESS BRIEF DESCRIPTION
Step 1 Begin by creating a visual representation (or map) of multiple performance interventions and their associated
Verify alignment of performance objectives. Use this to verify that the selected performance interventions will work together t o 
selected performance produce the desired results and that you can create synergy among the design processes for each perform-technologies ance technology included in the system.
Step 2 For both the overall performance improvement initiative and each of the individual performance technologies

Define roles, you have selected for implementation, identify the key roles that internal and external organizational partnersresponsibilities, can play in the effort. In addition to the general roles (including leader, advocate, and manager) of almostand partnerships any performance technology project, there are commonly unique technical aspects to each performance tech-
nology that require specialized staff to be assigned to the individual development project. For each role thatyou identify as a necessary component for designing and developing the included performance technologies,define the associated responsibilities (see Table 2). 
Step 3 Apply a generic development process to guide the development of various performance technologies. Although

Design and develop a generic process will not provide you with the details for managing all aspects in the creation of any sing le
performance performance technology (for which there are likely many books available), as a framework it can offer guide-technologies lines and structure that are useful in developing a more detailed plan. Examples of how a generalized process
can be applied to specific performance technologies are included in Table 3 (based on Watkins, 2007c).
Step 4 Within your performance improvement initiative, there will be multiple performance technologies selected to 
Align common and accomplish valued performance objectives. During the design and development of these performance technolo-unique processes gies, there will also be objectives, tasks, and resources that are shared among the projects. Therefore, capita l-

ize on the similarities, maximize the benefits of the unique aspects, and ensure the alignment of all perform-ance interventions. Throughout the design and development process, maintain your systemic perspective. Youcan then avoid both suboptimization and the development of performance technologies that do not accomplishdesired results. Monitor the accomplishments and tasks of each development project to assess where improve-ments to the development processes can be made.
Source: Based on Watkins (2007c).Performance Improvement •Volume 46 •Number 4 •DOI: 10.1002/pfi    45menting recommendations and changes, and assessing

performance. In its initial role, feedback from formativeevaluations offers essential input into the revisionprocess that should be part of the development life cyclefor any performance technology project. From specificinformation on which processes are not taking place inthe correct sequence to general concerns regardingemployee attitudes about policy changes, let feedbackfrom formative evaluations guide the revision of projectdeliverables.
In your formative evaluations, pull together perform-

ance data using a variety of data collection techniques(see Table 5). This helps ensure the quality of your evalu-ations and provides sound justifications for changingyour current design and development processes. Forexample, use a combination of data that is externally verifiable to supplement data that may represent theunverifiable perspectives of employees, clients, or othercommunity partners. In addition, collect data that arenumerical along with data represented in text, prose,audio, or illustrations. By combining data from numeroussources, you can gain a fuller view of how performancetechnology contributes to desired results.Within a formative evaluation, each data collection

technique has unique advantages and disadvantages thatshould be considered in determining which is mostappropriate for meeting your objectives. For instance, ifyou are conducting a formative evaluation of a newemployee recruitment program that focuses on inter-viewing, you would likely want to include survey datafrom potential employees who were interviewed (provid-ing soft quantitative data), focus groups with interviewers(providing hard qualitative data), and performance datarelated to the performance objectives achieved by therecruitment program (providing hard quantitative data).The triangulation of data from each of these sources canprovide valuable information for making decisions abouthow the technology can be improved (Watkins, 2007c).
Collect formative evaluation data for each of the per-

formance technologies in your system, and then workwith your development teams to identify systematic stepsfor improving effectiveness and efficiency. Sometimesachieving desired performance objectives requires only afew tweaks to a performance technology; at other times,you may have to go back to performance objectives toredesign an entire performance technology. Since the lat-
Source: Based on Watkins (2007c).SOME COMMON ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES ASSOCIATED WITH 
TABLE 2 PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT SYSTEMS 
COMMON 
ROLES RELATED RESPONSIBILITIES
Performance • Oversees the design and development of multiple performance technology projects within a performance  
improvement improvement initiativeinitiative leader • Develops plans for the coordination of multiple performance technology projects

• Assembles and manages the necessary partners (internal and external to the organization)• Communicates among the internal and external partners to ensure initiative success• Responsible for the successful accomplishments of the performance improvement initiative 
Initiative • Communicate the benefits of the performance improvement initiative to internal and external partners
advocates • Work with partners to ensure alignment of strategic directions(internal and • Ensure that the initiative and related projects receive the support required for successexternal) • Serve as a change agent within the organization
Performance • Manages the design and development of one or more specific performance technology interventions

intervention • Works with the initiative leader to ensure the alignment of performance technologiesproject manager • Leads the technical development team
• Responsible for the accomplishments of specific performance objectives
Technical • Provides the design and development support necessary for creating performance technologies
development • Offers a range of professional backgrounds (for example, information technology, human resources, instructionalteam design, computer interfaces) necessary for the design and development of distinct performance technologies
• Creates draft products and obtains feedback through formative evaluations• Revises design and development products as necessaryter scenario can be costly, routinely conduct formative
evaluations throughout the design and developmentprocess, as well as when the performance technology isnearing completion.

While you may be tempted during the formative 
evaluations to focus solely on the operational details of
single performance technologies (for example, improvedcommunication strategies for promoting a new incentivesystem or more interactive elements in an e-learningcourse), you can risk losing sight of the long-term strate-gic objectives that are to be achieved. Balance the recom-mendations for specific revisions to a performancetechnology with those related to the accomplishment ofidentified strategic objectives.
Plan for and make continual improvements through-

out the implementation of the multiple performancetechnologies in your improvement system. Use your per-formance objectives to establish performance standardsand criteria. From small changes that can improve processefficiencies of a single technology to performance reviewsthat ensure that the system of performance solutions isaccomplishing necessary results, continual improvementprocesses lead to sustainable success.
Furthermore, continually assess your performance
improvement processes. The procedures, steps, tech-niques, and processes that you are using to select, design,and develop a system of performance technologies should
be continually assessed and improved to make future per-formance improvement efforts even more effective andefficient.
CONCLUSION

The desire to improve individual or organizational per-formance is an admirable ambition and one that HPTprofessionals can achieve through the application of sys-temic and systematic processes. In this three-article series,the performance-by-design framework provided system-atic steps for creating performance improvement systemsthat accomplish desired results (see Figure 1). Guided bythe strategic objectives of your organization and its part-ners, you can apply this framework to most organiza-tional settings and not be tied to any one performancesolution such as training, electronic performance support,e-learning, balanced scorecards, mentoring, or coaching.The framework provides a systematic guide for selecting,designing, and developing a system of complementaryperformance technologies that can be aligned with yourstrategic goals and objectives.

Use the framework as a starting place when planning
your next performance improvement effort, realizingthat it provides an initial guide rather than a restrictive
46 www.ispi.org •DOI: 10.1002/pfi •APRIL 2007 Source: Based on Watkins (2007c).
1For more information on balanced scorecards, see Kaplan and Norton (1993).A GENERALIZABLE DEVELOPMENT PROCESS APPLIED TO SAMPLE 
TABLE 3 PERFORMANCE TECHNOLOGIES 
Electronic Performance 1. Analyze performance requirements
Support System 2. Complete a task and performance analysis
3. Define system specifications4. Identify integrated performance assessments5. Select performance support requirements6. Define media and software requirements7. Create rapid prototype of support system and do formative evaluation8. Review and revise based on formative evaluations9. Complete development of performance support system, and do formative evaluation
10. Review and revise as required
Balanced Scorecard
11. Analyze performance requirements

2. Identify critical success factors3. Identify and define appropriate performance measures for financial, external, internal, and innovation 
perspectives
4. For each measure, collect baseline data5. For each measure, identify desired performance standards based on objectives at the societal, 
organizational, and individual and team levels
6. Review and revise performance measures as necessary7. Identify performance gaps or measures8. Define implications of performance gaps9. Create action plans for addressing performance gaps
10. Monitor action plan implementations11. Review, revise, and repeat process, as necessaryPerformance Improvement •Volume 46 •Number 4 •DOI: 10.1002/pfi    47Source: Based on Watkins (2007c).STEPS IN THE FORMATIVE EVALUATION AND CONTINUAL IMPROVEMENT OF 
TABLE 4 YOUR PERFORMANCE SYSTEM 

Step 1 Formative evaluations can be conducted using a variety of techniques and a range of participant groups. 
Define objectives Therefore, begin by defining the results you want to achieve through the evaluations. Specify evaluation of formative objectives for each development project independently to ensure that you collect all the useful data for makingevaluations improvement. You may, however, be able to capitalize on similar objectives for the formative evaluation of each
of the performance technologies focused on the achievement of shared performance objectives.
Step 2 Select a combination of data collection techniques that ensure the attainment of adequate and useful information

Select formative for making future decisions. Use a combination of one or more evaluation techniques to ensure that you haveevaluation techniques data from several perspectives. For example, you can combine focus group reviews of the performance techno -
ogy with both a one-on-one review by an expert performer and a pilot test of the technology with future users. 
Step 3 Plan for the formative evaluation of each performance technology early in the design and development process.
Manage formative Let the desired results that are expected from the formative evaluations guide your decisions, and consider co m- 
evaluations binations of multiple evaluation techniques. Consider the sequencing and timing of formative evaluations within 
the development process to ensure that adequate time and resources are available for making necessary revisions.

the development process to ensure that adequate time and resources are available for making necessary revisions. 
Step 4 Begin by taking an inventory of the findings from the formative evaluations of each performance technology,  
Apply results and compare the results from each of the evaluation techniques. This gives you the opportunity to assess and 
analyze the feedback from the multiple participants and perspectives. In the analysis, look for similarities, contradictions, recommendations for improvements, and opportunities to capitalize on related performanceimprovement activities.
Prioritize the recommendations based on the potential value (for example, effectiveness, efficiencies) they add to

performance and the potential costs (for example, time, financial, resource) associated with implementing therecommendations. Not all recommendations for improving a performance technology will lead to specific alter-ations to the current development processes. Some recommendations may be catalogued for use in subsequentcontinual improvement efforts after initial implementation, while others may be shared with other performancetechnology projects. All reasonable recommendations should, however, be documented, and an action should beassigned to each.
Step 5 While formative evaluations provide for the improvement of performance technologies before they are imple-

Continually assess mented, systematic and continual improvement efforts are necessary for making improvements during andand improve throughout implementation. No performance technology will accomplish all of its desired results in the mostperformance effective and efficient manner when it is first implemented. Therefore, plan for the continual improvement of all 
performance technologies during their design and development. 
STEP TOWARD
SUCCESSTABLE 5 EXAMPLES OF DATA COLLECTION TECHNIQUES 
HARD SOFT
(EXTERNALLY VERIFIABLE DATA) (NOT EXTERNALLY VERIFIABLE DATA)
Quantitative • Performance data • Surveys with a Likert-type scale that quantifies 
(numerical expressions • Budget analysis perceptionsof a variable) • Performance ratings
Qualitative • Focus groups • Open-ended opinion surveys

(nonnumerical expressions • Analysis of posting to a listserv • Individual interviewsof a variable) • Document review • Single-source performance observations
• Multisource performance observations
Source: Based on Watkins (2007c).48 www.ispi.org •DOI: 10.1002/pfi •APRIL 2007 procedural set of rules. In application, the steps in the

framework will regularly overlap and be completed invarious sequences. So while the framework may appearto be rigid, in use it is quite fluid and dynamic. Whenstarting out, however, you may want to follow theprocess closely. As you build expertise, use the frame-work as a heuristic that can be adapted to many situa-tions. Later, the framework may become an integral partof your approach to improving performance, offering aunique and systemic perspective on selecting, designing,and developing performance technologies.
Nevertheless, no matter how you apply the steps of the

framework, always maintain a focus on results. Use thestrategic objectives of your organization and its externalpartners to guide your decisions, continually differentiat-ing between the results to be achieved (performance) andthe processes, tools, and resources used by individuals andorganizations (performing). Appling this performance-focused approach to your improvement efforts will leadto valuable performance outcomes for you and the organ-izations you serve.
References 
Kaplan, R., & Norton, P . (1993, September–October). Putting the
balanced scorecard to work. Harvard Business Review, 134–147.Lick, D., & Kaufman, R. (2000). Change creation: The rest of
the planning story. In J. Boettcher, M. Doyle, & R. Jensen(Eds.), Technology-driven planning: Principles to practice .A n n
Arbor, MI: Society for College and University Planning.
Watkins, R. (2007a). Designing for performance: Aligning your

HPT decisions from top to bottom (Part 1 of a 3-part series).Performance Improvement, 46 (1), 7–13. (DOI: 10.1002/
pfi.033).
Watkins, R. (2007b). Designing for performance: Selecting
your performance technologies (Part 2 of a 3 part series).Performance Improvement, 46 (2), 9–15. (DOI: 10.1002/
pfi.102).
Watkins, R. (2007c). Performance by design: The systematic
selection, design, and development of performance technologiesthat accomplish useful results. Amherst, MA: HRD Press, and
Silver Spring, MD: International Society for PerformanceImprovement.
Related Readings 
Gilbert, T., & Gilbert, M. (1989). Performance engineering:Making human productivity a science. Performance and
Instruction, 28 (1), 3–9. (DOI: 10.1002/pfi.4170280103).

book of human performance technology. (3rd ed., pp. 191–207)
Improvement, 40 (8), 10–15. (DOI: 10.1002/pfi.4140400805).
Improvement, 42 (7), 9–17. (DOI: 10.1002/pfi.4930420704).Source: Based on Watkins (2007a).
FIGURE 1. THE PERFORMANCE-BY-DESIGN
FRAMEWORK

FRAMEWORK
of educational technology at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. He is also an authorof four other books, including the best-selling 
75 E-learning Activities: Making Online Courses More
Interactive, and E-Learning Companion: A Student’s Guide to Online Success. In addition, he has
published more than 60 articles and chapters. Recently Watkins was a visiting scientist with NationalScience Foundation, and he has been an active member of ISPI for the past decade. He may bereached at rwatkins@gwu.edu.
[voice mail message] “Andrea. This is Sarah. I just

got a report showing we are paying an average of $10more than our competitors on auto-damage insurance claims.Get that case-based reasoning system, or whatever they called it,ASAP . By the end of next quarter, I want to see that gap cut in half.”
Sarah locked in on case-based reasoning (CBR) as the solution to the insurance
claim payment problem after reading an in-flight magazine article about howit was being used to improve medical diagnosis. In her role as a performanceconsultant, Andrea had supported the concept of CBR when Sarah asked
about it, but she had no idea Sarah was in the process of deciding that CBR would rem-edy the insurance claim payment situation. Andrea now has the double challenge ofaddressing the performance problem anddealing with Sarah’s conviction that CBR will
solve the problem. Ready-fire-aim! Sound familiar?
Starting with the initial decisions that lead to the formal identification of a performance

problem, and continuing through the selection of an appropriate set of solutions, the per-formance consultant must navigate (and typically guide others) in the practice of assess-
ingneeds and assets, analyzing performance problems and tasks, and answering critical
questions. Applied correctly and together, each of these processes generates the data foraligning performance improvement resources and strategies, helping to avoid the “ready-fire-aim” phenomena. Short-circuiting these processes frequently leads to ineffectivestrategies, wasted resources, or worse—exacerbated performance problems.
Introduction: Alignment of Resources and Tactics

Resource and strategy alignment is a simple principle to understand. To solve a perfor-mance problem, the resources and tactics applied to resolving the problem must beboth aligned with (targeted toward) the problem and supportive of the organization’soverall strategic direction. Strategies, resources, and tactics are aligned with solving aproblem when: a) adequate and appropriate resources are committed to amelioratingthe problem; b) mutually compatible performance improvement tactics are applied to the
Performance Improvement •Volume 42 •Number 7 9
A Process for Aligning 
Performance ImprovementResources and Strategies
by Ryan Watkins and John Wedman10 www.ispi.org •AUGUST 2003problem; and c) collectively, the resources and tactics con-

verge on the problem in a timely manner to accomplish use-ful internal and external results. Aligning of strategies,resources, and tactics is the antithesis of the “spray andpray” approach of employing an array of resources and tac-tics in the general direction of a problem with little or noevidence that those solutions are the best means to resolvethe performance problem.
Alignment of resources and tactics with an organization’s

strategic direction results from a series of decisions that leadto the implementation of performance improvement inter-ventions (for example, training, electronic performance sup-port, process redesign, CBR, etc.). By applying the threeprocesses of assessing, analyzing, and answering, the per-formance consultant can generate the data required to applythe business logic to the performance problems at hand (seeStolovich, 2002). And while many of us may believe thatthese early decisions are typically made in dark alleys or areknee-jerk reactions, the truth is that more often than not,performance consultants have a greater ability to affect theseinitial considerations than they realize. At the very least,performance consultants have the opportunity to influencethe decisionmaking processes as long as they can demon-strate a clear business logic for the performance improve-ment tactics that are recommended. These processes ofassessment, analysis, and answering generate data for align-ing performance improvement resources and tactics, withuseful results.

Figure 1. The Three Processes Defined.
The extent to which the assessing, analyzing, and answering
processes are implemented in a systematic and systemicfashion often depends on the role of the performance con-sultant in early decisionmaking. If the consultant is solelyconcerned with order fulfillment and getting a product/service out the door, then the potential for assessing, ana-lyzing, and answering is greatly diminished. However, if heor she is primarily concerned with results, including bot-tom-line impact for clients, then assessing, analyzing, andanswering are paramount considerations. Concentrating onaccomplishing results, rather than on implementing solu-tions, allows the performance consultant to help ensure thatthe performance improvement resources and tactics alignwith one another and are applied toward the accomplish-ment of desirable results that add value for both internaland external clients.
For each of the three processes there are related theories,

models, tools, and techniques that enable the performanceconsultant to quickly and reliably lead individuals andteams through the decisionmaking processes, leading to the
identification and selection of the most appropriate solu-tions while conserving valuable resources. These processes,however, require a fundamental understanding of perfor-
mance .
Performance
It is rarely argued today that individual and organizational
performance is central to the success of organizations andtheir clients. But what is performance? And why is a defin-ition of performance so essential to developing a more pow-erful perspective on the alignment of resources and tactics? 
Performance can be defined as the combination of both

behaviors (what we do) and accomplishments (what weleave behind) (Gilbert & Gilbert, 1989). Unfortunately, man-agers, leaders, and others often blur the relationship of per-forming and performance, focusing too much on thebehaviors of individuals and groups and too little on whatthe individuals and groups accomplish.
Most of us will likely spend the majority of life primarily
focused on how things are to be done and how can they bedone better. Our focus on how is grounded in the confidence

that increased efficiency will lead to valued performance(for example, products, outputs, and outcomes). Based onthis assumption, we experiment with tweaking discretevariables of behavior, evaluating employees, re-engineeringprocesses, benchmarking the processes of other organiza-tions, or managing the changes brought to the organiza-tion…always remaining focused on performing better(Watkins & Leigh, 2001). Unfortunately, we are not neces-sarily focused on achieving desired results.
Performance is more usefully defined as the value-added

results or accomplishments of the individual and the orga-nization, regardless of preferred or mandated behaviors.Achieving performance is therefore a results-driven activityrequiring decisions to be based not on preferred processes oractivities, but rather required results (see Watkins & Leigh,2001). This is the type of performance that we want to focuson in our decisionmaking, especially when consideringwhich (if any) interventions may be appropriate for resolv-ing an identified performance problem.
The theories, models, tools, and techniques used to align

resources and strategies help ensure that performanceimprovement initiatives accomplish the value-addingresults required in today’s marketplace. The goal of assess-ing, aligning, and answering is to establish and maintain afocus on the achievement of useful results throughout theperformance improvement process. Simply put, aligning allresources and tactics (identified through the analysisprocess and selected in the answering process) around afocus on the accomplishment of beneficial results (specified
in the assessment process) will lead to
the improvement of desired perfor-
mance . In practice, the three processes
are inter-related and intertwined (notsequential) and are often carried out ina nonlinear manner guided by an initialassessment of performance gaps.
Step 1. Assessing Value or WorthIn practical terms, assessment is a process used to deter-

mine the value or worth of something (Scriven, 1967). Andfor performance consultants who are interested in individ-ual and organizational performance, assessment focuses on
results. We commonly refer to this type of assessment as aneeds assessment, though not all processes called needsassessments are focused on performance and results. SeeWatkins, Leigh, Platt, and Kaufman, for a survey and analy-
sis of needs assessment approaches (1998).
How does one go about determining the value and worth of
the full range of results that are (and can be) accomplishedby individuals, teams, departments, and organizations?Value is derived from the relationship between current per-

formance and desired performance (that is, results requiredfor continuing success). Only when both have been definedin measurable terms can an assessment of their relative valueto the individual, organization, and community of externalclients be made. Value is most commonly associated withthe estimated costs including nonmonetary costs of closing agap between current and desir ed performance, as compared
to the costs of not closing that gap.
To the performance consultant, assessment is a process

whereby individuals and organizations can approximate thevalue of various discrepancies between current and desiredresults. These determinations of value directly inform deci-sionmaking regarding the prioritization of gaps in perfor-mance and can be derived from the costs of addressing thegaps in performance versus the costs associated with ignor-ing the gaps (Kaufman, 1998; Kaufman et al., 2001). Withoutsystematic assessment, performance improvement interven-tions may not close these discrepancies in the areas mostvital for the long-term health and well-being of the organi-zation, the individuals that comprise the organization, orthe external clients and partners who are served by the orga-nization.
Often, in well-meaning attempts to develop rapid responses

to organizational distress calls (for example, “we have tohave training in…”), performance consultants respond byrecommending solutions they know a great deal about devel-oping, but without fully defining or understanding whatgaps in performance exist or how those gaps are prioritizedwithin the organization’s long-range strategic direction.Frequently, this results in training and other performanceinterventions that can waste scarce resources or even exac-
erbate the performance problem with inappropriate solu-tions that drain resources from functional subsystems. 
The assessment process is complex and can be approached
from several perspectives. Three assessment perspectivesare described below: strategic direction, needs, and assets.
Assessment of Strategic Direction Today, committing to the success of one’s organization

requires an additional commitment to the success of one’sclients and those clients’ clients. In effect, this involvescommitting to the creation of results that add value not onlyto the conventional bottom line of one’s own organization,but that also contribute to the long-term success of the com-munity in which the organization functions (Kaufman,2000; Popcorn, 1991). 
The interdependent relationship of individual, organiza-

tional, and societal success is now more apparent than ever.No longer can organizations, private or public, enjoy long-term financial success without making some level of contri-bution to the benefit of their clients and sharedcommunities. This new reality of organizational life islikely to be partially due to the increased competition forconsumer dollars, growing environmental awareness, and asociety in which legal attacks on organizations are an every-day occurrence. Whatever the cause, performance improve-ment efforts must be sensitive to the strategic direction ofthe organization in the broadest possible context. The sys-temic nature of this approach ensures that all decisions leadto positive consequences—not just for the organization, itsemployees, and stockholders, but for the shared communityin which with the organization and it partners exist as well(see Figure 2).

Many of us have been told for years that the only goal for a
business is financial profit. The limits of a tunnel-visionfocus on financial profit is clearly evident in images of cor-porate executives in handcuffs being taken to prison forfinancial improprieties. Thus, when making decisions(including those regarding the usefulness of any performanceimprovement initiative) it is important to ensure that we arecommitted to delivering organizational contributions thatalso add value for external clients and society, now and in thefuture. This alignment of strategic directions at multiple levels
Performance Improvement •Volume 42 •Number 7 11
Figure 2. Three Levels of Consideration (Source: Kaufman, 1992, 1998, 2000; 
Kaufman et al., 2001).12 www.ispi.org •AUGUST 2003of an organization, both internal and external, is essential for

performance improvement initiatives to have the desiredimpact. Consider that if human resources is headed in onedirection, finance in another, and the external clients in athird, the potential benefits of any performance improvementinitiative are quickly diminished, since meeting the threedivergent goals is unlikely. By starting with assurances thatall goals and objectives are aligned with a unified strategicdirection focusing on both internal and external results, deci-sions regarding performance improvement can be alignedand linked within an organization as well as with the require-ments of clients and clients’ clients (Kaufman et al., 2003).
When conducting an assessment of strategic direction, some

individuals will likely want to focus primarily on the desti-nation (what results should be accomplished), with theassumption that there is adequate data defining where theorganization is currently. And others in the organizationwill want to focus primarily on describing the current statusof the organization (what results are now being accom-plished), with the assumption that everyone already knowswhere they are headed and what results are required to getthere. Unfortunately, neither perspective is sufficient, andoften very little is formally known about either. The long-term goals and objectives of an organization (as well asthose of its partners, clients, and employees) are an indis-pensable component to any assessment. This helps defineboth the indented direction (“what should be”) as well asthe starting points (“what is”). By identifying and definingdiscrepancies between these two at the strategic level,assessment offers data necessary to align performanceimprovement tactics with an organizational strategic direction.

Assessment of Needs The assessment of strategic direction provides a fundamen-
tal element required for moving the assessment processfrom visions and goals to defined performance gaps. Needs
can be defined as discrepancies between current perfor-mance and required performance. Performance in this con-text is defined by the results of individuals, organizations,and communities, rather than the activities and interven-tions that may lead to performance.
Based on the above definition of need, then, we can develop
a definition of needs assessment for performance consul-tants. A needs assessment is a process by which gapsbetween what-is results and what-should-be results are

defined and prioritized based on the cost to meet the needversus the cost to ignore the need (Kaufman, 2000). Thisprocess of needs assessment provides decisionmakers withthe information necessary to make rational judgments as towhich needs must be addressed, and in which order(Watkins et al., 1998). Additionally, resources can then alsobe allocated based on these determinations. Without ade-quate assessment data, decisions regarding the developmentand implementation of interventions are left to fads, arbi-
trary concerns, office politics, and other risky tactics thatmay waste resources and fail to accomplish required results. 
An airline, for example, may envision a future in which their

profits are six to seven times those stated in their currentannual report. Yet without considering the safety and well-being of their clients and clients’ clients (which wouldinclude passengers, those shipping packages, and most all ofus on the ground in one way or another), the airline may betempted to focus exclusively on the financial bottom line atthe cost of safety. Such a mindset leads to choosing vendorsonly on the basis of the lowest bid on maintenance contracts,pilot training, food preparation, baggage handling, or otherpassenger safety-related services. At first no harm may bedone, but as this frugal attitude works its way through theorganizational culture, the safety and well-being of passen-gers can quickly become a secondary consideration, leadingeven the most professional of employees to make decisionswithout considering their overall repercussions. 
Through integrated needs assessments (see Kaufman et al.,

2003) the airline could align its goals of additional profitswith the accomplishment of value-added results for clients.After all, it’s unlikely that an airline without a strong safetyrecord will stay in business for long. Furthermore, throughprioritizing gaps in results so they are aligned with bothorganizational goals and external client requirements, man-agement could provide a clear direction and set of expecta-tions for each airline employee as he or she carries out thework. This could help ensure that actions of baggage han-dlers, for example, are clearly aligned with the expectedresults at the individual or team (Micro), organizational(Macro), and customer or community (Mega) levels.
Assessing needs can be challenging and time consuming.

Consequently, we suggest that a “layered” approach beemployed, allowing assessment to be an ongoing activity, not aprerequisite activity (Tessmer & Wedman, 1995; Wedman &Tessmer, 1993). By continuing to provide decisionmakers with
needs assessment data throughout the year, organizations canmaintain their focus on accomplishing useful results.Empowered decisionmakers throughout the organization aremore likely to move forward in a common, aligned direction. 
Assessment of Assets Results can only be accomplished through the use of

resources (human, physical, financial, etc.) within organiza-tional processes (manufacturing, designing, developing, cre-ating, writing, etc.). An assets assessment is conducted todetermine an organization’s capacity to close the gaps iden-tified within a needs assessment. An assets assessment seeksto define and prioritize inconsistencies between the currentand desired capacity. Whereas a needs assessment focuseson the gap between what-is results and what-should-beresults, an assets assessment focuses on gaps between cur-
rent resources and processes and those that are required forthe accomplishment of the results defined in the needsassessment (see Triner et al., 1996). Taken together, needsand assets assessment activities can provide an organizationwith a complete perspective that aligns all that the organiza-tion uses and does, with useful results (see Figure 3).

Figure 3. Needs and Assets Assessments as They Relate to the
Organizational Elements Model (Based on Kaufman, 1992, 1998,
2000; Kaufman et al., 2001).
It should be noted that an assets assessment can be difficult
to conduct because indicators of capacity are often masked.For example, an organization may wonder if there actuallyis a human resource shortage or if performance problems aredue to standard operating procedures that are getting in theway of work. Another organization may be divided as towhether a faster machine is required or if higher-quality rawmaterials make for a more cost-effective solution. In thesedilemmas, the influence of context cannot be overrated.Two organizations with seemingly equivalent resources and
processes may not have equivalent capacity due to factorsinside and outside their organizations (for example, organi-zational culture). Put another way, industry standards canbe helpful in assessing assets, but contextual factors mustalso be considered.

Step 2. Analyzing Contributing FactorsAnalyzing is the second resource and strategy alignment
process within performance improvement initiatives.Analysis can be a painstaking process that leads to indeci-sion, or it can be a useful exercise that further ensures allresources and strategies are aligned with improving perfor-mance and accomplishing useful results. 
A pragmatic definition of analysis is simply the examina-
tion of an element (such as a performance discrepancy, aprocess, or a resource) to determine the factors contributingto its existence. In chemistry, an analysis may provide infor-mation regarding the chemical makeup of a solution. In per-formance improvement, we can examine a variety ofelements and their interactions to determine what factorscause them. An essential tool in improving individual or

organizational performance, a performance analysis exam-ines the likely factors leading to a discrepancy between cur-rent and desired results. Rossett suggests a comprehensivedefinition of performance analysis:
Performance analysis is partnering with clients andcustomers to help them define and achieve theirgoals. Performance analysis involves reaching outfor several perspectives on a problem or opportu-nity, determining any and all drivers toward or bar-riers to successful performance, and proposing asolutions system based on what is learned, not onwhat is typically done (Rossett, 1999, p. 13).
The scope and purpose of various approaches to perfor-

mance analysis vary greatly, from those that address per-formance with an individual performance perspective tothose that are concerned with an organizational perfor-mance (Rossett, 1987, 1999; Robinson & Robinson, 1995;Gilbert, 1978; Mager, 1997; Witkin & Altschuld, 1995). Inaddition, there are approaches that connect individualand organization performance with that of the greatercommunity (Kaufman, 2000; Kaufman et al., 2001). It islikely that a combination of approaches will offer the bestinputs for long-term success when addressing perfor-mance issues. Training, job aids, process re-engineering,and other individual performance interventions shouldnot be seen as singular solutions if their capacity toimprove performance can be magnified greatly whenimplemented in combination together or with other toolsof the performance consultant. 
Most approaches to performance analysis share tech-

niques, tools, and procedures common to evaluation. Thetypical performance analysis, for example, may include acombination of data collection through observation, focusgroups, individual interviews, and questionnaire-basedresearch to gain a better understanding of the underlyingfactors contributing to a performance discrepancy. And, aswith many evaluations, the data-collection process in aperformance analysis typically attempts to consider thedata from several sources and methods in order to deriveconclusions and recommendations for decisionmakers.Performance analysis differs from program evaluation,however, in that the prior is completed before a project or
program is implemented. Performance analysis deter-mines factors that are likely causes of performance dis-crepancies. Program evaluation, in turn, examinesperformance to determine if the intended results wereaccomplished.

Decisions regarding the formality and duration of the per-
formance analysis should be related to the criticality (thatis, short- and long-term costs and consequences) of the deci-sions that must be made. Eight weeks of analysis to deter-mine the optimal brand of paper for the office copier is
Performance Improvement •Volume 42 •Number 7 13
14 www.ispi.org •AUGUST 2003likely more extravagant than required, while a week of
analysis before moving forward with a million-dollar multi-media development project may not be adequate for practi-cal decisionmaking. 
Performance analysis can be formalized to include exten-

sive task analyses, or it can be conducted informallythrough routine observations of individuals or groups per-forming. For example, a few years ago a consultant wasasked by a large fast-food chain to develop a series of elec-tronic performance support tools that could provide on-the-job training for employees. By observing the workflow injust two franchises, the consultant quickly realized that per-formance was not lower than desired due to lack of employeeknowledge or skills. Rather, a variety of motivational andperformance environment issues were likely responsible forthe unacceptable performance levels. Unfortunately, theclient only wanted to discuss the development of multime-dia for on-the-job training, creating a business dilemma forthe consultant. In this example an ounce of analysis wouldhave been worth a pound of objectives (Harless, 1975), ifonly the client would have listened.

Step 3. Answering Problems and Finding SolutionsThe third process in the performance improvement align-
ment trilogy answers two key questions: •W hat do we do now that we have information from the
assessment and analysis?
•How do we implement solutions that will accomplish
required results? 
This process unites assessment and analysis data to iden-
tify a range of potential resources and strategies .

Unfortunately, in traditional solution-selection processes,these data are too often ignored or distorted, leading towasted resources and ineffective strategies. Many organi-zations fall back on the resources and tactics theyhave used previously and feel most comfortableimplementing, even after formally identifying per-formance discrepancies and their causes. This isnot to say that such solutions always miss theirmark; a few do impact performance, but the major-ity do not lead to increases in performance. Instead,they may only keep the organization on a path ofinefficiency and/or ineffectiveness. For example, itis estimated that less than 10% of what is taught inconventional training is applied in the work place(Stolovich, 2000). As a result, even when trainingmay be an apparent quick fix for an organization’sperformance problem, the use of appropriateassessment and analysis techniques by the perfor-mance consultant can lead decisionmakers to selectperformance improvement interventions that havefar greater impact and ability to accomplish neces-sary results.Generating Solutions

If the old standby solutions cannot be relied on, how do per-formance consultants use data generated through assess-ment and analysis to identify possible remedies toorganizational problems? The data provided by the assess-ment and analysis processes are the drivers of success inselecting the appropriate solutions. Potential solutionsshould be matched with the likely causes identified in theanalysis process. 
For example, if employees have the knowledge and skills

for accomplishing the required results but lack the ade-quate tools for implementing those skills in an efficientmanner, then recommended performance interventionsshould target the access and use of necessary tools ratherthan additional training. In addition, all potential solutionsmust be aligned with both the organization’s strategic direc-tion as well as  the required results specified in the assess-ment process. The solutions that best align with theassessment and analysis data can be explored for theirlikely return on investment (Kaufman et al., 2001), whilethose that do not align well can be removed from consider-ation, thus saving resources. 
How can performance consultants ensure that assessment
and analysis data are being used andprotect against the ten-

dency to select from among solutions that are well knownand comfortable? Fortunately, there are frameworks forexploring alternative solutions to performance problems. Onesuch tool is the Performance Pyramid (Wedman & Graham,1998; Wedman & Diggs, 2001), a useful template for examin-ing the relationships among several essential elements forany performance improvement program or project (see Figure4 on page 14). The Performance Pyramid is a visual repre-sentation of the various considerations that are involved inthe selection of an appropriate solution or set of solutions. 
Figure 4. Performance Pyramid With Integrated Strategic Planning.Consistent with our emphasis on alignment, the Performance

Pyramid rests on the premise that significant accomplish-ments result when three major elements are aligned: vision,support system, and resources. The solutions used to addressthe performance issue must be consistent with these threedimensions and must be supported by the data derived fromthe assessing and analyzing processes. Vision is closely akinto the concept of strategic direction. It represents the com-mon direction and goals of the organization, as well as itsinternal and external clients. It is particularly useful to con-sider vision in three dimensions: societal, organizational,
and individual or team results. 
The second major element of the Performance Pyramid is

the support system. The support system consists of a foun-dation (that is, organizational culture) and six performancesupport  blocks (expectations and feedback, tools, environ-ment, processes, etc.). Accomplishments will suffer if thefoundation does not support attaining useful results, if oneor more of the performance support blocks are missing, or ifthe blocks are not aligned with each other. For example,insurance adjusters who are trained to process claims in amanner that is not viable given the available tools will dis-cover that they have a performance problem when theyattempt to carry out their work in the field. 
Each building block is interlinked with the success of the

other blocks, so, for example, without adequate tools, envi-ronment, and processes (lower-level blocks), the likelihoodof success with interventions related to motivation and self-concept (higher-level blocks) is greatly reduced. Let’s againconsider employees who do not have adequate tools; theywill obviously not be able to perform the tasks related totheir jobs efficiently. As a result, performance interventionsthat attempt to address motivational or self-concept issues(without first addressing the lack of adequate tools) are lesslikely to be successful.
Although the strength and veracity of this framework has

yet to be formally examined through empirical research, thefoundation and building blocks of the Performance Pyramiddo provide a conceptual framework for codifying and orga-nizing assessment and analysis data, examining inter-rela-tionships, and ensuring multiple factors are beingconsidered in answering the question, What do we do nowthat we have assessed the problem and its causes?
Resources constitute the third major element of the

Performance Pyramid. Clearly, resources must be adequateto sustain the support structures, or accomplishments willsuffer (Wedman & Diggs, 2001). More precisely, resourcesallocated to support structures must be equal to or greaterthan the cost of implementing the solutions (Leigh, 2000).The information gathered and applied in identifying per-formance discrepancies (that is, assessment) becomes anessential guide for determining which solution(s) will meetthe performance requirements. These performance stan-

dards will also guide future evaluations, as they establishmeasurable objectives. Likewise, the information obtainedthrough performance analyses will also guide decision-making when selecting answers. Before they are imple-mented, all performance interventions being consideredshould have demonstrated their ability to address the likelycauses or factors leading to the performance discrepanciesas identified through the analysis procedures (see Clark &Estes, 2002, for a discussion of “active ingredients” in per-formance interventions). 
In addition, decisionmakers exploring the feasibility of
potential solutions should estimate the return on invest-ment of each potential performance intervention. Thoughactual financial figures are often difficult to determinebefore the implementation of the program or project, evenrough estimates can be very useful in guiding decisionmak-ing (Kaufman et al., 1997, 2001; Graham, Wedman, Tanner,Monahan, 1998).
Creating Change

Selecting an appropriate solution is only part of success-fully defining the answers to performance issues in today’sorganizations. The interventions suggested by thePerformance Pyramid will most likely necessitate changesin business practices and organizational culture for internaland external clients. The impact of these changes requires achange management plan that relates the information col-lected during the assessment, analysis, and answerprocesses to the implementation requirements of the indi-viduals and small groups that need to accomplish usefulresults (Kaufman & Lick, 2000-2001).
Successful change management relies on the support and

commitment of key individuals within an organization.Organizing and developing the support required for perfor-mance improvement is an ongoing responsibility thatincludes creating the infrastructure capable of sustainingthe performance initiative. These would include developingsupport systems for ongoing assessment and analysis of per-formance discrepancies, evaluations, and continuousimprovement initiatives related to the selected solution.
Summary

Summary
The role of performance consultants during the initial deci-sionmaking stages of any project or program can and shouldset a results-focused agenda for future decisionmaking. Byformally assessing both needs (gaps in results at the societal,organizational, and individual/team levels) and assets(processes and resources), decisionmakers can ensure thatall elements of a project or program link what the organiza-tion uses, does, produces, and delivers with value-addedresults for both internal and external clients. This alignment
Performance Improvement •Volume 42 •Number 7 1516 www.ispi.org •AUGUST 2003of strategic direction with performance discrepancies is the
foundation of success and provides the groundwork for theperformance analysis. 
In completing a performance analysis, the underlying rea-

sons for gaps in results are identified. These factors mayinclude a variety of elements, such as ineffective or inef-ficient processes, deficient or inadequate resources, lackof knowledge or skill, unsuccessful rewards systems, or avariety of other performance-related issues. As perfor-mance consultants help decisionmakers determine thecauses of performance discrepancies, their role becomesone of exploring a diverse set of solutions that addresseseach of the primary causal factors identified through theanalysis. These answers offer the organization a menu ofoptions for addressing the performance problems. Byserving as the guide in the alignment of assessment,analysis, and answers, performance consultants can assistorganizations through the critical decisions that arerequired at the beginning of any performance improve-ment project or program.

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Arlington, VA: The International Society for PerformanceImprovement and the American Society for Training andDevelopment.
Kaufman, R. (2000). Mega planning . Thousand Oaks, CA:
Sage Publishing.
Kaufman, R. & Lick, D. (2000-2001, Winter). Change 
creation: The rest of the planning story. Planning for
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performance, and payoffs. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
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Cliffs, NJ: Educational Technology Publishing Co.
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Jossey-Bass.
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of curriculum evaluation (pp. 39-83). Chicago: Rand
McNally.

McNally.
Stolovich, H. (2000). Research and theory to practice.
Performance Improvement , 39(4), 7-16.
Stolovich, H. (2002). Front-end analysis, implementation
planning, and evaluation: Breaking out of the Pamela syndrome. Performance Improvement, 41 (4), 5-7.
Tessmer, M., & Wedman, J.F. (1995). Context-sensitive
instructional design models: A response to design research and criticism. Performance Improvement
Quarterly , 8(3), 37-53.
Triner, D., Greenberry, A., & Watkins, R. (1996). Training
needs assessment: A contradiction in terms. Educational
Technology, 36 (6), 51-55.
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Needs assessment: A digest, review, and comparison ofneeds assessment literature. Performance Improvement ,
37(7), 40-53.
technology-enhanced learning environments in teachereducation. Computers in Human Behavior , 17(4), 421-430.
Wedman, J.F., & Graham, S.W. (1998). Introducing the con-
cept of performance support using the performance pyra-mid. Journal of Continuing Higher Education , 46(3), 8-20.
Wedman, J.F., & Tessmer, M. (1993). Instructional design-
ers’ decisions and priorities: A survey of design practice.Performance Improvement Quarterly , 6(2), 43-57.
Witkin, B.R., & Altschuld, J.W. (1995). Planning and con-
ducting needs assessments: A practical guide . Thousand

Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.Ryan Watkins ,PhD, is Professor of Educational Technology Leadership at
George Washington University in Washington, D.C. His teaching and researchinterests include needs assessment, distance education, and instructionaldesign. Having published more than 35 articles on needs assessment, distanceeducation, strategic planning, instructional design, and related topics, he is alsoa coauthor of Useful Educational Results (2001, Proactive Publications),
Strategic Planning for Success (2003, Jossey-Bass), and E-learning
Companion: A Student’s Guide to Online Success (2003, Houghton Mifflin). He
may be reached at rwatkins@gwu.edu or http://www.ryanwatkins.com.
John Wedman ,PhD, is Director of the School of Information Science &

Learning Technologies at the University of Missouri-Columbia. His teaching andresearch interests are in instructional design and innovation adoption. In addi-tion to more than 20 years’ experience in K-12 and higher education settings,he has considerable experience in the private sector, conducting needs assess-ments, designing and developing technical skill and management processcourses, and evaluating training programs for associations, businesses, and gov-ernment agencies. He may be reached at wedmanjf@showme.missouri.edu.
Performance Improvement •Volume 42 •Number 7 17
September 10-13
Your Opportunity to Meet Face-to-Face
with More Than 600 Key HR Professionals
Join IPMA-HR in the “Windy City” for the 2003 International
Training Conference. The Conference will be held in the
heart of downtown at the Chicago Marriott Hotel.

If you would like more specific information about the Conference
call IPMA-HR at (703) 549-7100 or go to http://www.ipma-hr.org online .
We look forward to seeing you in Chicago!2003 IPMA-HR A nnual
Conference Chicago, IL2003 IPMA-HR A nnual
Conference Chicago, ILEvaluation and Program Planning 30 (2007) 258–266
Problems in needs assessment data: Discrepancy analysis
Yi-Fang Leea, James W. Altschuldb,/C3, Jeffry L. Whitec
aNational Chi Nan University 1, University Rd., Puli Nantou 545, Taiwan
bThe Ohio State University, 1900 Kenny Road, Columbus, OH 43212, USA
cAshland University, 401 College Ave. 147 Schar Hall, Ashland, OH 44805, USA
Abstract
Needs assessment (NA) is generally based on the discrepancy between two conditions—the desired and present states. To date, there

Abstract
has not been an extensive research regarding a number of subtle problems in discrepancy analysis. One such example is missing data for
one or both the two states. This leads to highly varied item n’s for calculating discrepancy scores. Concerns like this arose in a NA study
of minority students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics programs in universities. A number of problems observed in
this context are discussed as well as possible solutions for them. The results should be valuable to needs assessors and evaluators
responsible for assessing needs.r2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Discrepancy analysis; Discrepancy-based needs; Needs assessment
1. Introduction
Classical needs assessments (NA) generally require

identifying the discrepancy between two conditions—thedesired and present states ( Altschuld & Witkin, 2000 ;
Kaufman, 1988 ). In surveys, respondents would rate items
in terms of two Likert-type scales with each representingone of the two conditions (e.g., level of importance anddegree of satisfaction). Such scales work well but they have
several inherent and subtle data-related problems.
Examples are ‘Not Applicable’ ratings and missing data for
one or both of the scales, which could lead to highly varieditem n’s for calculating discrepancy scores. What alternatives
for analysis exist in such situations? What is the value of the‘Not Applicable’ responses? Should they be thought of as animportant source of information in their own right?
Data-based issues may threaten the validity of NAs and

undermine the credibility of results if needs assessors are
not attentive to them. Although such problems areroutinely observed, they have seldom been examined ortreated in the literature ( Altschuld & Witkin, 2000 ). They
appeared for us in NA data obtained from an evaluation ofa retention program for minority students majoring in
science, technology, engineering, and mathematics
(STEM). While the nature of the issues and some possiblesolution strategies for them are emphases here, we haveanother equally important purpose in mind. It is to fosteran illuminative discussion amongst needs assessors aboutthe complexity of the data that is collected.
2. A initial look at data problems in NA
The discrepancy-based view, with need as a noun, is
widely considered the cornerstone of NA ( Kaufman, 1988,
1992;Watkins, Leigh, & Guerra, 2002 ;Witkin &
Altschuld, 1995 ).Kaufman (1982) deﬁned need as a ‘‘gap

between What Is and What Should Be in terms of results’’.NA then is ‘‘a formal analysis that documents gapsbetween current results and desired results, arranges gaps
(NEEDS) in priority order, selects the NEEDS to be
resolved’’ (p. 75). The process has ﬁve main steps: (1)determining the What Should Be status; (2) ascertainingcurrent status; (3) quantifying discrepancies between WhatShould Be and What Is; (4) analyzing the causes ofdiscrepancies; and (5) establishing priorities ( Kaufman &
English, 1979 ;Witkin & Altschuld, 1995 ). In this manner, a
list of prioritized needs for action is developed.ARTICLE IN PRESS
www.elsevier.com/locate/evalprogplan
0149-7189/$ - see front matter r2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.evalprogplan.2007.05.005/C3Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 614 292 6541; fax: +1 614 688 3258.

E-mail addresses: ivanalee@ncnu.edu.tw (Y.F. Lee) ,altschuld.1@
osu.edu (J.W. Altschuld) ,jwhite7@ashland.edu (J.L. White) .Many NAs have respondents rate the two conditions
simultaneously. Some empirical research has been con-ducted into the use of this type of double scaling ( Edwards
& Briers, 1999 ;Hamann, 1997 ;Hamann, Poppe, Lapar, &
Banks, 1995 ;Johnson & Dixon, 1984 ).Johnson and Dixon
(1984) tested two forms, one with single-scaled items to
measure subjects’ desired level of competence in educa-tional evaluation, and the other with two scales, desiredcompetence and current competence. Actual contentknowledge, which had been measured earlier aided ininterpreting levels of need. In essence, individuals wereassumed to have small need for areas where they had

enough prior knowledge. Correlation between knowledge
and discrepancy scores was much higher than that ofknowledge and single-scaled responses (What Should Be).A conclusion was that the double-scaled format was betterand preferable for NA. On the other hand, double-scaledforms are more complex and could lead to difﬁculties indata collection and analysis ( Altschuld & Witkin, 2000 ;
Hamann, 1997 ;Lee, 2005 ).
Altschuld and Witkin (2000) classiﬁed data-related issues
into four categories. They were those dealing with:estimates of current status, measures of what should bestatus, discrepancies between the two conditions, andconcerns across the entire NA process. An overview ofthese is shown in Table 1 .
Although the bold entries in the table are the focus of
this discussion, several other entries will be highlighted to
illustrate what can happen in NA. The measurement of

current status may be neither valid nor reliable, especiallywhen data are gathered from self-reports (Issue 1-1 inTable 1 ).Anderson, Jesswein, and Fleischman (1990)
found that service providers tended to overstate needs ineducation and transportation, whereas service receiversunderreported household violence, attempted suicide, andso forth. For some questions, receivers were providing
socially desirable answers. Needs assessors must be aware
of the basis upon which questions are answered when theyinterpret data.
Issue 1-3, multiple methods becomes even messier when
different methods are used with different groups. Demar-
est, Holey, and Leatherman (1984) explored training needs
in health by means of interviews of 48 randomly selectedstaff and head nurses, a written survey that 60 nurses

completed, and reviews of hospital quality assurance data
(incident reports, accreditation reviews). Different sets ofeducational needs and priorities dependent on method andsource were noted. This made it difﬁcult to interpretresults.
The bold entries in the table come from the minority
retention endeavor noted earlier. The evaluation settingand speciﬁc issues are described next.
2.1. Setting of the present study
The Ohio Science and Engineering Alliance (OSEA) is a
consortium of 15 institutions, funded by the NationalScience Foundation, with the goal of increasing the
number of underrepresented minorities earning baccalaure-
ate degrees and pursuing graduate study in STEMdisciplines ( Ohio Science and Engineering Alliance, 2003 ).

The alliance is part of a nationwide effort to rectify the lowenrollment and graduation rates of underrepresentedminorities ( National Science Foundation, 2004 ). StudentsARTICLE IN PRESS
Table 1
A Summary of data-related issues in NA dataa,b
Categories Issues
1. Determining estimates
of current status1-1 Measurement of current status (self-
report, interview) may be invalid or
unreliable
1-2 Some variables are difﬁcult to measure(diet, drug abuse, drunk driving, etc.)
1-3 Information from different sources or
methods might be inconsistent
2. Determining the what
should be condition2-1 May be difﬁcult to decide the standard
for the what should be status2-2 Confusing what should be’s with wants2-3 Consistently high ratings for all what
should be’s
3. Determining
discrepancies3-1 Discrepancies derived from wants

instead of needs3-2 Size and nature of a discrepancy3-3 Developing discrepancies from multiple
sources or methods
3-4 Qualitative data (focus groupinterviews, individual interviews) may notdirectly lead to discrepancies
3-5 What is the value of ‘Not Applicable’
responses?3-6 Missing data for one or both scales?
3-7 Should discrepancies be determined
using total group means for an item or onlyfrom the subgroup of individuals completingboth scales?
3-8 Do different needs indices produce
similar results?3-9 If varied n’s per item was found, should
data analysis be done item by item or
across items within a category?
4. Across all aspects of
NA process4-1 Using multiple sources and/or groups
4-2 Placing undue emphasis on numericaldata4-3 Problems in asking about a population

intended to be served vs one actually
receiving services4-4 Using a single dimension (importanceor satisfaction) to determine needs
4-5 Criteria to select items for follow-up
exploration of needs when they differ acrossconstituencies
5. Issues associated with
NA instruments5-1 Problems caused by within-method
variations
5-2 How to handle data from multiple forms
of a NA survey?
aAdapted from Altschuld and Witkin (2000) .
bBold entries are the main emphasis of this paper.Y.F. Lee et al. / Evaluation and Program Planning 30 (2007) 258–266 259are being lost to these ﬁelds ( National Science Foundation,
2006) with the attrition being more dramatic for mino-
rities—African Americans, Hispanic, and Native Amer-icans ( White, Altschuld, & Lee, 2006 ). OSEA started in

2003 and is one of 34 such alliances in the US. It facilitates
a variety of statewide retention activities (statewide studentresearch forum, exchange of students across institutions,faculty workshops, etc.).
2.2. Study design
In 2004–2005, we investigated needs-oriented perspectives
of retention services available at OSEA institutions througha web-based survey. The instrument consisted of 24 triplescaled items in three categories—Pre-College, Academic, andFinancial Support. Services. Items were derived from otherstudies regarding retention interventions that are oftenavailable to students in STEM (see Lee, 2005 ,f o rs p e c i ﬁ c
information). Respondents were asked to provide ratings on
ﬁve-point Likert scales about the importance of, satisfaction
with, and frequency of use of services.

To demonstrate how the survey worked, consider one
item ‘‘Peer study groups’’ in Academic Services ( Fig. 1 ).
Importance to academic success was measured by a scalethat went from 1 ¼strongly disagree to 3 ¼neither agree
nor disagree to 5 ¼strongly agree. A ‘Not Applicable’
option allowed respondents to indicate if a service was not
on a campus or if they were not familiar with it. The
satisfaction scale ranged from 1 ¼not satisﬁed to
3¼average to 5 ¼very satisﬁed. For frequency of use,
the questionnaire asked how often students used the service(1¼never, 2 ¼rarely, 3 ¼sometimes, 4 ¼frequently, and
5¼very frequently). The ﬁrst two scales were as parallel as
possible in their wording to justify performing a discre-pancy analysis ( Edwards & Briers, 1999 ;Hamann, 1997 ).
Going from one to two or more scales on a NA survey

generates more data (an advantage) but comes with thedisadvantage that the instrument may be more difﬁcult tocomplete and response rates may suffer ( Hamann, 1997 ;
Lee, 2005 ). The three scales in the present case were
expected to reduce survey return and item completionrates.Two stakeholder groups, students and faculty/adminis-
trators, received the survey. The student populationconsisted of minority undergraduates enrolled in STEMor related ﬁelds at OSEA institutions. A random sample
(n¼1, 112) was selected from approximately 3400 such
students. The faculty/administrators ( n¼86) had experi-
ence in mentoring or were responsible for planning andmanaging retention programs with students of color. Theywere a convenience sample.
The groups received surveys of similar items but with

subtle differences in wording to ﬁt their speciﬁc context.Instrument reliabilities (Cronbach’s alpha) ranged from .70
to .98 for the ‘‘Pre-College Services’’, ‘‘Academic Services’’,
and ‘‘Financial Support’’ sections in the instrument. Onehundred and sixty eight students (14.9%) and 39 faculty/administrators (43.8%) responded to the survey. Thereturn rates, while not high, were within the 10–40% range(or slightly above it) suggested for on-line surveys byDillman (2004) . For an exploratory study like this one they
were viewed as acceptable, but larger numbers would have
enhanced the effort.
Descriptive and inferential statistical techniques were

used with the Likert data being treated as a low-levelinterval measurement with means and standard deviationscalculated for them ( Edwards & Briers, 1999 ;Hamann,
1997). In accord with the deﬁnition of need, importance
and satisfaction scores and discrepancies between themwere examined via mean difference analysis (MDA).
Analyses of variance were employed to test whether
student’ perspectives differed from those of faculty/admin-istrators on an item-by-item basis. Data-based issuesemanating from these processes are now examined alongwith possible solutions for them.
3. Data-based issues and solutions
3.1. Issue 1: What is the value of the ‘Not Applicable’
responses?
In this study, ‘Not Applicable’ was coded ‘9’ and treated
as missing data for descriptive analyses. The ‘Not Applic-able’ ratings, however, are meaningful because they reﬂectARTICLE IN PRESS

Fig. 1. An example of the survey format for students.Y.F. Lee et al. / Evaluation and Program Planning 30 (2007) 258–266 260participants’ awareness of or the availability of a service on
a campus.
InTable 2 , the number of ‘Not Applicable’ ratings for
each service for the two groups is given. Importantly, a
trend across items was observed—the percentages of ‘Not
Applicable’ ratings from students tended to be much higherthan those of the faculty/administrators. About half of thestudents chose ‘Not Applicable’ for 25% (6 out of 24 items)of the services whereas the numbers were much lower forthe other group. The six items were: ‘‘Glenn-StokesSummer Research Internship’’, ‘‘Summer Research Intern-ship’’, ‘‘Glenn-Stokes Academic Year Research Intern-
ship’’, ‘‘Academic Year Research Internship’’, ‘‘Grad

student mentoring’’, and ‘‘Industry representative mentor-ing’’. Students seemed to have limited or insufﬁcientinformation about these services which were better knownto faculty/administrators.
Support for this observation was obtained in a follow-up
survey (reported elsewhere in detail by Lee, 2005 ;Lee,
Altschuld, & White, 2007 ). It was conducted for a small
set of items to ﬁnd out why student and faculty/
administrator perceptions differed. An open-ended instru-ment focusing on three items (‘‘Assistance in locatingoff-campus employment,’’ ‘‘Faculty mentoring,’’ and‘‘Recruitment to college.’’) was sent to individualswho had responded to the ﬁrst survey. Notably, oneexplanation given by students for their lower satisfactionabout the ﬁrst item was that they were unaware of
assistance or there was insufﬁcient advertising. The

faculty/administrators, on the other hand, attributed theirhigher rating to being knowledgeable about assistanceprovided on campus.
The information from the ‘Not Applicable’ responses
was useful and pointed toward the need to more stronglypromote the service to students. The ﬁnding from thefollow-up supports having a ‘‘Not Applicable’’ option on
NA forms.
3.2. Issues 2: Missing data for one or both of the double
scales?
NA is a prime candidate for the use of multiple scales,
but as Hamann (1997) indicated doing so may lead to more
non-responses (or missing data) because participants are
unfamiliar with the format or may have limited informa-
tion upon which to base their answer to one or both scales(also see Lee, 2005 ). If the missing data is prominent,
assessors need to clarify why people are not responding.
In our study, multiple scales were used to rate the three

service areas. Missing data was of two types, ‘NotApplicable’ ratings or absence of a response. ‘NotApplicable’ was coded ‘9’ while absence of a response
was given ‘99’ to distinguish between them and probe into
their nature. If a respondent chose ‘Not Applicable’ for theimportance of an item, they were directed to the next itemwith the satisfaction rating for the ﬁrst one being coded ‘9’instead of missing data.No imputation of values was made for these two types of
responses based upon somewhat different rationales. Both
were treated as missing data in the analysis. For the ‘Not
Applicable,’ any attempt to impute values would bemeaningless because respondents were not familiar withor aware of the services. The substitution of values woulddistort results and not realistically represent respondentperceptions.ARTICLE IN PRESS
Table 2

Table 2
Frequencies and percentages of ‘Not Applicable’ ratings for services from
student and faculty/administrator surveys
Category/variable Student survey F/A survey
]of
‘NA’a%b]of
‘NA’%
Pre-College Services
Recruitment to college 26 15.5 0 0Campus orientation 11 6.6 0 0Summer bridge
programs63 37.5 3 7.7
Academic Services
Peer study groups 21 12.5 4 10.3Tutoring 20 11.9 1 2.6Supplemental
instruction by student
facilitators32 19.1 3 7.7
Co-enrollment in
courses61 36.3 6 15.4
Collaborative learning 43 25.6 4 10.3
Living learning
program71 42.3 7 18.0
Drop-in/study center 48 28.6 4 10.3
Glenn-Stokes summer
research internship106 63.1 9 23.1
Summer research
internship88 52.4 3 7.7
Glenn-Stokes
academic year researchinternship113 68.3 11 28.2
Academic year
research internship105 62.5 4 10.3
Faculty mentoring 55 32.7 0 0
Peer mentoring 58 34.5 2 5.1
Grad student
mentoring84 50.0 6 15.4
Industry representative
mentoring91 54.2 6 15.4
Financial Support
Financial aid, grants,

& loans12 7.1 0 0
Scholarships 9 5.4 0 0
Work study programs 44 26.2 0 0
Internships 31 18.5 0 0
Assistance with on-
campus employment37 22.0 3 7.7
Assistance in locating
off-campus employment49 29.2 3 7.7
aNumber of ‘Not Applicable’ ratings for each service.
bBased on total number of respondents (168 in student group and 39 in
faculty/administrator group).Y.F. Lee et al. / Evaluation and Program Planning 30 (2007) 258–266 261The absence of a response may be conceptually different
than a ‘Not Applicable’’ rating. Hamann suggested thatwith the double-scaled format, respondents often do notcomplete one of the scales due to a lack of knowledge,
especially for the ‘what is’ status. Service receivers (students

in this case) might not be able to rate satisfaction due tolimited participation whereas service providers (facultyand/or administrators) might not be able to rate it becausethey did not personally take part in what is a studentactivity. At the same time it is also possible that individualshave enough of a sense of the importance (what should be)for an item to provide that rating. It is difﬁcult to know
whether imputing values represents a reasonable proxy for
missing data, particularly if there is a systematic dimensionor pattern to the responses.
Evidence of this was found in comparisons of responses
to the importance and satisfaction scales. The number ofabsent responses for satisfaction was much higher thanimportance (with ratios of approximately of 5:1 for faculty/administrators and 2:1 for students). Additionally, the
follow-up study (mentioned earlier) indicated that the

students might rate importance based on general interest,but were not able to judge satisfaction because they did
not participate in or had limited information about whatis currently taking place. Substituting data could bemisleading.
Imputation is a reasonable strategy but not here since
there was an apparent systematic dimension to not ratingone of the scales. One implication is that missing valuescould be informative if they were studied as to why aresponse was not offered. After excluding the ‘NotApplicable’ and absent responses, a much smaller numberof responses were available for analysis ( Table 3 ).
3.3. Issues 3: Should discrepancies be determined using total
group means for an item or only from the subgroup ofindividuals completing both scales?
A service with a high importance and a low satisfaction
score would be considered a need ( Altschuld & Witkin,
2000;Cummings, 1985 ). Subtraction of the ‘what is’ from

‘what should be’ is simple enough but there are caveats.Subtraction can become complicated when the sample sizefor the two scales varies due to ‘Not Applicable’ or missingARTICLE IN PRESS
Table 3
Available sample size for statistical analyses across items and scales (by group)
Category/variable Number of available data
Importance Satisfaction FrequencyS
aF/AbS F/A S F/A
Recruitment to college 104 39 107 38 –c–
Campus orientation 114 39 118 38 – –
Summer bridge programs 78 36 72 34 – –
Peer study groups 116 35 102 32 111 22Tutoring 111 38 105 34 110 23Supplemental instruction by student facilitators 102 36 96 30 97 19
Co-enrollment in courses 82 30 74 26 75 14
Collaborative learning 93 35 86 31 88 21Living learning program 75 30 71 25 70 14
Drop-in/study center 82 32 87 28 87 16

Glenn-Stokes summer research internship 55 28 35 29 42 24Summer research internship 69 36 51 35 52 29Glenn-Stokes academic year research internship 46 27 32 26 33 22
Academic year research internship 52 33 37 30 42 23
Faculty mentoring 88 39 79 37 80 33Peer mentoring 90 36 72 33 81 28Grad student mentoring 70 32 55 30 59 23
Industry representative mentoring 66 33 49 31 48 21
Financial aid, grants, & loans 114 39 115 36 124 31Scholarships 117 38 118 36 124 32Work study programs 101 39 83 37 94 30
Internships 111 39 93 37 100 32
Assistance with on-campus employment 98 36 91 33 99 24Assistance in locating off-campus employment 91 36 80 32 88 24
aStudent group.
bFaculty/administrator group.

cQuestion was not asked.Y.F. Lee et al. / Evaluation and Program Planning 30 (2007) 258–266 262data. Needs assessors have to consider whether the mean
score for each status based on the different n’s is
appropriate for estimating discrepancies. Thomas (1997,personal communication) cautioned that if the number of
respondents for each status was uneven (such as 75 for
what should be with only 45 providing ratings for what is),the situation might introduce bias into the resulting indexof need. She suggested using data only from thoseindividuals who had completed both scales.
Absences of responses as observed in the OSEA work
and the decision not to impute led to highly varied numbersof respondents for the double scales (as in Table 3 where
the available sample sizes for ‘‘Internship’’ for the

importance and satisfaction scales are 111 and 93 forstudents). Using data only from those individuals whorated both scales was considered, further reducing thesample size to 63. That number was substantially lowerthan the total (168) of student respondents.
While the discrepancy score of ‘‘Internship’’ from the
subgroup of individuals completing both scales was 0.95,
which was close to gap calculated from total group means(1.0), the much smaller sample size of 63 might not
represent the larger group (168) well. We chose overallmean scores to ascertain the discrepancy for each itemrecognizing that they came from quite varied sample sizes.
3.4. Issues 4: Do different needs indices produce similar
results?
Several techniques are used to calculate discrepancies

results?
such as MDA, and the weighted needs index (WNI).Fundamental to both of these analyses is the concept of thegap between importance and satisfaction in this instance.
MDA was the main needs index used in this study. An
overall mean of the importance and satisfaction ratings wasdetermined and then the gap between them became a
standard for looking at individual items. If the item gap
was higher than the one from MDA, the item was seen as aneed. Such items are in bold in Table 4 .
Some items had higher needs indices than others but the
general pattern exceeding the difference between the overallmeans (MDA) was not very pronounced. SubsequentARTICLE IN PRESS
Table 4
Two sets of weighted needs indices and means difference analysis values for each service
Category/variable Students Faculty and administrators
WNIaWNIbMDAcWNIaWNIbMDAc

Table 4
Recruitment to college .19 .51 .24 .32 1.1 .76
Campus orientation .18 .60 .45 .22 .55 .68
Summer bridge programs .21 .72 .53 .27 .91 .95
Peer study groups .24 .74 .36 .28 .91 .90
Tutoring .23 .83 .44 .22 .65 .39
Supplemental instruction by student facilitators .18 .63 .48 .23 .80 .50
Co-enrollment in courses .10 .16 .00 .30 .77 .75
Collaborative learning .19 .52 .37 .29 1.06 .84
Living learning program .22 .67 .38 .26 .64 .49
Drop-in/study center .18 .62 .28 .26 .75 .44
Glenn-Stokes summer research internship .22 .63 .51 .10 .25 .36
Summer research internship .22 .76 .56 .20 .66 .53
Glenn-Stokes academic year research internship .23 .78 .63 .11 .31 .35
Academic year research internship .28 .90 .78 .18 .53 .59
Faculty mentoring .23 .70 .38 .32 1.08 1.05

Peer mentoring .23 .74 .33 .30 .94 .84
Grad student mentoring .25 .86 .41 .22 .55 .49
Industry representative mentoring .33 1.15 .72 .35 1.16 .92
Financial aid, grants, & loans .28 1.15 1.16 .25 .83 .94
Scholarships .22 .91 .94 .25 1.0 .93
Work study programs .26 .98 .64 .18 .57 .48
Internships .32 1.34 1.01 .22 .68 .76
Assistance with on-campus employment .27 .98 .76 .23 .70 .46Assistance in locating off-campus employment .36 1.39 1.22 .25 .72 .42
aBased on the cell weights in Fig. 1 . The highest values in the category of Pre-College Services were marked in bold as well as the top 5 in Academic
Services and the top 3 in Financial Support.
bBased on the cell weights in Fig. 2 .

cMeans difference analysis (MDA), a discrepancy that exceeded the average of the overall importance and satisfaction difference per category (cutof f
score) was marked in bold. The cutoff scores were .40, .44, and .96 for the three categories for students and .80, .63 and .67 for faculty/administrator s.Y.F. Lee et al. / Evaluation and Program Planning 30 (2007) 258–266 263examination of the data via the WNI ( Cummings,
1985) was undertaken to see if the same pattern held
with another way of analyzing the data. The WNI is basedon proportionate reduction in error ( Hildebrand, Laing, &
Rosenthal, 1977 ; also see Misanchuk, 1984 ). In Cummings’

approach there is no need for low importance ratingsthat co-occur with high satisfaction ones. Only itemswith high importance scores and low satisfaction ratingswould be used to identify needs. These items are givenhigher weights in statistical calculations. Figs. 2 and 3
contain two sets of such cell weights that are commonlyused in the WNI.Using the weights, the formula for calculating the WNI
for each item is
WNI ¼
Summation ðcell frequency of respondents /C2cell weight Þ
Total number of respondents:
The index ranges from 0 to 1 with the ﬁrst set of weights
and 0 to 5 with the latter. Higher values stand for greaterlevels of need. Indices per item for the student and faculty/administrator surveys are in Table 4 . The higher WNI
values within a category are in bold.

Even though the cell weights for the two forms of WNI
are different, they and the MDA strategy produced similaroutcomes. The students perceived ‘‘Assistance in locating
off-campus employment’’, ‘‘Financial aid, grants, &
loans’’, and ‘‘Internships’’ as the most needed services,and the faculty/administrators viewed ‘‘Faculty mentor-ing’’, ‘‘Industry representative mentoring’’, and ‘‘Colla-borative learning’’ as most needed. These items had higherneeds indices than other items but the highest value was notparticularly high (e.g., 1.39 for the WNI which goes from 0to 5). Participants did have need for some services but they
were not especially notable in terms of needs indices.
All of the approaches to analysis would lead to about the
same conclusions. There did not seem to be any advantageof one approach over another.
3.5. Issues 5: Criteria to select items for follow-up
exploration when needs differ across constituencies

The involvement of multiple constituencies is advo-
cated in NA but it usually requires more effort fromassessors to integrate and interpret information, especiallywhen different perceptions are observed ( Witkin, 1994 ).ARTICLE IN PRESS
 Importance
Very low                               Very high
12345  
Very low 0 0 .791 .884 1 
21
0 0 .637 .750 .884 
Satisfaction 0 0 0 .637 .791 
4 00000  
Very high 0 0 0 0 0  3
5
Fig. 2. One set of cell weights for the weighted needs index.
Importance 
Very low                                Very high
1 2 3 4 5 
Very low  003 4 5 
2
3
5 00  1  2 4 
Satisfaction 0  0  0  1 3 
4 0  0  0  0 0 
Very high 0  0  0  0  0   1
Fig. 3. A second set of cell weights for the calculation of the weighted
needs index.

2
3
5 00  1  2 4 
4 0  0  0  0 0 
 1.0               1.5               2.0              2.5              3.0               3.5               4.0               4.5            5.0
 1.0               1.5               2.0              2.5              3.0               3.5               4.0               4.5            5.0Recruitment to college a
Co-enrollment in courses
Collaborative learning 
Glenn-Stokes Summer Research 
Internship
Glenn-Stokes Academic Year 
Research Internship
Faculty mentoring 
Assistance in locatingb
aThe bar stands for the magnitude of discrepancy between the means of importance (right end) and satisfaction (left end)
Students
Faculty/AdministratorsbThe arrow indicates the difference the perspective of the groups for satisfaction.off-campus employment

Students
Fig. 4. Bars data for discrepancies between importance and satisfaction ratings by group.Y.F. Lee et al. / Evaluation and Program Planning 30 (2007) 258–266 264Understanding the reasons for differences should contri-
bute to a more meaningful interpretation of needs ( Lee,
2005).
In the retention study, seven items with signiﬁcant
differences between the two groups were identiﬁed. In
Fig. 4 , the means of the importance and satisfaction ratings
for these items are presented with the gray and black barsrepresenting student and faculty/administrator ratings,respectively. The left end of a bar is the mean forsatisfaction and the right end, the mean for importance,thus discrepancies for the two statuses are immediatelydiscernible. An arrow in ‘‘Assistance in locating off-
campus employment’’ is used to depict the unique

perspectives of the groups for satisfaction.
When groups differ, their ratings could be investigated
by focus group interviews, the Delphi Technique, ques-tionnaires, and so forth. For this purpose and as mentionedearlier, a follow-up survey (web-based) with open-endedquestions was used. Remember that subjects were from 15geographically dispersed institutions and already had
experience with an on-line instrument from the ﬁrst OSEA
survey.
Only three items were studied in order to keep the
instrument fairly short and to enhance return rates. Thecriteria for their choice included: (1) more than half of therespondents were familiar with a service (items with many‘Not Applicable’ responses or missing data were excluded);and (2) the items that had larger group differences in terms
of importance, satisfaction, or discrepancies (between

importance and satisfaction ratings). This seemed to workas indicated by the return rates of 45.0% for faculty/administrators and 38.5% for students.
3.6. Issues 6: How to handle data from multiple forms of a
NA survey?
In the OSEA evaluation, triple scaling (importance of,
satisfaction with, and frequency of use for retentionservices) was employed. This was a more complex surveyand more missing data and higher non-response rates wereexpected.
Therefore aside from the original survey (Form 1, three
scales), three other double-scaled versions were devel-oped—one included Importance and Satisfaction scales,
the second had Importance and Frequency of Use, and the

last one contained Satisfaction and Frequency of Use. Thestudent sample was randomly divided into four groupswith each receiving only one of the four forms. Eventhough return rates were somewhat equal (11.8%, 11.6%,15.0%, and 15.5%), a relationship between absence ofresponses and form was found. The percentage of caseswith absence of responses for double-scaled forms was
17.09, whereas it was 60.78 for the triple scaled one. The
larger percentage may have occurred because respondentswere not familiar with the format, they experienceddifﬁculty in dealing with 3 scales, or they may have becomefatigued.ANOVA was used to determine whether the data could be
collapsed for analysis purposes. The results regardingwhether the importance ratings from different forms arefound in the Form Effect for Importance column in Table 5 .

ARTICLE IN PRESS
Table 5
Results of ANOVA tests for three types of forms
Category/variable Fvalue/partial Eta squared
Form effect
for
importanceaForm effect
for
satisfactionbForm
effect for
frequencyc
Recruitment to
college1.16/.02 1.95/.04 –d
Campus orientation 1.92/.03 2.29/.04 –
Summer bridge
programs2.18/.06 1.08/.03 –
Peer study groups 2.29/.04 1.21/.02 .86/.02Tutoring 3.11*/.06 .04/.00 2.83/.05
Supplemental
instruction by studentfacilitators.98/.02 .63/.01 .67/.01
courses2.64/.06 .59/.02 .75/.02
Collaborative
learning1.42/.03 1.34/.03 .61/.01
program2.68/.07 3.21*/.09 2.34/.07
Drop-in/study center 1.34/.03 .25/.01 .32/.01
research internship2.41/.09 .78/.05 1.84/.09
internship.24/.01 1.11/.04 .43/.02

academic year research
internship1.08/.05 .63/.04 .40/.03
research internship.47/.02 .23/.01 .11/.01
Faculty mentoring .84/.02 .13/.00 4.37*/.10
Peer mentoring .62/.01 .30/.01 .39/.01Grad student
mentoring1.00/.03 .31/.01 1.15/.04
Industry
representativementoring.09/.00 .56/.02 .09/.00
& loans.68/.01 2.56/.04 1.62/.03
Scholarships 1.15/.02 1.68/.03 .19/.00
Work study programs .73/.02 .11/.00 .09/.00
Internships .01/.00 .23/.01 .39/.01
campus employment.18/.00 .07/.00 1.78/.04
off-campus employment.11/.00 2.93/.07 1.01/.02
*po05.
aComparison of importance ratings among student forms 1, 2, and 3.
bComparison of satisfaction ratings among student forms 1, 2, and 4.

*po05.
cComparison of frequency of use ratings among student forms
1, 3, and 4.
dQuestion was not asked.Y.F. Lee et al. / Evaluation and Program Planning 30 (2007) 258–266 265The majority (not all) of the Fvalues and effect sizes
measured by partial Eta squared were small, indicating thatform effects (aside from the missing data) were minor andthe data were condensed for analysis purposes. The strategy
of using multiple forms with fewer scales worked well in
current study, but further research for the effects of formswould be desirable.
4. Lessons learned
Aﬁrst lesson learned was about ‘Not Applicable’ and
missing responses. They were prominent in this study andaligned well with Hamann’s (1997) observation that

multiple scales might increase the rate of missing data,especially for current status. Second , our decision not to
impute seemed reasonable since there may have been
systematic dimensions underlying the patterns observed inthe data.
Athird lesson related to the fact that not imputing led to
numbers for the discrepancy analysis per item being highlyvariable. Could or should another method for calculatingdiscrepancies have been used—we honestly do not know.Utilizing responses from those who had completed both
scales would have led to seriously reduced n’s for some
items. The researchers simply call attention to this situationfor they feel it must occur in other NA efforts.
Fourth , we think that the ‘Not Applicable’ option should

be included in NA instruments with subsequent effortbeing made to understand why it was chosen. This willrequire a follow-up study and additional resources for theNA. The costs are worth the expense given what could be
added to the understanding of needs. However, follow-up
cannot be done for all items so criteria have to beestablished for which ones should be included. The criteriain this study worked well and may generalize to otherassessments of need (a ﬁfth lesson ).
Sixth and lastly , the use of alternative forms with fewer
scales than the original survey seemed to be a reasonablestrategy, one that eased response burden and might
increase return rate. But collapsing data across forms
might vary from one NA to another. Needs assessorsshould be alert to this possibility.

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International Journal of Philosophical Studies 
 Vol. 19(2), 211–230
 
International Journal of Philosophical Studies

ISSN 0967–2559 print 1466–4542 online © 2011 Taylor & Francis
http://www.informaworld.com
DOI: 10.1080/09672559.2011.561616 
Knowledge of Need 
* 
Stephen K. McLeod 
Taylor and FrancisRIPH_A_561616.sgm10.1080/09672559.2011.561616International Journal of Philosophical Studies0967-2559 (print)/1466-4542 (online)Article2011Taylor & Francis1920000002011StephenMcLeodskmcleod@liv.ac.uk
Abstract 
Some of the duties of individuals and organisations involve responsiveness to
need. This requires knowledge of need, so the epistemology of need is rele-
vant to practice. The prevailing contention among philosophers who have
broached the topic is that one can know one’s own needs (as one can know
some kinds of desires) by feeling them. The article argues against this view.

The main positive claims made in the article are as follows. Knowledge of
need, in both first-person and second-person cases, is a type of knowledge-
that with no basic epistemological source. Needs, like medical conditions,
have signs and symptoms. Knowledge of these, with inference, results in
knowledge of need. Finally, it is argued that need is akin to, but not a special
case of, metaphysical necessity  
de re 
. Some implications of this for the episte-
mology of need are explained. 
Keywords: 
need; felt need; epistemology;  
de re 
 necessity; metaphysics; 
dispositions 
I. The Claim that Needs are Ethically and Politically Important Provokes 
Philosophical Questions Outside Moral Philosophy 
The task of rational ethics is, it seems to me, to provide the man of
practical sagacity with a surer foundation for his insight by

practical sagacity with a surer foundation for his insight by  
deepening
our knowledge of human needs 
 and clarifying the ideals which arise in
the course of our efforts to satisfy them. 
1 
Needs are objective because  
it is a discoverable matter of fact 
 what
needs a person has… 
2 
With advocates of ‘needs-centred ethics’, 
3 
 I think that the concept of need
has a central role to play in normative ethics, political philosophy and
policy-making. 
4 
 There are questions in  
moral philosophy 
 that an advocate
of such a view should address, such as the following. How do needs give rise
to moral normativity? Why do needs have the moral weights (as against
each other and as against other morally relevant factors) that they do? The
advocate of the centrality of need in normative and applied philosophy also 
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PHILOSOPHICAL STUDIES

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PHILOSOPHICAL STUDIES 
212requires a more general  
philosophy of need 
. The moral philosophy and the
general philosophy are connected. In particular, if we make the normative
claim that agents have duties to take needs into account before acting, and
when formulating policies, then (on the assumption that needs claims are
factual) we presume that those agents can have  
knowledge 
 of needs. 
5 
 The
purpose of this article is mainly to attempt to answer two epistemological
questions that arise when this presumption is made. How can one know
what one needs? How can one know what another needs? In addressing the
first question, that of first-person knowledge of needs, this article will take
issue with the view, prevalent in recent philosophical writing on need, that
one can  
feel

one can  
feel 
 one’s own needs. Contrary to this, it will be contended, one’s
knowledge of one’s own needs, like one’s knowledge of the needs of others,
has no basic source. 
6 
The connected questions of what it is to need and of how forms of needing
can be classified are relevant to our epistemological inquiries. In ordinary
language, we use the noun ‘need’ both to talk about our  
needs 
 and to refer
to their  
satisfiers 
. 
7 
 It is the first sort of usage that is of interest here. When A
needs X, it is A’s needing X, rather than X itself, that is the need (in the
sense that interests us). The metaphysical question of what it is for A to
need X is one in answer to which I offer some suggestions and analogies,
pursuing their bearing upon the epistemology of need.
An  
absolute

An  
absolute 
 need is a need that a being has regardless of its own goals and
of the goals of others. 
8 
 The need of a plant for sunlight is an absolute need. 
Relative 
 needs depend on goals. If I want to be able to play a musical
instrument, then I need to practise. Without the musical aim, there is no
need to practise. 
9 
Though I cannot here examine the nature of the relationship, needs
ascriptions are related to conditionals. The relationship falls short, I
think, of the former being  
reducible 
 to the latter. 
10 
 In his classic article
‘Claims of Need’, Wiggins quotes Anscombe’s remark that to claim that
an organism needs a given environment is ‘to say that it won’t flourish
unless it has it’. Feinberg makes the similar remark, again quoted by
Wiggins, that ‘to say that S needs X is to say simply that if he doesn’t

have X he will be harmed’. Wiggins amends the Anscombe/Feinberg
account by insisting that the conditionals in question ‘be governed by
“necessarily”’. 
11 
 Wiggins writes that what one absolutely needs one
‘ 
cannot get on without 
’. 
12 
 As he and others have observed, the idea of
needing involves both necessity 
13 
 and dependency. 
14 
 Building on these
points, I suggest that to ascribe an absolute need to an organism involves
taking it to be incapable of surviving unimpaired without something. If
there are needs-involving facts, 
15 
 I think they are more akin to dynami-
cally modal facts (related to sentences of the form ‘ 
x 
 can/must  
V 
’) than
to occurrent facts (related to sentences of the form ‘ 
x V 
s’). 
16 
 On the
account I am outlining, the modality involved in needing is explicitly 
KNOWLEDGE OF NEED 
213taken to be

V 
’) than
x V 
s’). 
16 
 On the
213taken to be  
de re 
 rather than  
de dicto 
. (I return to that point in Section
IV below.)
Among the absolute needs of human beings, some are  
vital 
 needs and
others are  
agency 
 needs. 
17 
 I will shortly explain the distinction. 
Figure 1. 
A taxonomy of need 
We may distinguish between  
universal 
 needs and  
particular 
 needs. 
18 
 In
the case of a human being, its universal vital needs are the needs, such as the
need for food, water or shelter, that it has merely in virtue of being biologi-
cally human rather than, say, in virtue of being a moral agent. An organism’s
universal vital needs are essential to it: it could not have existed without
having them. Particular human vital needs are vital needs that one human
being may have which another does not, such as the need for an operation,

kidney dialysis or a diet abnormally high in omega-3 oils. 
19 
 Particular human
needs arise from contingencies not shared with all other members of one’s
species and which relate to one’s genetic make-up, environment and life
history. Discussion of particular needs will arise in the arguments that
follow. Some of my arguments will also rely on the common-sense assump-
tion, which goes undefended here, that non-conscious organisms have vital
needs. 
20 
 We may also distinguish between  
existence 
 needs and  
welfare 
needs. Existence needs are those, such as the human need for nutrition,
which, if not met, will result imminently in the perishing of the entity that
has them. Welfare needs include these, but also needs the non-satisfaction
of which presents a harm (rather than, or falling short of, a threat to

survival). An example would be the need for sufficient vitamin D which, if
not obtained, can result in rickets. 
21 
Human beings also have agency needs. 
22 
 These are related to our capacity
to be moral agents: creatures capable of deliberating, choosing what to do
and having their own ideas about what is good. Any need the non-
satisfaction of which would diminish, prevent, or destroy a being’s (actual or
potential) agency capacities is an agency need. A need the non-satisfaction
of which would tend to diminish an agency capacity is an agency-welfare
need. A need the non-satisfaction of which would tend to prevent or destroy
agency capacities in a being which has, or is capable of developing, such
capacities is an agency-existence need.
One further distinction is relevant. Needs can be classified as  
disposi-
tional 
 and  
occurrent

disposi-
tional 
 and  
occurrent 
. A dispositional need is a need which must be satis-
fied every so often and not necessarily  
right now 
. It is in the dispositional
sense that one needs sleep even just after waking from a good, and fully
satisfying, night’s sleep. 
23 
 One is in a situation of occurrent need when one
has a dispositional need that (whether or not it is actually being satisfied)
currently requires to be satisfied if one is not to suffer detriment. 
24 
 I am
not now in occurrent need of sleep, but I was after successive overnight
bus trips.
Knowledge of vital existence needs (among others) is necessary, I think,
if individuals and corporations are to act rightly. Though I must leave 
214meta-ethical argument aside, I deny that knowledge of vital existence
needs is,  
per se 
, a type of  
moral

needs is,  
per se 
, a type of  
moral 
 knowledge. Given the connection of
welfare needs with the idea of harm, knowledge of them seems to be a case
of axiological knowledge (i.e., knowledge of value). 
25 
 In addressing the
epistemology of need here, however, I hope to restrict my concern to areas
of epistemology falling outside meta-ethics and value theory. Since agency
needs may be thought to involve normative ideas about what makes for a
good person, it is easier for me to attempt that if I address only vital needs
(thus omitting non-vital agency needs) in what follows. Nevertheless, I
consider vital needs to include those welfare needs that are not distinctive
of agents, and so (given that they are welfare needs) not to be totally inde-
pendent of axiological issues. 
II. One does not Simply  
Feel 
 One’s Needs

Feel 
 One’s Needs 
How, then, does one know one’s vital needs? The philosophical literature
on need contains little in the way of epistemology, but the prevailing sugges-
tion about first-person knowledge of need is that one can feel one’s needs.
On this view, first-person knowledge of need is, in the first instance,
knowledge by acquaintance. The following quotations are illustrative. 
[O]ne can feel a need, as one can feel a desire … for something such
as food, warmth, love or comfort; one can feel a need, but not a desire,
which one does not really have. 
26 
… all needs felt by humans to be real must be considered as real … 
27 
One who feels himself growing faint, where that condition is caused by
the need for oxygen, may be said to feel that need. (This is just the
normal pattern of simple ‘non-epistemic’ perception.) Needs may in

this way enter into consciousness. 
28 
Felt human needs 
 are … strong motivational forces that take the form
of a physically felt lack or emotional and ethical aspiration,  
and
which have direct causal relation to and consequences for human
functioning 
. 
29 
Let us call the idea that a person can know his or her own needs by  
feeling 
them ‘the phenomenological thesis’. The exponent of this thesis takes (at
least some) needs to be phenomenal. 
30 
 The thesis gives us an immediate
answer to the question of first-person knowledge of need. One knows (at
least some of) one’s own needs by feeling them. I will argue that the
phenomenological thesis is false: needs are  
not 
 (and  
cannot be 
) felt. The
positive epistemology of need I outline later in this article does not  
require 
KNOWLEDGE OF NEED

not 
 (and  
cannot be 
) felt. The
require 
215the denial that needs are felt. It only requires that even if needs are non-
epistemically felt, one does not feel  
that 
 one is in need. 
31 
 Nevertheless, I do
present arguments against the claim that needs are non-epistemically felt.
Moreover, my view of the metaphysics of need has implications for that
claim.
Michael Williams writes that ‘If you are in pain, you  
just know 
 it. The
question “How do you know?” has no clear application here’. 
32 
 Now if this
is right and if needs were, like pains,  
felt 
, then the question ‘How do you
know?’ would be without clear application when one is in need. I do not
think the question lacks clear application. In fact, I will argue, needs are not
themselves  
experienced 
 (though they are known partly by empirical means).

The relationship of needs to feelings is perhaps akin to the relationship
between a disease and the pain that is its symptom. This theme will be
pursued later.
For beings with the capacity to suffer, being in occurrent need of some-
thing but lacking it often involves suffering. This is part and parcel of
common sense. Nevertheless, unlike the suffering which may result from
unmet need, needing is not  
per se 
 a type of  
experience 
 or  
mental episode 
.
Needs are neither essentially mental nor essentially dependent on the
mental. This is also part and parcel of common sense, though some philo-
sophical doctrines jar with it.
The main topic of epistemological concern here is vital human need.
Vital needs are absolute, and cannot be felt. 
33 
 My felt experiences, such as

33 
pains or itches, are immediately evident to me. Even if (at least some)
desires are like this too, needs are not like this. One can have a need and
yet have no awareness of this. It might be claimed that some needs can
and do generate conscious desires. 
34 
 Even if this claim is right, the needs
themselves are not to be confused with the desires they generate. Suppose
that hunger and thirst are need-generated feelings and the desires to
which they give rise, for food and drink, are need-generated desires. 
35 
 We
cannot say that the desire just is the feeling here, since I may be hungry
but not want to eat (if, for example, I am on a fast or preparing myself for
surgery). 
36 
 Moreover, needing involves necessity and, as modern philoso-

surgery). 
36 
phy generally holds, the epistemology of necessity does not lend itself to
any phenomenological analysis. (The connection between need and
modality is pursued later.)
What, though, are the arguments for the phenomenological thesis? I have
found none in the literature. Writers who adopt the thesis just assert it. I can
think of three arguments that might be offered, but none of them are good.
First, it may be claimed that needs are, like desires, a type of mental state.
All mental states can be felt, so needs can be felt. Both premises are
dubious, but showing the falsehood of the first is enough to show the
argument to be unsound. Needful beings include some beings, such as trees,
without mental lives: the argument’s starting point just gets the metaphysics 
216of need wrong. 
37

37 
 Second, the appeal to ordinary language may be invoked.
In everyday talk we indeed speak of  
feeling 
 needs, but this, of itself, packs
little philosophical punch. It is part of the business of philosophy to recover
insights from ordinary language which technical discussion can neglect, but
it is also part of its business to help us avoid errors which can arise from
taking too seriously, or interpreting too superficially, our ordinary (and
often philosophically slipshod) use of language. Third, the phenomenologi-
cal thesis may be invoked because, in asserting that a patient can feel his or
her own needs, we secure (with certain ancillary assumptions) the conclu-
sion that the patient is best placed to determine what he or she needs. This
conclusion may be considered politically desirable, since it may be used to

oppose the charge that the appeal to need in practical philosophy is
paternalistic or carries the risk of paternalism.38 At best, however, this gives
us a motive, rather than a good reason, to accept the phenomenological
thesis. We can see why someone might find it useful or desirable that the
phenomenological thesis be true, but we have not been presented with good
grounds for actually believing it.
Organisms that are without phenomenal consciousness, which are vastly
more numerous than those with it, do not feel their needs. In sentient
beings, some needs are indirectly manifested in feelings. Depending on the
complexity of the mental life of a sentient being, its needs may be indirectly
manifested in desires, in feelings and in other psychological states. A need
itself, however, cannot be felt even by a higher organism.

When Al says ‘I need a drink’ on sight of a pub during a long walk in the
country, what he says may well be true and may well be warranted by the
features of his experience at the time. He does not, however, feel that he
needs a drink. Rather, he feels very thirsty. This feeling of thirst either is or
causes an occurrent urge to drink.39 He may believe, on the basis of this
urge, that he needs a drink. The need to drink is distinct from the feeling of
thirst, the urge to drink and the belief that one needs to drink.40 A person in
occurrent need of water may need not to drink, for example, if the person
has a stomach injury. They will still feel the urge to drink, and may believe
that they need to drink, even although ingesting water by drinking is not
among their occurrent needs.41 So, from the supposition that urges associ-

ated with a need are felt, it does not follow that the need itself is felt. Now
suppose that Al has knowingly been taking medicine which he knows has
the side-effect of causing thirst. In this circumstance, the urge may not give
rise to the belief that he needs a drink.
Consider the following arguments: 
(1)Al is feeling pain. Therefore, Al is in pain.
(2)Al is feeling thirsty. Therefore, Al is thirsty.
(3)Al is feeling in need of a drink. Therefore, Al needs a drink.
(4)Al is feeling thirsty. Therefore, Al needs a drink.KNOWLEDGE OF NEED
217(1) and (2) are modally valid. In other words, in (1) and (2), the truth of the
premise is not co-tenable with the falsehood of the conclusion. Whether or
not (3) is valid depends on how we interpret ‘feeling in need of a drink’. If

it is supposed to be a more wordy way of saying ‘feeling thirsty’, then (3) is,
like (4), invalid. If ‘feeling in need of a drink’ is meant, on the other hand,
to serve as an endorsement of the idea that needs are sometimes felt (rather
than merely being manifested  in feelings) then, for reasons spelled out
below, I deny that the premise expresses a metaphysical possibility. On my
account, having the feelings that can indirectly manifest a need does not
imply  having the need (although it can, as we shall see later, be indicative  of
the need). Feeling pain, by contrast, does imply being in pain: indeed, it is
(at least) constitutive of the pain. It might be suggested that needs cannot
be felt introspectively because, while introspection cannot give rise to
erroneous belief, one can feel that one has a need without actually having it.

No such suggestion features in my argument. I claim neither that introspec-
tion cannot give rise to erroneous belief nor that the fallibility of a method
of arriving at beliefs about one’s needs would preclude it from being a
means of arrival at knowledge of one’s needs.
One’s knowledge that one is in pain is non-inferential. In order to arrive
at the belief that he is in pain, Al does not need to apply modus ponens  upon
his belief that he is feeling pain and the conditional that if he is feeling pain
then he is in pain. So long as he is a normal human being whose faculties are
working properly, his awareness of the feeling cuts straight to the belief that
he is in pain: there is no need for inference. One’s beliefs about one’s needs
are not normally like this and are never, I think, like this in the first

instance.42 For example, Bea may be well-informed about her medical needs
and about the feelings that manifest them. This may result in her acting to
meet the need. She may know, immediately upon feeling short of breath
(and without inference) that she needs to take oxygen. The connection
between her feeling short of breath and knowing that she needs to take
oxygen arises from habituation, rendering inference unnecessary. When I
claim that knowledge of need is not, in the first instance, non-inferential, I
mean that the background information about her medical knowledge
which has enabled this habituation must itself be known via inference (on
Bea’s part or on the part of a third party).
The advocate of the view that needs can be felt must provide an example
of a need that is felt and must not, when providing such an example, confuse

needs with feelings, urges or mere desires. As far as I know, no advocate of
the view that needs can be felt has so far avoided such confusion. My conjec-
ture is that it cannot be avoided, and that the view that needs can be felt is
a wrong turning in the philosophy of need.
Introspection is a capacity the exercise of which gives rise to a kind of
knowledge of one’s own mental states.43 These states may be phenomenal,
as in the case of sensations like pain, or non-phenomenal, as in the caseINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PHILOSOPHICAL STUDIES
218(perhaps) of certain propositional-attitude states.44 Since needs are not felt,
needs cannot be feelings of which we have introspective awareness. Nor is
it the case that needs are propositional attitudes. Wiggins has argued, I think

convincingly, that ‘“need” is not … an intentional verb’.45 While his argu-
ment shows that needs are not propositional attitudes, we may add the
following considerations. As a matter of grammatical form, one needs y or
one needs to V; one does not need that p . ‘I need that…’ is not a well-formed
sentential operator: for no well-formed sentence concatenated with it will
the result be a well-formed sentence.46 Moreover, all organisms, not just
minded organisms, have needs.
If the line that has been followed so far is correct, then neither perception
nor introspection is a basic source of first-person knowledge of needs. So,
what are the normal sources of first-person knowledge of needs? My sugges-
tion is that there is no basic source of first-person knowledge of needs.

Instead, the normal sources of first-person knowledge of need are, as in the
third-person case, testimony  and inference . I contend that considerations
about the metaphysics of needs underwrite this view. Knowledge of needs
is a type of knowledge-that. This makes knowledge of need vulnerable to
global scepticism if anything is vulnerable to global scepticism. Looking
on the bright side, it also enables us, I think, to make some headway in provid-
ing a more promising epistemology of need than has so far been contained
in the literature. To date, philosophers of need have largely – and in my view
unsatisfactorily – rested content with the phenomenological thesis.
III. Since Needs, like Medical Conditions, have Signs and Symptoms, 
Inference is Involved in the Acquisition of Knowledge of Need47

When a doctor makes an accurate diagnosis, the doctor’s acquaintance with
the patient and the doctor’s knowledge of how to meet medical needs are
not sufficient to constitute knowledge of the medical needs of the patient.
To know how to meet that patient’s medical needs the doctor must know
what is wrong  with that patient and what might be done about it . The doctor
may then be able correctly to judge, for example, that the patient needs to
cut down on alcohol consumption. This is a case of knowledge-that (arrived
at inferentially). Knowledge of need is not immune to the scepticisms
generally in the air around propositional knowledge. Nevertheless, it is that
(if anything) which is distinctive  about claims to knowledge of needs, as

against, say, claims to scientific or historical knowledge, that gives the
philosopher of needs a local job to do in epistemology. Taking the wind out
of the sails of the global sceptic is, if it can be done, a task for general epis-
temology or perhaps for meta-philosophy. Even if that cannot be done, we
still have to live our lives. Life, including ethical life (with its claims to
knowledge of need), goes on. With this, I return to my main question: if we
can know what we need then how can we do so?KNOWLEDGE OF NEED
219From what sources does first-person knowledge of needs arise and how
does it arise? Supposing that there are need-generated feelings and desires,
such as hunger and wanting to eat, we can take it that a person’s own aware-
ness of (some of) these is indicative, to them, of a need. This awareness is

not constitutive  of the need and nor does it entail  that the person has the
need. In the case mentioned earlier of Al and the medicine, Al does not
believe that he needs a drink because, despite his feeling of thirst, he has a
defeater for that belief: his knowledge that he has taken a medicine which
causes that feeling to arise when drink is not required. A person may justi-
fiably infer that they need a drink if they feel thirsty and have no defeater.
A feeling that I have can be a sign, to me, of a need.48 If I report to you
that I have the feeling, then this can be, to you, a symptom  of my having a
need. When a need (for example, for drink) is manifested by a phenomenal
sign of the need (such as a feeling of thirst), experiencing the sign does not
entail having any knowledge whatever of the satisfier  of the need. My

awareness of a recurrent pain in my knee tells me nothing – in the absence
of adequate medical knowledge – about what I need in order to alleviate or
cure my ailment. In this circumstance my pain may be a sign that I need
something, but not of what it is that I need.49 (Similarly, the pain can be a
sign to me that I have a medical condition, but this differs from its being a
sign of the medical condition that I have. When I report the pain, for exam-
ple to a doctor, it becomes a symptom of my condition.) Unlike in the case
of thirst, where the sign, with inference, can be taken to provide a functional
specification of what I need (namely drink, which is a functional stuff), my
awareness of the pain in my knee may not even provide me with a functional
specification: I cannot say that I need a pain-killer, or corrective surgery, or

to do some therapeutic exercises. In this circumstance, all I can say is that
something is wrong with my knee and that I may need something to put it
right.
If testimony is genuinely a source of knowledge, then some first-person
knowledge of needs is by testimony. There are clear cases in which an
expert, such as a doctor, can correctly and knowledgeably inform a patient
of a need of the patient, such as the need for dialysis or a kidney transplant,
about which the patient was hitherto ignorant. If patients knew their own
needs and were best able to determine them, the need for doctors would be
lesser. Partly in view of the objectivity of need, I think that answering the
question of how we account for third-person knowledge of needs is
central to the case of first-person knowledge of needs too. It seems that all

knowledge of need involves inference.
From a third-person perspective, particular  needs and desires are identi-
fied (if they are identified at all), via inference from at least one of the
following two sources: testimony and observation of body and behaviour.
When I tell my doctor about headaches I am having, I report a symptom.
When the doctor examines areas of my neck and head, the doctor is lookingINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PHILOSOPHICAL STUDIES
220for signs. Symptoms are reported, signs are observed.50 The symptoms that
the patient reports to the doctor guide the doctor regarding the areas of the
body that are examined and the checks on those areas that are conducted,
with a view to diagnosis.51 Need-generated feelings (such as hunger and
thirst) are symptoms of, but not identical with, occurrent needs.52

Under normal circumstances, I rightly take Al’s report that he needs a
drink at face value. When we have no reason to believe that a speaker is
trying to deceive us and they tell us what they want, we rightly believe them.
In the case of everyday first-person need-reports, as in the case of first-
person desire-reports, the speaker is normally a better authority than the
person addressed. Where needs differ from desires is that Bob may know
that Al needs something that Al does not know that Al needs. (Indeed, Al
may even think that he needs not to have that which Bob knows him to
need.) The bodily states and/or behaviour of an organism can be signs, to
the observer with the requisite ancillary knowledge, of the needs of the
organism even when the organism itself is unaware (or incapable of being
aware) of its need.

If what has been said so far is right, then the normal sources of both  first-
person and third-person knowledge of need are testimony  and inference . It
is in the nature of needing that this be so. My being in need contrasts, for
example, with my being in pain. Pain is felt and, thereby, one’s knowledge
that one is in pain has a basic epistemological source. Need is neither felt nor
known by a basic epistemological source.
IV. In its Metaphysics and Epistemology, Need is in Some Ways Similar 
to and in Others Different from Metaphysical Necessity De Re
The metaphysics of need is relevant to the epistemology of need. In her
recent work, Reader characterizes needs as de re  necessities (i.e., essentialist
necessities for )53 and points, more generally, to the potential fruitfulness of

bringing together the philosophy of needs and the philosophy of modality.54
I think the necessity involved in needing is natural but not metaphysical.55
The claim that absolute needs are necessities for is not paradoxical. This
point can be explained by reference to the logically stronger notion of de re
metaphysical necessity. For example, take the claim that it is necessary for
Socrates to be human. The ‘for’ here does not indicate an end. Rather, the
de re  necessity arises from Socrates’ being the very being that he is. It is
expressive of his essence.
Unlike Reader,56 however, I do not take de re  necessities that are expres-
sive of essence to be needs. With Reader,57 I take it that for some beings,
some of their needs may go unmet without the immediate perishing of the

needful being. I go further than Reader, in that I hold that it is in the nature
of needing that a need can go unmet without the immediate perishing of the
being that has it.KNOWLEDGE OF NEED
221If it is metaphysically necessary for Socrates to be human then it follows,
by the principle that necessity implies actuality, that Socrates is human. On
the other hand, for example, if Socrates needs to eat (a circumstance which
can be expressed more ambiguously by saying that it is necessary for
Socrates to eat), it does not follow that he is eating or that he does eat.
Reader writes that the conditions necessary for the existence of a thing are
needs and that the necessity that a triangle have three sides is a ‘necessarily
met’ need.58 I deny that the needs of a being are the same as the conditions

necessary for its existence. First, it is necessary for a triangle to have three
sides, but this is not a need. Only a being that can perish or deteriorate can
have a need. Triangles (as opposed to accidentally triangular objects, such
as a triangular piece of cheese) if they exist at all, can neither perish nor
deteriorate. Second, a feature that is ontologically, rather than (merely)
causally, necessary for the continued existence of a contingent object is not
a need of that object.59 This means that not all de re  necessities of an object
are needs of that object. That which is ontologically necessary for my contin-
ued existence is something the lack of which is sufficient for my (simulta-
neous) demise. Suppose, for the sake of argument, that I am essentially

physically composed. If I cease to have physical parts then I cease to be.
Having physical parts is not, however, one of my needs. So long as I exist, I
cannot fail to have physical parts. I think it is part of the logic of the concept
of need that any need can go unsatisfied: whatever I need I can lack and yet
exist. Those who confuse needs with lacks60 have, despite that mistake, hit
on an insight: whatever is needed can be lacked. So, even if having physical
parts is of my essence, it is not one of my absolute needs since it is not some-
thing I could lack and yet continue (for any period, however short) to exist.
Now of course I cannot forsake  my absolute needs: I might choose not to
satisfy  them, but I cannot choose not to have  them.61 What I absolutely need
does not have to be of my essence, however, since I can have absolute needs

that arise from my particular circumstances, as against from my being the
kind of being that I am. The need for nutrition may be essential to all
organisms, but the distinction between need and metaphysical necessity de
re remains. Even if some needs are of the essences of the beings that have
them (such as the need for nutrition being essential to all organisms), not all
needs are, and not everything that is of the essence of a being is a need of
that being.
Granting that needs are de re  necessities, even though not all de re  neces-
sities are needs, let us consider how de re  necessities are known. Contempo-
rary approaches to this problem take off from Kripke’s work on the
epistemology of a posteriori  necessity. On Kripke’s view, we acquire neces-
sary a posteriori  knowledge by means of applying modus ponens  upon a

modal (and a priori)  major premise and a non-modal (and empirical) minor
premise. As a result, we get a conclusion that is both modal and a posteriori .
For example: INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PHILOSOPHICAL STUDIES
222(1)If water is H2O then water is necessarily H2O.
(2)Water is H2O.
(3)So, water is necessarily H2O.62
The central epistemological question now becomes how knowledge of the
modal major premise is acquired.63 On Kripke’s view, it is known by such
methods as rational intuition and philosophical analysis. The key point, for
current purposes, is that cases (other than by testimony) of knowledge of de
re modality result partly from inference on the part of the agent with the
knowledge. In claiming that needs are felt, the proponent of the phenome-
nological thesis is supposing that needs can be known on the basis of

experience alone, without inference . If needs are de re  necessities, then
the phenomenologist about needs is offering us an epistemology for
some de re  necessities (albeit, if I am right in what I claim above and below,
non-metaphysical de re  necessities knowledge of which need not depend on
an a priori  major premise) that is non-standard and which has not been well
articulated.
There remains a significant difference between knowledge of de re  meta-
physical necessities and knowledge of needs. In the former case, it seems
that the modal major premise is (or ultimately depends upon another modal
major premise that is) a priori  and known by rational intuition. In the case
of those needs that are not metaphysical necessities, the modal
major premise is, I suggest, the result not of rational intuition but of induc-

tive generalisation over cases. The following section elaborates on this
suggestion.
V. Inductive Knowledge is a Necessary Condition for Knowledge of 
Needs
… do I not … justifiedly believe that the roses will not flourish without
a lot of water? The commonsense view is that I both justifiedly believe
and know this about roses, and that I can know it either through gener-
alizing – a kind of reasoning – from my own observations, or from
testimony, or both ….
… my belief that roses will not grow well without abundant water does
not arise directly from … perception, memory, introspection [or] a
priori intuition … It is … inductive  because it is from (and held) on the
basis of a generalisation from  something more basic, in this case what
I learned from perceptual experiences with roses.64

Moving beyond the merely general to the modal, roses cannot  flourish with-
out water. If we construe an inductive argument as one in which the
premises are intended to make the conclusion more likely than its negation,KNOWLEDGE OF NEED
223then the sort of induction that involves generalisation  is only one sort of
induction. Moreover, an inductive argument that introduces a modal
generalisation goes further than an inductive argument that introduces a
non-modal generalisation. That roses do not flourish without water makes
probable, but does not entail, that they cannot.
What sort of warrant, if any, do we have for adding the modality? We
know by inductive generalisation that roses do not flourish without water.
Inference to the best explanation leads to the stronger conclusion that roses

need water to flourish (i.e., that they are incapable of flourishing without it).
It is rational for us, in the face of the evidence, to favour that which is
rendered probable by it. So, it is rational for us to believe – in the absence
of known defeaters – that roses cannot flourish without water.65
The link between the observable phenomenon, namely the perishing or
deterioration of roses when they are deprived of water, and the modal
claim, namely that they need (or cannot flourish without) water, is similar
to the link between the observable events describable as manifestations of
dispositions (such as a the dissolution of a spoonful of salt in a jug of water)
and the dispositional, modality-involving claim related to it (such as that salt
is water-soluble). As in the case of dispositions, needs have manifestations

(or signs) and it is through these that they are known. Both the manifesta-
tion of a need and the manifestation of a disposition have stimulus-condi-
tions. When these are present and environmental conditions are normal,
manifestation events or processes occur.66
I suggest, then, that that needs are dynamical modalities metaphysically
akin to capacities, powers and dispositions. Modalising, explanation and
induction are tied together.67 Assuming, for the sake of argument, that
there could be a non-modal account of the world, an account of the world
that includes dispositional and ability claims is explanatorily more powerful
than a non-modal account of the world.68 Furthermore, the supposition that
there are modal facts is explanatory with respect to why we modalise.

Modalising has a point in that belief about what is and is not possible guides
us in what we do and what we do not attempt to do (and in what we ought
and ought not to attempt to do). Given that knowledge of need, if there is
any, requires inductive knowledge, the positive epistemologist of needs
cannot be an inductive sceptic. The positive epistemology I offer makes the
following suggestions concerning particular needs and occurrent universal
needs. In the case of an organism other than oneself, one can know, partly
on the basis of experience and partly extra-empirically, that it has a given
need. In the case of oneself, sensations, perception and introspection can
give one defeasible grounds for holding that one has a given need, as can
the testimony of a competent judge. In both cases, inductive inference is

involved either on one’s own part or on the part of a third party. Inductive
inference is involved because knowledge of particular need and of occur-
rent universal need is arrived at primarily via diagnostic reasoning. TheINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PHILOSOPHICAL STUDIES
224conditionals that feature in good diagnostic reasoning are known induc-
tively.69 If we ever really know claims of the form ‘A needs x’ or claims of
the form ‘A needs to V’, then inductive scepticism is false. If inductive
knowledge is impossible, then needs statements are never known to be
true. Given that knowledge of need is propositional and that it requires
inductive knowledge, a practical philosophy that puts concern with need at
its centre takes us, via the more general philosophy of need, to a point at

which metaphysics and ethics have implications for each other. Sceptical
and anti-realist views about induction and necessity cannot be kept within
the remit of metaphysics, but would instead, if true, threaten what the
needs-centred ethicist takes to be some of the claims at the core of ethics.
Conversely, if, as seems so, we can attain knowledge of needs then these
sceptical and anti-realist views are under threat. It would be an exercise in
wishful thinking if we were to read conclusions in metaphysics and episte-
mology from desiderata  in ethics, but it seems plain that we do (sometimes)
know what we, or others, need and the belief that we can attain knowledge
of needs underwrites much of our practice, including our ethical, political
and medical practices. Though I hope to have made a start, there is more to

be said, I think, in explaining how we can have knowledge of need. If we
seek a practical philosophy that puts concern with needs at, or close to, its
centre, that is theoretical question which is very relevant to our practical
philosophy.
University of Liverpool, UK
Notes
*I thank the Department of Philosophy and the Faculty of Arts at the University
of Liverpool for granting me leave to do this work during 2008. I acknowledge
the support of Spanish Ministry of Education and Science research project
HUM2006-04955/FISO and Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation
research project FFI2009-08828, both hosted at the University of Santiago de
Compostela. For their comments on earlier versions of this work I thank two
anonymous reviewers for this journal, David Bates, Richard Gaskin, Simon

Hailwood, Daniel Hill, Demian Whiting, members of an audience at Keele
University (especially Sorin Baiasu, Phillip Meadows and Dagmar Wilhelm) and
my fellow members of the Santiago projects (especially José Luis Falguera, José
Miguel Sagüillo and Luis Villegas). I am grateful to Gillian Brock, E. J. Lowe,
Soran Reader and Garrett Thomson for morally supporting my efforts to work
on the philosophy of needs.
1Maurice Ginsberg, ‘Basic Needs and Moral Ideals’, Proceedings of the Aristote-
lian Society  49 (1949), pp. 195–214, p. 199, my italics.
2Garrett Thomson, ‘Fundamental Needs’ in Soran Reader (ed.) The Philosophy
of Need  (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005), pp. 175–86, p. 175, my
italics.
3E.g., Gillian Brock and Soran Reader, ‘Needs-Centered Ethical Theory’, Jour-
nal of Value Enquiry  36 (2002), pp. 425–34.KNOWLEDGE OF NEED

italics.
2254See further the contributions to Reader (ed.) The Philosophy of Need .
5Compare Gillian Brock, Global Justice: A Cosmopolitan Account  (Oxford:
Oxford University Press, 2009), p. 72.
6Basic sources of knowledge I take to include perception, introspection and a
priori  intuition, while non-basic sources include inference and testimony. Here I
follow, for example, Robert Audi, Epistemology: A Contemporary Introduction
to the Theory of Knowledge , 2nd edn (London: Routledge, 2003), pp. 6–7.
7Compare Alan R. White, Modal Thinking  (Oxford: Blackwell, 1975), p. 104;
Garrett Thomson, Needs  (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1987), p. 12.
8Compare David Wiggins, ‘Claims of Need’ in Needs, Values, Truth , 2nd edn
(Oxford: Blackwell, 1991), pp. 1–57, pp. 7–10. For a contrary conception of abso-

lute need, see P. M. S. Hacker, Human Nature: The Categorial Framework
(Oxford: Blackwell, 2007), pp. 130–4. For Hacker, absolute needs do not depend
on the ‘ contingent  goals’ (p. 132, my italics) of the organism. However, Hacker
holds that all needs are relative to ends (pp. 128, 136).
9Compare this distinction between absolute and relative need with the distinction
made by Thomson, Needs , pp. 2–9, between non-instrumental and instrumental
needs. Many analytic philosophers who have written about need hold that all
needs are instrumental. With Thomson, I disagree with their view, though I will
not argue against it here other than to say, after G. E. M. Anscombe, ‘Modern
Moral Philosophy’, Philosophy  33 (1958), pp. 1–19, p. 7, that it jars with the
common-sense view that organisms without mental lives have needs that are not

merely conferred upon them by organisms with mental lives.
10 Stephen Mumford, Dispositions  (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998), p. 10
remarks that ‘tendencies, capacities and incapacities, powers and forces, poten-
tialities and propensities, abilities and liabilities’ are related to dispositions. My
suggestion, upon which I hope to elaborate elsewhere, is that absolute needs are
forms of incapacity which belong in this list. Compare my remark on needs
ascriptions and conditionals, in the main text, with Mumford’s remarks that
‘there is a connection between [dispositional ascriptions] and conditionals … but
it … is not one of equivalence’ (p. 37) and that ‘conditionals are only … inexact
gestures towards the properties that sometimes make them true’ (p. 91). See
further Dispositions , Chs 3 and 4.

11 All this material is contained in Wiggins, ‘Claims of Need’, p. 7, note 10 (but see
also p. 10). The other sources are Anscombe, ‘Modern Moral Philosophy’, p. 7
and Joel Feinberg, Social Philosophy  (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall,
1973), p. 111. On yet another account, that of Antony Flew, The Politics of
Procrustes  (Buffalo, N.Y.: Prometheus, 1981) (e.g., p. 121), needs ascriptions are
viewed as covert conditionals because they are taken to be hypothetical impera-
tives. This is inconsistent both with the view (which I share with the other authors,
Flew apart, cited in this note) that some needs are absolute and with the view of
the relationship between needs ascriptions and conditionals rejected above.
12 Wiggins, ‘Claims of Need’, p. 9. Compare Thomson, Needs,  p. 4.

13 Aristotle, Metaphysics , 1015a20; White, Modal Thinking , Ch. 8; Wiggins, ‘Claims
of Need’; Thomson, Needs , Ch. 1; Soran Reader, Needs and Moral Necessity
(London: Routledge, 2007), Ch. 4. In some languages, such as Portuguese and
Spanish, the distinction between needs and necessities is not semantically marked.
14 Wiggins, ‘Claims of Need’, p. 16; Soran Reader, ‘The Other Side of Agency’,
Philosophy  82 (2007), pp. 579–604; John O’Neill, ‘Need, Humiliation and Inde-
pendence’ in Reader (ed.), The Philosophy of Need , pp. 73–97.
15 I agree with William E. Stempsey, Disease and Diagnosis: Value-Dependent Real-
ism (Hingham, MA: Kluwer, 1999), p. 89, that there are needs-involving facts. As
should be clear, I disagree with his claim (p. 94) that needs ‘are analyzable in termsINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PHILOSOPHICAL STUDIES

226of particularly urgent desires’. Also, Stempsey (p. 95) apparently adopts the posi-
tion, which I reject, that all needs are relative to ends or desires.
16 At the suggestion of P. T. Geach, G. H. von Wright, An Essay on Modal Logic
(The Hague: North-Holland, 1951), p. 28, called ‘dynamic’ the modality that is
‘connected with the notions of … ability  and … disposition ’.
17 I use the word ‘vital’ in relation to those needs that are had in virtue of being a
living being. The conception of vital need I adopt below, after Thomson’s
conception of non-instrumental need, is different to that of Lawrence A. Hamil-
ton, The Political Philosophy of Needs  (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
2003), in that what Hamilton (p. 23) calls ‘vital needs’ are all universal. In my
taxonomy, vital needs branch into the universal and the particular. Moreover,

Hamilton’s ‘particular needs’ are all social (ibid.: p. 31).
18 Compare Wiggins, ‘Claims of Need’, pp. 19–20; Reader, Needs and Moral Neces-
sity, pp. 66–7, 79–82.
19 Compare the observations of Paul Bloomfield, Moral Reality  (Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 2001), p. 37 on nutritional goodness.
20 Hacker, Human Nature: The Categorial Framework , pp. 128–37 is also with
common sense on this. I take it that all and only objects that can perish are need-
ful beings, but that there are no such objects as needs. I do not have room here
to argue in detail for a non-objectual construal of needs talk. I take the noun
NEED n to be eliminable in favour of the verb NEED v (where the capitalized
and subscripted words signify lexemes: see Frank Palmer, The English Verb , 2nd

edn (London: Longman, 1988), pp. 9–10). I deny that there are any such objects
as needs, just as I deny that there are any such objects as necessities, possibilities
and abilities. These denials do not make me an anti-realist about need, modality
or ability.
21 The account of vital need I am defending requires, in the words of Thomson,
‘Fundamental Needs’, p. 178, that ‘harm cannot be constituted by the non-satis-
faction of desires or preferences’. On the distinction between existence needs
and welfare needs, compare Reader, Needs and Moral Necessity , pp. 54–6 after
Aristotle, Metaphysics , 1015a20-b15. On existence needs, compare D. W.
Stampe, ‘Need’, Australasian Journal of Philosophy 66 (1988) pp. 129–60, p. 139.
22 On agency needs, see further and compare Brock, Global Justice , pp. 63–75.

Hamilton, The Political Philosophy of Need,  also employs the phrase ‘agency
needs’ but for him agency needs are ‘ethical and political objectives that relate
to human functioning and the performance of valued social tasks within valued
social roles’ (p. 35). For Brock and me agency needs are not to be defined as
‘ethical and political objectives’. Rather, they concern conditions on the possibil-
ity of the existence of agency or its effective exercise.
23 Compare Thomson, Needs , p. 12. Thomson’s dispositional/occurrent distinction,
of which my own is a modified version, is different to that of Reader, Needs and
Moral Necessity , p. 71, since Reader defines occurrent need in terms of lack.
24 After Thomson, Needs , p. 12; ‘Fundamental Needs’, p. 175.

25 I am grateful to one of the referees for raising this issue. A distinction, similar to
the one I assume, between axiological and normative matters is important to the
account of the relationship between needs and morality defended by Ragnar
Ohlsson, Morals Based on Needs  (Lanham, MD: University Press of America,
1995), e.g., pp. 53, 66.
26 White, Modal Thinking , p. 114.
27 Agnes Heller, ‘Can “True” and “False” Needs be Posited?’ in The Power of
Shame: A Rational Perspective  (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1985),
pp. 285–99, p. 287.KNOWLEDGE OF NEED
22728 Stampe, ‘Need’, p. 139. Compare p. 140: ‘Merely feeling a need – the simple and
direct sensation of a need – is a relatively straightforward phenomenon.’ On
Stampe’s view, given its ‘non-epistemic’ status, first-person perception of need is
by acquaintance.

29 Hamilton, The Political Philosophy of Needs , p. 12.
30 Des Gasper, Needs and Basic Needs: A Clarification of Meanings, Levels and
Different Streams of Work  (The Hague: Institute of Social Studies, Working
Paper No. 210, 1996), p. 3, writes that some ‘positive meanings of “need” …
distinct from [meanings of] “want” … fit under the concept of “felt need”:–
person A feels a strong desire to have S … and is expected to suffer or be
notably uncomfortable … without it, which makes this mental states more
than a want alone’. This does not necessarily constitute endorsement of the
phenomenological thesis and there are at least two ways of denying that it
does. When ‘need’ is used in reference to so-called ‘felt need’, we may say that
the word really refers to need-generated desires. (See the main text.) Or, we

may say, so-called ‘felt needs’ are just a subclass of desires: namely those asso-
ciated with anticipated suffering or discomfort if not satisfied. The fact that a
desire may be so associated does not make it something other than a mere
desire. (These strategies for denying that Gasper’s remarks entail the phenom-
enological thesis may also be mixed, since we might view ‘felt needs’ as break-
ing down into two types of desires.) Jonathan Bradshaw, ‘The Concept of
Social Need’, New Society  496 (1972), pp. 640–3, recognizes ‘felt needs’ but
these are desires that are articulated by the people who have them. Brad-
shaw’s view does not constitute endorsement of the phenomenological thesis,
since that thesis is that needs are not a kind of desire but that (at least some)

needs are nevertheless felt. In discussions like Bradshaw’s, the language of
‘felt need’ would best be avoided.
31 I thank Phillip Meadows for help with this point. On the distinction between
epistemic and non-epistemic perception see, for example, Quassim Cassam, The
Possibility of Knowledge  (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007), p. 27.
32 Michael Williams, ‘Skepticism’ in John Greco and Ernest Sosa (eds) The Black-
well Guide to Epistemology  (Oxford: Blackwell, 1999), pp. 35–69, p. 41.
33 Whether or not desires can be felt is a question I can leave open. Bloomfield,
Moral Reality , p. 28, remarks that ‘many properties that humans have in virtue
of being living, biological creatures are not directly observable and yet are not
candidates for nonrealism’. I include the needs and capacities of human beings,

which I believe to be ontologically akin, in this class.
34 G. F. Schueler, Desire: Its Role in Practical Reason and the Explanation of Action
(London: MIT Press, 1995), p. 15, writes that ‘some desires get “generated” …
from my making decisions and forming intentions’. The claim I entertain is that
some desires get generated from my having certain occurrent needs. I use the
fudge word ‘generate’ because I do not, at present, want to discuss the specific
claim that needs can be causes . This and other metaphysical and logical questions
about needs are discussed in Stampe, ‘Need’.
35 Contrary to the view of Paul W. Taylor, ‘“Need” Statements’, Analysis  19 (1959),
pp. 106–11, p. 106, who classifies hunger and thirst as ‘conscious needs’, hunger
and thirst are not (even if they are generated by needs) themselves needs.

Schueler, Desire , p. 10, associates hunger and thirst with needs but he views
them, I think correctly, as distinct from needs. What Taylor calls ‘unconscious
needs’ are ‘neurotic compulsions, anxieties, wishes, etc.’. Without denying that
people have psychological needs, I do not recognise ‘unconscious needs’ in
Taylor’s sense – that is, deep or hidden psychological drives  – as needs at all.
36 Compare Schueler, Desire , pp. 93–4.INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PHILOSOPHICAL STUDIES
22837 Compare Anscombe, ‘Modern Moral Philosophy’, p. 7.
38 Hamilton, The Political Philosophy of Needs , p. 167, invokes ‘felt needs’ specifi-
cally in connection with the attempt to mitigate a political philosophy of need
against the charge of paternalism. If the arguments of this article are sound, that
is a misguided strategy.

39 In his abstract, Tim Schroeder, ‘Desire’, Philosophy Compass  1 (2006), pp. 631–
9, p. 631 claims that ‘Desires … give us urges’, though he does not elaborate on
this claim in his article. I am not sure that the normal situation is that desires give
rise to urges. It may be the other way round, or a mixture of both. Schueler,
Desire , pp. 9–10, classifies hunger and thirst as belonging to an ‘important set of
cases of desire’ the members of which are ‘connected to a corresponding biolog-
ical need or drive’. If hunger and thirst are desires, rather than feelings or urges,
then they provide, as Schueler (p. 10) realises, a counter-example to the claim
that desires are not felt. I am inclined to reject that claim anyway, and the asso-

ciated claim (albeit one that does not entail it) that desires are propositional atti-
tudes. However, I will not probe these issues here.
40 Compare Schueler, Desire , pp. 41, 93.
41 Thanks to Richard Gaskin, Daniel Hill, E. J. Lowe and Soran Reader for discus-
sion of this example.
42 I once suggested that knowledge of need must always be inferential. I am grate-
ful to Richard Gaskin for convincing me otherwise (though I remain stubborn in
my view that needs cannot be felt). He and Daniel Hill helped me to improve this
part of the article.
43 Given that I consider introspection to be an active power of the mind, I do not
count awareness of sensations, per se , as a kind of introspective awareness. This
does not, I think, preclude knowledge of aspects of sensations – such as whether

a pain is dull or sharp – from being arrived at by introspection.
44 Compare Philip Robbins, ‘The Ins and Outs of Introspection’, Philosophy
Compass  1 (2006), pp. 617–30. Robbins, p. 618, calls the first ‘primary’ introspec-
tion and the second ‘secondary’ introspection.
45 Wiggins, ‘Claims of Need’, p. 6.
46 I reject the assumption of B. Wolniewicz, ‘Needs and Values’ in P. T. Geach (ed.)
Logic and Ethics  (Dordrecht: Kluwer, 1991), pp. 289–302, p. 297 ‘that whatever
is of value, and whatever satisfies a need or a desire, is never a thing, but always
a possible state of affairs’. First, if there are states of affairs then they are them-
selves things (albeit complex ones). Second, although we may desire that p, we
never need that p. NEED v is a transitive verb which does not take the name of

a (putative) state of affairs as its second term. I take needing to be a primarily
verbal phenomenon. I do not take the verb to be eliminable in favour of an oper-
ator upon sentences. (At least, the advocate of any such logical analysis of the
verb owes us the actual logic. For a move in that direction, see Stampe, ‘Need’,
p. 130. Stampe, p. 133, also takes states of affairs to be needs-satisfiers.)
Wolniewicz (‘Needs and Values’, pp. 297–8) also confuses needs with their satis-
fiers when he asserts, in supposed evidence of his earlier view, that ‘If we say,
e.g., that oxygen is a constant need for animals, this is just short for saying that
being constantly supplied with free oxygen is such a need’. Being supplied with
oxygen is a positive and occurrent state of affairs: it is neither a modal matter nor

an occurrent lack. It is therefore, in the context under discussion, a satisfier, not a
need. I think that taking (the noun) NEED n as one’s point of analytical
departure, rather than (the verb) NEED v, is in any case a mistake.
47 The analogy between knowledge of needs and knowledge of medical conditions
that is pursued here is similar to one drawn by Bloomfield, Moral Reality , Ch. 2,
between knowledge of moral goodness and knowledge of health.KNOWLEDGE OF NEED
22948 Compare Stampe, ‘Need’, p. 148: ‘A state β indicates  … a need if there are certain
normally obtaining conditions C such that under conditions C, if something is in
state β then it is in need. (Under a certain normal condition, being in a state of
thirst indicates a need for water.)’

49 I agree with Stampe, ‘Need’, p. 140, that in cases like this there need not be aware-
ness of what is needed (i.e., knowledge-that concerning the satisfier of the need).
I disagree with his claim that there is phenomenal awareness of the need itself.
50 See Colin Ogilvie and Christopher C. Evans, Chamberlain’s Symptoms and Signs
in Clinical Medicine , 12th edn (Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann, 1997), pp. 8–
10. Compare Bloomfield, Moral Reality , p. 69; Stempsey, Disease and Diagnosis ,
pp. 38–9.
51 See Ogilvie and Evans, Chamberlain’s Symptoms and Signs in Clinical Medicine ,
e.g., pp. 5–19.
52 That the symptoms that may be associated with an occurrent need are not consti-
tutive of the need is again analogous to the case of medical symptoms, since

medical symptoms are not constitutive of the disease. Medical symptoms are
caused by or associated with the disease. In this, a disease differs from a
syndrome, since the latter is either a collection of signs and symptoms or, follow-
ing Stempsey, Disease and Diagnosis , p. 181, a collection of such collections in
which family resemblances obtain between the element collections. On these
points in the philosophy of medicine, compare Griffith Edwards, Alcohol: The
World’s Favorite Drug  (New York: Thomas Dunn, 2002), Chs 5 and 7, and
Howard I. Kushner, ‘Taking Biology Seriously: The Next Task for Historians of
Addiction?’, Bulletin of the History of Medicine  80 (2006), pp. 115–43. Kushner
remarks (p. 139) that ‘Measles, polio, and Huntington’s chorea are diseases,

because a tentative diagnosis based on signs and symptoms is confirmed or
rejected through a laboratory test indicating infection by a pathogen or the
presence of a genetic mutation; in contrast, the cause of a syndrome – such as
schizophrenia, Tourette syndrome, or affective disorders (depressions) –
remains unknown.’ Two misleading impressions need to be forestalled here.
First, the distinction between a disease and a syndrome is not merely an
epistemic one, since the signs and symptoms of a disease are not the disease
itself. Rather, the disease is the pathology that causes the signs and symptoms.
Second, knowing the causes of a syndrome does not make it cease to be a
syndrome (although it may result in the discovery of a disease, and this, in turn,
may make reference to the syndrome slip out of usage).

53Needs and Moral Necessity , pp. 54–63.
54 E.g., ‘Introduction’ to Reader (ed.) The Philosophy of Need , pp. 1–24. In
the same volume, compare David Wiggins, ‘An Idea we Cannot do Without’,
pp. 25–50, p. 29. Compare also Stampe, ‘Need’, p. 129.
55 Compare Stampe, ‘Need’, p. 135. My more general position on the relationship
between natural and metaphysical necessity is that some but not all natural
necessities are metaphysical necessities. Needs are among the natural necessities
that are not metaphysical necessities.
56 ‘Introduction’ to Reader (ed.) The Philosophy of Need , p. 23; Needs and Moral
Necessity , Ch. 4.
57 E.g., ‘Introduction’ to Reader (ed.) The Philosophy of Need , p. 23.
58 Ibid.
59 Compare Stampe, ‘Need’, p. 134: ‘Needs are a matter of what is necessary in the
course of time’.

58 Ibid.
60 For references to authors who make this mistake, see White, Modal Thinking ,
Ch. 8.INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PHILOSOPHICAL STUDIES
23061 For discussion of this point, I thank Sorin Baiasu.
62 I depart from Kripke in that he would position the word ‘necessarily’ in such as
way as to make it a sentential operator (e.g., as in ‘Necessarily, water is H2O’),
rather than having it embedded in the predicate. For references to and a survey
of work in post-Kripkean modal epistemology, see my ‘Recent Work on Modal
Epistemology’, Philosophical Books  46 (2005), pp. 235–45.
63 The major premise in the example is, I would say, not in fact an a priori  premise
at all. Nevertheless, the general view in post-Kripkean modal epistemology

would be that it is itself derived from an argument in which there is an a priori
modal major premise. I cannot go into the subtleties here, but I recommend
George Bealer, ‘The Limits of Scientific Essentialism’, Philosophical Perspec-
tives  1 (1987), pp. 289–365.
64 Audi, Epistemology , p. 6.
65 Though I deal with a universal non-modal generalization and its strengthening
to a universal need-involving generalization here, this is as a result of discuss-
ing Audi’s example, rather than of taking either a Humean or an ‘essentialist’
view of the laws of nature. I am inclined to agree with Mumford, Dispositions ,
that natural ‘laws, qua true generalities, if they exist at all, are ontologically
parasitic upon the capabilities of particulars, rather than the other way round’
(p. 230).

(p. 230).
66 Compare Garrett Thomson, ‘Deseos y Necesidades’, Ideas y Valores  107 (1998),
pp. 43–55, p. 53: ‘Las necesidades no son actos de elección, sino disposiciones
para sufrir daño a causa de una falta’ (‘Needs are not acts of choice, but disposi-
tions to suffer harm due to a lack’).
67 See Rom Harré and E. H. Madden, Causal Powers : A Theory of Natural
Necessity  (Oxford: Blackwell, 1975).
68 Compare Mumford, Dispositions , p. 131. Jonathan Dancy, An Introduction to
Contemporary Epistemology  (Oxford: Blackwell, 1985), pp. 208–11, also
espouses this claim, after the British idealists Blanshard and Ewing, in connec-
tion with a coherentist account of epistemic justification. I do not believe that
coherentism is required or made plausible by the view of induction, explanation

and modality I am endorsing. Immanent realism about modality can underwrite
the rationality of induction and it is consistent with a foundationalist view of
epistemic justification. So, I disagree with Dancy’s claim, that ‘coherentism is
the only position from which induction can be shown to be a rational practice’
(p. 211).
69 Compare the discussion (after Anscombe) of diagnostics and problem-solving in
Bloomfield, Moral Reality , pp. 72–3.Copyright of International Journal of Philosophical Studies is the property of Routledge and its content may not
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Printed by Victor Graphics, Inc., Baltimore, MD, www.victorgraphics.com  viiTable of Contents
Preface  .......................................................................................................................................................... ix
Acknowledgments ....................................................................................................................................... xiii
Chapter 1: Needs Assessment and Performance Improvement  ....................................................... 1
 Finding Your Way  ................................................................................................................................ 1
 Introduction: Setting the Right Destination  ......................................................................................... 2

Introduction: Setting the Right Destination  ......................................................................................... 2
 Ends vs. Means  .................................................................................................................................... 4
 What Is a Need?  ................................................................................................................................... 5
 What Is a Needs Assessment?  ............................................................................................................ 7
 Needs Are Not Wants, and Means Are Not Ends  ............................................................................... 8
 Needs Assessment vs. Needs (or Performance) Analysis  ................................................................... 8
 Training Needs Assessment Caveat  .................................................................................................... 9

Training Needs Assessment Caveat  .................................................................................................... 9
 Needs Assessment and Evaluation—Related but Different  ............................................................. 10
 Stakeholder Participation and Buy-In  ................................................................................................. 10
Chapter 2: Basic Tools for a Useful Assessment  ............................................................................... 13
 The Organizational Elements Model (OEM)  ....................................................................................... 13
 Why the OEM Is Important to Organizations  ..................................................................................... 16
 OEM and Levels of Needs Assessment  ............................................................................................. 22

OEM and Levels of Needs Assessment  ............................................................................................. 22
Chapter 3: Performing a Mega-Level Needs Assessment  ............................................................... 27
 Why Conduct a Mega-Level Needs Assessment  ............................................................................... 29
 When to Use Mega-Level Needs Assessment  .................................................................................. 29
 Process for Conducting  ....................................................................................................................... 31
 Challenges of Conducting a Mega-Level Needs Assessment  .......................................................... 47
Chapter 4: Performing a Macro-Level Needs Assessment  .............................................................. 49

 Why Conduct a Macro-Level Needs Assessment  .............................................................................. 50
 When to Use a Macro-Level Needs Assessment  .............................................................................. 50
 Process for Conducting  ....................................................................................................................... 51
 Challenges of Conducting a Macro-Level Needs Assessment  ......................................................... 58
Chapter 5: Performing a Micro-Level Needs Assessment  ............................................................... 61
 What Is a Micro-Level Needs Assessment?  ...................................................................................... 62

What Is a Micro-Level Needs Assessment?  ...................................................................................... 62
 When to Use a Micro-Level Needs Assessment  ............................................................................... 63
 Process for Conducting  ...................................................................................................................... 64
 Challenges of Conducting a Micro-Level Needs Assessment  ........................................................... 71Table of Contents
viiiChapter 6: Performing a Quasi Needs Assessment  .......................................................................... 73
 What Is a Quasi Needs Assessment?  ................................................................................................ 74
 Instructional, Learner, and Context Analysis  ..................................................................................... 75

Instructional, Learner, and Context Analysis  ..................................................................................... 75
 When to Use a Quasi Needs Assessment  ......................................................................................... 75
 Process for Conducting  ....................................................................................................................... 76
 Challenges of Conducting a Quasi Needs Assessment  ..................................................................... 84
Chapter 7: Linking Analysis and Solutions to Make Recommendations  ...................................... 85
 Framework for Selecting Solutions: Six-Step Problem-Solving Model  ............................................. 85
 Analysis Deﬁned  ................................................................................................................................. 86

Analysis Deﬁned  ................................................................................................................................. 86
 SWOT Analysis  ................................................................................................................................... 87
 Cost-Consequences Analysis (CCA)  ................................................................................................... 89
 Causal Analysis  .................................................................................................................................. 90
 Methods-Means Analysis and Solution Selection  ............................................................................ 95
 Implementation, Monitoring, Evaluation, and Improvement  ............................................................. 96
Chapter 8: Linking Needs Assessment to Evaluation  ..................................................................... 101

 Evaluation: Deﬁnition and Purpose  .................................................................................................. 101
 Linking Needs Assessment and Evaluation  ..................................................................................... 104
Chapter 9: Performance Dashboards: Monitoring Performance Gaps  ........................................ 117
 Managing and Improving Through Measurement  ........................................................................... 117
 Performance Dashboards  ................................................................................................................. 118
 Issues With Performance Dashboards  ............................................................................................. 119

Issues With Performance Dashboards  ............................................................................................. 119
 When to Apply  .................................................................................................................................. 122
 Avoiding Pitfalls of Dashboards  ....................................................................................................... 122
 Performance Dashboard: A Guide  .................................................................................................... 123
 Vital Dashboard Factors  ................................................................................................................... 126
Chapter 10: Gap Assessment Tools  .................................................................................................... 129
 Assessment Instruments  .................................................................................................................. 129

Assessment Instruments  .................................................................................................................. 129
 Questionnaires  ................................................................................................................................. 130
 Suggested Data Analysis Approaches  ............................................................................................. 133
 Displaying Response Data  ............................................................................................................... 137
 Interpretation and Required Action  .................................................................................................. 137
Chapter 11: Tool Kit  ............................................................................................................................... 141

References  ................................................................................................................................................ 165
Glossary of Terms  ..................................................................................................................................... 173
About the Authors  ..................................................................................................................................... 183ixPreface
Successful needs assessment is all about the choices you make. Choose wisely, and success is 
all but certain. Make another choice and failure is guaranteed. 
While this book will be a valuable resource for anyone interested in an evidence-based 
approach to improve organizational performance, it is written speciﬁcally for performance

approach to improve organizational performance, it is written speciﬁcally for performance 
improvement professionals (including workplace learning and development professionals) who 
want to make good decisions that lead to productive results. 
These internal and external organizational players and stakeholders are individuals involved 
in organizational planning and include those who manage or administer any needs assessment, 
change, evaluation, or any other related initiatives intended to improve organizational performance. 
The book will also be a valuable resource for those who support, manage, or make direct 
decisions about an organization’s overall strategic direction, including executives, administrators, 
members of a company’s leadership team, or even external performance consulting professionals.
Primary Focus on Strategic Alignment

The intended audience and scope of this book is broad; it purposefully does not deal with the full 
range of speciﬁc data collection methodology or approaches since many good resources already 
exist on this topic. Rather, this book focuses on the job of building a properly aligned needs 
assessment framework that will ensure you:
UÊmake the right long-, short,- and mid-term needs assessment choices
UÊare heading in the right direction
UÊarrive at your intended destination
UÊproperly align results at various organizational levels
UÊidentify real problems (such as gaps in results), not just symptoms
UÊdevelop valid and reliable criteria for selecting the most effective and efﬁcient 
solutions and interventions
UÊlink everything done, produced, or delivered (both inside and out) by your organization

UÊfully track performance gaps (from needs assessment through evaluation) using well-
designed and implemented performance dashboards.xPreface
Four Levels of Needs Assessment
In addition to its singular focus on building an effective needs assessment framework, this book 
offers a unique, four-level system to categorize needs assessment efforts: Mega, Macro, Micro, 
and Quasi. These various levels are outlined below:
UÊMega Needs Assessment:  A strategic needs assessment that incorporates a systemic 
perspective of the organization, society, and their gaps in results.
UÊMacro Needs Assessment:  A tactical needs assessment that begins with a primary 
focus on organizational gaps in results, independent of its external/societal context.
UÊMicro Needs Assessment:  An operational needs assessment that focuses primarily on

UÊMicro Needs Assessment:  An operational needs assessment that focuses primarily on 
internal performance gaps of individuals, teams, or departments within an organization.
UÊQuasi Needs Assessment:  In contrast to the previously mentioned needs assessment, 
this level does not focus on performance results. Rather this needs assessment 
focuses on identifying gaps in means (for example training or other solutions). 
Training needs assessment is an example of a Quasi needs assessment.
Making the Most of This Book
While the book is constructed to allow you to pick and choose which chapters or sections are 
most applicable or useful to your particular needs, it is strongly recommended that you read 
all the chapters to gain full understanding and value from the book. Still, if you wish to take a 
piecemeal approach, then use the job aid on the following page to determine the chapters that

piecemeal approach, then use the job aid on the following page to determine the chapters that 
will be most useful to you.
Other Reader Notes
Recurring Case Study
Beginning in chapter 3 we offer a recurring narrative using a ﬁctional organization, Bewell Insur -
ance Company (BIC), intended to illustrate the concepts discussed in this book. In this narrative 
BIC is facing an important change with new legislation that mandates health insurance for all 
United States citizens. This will have an impact at all levels of the organization; in particular, 
the chief operating ofﬁcer has asked to help the executive team ﬁgure out how to maintain BIC’s 
leadership in the industry, especially in terms of proﬁtability.xiNeeds Assessment for Organizational Success
Readers in other industries (for example, education, military, nonproﬁt) will also ﬁnd relevant

Readers in other industries (for example, education, military, nonproﬁt) will also ﬁnd relevant 
performance issues in this case study, and are encouraged to read through the case study carefully.
If you are: Then read:
Interested in understanding the performance improvement process and 
how needs assessment supports continuous performance improvementAll chapters
Interested in learning about foundational concepts in performance 
driven needs assessmentsChapter 1: Needs Assessment and 
Performance Improvement
Chapter 2: Basic Tools for a  
Useful Assessment
Concerned with identifying strategic needs that takes into account 
external environmental (for example, societal) factors and consequencesChapter 3: Performing a Mega-Level  
Needs Assessment
Concerned with identifying tactical needs that take into account the 
entire organizationChapter 4: Performing a Macro-Level  
Concerned with identifying operational needs that take into account

Concerned with identifying operational needs that take into account 
only individuals, teams, and other subsystems of the organizationChapter 5: Performing a Micro-Level  
Concerned with identifying gaps that relate to speciﬁc solutions,  
such as trainingChapter 6: Performing a Quasi Needs 
Assessment 
Interested in maximizing solution alternatives and assuring selected 
solutions address root causes of gaps, rather than only symptomsChapter 7: Linking Analysis and Solutions  
to Make Recommendations
Interested in continual improvement by linking needs assessment  
and evaluationChapter 8: Linking Needs Assessment  
to Evaluation
Interested in how to keep track of trends in performance gaps, and what 
contributes to their reduction versus maintenanceChapter 9: Performance Dashboards: 
Monitoring Performance Gaps
Interested in questionnaires as one of many data collection tools used

Interested in questionnaires as one of many data collection tools used 
for needs assessmentChapter 10: Gap Assessment Tools
Interested in exercises that will help you and your stakeholders enter 
into useful dialog and actions related to needs assessment, particularly 
at the Mega levelChapter 11: Tool Kit
Chapter by Chapter Notes
Below is an outline of the primary topics covered in each chapter. 
UÊChapter 1—Needs Assessment and Performance Improvement: Foundational 
concepts in performance driven needs assessments. 
UÊChapter 2—Basic Tools for a Useful Assessment:  Using the Organizational 
Elements Model as a needs assessment framework.
UÊChapter 3—Performing a Mega-Level Needs Assessment: Describes  
the process for conducting a Mega-level needs assessment and other  
important considerations. 
UÊChapter 4—Performing a Macro-Level Needs Assessment:  Describes

UÊChapter 4—Performing a Macro-Level Needs Assessment:  Describes  
the process for conducting a Macro-level needs assessment and other  
important considerations.xiiPreface
UÊChapter 5—Performing a Micro-Level Needs Assessment: Describes  
the process for conducting a Micro-level needs assessment and other  
important considerations.
UÊChapter 6—Performing a Quasi Needs Assessment : Describes the process for 
conducting a Quasi-level needs assessment and other important considerations.
UÊChapter 7—Linking Analysis and Solutions to Make Recommendations:  
Describes how to link needs assessment, analysis, and recommendations, providing 
various analysis tools.
UÊChapter 8—Linking Needs Assessment to Evaluation: Describes how to link 
needs assessment and evaluation for continuous improvement.
UÊChapter 9—Performance Dashboards: Monitoring Performance Gaps:

UÊChapter 9—Performance Dashboards: Monitoring Performance Gaps:   
Describes key uses in the design, implementation and use of performance dash -
boards, and the data that emerge from them.
UÊChapter 10—Gap Assessment Tools:  Provides examples of speciﬁc data collection 
tools focused on gaps, and discusses ways to use these tools, as well as how to 
interpret and use ﬁndings.
UÊChapter 11—Tool Kit: Provides a series of practical tools for use in meetings, 
presentations, and various communications with needs assessment and  
planning stakeholders.
This book is about success: yours, your associates’, your organization’s, and how those 
contribute to a better society. It is pragmatic, sensible, and useful.  xiiiAcknowledgments 
Thank you for reading this book and applying it to improve our world through the success of your 
organization. It is shared in a spirit of personal, organizational, and societal growth.

AssessmentInputs Processes Micro/Products Macro/Outputs
-ÕÀVi\Ê>Õv>]Ê,°]ÊÓääÈ°
Case Study Scenario
The Bewell Insurance Company (BIC) employs approximately 5,000 employees. The health -
care provider has a reputation for being a leader in the marketplace because of its customer 
focus, but also having higher rates than competitors. In addition, the healthcare industry 
is about to experience a radical change for group customers, individual members, and em -
ployees because of a National Health Reform. Soon, all individuals will be mandated to 
have health insurance, either through their employer or by using the newly formed Health -
care Exchange. The healthcare industry will have more of a retail focus. As a result, it is 
imperative that BIC acts strategically to not only grow business and maintain the existing 
business, but also maintain its reputation as a healthcare provider that puts the health and 
well-being of its subscribers ﬁrst and demonstrates superior health results.

in early cancer detection though early screening compliance among women of target age, 
and at least 21 percent among men of target age. This decrease will continue until 100 per -
cent is reached. We will also reduce heart and other obesity-related disease by a reduction 
of at least 32 percent in the number of customers who are morbidly obese. We will also 
deliver a reduction in drug abuse by increasing the number of successfully treated clients 
by at least 28 percent. BIC also commits to an increase of at least 20 percent in physical 
abuse screening for women, as well as an increase of at least 32 percent for successful re -
covery from physically abusive conditions. We will reduce the number of injuries suffered 
on the job by at least four per year until zero is reached. We will accomplish this in part by 
ensuring a safe work environment for our employees that will be evidenced by zero injuries

70BIC’s needs assessment and planning partners decided focusing on retaining active 
accounts through increased customer satisfaction was absolutely critical to their Macro- 
and Mega-level objectives. This was made apparent through the discussion around costs 
and consequences of ignoring these particular gaps. It also seemed to them that if they 
placed high priority focus on satisfying customers and retaining them, this would have 
natural implications for monthly sales, so potentially, they could leverage a solution set 
(when they get to the methods-means analysis) that could impact these multiple indicators.  
Another high priority area that became quite “obvious,” as one of the needs assess -
ment partners said it, was the job satisfaction of sales and service professionals. If they 
don’t ﬁnd satisfaction in their work, feel undervalued, and lose motivation to stay in their 
position (or even in the organization), any other solutions implemented to support their

position (or even in the organization), any other solutions implemented to support their 
performance will be useless, as they will not have any stake in the success of those solu -
tions, the department, or the organization.  
Additionally, they have direct contact with customers, and therefore, have the po -
tential to considerably affect Mega- and Macro-level objectives. Moreover, the cost of 
hiring, training, and getting new sales and service professionals to a top-performer level 
represents a signiﬁcantly higher cost than to provide the support required to maintain a 
high level of satisfaction with the job.  Therefore, the needs assessment partners felt 
that in order for the department and organization to thrive, maintaining sales and service 
professionals’ satisfaction was key.
Finally, they decided that while new account acquisition is certainly important for their

and service professionals’ jobs.
UÊTraining must not eliminate any current content that is central to sales  
and service professionals’ jobs; however, obsolete content areas may  
be eliminated. 
UÊTraining time must not be higher than that required for current training.
UÊTraining should be enhanced or supported with the use of on-the-job guides.
UÊTraining must not add any signiﬁcant costs for a sustained period of time. 
(Signiﬁcant is deﬁned as anything greater than 10 percent for an initial period 
of two years. Thereafter, costs should be expected to decrease by at least  
20 percent.)
UÊSales and service professionals should be able to access the training at their 
convenience, during provided windows of time during work hours, without 
any travel or any additional costs incurred.
UÊTraining capabilities should be enhanced by taking advantage of our 
in-house, state-of-the-art technology resources (including networked

Q12.  Our organization encourages innovation.
Gap:  Mean [WH AT SHOULD BE] - Mean [WHA T IS]
Mean:  1 = Rarely , if ever; 5 = Consistently
Response Options:  1 = Rarely , if ever; 2 = Not usually; 3 = Sometimes; 4 = Frequently; 5 = ConsistentlyNeeds Assessment for Organizational Success
139Figure 10.4  Gap Range by Question
1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 5.0Q12Q11Q10Q9Q8Q7Q6Q5Q4Q3Q2Q1
Positive Ga p Negative GapRespondent Group
Q1.    I have the right information to do my job.
Q2.    Our people respond well to change.
Q3.    Decisions are based on solid evidence.
Q4.    Our employees make independent decisions.
Q5.    Our people feel important.
Q6.    There are enough people to do the job.
Q7.    We have the right people to do the job.
Q8.    Our employees trust each other to do what has to be accomplished.
Q9.    Our employees adhere to ethics code.
Q10.  We have the resources to do our job.
Q11.  We select solutions and resources by first identifying objectives.

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The increasing responsibilities of professionals for the results, consequences, and payoffs of 
their activities have led us into a new era of professionalism. For the performance professional 
this era requires a renewed focus on the scientiﬁc-evidence basis for decisions. A basis for this 
is a consistency in language that leaves no confusion regarding the value added for individuals, 
organization, and society. 
Most of our performance improvement approaches and methods, including the language 
we use in describing our profession, commonly leave questions concerning value added unan -

swered. We tend to talk about means (such as HRD, lean Six Sigma, HPT, online training pro -
grams), and not ends (such as reduction in poverty, client value added, legitimate proﬁts, product 
quality). Our language seems almost to encourage a number of confusions that “allows” for 
lack of precision and consequences. Language that is crisp, to the point, and focused on results 
(including societal payoffs) is essential for professional success. And then we must match our 
promises with deeds and payoffs that measurably add value.
What we must communicate to ourselves and others is that the words and phrases are 
important since they operationally deﬁne our profession and communicate our objectives and 
processes to others. They are symbols and signs with meaning. When our words lead us away,

processes to others. They are symbols and signs with meaning. When our words lead us away, 
by implication or convention, from designing and delivering useful results for both internal and 
external clients, then we must consider changing our perspectives and our deﬁnitions.
The following deﬁnitions come from our review of the literature and other writings. Italics 
provide some rationale for a possible perspective shift from conventional and comfortable 
to societal value added. (These are in alphabetical order. At ﬁrst, some of the deﬁnitions 
won’t “follow” but please scan the list for words not yet deﬁned.) In addition, each deﬁnition 
identiﬁes if the word or phrase relates most to a system approach, systems approach, 
systematic approach, or systemic approach (or a combination). You should begin by reviewing

systematic approach, or systemic approach (or a combination). You should begin by reviewing 
these distinct deﬁnitions ﬁrst, to help you understand the context of these other terms. The 
level of approach provides the unit of analysis for the words and terms as they are deﬁned in 
this article. Alternative deﬁnitions should also be considered based on the unit of analysis. If 
we are going to apply system thinking (decision making that focuses on valued added at the 174Glossary
individual, organizational, and societal levels) then deﬁnitions from that perspective should be 
applied in our literature, presentations, workshops, and products.
This glossary provides a basis for deﬁning and achieving success in the future through the 
deﬁnitions of terms that focus on the results and payoffs for internal and external clients instead 
of the process, activities, and interventions we commonly apply.

We’ve also included cross references to page numbers so the glossary can also serve as an 
index, directing you to other points in the text where you ﬁnd each term.
 
ADDIE Model: A contraction of the conventional instructional systems steps of Analysis, Design, 
Development, Implementation, and Evaluation. It ignores or assumes a front determination through 
assessment of what to analyze, and it also assumes that the evaluation data will be used for con -
tinuous improvement. (3-4, 90)
AADDIE Model: Model proposed by Ingrid Guerra-López that adds Assessment as the ﬁrst step 
of the ADDIE Model. (3-4)
Analysis:  Breaking something down to its constituent component parts. Analysis does not for -
mally require that what is being analyzed is useful or correct. (3-4, 8-9, 24, 46, 57-58, 70-71, 75, 86-97,

mally require that what is being analyzed is useful or correct. (3-4, 8-9, 24, 46, 57-58, 70-71, 75, 86-97, 
103, 111-114,  119, 122-125, 133-137)
Change Creation:  The proactive deﬁnition and justiﬁcation of new and evidence-based des -
tinations, and routes are distinguished from change management that is reactive. If this is 
done before change management, acceptance is more likely. This is a proactive orientation for 
change and differs from the more usual “change management” in that it identiﬁes in advance 
where individuals and organizations are headed rather than waiting for change to occur and 
be “managed.” (125)
Change Management:  Ensuring that whatever change is selected will be accepted and 
implemented successfully by people in the organization. Change Management is reactive in that 
it waits until change requirements are either deﬁned or imposed and then moves to have the 
change accepted and used. (86, 98, 125)

Competence:  The demonstrated ability to consistently perform at or beyond criteria. (46, 62, 
65-66, 74)
Continual/Continuous Improvement:  The ongoing check of results with intentions so that 
changes may be made during an intervention or program. (2-4, 21, 85, 98, 101, 119, 126-127, 156)175Needs Assessment for Organizational Success
Comfort Zones:  The psychological areas, in business or in life, where one feels secure and safe 
(regardless of the reality of that feeling). 
Costs-Consequences Analysis:  The process of estimating a return-on-investment before an 
intervention is implemented. It asks two basic questions simultaneously: What do you expect to 
give and what do you expect to get back in terms of results? Most formulations do not compute 
costs and consequences for society and external client (Mega) return-on-investment. Thus,

costs and consequences for society and external client (Mega) return-on-investment. Thus, 
even the calculations for standard approaches steer away from the vital consideration of self-
sufﬁciency, health, and well-being. (46, 85, 87, 89)
Criteria:  Precise and rigorous speciﬁcations that allow one to prove what has been or has to 
be accomplished. Many processes in place today do not use rigorous indicators for expected 
performance. If criteria are “loose” or unclear, there is no realistic basis for evaluation and 
continuous improvement. Loose criteria often meets the comfort test but doesn’t allow for the 
humanistic approach to care enough about others to deﬁne, with stakeholders, where you are 
headed and how to tell when you have or have not arrived. (2, 4, 8, 11, 41-43, 46-47, 55-58, 66, 69, 73, 
76-77, 79-84, 86-87 95-96, 103, 111-113, 118-119, 133)

Deep Change:  Change that extends from Mega—societal value added—downward into the 
organization to deﬁne and shape Macro, Micro, Processes, and Inputs. It is termed “deep change” 
to note that it is not superﬁcial or just cosmetic, or even a splintered quick ﬁx. Most planning 
models do not include Mega results in the change process, and thus miss the opportunity to ﬁnd 
out what impact their contributions and results have on external clients and society. The other 
approaches might be termed “superﬁcial change” or “limited change” in that they only focus on 
an organization or a small part of an organization. 
Desired Results:  Ends (or results) identiﬁed through needs assessments that are derived from 
soft data relating to “perceived needs.”  “Desired” indicates these are perceptual and personal in

soft data relating to “perceived needs.”  “Desired” indicates these are perceptual and personal in 
nature. (5-7, 9-10, 21, 102, 110, 126)
Ends:  Results, achievements, consequences, payoffs, and/or impacts. The more precise the 
results the more likely that reasonable methods and means can be considered, implemented, 
and evaluated. Without rigor for results statements, confusion can take the place of successful 
performance. There are three levels of ends: individual contributions (Micro/Products), 
Organizational Contributions (Macro/Outputs) and Societal Contributions (Mega/Outcomes). 
Success requires the linking and aligning of all three levels of results. (1-2, 4-8, 13-14, 73, 84, 103, 
125,132)176Glossary
Ethics:  Know the right and socially responsible thing to do and doing it. 
Evidence-Based Practice:  The using of research and/or operational performance data that

Evidence-Based Practice:  The using of research and/or operational performance data that 
demonstrates the relationship between interventions and consequences. 
Evaluation:  In its summative version, it compares current status (what is) with intended status 
(what was intended) and is most commonly done only after an intervention is implemented. For -
mative evaluation continuously compares What Is to What Should Be in terms of ends and means 
throughout development, implementation, and maintenance of an intervention in order to improve 
it. Unfortunately, “evaluation” is used for blaming and not ﬁxing or improving. When blame fol -
lows evaluation, people tend to avoid the means and criteria for evaluation or leave them so loose 
that any result can be explained away. (1-4, 8-11, 15, 62, 78-82, 85-86, 96-99, 101-118, 121,126)

External Needs Assessment:  Determining and prioritizing gaps, then selecting problems 
to be resolved at the Mega level. This level of needs assessment is most often missing from 
conventional approaches. Without the data from it, one cannot be assured that there will be 
strategic alignment from internal results to external value added. (23, 28, 49, 61, 73)
Gap Analysis:  This term is commonly, and erroneously, used interchangeably with needs 
assessment. We suggest needs assessment identiﬁes gaps between current and desired results, 
while analysis is used to better understand the nature or root causes of the gap. (55,133)
Hard Data:  Performance data that is based on objectives and is independently veriﬁable.  This

Hard Data:  Performance data that is based on objectives and is independently veriﬁable.  This 
type of data is critical. It should be used along with “soft” or perception data. (10, 38, 54, 105, 112, 
114-115)
Human Performance Technology (HPT):  An approach that analyzes performance problems, 
identiﬁes causes of the problems, identiﬁes and develops effective and efﬁcient ways and means 
to resolve the problems, and then evaluates the results. Because this approach usually starts with 
analysis it might assume that the problems of opportunities identiﬁed are valid. (See the AADDIE 
approach). We suggest that the process should begin with needs assessment as the ﬁrst step, 
and conclude with actionable recommendations for improvement, after evaluation. (173)
Human Resource Development (HRD):  The actions within an organization to improve the

Human Resource Development (HRD):  The actions within an organization to improve the 
contributions the individuals can and should make to deliver useful results. (111)
Ideal Vision:  The measurable deﬁnition of the kind of world we, together with others, commit 
to help deliver for tomorrow’s child. An Ideal Vision deﬁnes the Mega level of planning. It allows 
an organization and all of its partners to deﬁne where they are headed and how to tell when they 177Needs Assessment for Organizational Success
are getting there or getting closer. It provides the rationality and reasons for an organizational 
mission objective. (20-21, 27, 29-43, 55, 88-89, 109, 144, 148, 150-152)
Incentives:  The rewards and consequences, both tangible and perceptual, that are provided to 
motivate useful performance. (91-92, 127)
Inputs:  The ingredients, raw materials, and physical and human resources that an organization

Inputs:  The ingredients, raw materials, and physical and human resources that an organization 
can use in its processes in order to deliver useful ends. These ingredients and resources are often 
the only considerations made during planning, without determining the value they add internally 
and external to the organization. (14-19, 23, 27-29, 49-50, 61, 73, 75)
Internal Needs Assessment:  Determining and prioritizing gaps, then selecting problems to 
be resolved at the Micro and Macro levels. Most conventional and popular needs assessment 
processes are of this variety . (23, 28, 49, 61, 73)
Lean Six Sigma:  A managerial concept intended to result in the elimination or reduction of seven 
kinds of waste including defects, overproduction, transportation, waiting, inventory, motion, and 
over-processing. Measurement usually involves reducing variability of what is produced. (173)

Learning:  The demonstrated acquisition of a skill, knowledge, attitude, and/or ability not 
attributed to growth or maturation. 
Learning Organization:  An organization that sets measurable performance standards and 
constantly compares its results and their consequences with what is required. Learning 
organizations use performance data, related to an Ideal Vision and the primary Mission Objective, 
to decide what to change and what to continue, learning from performance and the organization’s 
contributions. Learning organizations may obtain the highest level of success by strategic thinking: 
focusing everything that is used, done, produced, and delivered on Mega results—societal value 
added. Many conventional deﬁnitions do not link the “learning” to societal value added. If there is

added. Many conventional deﬁnitions do not link the “learning” to societal value added. If there is 
no external societal linking, than it could well guide one away from the new requirements. 
Macro-Level Planning:  Planning focused on the organization itself as the primary client and 
beneﬁciary of what is planned and delivered. This is the conventional starting and stopping place 
for existing planning approaches. (x, 14-24, 28-30, 44-47, 49-59)
Means  (systems approach, systematic approach): Processes, activities, resources, methods, or 
techniques used to deliver a result. Means are only useful to the extent that they deliver useful 
results at all three levels of planned results: Mega, Macro, and Micro. (1, 3-8, 13-14, 55-57, 73-75, 
83-84, 103-104, 108, 110)178Glossary
Mega-Level Planning:  Planning focused on external clients, including customers/citizens and

Mega-Level Planning:  Planning focused on external clients, including customers/citizens and 
the community and society that the organization serves. This is the usual missing planning level 
in most formulations. It is the only one that will focus on societal value added: survival, self-
sufﬁciency, and quality of life of all partners. It is suggested that this type of planning is imperative 
for getting and proving useful results. Mega planning consists of ﬁve steps, or elements for 
deﬁning and delivering a preferred future that include: 1) deriving the tactical and operational 
plans; 2) making, buying, and obtaining resources; 3) implementation, and simultaneously, 4) 
continual improvement/formative evaluation; and then 5) determine effectiveness and efﬁciency. 
While not strictly planning, this is the part that puts all of the previous planning to work to achieve 
positive results. (x, 14-25, 27-48)

Mega Thinking:  Thinking about every situation, problem, or opportunity in terms of what you 
use, do, produce, and deliver as having to add value to external clients and society. Same as 
strategic thinking. 
Methods-Means Analysis:  Identiﬁes possible tactics and tools for meeting the needs identiﬁed 
in a “system analysis.” The methods-means analysis identiﬁes the possible ways and means to 
meet the needs and achieve the detailed objectives that are identiﬁed in this Mega plan, but does 
not select them. Interestingly, this is a comfortable place where some operational planning starts. 
Thus, it either assumes or ignores the requirement to measurably add value within and outside 
the organization. (37, 46, 86-87, 95-97)
Micro-Level Planning:  Planning focused on individuals or small groups (such as desired and

Micro-Level Planning:  Planning focused on individuals or small groups (such as desired and 
required competencies of associates or supplier competencies). Planning for building-block 
results.  This also is a comfortable place where some operational planning starts. Starting here 
usually assumes or ignores the requirement to measurably add value to the entire organization as 
well as to outside the organization. (x, 14-25, 61-72)
Mission Objective:  A n  e x a c t ,  p e r f o r m a n c e - b a s e d  s t a t e m e n t  o f  a n  o r g a n i z a t i o n ’ s  o v e r a l l  i n -
tended results that it can and should deliver to external clients and society. A mission objective is 
measurable on an interval or ratio scale so states not only “where are we headed” but also adds 
“how we will know when we have arrived.” A mission objective is best linked to Mega levels of

“how we will know when we have arrived.” A mission objective is best linked to Mega levels of 
planning and the Ideal Vision to ensure societal value added. (30, 40, 43-46, 52-53, 88)
Mission Statement:  An organization’s Macro-level “general purpose.” A mission statement is only 
measurable on a nominal or ordinal scale of measurement and only states “where are we headed” 
and leaves off rigorous criteria for determining how one measures successful accomplishment. 179Needs Assessment for Organizational Success
Need:  The gap between current results and desired or required results. This is where a lot of 
planning “goes off the rails. ” By deﬁning any gap as a “need” one fails to distinguish between 
means and ends and thus confuses what and how. If “need” is deﬁned as a gap in results then

means and ends and thus confuses what and how. If “need” is deﬁned as a gap in results then 
there is a triple bonus: 1) it states the objectives (What Should Be), 2) it contains the evaluation 
and continual improvement criteria (What Should Be), and 3) it provides the basis for justifying 
any proposal by using both ends of a need—What Is and What Should Be in terms of results—
proof can be given for the costs to meet the need as well as the costs to ignore the need. (5-7)
Needs Analysis:  Taking the determined gaps between current and desired results and ﬁnding 
the causes of the inability for delivering required results.  A needs analysis provides input for 
the identiﬁcation of possible ways and means to close the gaps in results—needs—but does 
not select them. Unfortunately, “needs analysis” is usually used interchangeably with “needs

not select them. Unfortunately, “needs analysis” is usually used interchangeably with “needs 
assessment.” They are not the same. How does one “analyze” something (such as a need) before 
they know what should be analyzed? First assess the needs, then analyze them. (9)
Needs Assessment:  A formal process that identiﬁes and documents gaps between current and 
desired and/or required results, arranges them in order of priority on basis of the cost to meet 
the need as compared to the cost of ignoring it, and selects problems to be resolved. By starting 
with a needs assessment, justiﬁable performance data and the gaps between What Is and What 
Should Be will provide the realistic and rational reason for both what to change as well as what 
to continue. (1-3, 7-11)
Objectives:  Precise statement of purpose, or destination of where are we headed and how will

Objectives:  Precise statement of purpose, or destination of where are we headed and how will 
we be able to tell when we have arrived; the four parts to an objective are 1) what result is to be 
demonstrated, 2) who or what will demonstrate the result, 3) where the result will be observed, 
and 4) what interval or ratio scale criteria will be used. Loose or process-oriented objectives will 
confuse everyone. (2, 6-10, 23, 33, 43-46, 49, 52-53, 57, 64-71, 77, 87-90, 98, 101-104, 108-111, 119, 122, 124 )
Outcomes:  Results and payoffs at the external client and societal level. Outcomes are results 
that add value to society, community, and external clients of the organization. These are results 
at the Mega level of planning. (15-16, 20, 23, 27-29, 33, 49, 61, 73, 105)
Outputs:  The results and payoffs that an organization can or does deliver outside of itself to 
external clients and society. These are results at the Macro level of planning where the primary

external clients and society. These are results at the Macro level of planning where the primary 
client and beneﬁciary is the organization itself. It does not formally link to Outcomes and societal 
well-being unless it is derived from Outcomes and the Ideal (Mega) Vision. (15-16, 23, 27-29, 49-50, 
61, 73, 105)180Glossary
Paradigm:  The framework and ground rules individuals use to ﬁlter reality and understand the 
world around them. It is vital that people have common paradigms that guide them. That is one 
of the functions of the Mega level of planning and Outcomes so that everyone is headed to a 
common destination and may uniquely contribute to that journey. (33, 141)
Performance:  An end, a result, or consequence of any intervention or activity, including 
individual, team, or organization. (ix-xi, 1-4, 8-11)

Performance Improvement : An attempt to reduce or eliminate the gaps between current results 
and desired results. This may be applied to individuals, organizations, or to society/communities. 
(87, 90-91, 98, 102-103, 113, 117, 122, 127, 135)
Processes:  The means, processes, activities, procedures, interventions, programs, and initiatives 
an organization can or does use in order to deliver useful ends. While most planners start here, it 
is dangerous not to derive the Processes and Inputs from what an organization must deliver and 
the payoffs for external clients. (5, 14-19, 23, 27-29, 49-50, 61, 73)
Products:  The building-block results and payoffs of individuals and small groups that form 
the basis of what an organization produces, delivers inside as well as outside of itself, and the

the basis of what an organization produces, delivers inside as well as outside of itself, and the 
payoffs for external clients and society. Products are results at the Micro level of planning. (15-16, 
18, 23, 27-29, 49-50, 61, 73)
Quasi Need:  A gap in a method, resource, or process. Many so-called “need assessments” are 
really Quasi needs assessments since they tend to pay immediate attention to means (such as 
training) before deﬁning and justifying the ends and consequences. (x, 23, 28, 49, 61, 73-84)
Required Results:  Ends identiﬁed through needs assessment which are derived from hard data 
relating to objective performance measures. (8)
Results:  Ends, Products, Outputs, Outcomes; accomplishments and consequences. Usually 
misses the Outputs and Outcomes. (ix-x, 1-11, 14-16, 18-21)

Soft Data:  P e r s o n a l  p e r c e p t i o n s  o f  r e s u l t s .  S o f t  d a t a  i s  n o t  i n d e p e n d e n t l y  v e r i ﬁ a b l e .  While 
people’s perceptions are reality for them, they are not to be relied on without relating to hard—
independently veriﬁable—data as well. (10, 38, 114-115)
Strategic/Front-End Alignment:  The linking of Mega/Outcomes, Macro/Outputs, and Micro/
Product level planning and results with each other and with Processes and Inputs. By formally 
deriving what the organization uses, does, produces, and delivers to Mega/external payoffs, 
strategic alignment is complete. (ix, 2, 27)181Needs Assessment for Organizational Success
Strategic Planning:  A proactive approach to planning that starts by identifying gaps between

Strategic Planning:  A proactive approach to planning that starts by identifying gaps between 
current and desired societal results, putting these needs in priority order, selecting the needs 
to be reduced and providing the measurable criteria for closing those gaps. Strategic planning 
starts with measurably deﬁning Mega. (13, 15, 24, 30, 33, 40, 43)
Strategic Thinking:  Approaching any problem, program, project, activity, or effort with noting 
that everything that is used, done, produced, and delivered must add value for external clients and 
society. Strategic thinking starts with a commitment to Mega. (24, 30)
System, Systems, Systematic, and Systemic:  These terms are related, but not the same. 
Starting on the systems level and not the system level will mean that we might not add value to 
external clients and society.

external clients and society. 
System Approach:  Begins with the sum total of parts working independently and 
together to achieve a useful set of results at the societal level. . .adding value for all 
internal and external partners. We best think of it as the whole. (32)
Systems Approach:  Begins with the parts of a system—subsystems—that make up 
the “system.” So, when someone says they are using a “systems approach” they are 
really focusing on one or more subsystems. They are unfortunately focusing on the parts 
and not the whole. When planning and doing at this level, they can only assume that 
the payoffs and consequences will add up to something useful to society and external 
clients and this is usually a very big assumption. 
Systematic Approach:  An approach that does things in an orderly, predictable, and

Systematic Approach:  An approach that does things in an orderly, predictable, and 
controlled manner. It is a reproducible process. Doing things, however, in a systematic 
manner does not assure the achievement of useful results. (24)
Systemic Approach:  An approach that affects everything in the system. The deﬁni -
tion of “the system” is usually left up to the practitioner and may or may not include 
external clients and society. It does not necessarily mean that when something is sys -
temic it is also useful. 
Tactical Planning:  Finding out what is available to get from What Is to What Should Be at the 
organizational/Macro level. Tactics are best identiﬁed after the overall mission has been selected 
based on its linkages and contributions to external client and societal (Ideal Vision) results and 
consequences. (15, 24, 51)
Wants:  Preferred methods and means assumed to be capable of meeting needs. (7-8)182Glossary

What Is:  Current operational results and consequences; these could be for an individual, an 
organization, and/or society. (4, 8-10, 16, 23, 28, 30, 35, 38-41, 49, 54-55, 58, 61, 67-68, 73, 79-80, 85, 131-137)
What Should Be:  Desired or required operational results and consequences; these could be for 
an individual, an organization, and/or society. (4, 8-10, 16, 23, 28, 30, 35, 38-41, 49, 54-55, 58, 61, 67-68, 73, 
79-80, 85, 131-137)
Wishes:  Desires concerning means and interventions. It is important not to confuse “wishes” 
with needs. 
What can we surmise by a close consideration of the above deﬁnitions and the consideration 
of the possible perspective (unit of analysis) differences between conventional use and what is 
suggested here? Here are some:
UÊSystem approach & systems approach & systematic approach & systemic approach.

UÊMega level planning & Macro level planning & Micro level planning.
UÊSystem analysis & systems analysis.
UÊMeans & ends.
UÊOutcome & Output & Product & Process & Input,
UÊThere are three levels of planning: Mega, Macro, and Micro and three related types 
of results: Outcomes, Outputs, Products.
UÊNeed is a gap in results, not a gap in Process or Input.
UÊNeeds assessment & needs analysis (nor front-end analysis, or problem analysis).
UÊStrategic planning & tactical planning & operational planning.
UÊChange creation & change management.183About the Authors
Roger Kaufman, PhD , is professor emeritus, Florida State University and 
distinguished research professor at the Sonora Institute of Technology 
(Mexico). His PhD is in communications from New York University. He con -
sults with public and private organizations in the United States, Mexico,

sults with public and private organizations in the United States, Mexico, 
Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Central  America, Latin America, and 
Europe. Kaufman is a Certiﬁed Performance Technologist and a Diplomate 
in School Psychology, a Fellow in Educational Psychology of the American 
Psychological Association, as well as a Fellow of the American Educational Research Associ -
ate. He is the recipient of a U.S. Homeland Security/U.S. Coast Guard medal for Meritorious 
Public Service. He has been awarded the International Society for Performance Improvement’s 
(ISPI) top two honors: Honorary Member for Life and the Thomas F. Gilbert Award. He is a past 
ISPI president and a founding member, and is the recipient of ASTD’s Distinguished Contribu -
tion to Workplace Learning and Performance recognition. Kaufman has published 41 books and

tion to Workplace Learning and Performance recognition. Kaufman has published 41 books and 
more than 280 articles on strategic planning, performance improvement, quality management 
and continual improvement, needs assessment, management, and evaluation. His latest book 
is The Manager’s Pocket Guide to Mega Thinking and Planning. You may reach him by email at: 
rkaufman@nettally.com.
Ingrid Guerra-López, PhD, is an associate professor and director of the 
Institute for Learning and Performance Improvement at Wayne State 
University and currently serves on the board of directors of the International 
Society for Performance Improvement (ISPI). Guerra-López’s research, 
teaching, and consulting focus on improving human and organizational 
performance through needs assessment and evaluation, with particular 
focus on performance monitoring and evaluation systems. Her book,

focus on performance monitoring and evaluation systems. Her book, 
Performance Evaluation: Proven Approaches for Improving Program and Organizational 
Performance , is one of the most widely used evaluation books in instructional systems and 
performance improvement graduate programs at universities. She has published six books on 
assessment and evaluation, more than 40 articles in highly respected peer reviewed journals, and 184About the AuthorsHOW TO 
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Asia:
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Please visit: www.store.astd.org .Watkins, R., & Kavale, J. (2014). Needs: Defining what you are assessing. In J. W. Altschuld
& R. Watkins (Eds.), Needsassessment:Trendsandaviewtowardthefuture.NewDirections
forEvaluation ,144, 19–31.
2
Needs: Defining What You Are Assessing
RyanWatkins,JolantaKavale
Abstract

2
Abstract
Bydefinitionyourneedsassessmentshouldassessneeds,buthowdoyoudefine
them?Further,howdoyouoperationalizethatdefinitiontomeasureneeds?Do
yourpartnersandstakeholdersalsoholdthesameconceptual,andoperational,
definitions?Isthereagreementthattheprojectisonlygoingtoassessneedsand
notwants,assets,capacity,orsolutions?Orareyoureallyexpectedtoassessall
five?Eachoftheseisanimportantconsiderationthatcansubstantiallyinfluence
the success of any needs assessment. In this chapter, the authors examine how
definitions and use of the word need influence the design and implementation
ofanassessment,suggestingthatthedefinitioncanshapetheresultsofwhatis
found.©WileyPeriodicals,Inc.,andtheAmericanEvaluationAssociation.
Introduction
What is a “need”? On the surface it sounds like an easy question. Yet this

word, which is fundamental to all needs assessments, has not gotten much
attention of late. In the 1960s and 1970s, there was a vibrant conversa-
tion on what constitutes needs and needs assessments (Bradshaw, 1972;
Monette,1979;Witkin,1984),butthedebateintheliteraturehasnotcon-
tinued in recent years—even though agreement on a definition remains
elusive. Today, numerous ones are used, and many times in research and
practice no precise definition is applied at all.
From needs being seen exclusively as gaps in results to needs incor-
porating values, wants, and assets, the definition delineates the scope of
NEWDIRECTIONS FOR EVALUATION ,no.144,Winter2014 ©2014WileyPeriodicals,Inc.,andtheAmericanEvaluation

Association. Published online in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com) •DOI: 10.1002/ev.20100 1920NEEDSASSESSMENT :TRENDS AND A VIEWTOWARD THE FUTURE
your assessment. More specifically, how you define needs (a) clarifies the
goals of your assessment; (b) influences how you design your assessment;
(c)determineswhatyoumeasure,andthereforehowyoumeasure;and(d)
influences what you report, to whom, and in what format. In this chapter,
we review how theorists and practitioners define needs across varied dis-
ciplines, how these definitions may influence your next needs assessment,
andwhatpotential challenges adefinition (oralackthereof) cancreatefor
implementing a successful assessment.
Why Needs Are Important in Evaluation Practice
The effectiveness of a program or project is often measured by evaluating

responsiveness to the needs of participants, organizations, donors, com-
munities, or others. As a consequence, many “participatory approaches”
of evaluation, for example, place a particular emphasis on the needs of
clients (Brandt, 2011; Meyer, 2011; Stockman, 2011). The clear definition
and measurement of needs, for one or more of these stakeholder groups, is
therefore considered an essential component in most evaluation practices.
Further, this focus on needs separates evaluation practice from other com-
plementaryapproachesofqualityassurance(auditing,leansixsigma,etc.).
As a result, on a daily basis, professionals, consultants, counselors,
evaluators, and others are approached with statements and questions that
relate to needs, such as “We need an evaluation of our program,” “Which

groups’needsshouldweaddressfirst?”or“Theyreallyneedtogettheiract
together;canyouhelp?”Peopleandorganizationsafterallhaveacommon
requirement to know how they are doing at meeting needs—their own or
those of others—in order to make decisions about what to do next.
In practice, needs are also disguised in common expressions—for ex-
ample, when someone says “we have a problem,” “that team’s results are
unsatisfactory,” or “our return-on-investment is negative.” These typically
indicatethatthereisanundefinedneed.Thisistruetotheextentthatoften
clients seeking an evaluation are not aware of the professional use of the
term “need” or “needs assessment.” Thus, it becomes the task of the asses-
sor(orevaluator)touncoverandthinkaboutthehiddenmeaningsinsuch
cases.
Yet no matter how they are described, needs exist in all organizations,

cases.
communities, and societies. And the act of labeling them as needs (even if
other expressions are used) suggests their existence and requires some ac-
tion.Suchknowledgehelpsevaluatorstodeterminetheeffectivenessofthe
program and frequently forms the basis for future actions (or inactions).
Likewise, in needs assessment practice the identification and prioritization
of needs is the primary goal of the activity (Kaufman & Guerra-Lopez,
2013).
Without a clear definition of need, it is difficult (if not impossi-
ble) to objectively evaluate results, determine quality, and make justifiable
NEWDIRECTIONS FOR EVALUATION•DOI: 10.1002/evNEEDS:DEFININGWHATYOUAREASSESSING 21
decisions about what to do next. For example, community leaders must
frequently weigh the “need” of one group for public transportation against

that of another group for lower cost utilities. Or in an organization, they
ask how the “need” of health benefits for employees is related to those of
clients for lower cost products. When people talk of their needs or those
of others, they most often think of tangible results, values, wants, exist-
ingassets,and/orpreferredsolutions—makingcomparisonsofneedsoften
misleadingandmakingeffectivedecisionmakingachallenge(Nutt,2008).
Withoutaconsistentandagreeduponmeaning,decisionshavetobemade
based on unequal comparisons (apples to oranges).
Searching for Meaning
Satisfyingofneedsmaybeamotivatorofouractions,butinmodernuse,the
word“need”appearstohavelostaclearsenseofmeaning.Thisisnotunex-
pected.Bremner(1956)suggestedthattheconceptofhumanneedtendsto
be periodically rediscovered, and we contend that it is appropriate to rein-

vigorate the conversation once again in order to guide needs assessment
research and practice.
Needs are often defined and interpreted differently when applying the
conceptual systems of various disciplines or examining them across con-
texts, ranging from government policy making to organizational manage-
menttocommunitydevelopment.Wright,Williams,andWilkinson(1998)
noted that doctors, sociologists, philosophers, and economists all have
unique views of what needs are (and are not). Likewise, psychologists and
educators use other frameworks to define needs. This lack of a unifying
perspective (Doyal & Gough, 1991) is troubling, leaving researchers and
practitioners working in such areas to search for their own meaning.
This is not new, of course. Since Aristotle, people have struggled with

need, and by the 1970s the issue was at the forefront in the emergence of
needsassessmentasafieldofpractice.Witkin(1984)providesausefuldis-
cussion of definitions and frameworks that engaged the needs assessment
andevaluationcommunitiesduringthisperiod.Butinthedecadesthatfol-
lowed, the debate has not continued.
Experience alone does not create knowledge. (Kurt Lewin, 1946)
Asexceptions,currentphilosophyliteraturedoesdebateondefinitions
of needs (e.g., Wiggins, 2005), as does the literature on “human needs”
(especiallyininternationaldevelopment).Therethefocusisonhowtode-
fineneeds,inthelightofincreasingawarenessoflimitedsocietalresources
for satisfying them. Yet, there is still no clear distinction between objective
needs (childhood mortality rates, etc.) and subjective needs (expanding

democracy, etc.). But this has not led to a consensus definition within
NEWDIRECTIONS FOR EVALUATION•DOI: 10.1002/ev22NEEDSASSESSMENT :TRENDS AND A VIEWTOWARD THE FUTURE
these fields, nor one that can be practically applied across diverse areas
and professional practices (including needs assessment and evaluation).
Further,thereisnotevenagreementonwhether“need”isapositiveor
negative term (Table 2.1). In the positive, “needs” are often used as place-
holdersasgoods,nutriments,positiveenvironment,commodities,orthings
(asin“basicnecessities”)tobeprovidedandsecured.Inothercases,“need”
carries an undesirable connotation, meaning deprivation, deficiency, lack,
harm,discrepancy,orgapthathastobeidentifiedandavoided.Lastly,needs
can be associated with drives, goals, and potential that cannot be directly

linkedtoapositiveornegativecategoryofmeaning,asseenmostclearlyin
the psychology literature (Maslow’s hierarchy of needs as motivators).
Withoutclearandacceptedguidance,throughourchoiceofwordswe
routinely (and often carelessly) apply the label of need to objects or goods
(a house, a latte), to activities (exercise, paying taxes), and even to psy-
chological states (self-actualization), leading you to hear comments like “I
needtoanewcar”or“theyneedtotaketraining.”Bydoingso,wequickly
elevate the perceived importance of these objects, activities, or states from
things we desire to things that we can’t live without, even when we would
not consciously argue for such a high level of perceived importance.
Further, without a definition, the relative importance cannot readily
be measured or questioned, nor can alternatives for meeting the needs be

effectivelyweighed.Forexample,howcananorganizationtryingtoreduce
costs choose between reducing healthcare benefits and reducing vacation
dayswithoutaclearspecificationofemployeeneeds?Employeescommonly
refertoeach(healthcarebenefitsandvacationdays)as“needs,”thoughthe
two are obviously not equivalent on all dimensions.
Qualifyingneedswithtermssuchas“relevant,”“special,”“basic,”“es-
sential,” “universal,” “absolute,” or “vital” without offering ways to distin-
guish them can also increase the motivational power of the word. Who
can argue against providing resources for meeting the “basic” or “univer-
sal” needs of people? Indeed, the motivational power inherent in labeling
something as a need (or a “vital” or an “absolute” one) could lead to abuse
of the term—making it all the more important that needs assessments and

evaluations, as well as other activities contingent on needs, work from an
agreed upon meaning of the word.
Another concern in the search for a shared meaning is the politics
oftenassociatedwithwhoseexpertisedecideswhatisaneed(Lister,2010).
Clarke and Langan (1998, p. 260) stated that the “question of how the
needs of different individuals, or groups of individuals, are met in our
society is not so straightforward. It is immediately apparent that there is
considerable conflict over the ways in which society defines and meets the
needs of particular individuals or sections of society.” This challenge has
led some professionals to avoid the concept of need all together, including
some philosophers (Reader, 2005) and economists (McCain, 2011); this
has also been found in social work, education, and several other social

NEWDIRECTIONS FOR EVALUATION•DOI: 10.1002/evNEEDS:DEFININGWHATYOUAREASSESSING 23
Table 2.1. Common Categories of Meanings of the Term “Need”
Object-FocusedDefinitions
A thing Denotes athingwithout which it is impossible to live, such as
one cannot live without breathing or nourishment (Wiggins,
1987).
Things Thingswithout which someone will be seriously harmed or else
will live a life that is vitally impaired (Wiggins, 2005).
Commodities The commodities that are indispensably necessary to support life,
and whatever custom renders indecent or intolerable for
anyone to be without (Smith, 1776).
Goals
Sets of goals, drives Setsofgoals (also called basic needs or drives): physiological,
safety, love, esteem, and self-actualization (Maslow, 1943,
1970a, 1970b).
Category of goals “Need refers to a particular categoryofgoals which are believed

to be universalisable” (Gough, 2002, p. 7).
Environment An environment in which an animate creature won’t flourish
unless it has it (Anscombe, 1958/1981).
Deficiencies
Objective
deficienciesObjectivedeficiencies that actually exist and may or may not be
recognized by the person who has the need (Atwood & Ellis,
1971).
Deprivations and
potentialFinite, few, and classifiable, needs are both as deprivationsand
potential(Max-Neef, Elizalde, & Hopenhayn, 1991).
Gaps
Gap in results Gap in results between“whatis”and“whatshouldbe” (Kaufman,
1996).
Gap in conditions A learning or performance gapbetween the current condition
and the desired condition (Gupta, Sleezer, & Russ-Eft, 2007).
Discrepancy of
statesMeasured discrepancy between the current state and the desired
one (Altschuld & Lepicki, 2010).

What we require “Our human needs are whatwerequire to function minimally
well as the kinds of creatures we are” (Brock, 2005, p. 65).
HumanCondition
Necessary
conditions and
aspirationsThenecessaryconditionsandaspirations of full human
functioning (Hamilton, 2006).
Means, ends,
drives, and goalsHuman needs take the form of meansorends anddrivesorgoals
depending on context; together, they constitute different
equally significant moments in human existence and human
individuality and freedom and are therefore not solely means
but means and ends (Hamilton, 2003).
Energy or
information
required or
lacking“A need is matter-energyorinformation that is useful or required
but potentially lackingin some degree according to a purpose
of a living system” (Tracy, 1983, p. 598).
Physical/Psychological

Nutriments “... nutriments that must be procured by a living entity to
maintain its growth, integrity, and health (whether
physiological or psychological)” (Ryan & Deci, 2000, p. 326).
A lack of objective
requirement“Anobjectiverequirement to avoid a state of illness” (Mallmann
& Marcus, 1980, p. 165).
NEWDIRECTIONS FOR EVALUATION•DOI: 10.1002/ev24NEEDSASSESSMENT :TRENDS AND A VIEWTOWARD THE FUTURE
science disciplines. This, however, does not resolve the underlying issue
of need (see, McCain, 2011) and it is not a practical option for those
conducting needs assessments.
Conceptualizing Needs
Conceptualizingneeds,asaprecursortostartinganeedsassessment,points
to several key relationships that should shape your definition.
Needs Versus Solutions

Even well-intending authors and practitioners in many disciplines get tan-
gled in the distinction between needs and solutions to needs. Routinely,
they do not get past the solution (sun as solution for growing a plant, or
trainingasasolutiontoemployeeperformanceproblems)asthedefinition
oftheneed.Otherexamplesattheindividuallevelincludeemploymentand
self-actualization, whereas at the organizational level there are growth and
profit. This entanglement leads to the focus on solutions to needs rather
than a pragmatic definition of what needs are that can be applied across
contexts which would permit objective examinations of alternative solu-
tionsforachievingthesameresults(seetheopensystemsprincipleofequi-
finality; von Bertalanffy, 1969).
Noun Versus Verb

From“youneedtobuythiscar”to“theyneedInternetaccess,”whenneed
is used as a verb it takes us into looking at solutions before we know what
results are to be achieved by those solutions. This is so prevalent in to-
day’slexicon thatishardtoescape—such aswhenachildsays“Ineedthat
toy.”Greenwald(1975)notedthatwhenpeopleuseneedasaverb(“Ineed
a new car”), they cut their options to one and don’t realize that other op-
tionsarepossible(abike,bus,ortrain)toachievethesameresults.Byusing
need as a noun (“my need is to get to work in less time”), you have a basis
for comparing potential solutions and guiding decisions—two key tasks of
an effective needs assessment.
Needs Versus Wants
On the surface, most people will readily agree that needs are not the same

aswants.Butwithoutprovidingguidanceitiseasytoconfusethetwo,with
really strong wants (or desires) often being elevated to the status of needs.
The distinction is especially important when conducting a needs as-
sessment. Assessing wants can help us determine what people desire, but
doing so rarely reflects their actual needs (via a consistent definition of the
term).AsHamilton(2006)pointsout,“Needsarenotsimplystrongwants”
(p. 228). Further, “wanting something does not entail needing it, and vice
NEWDIRECTIONS FOR EVALUATION•DOI: 10.1002/evNEEDS:DEFININGWHATYOUAREASSESSING 25
versa,someonemayhaveaneedwithouthavingadesireforwhatheneeds
and, he may have a desire without having a need for what he wants”
(Frankfurt, 1998, p. 30).
Yet,needs and wants areoften closely associated. McLeod (2011) sug-

gests that “needs themselves are not to be confused with the desires they
generate” (p. 215). In other words, in needs assessment you must ensure
that needs (increased productivity or reduction in gender-based violence)
are not confused with desired solutions (such as more training for staff or
gender-segregatedschools).Thesemightendupasrecommendedsolutions
in some contexts, but they are not needs. Thus, a prerequisite step to dis-
tinguishing needs and wants is to define what you mean by needs in your
assessment.
Absolute Versus Relative Needs
McLeod(2011)distinguishesbetweenabsoluteandrelativeneeds.McLeod
(2011) and others (including Wiggins) define absolute needs as “... in-
volve[ing] both necessity and dependency” (p. 212), such as a flower
“needs” sunlight to grow. Science, of course, continually challenges our

conceptions of absolute needs, including the requirement of sunlight for
growingplants.Whatmaybeabsoluteneedstodaymaynotbesotomorrow,
andveryfewprofessionalcontexts(outsideof,potentially,thephysiological
and biological sciences) have much application for absolutism.
Thisleavesthefocusonrelative(ornormative)needsasthemoreprag-
matic basis for defining needs. In other words, most needs assessments are
donewithinthecontextofthesociety,theorganization,andtheperceptions
ofthepeopleatthatpointintime.Thisisnottoassertthatnormativeneeds
are not important; they are, yet it must be recognized that needs typically
shift over time (including that some needs are met, new ones emerge, and
technologies change how we address needs).
Individual Versus Group Versus Societal Needs
Thereisoftenapopularassumptionthatneedsarethepremisesofindividu-

als.Maslow’s HierarchyofNeeds inpsychologyfocusessolelyonindividual-
level needs. Nevertheless, groups (such as organizations and institutions)
also have needs (increased client satisfaction, productivity that meets con-
sumer demand). Societies have needs (reductions in greenhouse gases or
decreases in gender-based violence).
AccordingtoReader(2005),forPlatoandAristotle,needsareasmuch
properties of individuals as they are of states. Aristotle suggested that “the
same life is best for each individual, and for states and for mankind col-
lectively” (1325b31; bl4–32). At Politics VII §8 Aristotle further discusses
the necessities of the state. For Aristotle, the state first arises out of human
necessities (Reader, 2005).
NEWDIRECTIONS FOR EVALUATION•DOI: 10.1002/ev26NEEDSASSESSMENT :TRENDS AND A VIEWTOWARD THE FUTURE

Kaufman (2011), in his definition of need, further emphasized that
needsbeassessedatthesociety,organization,andindividuallevels.Needs,
and therefore definitions of what needs are, exist within multiple contexts
rangingfromasingleperson(astaffmember’snumberofsales)toanorgani-
zation(abusiness’numberofdefectiveproductsbeingdeliveredtoclients)
to our shared society (new cases of tuberculosis).
Need Versus Type of Need
To differentiate needs, qualifiers are often added to the term to indicate a
particular type of need (basic needs, training needs, client needs, patients’
needs,etc.),andasaresultavarietyofneedsassessmentsarecreated:train-
ing needs assessment, client needs assessment, and so forth. These may
seem to be practical terms for describing the focus of your needs assess-
ment(orevaluation),buttheydonotdefinewhattheneedis(orisnot)on

their own, and they often confuse the focus of the assessment. By calling
it a “training needs assessment,” you are inferring (and communicating to
others)thattrainingisthesolutionforwhateverneedsyouidentifyandthat
thosenotassociatedwithtrainingsolutionswillbeignored.Thiserodesob-
jectivity and leads to an assessment that is often little more than a solution
in search of a problem (Triner, Greenberry, & Watkins, 1996).
Whilethereareotherrelationshipsthatwecanreflectonwhendesign-
ing, developing, and implementing a needs assessment, those mentioned
earlieraresomeoftheessentials.Eachpointstowhydefiningneedsiscrit-
ical for guiding professional practice.
Influence of a Definition
Defining needs may seem like an academic exercise or a theoretical debate
with little impact or value for practice. This could not be further from the

truth. Defining what you are assessing is the foundation to a successful as-
sessment, with implications to multiple aspects of the associated tasks.
Designing Your Assessment
Intheend,aneedsassessmentshouldhelpinformdecisionsaboutwhatto
do next (Rossett, 1989, 1995). Thus, when designing an assessment, you
should first focus the design on the decisions that will have to be made
(or questions to be answered) using the results. This type of backward de-
sign process, borrowed from numerous disciplines, will guide the design
and ensure that the assessment achieves valuable results.
Decisions about what to do next typically hinge on the ability of peo-
ple to define the results they want to accomplish. The challenges of this
are often overlooked, and assessments frequently focus too early on mea-

suring the current state based on the assumption that people agree on the
NEWDIRECTIONS FOR EVALUATION•DOI: 10.1002/evNEEDS:DEFININGWHATYOUAREASSESSING 27
measurable goals and objectives for the future. In most cases, needs do
come with either an explicit or implicit expectation that there is a desired
condition—the explicit expectation that “all reports going to clients will
meet all five quality standards,” or the implicit expectation that “we must
improvethequalityofreportsbeforetheygotoclients.”Suchexpectations
affect the design of a needs assessment.
Explicit expectations of results can usually be applied in the determi-
nation of needs very easily. For example, if “currently 30% of reports meet
allfivequalitystandards,”thentheneedwouldrepresenttheother70%.On
theotherhand,whendesiredresultsarenotexplicitlydefined(orassumed

andnotdiscussed),itisessentialthatneedsassessmentprovidethecontext
for clarifying the desired results.
Continuing the example, if it is only agreed that the quality of reports
should be improved (or some other vague statement of intent), then it is
difficult(ifnotimpossible)tosystematicallydeterminewhattodonext.As
LewisCarroll(1865)remindedusin AliceinWonderland ,ifyoudon’tknow
where you are going, any road will get you there. Therefore, by measuring
needs, evaluators and other professionals also must deal with measuring
andvalidatingthegoals(desiredresults)thatcreate,oratleasthelpdefine,
the need.
Unfortunately, many needs assessments are not designed with either a
focus on future results to be achieved or the current results being accom-
plished.Whenneedsaredefinedbysolutions(training,newsoftware,more

schools), they really identify or justify times when the previously selected
solution can be applied. A solution-focused assessment may try to answer
whattraininghastoofferbyrelyingoninterviewswithmanagerswhohave
responsibilities for it within an organization or on a survey of staff asking
themwhattrainingtheywanttotakeinthenextyear.Inbothinstances,this
couldbeaself-fulfillingprophecy;ifyouaskpeoplewhattrainingtheywant
to offer or take, then they will tell you what training they want regardless
of its link to future results.
Conversely,doingassessmentsproperlycanhelpguidedecisionsabout
what to do next. And professionals conducting them require appropriate
tools to not only assess the need but also to define (or clarify) the long-
term vision, mission, and goals behind it.
Implementing Your Assessment

During implementation of an assessment, how you define needs impacts
thedatacollectedandthetechniquesusedtoobtaintheinformation.Ifyou
areusingtheneedsasgapsinresultsdefinition,thenmethods,instruments,
and data analysis all include a strong focus on the two results (desired vs.
current) that define gaps. Your survey contains questions on what are the
desired results of activities and what current results are being achieved.
NEWDIRECTIONS FOR EVALUATION•DOI: 10.1002/ev28NEEDSASSESSMENT :TRENDS AND A VIEWTOWARD THE FUTURE
Similarly,yourinterviewsexplorehowsuccessisdefinedandhowprogress
in that direction is being monitored.
Whereas if needs are studied from an object-focused definition
(Table 2.1), then the data you collect and the tools used will be different.
You may ask about the things people perceive as necessary to avoid harm

(water, transportation, cell phones, etc.) and ask questions about the bar-
riers they face when acquiring what they “need.” Here you may choose a
simple survey to measure these desires, while focus groups may be used to
consider the relationships among perceived needs.
Who participates in your assessment may also vary depending on the
definition of need being applied. After all, those who know what results
shouldbe,andarebeingachieved (suchasaproduction linemanagerwho
implements lean six sigma or total quality management), are valuable par-
ticipants in an assessment focused on results. Alternatively, for a physi-
cal/psychological definition of need (see Table 2.1), providers of medical
and psychological treatment would be key participants.
How data are analyzed is also shaped by the definition. With a gaps

definition, for example, you examine the size of the gaps, where they are
located, the direction of the gaps, and demographics associated with them
(Watkins, West Meiers, & Visser, 2012). A small-sized gap, as an illustra-
tion, in the performance of sales people in documenting leads, may be a
higher priority than a medium-sized one in following up with clients after
sales.
Incomparison,withanobject-focuseddefinition(Table2.1)youmight
look more on differences in preferences across demographic groups. Here,
the data might indicate that a large percentage of sales staff believe that
tablet computers would be beneficial for documenting leads, whereas sales
managers may perceive that financial incentives are required.
Theseandotherimplementation differences mayseemsubtle inmany

cases where the definition will have significant implications for budgets,
personnel requirements, timeframes, and other considerations in the as-
sessment process. Hence it is important to be clear and consistent with the
definition of need from the beginning of any assessment project.
Making Recommendations Based on Your Assessment
The final step of most needs assessments is to make recommendations (or
decisions) about what should happen next. The definition of need influ-
ences key decisions you have to make in this step—from what alternatives
get considered to how data are used to support recommendations. When
presentingrecommendationsbasedonadiscrepancydefinition(Table2.1),
youwoulddirectlylinkaproposedsolution(orsolutions)totheclosingof

the discrepancy. To do this, you might furthermore choose to use a multi-
criteriaanalysis(Watkinsetal.,2012)inordertocomparealternativesand
prioritize options.
NEWDIRECTIONS FOR EVALUATION•DOI: 10.1002/evNEEDS:DEFININGWHATYOUAREASSESSING 29
In contrast, if you use a goals definition with motivational drivers
of behavior (Maslow’s hierarchy), then the focus may be on individual
aspirations and how they can best be supported. These recommendations
mightcomefromasurveyorotherdatatoreflectthevaluesofparticipants.
Next steps in this context might stress on creating an environment where
peopleareintrinsicallymotivatedtoachieveorganizationalobjectives.The
definition of need influences recommendations and decisions arising from
a needs assessment.
Summary

Summary
There is nothing so practical as a good theory. Kurt Lewin (1951, p. 169)
Our goal was to rekindle a professional dialogue about what is a need
(andthereby,whatisaneedsassessment).Thechapterbeginswithacasefor
the importance of a clear and consistent definition of needs as the guiding
lightforanyneedsassessmentandevaluationforthatmatter.AsStockman
(2011)posited,“thereisbroadconsensusonthefactthatevaluationsmust
take into account the perspectives and needs of the stakeholders” (p. 36).
Meyer (2011) furthered “evaluation by its definition has primary emphasis
on ‘usefulness’ and its orientation towards the needs of clients and stake-
holders” (p. 135).
With this as a foundation, a variety of meanings were offered
(Table 2.1), along with a framework for thinking about the relationships

embedded in the definitions. Lastly, the implications a selected definition
of need would have on the design, implementation, and results of a needs
assessment were examined.
We hope that there can be a professional debate in the coming years
aboutwhatareneeds,andneedsassessment,andtheirroleinpractice.This
isnottonecessarilycreatebroadconsensusonasingledefinition,butrather
toenhancethefoundationsofresearchandpracticeintheprofessionaswell
asthoseindisciplinescarryingonsimilardebates.Werecognizethatdefin-
ing needs may also limit, or set boundaries around, professional practice.
This is not our intent, rather we want the discussion of needs to expand
bringing in wants, assets, and other important considerations into the dis-
course.
To continue the dialogue, we encourage you to enter conversations

course.
about needs assessment at conferences, write articles sharing experi-
ences, join us on social media (http://www.linkedin.com/groups/Needs-
Assessment-4151483), and to start professional interactions about what is
a“need”thenexttimeaninternalorexternalclientrequestsaneedsassess-
ment (or an evaluation).
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RYANWATKINSis an associate professor at George Washington Univer-
sity in Washington, DC, and founder of www.NeedsAssessment.org and
www.WeShareScience.com .
JOLANTAKAVALEis an independent performance consultant, lecturer, and head
ofCareerCentreatKaunasUniversityofTechnologyinLithuania.
NEWDIRECTIONS FOR EVALUATION•DOI: 10.1002/evAltschuld, J. W., & Watkins, R. (2014). A primer on needs assessment: More than 40 years
ofresearchandpractice.InJ. W.Altschuld&R. Watkins(Eds.), Needsassessment:Trends
andaviewtowardthefuture.NewDirectionsforEvaluation ,144, 5–18.
1
A Primer on Needs Assessment: More Than

1
40 Years of Research and Practice
JamesW.Altschuld,RyanWatkins
Abstract
This chapter consists of an overview of needs assessment’s rich history, defi-
nitions, models, tools, and techniques. These closely align its theory, research,
andpracticetoseveralassociatedfields—mostnotablystrategicplanningand
evaluation.Thehighlightsofthecontentincludeacomparisonto—anddiffer-
entiationfrom—evaluation,abrieftimelineoftherecenthistoryofthefield,the
notableemergenceofhybridassessmentandasset/capacitybuildingapproaches,
some discussion of opposition to needs assessment, and a description of two
prominentmodelsthatguidewhatassessorsdo.Thesummarycapturesthedy-
namic nature of the enterprise and how it is evolving. ©Wiley Periodicals,
Inc., and the American Evaluation Association.

You may be asking what is a primer and why are the editors starting with
one? A primer is simply a book, or in this case a chapter, that is sometimes
usedtogetstudentsstarted.Primerstypicallyassumelittlepriorknowledge
andfocusonbasicskills.Forthis NewDirectionsforEvaluation issue,weare
takingsomelibertieswiththisdescriptionsincemostreaderswillhavesome
understanding of needs assessment. Yet, we believe that clarification and
amplificationaredesirable,sincethetopiccanbecomplexandisfrequently
misunderstood or misapplied.
Association. Published online in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com) •DOI: 10.1002/ev.20099 56NEEDSASSESSMENT :TRENDS AND A VIEWTOWARD THE FUTURE

In that light, the chapter explains what a needs assessment is and its
relation to evaluation. From there is a brief historical discussion, followed
bytwoprominentapproachestoconductinganassessment.Inconclusion,
we offer a quick glimpse of several applications of basic needs assessment
principles. Altogether, we hope that this primer will provide an adequate
base from which you can gain the most from the chapters that follow.
Needs Assessment and Evaluation
Aneedinthesimplestsenseisameasurablegapbetweentwoconditions—
what currently is and what should be. (Watkins & Kavale in Chapter 2 of
thisissueprovideadditionalperspectivesondefiningneeds.)Thisrequires
ascertaining what the circumstances are at a point in time, what is to be
desired in the future, and a comparison of the two. Needs assessment also

includes making judgments with regard to needs and putting them into
prioritized order to guide decisions about what to do next.
Defining the gaps between what we want to accomplish and what we
arecurrentlyachieving,andjudgingtheminrelationtooneanother,makes
theendeavorrathercomplex(Rosen,1991).Theassessmentprocesspoints
to problem areas, issues, or difficulties that should be resolved. In most
contexts,needsassessmentfocusesongapsinresultsratherthaninwantsor
possible solutions. Beyond that, tying needs assessments together with the
identification of assets can provide valuable insights (see Altschuld, Hung,
& Lee, Chapter 7 of this issue) and are best undertaken before beginning
a new effort or before a decision about what to do has been made. Needs
assessments are often considered a form of strategic or program planning

even more than as a type of evaluation (see Wedman, Chapter 4 of this
issue).
Usually when needs are assessed, several are found and there are lim-
ited resources for improvement (closure of those gaps), so, as mentioned
previously,prioritiesmustbeset.Causalanalysis,forexample,maybeem-
ployed to identify which gap might be most amenable to change and for
which a solution strategy has a high likelihood of success (possibly based
onevaluationfrompreviousimplementations).Thisisalsohelpfulinthink-
ingabouthowsolutionscouldbedoneandwhencollectingevaluationdata
would be most useful. By identifying the desired/required state when de-
termining needs, anticipated outcomes to measure later are brought into
perspective. Further, it is to be noted that there are types of needs such as
short-andlong-term,maintenance,severeandslight,andothers(Altschuld

& Kumar, 2010).
Turning to evaluation, it may be thought of as the provision of infor-
mation for making decisions about a program or project. Descriptions of
evaluationfrequentlyrefertoformativeandsummativeevaluation,though
otherframeworkscanbeapplied(Fitzpatrick,Sanders,&Worthen,2004).
Forformativeevaluation,questionsmightbe:Isthenewentitytakingplace
NEWDIRECTIONS FOR EVALUATION•DOI: 10.1002/evAPRIMER ON NEEDSASSESSMENT :MORETHAN40YEARS OFRESEARCH AND PRACTICE 7
as planned, is it performing well? How are the activities proceeding? What
deviations are occurring? Are they on schedule? Are they working as in-
tended? What snags are encountered, is the process being monitored, are
appropriate data being collected, are in-course corrections being made, are
thecomponentsoftheprogramworkinginacomplementaryfashion,etc.?

For summative, or bottom-line, impact, the questions concern: Has the
project attained its objectives? Did it work in an equal fashion for all in-
tended groups? Was it worth the expenditure of precious resources (time,
personnel, materials, etc.)?
In contrast, needs assessment deals with questions such as What re-
sultsshouldbeaccomplishedatthesocietal,organizational,andindividual
levels? How do current results relate to desired results? How should we
think about diverse needs in terms of importance? Which alternative solu-
tion strategies (or sets of solutions) can best reduce gaps in results? What
criteria can be used to evaluate the alternatives?
Needsassessmentisthereforeattimesmoreorientedtoplanningthan
evaluation,soyoumaybeasking“WhyisanissueofNewDirectionsbeing
devotedtoitinsteadofonemorefirmlyseatedinevaluation?”Inreality,the

two concepts (and associated processes) are highly connected in methods
andmission.Thiswasverynoticeabletoasmallnationalgroupofneedsas-
sessors who decided to affiliate with the American Evaluation Association
(AEA) in the mid-1980s. What they observed was that the majority of pro-
gramsandprojectsarepredicatedonquantifiedneeds,perceivedneeds,ora
combinationofthetwo.Ifneedshavebeenidentified,prioritized,andtheir
causesdeterminedwithsolutionsselected,thesefactorscontributedirectly
to evaluation of the project or program—inevitably linking the two fields
of study and practice.
InTable1.1,evaluationandneedsassessmentarecomparedinrelation
to a number of key dimensions to demonstrate similar and unique proper-
ties. The table is intended to be illuminative, not comprehensive.

Other dimensions could be included in Table 1.1, but these hopefully
suffice for clarifying why a national group of needs assessors selected AEA
as its home. The two fields of study and practice are intertwined processes
with a sharp demarcation between them being superficial, or even artifi-
cial. Needs assessment takes place early in the development of programs
and feeds into the other, which is most common during implementation
and operation. The idea of discrepancy readily applies when a program or
project is being monitored or evaluated—thus the thinking is in tandem.
Indeed, gaps in outcomes could be considered as input into recycling back
to the need that guided the program’s design in the first place.
One popular evaluation model (Context, Input, Process, and Prod-

uct, or CIPP) developed by Stufflebeam in the 1960s (now being revisited
by Stufflebeam & Coryn, 2014) embedded needs assessment into evalu-
ation. More specifically, Context includes needs as the platform for new
projects and interventions; from there, it moves to the examination of
NEWDIRECTIONS FOR EVALUATION•DOI: 10.1002/evTable 1.1. Evaluation and Needs Assessment: Some Similar and Unique Properties
Evaluation Dimension NeedsAssessment
Evaluation occurs after a project or program has
begun and often continuously thereafter.Where does it take place in the
life of a project or program?Assessments occur before (or at the beginning)
when an intervention, project, or program isimplemented.
Determine how well the intervention is progressing
and eventually achieves its intended ends.Purpose of the activity Determine important gaps and what ends are the

targets, what are likely solution strategies, theirkey features, and what potentially might beevaluated in terms of anticipated results.
Logic maps, ideally developed during program
planning, are used in evaluation as a guidepostfor formative and summative evaluations.Use of logic maps Strategically define logic maps (or theories of
change) to influence program or project design;causal analyses may lead to maps of solutions.
Evaluation practice calls for meaningful
involvement of constituencies in identifyingmajor outcomes and even in interpretation ofobtained data.Involvement of concerned
constituenciesIn the past, assessments were done more by the
assessor, but following the lead of evaluation arenow more inclusive of the active participation ofconstituencies (see Chapter 7 of this issue).

Evaluation utilizes a range of methods and views
qualitative and quantitative ones ascomplementary.Methods and procedures In practice, they are similar to evaluation regarding
a range of qualitative and quantitative methods,but there are several specialized to needsassessment due to the planning focus, includinggap analysis, causal analysis, prioritizationstrategies, and procedures for comparingsolution strategies.
Evaluation is incorporated into nearly every public
endeavor as a requirement of granting agencies.It is part of the accountability scene.Frequency of formal
employment of the activityAssessment is not observed as often as evaluation,
perhaps because funding is often being linked topredetermined solutions and a desire to movequickly into action.APRIMER ON NEEDSASSESSMENT :MORETHAN40YEARS OFRESEARCH AND PRACTICE 9

varied inputs (solutions) to deal with the inherent problems. For Stuffle-
beam, assessment and evaluation could not be thought of apart from each
other.
Other evaluation schema should be brought into the discussion. Em-
powerment and participatory approaches are strong in terms of the inclu-
sion of involved groups and individuals in deciding what the evaluation is
to be about—what variables are most critical to a project, how might they
bemeasured,whatshouldwebelookingintermsofsuccess,howwouldwe
know that a project is moving along properly, what levels of participation
should be there, and so forth? Analogously, these are likewise characteris-
tics of high-quality needs assessments and ones that are more frequently
posited in the literature.

Assessments necessitate a careful examination of how to modify or
even completely alleviate needs. They elucidate the best ways to do so and
direct evaluators toward where to look at how programs operate and the
impacts or effects they might have. This usually leads to greater program
accountability and more sophisticated evaluations.
Opposition to Needs Assessment and the Emergence of Hybrids
As the concept of needs assessment was emerging in the 1960s and 1970s,
sharp criticisms were appearing. One was that many of the then-new
modelsweremoreheavilytop-down,outside-in,andfrequentlythosemost
affected by the needs came into the process as “subjects” instead of collab-
orators(orcotravelers)onthejourney(Altschuld,2014).Anotherconcern
was that most approaches were too focused on quantifying needs, pushing

assessmenttorelyonindicatorsfromdatabasesorLikert-typescalesurveys.
Such assessments were not humanistic and did not get to the subtleties of
thehumanconditionthatcouldbeunderstoodbyutilizingqualitativedata
on perceived or felt needs for identifying deficiencies and opportunities.
Because of these limitations, assessments were sometimes viewed as not
very useful or a waste of time and money. Often they did not produce out-
comes that led to significant, long-lasting change. Eventually, factors like
these prompted the strident attack on the very premise of the enterprise.
In1993,KretzmannandMcKnightnotedthatnotmuchwillcomefrom
assessing needs because they are seen as deficits, things that are wrong or
amiss,ormissing.Thisisfundamentaltotheirargument(Altschuld,Hung,
& Lee, Chapter 7 of this issue). When communities remain focused on

deficits, they argued, they can lose direction and may not be empowered.
Thedependencymindsetcanconstrainacommunityororganization,keep-
ingitfromseeingwhatispossiblewiththevariedresourcesithas.Inother
words, the collective can become devoid of strength in their view. Seeking
resources from outside is not necessarily a bad thing, but they assert it can
rob the spirit and soul of power. Metaphorically, the argument is that the
needsassessmentprocessitselfpushedpeopletosee“theglassashalfempty,
NEWDIRECTIONS FOR EVALUATION•DOI: 10.1002/ev10NEEDSASSESSMENT :TRENDS AND A VIEWTOWARD THE FUTURE
not half full”. Building from assets and capacities (half full) rather than
solely needs (half empty) was viewed as a way to enhance moving ahead.
For a time, this perspective led to an increasing number of asset/capacity

building efforts rather than needs assessments in some public-sector
contexts.
Ofcourse,tocontinuethemetaphor,theglassisbothhalffullandhalf
empty, so it is not that needs assessments at the time were giving an inac-
curate view of the situation; rather, they were not giving the full picture.
An approach that can strike a balance across both views is therefore po-
tentially most useful. Recently, a hybrid of the two has been emerging, and
many of such efforts include a healthy reverence for evaluation being part
ofthem(Altschuld,2014;Altschuld,Hung,&Lee,Chapter7ofthisissue).
Acomprehensive framework ofneedsassessmentandasset/capacity build-
ing with evaluation integrated into it would be very utilitarian. Most of us
today hopefully see these as intertwined processes within a system, not as

separate or independent ones. It has taken some years to reach this point,
with guidance from work both within the fields of needs assessment and
evaluation, as well as from outside (e.g., systems theory, positive psychol-
ogy, and appreciative inquiry). How has this transformation taken place?
What were some of the main events and periods in the evolution of needs
assessment to where it is today?
A Timeline for the Development of Needs Assessment
Going back to the very beginning of our existence as human beings we
might suspect that need is embedded in our innate fiber. Coming very
much forward from the murky start of us as a species, the Egyptian Book
of the Dead contains references to what a person would “need” to survive
in the afterlife. Of course, that assertion cannot be proved. Leap forward

a few thousand years, and Hansen (1991) showed that we continued to
attack problems and issues by looking at discrepancies (or needs), even
if they were not called by that name. This was observed across fields and
contexts. The idea of need for humans is also inherent in the writings
of Abraham Maslow. But for this chapter, and the others in this issue, a
distinction must be made that “need” refers to those of individuals and
groupsinorganizational,community,andsocietalsettings,nottheMaslow
connotation that focuses on psychological motivation.
Table 1.2 contains a number of historical events that have shaped
understanding of needs and their assessment. Some significant contribu-
tors to the history of needs assessment, as well as evaluation, are also in-
cluded.Thetableisabroadbrushstroke,notadetailedlistingofeverything

that has taken place and all contributors. It depicts, nevertheless, how NA
progressed and evolved over time. The timeline starts in the mid-1960s
when federal mandates with required needs assessments came onto the
scene.
NEWDIRECTIONS FOR EVALUATION•DOI: 10.1002/evTable 1.2. Overview of Timeline of Modern Needs Assessment
TimePeriod NatureofEvent(s) Contributors
Theearlyyears
(mid-1950s to mid-1960s)Maslow popularizes the concept of need in
psychology and the term enters the nationaldiscourse on education
Elementary and Secondary Education Act
(ESEA) of 1965 called for the determinationof the needs for programs and projects
CIPP evaluation model produced in 1965Bernard James questions the role of needs in
defining educational goals (James, 1956)
Congress of the United StatesStufflebeam develops early version of CIPP
Theformativeperiod

(mid-1960s through about 1980)Many needs assessments being done, especially
in public schools
Major study of those assessmentsWritings and presentations of some prominent
authors
Prominent criticisms appearTom Gilbert begins the dialogue of needs in
terms of training requirements (Gilbert,1967)
Witkin conducts nationwide study of needs
assessments conducted in school districts
Warheit et al. book is written (Warheit, Bell, &
Schwab, 1977)
Kaufman begins development of his
Organizational Elements Model andpublishes several books (see Notes below) onconducting needs assessment (especially withthe education sector)
Scriven and Roth paper published in New
DirectionsforProgramEvaluation (Scriven &
Roth, 1978)
Kamis’ major analysis of the criticisms of NA;
Monette’s critique of philosophicalassumptions (Kamis, 1979)
The first (and only) National Needs Assessment

Conference was held in Oakland, California.The conference was sponsored by theNational Institute of Education and theInternational Society of Educational Planners
(Continued )Table 1.2. Continued
Comingofagebutsomeheadwinds
(1980s through the early 1990s)A heyday of watershed events in NA
At least four major books are written and gain
wide acceptance
Small number of courses devoted to NA are at
several universities
Small national needs assessment group joins
AEA
Criticisms reappear toward the latter part of the
periodWitkin, Kaufman, Neuber, and Lauffer all
produce books on various aspects of the topic(see Notes below)
Courses on needs assessment within evaluation

programs get started at Southern Illinois,Utah State, and Ohio State; already integratedin instructional curricula in several programs
Rossett popularized term in the training field
(Rossett, 1987)
The models or approaches of Witkin and
Kaufman take shape
Productiveyearsbutchallenges
(Early 1990s through the early 2000s)Rejoinders to the criticisms by Witkin
Attack on needs assessment from an
asset/capacity building stance
Asset/capacity building efforts take off based on
wanting to start from a positive notneeds-oriented position
Major new books on NA are publishedWitkin takes on the critics
Kretzmann and McKnight harshly note the
negatives of assessment (Kretzmann &McKnight, 1993)
Altschuld and Witkin write two books and
Gupta generates one oriented towardbusiness settings (Altschuld & Witkin, 2000;Gupta, 1999)

Kaufman continues to publish several books on
needs assessments (especially within
private-sector organizations)
Scriven and Roth paper reissued by the
American Evaluation Association
Buildingafoundationforthingstocome
(Early 2000s through nearly the end of
the decade)Major paper about the placement of NA in
organizations
Papers about the Performance Pyramid and the
NA and evaluation survey
Persistence of NA-TIG group at AEA as a viable
entity
Emergence of hybrid-like needs assessment and
asset/capacity building efforts appear
More books about needs assessmentFor papers see Altschuld, Wedman, and
Watkins, and Watkins and Kaufman, each
pushing needs assessment in new directions
The five-volume Needs Assessment Kit, edited

by Altschuld (see Notes below)
Gupta, Sleezer, and Russ-Eft (2014)
Comingintofruitionandmaturity
(2010 to the present)Books continuing to appear, applications in
international situations
More examples of hybrid assessment are seen in
the literature
This issue is producedGupta, Sleezer, and Russ-Eft; Watkins, West
Meiers, and Visser; Kaufman and Guerra; and
Altschuld all produce new books on needs
assessments
Notes:Ananimatedtimelineisavailableatwww.NeedsAssessment.org.Theco-authorsalsosuggestthatreadersconsultthefollowingsupplementalsourc eswhich
areinchronologicalorder:James(1956);Gilbert(1967);Stufflebeam(1968);Kaufman(1972);EnglishandKaufman(1975);Kamis(1979);Warheiteta l.(1977);

ScrivenandRoth(1978);Monette(1979);KaufmanandEnglish(1979);Neuber,Atkins,Jacobson,andReuterman(1980);Lauffer(1982);Rossett(1987 );Kaufman
(1992);Kaufman(1998);Gupta(1999);Kaufman(2000);WatkinsandKaufman(2002);Altschuld(2004);Gupta,Sleezer,andRuss-Eft(2007);Altschul d(2010);
Watkins, West Meiers, and Visser (2012); and Gupta, Sleezer, and Russ-Eft (2014).14NEEDSASSESSMENT :TRENDS AND A VIEWTOWARD THE FUTURE
Parsing all the history and exceptional contributions that have shaped
the study and practice of needs assessment is beyond the scope of the
primer. In our judgment, however, two seminal contributions are most
salient to understanding how needs assessment has evolved in recent
decades, and those are the models (or approaches) of Belle Ruth Witkin
and Roger Kaufman. We should mention that the coeditors have been in-

fluenceddeeplyby,andhavebeenlong-termcollaboratorswith,boththese
thoughtleadersinthefield.KaufmanandWitkinwerepioneers,andindeed
friends. Through their mentorship both also planted the strong roots that
sustainedthefieldasitgrew.Witkindiedin1998,whileKaufmancontinues
to be an active contributor (Kaufman & Guerra-Lopez, 2013).
The Approaches of Witkin and Kaufman
In1984,Witkinpublishedwhathascometobeseenasthetheoreticaltome
onthetopic.Inthatbookshementioned,althoughnotprominently,athree-
phase model of assessment that was in its early stages of development. By
the early 1990s, she along with the first coeditor (Altschuld) were ready
to push the field forward with a new book and systematized approach to
needsassessment(Witkin&Altschuld,1995).Init,theygreatlyexpanded
explanationsofthethreephases,includingthestepsandtoolswithineach.

Later,theanalysisofwhatmightbedoneineachphasecontinuedtoexpand
(Altschuld & Kumar, 2010; Altschuld & Witkin, 2000). Based on Witkin’s
original conceptualization, the most recent version of the three-phase ap-
proach is provided in Table 1.3.
Concurrent to the advancements being offered by Witkin (and sub-
sequently by Witkin and Altschuld), Kaufman was applying a systems-
engineering perspective to the goals of identifying and prioritizing needs.
InitiallyfocusingonU.S.educationalreforminthe1970sandlateronfind-
ingapplicationsinbothglobalpublicandprivateinstitutions,applyingthe
systemsperspectivetoneedsassessmentledtoKaufman’sOrganizationEle-
mentsModel(OEM)asakeyelementofsystemicassessmentandplanning.
Nottobeconfusedwithaprocessmodel(suchasthethree-phaseapproach

describedabove),theOEMisaframeworkwiththreeeternallylinkedtypes
of needs: gaps in results at the societal level (Mega), organizational level
(Macro), and individual/team level (Micro). Discrepancies at each of these
levels of the framework then must be aligned with the Processes and In-
putsthatdrivethesystem(Table1.4).Kaufman’sinfluentialwritingsonthe
OEM, and the processes for assessing needs within his framework, largely
provided a specialized theory base for needs assessments.
Summary
This primer onneeds assessment is intended to provide anoverview of the
field’s rich history, definitions, models, tools, and techniques that closely
NEWDIRECTIONS FOR EVALUATION•DOI: 10.1002/evTable 1.3. Witkin’s Three Phases of Needs Assessment (as Updated in Altschuld & Kumar, 2010)
Phase Nature Methods’Overview

Phase 1: Preassessment The purpose is to do reconnaissance to see what the situation
is about: Is there a need or are there needs, and are they of
sufficient scope and depth to be pursued further (usually
under the aegis of an organization or community Needs
Assessment Committee [NAC])?
The phase relies on existing information and data before
going into the expensive and time-consuming second one.
Phase 1 could lead to decisions such as do nothing more
because the needs aren’t there; go to Phase 2 and do more
extensive data collection; or go to Phase 3 (action plans to
resolve the needs uncovered).Data in records
Databases
Information from the literature
Data existing of routinely kept by external agencies
Evaluation reports if availableInformal or a small set of interviews
Observations
Other methods as appropriate

Phase 2: Assessment If Phase 1 did not provide enough understanding about
needs and more was required, you enter into Phase 2.
In-depth surveying, deeper analyses of existing sources,
looking for more information, detailed exploration of the
literature, and intensifying the collection of data.
This phase may get into such things as the causal analysis of
needs(possiblytolookingforpotentialsolutionstrategies)
and the prioritization of needs.
Decisions are to go no further or that we know enough and
have needs-based priorities to plan and initiate solutions
(Phase 3).Formal and specialized surveying
Individual and focus group interviews
Collecting more literature to illuminate needs and solutionsFormal causal analyses
Formal prioritization strategies
Other procedures as appropriate

Phase 3: Postassessment Taking what was learned in Phases 1 and 2 and beginning to
initiate actions to rectify needs.
Phase3overlapswiththelastpartofPhase2,so,ifnecessary,
some of the activities might be done in more detail.
Hopefully, in this phase we might get to implementing action
plans and evaluating how well the solutions were working.
Lastly, this phase would include strategies for evaluating the
needs assessment itself.Many of the procedures indicated above, especially formal
and in-depth causal analyses and prioritization
Action plan related activities such as benchmarking,
multiattribute utility theory
Formative and summative evaluation proceduresTable 1.4. Kaufman’s OEM (as Updated in Kaufman & Guerra-Lopez, 2013)

OrganizationalElement Examples NeedsAssessmentLevel TypeofPlanning KeyStakeholder
Outcomes : societal results
and consequencesQuality of life,
health,self-sufficiency,
gainfully employed graduatesMega Strategic planning Clients, client’s clients, community,
society
Outputs: organizational
resultsProfits, sales, patients discharged,
graduatesMacro Tactical planning Organization itself
Products: en-route results
or building blocks; note
there may be multiplelevels of productsCompetent employees, courses
completed, assembled vehicles,
medical procedures completed,accomplished/met standardsMicro Operational
PlanningIndividual and groups of employees or
performers
Processes: interventions,
solutions, methodsTeaching, training, learning,
manufacturing, selling,

managing, marketingQuasi Action planning Individual and groups of employees or
Inputs: resources Funding, employees, equipment,
regulations, standardsQuasi Resource planning Individual and groups of employees or
performersAPRIMER ON NEEDSASSESSMENT :MORETHAN40YEARS OFRESEARCH AND PRACTICE 17
alignitstheory,research,andpractice.Atthesametime,wehavehopefully
illustrated that needs assessment is closely associated with, and works in
conjunctionwith,severalotherfields—mostnotablystrategicplanningand
evaluation, sometimes borrowing on the tools and techniques of both to
guide practice and at other times deriving theoretical constructs to shape
research. As a result, we believe, needs assessment has undergone several
transformations over the past half century to become a dynamic field that

improves the quality of decisions being made in a wide variety of contexts.
Thehistoryofneedsassessmentislikewiserichonseveraldimensions,
includingthatit(a)islargelyinfluencedbypublic-andprivate-sectorappli-
cations (see Engle & Altschuld, Chapter 3 of this issue; Wedman, Chapter
4ofthisissue;andLepicki&Boggs,Chapter5ofthisissue);(b)drawsex-
tensivelyontheliteratureofvarieddisciplines,includingbutnotlimitedto
evaluation;and(c)hascontinuedtoevolvewhileotherrelatedprocessesbe-
came yesterday’s fad. Though much smaller in scale than other sister fields
(e.g., evaluation), needs assessment has been able to maintain its utility
to practitioners while developing its own research-based theoretical foun-
dations and specialized tools. Fueled by exceptionally productive thought
leaders, such as Witkin and Kaufman, the field has continued to flourish

withinvariedcontexts(evaluation,performanceimprovement,andorgani-
zational development). Inits latest stage, the future of needs assessment as
it moves to integrate asset/capacity building looks bright.
Altschuld, J. W. (2004). Emerging dimensions of needs assessment. Performance Im-
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Altschuld,J.W.,&Kumar,D.D.(2010). Needsassessment:Anoverview .ThousandOaks,
CA: Sage.
Altschuld, J. W., & Witkin, B. R. (2000). From needs assessment to action: Translating
needsintosolutionstrategies . Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

CA: Sage.
English, F. W., & Kaufman, R. (1975). Needs assessment: Focus for curriculum develop-
ment. Washington, DC: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development
(ASCD).
Fitzpatrick,J.L.,Sanders,J.R.,&Worthen,B.R.(2004). Programevaluation:Alternative
approachesandpracticalguidelines . Boston, MA: Pearson Education.
Gilbert, T. (1967). Praxeonomy: A systematic approach to identifying training needs.
ManagementofPersonnelQuarterly ,6(3), 20–33.
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doctoral dissertation). The Ohio State University, Columbus.
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NEWDIRECTIONS FOR EVALUATION•DOI: 10.1002/ev A Guide to 
Assessing
Needs
Essential Tools for Collecting 
Information, Making Decisions, and Achieving Development Results
Ryan Watkins, Maurya West Meiers, 
Yusra Laila Visser
Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized A Guide to 
Assessing
Needs A Guide to 
Assessing
Needs
Maurya West MeiersYusra Laila Visser© 2012 International Bank for Reconstruction and Development / 
International Development Association or The World Bank1818 H Street NWWashington DC 20433Telephone: 202-473-1000Internet: www.worldbank.org

1 2 3 4  14 13 12 11 This volume is a product of the staff   of The World Bank with external contributions. 
The ﬁ  ndings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this volume do not 
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governments they represent.
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ISBN (paper): 978-0-8213-8868-6
ISBN (electronic): 978-0-8213-8901-0DOI: 10.1596/978-0-8213-8868-6
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Watkins, Ryan. A guide to assessing needs : essential tools for collecting information, making decisions, and achieving development results / by Ryan Watkins, Maurya West Meiers, Yusra Visser.  p.  cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-8213-8868-6 (alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-8213-8901-0 (electronic : alk. paper) 1. Economic development projects—Evaluation. 2. Economic development projects—Planning. 3. Organizational eff  ectiveness—Evaluation. 
4. Employees—Training of—Evaluation. I. West Meiers, Maurya, 1967–  II. Visser, Yusra Laila. III. Title.  HD75.9. W38 2011  338.91068’4—dc23
2011039603
Cover design: Naylor DesignvPreface. Our Value Proposition xi
Acknowledgments xiiiAbout the Authors xv
Introduction 1 
What Is This Book About? 1Who Can Beneﬁ  t from This Book? 4
Why Should I Care about Needs Assessments? 5

How Will This Book Help Me Collect Information? 8
How Will This Book Help Me Make Decisions? 9How Will This Book Help Me Accomplish Results? 10
Why Does This Book Focus on Tools, Techniques, Guides, 
and Checklists? 11
Section 1.  Needs Assessment: Frequently Asked Questions 15
Introduction 15
Mind the Gaps 16Why Call It Needs Assessment? 18
What Is a Needs Assessment? 19
Then, What Is a Need? 20What Is Meant by Improving Performance? 22
What Are the Beneﬁ  ts of a Needs Assessment? 25
Aren’t We Already Doing This? 26When Should We Conduct a Needs Assessment? 27Are Needs Assessments Just for Reacting to Problems? 30Aren’t Needs Assessments Too Rigid? 32How Does a Needs Assessment Relate to Other Tools You Are 
Already Using? 33CONTENTSvi A Guide to Assessing NeedsIsn’t an Evaluation the Same Thing? 34

Don’t We Already Know What Works? 35Can’t You Just Send Out a Survey Asking People What They Want? 36
Section Summary 36
Section 2.  Needs Assessment: Steps to Success 39
Introduction 39
How Do You Determine the Scope of Your Needs Assessment? 39Where Do You Begin? 44
How Do You Conduct a Basic Needs Assessment? 46
How Do You Conduct a Larger-Scale Needs Assessment? 50Who Should Be Involved in a Needs Assessment? 53
How Long Will a Needs Assessment Take? 55
How Do You Manage a Needs Assessment? 56Where Does a Project’s Logic Model Fit In? 58What Types of Data Should You Collect? 62Which Tools and Techniques from This Book Should You Use? 65When Do You Have Enough Information? 66
How Do You Use the Information You Collected to Make Decisions? 68What Activities Should You Consider as Solutions? 70How Do You Decide Which Activities to Implement? 71How Do You Know When You Are Done with Your Needs

Assessment? 73
What Should Go in a Needs Assessment Report and Presentation? 75
Section 3.  Needs Assessment: Tools and Techniques 81
Introduction 81
Part 3A. Data Collection Tools and Techniques 83
Document or Data Review  84
Guided Expert Reviews  89Management of Focus Groups  95
Interviews 106
Dual-Response Surveys  116SWOT+ 127World Café™ (with “Speed Dating” Variation) 132Delphi Technique 137Performance Observations 144Task Analysis (Hierarchical or Sequential, If-Then, and Model-Based) 148
Cognitive Task Analysis  156Contents  viiPart 3B. Decision-Making Tools and Techniques 165
Nominal Group Technique (A Group Consensus-Building and 
Ranking Technique) 166
Multicriteria Analysis  171
Tabletop Analysis 180
Pair-Wise Comparison 1872 × 2 Matrix Decision Aids  191
Fishbone Diagrams 197Scenarios 202Root Cause Analysis 207Fault Tree Analysis 214Concept Mapping 220Future Wheel 228Performance Pyramid 236
Appendix A. Management and Implementation Guides 
and Checklists 245

A.1. Implementation Plan for a Needs Assessment 247
A.2.  Detailed Checklist for Needs Assessment Management Activities 255
A.3. A Six-Week Needs Assessment Implementation Guide 265
A.4. Tools and Techniques to Consider 269
A.5.  Guide to Selecting Tools and Techniques (Applied Multicriteria 
Analysis) 273
A.6.  Three-Phase Needs Assessment Process with Additional Details 277
Abbreviations 285
References and Recommended Readings 287Index 293Boxes
I.1 Two Approaches to a Decision 3
I.2 Information-Gathering Tools in Part 3.A 9I.3 Decision-Making Tools in Part 3.B 9
1.1 Activities, Not Needs 17
1.2 Needs (Example 1) 211.3 Needs (Example 2) 22viii A Guide to Assessing Needs1.4 Example of a Systemic Perspective 26
1.5 From A to Z: An Example (Part 1) 301.6 Gaining Flexibility 33
1.7 From A to Z: An Example (Part 2) 34
2.1 Tasks in a Needs Assessment 452.2 Information-Gathering Tools in Part 3.A 48

2.3 Decision-Making Tools in Part 3.B 492.4 Finding Options: An Example 692.5 Continuing Role: An Example 753A.1 Source Samples 853A.2 Sample Uses of Focus Groups 953A.3 Sample Uses of Performance Observations 1443B.1 Sample Uses of Root Cause Analysis 207
Figures
I.1 General Performance Improvement Framework 6
I.2  Needs Assessment within a Performance Improvement Framework 7
1.1 Relating Needs to Discrepancies between What Is 
(Current Results) and What Should Be (Desired Results) 20
1.2 Needs Assessment Cycles 31

2.1 Needs Assessment Phases and Basic Steps 502.2 Logic Models for Planning, Monitoring, and Evaluating 592.3 Logic Models as a Needs Assessment Framework 613A.1 Expanded Versions of the SWOT Matrix (SWOT+) 1303A.2 Example of a Hierarchical Task Analysis Graphic 1513A.3 Example of an If-Then Task Analysis Graphic 1523A.4 Example of a Model-Based Task Analysis Graphic 154
3B.1 A Basic Fishbone Diagram 1993B.2 An Annotated Fishbone Diagram 1993B.3 Example of a Basic Fault Tree Analysis 2173B.4 Example of a Basic Concept Map to Illustrate Relationships 2253B.5 Example of a Basic Concept Map with Clusters Overlaid on 
Individual Statements 226
3B.6 Sample Future Wheel 2343B.7 Wedman’s Performance Pyramid 238
Tables
1.1 Sample Paths That Lead to a Needs Assessment 28

Tables
2.1 Three Scopes for Needs Assessments 41Contents   ix2.2 Sample Partners in a Needs Assessment for Regional 
Planning 54
2.3 Examples of Data-Collection Tools and Techniques for Each 
Data Type 64
2.4 Typology of Needs 74
2.5 Typical Contents of a Needs Assessment Report and 
Presentation 76
3A.1 Examples of Different Rating Scales 119
3A.2 Example of a Completed Survey 1203A.3 Example of an Analysis of the Completed Survey 1213A.4 Traditional SWOT Matrix 1293B.1 Multicriteria Analysis Table Example 1753B.2 Multicriteria Analysis Table Example (with Weighted Criteria) 176
3B.3 Sample of a Completed Pair-Wise Comparison Table 1893B.4 Differing Perspectives Example A: Prioritizing Needs 
(Youth Employment) 194
3B.5 Differing Perspectives Example B: Comparing Potential 
Solutions (Organizational Performance) 194

3B.6 Rewards vs. Risks Example C: Addressing Needs 
(Project Completion Delays) 195
3B.7 Rewards vs. Risks Example D: Implementing Solutions 
(Employee Mentoring) 195
3B.8 Root Cause Summary Table 210A.5.1 Tools and Techniques Selection Rating 274
A.5.2 Example of the Tools and Techniques Selection Rating 274 xiPREFACE. OUR VALUE 
PROPOSITION
The earliest decisions that lead to development projects (or programs) are

The earliest decisions that lead to development projects (or programs) are 
among the most critical in determining long-term success. This phase of project development transforms exciting ideas into project proposals, thereby setting the stage for a variety of actions that will eventually lead (if all goes well) to desirable results. From deciding to propose a sanitation project in South Asia to selecting approaches that strengthen school man-agement in South America, those early decisions are the starting place of development results. 
Needs assessments support this earliest phase of project development 
with p roven approaches to gathering information and making justiﬁ  able 
decisions. This book, in turn, is your guide to assessing needs and then mak-ing essential decisions about what to do next. You will ﬁ  nd that this book—

ﬁ lled with practical strategies, tools, and guides—covers both large-scale, 
formal needs assessments and less-formal assessments that guide daily deci-sions. Included in the book is a blend of rigorous methods and realistic tools that can help you make informed and reasoned decisions. Together, these methods and tools off  er a comprehensive, yet realistic, approach to identify-
ing needs and selecting among alternative ways as you go forward.
The early phase of project or program development is challenging, even 
for the most seasoned professionals. The phase sometimes begins with a noteworthy change (such as a natural disaster or the ambitions of a new government) or a request (such as when a ministry offi   cial asks for help to

achieve mandated results). But more often than not, the concepts that lead to signiﬁ  cant accomplishments come out of simple conversations (such as 
those that take place almost every day in the offi   ces of government or devel-
opment agencies). The concept—sometimes a question, sometimes an iden-tiﬁ ed need, and sometimes a potential solution—is thereby the precursor to 
decisions that lead to actions and activities that, we hope, lead to results. xii A Guide to Assessing NeedsAmong the critical early decisions of development projects are consider-
ations of establishing essential partnerships, funding opportunities, being aware of potential unintended consequences, and building capacity to achieve results. Aligning these early decisions with the results to be accom-plished often sets the stage for future success. Needs assessments provide the structure and tools to collect information and to guide these (and other) important decisions.

Written in what we believe to be a sensible format, this book makes it 
easy for you to quickly refer to the essential tools that you want while plan-ning and conducting your next needs assessment—or while making your next decision. The book has no long chapters or complex formulas—just adaptive resources that give you the ﬂ  exibility to use them to accomplish 
results within your context. 
Sections 1 and 2 off  er quick, yet full, answers to many frequently asked 
questions regarding how to make justiﬁ  able decisions. Next, section 3 
examines a variety of tools and techniques that can be used for both collect-ing information and making decisions. Appendix A then off  ers a number of 
checklists and guides for managing the systematic assessment processes that lead to quality decisions. Finally, the reference list at the end of the book is a valuable resource to research, tools, and discussions of needs assessment.
Collectively, the book represents a unique—and useful—resource for

Collectively, the book represents a unique—and useful—resource for 
development professionals. The book is intended to be a user’s guide, lead-ing you from an initial concept to a decision about what to do next. Whether you are making decisions about how to improve  the capacity of ministry 
employees or choosing which infrastructure project will best achieve desired development goals, conducting needs assessments can lead to better and more informed decisions. This book off  ers a variety of needs assessment 
tools that can strengthen your decisions across numerous contexts. 
Note : For the convenience of our readers, copies of the individual tools are 
available and can be downloaded as single PDF ﬁ  les at http://www.needs 
assessment.org. xiiiACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We would like to express our appreciation and gratitude for the encourage-

ment, contributions, and patience that we have received from our spouses and families throughout the development of this book. We would especially like to thank the following for their support: Christina Gee, Jordan Gee, Ryder Gee, Don Meiers, and Ray Amirault.
We would also like to thank our colleagues who have contributed ideas 
that became part of this book, including Roger Kaufman, James Altschuld, Patrick Grasso, Michael Bamberger, Samuel Otoo, Joy Behrens, and Violaine Le Rouzic. For their excellent work on the production and editing of this book, we thank Stephen McGroarty, Cindy Fisher, and Nora Ridolﬁ   of 
the World Bank Offi   ce of the Publisher and Barbara Hart of Publications 
Professionals.
Finally, we would like to thank the many participants in our courses and

Finally, we would like to thank the many participants in our courses and 
workshops who have, over the years, helped us develop our ideas and have provided the real world challenges that pushed us to further reﬁ  ne our 
thinking. 
About the World Bank Institute Capacity 
Development and Results Practice (WBICR)
WBICR provides advisory services, knowledge products, action research, 
and knowledge sharing that inform and support the design and manage-ment of results-focused capacity development strategies, policies, and pro-grams. For more information, email capacity4change@worldbank.org. xvABOUT THE AUTHORS
Ryan Watkins, Ph.D., is an associate professor at the George Washington 
University in Washington, DC. He is an author of several books, including the Handbook for Improving Performance in the Workplace , Vol. 2:  Selecting

University in Washington, DC. He is an author of several books, including the Handbook for Improving Performance in the Workplace , Vol. 2:  Selecting 
and Implementing Performance Interventions , co-edited with Doug Leigh 
(2010); Performance by Design: The Systematic Selection, Design, and Devel-
opment of  Performance Technologies That Produce Useful Results  (2007);
75 e-Learning Activities:  Making Online Learning Interactive  (2005); and the 
best-selling e-Learning Companion: A Student’s Guide to Online Success , 
co-authored with Mike Corry (2010). 
In addition, he has co-authored two other books on planning and more

In addition, he has co-authored two other books on planning and more 
than 90 articles on instructional design, strategic planning, needs assess-ment, distance education, and performance technology. In 2005, Watkins was a visiting scientist with the National Science Foundation. He has  consulted with the World Bank since 2003, including work in China and the Lao People’s Democratic Republic. For more information, please visit http://www.ryanrwatkins.com or http://www.needsassessment.org.
Maurya West Meiers  is an evaluation offi   cer with the World Bank Insti-
tute (WBI). She has been a team leader of a monitoring and evaluation 
(M&E) training program at WBI and has trained government professionals

(M&E) training program at WBI and has trained government professionals 
in Europe, Asia, and Latin America about M&E and needs assessment top-ics. As a World Bank employee, she has provided M&E and needs assess-ment advisory services to government agency employees across a range of areas and sectors, including municipal services, infrastructure projects, pri-mary and secondary education, social protection, and health. Most recently, she has provided needs assessment training and advisory services for gov-ernment ministries in China and the Lao People’s Democratic Republic. She holds a master’s degree in international aff  airs (specializing in economics) 
and a second master’s degree in education, both from the George Washing-ton University.xvi A Guide to Assessing NeedsYusra Laila Visser, Ph.D., is a faculty member at Florida Atlantic University

and a second master’s degree in education, both from the George Washing-ton University.xvi A Guide to Assessing NeedsYusra Laila Visser, Ph.D., is a faculty member at Florida Atlantic University 
and coordinates the Digital Education Teacher’s Academy. The academy is a K-20 collaboration between Florida Atlantic University and Broward County, one of the largest school districts in the United States. Previously, Visser held positions as assistant professor in instructional technology at Florida Atlantic University and at Wayne State University. She was project manager for a major distance learning initiative at Florida State University and program associate for International Programs at Education Develop-ment Center. 
As a consultant, Visser has served clients including the U.S. Department 
of Homeland Security, the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Aff  airs, the U.S.

of Homeland Security, the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Aff  airs, the U.S. 
Navy, the World Bank, and the United Nations. Her doctorate degree is in instructional systems from Florida State University.1Introduction
What Is This Book About?
In short, this book is about making informed and justiﬁ  able decisions— 
decisions that achieve development results. More speciﬁ  cally, they are deci-
sions that move you, your agency or institution, or entire nations from achieving current results to accomplishing desired results.
From deciding which computer to buy, to determining how to imp rove

From deciding which computer to buy, to determining how to imp rove 
the performance capacity of a government ministry, numerous decisions must be made every day. Many are routine; others are extraordinary. Some are complex; some are rather straightforward. At times, the decision is yours alone, or it may require collaboration with partners or clients. Some deci-sions are guided by policies, others by laws, others by traditions, and still others are unique to the situation. Regardless of the characteristics, all of us make decisions that sometimes lead to useful results. At other times—well, most of us would rather not talk about those other times when our decisions led to less-than-desirable results.
Making good decisions about what to do is not easy, nor should it be taken

Making good decisions about what to do is not easy, nor should it be taken 
for granted. All of us must continually work on improving our ability to make quality decisions as we study and reﬂ  ect on what leads up to our mak-
ing a decision and taking action. The change may come through coaching by a mentor or attending a training course. Y ou may imp rove y our decisions 
after listening to an audiobook or observing the decisions of a colleague. The 2 A Guide to Assessing Needsmanagement section of any bookstore is ﬁ  lled with books on ho w to imp rove 
decisions in the workplace just as the self-help section is ﬁ  lled with volumes 
on how to imp rove decisions in your personal life.
Yet, no matter what we are doing to improve  our decisions, we make

Yet, no matter what we are doing to improve  our decisions, we make 
decisions each day. Most of us are already using a variety of activities to inform our decisions before we jump into action. Leading up to the actual decision and the resulting action, such activities are the precursors that  typically deﬁ  ne the quality of the decision-making process, as well as the 
decision itself. From our reviewing lessons learned in previous projects to interviewing community members, numerous techniques can be used in the hours, days, or months leading up to a decision. Likewise, you can use numerous tools to facilitate the actual making of a decision—either an indi-vidual or a group decision.
No ideal and widely accepted term captures the breadth and depth of the

No ideal and widely accepted term captures the breadth and depth of the 
activities leading to a decision, though much of the academic literature refers to them as “needs assessments” (a term that we will also use in this book to describe the group of activities that lead up to decisions that result in actions). Do not get hung up on the speciﬁ  cs of the term, however. The 
concepts behind needs assessment are far more important to improving the quality of decisions than the possible carry-over conceptions (or miscon-ceptions) that you may have from previous encounters with the term.
As precursors to taking action, needs assessment concepts are likely

As precursors to taking action, needs assessment concepts are likely 
already familiar to almost everyone. At the shopping mall or hardware store, for instance, informal needs assessments guide our comparisons, thus lead-ing us to select the products and brands that will best help us achieve our desired results. Likewise, a more formal needs assessment will guide our decision in the workplace, thereby helping us manage complex choices about what actions should be taken to accomplish results.
From the mundane, such as selecting a new coff  ee vendor, to the impera-
tive, such as prioritizing the needs of indigenous people aff  ected by a dam-
building project, informed and justiﬁ  able decisions rely on the results of

building project, informed and justiﬁ  able decisions rely on the results of 
formal and informal needs assessments. Those assessments are actually so integrated into our daily lives that we frequently fail to recognize them as part of our decision-making process. In addition, we often forget that numerous tools, techniques, and guides are available to help us collect in-formation—and then make informed decisions based on that information. 
Needs assessments off  er value by providing logical and disciplined meth-
ods for collecting useful information and making decisions based on that information. Needs assessments are often done before any action has been taken (as with an assessment to deﬁ  ne the needs of a community before a 
development loan is requested), although at other times a needs assessment Introduction  3is done to provide strategic direction to activities that are already planned

development loan is requested), although at other times a needs assessment Introduction  3is done to provide strategic direction to activities that are already planned 
(as with an assessment to deﬁ  ne the desired outcomes and objectives of an 
infrastructure development grant). At still other times, needs assessments are done to inform decisions within the context of larger projects (as with an assessment to identify the results required in local jurisdictions to achieve the objectives of an ongoing national initiative). In all cases, the needs assessment off  ers a careful process for assessing gaps between current 
results and desired results (that is, needs) and then for applying that infor-mation to identify the available options so that decisions can be made. 
As a precursor to decision making, needs assessments are unlike many

As a precursor to decision making, needs assessments are unlike many 
other strategic processes. They require a performance perspective that focuses on the results to be accomplished—unlike the more common (and ﬂ awed) decision-making processes that focus on solutions or activities to be 
undertaken (see box I.1). Selecting solutions or activities is obviously part of making decisions, but the decisions should be based on a clear deﬁ  nition of 
the performance gap and should be chosen on the basis of criteria rather than assumptions. 
Processes such as building roads, outsourcing, training teachers, reform-
ing policies, taking loans, or using community participation and thousands of others are activities or solutions (often, solutions in search of problems). Many times initially preferred activities will contribute to solving, or indeed will solve, our problems, but we have insuffi   cient basis for knowing this or

for justifying our decisions without some form of predecison assessment. A needs assessment is, in response, a process for clarifying what results must be accomplished and then assessing the potential value of numerous alter-native solutions to make an informed and reasonable decision.Box I.1 Two Approaches to a Decision
Commuting time is a major problem for a municipality in a quickly growing 
economy. 
1.  Local policy makers have in mind that widening roads is the best solution. 
Plans are put in place to borrow necessary funds and local residents are in-formed of the pending construction.
2.  Local policy makers take a systematic look at (a) the needs of citizens, in-

dustry, and other community partners; (b) the root causes of the commuting problem; and (c) all of the alternatives for reducing commuting times—before making any decisions. Decisions about what to do are made by com-paring alternatives using agreed-upon criteria.4 A Guide to Assessing NeedsWho Can Beneﬁ  t from This Book?
This book will beneﬁ  t people and teams involved in planning and decision 
making. On the basis of their pragmatic value in guiding decisions, needs assessments are used in various professions and settings—from emergency rooms to corporate boardrooms—to guide decision making. Nonetheless, although needs assessments have many diff  erent applications, we focus in

this book on needs assessments as they are applied in organizations to accomplish results, as opposed to their use in personal decisions or medical triage. 
Needs assessments are conducted in many diverse organizations, from 
steel mills to ﬁ  nancial services ﬁ  rms, and their tools can be applied in pri-
vate sector businesses, government ministries, municipality agencies, local nonproﬁ  t institutions, and organizations of all varieties. However, through 
discussion and examples, this book more speciﬁ  cally focuses on how needs 
assessments are applied in relation to international development eff  orts in 
the public sector (for instance, reducing poverty, improving access to clean water, or addressing gender inequality). This context off  ers many realistic

the public sector (for instance, reducing poverty, improving access to clean water, or addressing gender inequality). This context off  ers many realistic 
and pragmatic opportunities to illustrate how various needs assessment steps, tools, techniques, and guides can be used to collect valuable informa-tion, to make informed decisions, to achieve results, and to have a positive inﬂ uence on the lives of people around the world.
People who can beneﬁ  t from needs assessments could be community 
leaders and policy makers who oversee decision-making processes and implementation. Agency employees or contractors who design and imple-ment projects can also beneﬁ  t from building needs assessments into their

routine planning processes. Monitoring and evaluation practitioners or auditors can use needs assessments to measure and track results. Com-munity members and other project stakeholders can and should also be involved in needs assessment processes—typically as informants, but increasingly as joint decision makers with policy makers.
To illustrate, when initiating plans to address education improv ement 
issues in a community, policy makers and education system leaders should not limit decision making to their own internal committees. Instead, they should encourage the use of needs assessment processes to gather and gain information about prioritized areas for improv ement (and a range of other 
decision topics) from a host of individuals and groups: parent-teacher  committees, individual parents from diff  erent socioeconomic or ethnic

decision topics) from a host of individuals and groups: parent-teacher  committees, individual parents from diff  erent socioeconomic or ethnic 
backgrounds, principals, teachers, education researchers, students, busi-nesspeople, and others. Having a participatory approach to data gathering and decision making—although not trouble-free—can contribute to more Introduction  5informed and better decisions for the community and to increased accep-
tance of ﬁ  nal decisions by stakeholders.
There are, of course, many interesting theories that inform the needs 
assessment literature and many models that try to link individual decisions to international development outcomes. To us, as authors of this book, such theories and models are both exciting and interesting. But we recognize that most readers want us to synthesize all of that information into practical tools that can be used to achieve results. Therefore, what you will ﬁ  nd abun-

dant in our book are the steps, tools, techniques, guides, and checklists that you can apply. In sections 1 and 2, we answer general questions you may have about needs assessments with short, straightforward responses. Then in section 3 and appendix A, we equip you with the tools to make informed decisions and to manage the process.
This book is about accomplishing results—focusing on the practical use 
of needs assessments as the starting place for making knowledgeable and justiﬁ  able decisions. Our goal is not to make you an expert in the application 
of any particular tool or technique; rather, we introduce each approach, describe its strengths and weaknesses in terms of needs assessment applica-tions, provide an overview of what the process could look like in your orga-nization, and then off  er a variety of resources where you can learn more. 
It should be noted that, although we refer to “you” throughout this book,

It should be noted that, although we refer to “you” throughout this book, 
most needs assessments are actually conducted as a team eff  ort. James 
Altschuld has written extensively about this collaboration in his Needs 
Assessment Kit , a series of ﬁ  ve books on how to organize, develop, and man-
age “needs assessment committees.” You may be the leader of such a team or committee, or you may be a contributing member. In either case, your par-ticipation in the needs assessment can be guided by the tools found through-out our book.
Why Should I Care about Needs Assessments?
You must make decisions. Needs assessments can help improve  the quality 
of those decisions—thus leading to improv ements in performance and the 
accomplishment of desired results.
Improving results—that is, moving from current to desired perfor-
mance—is typically a worthwhile and valuable (and often valiant) eff  ort. 
Improvement eff  orts routinely bring about beneﬁ  ts for your organization,

Improvement eff  orts routinely bring about beneﬁ  ts for your organization, 
and they likewise change lives. After all, improving performance isn’t just about improving productivity; it can also lead to increased job satisfaction, longer retention, imp roved quality of life for employees and others, reduced 6 A Guide to Assessing Needsstress, new social networks, retained knowledge, creative and innovative 
thinking, and numerous other beneﬁ  ts that inﬂ  uence the individuals who 
make up an organization. And the value of improving our ability to achieve results does not end with the organization. Our clients, partners, and society at large can all beneﬁ  t when we accomplish desired results.
Those beneﬁ  cial results, however, rarely happen by chance alone. Sys-
tematic and continual eff  orts to imp rove performance (that is, results ) are

tematic and continual eff  orts to imp rove performance (that is, results ) are 
required to ensure success. This book focuses on one critical and founda-tional process in any performance imp rovement eff  ort: the needs assess-
ment. The results of your assessment will then guide your subsequent decisions—including the design, implementation, and evaluation of projects and programs that will lead to achieving desired results (see ﬁ  gure I.1).
Throughout this book, you will ﬁ  nd guides, tools, and techniques for your 
needs assessment—no matter how formal or informal your assessment eff orts. Section 3 provides two categories of tools and techniques: those used

needs assessment—no matter how formal or informal your assessment eff orts. Section 3 provides two categories of tools and techniques: those used 
mainly for data collection and those used primarily for decision making. There is no single best way to use the tools or preferred combination of tools, nor should there be. Needs assessments—and the associated tools—are meant to be adaptive, thereby giving you the ﬂ  exibility to use them to 
accomplish results within your context.
Many diverse tools may be used to guide your decisions and performance 
improvement eff  orts. Use those resources to inform your daily decisions. 
Use them to weigh your options. Use them to justify complex choices. Use them to improve performance . 
Improving performance , as we use the term in this book, is the move from 
achieving current results to accomplishing desired results. Thus, improving

achieving current results to accomplishing desired results. Thus, improving  
refers to the measured progress from a less-than-desirable state to a desir-able state, whereas performance  refers to the results—no matter if your orga-
nization classiﬁ  es them as products, outputs, outcomes, impacts, or some 
combination of these titles. This focus on achieving desirable results guides our approach to needs assessment and its tools. Thus, rather than asking people what they “need,” needs assessments more importantly deﬁ  ne gaps 
in results and highlight opportunities to imp rove performance.assess plan act monitor  evaluateFigure I.1 General Performance Improvement Framework
Source:  Authors.Introduction  7Within a performance improv ement framework, needs assessments 
play a critical role in starting the imp rovement process (see ﬁ  gure I.2).

play a critical role in starting the imp rovement process (see ﬁ  gure I.2). 
Assessments inform future decisions; at the same time, they are informed by the results of past decisions. Needs assessments thereby link together past and future performance, guiding decisions throughout the improve-
ment eff  ort.
To guide your improv ement eff  orts, we wrote this book in a format that

To guide your improv ement eff  orts, we wrote this book in a format that 
will make it easy for you to quickly refer to the tools that you want while planning and conducting your next needs assessment—or making your next decision. There are no long chapters or complex formulas. With this book, we have tried to create a reference resource for the next time you want to collect and use information to enhance your decisions. Ideally, you will read this book once and then keep it on your shelf for the next time you have an opportunity to complete a needs assessment, to collect information, to make a decision, and to accomplish results. Individual tools are available as single PDF ﬁ  les at http://www.needsassessment.org.Figure I.2 Needs Assessment within a Performance Improvement Framework
Source:  Authors.assess
plan
act
monitor
 evaluate  Identify  needs as gaps between current and desired results.
  Analyze  needs and potential solutions.

time, organizations now rely on employees—at all levels and in all posi-tions—to make quality decisions on a daily (if not hourly) basis, and they no longer leave all of the “important decisions” to senior management. 
What started with companies like Nordstrom, a department store chain 
that empowered front-line employees to make essential business decisions, has now expanded to other organizations as people in all positions are being asked to make diffi   cult choices and challenging decisions. Similar approaches 
to improving performance have been embraced in the public sector, in both developed and developing countries. Performance matters and is increas-ingly measured in all sectors. As a consequence, employees throughout the hierarchies of public sector organizations are being asked to make challeng-ing decisions and to perform at certain levels on which they are judged. Hence, as a precursor to high-quality and justiﬁ  able decisions intended to

accomplish results, the gathering of useful—as well as valid—information is essential for professionals in almost any role, at almost any level, and within all organizations. 
Sometimes collecting the useful information for making a quality deci-
sion requires only a few informal conversations with your colleagues. But more often than not, the potential long- and short-term consequences of your decisions require that considerable attention be paid to gathering valu-able facts, trend data, diff  ering perspectives, and general advice before mak-
ing an important choice or selection. Whether your decision is related to building infrastructure (such as roads, wells, or information technologies) or to choosing how to best develop the skills of employees on your project team, you make your best decisions when you have practical information.
Accordingly, you should use a diverse range of information-gathering 
tools and techniques to ensure that you have the essential details for mak-

ing sound decisions (see boxes I.2 and I.3). Using tools—such as nominal group technique, ﬁ  shbone diagrams, and guided expert reviews—that are 
systematic and replicable from one decision to the next provides informa-tion that guides, as well as justiﬁ  es, the complex decisions you routinely 
make. Introduction  9How Will This Book Help Me Make Decisions?
In the end, making informed and justiﬁ  able decisions about what to do next 
is the goal of any formal or informal needs assessment. Whether you are deciding on your own or with others, you should apply systematic tools and techniques to analyze, synthesize, and then use valid information in all steps of your decision making (see box I.3).Box. I.2 Information-Gathering Tools in Part 3.A
Document or Data Review page 84

Guided Expert Reviews page 89Management of Focus Groups  page 95Interviews  page 106Dual-Response Surveys page 116SWOT+  page 127World Café™  (with “Speed Dating” Variation) page 132Delphi Technique page 137Performance Observations page 144Task Analysis (Hierarchical or Sequential, If–Then, and Model-Based)  page 148Cognitive Task Analysis  page 156
Box I.3 Decision-Making Tools in Part 3.B
Nominal Group Technique  (A Group Consensus-Building and Ranking Technique) page 166Multicriteria Analysis  page 171Tabletop Analysis page 180Pair-Wise Comparison page 1872 × 2 Matrix Decision Aids  page 191Fishbone Diagrams page 197Scenarios page 202Root Cause Analysis page 207Fault Tree Analysis page 214Concept Mapping page 220Future Wheel page 228Performance Pyramid page 23610 A Guide to Assessing NeedsWe provide many tools—such as root cause analysis, fault tree diagrams,

and pair-wise comparisons—as resources to ensure that the information you have collected is used to support your decision making. When completing a needs assessment or, for that matter, making almost any decision, you should use information that is from multiple sources and is often collected through a range of techniques and tools, so you can represent varied perspectives. Doing so will ensure that you make the most informed decision possible. 
All informed decisions are, of course, not necessarily the “right” deci-
sions, because only time can distinguish the true value of a decision. But more often than not, the results of a decision informed by quality facts will outperform results derived from instinct, political expediency, matters of convenience, or other reasons not always based on evidence.
1
How Will This Book Help Me Accomplish Results?
Sustainable results are the consequence of organized eff  orts to make quality

1
Sustainable results are the consequence of organized eff  orts to make quality 
decisions, thereby leading to the development of systemic activities that improve  accomplishments. Just as you would not beneﬁ  t from seeing only  a 
podiatrist after a heart attack—focusing solely on your feet with no regard for the rest of your body—neither does your organization beneﬁ  t when sin-
gle interventions are used to address complex issues. Although you may specialize in providing a particular solution (ranging from irrigation or microﬁ  nance to training or economic policy), it is rarely the case that any of 
those solutions alone will accomplish sustainable improv ements in results.
Improving results requires a long-term, systemic perspective. By under-
taking this more durable approach, we avoid quick ﬁ  xes or one-size-ﬁ  ts-

all solutions that may not lead us to our desired results. Additionally, this approach shields us from the latest fads, marketing brochures, or new gad-gets. Ultimately, we avoid implementing “solutions” in search of problems.
Solutions, interventions, and activities are obviously important so we can 
accomplish desired results. Strategic plans will not reduce poverty, nor will good ideas feed the hungry. At the same time, building schools, for example, without regard for training teachers, providing meals, building access roads, ﬁ nding books, and addressing other systemic issues of education also will

not achieve sustainable results. Thus, your transition to achieving desired results, not just current ones, requires a holistic approach; and a needs assessment becomes your essential tool for determining what activities should take place within the context of those complex systems.
Too often, especially in relation to international development assistance 
projects, activities that worked in one country are viewed as solutions to the Introduction  11challenges being faced by other countries half a world away. From freshwa-
ter wells to HIV/AIDS interventions, the complex challenges that face developing countries are rarely the same. As a consequence, a needs assess-ment can help you determine what activities are most appropriate to address the problems in diff  erent contexts.
It is important to keep all of your options on the table. Conduct your 
needs assessments without any preconceiv ed notions about which improve-

ment activities will be most valuable to your organization or your clients. Listen to others inside and outside your institution, maintain an open per-spective to creative ideas, and collect information that will justify your rec-ommendations or decisions in the end.
2 
Use the steps of a needs assessment to identify needs and opportunities 
that are based on facts and information rather than on assumptions. Ana-lyze your needs, weigh the beneﬁ  ts and risks of alternative activities, and 
then make decisions about what to do next. In other words, decide what results should be accomplished before you determine what processes (building dams, developing local training programs, buying computers, off ering micro loans, and so on) or combinations of activities will best 
achieve those results.

achieve those results. 
This results-focused, systemic approach also helps you distinguish be- 
tween people’s wants  and needs . Both are important, but each off  ers diff  erent 
information to inform your decisions. Information about needs  (gaps between 
current and desired results) is essential for improving performance; after all, you are unlikely to accomplish desired results if you do not know what they are or where your current results stand in relation. At the same time, wants  
typically describe the resources, activities, methods, or solutions that people prefer—or that they perceive as the only option for moving ahead. 
The systematic processes of a needs assessment will help guide you 
through the steps and challenging decisions while (a) balancing needs  and 
wants  and (b) putting results before solutions. The products of your needs 
assessment are justiﬁ  cations for the many choices you will make along the

assessment are justiﬁ  cations for the many choices you will make along the 
way, as well as for your decisions on how to proceed in accomplishing desired results. 
Why Does This Book Focus on Tools, Techniques, 
Guides, and Checklists?
Why reinvent the wheel? With little eff  ort, you can ﬁ  nd many websites, 
books, and articles that provide detailed theories, models, and approaches for how a needs assessment can be applied in various professional ﬁ  elds (for 12 A Guide to Assessing Needsexamples, see http://www.needsassessment.org). Our goal for this book is, 
we believe, more practical: provide diverse tools that you can use next week, next month, and next year to achieve results. 
Commonly applied needs assessment tools, such as focus groups and

Commonly applied needs assessment tools, such as focus groups and 
web-based surveys, are useful. But they merely scratch the surface of the many tools and techniques that can be used to collect important informa-tion to use while making quality decisions. This book is intended to expand our perspectives on what we can do to imp rove our decisions.
We, the authors, did not invent needs assessment nor did we invent the 
tools and techniques described in this book. For instance, we did not dis-cover interviews as a technique for gathering information—rather we have translated interview techniques from numerous disciplines into a practical tool for needs assessments.
Likewise, throughout the book, we interpret many theories and models

Likewise, throughout the book, we interpret many theories and models 
to provide sensible steps, guides, and checklists for conducting a needs assessment—no matter how formal or informal. Although conceptual frame-works and models provide a valuable structure to your needs assessments, assessment planners often feel ill equipped to select among the available tools and then implement the tools successfully. In response, we have “boiled down” the tools to their basics and then have applied them to the numerous and diverse resources available herein. The book will serve (a) as a useful guide for scanning your options when designing a needs assessment and (b)  as an introduction to a range of data collection and decision-making tools and resources. To use some of the techniques that we introduce—such as focus groups, which are more diffi   cult to conduct well than many people 
realize—you should also consult other books that provide more details about such techniques.

The book’s introductory sections are a primer on needs assessment, thus 
answering many of the most frequently asked questions that we hear from clients, colleagues, students, and others. These sections answer questions about when, where, why, and how. Also included is an underlying frame-work for conducting a successful needs assessment that is based on the the-ories, models, and frameworks of many leading authors and researchers.
3 
With this framework as its foundation, the remainder of the book gives you the practical tools, techniques, and guides to successfully conduct formal or informal needs assessments.
Together, this book’s resources help you collect valuable information, 
guide your decision making, and allow you to accomplish useful results. Introduction  13Notes
1. Based on Nutt (2008).
2. Research by Nutt (2008) illustrates that the systematic “discovery” decision-

making process (that is, needs assessment-based) has signiﬁ  cant beneﬁ  ts over 
(a) the more common “idea-imposition” decision-making process, where predetermined solutions are applied to problems, or (b) the “emerging opportunities” decision-making process, where the ﬁ  rst plausible solution is 
selected and where remaining eff  orts are used to justify that decision.
3. Including James Altschuld, Thomas Gilbert, Kavita Gupta, Roger Kaufman, 
Donald Kirkpatrick, Robert Mager, Allison Rossett, Gary Rummler, Catherine M. Sleezer, Belle Ruth Witkin, and many others.
Altschuld, James W ., ed. 2010. The Needs Assessment Kit.  Thousand Oaks, CA: 
Sage Publications.
Nutt, Paul. 2008. “Investigating the Success of Decision-Making Processes.”

Nutt, Paul. 2008. “Investigating the Success of Decision-Making Processes.” 
Journal of Management Studies  45: 2.15Needs Assessment: 
Frequently Asked QuestionsSECTION 1
Since the 1960s, needs assessments have become a fairly common business 
practice. Consequently, the term needs assessment  has taken on several deﬁ  -
nitions and has led to a number of related process models or approaches. Gap analysis, needs analysis, and performance analysis are occasionally used as synonyms for needs assessment , yet they are more frequently (and 
more accurately) deﬁ  ned as needs assessment tools.
Other tools—such as strategic planning, focus groups, and multicriteria 
analysis—have also been borrowed and customized from other disciplines to imp rove our ability to inform decisions. By applying these (and other)

analysis—have also been borrowed and customized from other disciplines to imp rove our ability to inform decisions. By applying these (and other) 
tools, needs assessments have arguably become part of the science  in the art 
and science  of many business decisions. 
You have, therefore, probably read needs assessment reports (though 
potentially not given that title) or even participated in related processes—such as a survey or interview—used to inform a pending decision. Although such reports can provide valuable contexts for understanding the topic, there are a number of foundational constructs and relationships that can help you better use needs assessments to achieve desired results. In this section, we off  er an introduction to needs assessments as we present many 16 A Guide to Assessing Needsof the most frequently asked questions that we get from colleagues, stu-

dents, clients, and others. Responses to the questions then provide the basis for how needs assessments are conducted (see section 2), how tools and techniques are applied (see section 3), and how you can manage an assess-ment project (see appendix A). 
Mind the Gaps
Gaps, either as opportunities or problems, are common instigators of action. Gaps lead to projects or programs, thereby steering us to change the status quo. They highlight—often in concrete terms—issues that would otherwise be obscured. Gaps also challenge us to ﬁ  nd ways to imp rove personal and 
institutional performance. Gaps do not tell us what to do, but rather they characterize the measures we use to deﬁ  ne success.
At the beginning of any project or program, there are gaps: gaps between

At the beginning of any project or program, there are gaps: gaps between 
the way things are and the way things could be. Terry Williams and Knut Samset (2010, 39) describe this as the time when a project “exists only con-ceptually, and before it is planned and implemented.” In this period, ideas are being generated, needs are being deﬁ  ned, options are being considered, 
relationships are being nurtured, and partners are weighing each other’s strengths and weaknesses. It is a dynamic period, leading up to a decision that will either lead to an action or not.
Because we live in an imperfect world, gaps exist—they guide our deci-
sions; they deﬁ  ne our goals. At their best, gaps determine what results 
should be achieved before actions are taken. Those gaps are the needs  
of  needs assessments, and they help us make justiﬁ  able and informed 
decisions. 
Ignoring gaps can be dangerous. When you make decisions about what to

Ignoring gaps can be dangerous. When you make decisions about what to 
do (such as build a dam, start a new HIV/AIDS education program, off  er 
training to a ministry’s staff  ) without a clear distinction between where you are and where you want to be, then the odds of achieving desired results are greatly diminished, and resources are lost. You have also missed the oppor-tunity to compare alternatives. Likewise, it may be that the solution you pro-pose is useful but that it is even more eff  ective when paired with another 
activity. Each of these concepts is an important consideration that you miss when you ignore needs (gaps).
You should, therefore, pay attention to gaps in results. Let the gaps guide

You should, therefore, pay attention to gaps in results. Let the gaps guide 
your decisions. Use the gaps to monitor your progress. View the gaps as opportunities rather than problems. Lead projects to close gaps. Needs Assessment: Frequently Asked Questions  17Gaps in results (or needs) can then be compared, prioritized, and bal-
anced. Ideas for achieving desired results can be generated. Solutions can be evaluated in diff  ering combinations, thus using their ability to close gaps as 
one of the main criteria by which alternative activities are compared. 
When you make decisions about what to do, it is essential to know the

When you make decisions about what to do, it is essential to know the 
results you are trying to accomplish before trying to determine what actions might work best. Nevertheless, in our rush to get moving, we frequently lose sight of (or fail to ever identify) the desired results, which leaves us without a clear deﬁ  nition of where we are and where we want to go. In those situa-

tions, we often must rationalize decisions we have already made (which can lead to trouble), or we move ahead with implementing a solution for which there is no known problem (box 1.1). When this haste happens, we choose our next steps (whether writing a proposal to start a new project or deciding on a capacity development strategy) without the opportunity (a) to verify that they are capable of achieving desired results, (b) to compare among alternatives, (c) to combine a number of solutions to maximize overall eff ects, or (d) to prioritize the needs to most effi   ciently use resources.
Gaps in results are both opportunities and problems, depending on your 
perspective. In either case, they are the foundation that guides justiﬁ  able

 “They need  more training.”
 “They need  new quality assurance practices.”
 “You should do a training needs assessment.” 
Each of these statements begins with a solution before we understand the 
performance need or gaps in results to be addressed.18 A Guide to Assessing Needsachieved—such as improving student performance or increasing educa-
tional access—yet this guesswork is not enough to justify signiﬁ  cant invest-
ments of time and money.
Justiﬁ  able decisions are, therefore, best made when considering and 
comparing a number of alternatives and when assessing combinations of activities for their ability to accomplish desired results. This endeavor, of course, depends on having deﬁ  ned the gaps in results.
Why Call It Needs Assessment?
There are many aspects to the “front end” of any project or program, leading 
from concept to decision. The associated activities ﬁ  ll the space between 
strategic planning and project initiation, lead from crisis to the ﬁ  rst response,

strategic planning and project initiation, lead from crisis to the ﬁ  rst response, 
and close the gap between what your boss asks for and the actions you take to meet that request. As such, no widely accepted and appropriate term links together all activities that might take place as precursors to action. 
Although strategic planning  plays a signiﬁ  cant role in supporting many 
decisions, it is only part of the puzzle. Likewise, processes for making deci-sions, such as pair-wise comparisons (see page 187), are frequently included in the front end, though they are neither necessary nor suffi   cient by them-
selves. Capacity development  is also related to the context in which deci-
sions are frequently made in development projects, but the early front-end decisions we are focusing on in this book are the precursors to capacity development activities, rather than the activities themselves.

Nevertheless, for convenience, we want to use a term throughout this 
book that will represent the broad concept of the activities and actions that lead up to the point of making a decision. From the academic literature, we ﬁ nd that needs assessment  is the best option—noting, however, that given its 
history, the term and related processes may have unwanted baggage derived from other applications. But what term or phrase doesn’t?
Allison Rossett (1987 , 3), professor emeritus at San Diego State Univer-
sity, deﬁ  nes needs assessment as “The systematic study of a problem or 
innovation, incorporating data and opinions from varied sources, in order to make eff  ective decisions or recommendations about what should happen 
next.” For our purposes, this is a sensible deﬁ  nition of the desired activities

next.” For our purposes, this is a sensible deﬁ  nition of the desired activities 
leading to a decision. After all, the earliest decisions of a development proj-ect should be guided by systematic steps that inform our decisions to take action (or, in some instances, decisions not to take action).
Because needs assessment  is, however, a term that you may be familiar 
with from other applications (such as training needs assessment), we ask Needs Assessment: Frequently Asked Questions  19that you try to suspend any conceptions (or misconceptions) you may have 
regarding what a needs assessment is and the results that it can achieve. 
What Is a Needs Assessment?
A needs assessment  is simply a tool for making better decisions. From choos-
ing a new car or ﬁ  nding a house to call home , to selecting an appropriate

ing a new car or ﬁ  nding a house to call home , to selecting an appropriate 
HIV/AIDS intervention or determining when training will build institu-tional capacity, needs assessments are used to make informed personal and professional decisions. You may not necessarily refer to the steps you take to inform your decisions as a needs assessment, but whenever you start your decision making by examining what results you are achieving today and what results you want to accomplish tomorrow, you are conducting a needs assessment.
Physicians, for instance, use needs assessments to deﬁ  ne and prioritize 
the critical injuries of people as they enter the emergency room. Plumbers use needs assessments to identify problems, weigh alternative solutions, and make decisions about which parts must be replaced ﬁ  rst. Likewise,

organizational managers and leaders use needs assessments to deﬁ  ne those 
areas where performance can be imp roved in the near term and long term. 
Roger Kaufman, professor emeritus at Florida State University, deﬁ  nes a 
needs assessment in terms of gaps in results (Kaufman, Oakley-Brown, Wat-
kins, and Leigh 2003). From a performance perspective, this deﬁ  nition 
off ers two useful formulas for assessing needs. In the ﬁ  rst formula, needs 
are gaps between current results and desired results. The size and impor-tance of the gaps can then be compared to inform your decisions. For instance, your desired result is perhaps to be in Point B, but your current results have left you in Point A. Therefore, your need  is the gap between 
results at Point A and results at Point B.
As an example, your department is responsible for processing all travel 
reimbursements within 10 days of their arrival from ﬁ  eld staff   members; yet,

reimbursements within 10 days of their arrival from ﬁ  eld staff   members; yet, 
current results within your department indicate that it takes 14 days, on average, for staff   members to receive their reimbursements. The need, in 
this example, is then deﬁ  ned as the gap between the objective of a 10-day 
reimbursement cycle and the current performance of 14 days. 
Kaufman’s deﬁ  nition also provides a second formula for prioritizing 
needs. According to the deﬁ  nition, needs are prioritized through the com-
parison of (a) costs associated with addressing the needs (or closing the gap) and (b) costs associated with not addressing the needs (or leaving the gap). This comparison is the foundation for moving beyond merely identifying 20 A Guide to Assessing Needsproblems or opportunities, thereby off  ering an approach for using informa-

tion about the needs so you make decisions about what to do next. 
As you see, needs assessments are very familiar processes. You are likely 
most familiar with less-formal, nonsystematic needs assessments that are heuristics within many decision-making models. Although potentially less familiar, the more formalized and systematic needs assessments are also, however, common in most organizations. 
What diff  erentiates the needs assessments approach described in this 
book from the approach you likely already know is the focus on improving performance. This book’s approach involves moving the achievement of current results to the accomplishment of desired results. According to Kaufman’s deﬁ  nition of needs, this approach focuses each of the steps, 
tools, techniques, guides, and other resources on ﬁ  rst deﬁ  ning what results 
to achieve before then determining what activities or solutions will best accomplish those results.
Then, What Is a Need?

Needs  are simply the diff  erences between your current achievements and 
your desired accomplishments (see ﬁ  gure 1.1). Thus, needs most commonly 
represent discrepancies—often deﬁ  cits—between your ambitions and the 
Figure 1.1  Relating Needs to Discrepancies between What Is (Current 
Results) and What Should Be (Desired Results)
process to achieve
desired resultsneed
(gap)
current results desired or required results0
Source: Based on Kaufman, Oakley-Brown, Watkins, and Leigh (2003) and Watkins (2007).Needs Assessment: Frequently Asked Questions  21results of your current performance. In the same way, needs can signify an 
overabundance of success when your current achievements surpass your desired accomplishments, thereby possibly suggesting an excess of resources going toward the results.

Needs do not, however, include any mention or discussion of computers, 
budgets, training courses, irrigation systems, HIV/AIDS programs, urban development, executive coaching, leadership, incentives, policy analysis, microﬁ  nance strategies, holiday bonuses, reengineering, or any other tech-
niques used to achieve results. Rather, your needs are the basic gaps between current and desired performance (see box 1.2). 
When you have deﬁ  ned a need, and have determined that it is a priority 
for you and your organization, then you will want to look at all of the possi-ble activities that could be done to imp rove performance and reach your

for you and your organization, then you will want to look at all of the possi-ble activities that could be done to imp rove performance and reach your 
goal (see box 1.3). You can systematically examine alternatives for improv-ing performance and justify your decisions based on criteria related to the results to be achiev ed. This process ensures that y ou do not put the p rover-
bial cart before the horse. 
When the need is deﬁ  ned in terms of gaps in results, you can then look at 
the ideas off  ered by managers and others (such as hiring, building roads, 
training employees, or establishing new policies) to determine which idea(s) will best achieve the desired results. The suggestions of managers may end up being desirable activities to imp rove performance, but they are not needs.
1
When completing a needs assessment, you may ﬁ  nd, for instance, that

1
When completing a needs assessment, you may ﬁ  nd, for instance, that 
reducing poverty among rural farmers to your desired level requires a com-bination of direct ﬁ  nancial assistance, updates to national agriculture poli-
Box 1.2 Needs (Example 1) 
In 2009, the Ministry of Public Education in 
Lao People’s Democratic Republic (with its development partners) established a ﬁ  ve-year 
strategic plan to guide its educational pro-gramming: the Education Sector Develop-ment Framework (ESDF). The ESDF goals are directly linked to the government’s long-term plans to exit from least-developed coun-try economic status. Goals from this report include, for exam-
ple, 98 percent primary school gross intake rate by 2011 on the basis of completing in-complete schools. This rate is in contrast to a 2008 gross intake rate of 69 percent. The gap of nearly 30 percent is a need that can and should be addressed by a variety of co-ordinated activities.

Sources:  Based on information available at http://www.educationfasttrack.org/media/library/Final_ESDF_19_
January_Ready_for_FTI.pdf and http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/WorldStats/Edu-primary-net-intake-rate-grade-1.html.22 A Guide to Assessing Needscies, training in irrigation techniques, partnerships with local shipping 
companies, and other activities. With your need deﬁ  ned in terms of results 
to be accomplished, you can now compare diff  ering combinations of these 
activities to determine where the knowledge, skills, and resources of your organization can best be applied and can partner with other organizations to ﬁ ll in the remaining cracks. You cannot do this, however, if you deﬁ  ned 
your need as a solution (such as “we need policy reforms” or “we need high-speed rail”).
What Is Meant by Improving Performance?
The eff  orts of organizations vary widely—from producing farm equipment

The eff  orts of organizations vary widely—from producing farm equipment 
to making loans to low-income countries—and thus it is next to impossible to adequately describe the desirable results of all organizations with a uni-versal term or phrase. Adding to the challenge, many development institu-tions apply unique deﬁ  nitions to the typical terms you may use to refer to 
results (including results, product, outputs, outcomes, or impacts); then the institutions create new ways to describe the relationships among the results. 
Yet, for ease of discussing needs assessments in a manner that can com-
municate with readers from varied organizations, in this book we have set-tled on the phrase improving performance  to represent the results that are 
the focus of a needs assessment. The phrase is not ideal in all contexts, but we hope it works for most readers.
Improving performance , as we use it here, is the move from achieving

Improving performance , as we use it here, is the move from achieving 
current results to accomplishing desired results. Thus, improving  refers to In 2004, the United Nations Development 
Group completed a series of needs assess-ment case studies related to the Millennium Development Goals. The cases included sample needs from Bangladesh, Cambodia, Ghana, Tanzania, and Uganda. For example, in Bangladesh, 50 percent of the population was living in poverty in 2000, and the goal is to lower the poverty rate to 30 percent by  
2015. 
This gap of 20 percent provides a clear 
performance need to be addressed. Many other needs are identiﬁ  ed in these case 
studies, along with alternative solutions (and combinations of solutions) that could be considered.
Source: Based on information available at http://www.unmillenniumproject.org/documents/mp_ccspaper_

jan1704.pdf.Box 1.3 Needs (Example 2) Needs Assessment: Frequently Asked Questions  23the measured progress from a less-than-desirable state to a desirable state, 
whereas performance  refers to the results—no matter if your organization 
classiﬁ  es them as products, outputs, outcomes, impacts, or some combina-
tion of these. Results are interrelated and interdependent; impacts depend on products, for instance, just as outputs should contribute to outcomes. Without the products of individual staff   members, organizations would 
not have deliverables to provide to clients nor would communities beneﬁ  t 
from the outcomes or eff  ects of those deliverables. Therefore, alignment 
of results is critical to success, much more so than the titles we give those results.

of results is critical to success, much more so than the titles we give those results. 
Embedded in the phrase improving performance is the notion that improv-
ing how people perform is also essential to accomplishing results, although performing  and performance  are not equivalent. After all, we can each indi-
vidually imp rove ho w well we perform  our jobs but never achieve desired 
results—and at the same time, desired results are rarely accomplished with-out imp rovements in how people perform. Performance  is, therefore, con-
sidered the combination of the process (that is, performing) and the desired results.
2 We can consider then three levels of performance: individual or 
team, organizational, and societal.  
For some readers, the focus of your needs assessment will be the results 
achieved by individuals or groups in your organization, also known as indi-

vidual or team performance .3 This ﬁ  rst category of performance may deal 
with the preparation of reports, the production of equipment, or document-ing the distribution of funds to local nonproﬁ  t groups. Individual perfor-
mance may relate to the development of a project plan or the results of mentoring colleagues. In all cases, individual or team performance focuses on the accomplishment of desirable results by the individuals, teams, or working groups. Thus , it incorporates improv ements in performance and 
the achievement of desired results.
For other readers, the focus of their needs assessments may relate directly 
to the results that their organizations accomplish and deliver to clients. Organizational performance, the second category of performance, is about

to the results that their organizations accomplish and deliver to clients. Organizational performance, the second category of performance, is about 
the achievement of organizational objectives that lead to beneﬁ  cial results 
for the organization, its clients, and its partners.
4 From the delivery of goods 
or services to the achievement of long-term development objectives, organi-zational performance is achieved when there is alignment between what an organization uses, does, produces, and delivers. As such, organizational per-formance is forever bound to individual or team performance, thus making their alignment essential to success.
The third, and ﬁ  nal, category of performance has an important role 
in  every needs assessment— societal performance .
5 Because individuals, 24 A Guide to Assessing Needsteams, and organizations do not exist in a vacuum, the results they pro-

duce are interwoven with the results achieved by the society (from local communities to our shared global society) that they exist within or that they serve. Although the societal connections are not always direct and observable from the level of individual or team peformance (for example, as with team results, when an internal report on customer satisfaction is  your product), imp rovements in performance are mos t valued when 
there is alignment between individual, team, organizational, and societal results.
Hence, improving performance  covers a vast array of topics, disciplines, 
ﬁ elds, sectors, technologies, and business models. As such, it is an expedi-

ent and pragmatic phrase to use in relation to a needs assessment, because it too can be applied in a host of arenas. From internal decisions about when to develop training, to external choices about how to assist impover-ished communities rebuild after a natural disaster, need assessments play a vital role in making informed decisions. 
Fundamental to improving performance is the equiﬁ  nality principle  of

Fundamental to improving performance is the equiﬁ  nality principle  of 
systems theory, which states that in an open system there are always alter-natives for achieving desired results. In practical terms, this principle tells you that even when one solution or activity initially seems to be the only way to accomplish results, in reality there are always other options that should be considered (even if you decide in the end to go with your initial selection). This requires a needs assessment approach that focuses on results and that collects data to inform decisions rather than data to justify decisions that have already been made.
At the same time, it is important to remember that all performance is 
not worth improving. As Doug Leigh (2003) of Pepperdine University points out, “Some results should be improv ed, some maintained, and 
some reduced or eliminated.” In their book Performance-Based Instruc-
tion , Brethower and Smalley (1998) point out that “performance improve-

ment interventions always add cost, and only sometimes add value.” A needs assessment is a valuable tool for systematically justifying when and where to invest resources after ﬁ  rst deﬁ  ning which results are worth 
accomplishing and then selecting appropriate activities for achieving those results.
The ﬁ  ndings of your needs assessment might, for example, determine 
that although a country’s ministry offi   cials are not fully prepared to sus-
tain a development project over time, the cost of training the offi   cials

tain a development project over time, the cost of training the offi   cials 
(especially given the high turnover in the ministry) is not a wise invest-ment. In response, you may consider (a) building more partnerships into the project to reduce the long-term dependence on a single ministry or Needs Assessment: Frequently Asked Questions  25(b) developing a series of job aids that ministry offi   cials can use as an alter-
native training program. There are always choices for how to accomplish desired results, including the option of doing nothing at the time. Needs assessments can help you weigh your options, thereby ensuring that you can justify your choices.
What Are the Beneﬁ  ts of a Needs Assessment?
Needs assessments can be a systematic  process to guide decision making.  No 
matter how big or small your choices, the decisions you make each day inﬂ  u-

ence your performance, the performance of others around you, and the per-formance of your organization and its contribution to society. Systematic processes not only provide initial step-by-step guides, but also off  er a foun-
dational set of procedures that you can reﬂ  ect on, customize, and continu-
ally imp rove in order to enrich your decisions later on.
Needs assessments can provide justiﬁ  cation  for decisions before they are 
made.  After all, once a decision is made, it is typically too late to start justify-
ing your choices. Rather, needs assessments proactively identify (a) the per-formance data that deﬁ  ne your needs, (b) the prioritization of your needs,

ing your choices. Rather, needs assessments proactively identify (a) the per-formance data that deﬁ  ne your needs, (b) the prioritization of your needs, 
(c) the performance criteria for assessing potential interventions, and (d) the information necessary to justify your selection of one or more activities to improve  performance. 
Needs assessments can be scalable  for any size project, time frame, or bud-
get. There is no reason to spend US$1,000 to resolve a US$10 performance 
problem. Likewise, you would not want to take a year and spend thousands of dollars to implement a rigid needs assessment process that would only moderately imp rove the performance on a small project or program that is 
about to end. What you want is a process that can be appropriately scaled for the scope of your improv ement eff  orts. 
Needs assessments can off  er a replicable  model that can be applied by nov-
ices or experts.  If you build on the lessons learned from previous decisions,

ices or experts.  If you build on the lessons learned from previous decisions, 
needs assessments can off  er a replicable process that can be used over and 
over again and that can be systematically imp roved upon over time. The fun-
damental framework for needs assessments provides a ﬂ  exible structure that 
you can apply today, tomorrow, and in the future to guide your decisions.
Needs assessments can provide a systemic  perspective for decision makers.  
Organizations are built around interdependent systems, systems of subsys-tems, and even social systems that you will never ﬁ  nd in an organizational 
directory. As a consequence, your decisions constantly have rippling eff  ects 
that move from one system to the next (see box 1.4).26 A Guide to Assessing NeedsNeeds assessments can allow for interdisciplinary  solutions to complex

that move from one system to the next (see box 1.4).26 A Guide to Assessing NeedsNeeds assessments can allow for interdisciplinary  solutions to complex 
problems.  Unsatisfactory performance in organizations is rarely the result of 
single problems, issues , or causes. Therefor e, performance is ra rely imp roved 
by single solutions, interventions, or activities. Through their processes, needs assessments encourage you to identify, compare, and—when appro-priate—combine the activities that will best accomplish the desired results.
Aren’t We Already Doing This?
Yes, no, sometimes, maybe. Most people do use informal or incomplete needs assessment steps to make some decisions in their lives. When you buy a new home, for instance, you will likely take time to collect information on school performance, resale values, neighborhood crime rates, and other essential performance criteria to be used in making your ﬁ  nal choice. But

when selecting a primary care physician, you may simply go with the one that is most conveniently located to your work or home. 
Likewise, sometimes you may use more formal decision-making steps in 
your professional choices although—more often than not, if you are like most people—you frequently begin your professional decision making with an answer or a solution already in mind. 
In most cases, the quality of your informal decision making has been 
good—and that has likely contributed to your success in the past. Yet, for most of us, decisions are becoming increasingly complex. Most likely, you are often asked to make complicated decisions on a daily basis to keep pace with organizational and global changes and to stay one step ahead of the competition. Although developing a new workshop or creating a new mis-Box 1.4 Example of a Systemic Perspective 
The introduction of performance appraisals in your project team is intended to

The introduction of performance appraisals in your project team is intended to 
improve the results of your project. This new performance appraisal process, however, could inﬂ  uence what is required of team members as they work in 
procurement, quality assurance, and technical support. If the systems within the organization are not prepared to support changes in your project team, an overall net-negative effect could occur. 
For instance, if organization employees do not have the capacity to com-
plete an increasing number of procurement requests in a timely manner, then improvements to one system—in this case your project team—can inﬂ  uence 
the performance of other systems inside and outside of your organization.Needs Assessment: Frequently Asked Questions  27sion statement may have been the answer to many challenges in the past, 
improving performance now requires the development of sustainable per-formance systems that address multiple factors that inﬂ  uence individual,

improving performance now requires the development of sustainable per-formance systems that address multiple factors that inﬂ  uence individual, 
team, organizational, client, and societal results. 
Dimensions of performance now include individual and organizational 
capacity; motivation and self-concept; expectations and feedback; rewards, incentives, and recognition; environment, resources, and processes; skills and knowledge; organizational culture; and strategic, tactical, and opera-tional directions.
6
Solutions presented may include things such as new roads, new comput-
ers, more money, more staff   members, policy reforms, or any of a thousand 
ideas that may be useful in improving performance. The challenge is not to ﬁ nd out what ideas people have for improving performance; rather, the chal-
lenge is to identify and measure the true gap that exists between the results that should be accomplished and the current achievements and then to match useful solutions to those needs.

lenge is to identify and measure the true gap that exists between the results that should be accomplished and the current achievements and then to match useful solutions to those needs. 
Formal and informal needs assessments can—and should—be part of your 
professional decision making although those systematic processes are not intrinsic to most organizational practice. By regularly conducting formal needs assessments, you can build expertise in the related procedures, custom-ize standardized models for application in your decisions, and then include those steps as inherent characteristics of your informal daily decision making. In this manner, not only can you imp rove y our decisions about what  activities 
to undertake, but you can also internalize informal processes that will imp rove 
the results of all decisions you make.
When Should We Conduct a Needs Assessment?

Needs assessments, either formally as part of a major business decision or informally when weighing alternatives, can be of value most days. From determining if (and how) economic policy reforms can be of value to a client country, to deciding when to provide performance feedback to your project staff  members, many decisions can beneﬁ  t from the collection of additional 
information and the systematic application of that information to your deci-sion making; needs assessments do just that. 
Because needs assessments help inform decisions, they can be used pro-
actively  to identify opportunities to improve  performance, reactively  in 
response to the consequences of less-than-desirable results, or continuously  
as an integrated component of an ongoing imp rovement program. Hence,

as an integrated component of an ongoing imp rovement program. Hence, 
needs assessments are a valuable tool for decision makers at all levels of an 28 A Guide to Assessing Needsorganization and in almost any role. From decision makers working to cre-
ate a new development initiative with other donors, to those charged with improving current eff  orts (and all combinations in between), needs assess-
ments can be used to guide decisions. 
Many conversations can lead to a needs assessment (see table 1.1). Some-
times these conversations are within your organization, and at other times they are with your clients or partners. In the latter case, needs assessment tools may be applied to assist others in identifying their needs and mak-ing decisions about what should happen next (potentially leading to new projects). Clients sometimes have well-deﬁ  ned needs, although many times

they do not. Other times they may think that they do when, in fact, they do not. Clients usually have a list of desired projects (processes and products, or wants), yet that doesn’t mean they have the information to guide useful decisions that achieve results. 
Needs assessments, or even the underlying logic of a needs assessment 
approach, are not however always used to guide decisions. Consequently, decision makers frequently struggle to make justiﬁ  able choices. This situa-
tion happens for many reasons, including (a) they don’t have a clear, mea-
Table 1.1   Sample Paths That Lead to a Needs Assessment
External examples Internal examples
Proactive 
contextsThe minister of education is

Proactive 
contextsThe minister of education is 
new to the job and struggling with how to prioritize the national needs, given a very limited budget. His predeces-sor had initiated many “pet projects” that were based on what he thought would work, but few of the projects achieved any measurable results. The new minister does not want to take that same path.As a manager, you see the 
performance requirements of your department changing in the coming years to respond to client realities. In this context, you complete an assessment to determine current and future needs of staff members and their ability to achieve results in the new context.
Reactive
contextsA ministry ofﬁ  cial is attempt-

Reactive
ing to make a number of informed decisions concerning tax reform as a tool for meeting the debt sustainability goals of her country, but she requires some additional objective inputs from a number of partners.With a relatively high turnover 
rate and problems with new staff members not complet-ing assignments, your manager asks you to com-plete an assessment related to the current orientation program for new staff members.Needs Assessment: Frequently Asked Questions  29surable deﬁ  nition of what results are desired or required; (b) they don’t have

a good measurement of what results are currently being achieved; (c) they are focused only on a single solution that they “want” and are not thinking in terms of alternative solutions; (d) they have very limited information on the options; or (e) they don’t have clear criteria for comparing their options. Each of these reasons probably sounds familiar because they are true, to some degree, in almost every organization.
Although assessment opportunities are frequent in conversations, a keen 
ear is required to note the opportunity (and the value to be added by an assessment). Listen carefully when talking with colleagues, clients, and partners about decisions that could beneﬁ  t from a clear identiﬁ  cation of 
needs, alternatives, and criteria for making choices.
Needs assessment can also help you avoid missteps. Simple answers to

Needs assessment can also help you avoid missteps. Simple answers to 
your professional challenges usually won’t provide the sustainable results that you are ethically responsible to provide. After all, for every performance problem, there is a solution that is simple, straightforward, acceptable, understandable—and WRONG.
7 
For instance, human resource offi   cers commonly hear managers request-
ing new or additional training in a variety of organizational areas. Although training may initially seem to be a reasonable solution to the problems being faced by the manager, an informed decision about how to imp rove perfor-

mance requires that additional information be considered before rushing ahead with any single solution. Most often, organizational challenges are not linked to any single cause such as the perceived inadequate knowledge or skills of others. Rather, they are brought about by a combination of issues such as misguided incentives, inadequate processes, miscommunication on performance expectations, and other problems. 
The following sample statements are good indicators that a needs assess-
ment may be the appropriate next step before making any decisions:
 “We need  to provide more training to people working in the Ministry of 
Agriculture.”
  “They really must have this program in place by next year.”  “Last week, I decided that introducing  [insert idea] would be a good place 
to start building capacity.”
 “They need  to go to leadership training.”
 “If you had [insert latest technology gadget] , then you would be more 
 productive.”

 “You need  to build X, Y, and Z into your project proposal.”30 A Guide to Assessing NeedsWhen you hear these or similar statements about what should be done, it is 
usually a good time to step back and ensure that you know where you are headed before you take the ﬁ  rst step. After all, if you are not headed in the 
right direction, then you could end up someplace other than where you want to be (see box 1.5). 
Are Needs Assessments Just for Reacting 
to Problems?
In addition to being reactive, needs assessments can, and should, be a proac-
tive tool. You can, for instance, use a needs assessment as a process for work-ing with clients and partners to deﬁ  ne future projects. An example of where 
a proactive approach could be taken would be as part of a government strat-New employees in your unit are expected to

a proactive approach could be taken would be as part of a government strat-New employees in your unit are expected to 
submit a fundable project proposal within six months of starting. Yet, when data illustrate that 50 percent of new employees are still struggling to achieve this result after one year, then you have identiﬁ  ed a performance 
gap, or need . The need, in this case, is de-
ﬁ ned by the number of months it takes for a 
new employee to submit a fundable project proposal. Other information, such as man-agement feedback on draft proposals or the number of ongoing projects that new em-ployees supervise, may also be used to fur-ther deﬁ  ne your need.
Not included in the need are the possi-

ble solutions. The need, for instance, is not for more training on proposal writing or part-ner relationship management, nor is the need for mentoring or new recruiting pol-icies. Each of those solutions may end up being possible activities to improve  per formance in relation to the need, but Box 1.5 From A to Z: An Example (Part 1)
they are not the initial focus of your needs 
 assessment.
Continuing the example, let’s say that 
your needs assessment determines that de-lays in new employee performance were costing the unit US$500,000 each ﬁ  scal quar-
ter (in terms of salary and beneﬁ  ts without 
achieving desired results). In comparison, a second need that your needs assessment identiﬁ  ed was a discrepancy between the

achieving desired results). In comparison, a second need that your needs assessment identiﬁ  ed was a discrepancy between the 
current and desired number of projects that engaged partners from multiple sectors. This second need, although not typically mea-sured in quarterly budget reports, must be considered at the same time as the previous need because limited resources will have to be allocated. The second need may be mea-sured in terms of reduced aid effectiveness of development projects and the associated long-term budget implications for the unit in order to draw some general comparisons and to prioritize the two needs.Needs Assessment: Frequently Asked Questions  31egy paper designed to look ahead for 20 years to examine possible regional

transportation requirements and options. In such situations, the needs assessment provides continual feedback to the planning process about the gaps between current and desired results. The gaps will commonly ﬂ  uctuate 
either from year to year or as organizational goals and objectives shift in relation to external pressures or opportunities. 
Needs assessments can also be used when working with clients to deﬁ  ne 
new opportunities—that is, opportunities driven by the desired results of the society, community partners, clients, and others (rather than driven by solu-tions in search of problems).
Continual needs assessments, typically much less formal than initial 
assessments, can also be used to inform practical and justiﬁ  able decisions 
(see ﬁ  gure 1.2). The monitoring and evaluation results of one project cycle

(see ﬁ  gure 1.2). The monitoring and evaluation results of one project cycle 
can, for instance, be integrated into a needs assessment that informs the next project cycle. But rather than just building on past project cycles, the needs assessment also infuses new data from internal and external partners into the decision making. If you simply relied on past evaluation reports, then you would probably miss the internal and external changes that are cur-rently shaping the future. 
Use needs assessments proactively, continually, and reactively in your 
organization: 
 ✓ Proactively  to identify potential opportunities for improving individual 
or organizational performance 
Figure 1.2 Needs Assessment Cycles
Source: Authors. plan  evaluate
monitoract plan  evaluate

monitoract assess  assess  assess  assess32 A Guide to Assessing Needs ✓Continually  to monitor your progress toward accomplishing desired 
 results
 ✓ Reactively  when new strategic, tactical, or operational objectives are to 
be achieved
Aren’t Needs Assessments Too Rigid?
From practical experience most of us have learned that rigid planning just doesn’t work. Life is messy; from natural disasters to changes in government leadership, there are just too many variables to accurately predict or control the future. As the saying goes, “Men plan; God laughs.” 
Henry Mintzberg (2000), the preeminent management researcher from 
McGill University, ﬁ  rst described this problem in his book The Rise and Fall 
of Strategic Planning,  which  shed light on how many traditional approaches

of Strategic Planning,  which  shed light on how many traditional approaches 
to planning do not off  er the ﬂ  exibility required for real-world application. 
More recently, in his book Tracking Strategies , Mintzberg (2008) illustrates 
through a number of case examples how most strategic plans change over time—with some speciﬁ  c objectives being achieved as planned, some 
dropped as new (or more) information is learned, and some new objectives being created as opportunities arise. 
In response, needs assessments (which frequently rely on strategic plans 
to help deﬁ  ne the desired results) cannot aff  ord to be rigid or closed-minded. 
They must demonstrate, from beginning to end, the ﬂ  exibility required to

They must demonstrate, from beginning to end, the ﬂ  exibility required to 
inform decisions in complex and ever-changing realities. Your needs assess-ments should gather information from multiple perspectives, consider a range of alternative activities, and use techniques that give all partners a voice in the decision-making process. Your assessments should do so while maintaining a focus on what desired results are to be achieved (see box 1.6).
In contrast, solution-driven decisions are quite rigid; a solution is selected 
and then defended against all information that may suggest that alternatives could be of more value. In many organizations, the risks associated with dropping a solution that is already committed to make it very diffi   cult to 
adjust decisions in response to new realities, thereby leaving many projects to suff  er until they are one day forgotten. Use information from ongoing

adjust decisions in response to new realities, thereby leaving many projects to suff  er until they are one day forgotten. Use information from ongoing 
needs assessment activities to continually inform decisions at all stages in the project’s life cycle, increasing your agility and your ability to achieve results.Needs Assessment: Frequently Asked Questions  33How Does a Needs Assessment Relate to Other 
Tools You Are Already Using?
Needs assessments are often associated with (that is, drawing on and con-
tributing to) process improv ement eff  orts—including front-end analysis, 
root cause analysis, and performance analysis. Each of the processes pro-vides a distinct perspective to the analysis of results generated by the needs assessment. For instance, a root-cause analysis will dissect the individual needs derived from the needs assessment to identify and compare the causal factors in an eff  ort to determine which factors are at the foundation of the

performance gap and deserve attention. A root-cause analysis is most valu-able when you have a well-deﬁ  ned process in place and when you are search-
ing for a human, procedural, equipment, or environment failure in the process that can be improv ed upon (see box 1.7).
Similarly, front-end and performance analyses build on ﬁ  ndings from a 
needs assessment (and needs analysis) to link the identiﬁ  ed and prioritized 
needs to speciﬁ  c performance imp rovement activities. From infrastructure 
investments to training, to recruitment strategies and environmental policy, such analysis procedures can help guide your decisions about what to do in response to priority needs.
Consequently, formal and informal needs assessments are common part-
ners in many (if not most) other essential organizational processes. With needs assessment processes contributing to the foundation, you can then eff ectively use a variety of analysis procedures and potential improv ement

activities together to create a multifaceted initiativ e that imp roves perfor-
mance from many angles and perspectives.Box 1.6 Gaining Flexibility
1.  View needs along a continuum from emerging needs to stable needs.
2.  Postpone the selection of a solution until after the needs are well deﬁ  ned.
3.  Rely on a diverse set of partners, tools, and techniques to collect informa-
tion and inform decisions.
4.  Compare a number of alternative activities against agreed-upon perfor-
mance criteria.
5.  Focus on systems of improvement activities rather than on single solutions 
(that is, don’t put all your eggs in one basket).34 A Guide to Assessing NeedsIsn’t an Evaluation the Same Thing?
Not really, though there are similarities. Both assessment and evaluation 
are important to improving results, but they serve diff  erent functions. The 
distinctive processes diff  er in the perspectives that they apply when col-

lecting information and guiding decisions. Although many of the same tools are applied in both assessments and evaluations, understanding the diff erence about how the perspectives are translated into practice requires 
particular attention.
8
An assessment perspective, which you apply when conducting a needs 
assessment, collects information that identiﬁ  es the gaps between the cur-
rent results and the required or desired results (or needs), and then it Box 1.7 From A to Z: An Example (Part 2)
Most often, you can’t prioritize needs without

Most often, you can’t prioritize needs without 
beginning to consider the possible solutions. At this point, the needs assessment transi-tions from a singular focus on results to a combined focus on results and possible ac-tivities. This change in focus is necessary be-cause the estimated cost of activities and their ability to achieve desired results must be weighed when setting priorities—as well as when making decisions about what to do. 
Continuing the example (see page 30), 
your assessment determines that the cost of improving new employee performance is rela-tively small and that its likely effect on unit per-formance is signiﬁ  cant although the cost 
of increasing the number of multisector proj-ects is signiﬁ  cant and the probable effect 
on unit performance is moderate at best. This type of information, when associated with well-deﬁ  ned and measured needs, is

on unit performance is moderate at best. This type of information, when associated with well-deﬁ  ned and measured needs, is 
 ex tremely valuable in making informed deci-
sions about where to place limited resources.
Analyze each need to determine why it is 
occurring and what potential activities (or so-lutions) could be of value in closing the gap. Using this information, along with other use-
ful performance data, begin to set priorities among the multiple needs identiﬁ  ed in your 
assessment. Then begin to compare alterna-tive activities for improving performance.
Your analysis, for instance, of the gap in

Your analysis, for instance, of the gap in 
time required to submit a fundable proposal may have indicated that new employees have the knowledge and skills required to complete the inventory, thus more training for new employees is not going to improve performance. In addition, you may have found that new employees were not being given any feedback on draft proposals for up to six months after the proposals were sub-mitted. Moreover, new employees were more likely to get high scores on their annual performance reviews (and the associated pay increases) if they focused on managing current projects rather than on submitting proposals for new projects. With this infor-mation in hand, you could start to identify the factors leading to poor performance and the range of potential activities that may be valuable to improving results.Needs Assessment: Frequently Asked Questions  35appraises those needs for determining priorities and comparing alternative

activities that may help imp rove performance. Hence, this approach to col-
lecting and analyzing information takes place before any decisions are made about what to do, which vendors to use, or even what products are to be expected. Needs assessments are frequently completed in partnership with planning eff  orts (such as strategic planning or project planning) to deﬁ  ne 
where a group or organization is headed and how it plans to get there.
In contrast, an evaluation perspective is most commonly applied when 
initial decisions about what to do (for example, build schools, reform poli-cies, expand HIV/AIDS services) may have already been made and when you are trying to either improve  performance (as with developmental or for-
mative evaluations) or determine the value added by current processes (as with summative or impact evaluation). You, therefore, approach an evalua-tion from a diff  erent vantage point than you would for a needs assessment.

Your processes and results serve a diff  erent, though equally important, func-
tion within an organization. 
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s De -
velopment Assistance Committee has provided ﬁ  ve criteria to consider when 
evaluating projects: relevance, eff  ectiveness, effi   ciency, impact, and sustain-
ability (OECD 2011). Evaluations frequently inform, for example, decisions about how (or whether) to imp rove performance of current eff  orts; and evalu-
ations are, therefore, sometimes done in partnership with other cost-value analyses (such as cost-beneﬁ  t, cost-eff  ectiveness, return-on- investment, or 
cost-effi   ciency analysis) or ongoing needs assessment eff  orts.
9
It is important to note that, in recent years, given an emphasis on achiev-

9
ing results (that is, products, outputs, outcomes, and impacts), more atten-tion has been given by project planners and funders to see evaluation planning as part of the project planning process. Consequently, for those who rightly consider that evaluation eff  orts start at the beginning of project 
planning and not at the project’s end, we see cases where evaluation and needs assessment are more closely linked even as their functions diff  er.
If you apply both approaches when they are appropriate, then you are on 
the way to improving results. Throughout this book, nevertheless, we have made a conscious eff  ort to describe each of the tools and techniques from a 
decidedly needs assessment perspective. 
Don’t We Already Know What Works?

Relying on past success is no guarantee of future success. Although deci-sions should consider the results of past solutions ( just as they should look 36 A Guide to Assessing Needsat what others are doing to achieve results), past successes should provide 
context for decisions rather than constrain them. Too often organizations continue to apply “the same old” solutions well after the solutions have lost their eff  ectiveness—assuming that they were eff  ective to begin with. Suc-
cessful solutions exist in a point in time and in a certain context, and they have limited transferability to diff  erent times and contexts. 
Can’t You Just Send Out a Survey Asking 
People What They Want?
No. A survey is not a needs assessment. It is only a tool that may be used in a

No. A survey is not a needs assessment. It is only a tool that may be used in a 
needs assessment if the circumstances are right to use a survey. Although the individual perspective on what people want to have done is quite valu-able in making informed decisions, by itself it is of little value when making decisions. Asking people what they want also sets up the expectation—likely false—that they will get exactly what they want. Thus, we strongly recom-mend that you don’t go down that path.
By going far beyond simply asking people what they want, you can create 
a needs assessment that collects valuable information from multiple perspec-tives and that guides justiﬁ  able decisions. Use multiple tools and techniques, 
and stay away from questions that may build unrealistic expectations.
Section Summary
As you can see, needs assessments can be used in many diff  erent ways to

As you can see, needs assessments can be used in many diff  erent ways to 
improve  performance. They are distinctiv e from most other management 
tools in that they focus on performance (measured gaps in results) and are the precursor to decisions about what to do next. Nevertheless, we use them formally and informally in organizations every day. 
In section 2, we will turn our attention from what a needs assessment is 
(or is not) and will focus on what makes for a useful assessment. From deter-mining the scope of your needs assessment to managing the process, the next section summarizes the steps that can guide a successful assessment.
Notes
1. Roger Kaufman uses what is  and what should be , rather than current  and 
desired , because the desired results may not always represent what is best for

Notes
desired , because the desired results may not always represent what is best for 
the individual, organization, or society. Although the authors agree with this Needs Assessment: Frequently Asked Questions  37perspective, we simply ﬁ  nd that the term desired results  communicates more 
eff ectively with development colleagues and partners. 
2. Doug Leigh of Pepperdine University refers to improving performance  as the 
activities used to accomplish performance improvement . Thus, from this 
perspective, your needs assessment would focus on performance improvement  
(that is, the results) before it would examine alternative methods for improv-ing performance. 
3. What Roger Kaufman refers to as Micro Level results or products; planning at 
this level is operational.
4. What Roger Kaufman refers to as Macro Level results or outputs; planning at 
this level is tactical.

5. What Roger Kaufman refers to as Mega Level results or outcomes; planning at 
this level is strategic.
6. Based on John Wedman’s performance pyramid model, as found in Watkins 
and Leigh (2010).
7 . An unreferenced phrase frequently used by Roger Kaufman.8. Based on Watkins and Guerra (2003).9. A notable exception is prospective  evaluations. These are, however, less 
common than the evaluations described here, and they typically serve limited functions in most organizations.
Brethower, Dale, and Karolyn Smalley. 1998. Performance-Based Instruction: 
Linking Training to Business Results . San Francisco: Jossey-Bass/Pfeiff  er.
Kaufman, Roger, Hugh Oakley-Brown, Ryan Watkins, and Doug Leigh. 2003. 
Strategic Planning for Success: Aligning People, Performance, and Payoff  s. 
San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Leigh, Doug. 2003. “Worthy Performance, Redux.” http://www.performance 
xpress.org/0306.
Mintzberg, Henry. 2000. The Rise and Fall of Strategic Planning . New York: Free 
Press.
— — —. 2008. Tracking Strategies: Towards a General Theory of Strategy Formation . 
New York: Oxford University Press. 
OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development). 2011. DAC 
Criteria for Evaluating Development Assistance.  http://www.oecd.org/   
document/22/0,2340,en_2649_34435_2086550_1_1_1_1,00.html.
Rossett, Allison. 1987 . Training Needs Assessment . Englewood Cliff  s, NJ: Educa-
tional Technology Publishing Co.
Watkins, Ryan. 2007 . Performance by Design: The Systematic Selection, Design, and 
Development of Performance Technologies That Produce Useful Results.

Development of Performance Technologies That Produce Useful Results.  
Amherst, MA: HRD Press, and Silver Spring, MD: International Society for Performance Imp rovement.38 A Guide to Assessing NeedsWatkins, Ryan, and Ingrid Guerra. 2003. “Assessing or Evaluation: Determining 
Which Approach Is Required.” In 2003 Training and Performance Sourcebook , 
edited by Mel Silberman. Princeton, NJ: Active Training.
Watkins, Ryan, and Doug Leigh, eds. 2010. Handbook for Improving Performance 
in the Workplace . Vol. 2:  Selecting and Implementing Performance Interven-
tions . San Francisco: Wiley/Pfeiff  er, and Silver Spring, MD: International 
Society for Performance Improvement.
Williams, Terry, and Knut Samset. 2010. “Issues in Front-End Decision Making 
on Projects.” Performance Management Journal  41 (2): 38–49. 39Needs Assessment: 
Steps to SuccessSECTION 2

Because most of us do not conduct needs assessments (such as those typi-
cally required to inform decisions in the workplace) each day, the steps to conducting a successful assessment can remain elusive. At the same time there is, of course, no one perfect path to success—nor should there be. Therefore, we have attempted in this section to “boil down” the theories, models, and approaches of needs assessment into clear guidance on how you can manage a successful assessment within your unique context. Along with the management tools provided in appendix A, the guidance off  ered in 
this section can start you on the path to success.
1
How Do You Determine the Scope of 
Your Needs Assessment?
We can break down decisions into three levels:

1
We can break down decisions into three levels: 
• Strategic (typically involves goals, objectives, and strategic policies deﬁ  n-
ing the relationship between organizations and the society they serve)40 A Guide to Assessing Needs• Tactical  (includes the policies and procedures put in place to both sup-
port strategic decisions and guide operational decisions, thereby deﬁ  ning 
the goals and objectives of an organization or institution)
• Operational (includes all sorts of short- and long-term decisions that typ-
ically involve implementing projects or programs and carrying out tasks to produce results)
Needs assessments are routinely used to guide strategic decisions , choices

Needs assessments are routinely used to guide strategic decisions , choices 
that are guided by the needs of society, including the needs of direct clients (such as a government’s ministry of education), indirect clients (such as community schools served by the ministry), and others in the society that are the beneﬁ  ciaries of an organization’s eff  orts (such as the broader popu-
lation of the country or region). Although your assessment may focus on the needs of a direct client, it is important to recognize and plan for the implica-tions that any decision you make will have on other related societal systems (such as local schools and communities).
Needs assessments also provide valuable guidance for tactical decisions , 
such as when an organization wants to determine what programs and projects should be de veloped to imp rove aid eff  ectiveness. Here the focus

such as when an organization wants to determine what programs and projects should be de veloped to imp rove aid eff  ectiveness. Here the focus 
is on the results of the organization itself, rather than on the contributions of the organization to clients and society. Tactical needs assessments can be used in reactive situations, such as when organizational performance suddenly begins to drift below established expectations. Equally, tactical needs assessments are frequently used proactively to determine if and when opportunities are the right choice. In each case, a needs assessment can help you collect useful information and make justiﬁ  able decisions that 
improve the performance (that is, the achievement of desired results) of your organization.
Operational decisions  are also supported by needs assessments. These

Operational decisions  are also supported by needs assessments. These 
decisions focus on achieving individual and team results within your orga-nization, and they are best made in alignment with tactical and strategic decisions. Operational decisions include the daily decisions that must be made for projects to be implemented or budgets to be used. They can be short-term decisions (for example, when deciding on the expected results from a staff   meeting) or long-term decisions (for example, when setting 
project management objectives and milestones). In either case, operational decisions are associated with the products of individuals and teams. 
Strategic, tactical, and operational decisions—though diff  erent in focus—

are each essential to success (see table 2.1). Without quality operational decisions, tactical and strategic results would be not achieved. Likewise, without quality tactical decisions, strategic results would not be accom-Needs Assessment: Steps to Success  41plished. If operational decisions are made, for instance, without links to the 
tactical and strategic implications, then the organization, its clients, the cli-ent’s clients, and others suff  er. At the same time, strategic decisions can pro-Table 2.1   Three Scopes for Needs Assessments
Needs 
assessment Results focusExample 1:
Contexts for needs 
assessmentExample 2: 
Needs assessment results
Strategic Results contrib-
uted to the society and communities served by the organization and its partnersMinistry ofﬁ  cials from ﬁ  ve

uted to the society and communities served by the organization and its partnersMinistry ofﬁ  cials from ﬁ  ve 
neighboring provinces meet with donor agencies to review the effect of recent global economic changes on their combined populations. Priority needs include reducing 
incidence of waterborne diseases and increasing farmland production. The group also indicates that multiprovince projects are preferred, when appropriate.
Tactical Results delivered 
by the organiza-tion to clientsChanging population needs 
require more responsive development projects that work across multiple sectors (for example, education, health, agricul-ture, infrastructure, and so on) and that engage development partners (for example, multilateral and bilateral organizations and nongovernmental organizations).Priority needs for the organiza-

tion include increasing the effectiveness of agriculture and health projects, as well as increasing the number of multi-sector projects that are completed successfully. 
Operational Results produced 
by individuals and teams within the organizationYour unit within the 
organi zation has not been 
successful in coordinating efforts across multiple sectors in the past, and two such projects have had to be restructured in the past ﬁ ve years (neither being 
completed within the initial funding period).The priority needs in the unit 
include (a) increasing the number of successfully completed multisector projects and (b) increasing the overall number of current projects that are completed on time. Mentoring new staff mem-bers, increasing feedback on draft proposals, and monitoring multisector projects biweekly were among the possible activities identiﬁ  ed to improve 
performance.

Source: The framework is based on the multiple works of Roger Kaufman found in the references section, with examples pro-
vided by the authors of this book.42 A Guide to Assessing Needsvide guidance for subsequent tactical and operational decisions. It is, 
therefore, the alignment of decisions that is essential. 
Many scenarios can commonly lead to needs assessments with diff  ering 
scopes: strategic, tactical, operational, or all three. The following scenarios may better illustrate examples of when you would select a needs assessment with one or more of these scopes.
Example Uses of a Strategic Needs Assessment
Scenario 1:  Environmental and social concerns are changing the require-
ments that citizens and government agencies have for your organization’s products or services.
Scenario 2:  Previous strategic planning eff  orts in your organization have

Scenario 2:  Previous strategic planning eff  orts in your organization have 
not provided useful guidance for aligning the contributions of your pro-vincial education ministry with the emerging requirements of the impov-erished minority populations that you serve.
Scenario 3:  Your government agency is responsible for (a) developing 
20-year transportation plans for your region, (b) anticipating a range of economic and social changes, and (c) building in consultations with a range of stakeholders (for example, transportation experts, national and community offi   cials, ﬁ  nancial experts, and so on).
Scenario 4 : New technologies are likely to make the services off  ered by 
your organization obsolete in the next ﬁ  ve years, and you are looking for 
new niche markets that your organization may be able to serve in this new development environment.
Example Uses of a Tactical Needs Assessment

Scenario 1:  Client satisfaction in your telecommunications organization 
is historically mixed, but new information is indicating that the retention of clients has decreased and has become a signiﬁ  cant ﬁ  nancial risk.
Scenario 2:  Your transportation organization is struggling to balance 
workforce capacity, which has too few highly qualiﬁ  ed road engineers 
some years and too many other years, thereby leading to suboptimal proj-ect planning and varying satisfaction among clients.
Scenario 3:  Results in your water department have been slowly declin-
ing in recent years (for example, number of sewer lines completed, qual-ity of water provided, and so on), and it looks as if this year will end with lower results than last year.Needs Assessment: Steps to Success  43Scenario 4:  Last year, your organization struggled with approximately 8

percent of the more than 500 employees missing work on the average day. This situation has cost the organization approximately US$180,000 annually and has led to lower client satisfaction ratings.
Example Uses of an Operational Needs Assessment
Scenario 1:  Fewer than 40 percent of project leaders in your unit have 
been adequately identifying emerging risks in their quarterly implemen-tation reports, leading to 10 percent of the projects in your unit being categorized as “at risk of failure.”
Scenario 2:  Each quarter, electricity department supervisors are ex -
pected to meet with their employees to discuss community scorecard ratings.  But fewer than half of those meetings take place, thereby result-ing in a lack of shared knowledge on community satisfaction with elec-tricity services and where corrective action should be taken.
Scenario 3:  It is expected that new employees in your pension agency

Scenario 3:  It is expected that new employees in your pension agency 
will be able to accurately input applicant data into the pension manage-ment system within six months of
  being hired. Unfortunately, it currently 
takes employees 9 to 12 months of practice to enter applicant data with the necessary accuracy.
Scenario 4:  According to manager evaluations, more than 60 percent of 
employees who complete internal training courses do not perform their jobs better after the training. 
Both tactical and operational needs assessments begin and end within the 
organization. Each of the needs assessments relates directly to the ability of the organization and its people to accomplish their goals and objectives. In contrast, the strategic needs assessment begins outside of the organization with the direct and indirect clients that beneﬁ  t from the products or ser-

vices of the organization (for example, community members, students, pen-sioners, and so on). Those direct and indirect clients of the organization are thereby given a voice in setting the long-term direction for the organization through the strategic needs assessments.
Successful needs assessments are not, however, independent from other 
needs assessments. For an operational needs assessment to be of value, it must be completed within the context of a tactical needs assessment; after all, why imp rove performance at the individual level if it is not in line with 
organizational objectives? Likewise, tactical needs assessments are most useful when nested in the results of a strategic needs assessment. 44 A Guide to Assessing NeedsAlignment is essential for success, both in terms of the decisions to be

made and the actions that follow those decisions. The goals of an organiza-tion are best derived from and aligned with the goals of the broader society in which they function. Likewise, the goals of a project or team are best derived from and aligned with the goals of the organization. The impor-tance of this alignment is, nevertheless, often overlooked, thus allowing decisions to be made—and subsequent actions to be taken—that have little or no chance of accomplishing desired results that span across operational, tactical, and strategic goals.
2 
Managing the scope of your needs assessment requires a sense of bal-
ance—balancing strategic, tactical, and operational decisions. At times, you may determine that your assessment requires a 90 percent focus on opera-tional decisions, with just 10 percent of the eff  ort focused on ensuring the

links with tactical and strategic decisions. At other times, the context for your assessment may lead you to determine that 50 percent of the eff  ort 
should be on organizational needs, 20 percent on alignment with societal needs, and 30 percent on alignment with individual or team needs. There is no equation for balancing scope, but rarely would you want to focus exclu-sively on strategic, tactical, or operational decisions—alignment of the three typically involves some attention and eff  ort.
Where Do You Begin?
To begin any needs assessment, you must determine what decisions the

To begin any needs assessment, you must determine what decisions the 
assessment is meant to inform (see box 2.1). For instance, is your organiza-tion tasked with reforming education within your country, and is your pri-marily strategic needs assessment meant to inform those decisions? Or has your division recently undergone budget cuts and, therefore, you want to use a primarily tactical needs assessment to inform decisions on prioritizing limited resources? Or are you concerned that a team you lead is missing too many deadlines and so you want to use a primarily operational needs assess-ment as a basis for improving performance?
Whatever the case, let the decisions to be made  be your guide. If you are

Whatever the case, let the decisions to be made  be your guide. If you are 
unclear on what decisions are going to be made on the basis of the results of the needs assessment, then this is a good time to clarify those expectations before you begin to plan, manage, and carry out your assessment. You may have to go back to your boss, the project sponsor, or others in your organiza-tion to help clarify how they would like to use the ﬁ  ndings of your assess-
ment to guide their choices as well. If conducting the needs assessment was your decision, then clarify the objectives on the basis of the questions to Needs Assessment: Steps to Success  45which you want answers—answers that will lead to informed and justiﬁ  able 
decisions.
The strategic needs assessment, with its focus on the results required for

The strategic needs assessment, with its focus on the results required for 
external partners, generally provides the foundation for successful tactical and operational needs assessments. Without it, you are typically left to rely on assumptions regarding the value of your decisions to clients, communi-ties, and society. In many situations, you may not have the opportunity to formally conduct a strategic assessment as part of your project, but ensuring the alignment of tactical and operational needs with the strategic needs of the external partners and society remains important. 
You can, for instance, (a) link your needs assessment to strategic docu-
ments (such as the Millennium Development Goals, National Development Strategies, or World Bank Country Assistance Strategies), (b) deﬁ  ne strate-

gic needs on the basis of information already collected for other purposes (such as data from the United Nations or Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), (c)  meet with external partners to verify what you ﬁ  nd within your institution, and (d) engage client communities 
throughout the process by sharing your plans and results. Later, tactical and operational needs can be aligned with these strategic ﬁ  ndings to verify 
that all results contribute to development objectives.
Depending on the history of needs assessments within your organiza-

tion, it is routine for a combined needs assessment—one that addresses stra-tegic, tactical, and operational questions—to be the right choice. Don’t panic if this is the case for you as well. Because all three needs assessments will use similar plans, processes, tools, and techniques, you can typically con-duct a more effi   cient and simultaneous set of assessments than if you con-
ducted them individually. By asking questions regarding all three needs Box 2.1 Tasks in a Needs Assessment
A useful needs assessment will accomplish the following:
• Focus on results ﬁ  rst, solutions second.
• Deﬁ  ne needs as gaps in results.

• Align operational, tactical, and strategic performance.• Systematically analyze needs to inform decisions.• Consider a broad array of possible activities.• Compare activities against performance criteria.•  Provide information that justiﬁ  es the decision before it is made.46 A Guide to Assessing Needsassessments—strategic, tactical, and operational—in one interview, focus 
group, or survey, you can, for example, save time and money as well as reduce your stress.
Knowing why you are conducting the assessment and what decisions 
will be made based on its results are the essential foundations for success and are the ideal place to start.
How Do You Conduct a Basic Needs 
Assessment?
As with any organizational activity, it is best to start your needs assessment

As with any organizational activity, it is best to start your needs assessment 
with a plan. Your plan will not only help guide the processes within your needs assessment but also help you manage the multiple steps and various partners throughout the assessment.
Depending on the size and scope of your needs assessment (correspond-
ing to the decisions that your needs assessment will guide), you can create a useful plan for identifying needs, analyzing needs, and deciding what to do next (or at least making recommendations). By using this three-step pro-cess, you ensure that (a) your assessment focuses on results before solutions, (b) your needs are studied before decisions are made, and (c) your decisions are informed and justiﬁ  ed.
For an assessment that is small in scope, you can include in your plan just

For an assessment that is small in scope, you can include in your plan just 
the primary steps outlined as follows. For an assessment that is larger in scope, add more substeps and details as outlined later in the next section. Your larger-scale assessments will also likely beneﬁ  t from involving a spe-
cialist in needs assessment (or potentially in evaluation) to lead or advise about the assessment. After all, larger assessments will typically involve more questions to be answered, more and diff  erent types of stakeholders, 
more people to gather information from, more information to be analyzed, and more partners in making informed choices. Adjusting the detailed pro-cesses within each step of your assessment gives you the ﬂ  exibility to match 
your eff  orts to the desired scope.
That being said, it is important to recognize that although a formal needs

That being said, it is important to recognize that although a formal needs 
assessment will generally follow the same basic steps, having ongoing infor-mal needs assessments can be a necessary tool for responding to changing situations. Even after you complete a formal needs assessment, you should continue to collect information to monitor and evaluate the situation. When you recognize that needs are changing, you should either update the ﬁ  nd-
ings of the previous formal needs assessment or begin the process again to update recommendations.Needs Assessment: Steps to Success  47Next are three basic steps that should be included in your plans for a 
successful needs assessment. In appendix A of this book, you will ﬁ  nd 
additional information, tools, checklists, and resources for managing your assessment.
Identify
The ﬁ  rst step in needs assessment is to identify needs (that is, gaps between

Identify
The ﬁ  rst step in needs assessment is to identify needs (that is, gaps between 
desired and current results). Although it is often tempting to mix potential solutions (that is, activities or resources) with needs, your assessment will be much more eff  ective if you focus exclusively on results to start. There 
will be plenty of time for debating potential solutions later in the process. After all, as Henry Kissinger is credited with saying, “If you do not know where you are going, every road will get you nowhere.”
1. Identify your internal and external partners for the needs assessment. 
Colleagues, clients, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), develop-ment partners, and others may all be useful partners in making a quality decision.
2. Determine what data are required to identify needs (that is, gaps) at the

2. Determine what data are required to identify needs (that is, gaps) at the 
strategic, tactical, and operational levels. In other words, what informa-tion is required to make an informed and justiﬁ  able decision?
3. Determine potential sources of data (for example, community members, 
documents, and so on) to inform your needs assessment. For instance, is a strategic plan available for the national or provincial government to help guide a tactical-level needs assessment?
4. Make arrangements to collect information that is not already available. 
Schedule interviews, create surveys, arrange focus groups, collect docu-ments to be reviewed, train focus group facilitators, schedule perfor-mance observations, and so forth.
5. Pilot test interview protocols, questionnaires, and other information-
gathering tools (see box 2.2).
6. Collect information using a variety of tools and techniques, and include

6. Collect information using a variety of tools and techniques, and include 
sources that represent varying perspectives on the primary performance issues. Remember to listen—far more than you talk—when collecting in-formation for your needs assessment.
7 . Deﬁ  ne needs on the basis of performance gaps between current and 
desired results. Link strategic, tactical, and operational needs to ensure alignment.48 A Guide to Assessing NeedsAnalyze
The analysis process links needs with the information required to make 
decisions about what actions should be taken. After all, every need does not require immediate action: causal factors must be reviewed, return-on- investment considerations must be weighed, and priorities must be set. At this point, many ideas for solutions or activities to imp rove r esults will be

off ered. These ideas should also be captured during the analysis, though the 
focus remains on better understanding the diff  erences between current and 
desired results.
1. Establish an initial prioritization of needs on the basis of size, scope, dis-
tinguishing characteristics, and relative importance.
2. Conduct a needs analysis—for the highest-priority needs—to better un-
derstand what is working, what is not working, and what the systemic relationships are among needs.
3. Collect information (a) regarding the causal factors (or root causes) as-
sociated with what is not working and (b) leading to priority needs. Use multiple data-collection tools and techniques, and ensure that you cap-ture a variety of perspectives.
4. Analyze and synthesize the useful information you have collected about 
the needs.Box 2.2 Information-Gathering Tools in 
Part 3.A

Part 3.A
Guided Expert Reviews page 89Management of Focus Groups  page 95Interviews  page 106Dual-Response Surveys page 116SWOT+  page 127World Café™  (with “Speed Dating” Variation) page 132Delphi Technique page 137Performance Observations page 144Task Analysis (Hierarchical or Sequential, If–Then, and Model-Based)  page 148Cognitive Task Analysis  page 156Needs Assessment: Steps to Success  49Decide
Making complex decisions based on the analysis is the next step (see box 
2.3). This step is also often the hardest, given (a) competing interests for cer-tain types of activities to occur, (b) diffi   culties in agreeing to the criteria to

2.3). This step is also often the hardest, given (a) competing interests for cer-tain types of activities to occur, (b) diffi   culties in agreeing to the criteria to 
use in making the decisions, and (c)  typical realities for negotiation and compromise. Nevertheless, information from steps 1 and 2 will increase the potential for making a justiﬁ  able decision that will lead to desired results.
1. Working with needs assessment partners, establish the criteria on 
which decisions will be made about what to do (for example, cost, time, impact).
3
2. Identify multiple activities (that is, solutions) that in combination could 
achieve desired results. There are always multiple options to be consid-ered, so it is important not to become ﬁ  xated on any one solution until it 
can be compared with others against the agreed-upon criteria.
3. Evaluate each potential performance imp rovement activity to assess its 
value to your improv ement eff  ort.

4. Prioritize the identiﬁ  ed needs on the basis of the cost to meet the need 
(that is, closing the gap) versus the cost of not meeting the need (that is, not closing the gap).
4
5. Summarize your recommendations in a needs assessment report or pre-
sentation, and disseminate the information.Box 2.3 Decision-Making Tools in Part 3.B
Nominal Group Technique 
 (A Group Consensus-Building and Ranking Technique) page 166Multicriteria Analysis  page 171Tabletop Analysis page 180Pair-Wise Comparison page 1872 × 2 Matrix Decision Aids  page 191Fishbone Diagrams page 197Scenarios page 202Root Cause Analysis page 207Fault Tree Analysis page 214Concept Mapping page 220Future Wheel page 228Performance Pyramid page 23650 A Guide to Assessing Needs6. Evaluate your needs assessment process to determine if changes should

be made before you complete your next assessment.
Use the three primary steps (identify, analyze, decide) as a general guide for 
your needs assessment. For informal needs assessments, these three steps and the recommended substeps may be enough to inform your decision. 
How Do You Conduct a Larger-Scale Needs 
Larger-scale needs assessments typically require a more detailed and formal 
needs assessment process. If, for instance, you are planning a six-month needs assessment that requires the engagement of several government min-istries and donor partners, then the three general steps of identify, analyze, and decide will not be suffi   cient. 
In these cases, Jim Altschuld (2010) suggests that the needs assessment 
be conducted in three phases: preassessment activities, assessment activi-ties, and postassessment activities.
5 The three previously discussed steps

5 The three previously discussed steps 
(identify, analyze, decide) can then be integrated into the assessment activi-ties, providing a proactical approach to your assessment (see ﬁ  gure 2.1).
Phase 1. Preassessment
The purpose of this phase is to determine the overall scope and plan for the 
assessment so you ensure that implementation goes smoothly and generates justiﬁ  able information to make decisions. The preassessment phase relies 
Figure 2.1 Needs Assessment Phases and Basic Steps
preassessment assessment postassessment
identify     analyze     decide
Source:  Based in part on Altschuld 2010.Needs Assessment: Steps to Success  51on using existing information as much as possible, rather than on collecting 
new information, to inform decisions.
1. With the sponsors of the assessment, determine the overall 
scope of the needs assessment.

2. Depending on the scope of the assessment, identify the primary 
performance issues that are leading to the needs assessment. To the extent possible, review existing information (such as earlier reports or surveys) to guide the assessment.
3. Deﬁ  ne what data and information are required from the needs 
assessment to adequately inform decisions. This step may require that you collect some preliminary information from key stake-holders and partners to deﬁ  ne objectives and select methods.
4. With others, create a management plan for the needs assessment 
(see appendix A). 
5. Validate your management plan for the needs assessment with 
colleagues, peers, clients, partners, the assessment’s spon-sors, and others who will have a stake in the success of the  assessment.
Phase 2. Assessment

The purpose of this phase is to implement the assessment in a methodologi-
cally sound manner that generates justiﬁ  able information to make decisions.
 1. Make arrangements to collect the necessary information from 
the various sources. Schedule interviews, create surveys, ar-range focus groups, collect documents to be reviewed, train group facilitators when necessary, schedule performance obser-vations, and so forth.
 2. Review protocols, questionnaires, and other information- 
gathering tools to verify that you capture the necessary informa-tion regarding both the current achievements and the desired  accomplishments.
 3. Collect information by (a) using a variety of tools and techniques

3. Collect information by (a) using a variety of tools and techniques 
and (b) including sources that represent varying perspectives on the primary performance issues.52 A Guide to Assessing Needs 4. Deﬁ  ne needs on the basis of performance gaps between cur-
rent and desired results.
 5. Establish an initial prioritization of needs on the basis of size, 
scope, distinguishing characteristics, and relative importance.
 6. For the highest-priority needs, create a plan for collecting in-
formation on the factors that are likely leading to the perfor-mance gaps.
 7 . Collect information regarding the causal factors (or root 
causes) associated with priority needs.
 8. Analyze and synthesize the useful information you have 
 collected.
 9. For each priority need and its associated causal factors, identify 
multiple performance-imp rovement activities that in combi-
nation could address the complete need.
10. Evaluate each potential performance -improv ement activity to

10. Evaluate each potential performance -improv ement activity to 
assess its value to y our imp rovement eff  ort.
11. Use the information to prioritize needs and make recom-
mendations regarding the improv ement eff  orts that will best 
achieve desired results within the given context. 
Phase 3. Postassessment
The purpose of this phase is to underscore that the assessment does not end 
once priorities have been set. Information from the assessment must be shared and used to guide decisions. Additionally, situations change, and you should routinely collect and assess information as part of ongoing monitor-ing and evaluation. This phase supports the implementation of recommen-dations and off  ers opportunities to take corrective actions where necessary.
1. Summarize your recommendations in a needs assessment re-
port or presentation.

2. Communicate your draft ﬁ  ndings to your stakeholders. For 
larger- scale assessments, this step may involve developing a dis-semination strategy, communication strategies, and assessment reports and presentations. It is also good practice to share ﬁ  nd-
ings with people who provided information and other inputs for your assessment.Needs Assessment: Steps to Success  533. Integrate postassessment monitoring and evaluation activities 
into recommended activities that will be undertaken.
4. Evaluate your needs assessment process to determine if changes 
should be made before you complete your next assessment.
Build ﬂ  exibility into your plan, but don’t be tempted to take the ﬁ  rst plau-

sible solution that shows up and forget about the rest of the assessment that you have designed. Research by Paul Nutt (2008) at Ohio State University illustrates that this tendency, which he refers to as taking an emergent oppor-
tunity , leads to less-successful results from your decisions than if you follow 
through with the complete needs assessment, which he refers to as discov-
ery decision making .
6
Nevertheless, you can, for example, complete multiple tasks at the same 
time to save time and resources. Skipping steps or reversing the order of activities can, however, cause problems or lead to missed opportunities to improve  performance. Therefore, especially for needs assessments with a 
larger scope, include dependencies that illustrate which tasks must be com-pleted before subsequent steps can begin.

larger scope, include dependencies that illustrate which tasks must be com-pleted before subsequent steps can begin. 
Lastly, continually review your needs assessment plan throughout the 
process to ensure that necessary results have been accomplished before moving on to subsequent, and dependent, tasks. If your assessment drifts away from a focus on performance and results, then it is better to know this change early so that corrective actions can be taken.
Who Should Be Involved in a Needs Assessment?
Needs assessments are rarely successful when performed as an individual 
activity. Instead, involve others inside and outside your organization to gain 
multiple perspectives on both the results that should be accomplished and 
the current levels of performance for comparison. From ministry offi   cials 
and donor partners to internal managers and volunteers, having various partners represented in y our needs assessment will imp rove the quality

and donor partners to internal managers and volunteers, having various partners represented in y our needs assessment will imp rove the quality 
of  your assessment and will create buy-in to the recommendations that  follow. 
Building a team (or a committee) to conduct the assessment is also essen-
tial to the success of y our performance imp rovement eff  orts. Not only is a 
needs assessment typically more work than one individual can do, but also 
conducting a needs assessment with a single perspective can be dangerous. 54 A Guide to Assessing NeedsThe varied perspectives off  ered by others on your assessment team will add 
signiﬁ  cant value to the information that you collect and the decision that 
you make.7 Table 2.2 illustrates the relationship of multiple, potential part-
ners for needs assessments of diff  ering scopes.Table 2.2   Sample Partners in a Needs Assessment for Regional Planning 
Strategic 
needs
assessmentTactical 
needs 
assessmentOperational
 needs

Strategic 
needs
needs 
 needs 
assessmentCombined 
strategic, 
tactical, and 
operational
Information sources
Clients *** ** * ***Customers *** ** * ***Community 
members *** ** * ***
Senior managers *** *** * ***Functional heads or 
managers ** *** *** ***
Performers * ** *** ***Supervisors * ** *** ***Suppliers ** ** *** **Volunteers ** ** *** **Ministry ofﬁ  cials *** ** * ***
Elected ofﬁ  cials *** ** * ***
NGOs *** ** * ***Local community 
groups *** ** * ***
Needs assessment team
Executive sponsor *** *** ** ***Project manager *** *** *** ***Administrative staff ** * * **Data collection staff * ** ** **Communications 
staff *** ** * ***
Notes:  See pages 39–40 for deﬁ  nitions of strategic, tactical, and operational needs assessments.

   * = Valued partners who, if available, can improve the quality of your assessment.
  ** = Important partners who, although not essential, contribute to a successful assessment.*** = Critical partners whose participation is essential for success.Needs Assessment: Steps to Success  55How Long Will a Needs Assessment Take? 
The time required to complete a practical needs assessment depends on 
many variables, from your previous experiences with needs assessments, to the availability of information within your organization, to the scope of your assessment. As a result, you can complete a quality needs assessment in as little time as a week, whereas more complex decisions may require an assess-ment that spans several months. 
Answering the following questions can help you determine the time 
required for your needs assessment:

1. What is the scope of your needs assessment: strategic, tactical, opera-
tional, or all three? How many and how complex are the performance-related questions that your needs assessment is going to inform? 
2. Has another needs assessment been completed within your organization 
in the past year?
3. Does your organization have a strategic plan that clearly links strategic, 
tactical, and operational performance objectives? Are data on current per-formance routinely collected to inform decisions in your organization?
4. Have you previously managed a needs assessment or an evaluation?5. Do you, or do people working with you on the needs assessment, have 
experience in collecting, analyzing, and synthesizing information?
6. Are there project deadlines or external events that establish a “must com-
plete by” date for the assessment?

Depending on your responses to these questions, the length of a needs 
assessment can vary from a few days to a couple of months. After answering the questions, use the needs assessment tools found in appendix A to esti-mate the number of days required for each assessment activity. Be sure to factor in that many of the steps can be completed simultaneously, but that there are also several that cannot be started until a previous step has been completed.
After all this planning, determine how much time you, and others, have to

After all this planning, determine how much time you, and others, have to 
dedicate to the assessment. Review your commitments to other projects, your upcoming vacation schedule, and other events on your calendar that may extend the amount of time required to complete the assessment. Also factor in that others, especially those whom you are counting on to provide useful information, will be out of town, busy, or on holiday (or vacation) dur-ing this time. 56 A Guide to Assessing NeedsWe realize that this is no easy formula, and from our experience “easy 
formulas” typically underestimate the amount of time required to complete a useful assessment. Some experienced professionals estimate how long it will take to complete the assessment, and then double or triple that time to be realistic about how long the assessment will take to complete.
How Do You Manage a Needs Assessment?

How Do You Manage a Needs Assessment? 
Managing a needs assessment is very much akin to managing any other proj-ect within an organization. Therefore, in appendix A of this book, we have included a number of needs assessment project management guides, check-lists, and resources. 
To effectively manage your needs assessment, also consider the 
following:
8
• Involve both internal and external partners from day 1.  A needs assess-
ment is rarely an activity that can be completed successfully without en-gaging both internal and external partners. From internal partners that represent varied perspectives within your organization to external part-ners that characterize perspectives of communities, clients, government offi  cials, consultants, suppliers, and others outside of your organization, 
each group plays an essential role in deﬁ  ning and prioritizing needs as 
well as in identifying and prioritizing potential activities to improve 
 performance.

• Get a needs assessment sponsor or champion in top management.  When it 
comes to a needs assessment, successful project management requires that you have a combination of responsibility (for the results of the needs assessment), authority (to make decisions), and accountability (for the accomplishments associated with assessment). Avoid situations where you are responsible and accountable but have no authority to achieve the necessary results. It is important in most situations that the sponsor del-egates to you the authority necessary to make management decisions re-garding the needs assessment.
• Establish measurable goals, objectives, and deliverables.  Needs assess-

ments are best managed through detailed goals, objectives, deliverables, and timelines. Use project management tools, such as Gantt or PERT charts, to guide your project from start to ﬁ  nish.
9 Establish clear and 
measurable objectives for each phase of the needs assessment, and then track your successful achievements. At the same time, remain ﬂ  exible. 
Needs are constantly changing—some are leaving (for instance, when a Needs Assessment: Steps to Success  57related project achieves positive results, or when your organization shifts 
its objectives under new leadership), and others are emerging (for in-stance, when changing global economic conditions strain the limited re-sources of a developing country). Your assessment—and subsequent deci-sions—must be able to adjust to these realities.
• Lead the planning process and the assessment.  Successful needs assess-

ments do not happen by chance or luck. Rather, they are led by an indi-vidual (or a team), and they require a blend of leadership and manage-ment skills. From motivating team members and guiding decisions to sharing authority and taking accountability, leadership plays an essential role in the success of any needs assessment. It is easy to get so wrapped up in managing the day-to-day activities of your project that your leader-ship gets lost.
• Balance time, budget, and quality of needs assessment results. There is no 
“perfect” needs assessment; consequently your success depends on ﬁ  nd-
ing an appropriate balance of time, budget, and quality of results that can be achieved. As you develop your needs assessment plan and guide that plan through implementation, reﬂ  ect on these three variables to ensure

that you are not losing balance or focus. Roger Kaufman (2006) goes as far as to suggest that “anything worth doing is worth doing poorly, at least at ﬁ rst.” In other words, a less-than-perfect needs assessment usually has 
more value than a needs assessment that never gets done; at least, the former gives a starting place for making imp rovements.
• Establish your management style. There is no ideal management style for 
all needs assessments. At some times, you may have to be more authori-tarian to get things done; at other times, you may want to manage by ob-jectives (and then get out of the way so that people can be successful in their tasks). Establish your primary  management style early on in the 
project. If you ﬁ  nd that it isn’t working for the needs assessment, then 
reﬂ ect on your experiences and select another management style that 
may achieve better results.
• Assess your strengths and weaknesses.  To manage a successful needs as-

sessment, know your own strengths and weaknesses (for instance, you may be great at keeping the project organized but less eff  ective in leading 
focus groups as part of data collection). In addition, it is useful to know the strengths and weaknesses of your assessment team members (for ex-ample, one member may be great at conducting interviews but unable to view the perspectives of others when synthesizing information from var-ious sources). Understanding and applying these factors as you assign 58 A Guide to Assessing Needsroles, guide decisions, and manage the daily activities is important to 
your success—and to the success of the assessment.
• Communicate early and often.  Keep your partners engaged and active

• Communicate early and often.  Keep your partners engaged and active 
throughout the needs assessment rather than letting them become pas-sive observers (see Greer 1999). These internal and external partners in-clude the assessment team, sponsors, and others who may be providing information to the assessment or using the results to inform their deci-sions. Consequently, from the time you kick off   your assessment until the 
ﬁ ndings have been communicated, keep your partners involved in the 
information gathering and decision making to some extent. Whether it is calling them once a week to ask for guidance, e-mailing them sample questionnaires, or holding community information meetings, keeping your partners engaged requires that you do not forget about them for weeks or months at a time. After all, if you lose their interest during the needs assessment process, then it is very diffi   cult to get that interest back

during the implementation of recommended activities.
• Keep your focus on the results (or don’t get distracted by processes or poten-
tial solutions).  Stay focused on the results to be accomplished by your 
needs assessment. Frequently, you are so distracted by all of the activities (such as interviews, focus groups, team management, and performance analysis) required to complete a needs assessment that you lose focus of your intended results. Routinely review your assessment’s goals and ob-jectives to ensure that all of your decisions are guided by the performance targets. Similarly, when potential solutions (including bridges, roads, new computers, wells, dams, microloans, training, mentoring, and other improvement activities) are mentioned, don’t be distracted; stay focused on deﬁ  ning your needs as being gaps in results. In the end, the results of 
your decisions will be signiﬁ  cantly better if you follow through with the 
whole needs assessment.
10

10
Where Does a Project’s Logic Model Fit In?
Logic models (also known as results chains, results frameworks, program theory, or log frames) are common planning, monitoring, evaluating, and communicating tools used to guide development projects (see ﬁ  gure 2.2). 
They display the sequential relationships that describe what the project (or program) uses, does, produces, and delivers—as well as the short-term and long-term desired eff  ects (societal results) of those eff  orts. The models illus-
trate the “logic” of how investments (money, time, eff  ort, and so on) are 
intended to achieve a series of results. Needs Assessment: Steps to Success  59The logic model works this way: inputs or resources are provided to

intended to achieve a series of results. Needs Assessment: Steps to Success  59The logic model works this way: inputs or resources are provided to 
implement activities. The activities should result in the production and delivery of services or products, which are outputs. These services or prod-ucts should cause something to change in the desired direction. In the near and medium term, the program’s eff  ects are outcomes. The longer-term 
eff ects of the program are referred to as impacts. In short, a logic model 
describes a plausible, causal relationship between inputs and how those inputs will lead to the intended outcomes. 
Impacts  are the long-term societal results of a project or program. Impacts 
typically refer to goal attainment and are sometimes referred to as higher-level outcomes. Ex amples include reduced child mortality and imp roved

typically refer to goal attainment and are sometimes referred to as higher-level outcomes. Ex amples include reduced child mortality and imp roved 
rates of economic growth. Achievement of higher-level outcomes is generally beyond the control of those implementing a project, and project implement-ers should usually not be held solely accountable for achieving them. 
Outcomes  are the eff  ect or result of activities and outputs at the institu-
tional or organizational level. Outcomes reﬂ  ect uptake, adoption, or use of 
outputs by those who are supposed to beneﬁ  t from the project. Outcomes 
are  what things are changed because of the project or program. Examples Figure 2.2 Logic Models for Planning, Monitoring, and Evaluating
Source: Based on Watkins (2007) and on multiple works by Roger Kaufman, though labels 
for the three levels of results (impacts, outcomes, outputs) have been modiﬁ  ed from his

for the three levels of results (impacts, outcomes, outputs) have been modiﬁ  ed from his 
model (outcomes, outputs, products) to reﬂ  ect the prevalent terminology of the logic 
model and international development literature.impacts plan
measure outcomes plan
measure outputs plan
measure activities
inputsplan
measure60 A Guide to Assessing Needsinclude children who have learned more because the quality of their educa-
tion has imp roved and who have fewer illnesses because of access to clean 
water. “Good” outcomes can be  measured.
 Outputs  are the supply-side services or products produced as a result of 
a project’s activities. Examples include the construction of 500 schools, the training of 1,500 nurses, an increase of 20 percent in the production of corn, and a plan for strengthening social protection programs.
Activities  are what the project does with the inputs. Examples of activi-

ties or interventions include building schools, hospitals, or irrigation canals; training teachers; buying textbooks; developing plans; creating partner-ships; and immunizing children.
Inputs  are the project’s resources, including money, staff  , facilities, 
equipment, and technical expertise.  
Logic models typically identify a level of inputs, a level of processes, and 
then three levels of results. Hence, an important element of a logic model is the diff  erentiation of means (inputs and activities) and results (outputs, out-
comes, and impacts) but don’t let this cause unnecessary confusion. Some organizations, for instance, prefer to call the three levels of results outputs , 
outcomes , and impacts ; other institutions refer to them as products , outputs , 
and outcomes . Still other organizations use diff  erent terminology. The terms

and outcomes . Still other organizations use diff  erent terminology. The terms 
are, however, less important than the alignment of results, thereby ensuring that everything a project uses, does, produces, and delivers makes desired contributions to communities and society.
When planning, use logic models (starting with impacts) to determine 
what results must be accomplished, and then later determine what pro-cesses and inputs will best achieve those results. When monitoring or evalu-ating projects, use the logic model to measure (a) if adequate resources were obtained, (b) if they were used effi   ciently within the project processes, and 
(c) then what results (outputs, outcomes, and impacts) were achieved. From here, the project cycle of assess, plan, act, monitor, and evaluate  can begin 
again.
When available, logic models are an important resource to inform your

again.
When available, logic models are an important resource to inform your 
needs assessment and subsequent decisions. When a model is not available, the results of your needs assessment can easily be used to create one.
11 
Within your needs assessment, for example, the logic model can provide a framework for relating current and desired results (see ﬁ  gure 2.3).
Notice that needs  are only gaps in results, not gaps in activities or inputs. 
Although your needs assessment should examine gaps for all elements of the logic model, it is important to diff  erentiate gaps in results at the impacts, 
outcomes, and outputs levels from the activities and resources used to achieve results. Needs Assessment: Steps to Success  61Logic models provide a systemic perspective of projects and off  er a

outcomes, and outputs levels from the activities and resources used to achieve results. Needs Assessment: Steps to Success  61Logic models provide a systemic perspective of projects and off  er a 
useful framework for a needs assessment though your assessment should also look beyond the logic model to ensure that gaps in results are viewed from a systemic perspective. Logic models are predominantly project or program focused, which means they can frequently miss the interdepen-dencies and relationships that span multiple projects, elements critical to making informed decisions. For example, the logic model for a reproduc-tive health project was likely created independent of projects in other 
Figure 2.3 Logic Models as a Needs Assessment Framework
Source: Based on the organizational elements model described in Kaufman (2003) and his other publica-
tions. However, it should be noted that Kaufman refers to the three levels of results as  products, out-

puts,  and outcomes,  with the latter being those results that primarily beneﬁ  t society. Kaufman’s focus 
on the beneﬁ  ciaries’ results at each level has distinct advantages over the time-based reference points 
(such as long- or short-term impacts) that are more common in the logic models literature. Within the Kaufman framework, the primary beneﬁ  ciaries of products  are individuals and teams, of outputs  are 
organizations, and of outcomes  is society, thereby making it easier to distinguish and align results during 
the needs assessment. Nevertheless, given the broad use of logic models literature in international development projects, we will use outputs, outcomes, and impacts throughout this book.impactscurrent
resultsdesired
results
impacts gap/need
outcomes outcomes gap/need
outputs outputs gap/need
activities activities

results
inputs inputs62 A Guide to Assessing Needssectors (such as agriculture or transportation) or projects of other devel-
opment agencies (such as projects funded by NGOs or even those of the client government). 
Use logic models as a tool for understanding the relationships of what is 
used, done, produced, delivered, and contributed to the broader society. Doing so will guide your assessment and will ensure that strategic, tactical, and operational decisions are aligned.
What Types of Data Should You Collect?
Data do not make decisions, but they should play a signiﬁ  cant role in sup-
porting your decision making. In his book titled The ROI of Human Capital ,

porting your decision making. In his book titled The ROI of Human Capital , 
Jac Fitz-Enz (2009) advises that it is a management imperative to convert data into meaningful information, to turn information into intelligence related to business issues, and then to share that intelligence with others. Needs assessments off  er systematic processes for doing just that, thereby 
providing structure and tools that guide the translation of data into useful information that can be used to make informed decisions about what to do next, which over time creates business intelligence that can be shared with others.
Perspectives on needs assessment also play a vital role in determining

Perspectives on needs assessment also play a vital role in determining 
(a)  which data collection techniques you use; (b), how you ask questions within the technique; (c) what questions you ask; and (d) how you analyze the resulting information to identify, deﬁ  ne, and prioritize needs. A combi-
nation of discrepancy and appreciative inquiry perspectives is typically valuable to ensure that your assessment determines both what is working well and where imp rovements can be made.
• A discrepancy  perspective views needs assessment as a process for iden-
tifying and measuring diff  erences and inconsistency between what is and 
what should be at the strategic, tactical, or operational level.
• An appreciative  inquiry  perspective views needs assessment as a process 
for engaging people across the performance system so they can build or-ganizations, programs, and projects around what works, rather than ex-clusively focusing on trying to ﬁ  x what doesn’t.

Given that needs are deﬁ  ned as performance gaps, a discrepancy perspec-
tive of data and information is most typically associated with a needs assess-ment. Discrepancy data are actually quite valuable for informing decisions Needs Assessment: Steps to Success  63and improving performance although alone they are not likely enough to 
consistently make justiﬁ  able decisions that will lead to desired results. Like-
wise, the appreciative inquiry perspective can focus too much on improving activities that are already taking place, without recognizing that improving results may require new activities that address speciﬁ  c weaknesses or future 
performance expectations. Thus, a combination of the two perspectives is generally recommended for a comprehensive needs assessment.

performance expectations. Thus, a combination of the two perspectives is generally recommended for a comprehensive needs assessment. 
Discrepancy Data Collection and Information Gathering
Needs assessments and subsequent decisions generally beneﬁ  t from data

Needs assessments and subsequent decisions generally beneﬁ  t from data 
and information regarding performance discrepancies. Incomplete projects, missed deadlines, low client satisfaction are discrepancies between desired accomplishments and current achievements that will help shape your assessment and decisions. It is, therefore, useful to collect data and informa-tion that can readily describe performance discrepancies. Survey data, inter-view responses, focus group results, performance observations, document reviews, and other needs assessment tools and techniques described in this book can all be used to illustrate performance discrepancies. For example, the interview question “Given the context of our organization, what would be the desired or expected length of time for a project to go from concept to funding app roval, and how long does it currently take?” readily off  ers dis-
crepancy data that can deﬁ  ne a need.

The value of information to illustrate performance discrepancies is not 
deﬁ ned by the type of data. Qualitative, quantitative, hard, and soft data can 
all be used eff  ectively to point out performance discrepancies. Descriptive 
diff erences in perceptions can be just as valuable to your needs assessment 
as numeric data drawn from a database. Information viewed from a discrep-ancy perspective does not depend on the type of data you have but rather on the point of view you use to compare those data against other information.
Appreciative Inquiry Data Collection and Information Gathering
Focusing exclusively on performance discrepancies can, nevertheless, cast a

Focusing exclusively on performance discrepancies can, nevertheless, cast a 
dark shadow on the many positive achievements within any organization. Taking an appreciative inquiry perspective acts to balance the potentially negative view of performance. By identifying and highlighting the positive achievements, you are adding to your assessment valuable information about what is working well and how you can build on those results.64 A Guide to Assessing NeedsAs you do when looking at performance from a discrepancy perspective, 
use various assessment tools and techniques when applying an appreciative inquiry perspective. From this perspective, you can also successfully conduct surveys, interviews, focus groups, observations, and reviews and can use other assessment tools. The diff  erence is that rather than looking for gaps in 
performance, you are identifying the beneﬁ  cial results of current activities

performance, you are identifying the beneﬁ  cial results of current activities 
and determining how they can be improv ed on to achieve future r esults.
12
Information gathered from an appreciative inquiry perspective can iden-
tify activities that should be maintained or expanded to accomplish desired results. By coordinating these successful activities with the performance improvement activities coming out of your needs assessment, you can in crease the likelihood of sustainable imp rovements.
Collection of Diverse Data
Use a similar integration of qualitative (or quality), quantitative (or quan-
tity), hard (or externally veriﬁ  able), and soft (or not externally veriﬁ  able) 
data collection procedures to ensure that your needs assessment is robust 
Table 2.3   Examples of Data-Collection Tools and Techniques for Each Data 
Type
Hard
(externally 
veriﬁ able data)Soft
(not externally 
veriﬁ able data)
Quantitative
(numericexpressionsof a variable)• Performance data

Type
Hard
• Budget analysis• Performance ratings
•  Scaled surveys (for 
example, 1 = disagree, 5 = agree)
a 
Qualitative
(nonnumericexpressionsof a variable)• Analysis of a list serve
• Document review• Focus groups
b
•  Multisource performance 
observations• Opinion surveys
• Individual interviews•  Single-source perfor-
mance observations
Source: Watkins (2007).
a. The results of Likert-type scale surveys are often mistakenly thought of as hard data because they 
result in quantiﬁ  able data. This is a good example of why you should consider data on both dimensions

result in quantiﬁ  able data. This is a good example of why you should consider data on both dimensions 
(hard-soft and quantitative-qualitative) because a single dimension may lead to confusion or the use of inappropriate statistical techniques and related conclusions.b. Focus groups can offer participants the ability to verify the input of other participants, thereby offer-ing external veriﬁ  cation of data of individual participants.Needs Assessment: Steps to Success  65and diverse. Each of the diff  erent categories of data can be important to your 
assessment. Each has strengths and weaknesses; therefore, including infor-mation from a variety of categories (for instance, soft quantitative and hard qualitative) gives you a more balanced view of the need (see table 2.3). 
Likewise, both inductive and deductive approaches to analysis should be

Likewise, both inductive and deductive approaches to analysis should be 
considered after you have collected data. Inductive approaches start with a blank slate to identify emerging trends or patterns. Conversely, deductive approaches begin with a framework or model, and then they sort data into the prescribed structure. Both approaches can be eff  ective techniques, and 
they can complement each other in the same needs assessment. There is, however, no easy formula for determining which approach is appropriate for your assessment. Consider both options for each category of data, and use the approach that best ﬁ  ts your context.
Which Tools and Techniques from This Book 
Should You Use?
Needs assessments rely on a broad set of common tools and techniques for

Needs assessments rely on a broad set of common tools and techniques for 
collecting information and making decisions; many of these tools and tech-niques are also applied during or after an activity for monitoring, quality improvement, and evaluation purposes. From focus groups and interviews to scenarios and ﬁ  shbone diagrams, most of the tools are not unique to the 
needs assessment process; rather, it is the “before a decision is made” per-spective applied to each tool that deﬁ  nes the value of a needs assessment.
Your assessment, for instance, may be used to determine what combination 
of social aid programs will best imp rove the quality of life for impoverished 
people living in rural communities. The ﬁ  ndings of the assessment could lead

people living in rural communities. The ﬁ  ndings of the assessment could lead 
to a series of activities that are intended to achieve desired results. However, the context of communities is always changing (for instance, natural disasters occur, changes in government leadership can reduce funding, and emigration patterns change), and the implementation of projects is often quite diff  erent 
from what was intended (for instance, project leaders may not work with community leaders as imagined, project staff   members may leave the country, 
or new technologies may off  er unforeseen improv ements to the project). 
Development projects are, therefore, complex and often unpredictable.
Despite this unpredictability, your needs assessment must deﬁ  ne and pri-

oritize needs and then must support decisions about what to do. Moreover, your success is frequently measured according to the results of the activities that were recommended in this ever-changing environment. Your assess-66 A Guide to Assessing Needsment, therefore, cannot rely on just one tool (for example, a survey) for col-
lecting information and another (for example, straw polls) for making decisions. Typically, you want to have (and use) a number of optional tools to meet the high expectations.
The needs assessment tools and techniques included in this book off  er 
just a sample of the many ways that you can gather information, make deci-sions, and imp rove performance. All the same, it is often challenging to

just a sample of the many ways that you can gather information, make deci-sions, and imp rove performance. All the same, it is often challenging to 
decide which tools or techniques are best for your needs assessment. For some assessments, focus group techniques may be most valuable to ensure partner buy-in. For other assessments, a blend of analytical tools and group decision-making techniques may make the most sense. The choices are, however, rarely easy. For that reason, we have divided the tools and tech-niques into two categories for needs assessment applications: information 
gathering  and decision making . 
Some of the tools (such as the delphi technique on page 137 or dual- 
response surveys on page 116) are most eff  ective when you are working with 
a large number of partners in your needs assessment, whereas others (such as interviews on page 106, ﬁ  shbone diagrams on page 197 , or concept map-

ping on page 220) can be used equally as well with small or large groups. Similarly, tools and techniques such as surveys and multicriteria analysis can provide useful facts and ﬁ  gures in quantiﬁ  ed ways, whereas interviews, 
case studies, and scenarios provide qualitative information that is also use-ful in making decisions.
Choosing the right mixture of tools and techniques for collecting infor-
mation and making decisions is, therefore, much more of an art than a sci-ence. Your experiences, background, and conﬁ  dence in using any of this 
book’s tools and techniques should also inform your decision. If you have the resources to use experts, such as focus group facilitators, interviewers, or return-on-investment analysts, then this involvement will also inﬂ  uence 
the options you have available for completing your needs assessment.

In addition, we have developed two guides to help you select the appro-
priate tools for your context. In appendix A, you will ﬁ  nd (a) Tools and Tech-
niques to Consider  and (b) the Guide to Selecting Tools and Techniques. These 
guides can be valuable resources for identifying, comparing, and choosing the tools and techniques for your next assessment.
When Do You Have Enough Information?
Determining when you have “enough” information to make informed and justiﬁ  able decisions depends greatly on the decisions you are trying to make Needs Assessment: Steps to Success  67and the consequences of those choices. Fortunately, when applying many of 
the collaborative tools and techniques described in this book, it is more eas-ily evident when you have enough information to move ahead or when more information is required to make justiﬁ  able decisions.

For example, if you are using a nominal group technique (see page 166) to 
make a decision, the participants will let you know when more information is required to move on. Likewise, without the necessary data, you will not be able to adequately complete a multicriteria analysis (see page 171) without going back to gather more information. Often, with other techniques, an indicator that you have collected enough data is when you begin to hear the same comments again and again.
When you believe that your assessment has collected enough informa-
tion to inform a justiﬁ  able decision, move on to the next step in your plan. If 
you get to the decision step and cannot make a decision that is justiﬁ  ed by 
the results of your assessment, then you can always go back to collect any missing information.
Most needs assessments that are done within the context of organiza-

tional decision making do not apply statistical standards for sample sizes or conﬁ  dence intervals. For researchers, guidelines are clear about these issues. 
Within an organization, however, data from one knowledgeable and experi-
enced staff   member may be worth more than survey results from 100 ran-
domly selected staff   members. The goal of your needs assessment is to 
inform a decision, and thus you have a good deal of latitude in determining 
when enough data have been collected. 
As decisions increase in importance, you may, nevertheless, want to 
examine the statistical standards for sample size and related conﬁ  dence

examine the statistical standards for sample size and related conﬁ  dence 
intervals (as applied in the analysis of quantitative data). For instance, if your needs assessment seeks to identify the needs of HIV/AIDS populations in ﬁ ve countries, and if you determine that a survey is among the data- collection 
tools to be used to gather necessary information, then it would be important 
to work with a statistician to determine the appropriate sampling proce-dures, sample size, and related conﬁ  dence intervals before conducting the 
survey.
Although not collecting enough information to inform decisions is one 
risk in conducting a needs assessment, another risk is the temptation to

survey.
risk in conducting a needs assessment, another risk is the temptation to 
continue collecting data rather than making a decision. In all assessments, you must take the information you have available at some point and must decide (or recommend) which activities should be used to achieve results. 
Do your best to strike an appropriate balance between the two risks—hav-
ing too little or never believing that you have enough—within the context 
of your assessment.68 A Guide to Assessing NeedsHow Do You Use the Information You Collected 
to Make Decisions?
To begin, verify that you have the “right” information to make the necessary 
decisions. From having information that clearly deﬁ  nes the desired results

decisions. From having information that clearly deﬁ  nes the desired results 
and measures the current levels of performance, to having information on which potential solutions could achieve desired results and knowing how much they could cost, it is important that your needs assessment collects information that could lead to a justiﬁ  able decision about what to do. 
For each variable that is important to your decisions (for instance, work-
force productivity, employee motivation, government policies, client satis-faction, quarterly expenditures, poverty levels, quality of life, and so forth), you should collect data and information regarding both the results that should be accomplished and the results that are currently being achieved. It is also useful to have information supporting ho w improv ements can best be

made. Although you can’t predict the future, you can use information to sup-port forecasts, scenarios, or anticipated returns on investments.
Alone, determining the size of the gap (desired results minus current 
results) rarely provides a complete picture. Knowing, for instance, that the desired results of your clients are signiﬁ  cantly higher than those outlined in 
your organization’s current strategic plan is valuable information. Organiza-tions are frequently out of touch with their direct and indirect clients.
Likewise, too often we assume that everyone within our organization 
strives to achieve the same goals and objectives. The reality is that if you were to ask 10 people doing the same job inside of your organization what results they are expected to accomplish, typically you would get at least eight diff  erent answers. Document perceptions (or misperceptions) of the 
desired performance among staff   members, and then compare that to the

desired performance among staff   members, and then compare that to the 
expectations of the organization, clients, and other partners. 
Similarly, analyze the information you collect regarding desired perfor-
mance to gain insights into the priorities of diff  erent stakeholders—inside 
and outside your organization. Routinely in a needs assessment, you will ﬁ nd that groups perceive performance goals diff  erently (for example, head-
quarters staff   members in contrast to ﬁ  eld staff   members, managers in con-
trast to clients, or administrators in contrast to trainers). For one group, the desired results are X; for the other group, the goals are Y. Both sets of goals may be right, both may be wrong, or the answer may be somewhere in between. In any case, this analysis yields essential information for guiding your decisions.
A successful needs assessment collects data both to deﬁ  ne and under-

stand needs and to identify and compare alternative solutions. The equiﬁ  -Needs Assessment: Steps to Success  69nality principle of systems theory tells us that for any need there are always 
multiple options for achieving desired results.13 The data that you collect can 
help determine which solutions (typically in combinations) should be con-sidered (see box 2.4).
Using information to guide your decisions frequently requires that you 
ﬁ rst transform raw data (such as productivity reports, performance apprais-
als, or interview notes) into usable information. Data analysis techniques are typically used to facilitate this transformation. For instance, you may choose a qualitative analysis technique to transform notes from multiple focus groups into thematic responses that illustrate the major ﬁ  ndings. Or you

may use quantitative correlations to identify relationships between produc-tivity reports and quarterly ﬁ  nancial reports. 
Many technologies for summarizing quantitative (or numeric) data are 
now available.
14 Frequencies, averages, and even standard deviations can 
easily be obtained from spreadsheet data using such programs. These descriptive summaries of the data are usually of more value to decision mak-ers than are pages and pages of raw data. Spreadsheet software also makes it easy for you to illustrate information using graphs, charts, or tables to eas-ily communicate needs assessment ﬁ  ndings. 
Likewise, numerous pages transcribing the discussions in focus groups or 
interviews are rarely of great value when making decisions. Instead, use inductive, deductive, or combined approaches to reducing qualitative data so they become pertinent themes and constructive quotes.
Information alone is not, however, enough to consistently make quality

Information alone is not, however, enough to consistently make quality 
decisions. Information has to be moved into useful knowledge through reﬂ ection, through links to organizational issues, and by sharing with others 
to gain valuable perspectives. Many of this book’s tools and techniques are designed to facilitate those processes. From tabletop analysis (see page 180) Box 2.4 Finding Options: An Example
Through interviews you learn that there are multiple options for reducing the 
number of waterborne illnesses in rural communities, and then through docu-ment reviews you further learn the advantages and disadvantages of each op-tion—as well as the other changes that must take place in the community for each option to be successful. 
Likewise, engineering speciﬁ  cations for each option provide useful informa-

tion on maintenance costs. Using these data, you can make informed decisions about which options will work best in the given country context.70 A Guide to Assessing Needsand nominal group technique (see page 166) to scenarios  (see page 202) and 
multicriteria analysis (see page 171), there are many ways to facilitate deci-sion making by helping turn information into knowledge.
Remaining ﬂ  exible is essential to your needs assessment. Initial conver-
sations will provide guidance on what knowledge is necessary to make informed decisions, but later conversations will frequently transform or expand on these requirements, thereby sending you back to collect more data to inform the pending decisions. Rigid frameworks for determining what data can be collected and what information is necessary to inform jus-tiﬁ able decisions just don’t work. 
Look at multiple options when looking for solutions, then use agreed-

upon performance criteria to assess each of your alternatives (as well as combinations of alternatives). Choose the set of imp rovement activities that 
will most likely accomplish desired results in a sustainable manner.
There are, of course, no guarantees. Because your needs assessment 
focuses on collecting information to inform decisions before they are made, all you have to go on are forecasts, estimates, or “best guesses” of what results can be achieved through various activities. This is just the nature of needs assessments. 
Fortunately, from past experiences and through methodical research,

Fortunately, from past experiences and through methodical research, 
you can frequently anticipate future performance with a fair amount of accuracy. Although needs assessments cannot predict all aspects of the future, the characteristics of a systematic assessment increase the likelihood of making quality decisions, thereby giving you the opportunity to make well-informed choices that balance the potential risks and rewards.
What Activities Should You Consider as 
Solutions?
Do not begin any needs assessment with a solution in mind—not training, 
not a new high-speed train, not a new HIV/AIDS awareness program, not a new software application, not a reform of economic policy, not even a great motivational seminar by a leading expert in your discipline. 
Needs assessments are not worth your time if you are looking only to

Needs assessments are not worth your time if you are looking only to 
rationalize a decision that was already made. Rather, enter every needs assessment with a mostly blank slate; then gather information on perfor-mance needs, link performance gaps to contributing factors, look for cre-ative ideas, assess solutions, and evaluate alternative activities. 
Although you may enter a needs assessment with some ideas and experi-
ences about what solutions may be appropriate to achieve results or what Needs Assessment: Steps to Success  71ministry offi   cials want to do, you must hold those possible solutions until 
they can be evaluated along with the alternatives. Trainers, for example, fre-quently enter a needs assessment only to rationalize training as the answer to every need. Likewise, experts in developing irrigation systems may ﬁ  nd

that their needs assessments recurrently justify their creating irrigation sys-tems. After all, nearly everyone feels most comfortable in recommending solutions with which they are already quite familiar from previous experi-ences. Whether it is digging wells, training teachers, building dams, writing policies, securing loans, or any other activity, prematurely selecting a solu-tion before completing a formal or informal needs assessment rarely leads to sustainable imp rovements in results. (See also Watkins and Leigh 2010.) 
You must put preferred solutions aside, even when others (including your 
boss or even those who are sponsoring the needs assessment) recommend a plausible solution early in the assessment process. Hold onto such preferred solutions until they can be fairly evaluated. Don’t discount them by any means, but don’t introduce them as possible solutions unless the results of your needs assessment justify their potential.

Include in your list of optional solutions those that make the most sense 
within your context. There are always options, so do not settle for the ﬁ  rst 
one or two possible solutions that get mentioned. Press on and listen to what people are telling you during the needs assessment. At the same time, be discerning and include only those that can achieve the desired results within the constraints of your context.
15  
Finally, single solutions rarely achieve  sustainable improv ements in per-

15  
formance. They typically address only one aspect of an entire performance system. The creation of a performance appraisal program, for example, may be a valuable project for improving performance in a government ministry. But alone, performance appraisals do not address the complete performance system, thereby leaving motivation, knowledge and skills, capacity, incen-tives, and other elements of performance unattended. Use tools such as the performance pyramid (page 236) to ensure that the activities you select as a result of your needs assessment address the whole performance system.
16 
How Do You Decide Which Activities to 
Implement?
Deciding (or selecting) which imp rovement activities will best achieve your 
desired results given the unique characteristics and constraints of your assessment can be challenging. Begin by using the ﬁ  ndings of your needs

desired results given the unique characteristics and constraints of your assessment can be challenging. Begin by using the ﬁ  ndings of your needs 
assessment to link potential imp rovement activities to the causal factors 72 A Guide to Assessing Needsthat are leading to less-than-desired performance. Then evaluate each of 
your options against performance standards (or criteria) generated in your assessment. You should also evaluate diff  ering combinations of the solu-
tions to determine the appropriate “mix.” In many situations, you can then apply participatory techniques such as pair-wise comparison (see page 187) and multicriteria analysis (see page 171) to determine which combinations can best achieve desired results in a sustainable manner. 
Several variables should go into determining which activities—or com-
binations of activities—are “right” for your situation. The variables include the following:

 ✓The type of gap—strategic, tactical, operational, or all three—and its level 
of priority
 ✓The causal factors for the need (for instance, conﬂ  icting priorities, new 
skill requirements, lack of clarity, inappropriate incentives)
 ✓What the organization or country is already doing (for instance, existing 
development programs, mentoring, or strategic initiatives)
 ✓The ability of the activities to accomplish desired results
 ✓The appropriateness of the activities for the organization and its culture
 ✓The feasibility of the activities being implemented successfully
 ✓The economic costs of the activities in relation to beneﬁ  cial results
17
There is, however, no one best way to weigh the variables. In some con-

✓The economic costs of the activities in relation to beneﬁ  cial results
17
texts, the economic feasibility will guide most of the decisions (such as when resources are very limited), whereas at other times the accomplish-ment of necessary results may drive most of your decisions (such as when responding to a natural disaster). Likewise, many assessments rely on group decision- making tools (such as the nominal group technique on page 166), whereas others rely on analytical techniques (such as the multicriteria analysis on page 171). Therefore, appendix A includes two guides to help you determine which of this book’s tools and techniques are most useful to your current assessment:  Tools and Techniques to Consider (see page 269) 
and the Guide to Selecting Tools and Techniques (see page 273) .
When deciding among your options, especially when leading a group

When deciding among your options, especially when leading a group 
toward a decision, it can be helpful to limit the number of potential solutions that are presented. Off  ering too many options may lead to decision paralysis 
or create unrealistic expectations of what can realistically be achieved.
18 You 
may, for instance, want to complete an initial review of the options to remove any that are not going to meet the minimal standards for a workable solution Needs Assessment: Steps to Success  73(for example, it is beyond the project’s budget). You should inform the group 
of the options that were removed and why, but then focus the group on ana-lyzing the remaining options to see which can best achieve the desired results within the constraints of your context.  
How Do You Know When You Are Done with 
Your assessment should not end until you have enough useful information

Your assessment should not end until you have enough useful information 
and knowledge to make the decisions that were the drivers of the assess-ment in the ﬁ  rst place. Therefore, return frequently to the questions you are 
trying to answer as guides, thus ensuring that time and money are not lost chasing down information that will not help make the pending decisions. Your ability to provide well-informed recommendations regarding the answers to the questions will guide your needs assessment and will help you determine when your assessment is complete.
Needs are not, however, constant artifacts within organizations. New 
needs emerge on a regular basis, while old needs are either met or made irrelevant. Changes within the organization may shape the permanence of needs, such as when new leadership alters the strategic direction or when other imp rovement projects achieve desired results . Equally, external

changes will inﬂ  uence and shape needs in your organization, such as when 
government policies shift or a natural disaster aff  ects a community. As such, 
needs change over time just as individuals, organizations, communities, and whole societies change (see table 2.4). Although your assessment may be very accurate and useful today, it is important to monitor needs and update your assessment whenever signiﬁ  cant changes are found.
19
This instability of needs often requires that needs assessments become a 
“way of business” rather than a discreet activity; that is to say, although for-mal needs assessments may be done as time-limited projects, the assessment approach to informing decisions should become an inherent part of the organization’s culture.
Most often the results of a needs assessment are summarized in an assess-
ment report or presentation although often the assessment will continue on until the ﬁ  ndings have been communicated to most of the assessment’s part-

ners. Technically, most deﬁ  nitions of needs assessment end the process 
when justiﬁ  able decisions have been made regarding the activities that will 
best imp rove performance. Nevertheless, the ﬁ  ndings of the needs assess-
ment are frequently the ﬁ  rst resources to be used in the design, develop-
ment, implementation, and evaluation of any imp rovement eff  ort. Thus, 74 A Guide to Assessing Needsyour involvement with the needs assessment will frequently lead to con-
tinuing contributions throughout the remainder of the imp rovement initia-
tive (see box 2.5).
As you can see, deﬁ  ning the end to a needs assessment can be diffi   cult for 
many reasons. Although the formal project steps may come to a close when the ﬁ  nal report is written or when a summary presentation is given to stake-

holders, the ongoing eff  ects of the needs assessment will frequently keep 
you engaged in tracking needs over time, in assis ting with imp rovement 
projects, and in managing subsequent assessment eff  orts.Table 2.4   Typology of Needs
Needs Description Examples
Continuing needs Gaps in results that are 
known from previous assessment and are monitored in an ongoing mannerFor a region of the country, 
the number of HIV/AIDS cases and the percentage of children completing a full course of primary education have remained relatively stable in relation to project goals for the last 10 years and continue to represent signiﬁ  cant needs.
Changing needs Gaps in results that 
adjust in size, scope, importance, or other characteristics in response to changes internal or external to your organization or communityA rural ﬂ  ood signiﬁ  cantly

adjust in size, scope, importance, or other characteristics in response to changes internal or external to your organization or communityA rural ﬂ  ood signiﬁ  cantly 
reduces crop production, thereby sharply increasing performance gaps for a number of food- and health-related needs that had previously been stable for several years. 
Emerging needs Gaps in results that 
emerge when new desired results are identiﬁ  ed, or when 
there are unforeseen changes in current performanceAs a result of conﬂ  icts in a 
neighboring country, new immigration patterns are signiﬁ  cantly altering the 
demands placed on local governments, thereby leading to new needs at a time when a large development partner announced a reduction in services in the area. 
Note:  Case studies that illustrate the various needs of developing countries are included in the United

Note:  Case studies that illustrate the various needs of developing countries are included in the United 
Nations (2004) needs assessment report on the Millennium Development Goals.Needs Assessment: Steps to Success  75What Should Go in a Needs Assessment Report 
and Presentation?
Although informal needs assessments typically end with just a decision or a 
choice, most formal needs assessments end with some form of report and presentation. The contents, length, format, and audience for the report and presentation are frequently deﬁ  ned by the norms within your organization. 
The intent of the report and presentation may be to communicate ﬁ  ndings 
and recommendations to internal partners, external partners, or both. Or a  written report may be primarily for external communications, whereas internally a short presentation to the project sponsors may be the custom. It just depends on your organization and the context of your assessment.

The contents of your needs assessment report may also vary widely as 
determined by several factors, including (a) the audience, (b) the format (for instance, website versus printed report), (c) the scope of the assessment (strategic, tactical, operational, or all three), (d) the type of needs identiﬁ  ed 
(stable, changing, emerging, or all three), (e) the amount and types of data collected, (f ) the number of alternative improv ement activities considered, 
and (g) the importance of decisions to be made on the basis of the report (or presentation) (see table 2.5).
Executive summaries are often the most-read part of a report; thus, that 
section will typically require a signiﬁ  cant amount of attention. A good exec-
utive summary is typically less than 10 percent of the length of the whole report, including the purpose and scope of assessment, methods used, results found, conclusions and recommendations, limitations, and other Box 2.5 Continuing Role: An Example

If the results of your needs assessment suggest speciﬁ  c reforms to taxation 
policies to support early childhood development and the development of a rapid social response program within the Ministry of Community Development, then your experiences from completing the needs assessment will likely be of value in assisting in the development, implementation, improvement, and sub-sequent evaluation of those two activities. 
After all, the needs assessment provides the foundation for the selected 
activities (identifying and deﬁ  ning the results they are intended to achieve), and 
it simultaneously provides the evaluation criteria on which decisions are made about how to improve results in the future.76 A Guide to Assessing Needssupportive information that could be important to readers and decision 
makers. Ideally, the executive summary previews the main report, thereby helping readers build a mental framework for organizing and comprehend-ing the details of the report.

makers. Ideally, the executive summary previews the main report, thereby helping readers build a mental framework for organizing and comprehend-ing the details of the report. 
In your organization, however, the reality may be that most of your audi-
ence will read only the executive summary—with those most aff  ected by the 
ﬁ ndings reading the full report. Therefore, many times a helpful heuristic 
when writing an executive summary is to assume that the audience will not read the full report; thus, you are pushed to be very clear and concise while you include all essential information for making decisions. 
Throughout your report, use tables and graphics when appropriate to 
illustrate data. Readers (or viewers, in the case of a presentation) can beneﬁ  t

illustrate data. Readers (or viewers, in the case of a presentation) can beneﬁ  t 
from images that summarize data in easy-to-read, easy-to-understand for-mats. Typically graphics are most valuable when you can illustrate the meaningful relationships among two or more variables in one image (for instance, trend data in the number of children completing a full course of primary education along with data on donor-funded projects completed within the country). 
Depending on the context of your report or presentation (such as length, 
audience, or format), it is important to ﬁ  nd an appropriate balance of details Table 2.5   Typical Contents of a Needs Assessment Report and Presentation
 Assessment report Assessment presentation 
Executive summary
IntroductionPurpose, goals, objectivesNeeds
 Methods for identifying needs Data identifying needs
Actions considered

Assessment report Assessment presentation 
 Methods for identifying alternatives Data on alternatives Criteria for comparing
ConclusionsDecisions or recommendationsAcknowledgmentsAnnex: supporting data
Annex: tools and instruments
Note: In her book titled First Things Fast , Allison Rossett (1999) provides a useful discussion and set 
of examples for what can be included in a training-focused needs assessment report.Agenda
IntroductionPurpose, goals, objectivesExecutive summaryNeeds
 Methods for identifying alternatives Data on alternatives  Criteria for comparing
ConclusionsDecisions or recommendationsAcknowledgments
Additional resourcesNeeds Assessment: Steps to Success  77and summaries. It can be tempting, for instance, to include pages and pages

Additional resourcesNeeds Assessment: Steps to Success  77and summaries. It can be tempting, for instance, to include pages and pages 
of detailed data that substantiate your conclusions in an assessment report. But if the audience for your report does not have time to review the data in detail, then it is not a necessary component. In such situations, you can post the detailed data on a web page for interested readers and can simply pro-vide a summary in the written report.
At the same time, your report or presentation must provide enough detail

At the same time, your report or presentation must provide enough detail 
to support your decisions (or recommendations). Readers (or viewers) fre-quently have high standards for needs assessments, often expecting the assessment to provide clear answers that guarantee future success—which, of course, is unrealistic. Nevertheless, you should strive to meet their stan-dards by including enough data and information in the report or presenta-tion to support your conclusions, recommendations, and decisions. 
Finally, you must, as they say, have “thick skin.” Almost every needs 
assessment report or presentation leads to recommendations or decisions that some people support and others do not. The supporters often read the executive summary and are satisﬁ  ed with the conclusions, even as the chal-
lengers closely examine every statement, method, data source, analysis tech-nique, and conclusion to ﬁ  nd ﬂ  aws in your decisions or recommendations.

lengers closely examine every statement, method, data source, analysis tech-nique, and conclusion to ﬁ  nd ﬂ  aws in your decisions or recommendations. 
And because needs assessments deal with people, organizations, and fore-casting future results, there are bound to be imperfections in every needs assessment. At this point, all you can do is present the facts as honestly as possible. By following this book’s systematic processes—as well as by apply-ing its tools, techniques, guides, and checklists—you can, however, minimize the ﬂ  aws that challengers may use to discount your ﬁ  ndings. 
Notes
 1. For additional information on managing a needs assessment project, you 
should review Jim Altschuld’s 2010 series of ﬁ  ve books titled The Needs 
Assessment Kit .
 2. The tobacco industry in the United States off  ers numerous high-proﬁ  le 
exam ples of what happens when decisions are made outside the context of societal outcomes (especially when short-term proﬁ  ts are the dominant guide

exam ples of what happens when decisions are made outside the context of societal outcomes (especially when short-term proﬁ  ts are the dominant guide 
for decisions).
 3. What Peter Drucker refers to as the “boundary conditions” when making 
decisions (that is, the speciﬁ  cations that answers must satisfy).
 4. Based on Roger Kaufman’s deﬁ  nition of needs .
 5. Based on the series of ﬁ  ve books by Altschuld (2010).
 6. Based on Nutt (2008). 7 . See the ﬁ  ve-book series by Altschuld (2010) for more on building an eff  ective 
needs assessment committee.78 A Guide to Assessing Needs 8. Based in part on Klinder (2005).
 9. Useful descriptions and guides for developing Gantt and PERT charts are 
available at http://www.ehow.com/facts_4844081_between-gantt-charts-pert-charts.html.
10. Research by Nutt (2008) illustrates that ending the needs assessment when 
the ﬁ  rst viable solution is presenting will reduce the beneﬁ  cial results of the 
decision.

decision.
11. The Kellogg Foundation off  ers a free guide for developing logic models at 
http://www.wkkf.org/knowledge-center/resources/2006/02/WK-Kellogg-Foundation-Logic-Model-Development-Guide.aspx.
12. You may also determine that current results do not have  to be imp roved, just 
maintained. In those situations, you then want to ensure that any improve-
ment activities resulting from your needs assessment do not negatively impact on current results.
13. More speciﬁ  cally, any need within an open system, which encompasses most 
organizations and organizational activities.
14. Such spreadsheet software programs include Microsoft Excel, OpenOffi   ce Calc 
(free spreadsheet software), or Google Documents (free online spreadsheets). 
15. Too many options can paralyze your ability to make a decision, increase

15. Too many options can paralyze your ability to make a decision, increase 
expectations beyond what can realistically be met, or lead to extended second guessing of what you have decided (see Schwartz 2003).
16. Also see http://www.needsassessment.org for audio interviews on numerous 
training and nontraining performance improv ement activities.
17 . Based on Stolovich and Keeps (2009).18. Schwartz (2003).19. In the overview volume for his ﬁ  ve-book series, Altschuld (2010) further 
identiﬁ  es seven types of needs that can be examined in a needs assessment. 
Each category can also be considered in terms of needs that are constant, changing, or emerging.
  1. Present (short-term) and Future (long-term) Needs2. Severe vs. Slight Needs3. Maintenance/Upgrade Needs (that is, not needs now but will become if 
results are not maintained or upgraded)

1. Present (short-term) and Future (long-term) Needs2. Severe vs. Slight Needs3. Maintenance/Upgrade Needs (that is, not needs now but will become if 
4. Collaborative Needs (that is, needs that span across multiple organizations 
and must be addressed together)
5. Level 1, 2, and 3 Needs (that is, needs of those who receive services, needs 
of those who deliver services, and needs of the overall system to support the previous)
6. Asset or Capacity Needs (that is, needs from the perspective of what is 
working and how to build on strengths)
7 . Retrospective Needs (that is, needs that are assessed during or at the end 
of a project in conjunction with a formative or summative evaluation)Needs Assessment: Steps to Success  79References
Sage Publications. [A 5-volume series with individual titles]

• Altschuld, James W ., and David D. Kumar. 2010. Needs Assessment Phase I: 
An Overview  (Book 1 of Needs Assessment Kit ). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage 
Publications.
• Altschuld, James W ., and J. Nicholls Eastmond Jr.  2010. Needs Assessment 
Phase II: Getting Started (Book 2 of Needs Assessment Kit ). Thousand Oaks, 
CA: Sage Publications.
• Altschuld, James W . 2010. Needs Assessment Phase III: Collecting Data  
(Book 3 of Needs Assessment Kit ). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
• Altschuld, James W ., and Jeff  ry L. White. 2010. Needs Assessment Phase IV: 
Analysis and Prioritization (Book 4 of Needs Assessment Kit ). Thousand 
Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
• Stevahn, Laurel A., and Jean A. King. 2010. Needs Assessment: Phase V: 
Taking Action for Change (Book 5 of Needs Assessment Kit ). Thousand Oaks, 

Fitz-Enz, Jac. 2009. The ROI of Human Capital: Measuring the Economic Value of 
Employee Performance. 2009. New York: AMACOM.
Greer, Michael. 1999. “Planning and Managing Human Performance Technology 
Projects.” In Handbook of Human Performance Technology: Improving Indi-
vidual Organizational Performance Worldwide, edited by Harold D. Stolovitch 
and Erica J. Keeps, 96–121. San Francisco: Pfeiff  er.
Kaufman, Roger. 1992. Strategic Planning Plus.  Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage 
 Publishing.
———. 1998. Strategic Thinking: A Guide to Identifying and Solving Problems.  
Rev. ed. Washington, DC, and Arlington, VA: The International Society for Performance Imp rovement and the American Society for Training and 
Development.
———. 2000. Mega Planning: Practical Tools for Organizational Success.  Thousand

———. 2000. Mega Planning: Practical Tools for Organizational Success.  Thousand 
Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. 
———. 2006. Change, Choices, and Consequences: A Guide to Mega Thinking. 
Amherst, MA: HRD Press.
Kaufman, R., H. Oakley-Brown, R. Watkins, and D. Leigh. 2003. Strategic Planning 
for Success: Aligning People, Performance, and Payoff  s. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Klinder, Bernie. 2005. “Step-by-Step Guide: 12 Steps to Project Management 
Success.” http://searchwinit.techtarget.com/news/1063152/Step-by-Step-Guide-12-steps-to-project-management-success.
Journal of Management Studies  45: 2.
Rossett, Allison. 1999. First Things Fast.  San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.80 A Guide to Assessing NeedsSchwartz, Barry. 2003. The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less.  New York: 
Harper Perennial.
Stolovich, Har old, and Erica Keeps. 2009. “Selecting Solutions to Improve

Stolovich, Har old, and Erica Keeps. 2009. “Selecting Solutions to Improve  
Workplace Performance.” In 2007 ASTD Handbook for Workplace Learning 
Professionals,  edited by E. Beich . Alexandria, VA: ASTD Press.
United Nations. 2004. “Needs Assessment Report on the Millennium Develop-
ment Goals.” http://www.unmillenniumproject.org/documents/mp_ccspa-per_jan1704.pdf
Amherst, MA: HRD Press, and Silver Spring, MD: International Society for Performance Imp rovement.
tions . San Francisco: Wiley/Pﬁ  eff er, and Silver Spring, MD: International 
Society for Performance Improvement.81Needs Assessment: 
Tools and TechniquesSECTION 3

Though needs assessments are akin to many other organizational processes 
from a project management perspective, the characteristics that make needs assessments unique (such as guiding decisions before they are made and focusing on results rather than on solutions) are those that also require a distinctive set of tools and techniques. Although many of the tools you use are not exclusive to a needs assessment—with many being borrowed from scientiﬁ  c research, evaluation, and other disciplines—their application in 
assessment projects often uses a slightly diff  erent perspective from how you 
may have encountered them before.
In section 3, we have identiﬁ  ed 23 tools and techniques that are often

In section 3, we have identiﬁ  ed 23 tools and techniques that are often 
applied at varying stages of a needs assessment. The approaches do not rep-resent all of the tools that you might ﬁ  nd useful, but rather they are a sample 
that we believe can expand y our options and imp rove the quality of assess-
ment projects. Rarely would any organization’s decision-making culture support the use of each and every technique we describe, though most would beneﬁ  t from trying tools beyond simple surveys or interviews.
We have broken the tools into two parts for diff  erent purposes in the 
needs assessment process. Part 3A. Data Collection Tools and Techniques  82 A Guide to Assessing Needsprovides options for you to consider using when you are collecting data

needs assessment process. Part 3A. Data Collection Tools and Techniques  82 A Guide to Assessing Needsprovides options for you to consider using when you are collecting data 
to inform your needs assessment. But after you have collected information for the needs assessment, another important step involves making deci-sions about that collected information. And there are tools to support the decision-making process. 
Part 3B. Decision-Making Tools and Techniques  off ers suggested tools for 
analyzing and prioritizing issues in the needs assessment process and for ultimately deciding to take action. Prioritizing information and making choices can be a diffi   cult task for both individuals and groups. Instead of 
making decisions through an informal, ad hoc process, tools are available that can be helpful in ensuring that issues are given due consideration in a participatory decision-making process.
For each tool and technique described in this section, we have applied a

For each tool and technique described in this section, we have applied a 
needs assessment perspective to its application. That is, we have viewed it from the standpoint of how it is best used to identify and analyze needs so you can make decisions about what to do. In several cases, this perspective required simplifying the tools as they are applied for other reasons, as well as adding new “twists” in other cases to ensure that the goals of your needs assessment can be met. In all cases, our descriptions are intended to intro-duce tools and techniques rather than provide “the deﬁ  nitive explanation” 
on how they are to be used. Therefore, at the end of each description, we have included websites, books, and articles that can further guide your use of each tool.
Try a few of them; see how it goes. Learn more about the ones you are

Try a few of them; see how it goes. Learn more about the ones you are 
most interested in. Build a variety of techniques and tools into your assess-ment plan. Customize the tools for your organizational context. In the end, you will likely ﬁ  nd that a number of tools can improve  the quality of assess-
ment projects and the subsequent decision making. Keep those tools, use them again, and imp rove on them.
Note : For the convenience of our readers, copies of the individual tools 
are available and can be downloaded as single PDF ﬁ  les at http://www.
needsassessment.org.DATA COLLECTION 
TOOLS AND TECHNIQUESPart 3A
Part 3A. Data Collection Tools and Techniques  provides options for your consid-

eration as you collect data for your needs assessment. After you have collected information for that assessment, you must consider another important step that involves making decisions about your collected data. There are also tools to support the decision-making process. We will explore those tools in Part 3B. 
Decision-Making Tools and Techniques .84 A Guide to Assessing NeedsDOCUMENT OR DATA REVIEW
Purpose 
The purpose of conducting a document or data review is to review a variety 
of existing sources (for example, documents, reports, data ﬁ  les, and other 
written artifacts) with the intention of collecting independently veriﬁ  able 
data and information. 
Needs Assessment Applications

Many times the information required to complete a needs assessment has already been collected for other purposes. For example, similar data to what you are looking for may have been previously collected for generating other reports, papers, or research. Ministries, government agencies, nongovern-mental organizations (NGOs), and other organizations often collect and/or produce the valuable data or reports that can supplement your own data collection as part of your needs assessment. The document and data review process provides you with a systematic procedure for identifying, analyzing, and deriving useful information from the existing documents so you can make informed decisions. 
Today, many government agencies, multilateral institutions, and other

Today, many government agencies, multilateral institutions, and other 
organizations are making documents and data sets available to the public (see box 3A.1). In 2011, the World Bank, for instance, expanded its access to information policies, thereby making many of its databases and project reports available on its public website. What is available varies widely, rang-ing from, for example, (a) planning documents related to small development projects in Africa, to (b) evaluation reports on a country’s progress toward achieving the Millennium Development Goals, to (c) global information sys-tem maps showing crime hot spots in a city, to (d) health sector indicators for a particular nation. Needs Assessment: Tools and Techniques  85Access to information is, nevertheless, an essential starting place for any 
document review process. Look broadly for resources that already have the data you require to make decisions. Such resources can save you lots of time and money.

In the context of international development, the documents and data 
available are heavily biased toward the English language, as well as toward those with ready access to the Internet and basic skills to navigate the data-bases. Nevertheless, such initiatives are a start toward putting useful infor-mation in the hands of the public across the globe. We expect that this trend will grow with governments and organizations that are investing in estab-lishing policies and information systems toward that end.
Advantages and Disadvantages 
Advantages
• The information contained in extant data or documents is often indepen-
dently veriﬁ  able. Box 3A.1 Source Samples
Sample Sources for Documents
  World Bank project reports (including monitoring and evaluation reports) are 
available at http://go.worldbank.org/0FRO32VEI0.

data resources at http://stats.oecd.org/.86 A Guide to Assessing Needs• The document or data review process can be done independently and 
without having to solicit extensive input from other sources. 
• A document or data review is typically less expensive than collecting the 
data on your own. 
Disadvantages 
• Information in the documents or data may represent a perspective that is 
not aligned with your needs assessment project. For example, the per-spective of government reports may not be aligned with those of develop-ment organizations.
• Data in the document sources may not be exactly what you want for your 
needs assessment. For instance, you may want environmental records by village but extant records may document only by province.
• Obtaining and analyzing necessary documents can be a time-consuming 
process. 
• You will not be able to control the quality of data being collected and

process. 
• You will not be able to control the quality of data being collected and 
must rely on the information provided in the documents as you assess quality and usability of the sources.
Process Overview 
1. From a list of information required to complete your needs assessment, 
identify those elements or indicators that may be contained in previ-ously written reports, planning papers, research synopses, or other documents. For instance, if you require statistics on the population growth within a region, then identify several government (or potential-ly United Nations) reports that provide the necessary information. Both published and unpublished sources can be considered for inclusion, though the validity of unpublished materials can make your quality as-surance eff  orts more  diffi   cult.
2. Consider developing a list of characteristics (or attributes) that you are

2. Consider developing a list of characteristics (or attributes) that you are 
looking for in an existing record; that approach can help you identify a comprehensive list of available resources. For example, (a) do you want to use only data that were collected through internationally funded ef-forts, or (b) do you want only information that has been published with full disclosure of the participants and of the methods used to collect the Needs Assessment: Tools and Techniques  87data, or (c) do you want only records from the past 10 years, or (d) do you 
need a combination of those elements?
3. For each item of required information that could potentially be found in 
an existing document, list three to ﬁ  ve potential resources for obtaining 
that information. For instance, imagine that your needs assessment re-quires information on the number of current employees within a govern-ment agency who have the qualiﬁ  cations to perform ﬁ  nancial audits. In

this case, you want to determine which currently available agency docu-ments or data monitoring systems may include such information, where those documents might be located, and from whom the documents can be obtained. 
4. Identify the individual(s) who will be invited to participate in the docu-
ment review. Most often, you want to invite at least two people to review each document, and you can also be a reviewer when appropriate. Having two or more reviewers improv es the reliability of the reviews and gives 
you the opportunity to compare across reviews.
5. Develop a document or data review protocol, checklist, or examination 
form that can be used systematically by each reviewer to ensure that valuable information is identiﬁ  ed, analyzed, coded, and documented. Be

form that can be used systematically by each reviewer to ensure that valuable information is identiﬁ  ed, analyzed, coded, and documented. Be 
sure to include space at the top of each protocol, checklist, or examina-tion form for the reviewer to describe the document and to state where it is stored if additional information is required later. As appropriate in the protocol, you should ensure that required information regarding both the current results and the desired results will be represented, along with the required information at each level of the program or proj-ect results chain. 
6. Generate guidelines for using the protocol or checklist or the examina-
tion form in the review process. Consider providing a “positive example” of a completed review protocol, checklist, or examination form. Be sure to highlight how information can be recorded on the form to maximize its clarity and usability in the needs assessment process.

7 . As each document or data set is reviewed, have the reviewer(s) complete 
the protocol, checklist, or examination form to verify that all useful infor-mation is documented. 
8. When all of the relevant ﬁ  les have been reviewed, have all reviewers meet 
to collectively document the ﬁ  ndings of their reviews (or what informa-
tion has been collected through the document review process). In par-ticular, the reviewers should identify speciﬁ  c instances where informa-88 A Guide to Assessing Needstion from diff  erent documents may disagree, where there are instances of 
multiple documents containing similar information, where additional in-formation may be located, and what information may have to be collected directly through the needs assessment.
9. Collect the reviewers’ documented ﬁ  ndings from the review process, and 
codify the ﬁ  ndings for inclusion in the needs assessment. Identify any

codify the ﬁ  ndings for inclusion in the needs assessment. Identify any 
conclusions regarding needs, root causes, and recommendations for ad-dressing identiﬁ  ed needs. 
Tips for Success 
• Be systematic in your review processes. From identifying potential docu-
ments and developing a review protocol to collectively reviewing the in-formation attained through the review of multiple documents, system-atic processes should ensure that valuable information is not missed during the review. 
• Triangulate data to the extent possible. In other words, when the docu-
ment review yields data or information that may directly feed into the needs assessment, attempt to locate the conﬁ  rmatory data or information 
by examining other independent sources. If the data or information can be triangulated, it can increase your conﬁ  dence in its accuracy.

by examining other independent sources. If the data or information can be triangulated, it can increase your conﬁ  dence in its accuracy. 
• When multiple reviewers are tasked with the role of reviewing document 
sources, provide clear and consistent guidelines to all reviewers on the procedures for completing the protocol, checklist, or examination form. Ensuring that all reviewers receive the same guidelines for the protocol, checklist, or examination form will make certain that the information is identiﬁ  ed, analyzed, coded, and documented in a consistent and reliable 
manner. 
Reference 
Witkin, Belle Ruth, and James W . Altschuld. 1995. Planning and Conducting Needs 
Assessments: A Practical Guide . Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. Needs Assessment: Tools and Techniques  89Purpose 
The purpose of conducting guided expert reviews is to gain informed per-

spectives from valued experts who are outside the system (for example, education system, transportation system, and so on) on which the needs assessment is focused. 
Under certain circumstances, you or others associated with the needs assess-ment can be too familiar (or too unfamiliar) with the processes, procedures, people, tools, resources, performance data, or other variables that inﬂ  uence 
either current or desired performance to be able to adequately complete a needs assessment. In this situation, reviews by experts (for example, public ﬁ nancial management experts, environmental engineers, organizational 
development specialists, and so on) provide valuable external perspectives that can inform your decisions.

development specialists, and so on) provide valuable external perspectives that can inform your decisions. 
You should also use expert reviews to provide balanced perspectives 
when there are even minimal possibilities of internal predisposition or bias that could inﬂ  uence any needs assessment processes or stages. The expert 
reviews may include collecting data, analyzing information, reporting  ﬁ ndings, and conducting other activities that lead to program or project 
recommendations. 
In your needs assessments, guided expert reviews can provide external 
perspectives on the following:
• Needs (that is, the performance gaps that are the focus of decisions to be 
made)GUIDED EXPERT REVIEWS90 A Guide to Assessing Needs• Decisions (that is, the results and recommendations of the assessment 
itself ) 
• Expert reviews allow you to have a fresh set of eyes that can provide new

itself ) 
• Expert reviews allow you to have a fresh set of eyes that can provide new 
ideas and insights that might not have come about without the expert’s participation. 
• The involvement of expert reviewers in the needs assessment process 
can increase the credibility of the assessment process and ﬁ  ndings, there-
by potentially increasing stakeholder buy-in. 
• The use of expert reviews may allow you to pursue strategies and ap-
proaches that make inherent sense for the context in which you may be working but that you might not normally pursue if you did not have the assurance of the expert’s careful review. 
• Because experts generally bring insights and experiences from other 
(outside) contexts in which they have worked, the involvement of an ex-pert in the needs assessment may make it possible for you to formally or informally benchmark against other, similar systems or contexts.

• Expert reviews, especially those focused on documents or data ﬁ  les, can 
often be done at a distance, thereby saving time and resources. For ex-ample, you may want expert review performance data to conﬁ  rm your 
conclusions, or you may request a review of a pending project proposal; in either case, you could likely e-mail the relevant ﬁ  les or provide access 
to online databases.
• It can be a challenge to identify reliable criteria (such as years of develop-
ment experience, particular technology knowledge, work with speciﬁ  c 
at-risk populations, and so forth) for selecting experts to involve in the expert review process. 
• If the context in which the needs assessment is being conducted is sig-
niﬁ cantly diff  erent from the one in which the expert normally works, the

niﬁ cantly diff  erent from the one in which the expert normally works, the 
extent to which the expert’s observations and recommendations are rel-evant can be diminished. Needs Assessment: Tools and Techniques  91• As is the case for any other individual, an expert’s subjectivity and prior 
experience may aff  ect the outcome of the expert review process (the ef-
fect of this expertise can potentially be mitigated somewhat through the involvement of more than one expert). 
• Soliciting insight from experts can be expensive, and it may be diffi   cult 
to ﬁ nd experts who are able to contribute large amounts of time re-
sponding (particularly if the area of expertise is one for which there is high  demand).
Process Overview
Getting Started
1. Identify either a need (a gap between current and desired results) or a

1. Identify either a need (a gap between current and desired results) or a 
needs assessment decision (such as prioritizing needs or determining which mix of imp rovement activities or interventions will work best with-
in your organization) that will be the focus of the guided expert  review. 
2. Determine what type of expert review you would like the expert to con-
duct, such as a peer, relevance, or benchmarking review. (a) A peer review  
involves judging the quality of something. For instance, a peer review could involve engaging a public-private sector development expert to as-sess the quality of a plan developed by a community and its business lead-ers to help them to address economic development issues for the com-munity. (b) A relevance review  judges whether an organization’s activities

are relevant to its mission. An example of a relevance review is when an organizational development specialist works with an organization and engages its stakeholders—management, employees, clients, and others—to understand the strategy of the organization and when the specialist off ers an assessment on what could be changed, such as what activities 
the organization should and should not be doing to meet the goals of the strategy. (c) A benchmarking review  involves judging the relative standing 
in an international, regional, sector, or other perspective. For instance, benchmarking reviews assess property rights across countries, thus al-lowing countries to compare their relative performance.
Finding Experts
Following are some considerations that are relevant when bringing experts 
on board for an expert review: 92 A Guide to Assessing Needs1. Generate a protocol (guide) for identifying appropriate experts to invite 
for the expert review process.

• This protocol should be based on your understanding of the goals of 
your needs assessment, as well as the speciﬁ  c context in which the 
organization functions. 
• Carefully identify the skills and knowledge that someone should pos-
sess to be able to meaningfully function as an expert reviewer for the needs assessment, and include those competencies in the protocol. 
• Apply the protocol as you search for potential experts.
2. Identify potential experts from outside  the system to participate in the 
review. 
• Experts can be from within the organization (but outside of the unit or 
division that is the focus of the needs assessment).
• Or they can be from outside the organization when they have exper-
tise with the performance system or similar such systems.

3. Determine whether you would like experts to be invited as individuals or 
as teams.
4. Determine whether you would like local or international experts or a 
combination of both. Consider carefully the beneﬁ  ts and drawbacks of 
involving experts from other countries. Example beneﬁ  ts and drawbacks 
include the following: 
• An advantage of involving international experts may be that they bring 
dynamic new insights to the situation and that they are able to size up the organization’s relative standing from an international perspective. 
• A drawback may be that the international expert’s ability to leverage 
his or her expertise may be limited if that expert has no familiarity with the local country context. 
• In some developing country contexts, there may be relatively modest

• In some developing country contexts, there may be relatively modest 
capacity in certain areas of economic productivity, and it may thus be advisable to invite international experts to participate. 
• In many instances, using both local and international experts may pro-
vide a mix of the “best of both worlds.”
5. As you begin to invite experts, ﬁ  nd out about their availability during the 
time period for the expert review. Because they are experts, it is likely Needs Assessment: Tools and Techniques  93that they are in demand elsewhere too, so you may have to do some cre-

ative planning to work around scheduling restrictions while still meeting the goals of an expert review. For instance, if a given expert is not avail-able to come onsite, determine if he or she can review other documenta-tion and reports to give you quality input at a distance (for example, using audio or video conferences).
6. Present the potential experts with unbiased background information on 
the purpose of their involvement in the needs assessment, and ask each potential expert to evaluate his or her experience and knowledge relative to the speciﬁ  c goals for your needs assessment. 
Planning and Conducting the Expert Review
1. Deﬁ  ne your objectives for the expert review (or what results you expect

1. Deﬁ  ne your objectives for the expert review (or what results you expect 
to accomplish by the time the review is complete). Be realistic about what objectives can be accomplished. Determine when it is appropriate to use each expert, knowing what they can and cannot do given the constraints of the situation. 
2. Generate terms of reference (that is, a scope of work) that can be used by 
experts prior to arriving on site. Doing so will allow experts to arrive pre-pared for the task, including giving them time to locate any hard-to-ﬁ  nd 
materials that they may want to consult during the review process. 
3. Contact each expert reviewer, and make arrangements for his or her par-
ticipation. As noted previously, if one or more experts are not available for in-person participation, make arrangements to send relevant documen-tation that will allow the expert(s) to contribute at a distance.

4. Inform stakeholders and participants of the role of expert reviewer(s). 5. Consider providing metrics or protocols that the experts can use during 
the expert review. Such metrics or protocols can be valuable in increasing the objectivity and transparency of an expert review process, and they can also increase the chances that the expert review results are aligned with the objectives you deﬁ  ned at the beginning of the process. 
6. Collect the necessary background information for each expert reviewer. 
This information may be valuable later if you have to justify decisions made during the needs assessment. 
7 . Be sure to include speciﬁ  c deliverables for each reviewer and for each 
context in which the review is to take place. For instance, do you expect a 94 A Guide to Assessing Needswritten report at the conclusion of each review, or will reviewers be ex-
pected to present their ﬁ  ndings during a presentation?
Tips for Success

• Develop and maintain a list or inventory of program review experts (es-
pecially for larger-scale eff  orts) to be used for subsequent expert review 
needs. 
• Arrange logistics and provide onsite meeting support. Provide transla-
tion and interpretation services, as needed, when engaging international  experts.
• Provide experts with speciﬁ  c guidelines or questions that should be used 
to guide the expert review process. 
• Watch out for experts who may have an agenda of their own in complet-
ing the review (for example, making recommendations so they can gain future consulting contracts with your organization).
• If you are inviting experts from outside contexts, equip them with some

• If you are inviting experts from outside contexts, equip them with some 
information that will give them insight into the context in which the ex-pert review will take place. This approach is especially important if ex-perts are being invited from foreign countries where cultural and busi-ness practices may be signiﬁ  cantly diff  erent from the context in which 
your needs assessment is being conducted. 
• To the extent possible, schedule the onsite expert’s review process dur-
ing a time when the organization is otherwise functioning in a generally normal way. Scheduling the review process at this time increases the chances that the review will yield relevant results, and it also ensures that others in the organization are not negatively aff  ected by the presence of 
outside experts.

outside experts. 
• Prepare reports on the results of each review. In the reports, identify the 
relationship of the expert’s review to the needs assessment, the goal of the speciﬁ  c expert review, the competencies or expertise of the expert or 
expert team, the type of expert review conducted, the ﬁ  ndings from the 
expert review, and the potential implications of the ﬁ  ndings for the needs 
assessment. Needs Assessment: Tools and Techniques  95Purpose 
The purpose of conducting focus groups is to collect information from a 
small group (for instance, 5 to 12 participants) in a systematic and structured format (see box 3A.2). An eff  ective focus group is designed around a clear 
and speciﬁ  c goal. Participants interact with a facilitator who presents the 
participants with questions designed to yield insight into current or desired results in relation to a speciﬁ  c topic or issue. 

  Validate the results of a survey.
  Deﬁ ne the desired results.
  Identify potential solutions.
  Deﬁ ne strengths and weaknesses of potential solutions.MANAGEMENT OF 
FOCUS GROUPS96 A Guide to Assessing Needsmaintain attention (focus) on the collection of information that will help 
you identify (a) valid needs (or gaps between current and desired results), (b) evidence to support the validation of those needs, and (c) information that will allow you to prioritize needs before selecting a course of action for addressing the high-priority needs.
• Through a focus group format, multiple people can be interviewed at one 
time. 
• Focus group discussions allow members of the focus group to build on 
each other’s comments and reactions. This approach can yield a synergy of discussion around topics or themes. 
• Focus groups can help people come to consensus and make challenging 
decisions (such as prioritizing needs).
Disadvantages

• Group members may not contribute equally to the discussion in a focus 
group format. More reserved members may not feel comfortable insert-ing their contributions in the discussion. Other participants may try to dominate discussions. 
• Gaining information from the group can be challenging. There is a risk 
of “groupthink” that can emerge through this process, thus diverting the discussion and making it hard to refocus the group on diff  erent 
issues.
• Discussions may take too long to cover all of the relevant topics and to 
off er everyone a chance to participate. 
• Because of the presence of others, participants may not feel comfortable 
sharing more sensitive information or views. 
• Focus groups are often poorly done, particularly if the focus group facili-

tator is not experienced in managing focus groups. Focus groups can eas-ily get “off   task” if the facilitator does not maintain structure and control 
throughout the process. (For a helpful sample outline and a sample pro-tocol, see pages 101–105.) Needs Assessment: Tools and Techniques  97Process Overview 
 1. From the list of information required for the needs assessment, identify 
those elements that may best be attained through focus groups. For in-stance, identiﬁ  cation of needs, validation of needs, root causes of needs, 
and alternative solutions identiﬁ  cation, or a combination of these.
 2. Prioritize the information requirements for each focus group, and use 
this ranking to create a facilitator’s guide or protocol for each focus group.

2. Prioritize the information requirements for each focus group, and use 
this ranking to create a facilitator’s guide or protocol for each focus group. 
 3. Select a decision-making technique for each focus group. Although un-
structured focus groups may be useful on limited occasions, more struc-tured techniques are often valuable and can ensure that the focus group provides the information you require for making needs assessment  decisions. Here are some sample decision-making techniques that you should consider for small groups: 
a. Critical Incident Technique:  In their responses to focus group ques-

tions, participants are asked to provide past events as examples. Each event should include a description of the conditions or context for the event, the people involved in the event, the place of the event, and the associated activities or behaviors of people in the event. The fo-cus of the discussions is then on previous incidents related to the topic rather than on speculations and generalizations. 
b. Brainstorming:  This technique can be used to quickly generate new 
ideas or to identify and consider alternative solutions to a given problem. To initiate a productive brainstorming session, you should identify the speciﬁ  c topic that you would like group members to

concentrate on. Introduce the topic, and encourage group members to brainstorm freely for a given amount of time. Encourage “on-the-spot” thoughts and ideas. Record all contributions from group mem-bers (it is helpful to record their thoughts in a format that is visible to all group members, such as a video-projected concept map or a word processing document). Categorize and combine ideas under overarching headings. Analyze and evaluate the ideas with the group, and prioritize the ideas in terms of their usability in the needs assessment. 
c. Straw Polls:  An informal voting method that can be used to quickly 
probe opinions of participants. Straw polls give all participants the chance to give their opinion through a response such as a “yes” or 98 A Guide to Assessing Needs“no” to a question. It is important to recognize that straw polls are 
not generally considered to be binding, offi   cial votes. Instead, they

not generally considered to be binding, offi   cial votes. Instead, they 
are used to get a sense of the pulse of a group in relation to a spe-ciﬁ c issue or theme, and they can orient the subsequent discussion. 
Straw polls can be used eff  ectively in situations where there is a 
long list of ideas and where you want the group members to elimi-nate ideas that have little or no support. The straw poll approach lets each group member choose a given number of items from the list for inclusion or  elimination. 
d. Round Robin Reporting:  This technique can be implemented in at 
least two diff  erent ways, both of which are based on your having a 
speciﬁ  c question or suggestion. One approach is to share the ques-

tion or suggestion with the group members and then to ask all group members to write down their ideas in relation to the question or  issue. You next go around the group and have each person take turns to share one idea from his or her list. Continue this process by going around the room until nobody has any ideas left to share. Another approach is to share the question or suggestion with the group and then ask each person to give his or her reactions and ideas in relation to the question or suggestion you presented. In both formats, the round robin approach allows each group member to share equally in the group process, thereby ensuring that no one person dominates the discussion.
 4. Create a facilitator’s guide or protocol to guide each focus group. En-

4. Create a facilitator’s guide or protocol to guide each focus group. En-
sure that required information regarding both the current results and the desired results of the needs assessment are represented, along with the required information at each level of the program or project results chain. 
 5. Locate an experienced facilitator, if possible, as well as a note taker. 
 Using an experienced focus group facilitator will generally lead to bet-ter results than if you facilitate the group yourself; however, you may want to be present as a backup note taker during the focus group to capture some of the data ﬁ  rsthand.
 6. The facilitator can use the facilitator’s guide or protocol to generate a 
few speciﬁ  c questions that can be used to open the discussion in the

6. The facilitator can use the facilitator’s guide or protocol to generate a 
few speciﬁ  c questions that can be used to open the discussion in the 
focus group (or to come up with the questions, he or she can also con-sult the information about current and desired results that are based on the needs assessment). Needs Assessment: Tools and Techniques  99 7 . Schedule a time for the focus group when the highest-priority partici-
pants are all available. Verify that you have both a focus group facilitator and a person to take notes during the meeting, that both are available at the scheduled time, and that both understand what is to be accom-plished through the focus group. Arrange for an audio recorder so that the facilitator and note taker can verify information from the discussion when later preparing ﬁ  nal notes or a report.
 8. Implement the focus group session. The facilitator should remind par-
ticipants to observe conﬁ  dentiality of information shared. Allow the fa-

8. Implement the focus group session. The facilitator should remind par-
cilitator to manage the focus group process. If you serve as note taker for the focus group, avoid being tempted to interrupt the group. You are simply there to record data and to observe the focus group. 
 9. Immediately after the focus group has ended, the facilitator and note 
taker should verify that all of the essential information from the group has been captured in a written document. 
10. If appropriate, run several focus groups. Doing so ensures that you gath-
er enough information for the needs assessment.
• Have a clear and speciﬁ  c goal for the focus group (in other words, have 
and maintain a clear focal point rather than an open conversation).
• Engage a facilitator who is experienced in managing focus groups. Focus 
groups are not as easy to facilitate as you might expect.

• Create a survey to be given out to participants so you can capture in-
formation that may not be discussed in the focus group because of time  limitations. 
• Carefully present each of your questions to the group, and allow the group 
members a couple of minutes to think about the question and to record their answers. 
• Complete a test run of the focus group so you can identify potential prob-
lems, changes to questions, or additional materials that should be avail-able to participants.
• After a question has been answered and before moving to the next ques-

tion, verbally report back a summary of what you heard. This step  conﬁ  rms for the group members that they communicated what they in-100 A Guide to Assessing Needstended to, and it allows them to make any suggestions for adjustments in 
the event that their thoughts were not accurately represented. 
• Don’t be afraid to ask participants to leave if they are not willing to let 
others in the focus group participate. After all, the goal of the focus group is to gain multiple perspectives on the issues. 
• If you are going to record (by video or audio) the focus group, then be

• If you are going to record (by video or audio) the focus group, then be 
sure to get the consent of all participants. Communicate to the group members what will be done with the video or audio recording of the ses-sion (for example, who will listen to it, how it will be stored, how long it will be stored, and so on). Such issues have consequences for how open the group members will feel about sharing their true opinions rather than those that they think you (or the organization) will want to hear. 
• Write down any observations that you made during the focus group. For 
example, note if the audio or video equipment failed, if something unex-pected took place, and so on. Such notes may help elucidate comments when you analyze the data that you gathered through the focus group. 
• Plan for the focus group to take between 40 minutes and 3 hours.
References and Resources 
McClelland, Samuel B. 1994b. “Training Needs Assessment Data-Gathering

McClelland, Samuel B. 1994b. “Training Needs Assessment Data-Gathering 
Methods: Part 3—Focus Groups.” Journal of European Industrial Training 
18(3): 29–32.
Assessments: A Practical Guide . Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Websites 
 “Brainstorming Process” is available at http://www.businessballs.com/
brainstorming.htm.
“The Focus Group Interview and Other Kinds of Group Activities” is available at 
http://ppa.aces.uiuc.edu/pdf_ﬁ  les/Focus.pdf. 
“Focus Groups—A Needs Assessment Tool” is available at http://www.joe.org/
joe/1992spring/tt2.html. 
“Small Group Techniques” is available at http://www.fh  wa.dot.gov/reports/pittd/
smlgroup.htm. 
A USAID guide for conducting focus groups is available at http://pdf.usaid.gov/

pdf_docs/PNABY233.pdf.Needs Assessment: Tools and Techniques  101Sample: Focus Group Facilitator Outline 
and Protocol to Identify Factors Leading to Capacity Gaps in Primary Education
This outline will help lead the facilitator through the four key stages of a 
focus group, as well as serve as a sample protocol for the focus group. The sample protocol has been developed for a series of focus groups with village, provincial, and national administrators involved with the primary education in a developing country that has a mostly rural population. Such focus groups are part of a larger needs assessment study, and they supplement other data collection approaches that have already been completed. 
The focus group facilitator should review this facilitator outline with

The focus group facilitator should review this facilitator outline with 
other organizers of the needs assessment. It will be important to determine if all steps and arrangements for running the focus group have been planned and agreed. Modify this outline as necessary. 
Sample of Facilitator Outline for Stages of the Focus Group
1. Opening Remarks
• Explain the purpose of the focus group, how it diff  ers from other types 
of discussions, and how the information will be used.
• Encourage disagreement and debate over the issues.• Clarify that the group does not necessarily need to reach consensus or 
make decisions.
• Describe the facilitator’s neutral role, discuss issues about conﬁ  denti-
ality of information (where appropriate), and solicit participant ques-tions about the process to reduce anxiety.
• Provide guidance about how the group will operate (for example,

• Provide guidance about how the group will operate (for example, 
having a time frame, talking one at a time, respecting divergent opin-ions, no one person speaking for the whole group, having cell phones off , not smoking).
2. Introductions
• Invite members to introduce themselves and to describe their role or 
relationship to the focus group topic.
• To stimulate group interaction, have each person speak at least once.102 A Guide to Assessing Needs• Establish the group as a safe, comfortable, nonthreatening context for 
discussion.
• Stimulate members to begin thinking concretely about the issues at 
hand.
3. Leading the Focus Group  
• Use the focus group protocol, but diverge where there are emergent 
data or paths to follow. 
• Build on initial questions with follow-up questions. Encourage in-
creasingly deep responses to key questions.

• Connect emergent data from separate questions into a complex, inte-
grated analysis.
• Ensure that all participants who want to comment on a question 
have the opportunity to contribute and to broaden the information  collect  ed.
4. Closing
• Signal that the group discussion will end soon.• Identify and reiterate key themes that emerged from the discussion. 
Give participants an opportunity to reﬁ  ne the themes.
• Summarize and test with the group the relative weight of certain cat-
egories of response.
• Identify diff  erences of perspective, contrasting opinions, and areas of 
agreement.
• Allow a round of ﬁ  nal comments and insights. Thank participants and 
describe any next steps.
The focus group facilitator should review this facilitator protocol with other

The focus group facilitator should review this facilitator protocol with other 
organizers of the needs assessment. It will be important to determine if the protocol questions are appropriate for the potential respondents and if they address the main issues of the needs assessment. Beyond working with the needs assessment organizers and focus group, the facilitator may wish to ask for a review by others who know about the topic of the focus group. Modify this protocol as necessary.Needs Assessment: Tools and Techniques  103Sample of Focus Group Protocol
Welcome (Where 
appropriate, modify the script and questions.)Script:  Thank you for agreeing to participate in this focus group today. We

appropriate, modify the script and questions.)Script:  Thank you for agreeing to participate in this focus group today. We 
have interviewed a number of stakeholders of the education system in our country to identify capacity gaps of the primary education system, and now we want to learn more about the factors that are leading to those gaps. 
We are not here to debate or solve the capacity gaps, though if you have 
suggestions for how to improve capacity, please note them on a sheet of paper. We will collect those ideas at the end of the session. 
Here are nine common categories of factors that inﬂ  uence capacity and 
that we will use to guide our discussion. However, you are welcome to suggest others.
 Performance capability. Do we have the right people in the right jobs to 
achieve desired results?
 Knowledge and skills.  Do people know what to do, and are they able to 
do it?
 Motivation and self-conﬁ  dence.  Do people have the motivation and

we are trying to achieve and how we will achieve it? Do we have shared norms, habits, and beliefs?
 Coordination within and among ministries and government agencies.  
Are the government agencies coordinating appropriately?
 Other.  Indicate other possible factors.
Do you have any 
questions regarding our goals of the focus group?Notes:104 A Guide to Assessing NeedsQuestions
Q1: One of the 
identiﬁ  ed capacity 
gaps is the high variation in teacher commitment to the jobs (from those highly committed and engaged as teachers, to those frequently absent from work). 
Of the nine common 
factors leading to capacity gaps on your handout, which do you ﬁ  nd are most 
responsible for the current gap?Response:
Follow-up question and response:Response:Follow-up question and response:Response:Follow-up question and response:
Q2: A second of the 
gaps is the uneven and late delivery of textbooks for schools and pupils.
Of the nine common

factors leading to capacity gaps on your handout, which do ﬁ nd are most 
Follow-up question and response:Response:Follow-up question and response:Response:Needs Assessment: Tools and Techniques  105Q3: A third identiﬁ  ed 
capacity gap is the increasing absenteeism among third grade girls in our most rural populations. 
Q4: The fourth 
identiﬁ  ed capacity gap 
is the [insert gap].  

Note:  If you have time remaining, you can cover more remaining capacity gaps. If, however, you are short on time, then start the 
next focus group with the capacity gaps you were not able to include in this discussion.
Conclusions
Script:  Summarize the major factors identiﬁ  ed during the conversation, and then ask the focus group 
members to verify that you accurately interpreted their responses.106 A Guide to Assessing NeedsPurpose 
The purpose of conducting interviews is to collect information from a single 
person through a format that may range from structured, to semistructured, to unstructured. 

Individual interviews can often provide in-depth context, stories, and dis-cussion related to one or more topics that are pertinent to the needs assess-ment. Such interviews can be done in an environment where the interviewer can ask for elaboration or explanation with follow-up questions. (For a help-ful sample checklist and a sample protocol, see pages 110–115.)
Interviews also off  er an opportunity for the interviewee to become famil-
iar with the needs assessment and its objectives. Individuals in positions of inﬂ uence may also appreciate the additional personal attention that the 
interview can off  er as opposed to a survey or focus group. 
• Interviews typically allow for more focused discussions and follow-up 
questions.

questions. 
• Individuals may off  er information in interviews that they wouldn’t off  er 
in a group context. 
• Interviews can be an excellent source for stories and context. • The interviewer can observe the nonverbal behavior of an interviewee. INTERVIEWSNeeds Assessment: Tools and Techniques  107Disadvantages 
• Time requirements for interviewers and interviewees can be signiﬁ  cant. 
• Interviews have the potential to reduce the scope and sample for data 
collection. 
• The results of multiple interviews may contradict each other or may be 
diffi  cult to analyze. 
• Interviewees may be biased or may represent only a limited perspective 
on performance issues and themes.
• Interviews, if not done well, can get off   topic and frustrate both inter-

viewer and interviewee (the interviewer can leave without the necessary information to guide his or her assessment; the interviewee can feel that the time was not productive). 
1. Create a list of all the information required for completing your needs as-
sessment. Prioritize and align the list of information requirements on the basis of your assessment’s objectives and of the participants available for the interviews.
2. Determine what information is required from each interview. 3. Select interviewees who can best provide the information you are look-
ing for in the interviews. Experts are often included as interviewees, but novices should also be considered when questions regarding cur-rent (or entry) knowledge and skills are elements in the assessment’s considerations.

4. For each interview, create a protocol that will guide the questions that are 
to be asked. 
a. Determine how structured the protocol should be. A structured inter-
view  protocol has clearly deﬁ  ned questions and order of questions and 
can be repeated to elicit the same type of information across diff  erent 
interviewees. A structured interview is preferable when you want to aggregate or generalize information. This approach to interviewing is also preferable when your interviewees are not necessarily experts on a given topic or experienced interviewees (for example, interns seek-ing to gather information for a needs assessment plan with community 108 A Guide to Assessing Needsleaders). An unstructured interview  may start with a set of loosely

planned questions in the protocol, but the interviewer may alter the questions and the order of questions depending on the information provided by each interviewee. An unstructured interview works best for interviewees who are well-informed about the topic and are able to deviate from a set plan.
b. Determine the types of questions to be included in the protocol. A pro-
tocol may include a range of types of questions, including open-ended questions ( What are the possible causes for these identiﬁ  ed gaps? ) and 
closed-ended questions ( Of the six gaps in the handout provided, iden-
tify the gap that is most important to address this year ). 
c. Leave room in the protocol for the interviewer to take notes during 
the interview, and include possible follow-up questions to help guide the discussion (see the link in the Websites section of this document for some suggestions on creating an interview protocol). 
d. Conduct needs assessment interviews with a formal and systematic

d. Conduct needs assessment interviews with a formal and systematic 
process that can be replicated. 
e. Ensure that required information regarding both the current results 
and the desired results of the needs assessment are represented in the protocol, along with the required information at each level of the pro-gram or project results chain. 
5. Schedule a convenient time and location for the interview. The interview 
should take place in a friendly location where both the interviewee and interviewer will feel comfortable discussing potentially delicate topics. Describe to the interviewee how the information will be used and the conﬁ  dentiality of the information provided.
6. Take careful notes during the interview, off  ering to recap the response of

6. Take careful notes during the interview, off  ering to recap the response of 
the interviewee whenever there may be confusion. Follow the interview protocol carefully to ensure that you don’t have to schedule a second in-terview to ask questions that may have been skipped. When possible, it is often a good idea to record an interview so you can verify your notes after the interview is complete. Another option is to have a note taker accom-pany the interviewer.
7 . Immediately following the interview review your notes carefully to en-
sure that you have accurately captured all of the relevant information. If you ﬁ  nd any confusion, this is the time to call or e-mail the interviewee to 
verify information or to ask for clariﬁ  cations. Needs Assessment: Tools and Techniques  1098. Relate the ﬁ  ndings from each interview to other data sources for veriﬁ  ca-

tion. For instance, if an interviewee quotes a news article or a research report, then it is typically useful to check that resource to ensure that the facts and ﬁ  gures provided by the interviewee were accurate and pre-
sented without bias. 
• Create a friendly and open environment by using active listening tech-
niques (such as recapping, paraphrasing, taking notes, and using friendly body language). 
• Refrain from asking leading questions ( “I’m sure you agree that . . .” ) or 
cutting off   an interviewee during his or her response. If you are to avoid 
cutting off   interviewees, it is often helpful to include potential follow-up 
questions as part of the interview protocol. 
• Interviewers should not debate or argue with the interviewees. Inter-

viewers are supposed to gather the views of others, not convince the in-terviewees of the interviewers’ views.
• Using the critical incident technique can be a valuable way to diff  erenti-
ate between perceptions and past experiences. Interviewees are asked to provide past events as examples when they respond to speciﬁ  c questions. 
Each event should include a description of the conditions or context for the event, the people involved in the event, the place of the event, and the associated activities or behaviors of people in the event. 
• Take good notes during the interview (or record it, if the participant is 
agreeable). 
Altschuld, James W . 2010. Needs Assessment Phase III: Collecting Data (Book 3 of

Altschuld, James W . 2010. Needs Assessment Phase III: Collecting Data (Book 3 of 
Needs Assessment Kit ). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Altschuld, James W ., and J. N. Eastmond Jr. 2010. Needs Assessment Phase II: 
Getting Started (Book 2 of Needs Assessment Kit ). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage 
McClelland, Samuel B. 1994a. “Training Needs Assessment Data-Gathering 
Methods: Part 2—Individual Interviews.” Journal of European Industrial 
Training 18 (2): 27–31.
Assessments: A Practical Guide.  Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.110 A Guide to Assessing NeedsWebsites 
“Getting the Lay of the Land on Health: A Guide for Using Interviews to Gather 
Information” is available at http://www.accessproject.org/adobe/getting_the_lay_of_the_land_on_health.pdf.

“Information Brief: Developing Interview Protocols” is available at http://www.
neirtec.org/evaluation/PDFs/PreparingtoCollect5.pdf.
A sample interview protocol is available at http://www.ceismc.gatech.edu/MM_
Tools/NIP .html. 
A tip sheet on asking open-ended and probing questions is available at http://ppa.
aces.uiuc.edu/pdf_ﬁ  les/Asking1.PDF.
A tip sheet on conducting key informant interviews is available at http://ppa.aces.
uiuc.edu/pdf_ﬁ  les/Conducting1.PDF.
Tips for using individual interviews as a surveying technique are available at 
http://ppa.aces.uiuc.edu/pdf_ﬁ  les/Tips.PDF.
The USAID article on conducting needs assessment interviews is available at 
http://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PNABS541.pdf.
Samples of Interview Preparation Checklist and 
Interview Release Agreement

Interview Preparation Checklist
/H18554 On what basis was this interviewee selected?
/H18554 Do I have the time and location of the interview?
/H18554 What do I know about the interviewee (title, experiences, background, 
and so on) ?
/H18554 Has the interviewee been sent information on the topic and focus of the 
interview?
/H18554 Should the interview questions be sent to the interviewee before the 
/H18554 Will the interview use closed-ended questions, open-ended questions, 
or a combination of both?
/H18554 Do I have some sample follow-up questions identiﬁ  ed for each inter-
view question?
/H18554 What information must I get from the interview?
/H18554 What information would it be nice to get, but is not necessary, from the

/H18554 What information would it be nice to get, but is not necessary, from the 
interview?Needs Assessment: Tools and Techniques  111/H18554 Are there documents I should ask for at the end of the interview (re-
ports, ﬁ  les, and so on)?
/H18554 How will I take notes during the interview?
/H18554 Will I record the interview? If so, have I checked the batteries in the 
recorder? Have I asked the interviewee for permission to record the in-terview? (See the generic interview release agreement that follows.)
/H18554 How will I transcribe the interview recording (or notes)? Will I have 
time immediately after the interview to reﬂ  ect on the answers and to 
take additional notes?112 A Guide to Assessing NeedsInterview Release Agreement 
Sample Interview Permission or Release Form
(Organization)
(Address)

(Address)
_______________________ _(“Interviewer”) has informed me that he or she is gathering research for a needs assessment 
and related Assessments on the subject of ________________________ (collectively “the Assessment”) and has asked me 
to grant interviews and to otherwise cooperate with the Interviewer in connection with the Assessment.
To assist the Interviewer in preparing the Assessment, I have agreed to be interviewed and to provide informa-
tion and other materials to be used in connection with the Assessment, including personal experiences, remarks, and recollections, as well as any other documents that I may choose to give to the Interviewer (“the Interview Materials”).
I hereby grant and assign to the Interviewer and his or her licensees, successors, and assigns the following rights

I hereby grant and assign to the Interviewer and his or her licensees, successors, and assigns the following rights 
in connection with the Interview Materials for use as part of the Assessment in any and all reports, versions, and media in perpetuity throughout the world. Indicate your agreement with any of these statements below by check-ing the boxes and initialing your name next to each agreed item.
/H18554   The right to quote or paraphrase  using my name  all or any portion of the Interview Materials and to gener-
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Printed Name  Date
Signature  DateNeeds Assessment: Tools and Techniques  113Sample of Interview Protocol

Interview Protocol to Identify Teachers’ Capacity Gaps 
in Classroom Teaching Skills and Behaviors
Instructions:  Use this protocol to interview principals from provincial 
schools. The purpose is to obtain information about capacity gaps that teachers have in the area of classroom teaching skills and behaviors.
appropriate, modify the script and  questions.)Script: Thank you for agreeing to participate in this interview. You are one 
principal in our sample of 58 principals who are from across the country and were selected to provide information on the topic discussed today. In this interview, we will focus on identifying the challenges and capacity gaps that exist among your teachers in the area of classroom teaching skills and behaviors.

This interview is part of a broader needs assessment sponsored by the 
national ministry of education. The overall needs assessment is being conducted so people can understand capacity development issues in the education system—not just related to teachers’ skills and behaviors—and then can make decisions on how to address the issues. The information that you provide will not be attributed directly to you.
questions regarding our goals?Notes:
Questions
Q1. How many years 
have you served as a 
 principal?
Q2. How many years 
have you served as a principal in this school? 114 A Guide to Assessing NeedsQ3. What is your 
highest level of education?/H18554 High school or secondary education or lower
/H18554 Basic university level (for example, associate’s degree, Tecnicatura, and 
so on)
/H18554 Intermediate university level (for example, bachelor’s degree, Licence, 
Licenciatura, and so on)
/H18554 Master’s degree level or equivalent (for example, Master of Business

so on)
/H18554 Master’s degree level or equivalent (for example, Master of Business 
Administration, Maîtrise, Maestria, and so on)
/H18554 Postmaster’s level or equivalent (for example, All But Dissertation  and 
so on)
/H18554 Doctorate level or higher
/H18554 Other: Please specify and describe it with regard to the earlier list
Q4. As a school 
principal, describe your work.
Q5. How many 
teachers do you supervise?
Q6. How many 
students were enrolled in the school at the beginning of the year (indicate start date of school year)? 
Q7. How many 
students are currently enrolled in the school now (indicate date)? Needs Assessment: Tools and Techniques  115Q8: Drawing on your

students are currently enrolled in the school now (indicate date)? Needs Assessment: Tools and Techniques  115Q8: Drawing on your 
experiences, can you describe the two or three major capacity gaps related to your teachers’ classroom teaching skills and behaviors that limit your school and your province in achieving their educational goals?Response: 
Follow-up question and response:
Q9: What do you 
believe are the causes of each of the capacity gaps that you identiﬁ  ed in the 
previous question? Response: 
Q10: Are there other 
challenges that you believe limit the capacity of your province to achieve its educational goals?Response: 
Q11: Can you 
recommend anyone I should meet with to identify related capacity gaps?Response: 
Review Script:  Summarize the major capacity gaps identiﬁ  ed from the

Review Script:  Summarize the major capacity gaps identiﬁ  ed from the 
conversation, and then ask the interviewee to verify that you accurately interpreted the responses. 116 A Guide to Assessing NeedsPurpose 
The purpose of conducting dual-response surveys is to collect information 
from a large number of people—typically located in multiple locations— regarding their perspectives on both current and desired performance.

Needs Assessment Applications 
Surveys are commonly used for needs assessments, but many types of sur-veys are available to you. The dual-response survey might be a new tool for you to consider. Surveys can be useful tools for needs assessments because they are relatively easy to develop, their data usually can be clearly trans-formed into useful information, and surveys (especially web-based ones) can easily be distributed to both large and small groups. Because surveys can require less time to complete than interviews or focus groups, and because they can be sent to people at other locations, they are often used in needs assessments (as well as in needs analyses).
Whereas the traditional single-response survey is a data collection tool

Whereas the traditional single-response survey is a data collection tool 
used in a variety of organizational activities—such as opinion polling and evaluation—the dual-response survey format provides signiﬁ  cant beneﬁ  ts 
over traditional single-response tools in completing a needs assessment. The dual-response survey, as presented here, collects information regarding both the current and desired  performance, thereby providing clear data 
regarding the size, direction, and relative priority of performance gaps (or needs). This type of survey gives you more options for analyzing data than does its single-response counterpart, and it provides valuable information that is essential to the unique goals of a needs assessment.DUAL-RESPONSE SURVEYSNeeds Assessment: Tools and Techniques  117Advantages and Disadvantages 
Advantages 
• A needs assessment survey allows you to capture the perspectives of mul-
tiple groups on a variety of performance-related topics.

tiple groups on a variety of performance-related topics. 
• The dual-response format allows the needs assessment survey to simul-
taneously capture data regarding both the current and the desired levels of performance. Too often needs assessments assume that the desired performance is known and agreed upon by everyone in the organization when in reality this assumption is rarely the case.
• The dual-response format gives you multiple ways to view, analyze, and 
report on ﬁ  ndings, including the size of the needs, the direction of the 
needs, and the relative priority that participants associate with the needs. 
• Surveys off  er a variable format where you can ask a few questions or 
many questions, and likewise you can ask open-ended or closed-ended questions. 
• Survey data are frequently confused with performance data. It is impor-

tant to remember that survey data rely on the perceptions of those com-pleting the survey. Thus, while a respondent may indicate that his or her perception is that performance is high, the reality may be that perfor-mance is low. Nevertheless, knowing the perceptions of those participat-ing in the needs assessment is essential to making informed decisions.
• Many organizations frequently use surveys; as a result, employees can get 
“burned out” on completing surveys. This reaction can reduce your re-sponse rate, increase the number of respondents who complete only part of the survey, or otherwise compromise the integrity of your survey  results.
• Surveys do not give you the opportunity to ask follow-up questions to 
respondents (unlike interviews or focus groups).

• Although surveys may seem easy to prepare, they are often developed 
poorly. Therefore, it is important to have an experienced survey devel-oper involved in the process of developing a survey, assisting in survey development, determining the survey analysis approach, or reviewing the survey.118 A Guide to Assessing NeedsProcess Overview 
1. Drawing from the list of information required for the needs assessment, 
create a list of the information that you expect to gain from the needs as-sessment survey. The focus of developing an eff  ective needs assessment 
survey should always be on the information required to make decisions. This focus will prevent you from asking questions that don’t get used in subsequent decision making. (For helpful sample templates to serve as job aids, see pages 125–126.)

2. Create your needs assessment survey for a target audience. Also, consider 
using multiple versions of a survey to target diff  erent audiences or stake-
holders. Surveys frequently are best used to collect information from a larger number of people than you would potentially invite for an inter-view or a focus group. 
3. Identify questions to include in your needs assessment. Questions should 
focus on results and performance, rather than on what resources or changes participants may want. In the Tips for Writing Good Survey Questions section of this tool are many ideas on how to write successful survey questions.
4. Create the survey using the dual-response format. Multiple sections 
within a single survey can also use diff  erent response scales—you simply 
must clearly communicate those diff  erences to the survey respondents.

must clearly communicate those diff  erences to the survey respondents. 
Table 3A.1. provides examples of three types of rating scales: agreement, satisfaction, and frequency. You can change the associated responses with each level of the Likert-type scales to represent appropriate re-sponses for the questions in your assessment (see example in table 3A.1). 
5. Pilot test your survey with participants who are representative of your 
target audience. When participants have completed the draft survey, cal-culate the results to ensure that you can use the information attained from each question. Typically, responses to some questions do not  provide the useful information you were looking for; thus, changes must be made to the survey.
6. Needs assessment surveys can be done in a variety of formats and media

6. Needs assessment surveys can be done in a variety of formats and media 
depending on the target audience. Web surveys can easily be created, dis-tributed, and analyzed using Internet-based survey systems. Paper-based surveys can also be eff  ective, especially if members of your target audi-
ence may not have access to technology or have the computer skills nec-essary for completing an online survey. Select the format that you believe Needs Assessment: Tools and Techniques  119will give you the highest return rate of completed surveys. Ideally, you 
would want at least 50 percent (often more) of the surveys you send out to be completed. The higher the return rate, the more conﬁ  dence you can 
have that your survey results represent the perspectives of the target au-dience. For national level, highly sensitive, or other important needs as-sessments, you will want to consult with a statistician about minimum response rates.

7 . The data from a dual-response needs assessment can be analyzed using 
four analysis approaches—discrepancy, direction, position, and demo-graphic diff  erences—to inform decision making. See table 3A.2 for an ex-
ample of responses from a single survey taker. See table 3A.3 to review how this survey taker’s responses would be analyzed using the four anal-ysis approaches.
Analysis 1: Discrepancy 
For each question of the needs assessment survey, you should perform a 
gap analysis by subtracting the value assigned to the current  column from Table 3A.1   Examples of Different Rating Scales 
Agreement:  1 = Strongly Disagree; 2 = Disagree; 3 = Neutral; 4 = Agree; 5 = Strongly Agree
Current
performance Survey questionDesired or optimal 
performance
c d e f g Does the subway usually get me to 
where I am going on time? c d e f g 
Satisfaction: 1 = Very Dissatisﬁ  ed; 2 = Dissatisﬁ  ed; 3 = Neutral; 4 = Satisﬁ  ed; 5 = Very Satisﬁ  ed
Current

Current
c d e f g What is my overall satisfaction with the 
subway service provided by the city?c d e f g 
Frequency: 1 = Daily; 2 = Weekly (3–6 times per week); 3 = Occasionally (3–6 times per month); 
4 = Sometimes (less than 3 times per month); 5 = Rarely (once a month to never)
Current
c d e f g Does the subway have mechanical 
failures during my trips?c d e f g 120 A Guide to Assessing Needsthe value assigned to the desired column (see table 3A.2). The results of 
this analysis will identify discrepancies between the current  and desired

this analysis will identify discrepancies between the current  and desired  
performance for each variable associated with the performance system. The size of the gap can provide valuable information in determining the perceived acuteness of the need or the extent to which opportunities can be capitalized upon.
The results of this analysis are, however, necessary rather than suffi   cient 
for quality decision making. Alone, these results provide only isolated values (data points) that must be put into context through their relationships with the three other analysis approaches. 
Analysis 2: Direction 
For each question, the positive or negative value of the gap should be identi-
ﬁ ed to diff  erentiate needs (when desired is greater than current) from 
opportunities (when what is  (WI) is greater than what should be  (WSB). 
• Positive discrepancies between desired and current (for example, 
desired = 5, current = 3, gap = 2 identiﬁ  es a need .

desired = 5, current = 3, gap = 2 identiﬁ  es a need . 
• Negative discrepancies between desired and current (for example, 
desired = 3, current = 4, gap = –1) identiﬁ  es an opportunity  (for instance, 
to reallocate resources).Table 3A.2   Example of a Completed Survey
Instructions:  Indicate your level of agreement with the survey questions below. 
Note that desired or optimal performance ratings should be taken in consideration of costs (ﬁ  nancial, and other costs) associated with achieving optimal performance. 
Therefore, take care to avoid giving all responses a rating of 5. (Scale: 1 = Strongly Disagree; 2 = Disagree; 3 = Neutral; 4 = Agree; 5 = Strongly Agree)
Current
c o e f ga. Does the subway usually get me to where I am going on time?c d e q g

Current
c d e q gb. Does the subway station have an 
adequate number of employees at each station to serve my needs? c d p f g
n d e f gc. Can the subway audio system be 
heard easily in all train cars?c d p f g
c o e f gd. Is the subway system operated 
safely?➀ d e f rNeeds Assessment: Tools and Techniques  121The distinction between needs and opportunities provides a context for dis-
crepancy data, which by itself illustrates only the size of the gap between current and desired performance. By examining the direction of the discrep-
ancy, decision makers can consider which gaps illustrate needs that have the potential to be addressed through organizational eff  orts and which gaps Table 3A.3   Example of an Analysis of the Completed Survey
Instructions for the survey analyst: For each item, tabulate the gap size by subtracting the current

Instructions for the survey analyst: For each item, tabulate the gap size by subtracting the current 
performance from the desired performance. Gap direction will be determined by whether the difference between desired and current performance is positive, negative, or neutral. Once this direction is determined, indicate in the next cells whether the response represents (a) a need, opportunity, or neither and (b) whether the position or priority in addressing the need or opportunity is low, medium, or high. The “analyst comments” column is to be used for summarizing the lengthier comments by the respondent. The example in the table provides analysis for one single respondent, but usually there are many more respondents. Thus, analyzing and aggregating results on a computer spreadsheet is advised.
Survey questionGap size:  desired – 
current performance
Gap direction: 
positive = need; 
negative = 
opportunityNeed or 
opportunityPosition or 
priority Analyst comments
a. Does the

negative = 
a. Does the 
subway usually get me to where I am going on time?+2 Need Medium The respondent 
recommends a reduction in schedule delays. (+2 points: need)
b. Does the 
subway station have an adequate number of employees at each station to serve my needs?–1 Opportunity Low There may be an 
opportunity to reduce the number of employees at stations during nonpeak hours. (–1 point: opportunity)
c. Can the subway 
audio system be heard easily in all train cars?+2 Need Medium The respondent noted 
difﬁ culties in hearing 
the conductor. (+2 points: need).
d. Is the subway 
system operated safely?+3 Need High The respondent

system operated safely?+3 Need High The respondent 
indicated a problem with proper door closing during crowded periods. Safety hazard—requires immediate attention. (+3 points: need) 122 A Guide to Assessing Needsidentify opportunities that the organization may want to leverage (or main-
tain) to ensure future success.
Analysis 3: Position (that is, relative priority)
The position analysis illustrates the relative importance or priority of dis-
crepancies from the perspective of the respondents. Although many gaps between WSB  and WI may have equivalent discrepancies and may be in the 
same direction, the position of the discrepancy on the Likert scale of the instrument can demonstrate the relative priority of the discrepancy in rela-tion to other gaps. 
For example, two needs may be identiﬁ  ed with a discrepancy of +3, but 
the ﬁ  rst need illustrated a gap between WSB = 5 and WI = 2, whereas the

the ﬁ  rst need illustrated a gap between WSB = 5 and WI = 2, whereas the 
second need illustrated a gap between WSB = 3 and WI = 0. As a result, the interpretation of these discrepancies in relation to each other would indi-cate a perceived prioritization of the ﬁ  rst need over the second. This infor-
mation can be valuable in selecting which discrepancies are addressed when resources are limited. 
Together, three types of analysis (discrepancy, direction, and position) 
can off  er valuable data for identifying and prioritizing needs.
Analysis 4: Demographic Differences (optional) 
You may want to view the results of your needs assessment survey on the 
basis of demographic diff  erences (for example, division, location, position

basis of demographic diff  erences (for example, division, location, position 
type, or years of experience). Analysis of the results can be reviewed by demographic variables if items related to the desired demographic catego-ries are added to the instrument. If your organization has collected data regarding the demographics of respondents to the survey, then you should 
complete an analysis for discrepancy , direction , and position  for each demo-
graphic on a section, subsection, or item basis, depending on the level of information required for decision making. 
• An abundance of literature exists about survey development, imple-

mentation, and analysis. Developing surveys is not as easy as it may seem, so consult survey literature and survey developers when prepar-ing your survey.Needs Assessment: Tools and Techniques  123• You should pilot test any survey questions with representatives from the 
target audience.
• Before releasing your survey, plan ahead on how you will analyze the 
results. 
• If you have diverse audiences, you should not try to write one survey that 
ﬁ ts all audiences. 
• You must plan to follow up with participants who have not completed the 
survey after a few days so you can remind them of the importance of their participation. 
• If you must have survey results from an important stakeholder group to

• If you must have survey results from an important stakeholder group to 
be able to make informed decisions, you should oversample that group to ensure that you get enough responses. In other words, if you want 50 re-turned surveys, then you would send out 200 surveys to the group in hopes of getting at least a 25 percent response rate rather than sending out 100 surveys with hopes of getting a 50 percent response rate. 
Tips for Writing Good Survey Questions 
• Ensure a common understanding.
• Start with the more interesting questions for the audience.• Don’t try to impress participants with big words.• Don’t write leading questions.• Avoid double negatives or questions with multiple meanings.• Stay focused: don’t ask more questions than you require for making 
 decisions.
• Put your questions in a logical order (for example, use sections or topic 
area headlines to organize questions).

• Verify that questions make sense for both response columns (current and 
desired). 
• Don’t let your survey get too long (for example, it should take participants 
no more than 15 minutes to complete).
Needs Assessment Kit ). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.124 A Guide to Assessing NeedsAltschuld, James W ., and J. N. Eastmond Jr. 2010. Needs Assessment Phase I: 
Kaufman, Roger, Ingrid Guerra-López, Ryan Watkins, and Doug Leigh. 2008. The 
Assessment Book: Applied Strategic Thinking and Performance Improvement Through Self-Assessments.  Amherst, MA: HRD Press.
Websites 
An inexpensive and easy-to-use survey development and deployment tool can be

Websites 
An inexpensive and easy-to-use survey development and deployment tool can be 
found at http://www.surveymonkey.com.
Another site that off  ers complete online survey services, including the develop-
ment, deployment, and analysis of dual response and traditional surveys, is at http://www.evaluationsolutions.com.Needs Assessment: Tools and Techniques  125Samples of Job Aids
Survey Template
Satisfaction Scale: 1 = Very Dissatisﬁ  ed; 2 = Dissatisﬁ  ed; 3 = Neutral; 
4 = Satisﬁ  ed; 5 = Very Satisﬁ  ed
Sample Instructions:  Indicate your level of agreement with the survey 
questions in the table. Note that desired or optimal performance ratings should be taken in consideration of costs (ﬁ  nancial and other costs) associ-
ated with achieving optimal performance. Therefore, take care to avoid giv-ing all responses a rating of 5. (Scale: 1 = Very Dissatisﬁ  ed; 2 = Dissatisﬁ  ed; 3 = 
Neutral; 4 = Satisﬁ  ed; 5 = Very Satisﬁ  ed)
Current

Current
cdefg a. cdefg
cdefg b. cdefg 
cdefg c. cdefg 
Analysis Template
Instructions for the survey analyst:   For each item, tabulate the gap size by 
subtracting the current performance from the desired performance. Gap direction will be determined by whether the diff  erence between desired and

subtracting the current performance from the desired performance. Gap direction will be determined by whether the diff  erence between desired and 
current performance is positive, negative, or neutral. Once this direction is determined, indicate in the next cells whether the response represents (a) a need, opportunity, or neither and (b) whether the position or priority in addressing the need or opportunity is low, medium, or high. The “analyst comments” column is to be used for summarizing the lengthier comments by the respondent. The example in the table provides analysis for one single respondent, but usually there are many more respondents. Thus, analyzing and aggregating results on a computer spreadsheet is advised.  126 A Guide to Assessing NeedsSurvey questionGap size:  desired – 
negative = 
a. 0 1 2 3 4 5 
Positive or NegativeNeed or 
OpportunityHigh

negative = 
a. 0 1 2 3 4 5 
Medium
Low
b. 0 1 2 3 4 5 
Medium
Low
c. 0 1 2 3 4 5 
Medium
LowNeeds Assessment: Tools and Techniques  127Purpose 
The purpose of conducting a SWOT is to identify, organize, and prioritize 
the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (or SWOTs) that inﬂ  u-
ence the planning, design, development, implementation, and evaluation of almost any program or project.
Identifying a list of SWOTs is a common brainstorming technique used in organizational planning. Developing a list alone, however, rarely provides the useful information required to guide a needs assessment. Instead, you should combine the beneﬁ  ts of brainstorming with an approach that deﬁ  nes

the relationships among the identiﬁ  ed SWOT factors, and then you should 
use those relationships to guide decisions about what to do next. 
The resulting SWOT+ technique asks SWOT informants to assign values 
to each of the items on the SWOT list. Thus, in certain cases, the items on the list that are of highest value may be acted on ﬁ  rst, and the items with lesser 
importance might need to be recognized but never acted on. 
Advantages and Disadvantages
• A SWOT builds on the value of a process that is already familiar in most 
organizations. SWOT+128 A Guide to Assessing Needs• SWOT factors are prioritized in relation to other SWOT factors, rather 
than simply listed and given equal value.
• A SWOT engages a group in deﬁ  ning the relationship among SWOT 
 factors.
• Assigning of values to each SWOT factor can be challenging for group 
members.
• Additional time is required to move from the SWOT factors to their

factors.
members.
• Additional time is required to move from the SWOT factors to their 
relationships to the recommendations about what should be done next.
1. Decide on a focus for your SWOT+ analysis. For instance, are you looking 
for SWOT factors that inﬂ  uence just your project or unit, or SWOT fac-
tors that aff  ect the entire organization? This context will provide bound-
aries for the discussion and will help you identify SWOT factors that will best guide your needs assessment.
2. Identify internal and external stakeholders for the SWOT analysis. These 
partners should represent an array of perspectives around the perfor-mance issue at the center of your needs assessment. 
3. In a meeting (or by e-mail), have group members identify SWOT factors

3. In a meeting (or by e-mail), have group members identify SWOT factors 
from their perspectives. In most situations, begin your SWOT analysis by asking participants to simply brainstorm ideas to ﬁ  t into the following 
four categories: 
 Strength:  An internal competence, valuable resource, or attribute 
that an organization can use to exploit opportunities in the external  environment 
 Weakness:  An internal lack of a competence, resource, or attribute 
that an organization requires to perform in the external environment 
 Opportunity:  An external possibility that an organization can pursue 
or exploit to gain beneﬁ  t 
 Threat:  An external factor that has the potential to reduce an organi-
zation’s performance Needs Assessment: Tools and Techniques  1294. When you have identiﬁ  ed an adequate number of SWOT factors (6 to 10

zation’s performance Needs Assessment: Tools and Techniques  1294. When you have identiﬁ  ed an adequate number of SWOT factors (6 to 10 
per category is typically enough), sort them into a SWOT matrix (see  table 3A.4). 
5. To enhance the SWOT factors, ask the group members to deﬁ  ne their 
relative value or importance within the context. Do this by using a con-tinuum along each of the X and Y axes of your SWOT matrix (see ﬁ  gure 
3A.1). Use the continuum of internal-to-external control for the X axis and the asset-to-liability continuum for the Y axis. Individual factors can then be plotted within the matrix according to their relationships to  other factors.
6. Place a mark (for example, S1, S2, and so on) for each SWOT factor where 
it intersects along the two continuums, thus deﬁ  ning its relationship to 
other SWOT factors. Figure 3A.1 shows how value assignments were  given to each item on the SWOT list (from table 3A.4) and were plotted on the matrix.

other SWOT factors. Figure 3A.1 shows how value assignments were  given to each item on the SWOT list (from table 3A.4) and were plotted on the matrix. 
7 . Use the plotted SWOT factors to determine which factors should be ﬁ  xed 
immediately, which should be imp roved on ov er time, which should be 
sustained, and which should be monitored (see ﬁ  gure 3A.1). 
Table 3A.4   Traditional SWOT Matrix
SWOT Analysis 
Community Public Transportation SWOT
Strengths  
S1 = Four new subway stations have been 
completed in the past year; three more are expected in the next two years.
S2 = There is a growing demand—a 15% 
increase in subway riders in the past year. 
S3 = The past year saw a 3% increase in 
“overall satisfaction” among subway riders.Weaknesses 
W1 = Approximately 18% of subway and bus 
mechanics are expected to retire in the next ﬁ  ve 
years.
W2 = Development of new bike lanes in the city 
center has been delayed.
W3 = Increased subway and bus fees have

years.
W3 = Increased subway and bus fees have 
reduced the ability of poorer citizens to afford public transportation.
Opportunities  
O1 = Increasing fuel costs may push more 
people to public transportation.
O2 = Biking and walking to work are becoming 
more popular.
O3 = National subsidy is possible to help ﬁ  nance 
reduced fee transit cards for elderly and disabled populations.Threats 
T1 = Increasing fuel costs increase bus costs.T2 = The roads in the city center are clogged 
during rush hours, increasing commuting times and delaying bus schedules.
T3 = Labor costs are increasing.T4 = Delays in delivery of new buses and 
subway cars from manufacturers are averaging 4–6 months behind schedule.130 A Guide to Assessing Needs8. With each SWOT factor plotted into the matrix from table 3A.4 , priori-

tize the factors in order of importance for achieving desired performance objectives. 
9. Use the prioritized list of SWOT factors to guide your decisions. You can 
see that with this information visually plotted, the participants can go a step further and can discuss the relationship among the items plotted; (a) which items to act on and in what order and (b) which items can pos-sibly be monitored for now, but perhaps never acted on.
• When identifying SWOT factors, use an open brainstorming process that 
allows all participants to share their ideas. 
• Avoid ambiguous SWOT factors; link each factor to a speciﬁ  c and mea-
surable indicator to ensure that everyone is using the same operational deﬁ nition of the factor. Figure 3A.1 Expanded Versions of the SWOT Matrix (SWOT+)

Plotting the List from the Community Public Transportation SWOT
internal
strengths
opportunitiesweaknesses
threatsS2
O2T2
T3
T1 T4O3O1S1 S3W3W2W1
externalasset
liabilitymaintain
nurtureimprove
reduce
Note:  The letters and numbers within the quadrants correspond to information provided in 
table 3A.4.Needs Assessment: Tools and Techniques  131• Work to build consensus around the placement of SWOT factors within 
the matrix; keep in mind that often there are many opinions about where individual factors should go on the continuums of internal–external and asset–liability.
References and Resources
Leigh, Doug. 2006. “SWOT Analysis.” In The Handbook of Human Performance 
Technology , edited by J. Pershing, 1089–1108. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass/
Pfeiff  er.

Pfeiff  er.
Watkins, Ryan. 2007 . Performance by Design: The Systematic Selection, Design, 
and Development of Performance Technologies That Produce Useful Results.  
Amherst, MA: HRD Press, and Silver Spring, MD: International Society for Performance Imp rovement.132 A Guide to Assessing NeedsPurpose
The World Café is a format for collaborative conversations designed to 
yield deeper insights into pressing collective issues. The collaborative conversations bring together stakeholders in group settings to formulate directions (or ideas, opinions, and so on) concerning needs, next steps, and solutions. 

The World Café format has gained in popularity over recent years because it is an easy approach to gathering information through collaboration; also it is a generally quick and usually fun process. (See http://www.theworldcafe.com for more information on the approach.) The following discussion draws on the trademarked World Café approach, but it has been adapted for needs assessment purposes.
When used in a needs assessment context, the World Café approach 
off ers a useful, ﬂ  uid framework for structuring a productive, problem-

solving discussion among a group of participants who typically would have diverse  perspectives (but, in many cases, they could have shared or common perspectives). Because of the way in which the conversations are structured, participants circulate about the room, cross-pollinating ideas and building upon one another’s suggestions. This approach lends itself well to needs assessment because it can provide unique opportunities for gathering information when other techniques would not be appropriate, viable, aff  ordable, or useful.WORLD CAFÉ™ (WITH 
“SPEED DATING” VARIATION)Needs Assessment: Tools and Techniques  133Advantages and Disadvantages
• This approach can be used with a large and diverse group of participants 
and stakeholders.

• A collaborative setting allows for transparent decision making.• The approach can yield more nuanced data and ﬁ  ndings than can struc-
tured interviews or focus groups.
• The ﬂ  exible technique can be applied in many settings and for diff  erent 
objectives.
• The “results” of World Café sessions are subject to interpretation.
• The ﬁ  ndings of this approach will depend largely on which stakeholders 
participate.
• The approach requires substantial advance planning for determining key 
discussion questions.
Process Overview1
1. Have organizers determine in advance the targeted questions that will 
address the key objectives for holding the World Café.
2. Seat groups of four or ﬁ  ve people at small tables or in clusters. Each table 
is led by a host who has been given some guidance about duties of facili-tating the table work.

3. Set up progressive (usually three) rounds of conversation of approxi-
mately 20–30 minutes each.
4. Encourage both table hosts and members to write or draw key ideas us-
ing the markers and paper provided.
5. When groups have completed the initial round of conversation, ask one 
person to remain at the table as the host while the other group members become ambassadors. Ambassadors carry key ideas, themes, and ques-tions from their ﬁ  rst group into their new conversations.134 A Guide to Assessing Needs6. Ask the table host to welcome the new guests and to brieﬂ  y share the 
main ideas, themes, and questions of the initial conversation. Encour-age the ambassadors to link and connect ideas coming from their previ-ous table conversations as they listen carefully and build on each other's  contributions.

7 . In the third round of conversation, either have people return to their ﬁ  rst 
table or have them continue traveling to new tables. Sometimes facilita-tors will add a new question in the third round of discussion to help deepen the exploration. 
8. After several rounds of conversation, initiate a period of whole-group 
• Clarify your purpose, and keep in mind the reason for gathering your 
group. Design the session with targeted questions and issues in mind.
• As an important component of the World Café approach, create a wel-
coming environment so participants can share their ideas. Consider how your invitation and the meeting’s location will contribute to a hospitable atmosphere.
• Have your World Café explore only one question or a set of related ques-
tions. Remember that choosing questions that are of central importance to your meeting objectives and, for that matter, to your participants can produce powerful results.

• Importantly, encourage participants to be active contributors of their 
ideas and perspectives while allowing those who wish to participate by simply observing to do so.
• Remember that in the World Café design, participants circulate about 
the large group and take ideas from each small group’s discussion to the next table as they become ambassadors. Typically, one participant stays behind as a host, sharing the previous group’s ideas with the new arrivals. By using the center of the small-group tables as spaces for drawing with markers, your facilitators and hosts can draw attention to the illustra-tions and diagrams created as an example of a shared, collaborative vision.
• Encourage participants to sharpen their listening skills as they go into

• Encourage participants to sharpen their listening skills as they go into 
the World Café. Encourage participants (a) to listen rather than plan Needs Assessment: Tools and Techniques  135their response to the current speaker, (b) to be open to being inﬂ  uenced 
by another’s ideas, (c) to listen for deeper questions and insights that may emerge in the group discussion, and (d) to listen for what questions are not being asked or for what is not being spoken.
• To tie in the whole group’s progress, ﬁ  rst ask each table to spend a few

• To tie in the whole group’s progress, ﬁ  rst ask each table to spend a few 
minutes brainstorming about what has emerged in their World Café rounds that has been most meaningful. Depending on the range of ideas that have emerged, the ambassadors and table participants might want to prepare a summary list of the ideas. The list could include those items that were suggested frequently, but it could also include ideas that were suggested less often but that could represent an important and perhaps underrepresented view. Because the World Café is meant to collect ex-pansive ideas around an issue, under many circumstances it will be use-ful to think beyond the “top ﬁ  ve” type of items and to dig deeper about

items that were not suggested as frequently. After this period, begin a whole-group discussion. Perhaps tailor this exercise into thematic clus-ters by asking people from each table to share one thing that they found new or surprising, and then asking others to share ideas and observa-tions that build on that one thing. Ask the whole group the following questions:
• If there were a single voice in the room, what would the group say are 
the key takeaways?
• What deeper questions are emerging as a result of these 
conversations?
• Do we notice any patterns emerging? If so, what do these patterns 
point to?
• What do we now see and know as a result of these conversations?
“Speed Dating” Variation
As with speed dating events—where single adults meet to have timed inter-

point to?
actions with other singles so they can determine if there is a match—adding a similar set of timed and focused conversations among pairs of participants can be a useful variation of World Café. The same general World Café setup would occur, but instead of starting with small groups for 20 minutes, you would start with paired participants talking and brainstorming together for about 5 to 8 minutes. 136 A Guide to Assessing NeedsFollowing two or three rounds of the paired conversations, you would

then begin the process of sharing ideas on white boards or through index cards handed to a facilitator. This information would then be collapsed into the whole-group session of the World Café. This variation on the format allows for more sharing by each participant and potentially for an even deeper conversation on issues (with a reduced threat that a single person would dominate a group conversation).
Notes
1. Based in part on “Café to Go” in World Café (2008) at http://www.theworld 
cafe. com/pdfs/cafetogo.pdf.
Brown, Juanita, and David Isaacs. 2005. The World Café: Shaping Our Futures 
through Conversations That Matter . San Francisco, CA: Berrett-Koehler 
Publishers.
Brown, Juanita, David Isaacs, Eric Vogt, and Nancy Margulies. 2002. “Strategic 
Questioning: Engaging People’s Best Thinking.” The Systems Thinker  13 (9). 
Brown, Juanita, David Isaacs, Nancy Margulies, and Gary Warhaftig. 1999. “The

Brown, Juanita, David Isaacs, Nancy Margulies, and Gary Warhaftig. 1999. “The 
World Café: Catalyzing Large-Scale Collective Learning.” Leverage Magazine  
(33): 1–2.
Websites
“Café to Go: A Quick Reference Guide for Putting Conversations to Work” is 
available at http://www.theworldcafe.com/pdfs/cafetogo.pdf.
Additional World Café information is available at http://www.theworldcafe.com/.Needs Assessment: Tools and Techniques  137Purpose 
The Delphi technique is a powerful approach that can be used (a) to gather

The Delphi technique is a powerful approach that can be used (a) to gather 
data and opinions from experts (such as identifying primary performance constraints) or (b) to lead to a group decision (such as making recommen-dations about what to do). The Delphi technique is also referred to as the Delphi method, Delphi approach, Delphi activity, or Delphi study. It was developed by RAND during the 1950s for warfare forecasting, and it relied on panels of experts to provide information in a systematic and iterative manner.
The Delphi technique is a data collection tool that you can use to solicit insight from a group of experts in a structured way. In a needs assess-ment, the Delphi technique is typically used to gain expert input for deﬁ  n-

ing needs, to identify desired results, to prioritize causes, or to recommend solutions. The intention with the Delphi technique is for the iterative process not only to solicit insight from experts, but also to ultimately reveal the areas where experts have consensus in their views. This con-sensus expert insight can be an invaluable source of information to sup-port decision making about things such as needs, goals, and anticipated outcomes.
The Delphi technique uses a “layered,” or iterative, strategy to gather 
information and arrive at consensus about a speciﬁ  c subject, situation, 
need, or goal. The technique is similar to the nominal group technique (see page 166 in part 3B) in terms of its structure. One of the unique features of DELPHI TECHNIQUE138 A Guide to Assessing Needsthe Delphi technique, however, is that the information solicitation and

consensus-building processes can be done through either postal or elec-tronic mail. The Delphi technique can be used for planning, problem solv-ing, decision making, or data collection. The information that is generated through this technique typically (a) provides insight about a variety of dif-ferent alternatives, (b) seeks to correlate expert insight on a speciﬁ  c sub-
ject, (c) provides the background information necessary for decision making, or (d) reveals consensus in expert opinions about a particular sub-ject or theme. 
• The Delphi technique is versatile in terms of its potential application and 
can, therefore, be used to tackle a very wide variety of issues, subjects, and situations. 
• Through this technique, you have the option of setting up a broad and 
dynamic panel of experts from a variety of disciplines and professional sectors (for example, donors, community organizations, government of-ﬁ cials, and academia).

dynamic panel of experts from a variety of disciplines and professional sectors (for example, donors, community organizations, government of-ﬁ cials, and academia). 
• Location is not a constraint in terms of access to expert insight. This 
technique accommodates data collection through either postal or elec-tronic mail, making it possible to involve experts from almost any part of the world. 
• The iterative process of the Delphi technique promotes reﬂ  ective and 
evaluative contributions from experts. 
• The technique enables the natural group process of sharing and evaluat-

ing ideas and expert insight without the need for an in-person meeting format. Because the objective of the Delphi technique is to achieve con-vergence, as opposed to divergence, in expert perspectives, it promotes a nonconfrontational format for communication and exchange. Expert contributions also remain anonymous to other participants in the expert panel, which may help participants to feel more at ease with fully and honestly providing their insights and opinions. 
• The structured and step-by-step nature of the technique makes it very 
democratic in nature, giving each invited participant an equal opportu-nity for contribution. Needs Assessment: Tools and Techniques  139• Quantitative analysis of the data from a Delphi study is relatively simple

and can be done using spreadsheet software (such as Microsoft Excel). 
• If the coordinator of a Delphi activity fails to (a) select a representative 
expert panel, (b) select a good initial question, or (c) follow the recom-mended implementation steps for the technique, the outcomes of the ac-tivity may be compromised. 
• If the Delphi technique is conducted through postal mail, the time re-
quired for the process can be lengthy, particularly if the panel of expert participants is located in a variety of diff  erent countries. If you decide to 
use the Delphi approach with postal mail, you should expect to allocate between one and three months for data collection. 
• The technique requires sustained involvement from the participants. 
Participant dropout is, therefore, a risk. 
• The viewpoints and judgments that are collected through the Delphi

• The viewpoints and judgments that are collected through the Delphi 
technique are subjective in nature. Thus, the extent of accuracy and com-prehensiveness of the data may, in some instances, be uncertain. 
• The Delphi technique, although generating valuable information, should 
not be used as the sole source of information for making deﬁ  nitive deci-
sions about needs or future strategies. 
The procedure for the Delphi technique essentially consists of four steps: (a) planning, (b) setting up the expert panel, (c) administering questionnaires, and (d) interpreting ﬁ  nal data for decision making. 
Planning
1. Form a small group of colleagues to work with you on implementing and

Planning
1. Form a small group of colleagues to work with you on implementing and 
monitoring the Delphi study. The Delphi depends on the group’s ability to identify and engage a number of experts on the topic, which is often challenging for one individual to manage.
2. Use the list of information required for the needs assessment to deter-
mine the speciﬁ  c issue, purpose, scope, and focus of the Delphi study. 
3. Develop a time line for the Delphi activity. This time line should include 
intended deadlines for (a) setting up the expert panel, (b) sending out each 140 A Guide to Assessing Needsof the questionnaires, (c) receiving responses to each of the questionnaires, 
and (d) analyzing and interpreting the ﬁ  nal results from the Delphi.
4. Determine how you will deﬁ  ne consensus  from the responses you receive. 
For example, does a simple majority (51 percent) represent consensus, or is greater agreement required?

5. Create the ﬁ  rst questionnaire for the Delphi study. Ensure that the ques-
tionnaire clearly aligns with the scope and purpose of the Delphi. 
a. The questionnaire can consist of one single question that targets the 
speciﬁ  c focus area of the Delphi. If a single question is used, make sure 
that it is an open-response question (that is, a question that allows the respondent to submit his or her own answer rather than being forced to choose an answer). An example might be a question asking experts to identify all possible causes of a speciﬁ  c performance gap.
b. Plan on testing the questionnaire before you distribute it so you can 
make sure that it is worded correctly to elicit the types of information that you are looking for. 
Setting Up the Expert Panel

1. Select a panel of experts to match the scope and purpose of the Delphi 
study. The initial panel should typically consist of between 30 and 50 par-ticipants, though more may be warranted in some cases. The speciﬁ  cs of 
the kind of panel that you create may diff  er depending on the speciﬁ  c 
goals of the assessment. Here are some tips: 
a. Although a larger panel will generate more information on the focus 
of the activity, it will also increase the data to be analyzed in each phase of the Delphi. 
b. The panel should include individuals who are experts in the focus 
area of the study. 
c. It is advisable that you select participants who have both conceptual 
and applied (practical) understanding of the focus areas of your Del-phi activity.
d. If the focus area of your Delphi endeavor extends over several sectors,

d. If the focus area of your Delphi endeavor extends over several sectors, 
you may want to invite experts representing each of those sectors. 
e. You should try to screen the panel to make sure that you have selected 
a group of participants who represent diverse perspectives about your focus area. Needs Assessment: Tools and Techniques  1412. Prepare and distribute a letter to invite the experts you want to partici-
pate on the expert panel. The letter should include the following: 
a. The speciﬁ  c scope and purpose of the Delphi
b. The general process that will be used in the activityc. The anticipated time commitment the expert will be asked to make 
(This commitment should include the amount of time that you expect the expert will require to complete each questionnaire, as well as the span of time over which the Delphi activity will take place.)

(This commitment should include the amount of time that you expect the expert will require to complete each questionnaire, as well as the span of time over which the Delphi activity will take place.) 
3. Remember that sustained participation of the expert panelists is essential 
to the success of the Delphi activity. Consider following up the invitation letters with a telephone call to each invitee. 
Administering Questionnaires
1. Send out the questionnaire that you prepared during the planning phase. 
Make sure that you include directions on when and how responses should be returned (for example, “Please submit your responses to this question-naire by replying to this e-mail. The deadline for submitting responses is April 2.”). 
2. Code the responses by identifying all the elements or factors that are re-

ferred to in the responses you receive. For example, if you asked experts to identify all “possible factors contributing to a performance problem,” then your task is to identify each statement referring to a “possible fac-tor” in the responses. Next, you compile all those statements of possible factors into one single list. Make sure that the duplicate references are removed and that each factor represents only one idea or construct. 
3. Create a second questionnaire using the list of elements that you compiled 
in step 2, directly above. In your instructions to this questionnaire, ask the respondents to rate each element on the list in terms of importance or relevance to the focus of the Delphi. For example, provide a scale as fol-lows: “ Low Importance = 1 2 3 4 5 = High Importance. ” Ask respondents to

rank each element in the list while using that scale. Make sure that you include directions on when and how responses should be returned. 
4. Tabulate the results from the second questionnaire by calculating the 
mean (average), median (middle), and mode (most) scores, as well as standard deviation (dispersion of scores around the average) and inter-142 A Guide to Assessing Needsquartile range (percentage of similar responses). Each can be calculated 
in spreadsheet programs such as Microsoft Excel. 
5. Using your analysis, determine where there is consensus among the ex-
perts. Typically median (middle) scores, along with interquartile ranges, are of the most value in determining consensus although how you deﬁ  ne 
consensus can vary from project to project. In their article, Hsin-Ling Hung and his colleagues (2008) identify a number of important consider-ations in deﬁ  ning and calculating consensus.
6. Drawing from the results of the second questionnaire, develop a third

6. Drawing from the results of the second questionnaire, develop a third 
questionnaire with the items from the second questionnaire that had the greatest consensus among the experts. Depending on the context, you will want to determine an appropriate “cut score” for consensus to be able to reduce the list.
7 . Conduct a third and fourth round of questionnaires, calculating consen-
sus among experts using the results of each.
8. Remember that research indicates most Delphi applications reach stable 
consensus among experts (in other words, few changes from one round to the next) after four rounds. If you do not see this consensus, then you can use additional rounds of data collection (ﬁ  ve or six in total) or can 
consider including both median scores and interquartile ranges for each element in the ﬁ  fth round to help the experts move toward consensus. 
When you ﬁ  nd stability in responses from one round to the next, you can 
then use those ﬁ  ndings in your needs assessment.

Interpreting Final Data for Decision Making
1. Report the ﬁ  nal results to the panel of experts; they will be interested. 
2. Use the results to focus in on the speciﬁ  c issue, purpose, and scope of the 
Delphi study, and use the insight from the expert panel as guidance in your needs assessment decisions. 
• Consider seeking endorsement from an inﬂ  uential person for the Delphi 
activity. This endorsement may help you to solicit and sustain involve-ment from the experts you wish to involve in the activity.Needs Assessment: Tools and Techniques  143• Remain in contact with participants throughout the Delphi activity. For 
example, consider calling each of the experts after you have sent them the invitation to participate. In addition, follow up personally with partici-pants who do not respond to the subsequent questionnaires.

• If possible, plan to provide incentives to participants at each round in the 
Delphi activity. Incentives can be of either a material or a nonmaterial nature. Following up with thank-you cards or other personalized com-munication may play an important role in keeping participants involved. 
Hung, Hsin-Ling, James W . Altschuld, and Y-F. Lee. 2008. “Methodological and 
Conceptual Issues Confronting a Cross-Country Delphi Study of Educational Program Evaluation.” Evaluation and Program Planning  31 (2): 191–98.
Websites 
One of the earliest reports on the development of the Delphi technique is “The 
Use of the Delphi Technique in Problems of Educational Innovations” by Olaf Helmer-Hirschberg, which is available at http://www.rand.org/pubs/papers/2006/P3499.pdf.
An article on the art of the Delphi technique is available at http://ﬁ  ndarticles
.com/p/articles/mi_6820/is_4_12/ai_n28482367/?tag=content;col1.

A descriptive deﬁ  nition, including a history of the technique and valuable 
resources, is available at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delphi_method.144 A Guide to Assessing NeedsPurpose 
The goal of a performance observation is to accurately document the steps, 
procedures, tools, and decisions used to accomplish current performance (see box 3A.3).
To fully understand what is involved in accomplishing current results, you should use performance observations to document the current individual or team processes. Performance observations can, thereby, provide essential information in the analysis of current performance (or information that is helpful in determining what is working and what is not working in the cur-rent process). 
Information from the performance observation can then be compared

Information from the performance observation can then be compared 
and contrasted with information from other sources (such as interviews with expert performers, statistical performance measures, task protocols and procedures, best practices for the task, and performance standards for desired performance). 
Box 3A.3 Sample Uses of Performance Observations
  Identify procedural breakdowns in current delivery of HIV/AIDS medications. 
  Modify procurement process to reduce redundancies.
  Reduce the time required to conduct inspections to identify potholes in roads.
  Improve team member collaboration.PERFORMANCE OBSERVATIONSNeeds Assessment: Tools and Techniques  145Advantages and Disadvantages 
• By observing without interfering, you can create a performance observa-
tion that accurately documents the steps, procedures, tools, and decisions made in completing a task.
• Performance observations don’t rely on the perspectives or memories of

• Performance observations don’t rely on the perspectives or memories of 
performers to deﬁ  ne how tasks are currently completed.
• Performance observations can be done by multiple members of the needs 
assessment team to validate the ﬁ  ndings.
• Performance observations require the time and related expenses of hav-
ing an observer to document the current performance.
• Observations alone may miss some of the decisions and other nonvisible 
aspects that go into performing a task (especially with regard to complex cognitive tasks).
• Observers may introduce biases into the needs assessment. Therefore, it

• Observers may introduce biases into the needs assessment. Therefore, it 
is important that observers are trained in the observation process and are sensitized about biases and the need for objectivity. Having multiple ob-servers can also be a way to address issues of observer bias. Observers should also be aware that those being observed might change their be-havior, change what they say or do, or say or do things they think the ob-server would want to hear. The observer should consider options on how to conduct the observation to avoid inﬂ  uencing the person(s) being 
observed.
1. After needs (or gaps between current and desired performance) have 
been identiﬁ  ed, use performance observations to document the current

observed.
been identiﬁ  ed, use performance observations to document the current 
processes, procedures, tools, and decisions that helped achieve current results. To begin, identify essential tasks involved in the achievement of current performance (for example, develop a concept note, monitor pro-curement transactions, or review project reports).146 A Guide to Assessing Needs2. For each essential task involved in the achievement of current perfor-
mance, determine which tasks can be observed during the needs assess-ment. For instance, if a task will not be completed again for another 12–18 months, then it is unlikely that you can include a performance observa-tion of that task in your needs assessment.
3. Remember that performance observations are rarely done as an exclu-

sive information-collection process because observations should involve minimal interactions with the performers (which could be distracting and could compromise the validity of the observation). Plan to inte-grate your performance observations with other processes such as post-performance interviews, document reviews, or performer focus groups. 
4. Before observing the completion of a task associated with the perfor-
mance, review any documentation on the processes, procedures, tools, or decisions that may be used in completing the task. Having an idea of what steps are coming next can help you to focus your observations.
5. Create a performance observation protocol or checklist to ensure that 
you systematically assess the current performance. This step will also be valuable if multiple reviewers will be observing the performance or if multiple tasks are to be observed.

you systematically assess the current performance. This step will also be valuable if multiple reviewers will be observing the performance or if multiple tasks are to be observed. 
6. Select the performers to be observed. It is frequently helpful, when pos-
sible, to observe the performance of both an expert and a novice so you can isolate potential diff  erences. For most needs assessments, as com-
pared with performance evaluations, it is useful to inform the performer that he or she will be observed and to schedule time to debrief him or her after the observation. 
7 . Observe the performer while he or she completes the task. During the 
observation, the observer should not interfere with the performance. For example, do not stop the performer to ask questions or make suggestions; hold questions and comments until the post-observation debrief. Use the observation protocol to track activities and to make observations about how the task is completed.

8. After the task is completed, meet with the performer to debrief him or 
her on the observation. During the debrief, ask questions to (a) identify any unique characteristics of the observed performance that may not be relevant to your assessment (for instance, unrelated activities or inter-ruptions that took place during the observation), (b) determine if the ob-servation is representative of task performance by others, or (c) ﬁ  nd out Needs Assessment: Tools and Techniques  147what recommendations the performer would off  er for completing the 
task more effi   ciently or eff  ectively.
9. Write a summary report of the ﬁ  ndings from each performance observa-
tion. Include these in the report: background information on the task, performer, and performance environment; notes from each performance observation; notes from each observation debrief; and your comments or recommendations that are based on observations.

• Observe the complete performance of the task being reviewed; you don’t 
want to leave early and potentially miss critical steps, tools, or decisions. However, for tasks that are completed over several days or weeks (such as developing a project plan), it can be useful to conduct performance ob-servations that focus on select subtasks.
• Make arrangements early in the needs assessment process if you want to 
observe performance, especially for tasks that are not completed on a routine basis within the organization.
McClelland, Samuel B. 1994c. “Training Needs Assessment Data-Gathering 
Methods: Part 4—Onsite Observations.” Journal of European Industrial 
Training  18 (5): 4–7 .
Website
A how-to description on Find, Use, Manage, and Share Information (FUMSI) is 
available at http://web.fumsi.com/go/article/use/2491.148 A Guide to Assessing NeedsPurpose 
The purpose of a task analysis is to systematically describe, document, and

The purpose of a task analysis is to systematically describe, document, and 
analyze the activities, procedures, processes, and resources that are used by individuals or groups to accomplish current results. 
A task analysis explains the processes and inputs that are being used at this time to accomplish results. Consequently, a task analysis deﬁ  nes what indi-
viduals and teams both are doing and should be doing to contribute to cur-rent results. As part of a needs assessment, this vital tool can inform both the diagnosis of needs and the detection of potential remedies for improving performance. 
In many ways, a task analysis process parallels the performance analysis

In many ways, a task analysis process parallels the performance analysis 
process although the former begins with the results currently being achieved, whereas the latter begins with the desired results that should be accom-plished in the future. Sometimes these starting places are one and the same. Yet, from their unique vantage points, the two processes parallel each other as they identify the tasks, processes, procedures, tools, and resources that are used to achieve results. 
Your focus during a task analysis is on systematically documenting what 
individuals or groups are doing (or should be doing). From observable pro-cesses and behaviors to scripted procedures and organic creativity, it is important to detail current events so that they may be compared with desired events when identifying future actions.TASK ANALYSIS 
(HIERARCHICAL OR SEQUENTIAL, IF-THEN, AND MODEL-BASED)Needs Assessment: Tools and Techniques  149Advantages and Disadvantages 

• A task analysis can attain a clear deﬁ  nition of what resources, processes, 
and results are related to current tasks that are (or will be) related to your program or project. 
• By using a task analysis to systematically review the completion of cur-
rent tasks and their results, you will ensure that your needs assessment will be better prepared to make recommendations regarding changes to current procedures and new tasks. 
• A task analysis will help you to identify both what is working well and 
what is not working as well within the current organization. 
• Eff  ective task analyses require time and resources that may not have been 
included in your initial planning. 
• Completing a task analysis is usually more complex than completing the 
task itself. For complex tasks, you will likely want to use a task analysis expert.

• It can be challenging to determine (a) if and how the completion of tasks 
would change because of needs assessment recommendations and (b) how those changes would inﬂ  uence other parts of the system.
Process Overview1 
1. Identify key positions and tasks related to the completion of results with-
in your results framework. For example, if your results framework identi-ﬁ es food safety inspections conducted by the state health and agriculture 
agencies as an essential result for improving performance in the overall food safety system, then you would want to identify which positions and tasks within the agencies are (or would be) responsible for the successful completion of food safety inspections. 
2. Select a task analysis method. Several systematic task analysis methods

2. Select a task analysis method. Several systematic task analysis methods 
can be applied, each with advantages and disadvantages depending on the context. As a result, use a mix of task analysis methods during any needs assessment. Three possible methods are (a) hierarchical (sequen-tial), (b) if–then, and (c) model-based. 150 A Guide to Assessing Needsa. Hierarchical (Sequential) Task Analysis
(1) This kind of analysis identiﬁ  es both the component steps in com-
pleting the given task and their hierarchical (or sequential) rela-tionship to one another. When desired results are not being ac-complished, use the hierarchical analysis to provide insights into the obstacles preventing success. Equally, when desired results are being accomplished, use the analysis to detail the construc-tive processes that lead to accomplishment of objectives. 
(2) To begin, you should review, observe, and document each step

(2) To begin, you should review, observe, and document each step 
taken by the performer in completing the task. Verify the appro-priate sequence of steps for accomplishing results, and identify the resources (for example, supplies, computers, or other em-ployees) used to complete the task. Routinely, processes will in-volve steps that cannot be observed. Talk with the individuals or teams that perform selected tasks to identify both internal and external behaviors. Most often, a hierarchical task analysis re-quires a combination of observation and interviews with expert performers. 
(3) For example, a task analysis may identify that receptionists com-
plete the following steps in accomplishing a performance objec-tive for the pension offi   ce: 
• Check voice mail messages. • Take detailed and accurate notes on each voice mail message. • Send e-mail to district pension offi   cers along with voice mail 
messages. 
• Copy managers on e-mail messages sent to their respective

messages. 
• Copy managers on e-mail messages sent to their respective 
pension offi   cers. 
• Clear phone messages after e-mail messages have been sent. 
(4) Depending on the level of detail required for making useful deci-
sions, additional analysis may be done on any single step within the process to determine more detailed actions taken by the ex-pert performer (for example, what steps are required to check voice mail messages). The level of detail required for a task anal-ysis varies greatly from initiative to initiative. Balance (a) the de-sired level of detail for making imp rovement decisions with (b) 
the available time and resources. Needs Assessment: Tools and Techniques  151(5) Create a graphic depicting the tasks and their relationships (see 
ﬁ gure 3A.2).
b. If-Then Task Analysis
(1) If–then analysis applies process logic to the determination of

(1) If–then analysis applies process logic to the determination of 
the important decision steps for completing a task. This analy-sis technique can be useful when you have multiple decision steps. For example, for the task of using a word processing soft-ware application, you might include “ If a word in the text is 
 underlined in red, then  right-click on the word to identify op-
tions for revising the spelling of the word.” As tasks gain in complexity, multiple decisions must typically be made by the performer. The if–then analysis becomes an eff  ective technique 
for identifying and documenting decisions and behaviors that cannot be observed.
(2) In a manner similar to the hierarchical analysis technique, you 
can use both observations and interviews with expert perform-ers to complete an if–then analysis. In addition, combinations of methods are commonly used to identify the constituent steps in completing many complex tasks.

(3) Continuing the example, receptionists in another pension offi   ce 
might identify the following steps for achieving the same perfor-mance objective: 
• Step 1: Check voice mail messages when you arrive at work. If 
there are messages, then take detailed notes on each voice mail message. 
Figure 3A.2 Example of a Hierarchical Task Analysis Graphic152 A Guide to Assessing Needs• Step 2: If the voice mail was for a pension offi   cer, then e-mail 
the pension offi   cer the contact information and message from 
the voice mail (and proceed to step 4). 
• Step 3: If the voice mail message was for a manager, then for-
ward the voice mail to the manager using the *8 feature of the phone. 
• Step 4: Copy (or inform) the managers about e-mails going to 
their respective pension offi   cers. 
• Step 5: If you have completed steps 2, 3, and 4 for all voice mail 
messages, then delete phone messages. 
(4) Create a graphic depicting the tasks and their relationships (see 
ﬁ gure 3A.3).

c. Model-Based Task Analysis
(1) Use a model-based analysis when the task being reviewed is 
vague or diffi   cult to deﬁ  ne. Because many “soft skills” or profes-
sional tasks (for example, demonstrating leadership, group prob-lem solving) are characterized by their elusive deﬁ  nitions and 
reliance on situational context, model-based analysis can pro-vide you with essential information for describing how perfor-mance objectives get accomplished in these situations. In com-pleting a model-based analysis, you work closely with performers to develop a model or framework for completing the task. Perfor-mance is then the result of applying the model even when there are ambiguous guidelines for performing the task.

Figure 3A.3 Example of an If-Then Task Analysis GraphicNeeds Assessment: Tools and Techniques  153(2) For example, for the soft skills task of mentoring pension offi   ce 
employees, the analysis may identify the following performance model: 
Describe for the employee the optional techniques that may 
be used to complete his or her work. In mentoring the em-ployee, use one or more of the following techniques: (a) use examples of other current and previous employees, (b) have the employee form a mental picture of performing the work at his or her desk, (c) demonstrate successful performance of the work-related tasks, (d) have the employee practice the work steps and then provide immediate feedback to the em-ployee, and (e) suggest additional training opportunities of-fered within the organization. 
(3) Use interviews (or focus groups) with expert performers to 
 deﬁ ne a model for a task. After a model is developed, expert

 deﬁ ne a model for a task. After a model is developed, expert 
 performers should again review the procedures and options to ensure that the model adequately represents a framework for accomplishing desired results. The ability of a model to rep-resent the successful completion of a task depends on the ﬂ  ex-
ibility of the model. If your model-based analysis does not  result in a ﬂ  exible framework that can be applied in a variety 
of contexts, then review the task using another task analysis technique. 
(4) When possible, create a graphic depicting the tasks and their 
 relationships (see ﬁ  gure 3A.4).
3. To collect information in a task analysis, use a combination of interviews, 
observations, intensive observations, focus groups, surveys, document  reviews, data reviews, and other techniques.
4. After the initial task analysis is completed and as a useful step, have the

4. After the initial task analysis is completed and as a useful step, have the 
participants in the analysis review your ﬁ  ndings to provide clariﬁ  cations 
and corrections when appropriate. Depending on the complexity of your tasks, several rounds of revisions may be required.
5. Write a summary report of the ﬁ  ndings from the task analysis. 
6. Remember that the task analysis is an essential ingredient to a needs as-
sessment and should be used as a point of comparison with other assess-ment data (for example, surveys, interviews, focus groups) to inform your decisions. 154 A Guide to Assessing NeedsTips for Success 
• Strive to be very systematic in your analysis. 
• Communicate openly with those participating in your analysis to assure 
them that the results of the analysis will be used only for improving re-sults and not for placing blame.

them that the results of the analysis will be used only for improving re-sults and not for placing blame. 
• Remember that actions speak louder than words; it is better to observe 
individuals performing a task than to simply ask them what they do. Figure 3A.4 Example of a Model-Based Task Analysis Graphic
knowledge and skillssignificant
accomplishments
vision, mission,
and objectivesresourcesproducts, outputs, and outcomes
inputs inputsperformance interventions
organizational cultureperformance
capabilitycontinuous monitoring
continuous monitoringtools, environment,
and processesexpectations
and feedbackrewards, recognition,
and incentivesmotivation
and self-concept
Source: The example is the performance pyramid model found in Wedman (2010). Reused with per-
mission. Also available at http://needsassessment.missouri.edu.Needs Assessment: Tools and Techniques  155Note

1. Based in part on http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/hrd/tasks.html and 
Watkins (2007).
Jonassen, David H., Wallace H. Hannum, and Martin Tessmer. 1989. Handbook of 
Task Analysis Procedures . Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers. 
Wedman, John F. 2010. “Performance Pyramid Model.” In Handbook of Improving 
Performance in the Workplace. Vol. 2: Selecting and Implementing Performance 
Interventions , edited by Ryan Watkins and Doug Leigh. San Francisco: Wiley/
Pfeiff  er, and Silver Spring, MD: International Society for Performance 
Improvement, 51–80.
Website

Website 
Tasks and Task Analysis is available at http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/hrd/
tasks.html. 156 A Guide to Assessing NeedsPurpose 
The purpose of a cognitive task analysis (CTA) is to systematically deﬁ  ne 
the decision requirements and psychological processes used by expert indi-viduals (or performers) in accomplishing results. 
A standard task analysis explains the processes and inputs that are being used at this time to accomplish results. As a consequence, a task analysis deﬁ nes what individuals and teams either are doing or should be doing to 
contribute to current results. In the completion of a needs assessment, the task analysis is a vital tool for informing both the diagnosis of needs and the detection of potential remedies for improving performance.

In a CTA, however, cognitive analysis methods focus on the psychologi-
cal processes underlying the completion of a task. For example, CTA may be used when one is trying to understand how master teachers are able to man-age student behaviors in classrooms. CTA should be used whenever com-plex decisions are required (such as when multiple contributing variables and options must be weighed by the performer) and when few observable behaviors can be identiﬁ  ed. Subtle cues from the performance context and 
the experience of expert performers are often discovered through the CTA technique. Of the many tools and techniques off  ered in this book, CTA is one 
of the more diffi   cult approaches to undertake.COGNITIVE TASK ANALYSISNeeds Assessment: Tools and Techniques  157Advantages and Disadvantages 
• A CTA generates detailed, precise information on the nature of expert 
performance in a speciﬁ  c task of interest.

performance in a speciﬁ  c task of interest. 
• When implemented correctly, CTA techniques provide highly valid 
sources of information on expert cognitive processes. 
• A CTA provides systematic procedures (rather than hit-or-miss steps) for 
ascertaining expert cognitive processes. 
• Analysis of the data gathered during a CTA can be time-intensive. 
• CTA does not always capture other noncognitive attributes necessary for 
accomplishing results (such as physical capabilities, access to resources, and interpersonal relationships).
• The results of a CTA can be misleading when expert performers have 
performance capacities beyond that of others (for example, a CTA can be done with high-performing professional athletes, but implementation of cognitive processes alone will not duplicate performance).
• Completing a task analysis, especially a CTA, is usually more complex

• Completing a task analysis, especially a CTA, is usually more complex 
than completing the task itself. For complex tasks, you will likely want to use a task analysis expert to get useful results.
Collect Preliminary Knowledge
To kick off   the CTA process, identify some key cognitive tasks to study (for 
example, how master teachers manage classroom behavior) that are impor-tant elements in the achievement of particular results (for example , imp rove-
ments in student performance on tests). In particular, identify those cognitive tasks that merit detailed  study through CTA. As you proceed through the 
following steps, pay special attention to (a) tasks  that are important, fre-158 A Guide to Assessing Needsquent, and highly critical cognitive tasks within the job performance that

following steps, pay special attention to (a) tasks  that are important, fre-158 A Guide to Assessing Needsquent, and highly critical cognitive tasks within the job performance that 
you are studying and (b) tasks or problems that are within the job perfor-mance and that allow for discrimination between  expert and novice per-formance (such tasks are referred to as representative tasks ). 
1. Develop some general understanding of the domain area (for example, 
training of teachers) in which the CTA will be conducted and of the com-mon terminology used in that domain area. This understanding will make it a lot easier to conduct an eff  ective CTA. 
2. Identify experts who are good candidates (for example, master teachers) 
for serving as subjects of the CTA (ideally two or more experts should be identiﬁ  ed for participation). Experts with recent experience in both per-
forming and teaching the cognitive skill are generally considered to be good candidates for participation.

forming and teaching the cognitive skill are generally considered to be good candidates for participation. 
3. Identify the knowledge structures associated with the task area through 
one or more of the following substeps: 
a. Document review and analysis:  Review any written materials that 
you can locate and that provide relevant information on the tasks you have identiﬁ  ed as being of interest. Documents could include job de-
scriptions, reports, training materials, and so on. By reviewing avail-able documents and research, you are better prepared to conduct  interviews with experts, and you are able to (later on) identify dis-crepancies between extant training (performance support materials) and expert performance. 
b. Observation:  Observe an expert conducting the tasks and procedures

b. Observation:  Observe an expert conducting the tasks and procedures 
of interest to the CTA (for example, teaching a classroom subject to high school students). Record the actions and conditions that are nat-urally a part of the process of executing the tasks that are of interest. Make special notes of points in the task-completion process where it seems that the expert is engaged in decision making, analysis, or other critical cognitive tasks. 
c. Unstructured interviews:  When you are conducting an unstructured

c. Unstructured interviews:  When you are conducting an unstructured 
interview, it generally is helpful if you have been able to do a document analysis or observation beforehand. For the interview, your goal is to ask the expert direct questions that will give you more information about the tasks and to sort through preliminary questions that may help you in preparing for structured interviews that you complete later in the process. Because the interview is unstructured, you may opt to Needs Assessment: Tools and Techniques  159take a “go with the ﬂ  ow” approach for the interview, or you may ask the 
expert to focus on a speciﬁ  c aspect or task related to the domain area. 
Identify Knowledge Representations 
Using the results from the preliminary knowledge data collection, identify 
the subtasks and knowledge that are associated with each of the primary tasks that you are interested in studying further. Generally, an eff  ective

the subtasks and knowledge that are associated with each of the primary tasks that you are interested in studying further. Generally, an eff  ective 
approach for visually organizing this information is by creating a visual rep-resentation of the relationship between the tasks, subtasks, and knowledge associated with the domain of interest. Concept maps can be an eff  ective 
approach to visually representing the knowledge and task structures. 
Use Focused Methods to Gather Information
1. If the CTA will be conducted by someone other than you, identify some-
one to serve as the cognitive task analyst. Note that it is highly desirable to choose this individual carefully. Ideally, it is someone who can interact comfortably with the subject matter expert and who can learn domain- and task-speciﬁ  c terminology effi   ciently. 
2. Choose one or more of the following methods to work with the expert(s)

2. Choose one or more of the following methods to work with the expert(s) 
to identify, cluster, link, and prioritize the critical cognitive decisions that are routine in expert performance. All of these knowledge-gathering methods can be used with expert performers. If you intend to also gather information from novices, however, it is recommended that you select either structured and unstructured interviews  or concurrent verbal proto-
col analysis  as knowledge-gathering methods, because the other tech-
niques assume a high level of domain knowledge. 
• Structured and unstructured interviews:  One approach is to ask the

• Structured and unstructured interviews:  One approach is to ask the 
expert (for example, a master teacher) to list (a) all of the steps in-volved in completing the subtasks (for example, how to call on stu-dents, how to deal with misbehaviors, and so on) that are part of the larger task (for example, classroom management) that you are study-ing; (b) key decision points, and when those decision points appear; (c) procedures that can be used to make decisions between alternate options; (d) conceptual knowledge required to tackle the subtasks; and (e) ways that the expert determines when the conditions call for beginning the process for completing the subtask(s). 160 A Guide to Assessing Needs• Concurrent verbal protocol analysis:  To begin a protocol analysis,

you should work with experts to identify a good “representative task” in the task area. An example could be how a master teacher would deal with a disruptive student. Develop a problem or scenario around that representative task, and ask several experts (such as master teachers) to review and modify the problem or scenario before using it for knowledge gathering. 
  To begin understanding the task (for example, the process of deal-

To begin understanding the task (for example, the process of deal-
ing with disruptive students), you should schedule time with the ex-pert in a quiet location where you have audio or video recording capa-bilities. Prepare and train the expert for solving problems aloud by giving him or her instructions on how to think aloud, as well as by giv-ing the expert the chance to think aloud while solving at least two or three sample problems so that he or she can get comfortable with the verbalization process. Next, present the main problem or challenge to the expert. Record all of the verbal utterances of the expert as he or she solves the problem. It is very important that you avoid interrupt-ing the expert at any time during the problem-solving process. If pos-sible, gather verbal protocols from several experts for the same prob-lem, and pay special attention to problem-solving steps and strategies used by all or most of the experts.

• Applied cognitive tasks analysis:  In this approach, you conduct 
three structured interviews. Each interview generates a separate product. Through the ﬁ  rst interview, you develop a task diagram  that 
gives a broad representation of the task and speciﬁ  cally allows you to 
hone in on complex cognitive processes that merit further consider-ation. The second interview yields a knowledge audit , which probes 
the expert on the skills and knowledge applied to tackle speciﬁ  c com-
ponent tasks or decision points in the overarching task process. The  third and ﬁ  nal interview involves presenting the expert  with a 
speciﬁ  c and relevant scenario designed to elicit insight into the cogni-
tive processes used by the expert in the scenario context. The com-piled and analyzed results from the applied cognitive tasks analysis are represented in a  cognitive demands table . 
• Critical incident (or decision) method:  This procedure begins with

• Critical incident (or decision) method:  This procedure begins with 
the expert identifying a situation in which he or she had to apply ex-pertise to a critical and uncommon situation relating to the task area of interest (for example, a classroom where students were starting physical ﬁ  ghts). The expert describes the incident, and the analyst 
works with the expert to create a time line for the incident. The ana-Needs Assessment: Tools and Techniques  161lyst then works with the expert to try to identify key points on the in-
cident time line when decisions had to be made (for example, when to intervene to prevent ﬁ  ghts in classrooms). From there, the analyst 
closely questions the expert to identify perceptual cues and  prior 
knowledge that were used in the decision making, as well as alterna-

tive decisions that could have been made. An understanding of those key decision points, as well as of the representative tasks that experts can perform and that novices have diffi   culty performing, is an impor-
tant result of using the critical incident method. 
3. Develop a protocol for each of the knowledge-gathering methods se-
lected. Next are recommendations for the design of the protocols for each of the knowledge-gathering techniques: 
• Protocol for structured and unstructured interviews:  Develop in-
structions and questions for interviews, focusing on key decision points, procedures for choosing between diff  erent options at decision 
points, and domain knowledge. 
• Protocol for concurrent verbal protocol analysis:  Develop a protocol

• Protocol for concurrent verbal protocol analysis:  Develop a protocol 
that provides participants with information on procedures for verbal-izing thought sequences, as well as a few simple problem-solving tasks that can be used to practice the verbalization process. The protocol should conclude with the presentation of the main problem (based on the representative task). 
• Protocol for applied cognitive task analysis:  Develop instructions 
and questions for each of the three interviews. For the task diagram, 
come prepared with paper, sticky notes, markers, or a computer to dia-
gram the tasks. For the knowledge audit, come prepared with some 
idea of what the possible knowledge and skills would be so you are able to probe for more information. For the third interview, prepare sce-narios for the expert to discuss. 
• Protocol for critical decision method:  Develop instructions and

• Protocol for critical decision method:  Develop instructions and 
questions, focusing on key decision points, procedures for choosing between diff  erent options at decision points, and domain knowledge 
in use in the critical incident identiﬁ  ed by the expert. 
4. Apply the knowledge-gathering technique. It is highly advisable that 
you record the knowledge-gathering session in either audio or video format (video format is justiﬁ  ed in cases where the task includes psy-
chomotor actions). Make sure that you have the expert’s permission in 162 A Guide to Assessing Needsadvance to record the session. Because people generally do not feel im-

mediately at ease with being recorded, and because the knowledge-gathering exercise may be unfamiliar to the expert, it is highly recom-mended that you run through with the expert an example session of the exercise before conducting the actual knowledge-gathering session. This suggestion is particularly relevant if you choose to implement a concurrent verbal protocol analysis, an applied CTA, or the critical de-cision method. 
Analyze and Verify Data Required
1. If you have recorded the knowledge-gathering session(s), transcribe the 
recorded information into a text-based format. 
2. Prepare the transcripts for further categorization and synthesis by cod-

ing them. Pay special attention to diagnosing and characterizing key de-cision points on the basis of the techniques used, the cues signaling the decision points, and the inferences made. 
3. After coding has been completed, organize the data from the transcripts 
into a format that summarizes and categorizes the data. 
4. Provide a copy of the formatted results from the knowledge-gathering 
session to each of the experts from whom you gathered data. Allow the experts to make any suggestions for changes or clariﬁ  cations. 
5. Integrate edits and adjustments recommended by the experts. 6. Compare the formatted results for each of the expert knowledge- 
gathering sessions, and verify that the formatted results reﬂ  ect the 
knowledge representation for the task area.

knowledge representation for the task area. 
Format Results for Intended Application 
1. Using the formatted results from the expert knowledge-gathering ses-
sions, create a single model task analysis, representing all the skills, knowl-edge, and strategies used by the experts when functioning in the task area. 
2. Write a summary report of the ﬁ  ndings from the CTA. 
3. The task analysis is an essential ingredient of a needs assessment and 
should be used as a point of comparison with other assessment data (for example, surveys, interviews, focus groups) to inform your decisions. Needs Assessment: Tools and Techniques  163Tips for Success 
individuals performing the task than to simply ask them what they do. 
• Also remember that expert performers have often internalized or made

• Also remember that expert performers have often internalized or made 
habitual many of the key decisions that go into performing the related steps within the task. This internalization makes completing a cognitive analysis challenging. Aid expert performers in communicating their cog-nitive processes by using techniques such as card sorting, process tracing, or concept mapping. 
Note
1. Based in part on Clark et al. (2008). Also available at http://www.cogtech.usc.
edu/publications/clark_etal_cognitive_task_analysis_chapter.pdf.
Clark, R. E., D. Feldon, J. J. G. van Merriënboer, K. Yates, and S. Early. 2008. 
“Cognitive Task Analysis.” In Handbook of Research on Educational Communi-
cations and Technology , 3rd ed., edited by J. M. Spector, M. D. Merrill, J. J. G. 
van Merriënboer, and M. P . Driscoll, 577–94. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Development of Performance Technologies That Produce Useful Results . 
Assessments: A Practical Guide . Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. 
Websites 
“Applied Cognitive Task Analysis (ACTA)” (by Militello and Hutton) is available at 
http://www.class.uidaho.edu/psy562/Readings/Militello&Hutton(1998).pdf.
“Cognitive Task Analysis” (by Clark, Feldon, van Merriënboer, Yates, and Early) is

“Cognitive Task Analysis” (by Clark, Feldon, van Merriënboer, Yates, and Early) is 
available at http://www.cogtech.usc.edu/publications/clark_etal_cognitive_task_analysis_chapter.pdf.164 A Guide to Assessing Needs“Cognitive Task Analysis” (from NATO) is available at http://ftp.rta.nato.int/
public//PubFulltext/RTO/TR/RTO-TR-024/TR-024-$$ALL.pdf. 
“Cognitive Task Analysis for HPTers” (presentation slides generated by Stone 
and Villachica) is available at http://www.dls.com/1090_CTA_Panel.pdf. 
“Protocols for Cognitive Task Analysis” (from the Institute for Human and 
Machine Cognition) is available at http://www.ihmc.us/research/projects/CTAProtocols/ProtocolsForCognitiveTaskAnalysis.pdf.DECISION-MAKING 
TOOLS AND TECHNIQUESPart 3B
As seen in Part 3A. Data Collection Tools and Techniques , this book provides

As seen in Part 3A. Data Collection Tools and Techniques , this book provides 
options to consider using as you collect data to inform your needs assessment. However, once you have collected that information, another important step is required as you make decisions about using the data. And there are tools to sup-port your decision-making process.
Part 3B. Decision-Making Tools and Techniques  suggests tools for analyzing and 
prioritizing issues in your needs assessment process and, ultimately, for decid-ing to take action. Prioritizing information and making choices can be a difﬁ  cult 
task for both individuals and groups. Instead of your making decisions through an informal, ad hoc process, this part describes tools that can be helpful in ensur-ing that issues are given due consideration in a participatory decision-making process.166 A Guide to Assessing Needs 166 A Guide to Assessing NeedsPurpose

The nominal group technique is used to engage in consensus planning so 
you can prioritize issues and make decisions. 
The nominal group technique can be a valuable tool for facilitating group decision making, and it can also be useful for data collection (such as for generating a list of the possible causes of a particular problem). The theo-rists who originated this technique used the term nominal  (meaning in name 
only ) to express the bringing together of a group that is assembled for the 
purpose of pooling ideas around a particular issue and ranking those ideas. We can also think of this technique simply as a group ranking technique. The 
technique provides a structured process for working with group members to prioritize their ideas, concerns, or other decision inputs in a format that is both inclusive and consensus-building. 
During data collection, for instance, a nominal group technique can help

During data collection, for instance, a nominal group technique can help 
a group of community members as they prioritize their list of public services that are provided by the city and that are inadequately addressing commu-nity expectations. This dynamic group decision-making process is ﬂ  exible 
enough that you may use it multiple times at diff  erent steps within your 
needs assessment—whenever a group with multiple perspectives has to make a diffi   cult decision. NOMINAL GROUP TECHNIQUE 
(A GROUP CONSENSUS-BUILDING AND RANKING TECHNIQUE)Needs Assessment: Tools and Techniques  167Advantages and Disadvantages 
• The nominal group technique is more structured than the ordinary group 
discussion approach. 
• Through a nominal group technique, everyone in the group is given an 
opportunity to contribute to the discussion and decision, thereby avoid-ing a situation where one person dominates the group process.

opportunity to contribute to the discussion and decision, thereby avoid-ing a situation where one person dominates the group process. 
•  The nominal group technique can be used with small (3–9 people) groups 
as well as with larger groups (for example, 10–30 people). 
• By using the nominal group technique, you can get a sense of priority 
concerns that are represented among the group’s members. 
• The synergism that is experienced in more open-ended group discus-
sions may not develop as easily in the nominal group approach. 
• The nominal group technique may feel somewhat mechanical to some 
participants. This situation can be circumvented to some extent by ensur-ing that the facilitator shows ﬂ  exibility in process and implementation. 
• Although the nominal group technique can be used with a range of group 
sizes, it is hard to implement the technique eff  ectively with large audi-
ences unless you plan very carefully beforehand.

 1. From the list of decisions to be made during your needs assessment, 
identify those elements that may best be attained through the nominal group technique. 
 2. Create a facilitator’s guide or protocol to guide the group. In the proto-
col, ensure that all participants are given multiple opportunities to con-tribute to group decisions. At the same time, the process must intention-ally and continually move the group toward a decision, rather than letting discussions continue without advancing. The guide should off  er 168 A Guide to Assessing Needsthe facilitator a fair amount of ﬂ  exibility to modify the process when the 
group requires additional information or when subdecisions must be made prior to other decisions.
 3. Schedule a time for the group when the highest number of priority par-

ticipants are available. Verify that you have a group facilitator available at the scheduled time. 
 4. To begin the exercise, give each group member some paper and a writ-
ing implement. 
 5. Present the session’s single topic to the group members. For example, 
the group members could be presented with a context for why the group is meeting and could be asked to “identify what results you should be accomplishing but are not able to accomplish at this time,” “list all of the things that could be imp roved about . . . ,” or “list which of the fac-
tors causing the performance gap should be our priorities for the next year.” Only one key question should, however, be used in a session so that you can maintain a clear focus and objective.
 6. Give the group members an opportunity to ask any questions that come

6. Give the group members an opportunity to ask any questions that come 
to mind or to discuss anything that helps to elucidate the scope and  speciﬁ  cs of the topic. In other words, accommodate interaction that 
will help increase clarity for the discussion. 
 7 . Ask the group members to take time (generally a few minutes) to think 
about the topic and to write notes for their responses. Encourage group members to write down their thoughts in a bulleted, abbreviated  format. 
 8. On a turn-by-turn basis, ask each group member to share a response 
with the group. As each group member shares his or her response, write it on a ﬂ  ip chart. Invite the group member to elaborate if necessary, but 
do not allow other group members to ask questions, challenge, or other-wise discuss the responses (to avoid subtle peer pressure, disagree-ments, arguments, unwanted embarrassment, and other undesired be-haviors or emotions).

9. After all group members have given one response, go around the room 
again and ask each group member to give a second response, and then a third. Continue this process until all answers have been written on the ﬂ ip chart sheets. Ask participants to scratch items from their individual 
lists as those points are added to the ﬂ  ip charts (to avoid duplication). 
Again, group members should not discuss the responses, but the Needs Assessment: Tools and Techniques  169 facilitator may ask for clariﬁ  cations to ensure an accurate response is 
recorded.
10. Hang the ﬂ  ip chart sheets next to one another so all sheets can be seen 
at the same time by all group members. Assign a letter to each discrete contribution on each ﬂ  ip chart sheet. To facilitate discussion, give each 
item on the ﬂ  ip charts a unique letter. 
11. Give each group member a stack of index cards. Ask each member to 
identify, for example, the ﬁ  ve responses that he or she feels is most im-

portant, identifying each response on a separate index card by the letter it has been assigned on the ﬂ  ip chart. 
12. Next, ask the group members to rank the ﬁ  ve responses they selected in 
order of priority, from one to ﬁ  ve (ﬁ  ve being the highest priority and one 
being the least high priority). They should do this on their index card by writing the rank order value of each response next to the letter for the response. When the group members are done, ask them to reorganize their index cards in alphabetical order. 
13. Reading from the ﬂ  ip chart, go through the list of responses in alpha-
betical order. As you read aloud the letter corresponding with a response, ask each group member to state the rank (if any) that they gave it.

betical order. As you read aloud the letter corresponding with a response, ask each group member to state the rank (if any) that they gave it. 
14. Aggregate all the ranks for each response on the ﬂ  ip chart. The 
 responses with the highest aggregated value constitute the top priori-ties for the group. 
15. If necessary, a second or third round of rankings can be done to further 
reduce the responses and to advance the group toward a decision.
• Each nominal group session that you conduct should last between 30 
minutes and four hours. Each session should present only one key ques-tion to the participants. 
• Arrange to have the following supplies available at the group meeting 
site: ﬂ  ip chart, masking tape, markers, paper, index cards, and pens or 
pencils. 
• If you are working with a large group, consider assigning individual par-
ticipants to smaller groups, with an assigned leader for each group. 170 A Guide to Assessing NeedsReferences and Resources

ticipants to smaller groups, with an assigned leader for each group. 170 A Guide to Assessing NeedsReferences and Resources 
Assessments: A Practical Guide.  Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. 
Websites 
“Expressed Satisfaction with the Nominal Group Technique among Change 
Agents” is available at http://cogprints.org/4767/01/Gresham.pdf. (This is a dissertation document; however, the literature review provides interesting and in-depth information on the use of the nominal group technique.) 
“Nominal Group Technique” is available at http://syque.com/quality_tools/
toolbook/NGT/ngt.htm. (This website includes a worked example of the technique being implemented.)
“Using Nominal Groups” is available at http://ppa.aces.uiuc.edu/pdf_ﬁ  les/

NomGroup1.PDF. Needs Assessment: Tools and Techniques  171 Needs Assessment: Tools and Techniques  171Purpose 
The purpose of multicriteria analysis is to systematically provide a quantita-
tive comparison across multiple options.
Multicriteria analysis is a valuable tool for making decisions on the basis of information collected during a needs assessment. This analysis technique, which is based on the multi-attribute utility analysis frequently used by engineers and architects to select materials,
1 provides a systematic process 
of assigning and weighing quantitative (or numeric) values to a variety of potential performance-imp rovement programs and projects. Thus , it pro-
vides you with a justiﬁ  able process for determining what actions should be

vides you with a justiﬁ  able process for determining what actions should be 
taken. As such, multicriteria analysis is a worthwhile tool for comparing across potential imp rovement activities, which can be particularly beneﬁ  -
cial in organizational sectors (such as ﬁ  nancial, manufacturing, aviation, 
construction, disaster management, and so on) that especially value quanti-tative and systematic comparisons of alternatives.
• Multicriteria analysis off  ers a systematic and quantitative analysis proce-
dure for comparing potential options. This method can be especially valuable if one alternative imp rovement activity is particularly popular 
(for instance six sigma, training, coaching, wells, roads, irrigation sys-MULTICRITERIA ANALYSIS172 A Guide to Assessing Needstems), even though it might not be the most useful activity for accom-
plishing desired results.
• Additional variables can be added to the comparison as the ﬁ  eld of poten-

tial interventions or activities is narrowed. In the end, you can make jus-tiﬁ ed recommendations based on the interventions or activities that 
score best across a variety of variables.
• Variables in the analysis (for instance, cost, time, expected outcomes) can 
each be given a weighting that reﬂ  ects the priorities of the project. For 
example, if budgets are very tight, then scores related to costs of alterna-tive activities may be weighted at four times the value of expected time to implement the activities.
• Multicriteria analysis requires a higher level of eff  ort than does some

• Multicriteria analysis requires a higher level of eff  ort than does some 
other analysis procedures because information regarding each poten-tial solution (intervention, activity, and so on) is necessary for accu-rate comparisons. As a result, additional time and resources may be required; therefore, you may prefer to use this method only for high-cost or high-priority needs.
• The multicriteria analysis process can be manipulated by only selecting 
comparison variables that favor a preferred activity. Or other participants can manipulate their weightings on variables so they produce the results they desire. Such challenges can be controlled, but you have to be aware of the risk in order to ensure that this manipulation doesn’t happen to you.
 1. Understand that the multicriteria analysis process typically begins

 1. Understand that the multicriteria analysis process typically begins 
when two or more alternative interventions or activities have been identiﬁ  ed as potential solutions to a need. Although you can complete 
the analysis for as many potential solutions as you have, the time and eff ort required to collect valid information for comparison typically will 
necessitate that you limit the analysis to the most likely contenders. (For helpful sample templates to serve as job aids, see page 179.)
 2. Identify (a) the most important criteria to making the decision and 
(b) the performance criteria (attributes or characteristics) required of Needs Assessment: Tools and Techniques  173alternative solutions. Typically, consider no more than ﬁ  ve to eight at-
tributes for any decision. Example criteria could include the following:

• Results you can expect after six months• Total time required• Number of outputs • Client satisfaction• Feasibility of implementation• Environmental impact• Ability to accomplish desired outcomes• Cost of the activity over the ﬁ  rst year
• Safety expectations• Number of people who will be working on the project in the ﬁ  rst 
month 
 3. Note any “must have” (or “must not have”) attributes. For instance, if an 
activity or intervention must not cost more than the budget set by the organization, then this attribute provides a cap at which alternatives that go beyond the budget are no longer considered. Likewise, if mini-mal imp rovements in results must be demons trated after thr ee months, 
then potential solutions that cannot meet those speciﬁ  cations should 
also be dropped.
 4. Depending on the context of your decision and as a useful technique,

 4. Depending on the context of your decision and as a useful technique, 
apply weighting to the diverse criteria. The weights diff  erentiate crite-
ria according to their relative importance to the decision. For example, as you select among alternative irrigation technologies, the cost criteria may be twice as important to the decision as the time it will take to im-plement the technology.
 5. To establish weights, discuss the criteria with those who will be part of 
the decision-making process. During the discussion (which could apply a survey, interview, or focus group technique as an alternative), you should ask questions to establish the relative importance of each perfor-mance criteria that you identiﬁ  ed in the previous step. 
 6. In both establishing criteria to apply and weighing those criteria rela-
tive to one another, use a number of techniques
2 either separately or in

6. In both establishing criteria to apply and weighing those criteria rela-
2 either separately or in 
combination, including the following
a. To assist decision makers, consider using a 100-point system (or ratio 
method). For instance, of the 100 total possible points, a decision 174 A Guide to Assessing Needsmaker may assign 60 points to the maximum achievement of desired 
results, 40 points to cost, and 20 points to the number of staff   mem-
bers assigned to the project. Each value can then be divided by the total so that a percentage can be calculated. For example, if partici-pants indicate a weight, on average, of 70 out of 100 for the cost cri-teria, then .70 would be the weight assigned to cost.
b. Use hypothetical tradeoff  s to prioritize criteria or set weights. For

b. Use hypothetical tradeoff  s to prioritize criteria or set weights. For 
instance, ask partners whether they would prefer for the project to be completed several months late and achieve all of its objectives or for it to be completed on time but not achieve all of its objectives. Those establishing the criteria, thereby, have to make tradeoff  s re-
garding which criteria are most important or should have the great-est weight in the decision.
c. Also include costs in the establishing of weights by using the pricing-
out method combined with tradeoff  s. This method would, for exam-
ple, ask those establishing the criteria if they would prefer for the project to be completed two months late but on budget or for the project to be completed on time but 2 percent over the set budget.
d. Consider the swing method . Imagine, for example, that all of the cri-

teria being considered were at their worst possible level (for in-stance, the project achieves none of its goals), then ask those estab-lishing the criteria to identify which criterion they would want to “swing” to the highest potential level (for instance, the project achieves all of its goals), and assign this criterion 100 points. Next, ask which of the remaining criteria would be second-most impor-tant and swing its potential value. In points, how does the second criterion relate to the previous criterion (for instance, completing the project on budget might be assigned 80 points in relation to 100 points for completing all project goals)? Apply this method until you have identiﬁ  ed the criteria to be applied or assigned weights to each 
criterion. 
 7 . See how the examples in tables 3B.1 and 3B.2 illustrate how applying 
weighted criteria can inﬂ  uence the results of a multicriteria analysis.

weighted criteria can inﬂ  uence the results of a multicriteria analysis. 
Now that you have your criteria (and weights for each when appropri-ate), it is time to rate each alternative activity on each of the criteria. It is important to use the same scale for each attribute. For example, if you select a scale from 1 to 10 for rating the attribute of client satisfaction (with 10 being given to alternatives that will achieve the highest levels of client satisfaction), then you would also rate the cost attribute from Needs Assessment: Tools and Techniques  1751 to 10 for each alternative (with 10 being given to the alternatives whose 
cost are most closely aligned with the desired budget). 
 8. Create a table or spreadsheet with the performance attributes listed in

 8. Create a table or spreadsheet with the performance attributes listed in 
the columns along the top and the potential solutions listed in the rows. For each alternative intervention or activity, include an estimate for each performance criterion. 
 9. Review the results of the analysis. Just because a single alternative 
scores the highest doesn’t always mean that it is by itself the right choice. In tables 3B.1 and 3B.2, for instance, alternatives 1 and 2 scored the high-est overall in the unweighted comparison, suggesting that a combina-tion of alternatives might be desirable. However, in the weighted ex-ample, where the option to assign relative value to each criterion was applied, alternative 1 was somewhat superior to alternative 2.Table 3B.1 Multicriteria Analysis Table Example
Comparison of Regional Government-Sponsored Alternatives for 
Providing Temporary Shelters after a Natural Disaster

Ratings: 1–2 = very low, 3–4 = low, 5–6 = medium, 7–8 = high, 9–10 = very high
Criterion 
1 rating
Speed in 
meeting 
needsCriterion 2 
rating
Affordability 
(per unit)Criterion 
3 rating
Quality 
of the 
shelterCriterion 
4 rating
Durability 
(up to 12 
months)Criterion 5 
rating
Ease in 
coordinationAverage 
rating
Alternative 1
Canvas tents (small, per family)9 7 3  2 9 6.0
Alternative 2
Canvas tents (large, 4–6 families)7 9 3  2 9 6.0
Alternative 3
Construction of temporary wooden structures4 5 6  7 5 5.4
Alternative 4
Trailers, prefabricated4 1 9 10 2 5.2176 A Guide to Assessing Needs10. In most needs assessments and as a useful approach, consider a combi-
nation of alternative activities rather than viewing each option as mutu-ally exclusive. You might ﬁ  nd that combining alternatives accomplishes

nation of alternative activities rather than viewing each option as mutu-ally exclusive. You might ﬁ  nd that combining alternatives accomplishes 
desired results and mitigates the potential risks of any activity on its own. In the earlier example, even though alternative 1 (small tents) ranked highest, there might be some basis for choosing a combination of the top three alternatives (small and large tents, plus wooden structures), and eliminating the remaining alternative (prefabricated trailers).
11. Use the results of the analysis and your interpretation of those results as 
you present decision makers with recommendations about which alter-native solutions they should consider.Table 3B.2  Multicriteria Analysis Table Example (with Weighted Criteria)
Criterion 
1 rating
Speed in 
meeting

Criterion 
1 rating
Speed in 
meeting 
rating
3 rating
Quality 
of the 
4 rating
(up to 12 
rating
Ease in 
coordinationSum of 
weighted 
ratings
Weights .30 .20 .15 .15 .20
Canvas tents (small, per family)9 × .30 =
2.707 × .20 =
1.403 × .15 =
0.452 × .15 =
0.309 × .20 =
1.806.65
Canvas tents (large, 4–6 families)7 ×.30 =
2.109 × .20 =
1.803 × .15 =
0.30 9 × .20 =
1.806.45
Construction of temporary wooden structures4 × .30 =
1.205 × .20 =
1.006 × .15 =
0.907 × .15 =
1.055 × .20 =
1.005.15
Trailers, prefabricated4 × .30 =
1.201 × .20 =
0.209 × .15 =
1.3510 × .15 =
1.502 × .20 =

1.005.15
1.502 × .20 = 
0.404.65Needs Assessment: Tools and Techniques  177 Note:  Also consider using the multicriteria analysis technique to priori-
tize or rank needs (that is, gaps in results). In this application of the technique, you would work with decision makers to identify the criteria on which they would compare needs in order to set priorities (for ex-ample, the numbers of people aff  ected by the continuation of the need, 
the availability of partners to help address the need, the costs to meet the need, the increasing severity of the need over time, and so forth). Then ask decision makers to compare each option using those criteria.
• Don’t get carried away with adding too many variables to the comparison. 
It is best to stick to the top ﬁ  ve or six highest-priority variables and then

It is best to stick to the top ﬁ  ve or six highest-priority variables and then 
to collect valid information for each alternative intervention or  activity.
• Remember that no rule says you can select only one activity or solution. 
As you complete the analysis, keep in mind that a combination of one, two, three, or more potential activities or solutions may be the right choice for your organization and the identiﬁ  ed need.
• As another alternative, ask participants to choose from options that in-
clude diff  erent levels of performance characteristics (for example, would

clude diff  erent levels of performance characteristics (for example, would 
you choose a solution that achieves 80 percent of the desired results over the next three years if it costs twice as much as the solution that achieves 50 percent of the desired results?). Each question in this format should include at least two of the performance characteristics at opposing levels so that you can move participants toward making a decision about which are the higher-priority characteristics in relation to the others. This pro-cedure is an adaptation of analytic hierarchy process, another form of multicriteria analysis.
• Use multicriteria analysis in conjunction with other tools and techniques 
described in this section to ensure that valuable decisions are made about which performance-imp rovement programs and projects should be 
 implemented. 
Notes

Notes
 1. The technique also uses elements of the simple multi-attribute ranking 
technique (SMART), which is an alternative used by engineers for applying the principles of multi-attribute utility analysis.178 A Guide to Assessing Needs 2. Borcherding, Eppel, and von Winterfeldt (1991) compared four methods for 
establishing weights; the results of the research indicated that a mix of methods was typically best, with no one technique being superior to the others.
Altschuld, James W . 2010. Needs Assessment Phase III: Collecting Data  (Book 3 of 
Getting Started  (Book 2 of Needs Assessment Kit ). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage 

Borcherding, K., T. Eppel, and D. von Winterfeldt. 1991. “Comparison of Weight-
ing Judgments in Multiattribute Utility Measurement.” Management Science  
37 (12): 1603–19.
Roth, R., F. Field, and J. Clark. 2011.  “Multi-Attribute Utility Analysis.” http://
msl1.mit.edu/maua_paper.pdf.
Witkin, Belle  Ruth, and James W . Altschuld. 1995. Planning and Conducting 
Needs Assessments: A Practical Guide. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. 
Websites 
“Analytic Hierarchy Process” can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Analytic_Hierarchy_Process.
“Answers to Frequently Asked Questions about Decision Analysis” can be found 
at http://www.infoharvest.com/ihroot/infoharv/infoharvestfaq.asp.
Multiattribute utility models can be found at http://www.ctg.albany.edu/

publications/guides/and_justice_for_all?chapter=9&PrintVersion=2.Needs Assessment: Tools and Techniques  179Samples of Job Aids
Multicriteria Analysis Template (no weights)
Criterion 1 Criterion 2 Criterion 3 Criterion 4 Criterion 5Average 
rating
Alternative 2Alternative 3Alternative 4
Multicriteria Analysis Template (with weights)
Criterion 1 Criterion 2 Criterion 3 Criterion 4 Criterion 5
Sum of 
weighted 
ratings WeightsInsert
weight  Insert
weightInsert
weight
Alternative 2Alternative 3Alternative 4180 A Guide to Assessing Needs 180 A Guide to Assessing NeedsPurpose
Tabletop analyses are facilitator-led discussions that are used in a wide vari-
ety of settings to identify gaps, performance deﬁ  ciencies, and communica-
tion problems in a given system. 

Tabletop analyses can be used as a decision-making technique for numerous needs assessment applications. They can identify gaps in performance at several levels (individual performance, unit or group performance, or orga-nizational performance). In addition, they can identify gaps within systems , 
such as communication breakdowns or poor resource allocation). Finally, a tabletop analysis can identify, analyze, and evaluate potential solutions  to a 
performance problem. 
A tabletop analysis is a discussion-based activity in which a group of 
participants works with a facilitator. A problem or need, which is based on a speciﬁ  c performance area (such as municipal sanitation services), is pre-
sented to the participants. The participants then (a) systematically work through, discuss, and reﬁ  ne the problem focus; (b) develop a strategy for

sented to the participants. The participants then (a) systematically work through, discuss, and reﬁ  ne the problem focus; (b) develop a strategy for 
analyzing the problem; (c) collect data on the basis of the analysis plan; (d)  analyze the data to determine the speciﬁ  c performance gaps; and 
(e) identify potential solutions for the performance gap. The participants and facilitator use a collaborative problem-solving approach to identify and ﬁ  nd solutions to performance-related problems. The outcomes from 
this exercise allow you to identify and analyze the actual performance and to identify potential sources (and solutions) for a given performance area. TABLETOP ANALYSISNeeds Assessment: Tools and Techniques  181Advantages and Disadvantages 
• You do not require access to a lot of resources to conduct a tabletop 
analysis. This technique is not expensive to use in terms of material  requirements.

analysis. This technique is not expensive to use in terms of material  requirements. 
• Tabletop analyses are usually conducted over a time frame of only a few 
hours, so the time requirements for participants are minimal. Note, how-ever, that the time required to eff  ectively prepare and analyze the table-
top analysis is longer. 
• Employee participants learn about the needs assessment process and key 
issues (such as goals, gaps, actual, and ideals) through their active par-ticipation and are, therefore, able to create awareness of such issues in their on-the-job environment.
1 
• The tabletop analysis is an eff  ective technique for 
• Reviewing and analyzing existing plans, procedures, and policies• Identifying any factors inhibiting eff  ective performance
• Handling breakdowns in communication between groups or systems
• Tabletop analyses promote buy-in for both the process and the results of

• Tabletop analyses promote buy-in for both the process and the results of 
the exercise, because stakeholders and representatives from the organi-zation are an active part of the process. 
• Tabletop exercises generally require participants to review performance-
related documents and to participate actively in discussions about the performance environment. The tabletop analysis can, therefore, yield much information in a short time span, potentially reducing the neces-sity for extensive use of other techniques and tools to complete the needs  assessment.
2 
• The tabletop analysis process is a discussion-based approach to analyz-
ing performance within a system. Because no simulation and no on-the-job performance observations are conducted, the tabletop analysis may not be a true test of the eff  ectiveness of a system’s performance.

• An essential ingredient for the tabletop analysis is the active participation 
of key representatives from the system where the performance gap is sus-182 A Guide to Assessing Needspected to be. If you are not able to secure the involvement of key partici-
pants, the eff  ectiveness and accuracy of the tabletop analysis will be ham-
pered signiﬁ  cantly. 
• Active participation and dialogue are an essential part of this technique. 
If the facilitator cannot enable a high level of active engagement during the technique, then the amount of insight gained from the activity is very limited. 
• The activity requires two sessions (or meetings), with some work being 
done by group members in between sessions.
Planning and Preparing
1. From the list of information required for the needs assessment, deter-
mine the speciﬁ  c scope of the tabletop analysis by focusing on what func-

tions or elements should be analyzed through the tabletop analysis and on who should participate in the tabletop analysis. 
a. When identifying the functions or elements, ask, “What is the speciﬁ  c 
performance area, and what are the key procedures or operations that should be analyzed by the tabletop analysis participants?” 
b. When selecting participants, ask, “Who are the speciﬁ  c individuals 
who should take part in the exercise?” Examples of individuals inter-ested in municipal sanitation could include sanitation department managers and supervisors, sanitation workers, staff   members from the 
mayor’s offi   ce, commercial business owners, and community mem-
bers—among others.
2. Schedule the tabletop analysis activity, and invite the appropriate par-

ticipants. Introduce the participants to the tabletop analysis by (a) intro-ducing them to the concept of a tabletop exercise and (b) explaining how the tabletop analysis is being used in the context of the needs assessment. Set the tone for the collaboration process and the ground rules for the activity, if appropriate. 
3. If possible, arrange to have an experienced facilitator coordinate the im-
plementation of the tabletop analysis. 
4. Make arrangements for a comfortable meeting facility that provides con-
ditions for the use of projection technology, if appropriate. Needs Assessment: Tools and Techniques  183Conducting the Tabletop Analysis: First Session 
1. Use the broad information identiﬁ  ed during the planning and prepara-
tion stage. To kick off   the tabletop analysis with the participants, focus on

tion stage. To kick off   the tabletop analysis with the participants, focus on 
building consensus about the problem to be tackled and the desired out-comes from the tabletop analysis. Introduce the problem to the partici-pants (for example, community frustration with sanitation services), and engage them in a brainstorming discussion as they explore questions and issues such as the following: 
a. Eff  ect of the problem on the community
• Garbage is piling up in some communities. Residents complain of 
rodents, smells, and other related problems to the mayor’s offi   ce.
b. Factors potentially contributing to the problem
• The community has increased urbanization, inadequate housing, 
garbage truck breakdowns, inadequate inspections, and shortages of sanitation workers.
c. Questions that should be answered to analyze the problem

c. Questions that should be answered to analyze the problem 
• How does the community plan to address housing shortages? • What can be done in the short and long term to address increases in 
garbage quantity? 
• What are options for recycling and reducing community 
 consumption?
d. Expected outcomes of the tabletop analysis 
• Recommendations will be made to the sanitation department to ad-
dress the diff  erent causes of the sanitation complaints.
e. Strategy for using the results from the tabletop analysis 
• The organizers of the tabletop analysis will follow up with commu-
nity leaders on recommendations and will bring back this group in six months to discuss changes that have and have not occurred.
2. Work with the participants to generate a speciﬁ  c problem statement.

2. Work with the participants to generate a speciﬁ  c problem statement. 
Write the problem statement and the expected outcomes of the tabletop analysis in a prominent place, so that both the participants and the facili-tator can refer to the list during the remainder of the activity. 
3. Facilitate a discussion to develop a strategy for analyzing the problem. 
Begin the discussion by asking participants to identify the following:184 A Guide to Assessing Needsa. Describe the speciﬁ  c types of information required to answer the key 
unknowns about the problem. These types of information should be structured in general categories such as (a) ideal performance, (b) cur-rent (actual) performance, (c) performance gaps, (d) causes of perfor-mance gaps, and (e) solutions to performance gaps. 
b. Name the sources that can be consulted to gather each type of infor-

mation that participants identify as part of the analysis. Sources of  information may include documents, individuals, performance obser-vations, work products, and so on. Ask participants to identify, to the extent possible, the speciﬁ  c source of information (for example, the 
speciﬁ  c documents that provide information on ideal performance). 
c. As the participants identify the information necessary, verify that the 
information requirements are aligned with the purpose statement. Ask, “Will this information help you ﬁ  nd answers to your original 
problem and to the outcomes you wish to achieve?”
4. After the list of sources has been identiﬁ  ed, make the arrangements nec-
essary for locating any document sources that participants identiﬁ  ed and

essary for locating any document sources that participants identiﬁ  ed and 
that have not been located yet. In addition, schedule the interviews and meetings that are required to gather information described in the analy-sis plan. Assign interview responsibilities to participants as required. 
Conducting the Tabletop Analysis: Second Session 
1. Ask the participants to reconvene and to work through the data that were 
identiﬁ  ed during the ﬁ  rst session so they clearly formulate the current 
and ideal performance for the problem area explicated in the purpose statement. 
2. Guide the participants in creating a systematic listing of the conditions, 
procedures, and tasks that would, under ideal circumstances, take place. Encourage participants to refer to the document sources and collected data as this list is created. Create the list on a ﬂ  ip chart or whiteboard so

that it can be seen by all participants. 
3. Ask the participants to review the list of ideal tasks, procedures, and con-
ditions and to verify its completeness and accuracy. 
4. Next, ask participants to refer to the documents and data that were col-
lected so they identify speciﬁ  c gaps in the performance area. Emphasize 
that gaps, rather than causes, should be identiﬁ  ed. Also verify regularly 
that the gaps that are being identiﬁ  ed are directly related to the purpose Needs Assessment: Tools and Techniques  185statement for the tabletop analysis. If appropriate, work with the partici-
pants to group together gaps that have common attributes. Write the list of gaps on the ﬂ  ip chart or whiteboard. 
5. After the gaps have been identiﬁ  ed, ask participants for insight about

5. After the gaps have been identiﬁ  ed, ask participants for insight about 
potential causes of each of the gaps, as well as for potential solution strategies. Work through the list of gaps in a systematic manner, and write possible solutions for each gap (or group of gaps) on the ﬂ  ip chart 
or whiteboard. Solutions should be aligned with the original purpose statement and should be evaluated for feasibility. 
6. To conclude the tabletop analysis, evaluate the results from the analysis 
against the expected outcomes that were listed during the ﬁ  rst tabletop 
analysis session. If there is consensus that the expected outcomes have been achieved, then conclude the discussion by working with the partici-pants to determine what to do with the results from the analysis. For ex-ample, a debrieﬁ  ng session could be conducted with key stakeholders to

report on the results of the analysis and to discuss the solution strategies that were identiﬁ  ed. Alternatively, the decision could be made to use ad-
ditional data collection techniques to validate the results from the tabletop analysis. 
• Carefully select the participants for the tabletop analysis. Consider in-
cluding experts, decision makers, supervisors, and current employees in the activity. The speciﬁ  c participants in the tabletop analysis should be 
aligned with the speciﬁ  c goal of the activity. 
• Because facilitation is an essential ingredient for the success of the 
table top analysis, select an experienced facilitator for implementing this  technique.
3 The facilitator should be well informed about the top-
ics of discussion, including potential areas of sensitivity among tabletop participants.
• Develop and distribute materials about the goal, focus, and purpose

• Develop and distribute materials about the goal, focus, and purpose 
ahead for the scheduled activity of the tabletop analysis. These materials will ensure that the tabletop analysis can get under way most effi   ciently. 
• Limit the length of each tabletop analysis session. Each session should 
generally not last more than 3–4 hours. 
• Consider recording the actual tabletop analysis, thereby giving you the 
option at a later date to revisit the information shared during the activity. 186 A Guide to Assessing NeedsIf you decide to record the session, make sure that you inform all of the 
participants and that you identify a secure way of storing the recorded data so that participants do not have to be concerned about their partici-pation in the tabletop analysis negatively aff  ecting them professionally. 
• Control the size of the group for the tabletop analysis. To be eff  ective and

• Control the size of the group for the tabletop analysis. To be eff  ective and 
manageable, the size of the group of participants should generally range from between 5 and 15 participants. 
Notes
1. See http://www.hss.doe.gov/nuclearsafety/ns/techstds/docs/handbook/
hdbk1103.pdf.
2. Ibid. 3. Ibid. 
Websites 
An example of the technique applied in instructional design context can be found 
at http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/hrd/needsalt.html#various2. 
The U.S. Department of Energy handbook on tabletop needs analysis is located at 
http://www.osti.gov/bridge/servlets/purl/459762-JeQi3h/webviewable/ 459762.pdf.Needs Assessment: Tools and Techniques  187 Needs Assessment: Tools and Techniques  187Purpose
The pair-wise comparison technique is used when you have multiple options

The pair-wise comparison technique is used when you have multiple options 
to prioritize. It helps you to narrow the options according to a set of agreed-upon criteria. It may be used to prioritize or rank needs (that is, gaps in results) or possible solutions (that is, interventions or activities) to address those needs.
A pair-wise comparison is a simple, yet eff  ective, tool for facilitating group 
decisions that are based on the information collected during a needs assess-ment. This analysis technique is a worthwhile tool for prioritizing needs, determining the relationships among multiple causal factors, or recom-mending potential imp rovement activities. Whenev er you have multiple 
options or alternatives to consider, you can quickly use a pair-wise compari-son to advance group discussions toward a decision. (For a helpful sample template to serve as job aids, see page 190.)

• A pair-wise comparison is easily done and can be completed quickly dur-
ing a group discussion to progress toward a decision or recommendation.PAIR-WISE COMPARISON188 A Guide to Assessing Needs• Criteria for comparing options can remain informal, thereby letting 
participants make judgments that are based on their experience and  expertise.
• Pair-wise comparisons do not provide the level of detail or sophistication 
of a multicriteria analysis (see page 171). 
• Although criteria for making comparisons are discussed within the 
group, each participant may apply varying criteria (without public dis-closure to other group members) when making comparisons.
1. Make sure that the analysis process begins (as is typical) with (a) two or 
more needs, (b) two or more alternative interventions, or (c) activities that were previously identiﬁ  ed as potential solutions to a need. Although

more needs, (b) two or more alternative interventions, or (c) activities that were previously identiﬁ  ed as potential solutions to a need. Although 
you can complete the analysis for the number of potential needs solu-tions that you have, the time and eff  ort required to collect valid informa-
tion for comparison typically necessitates that you limit the analysis to no more than ﬁ  ve or six of the most likely contenders.
2. List the possible options in both the ﬁ  rst column and the ﬁ  rst row of the 
pair-wise comparison table (see table 3B.3). Working with those who will be making the decision or recommendation, discuss the performance cri-teria required of alternatives. 
Examples of Criteria for Comparing Needs and Solutions
Example criteria for comparing needs  could include the following:
• Number of people inﬂ  uenced by the continuation of the need

• Availability of partners to help address the need• Anticipated costs to meet the need• Increasing severity of the need over time• Alignment of the needs with the institution’s mission
Example criteria for comparing solutions  could include the following:
• Total time required• Cost of the activity over the ﬁ  rst year
• Environmental impactNeeds Assessment: Tools and Techniques  189• Results expected after six months
• Feasibility of implementation
3. Talk with others about the most important criteria (or attributes) to mak-
ing the decision (time, cost, number of outputs, client satisfaction index, number of injuries, ability to accomplish desired outcomes, and so on). Typically, consider no more than two to three criteria for any decision.

4. If you are in a group setting, write the agreed-upon criteria on a white-
board or ﬂ  ip chart.
5. Ask participants who will be making the decision or recommendation to 
keep each of the discussed criteria in mind as they compare each option using the pair-wise comparison table in table 3B.3. For example, is Option A or Option B the preferred option according to the discussed criteria? Then, is Option A or Option C the preferred option, and so forth. Con-tinue until all options have been compared. Table 3B.3 Sample of a Completed Pair-Wise Comparison Table
 Option A
Playground 
equipmentOption B
BenchesOption C
Picnic tablesOption D
Tree and ﬂ  ower 
plantingOption E
Walking paths
Option A
Playground equipment 
Option B
BenchesB
Option C
Picnic tables AB
Option D
Tree and ﬂ ower 
plantingDDD
Option E
Walking pathsEBED
Note: This example presents some options preferred by community members for a new community park, which is part of a

Option D
Option E
Note: This example presents some options preferred by community members for a new community park, which is part of a 
larger municipal project to build and improve green spaces in the city. In the example, the number of pair-wise “wins” is as fo l-
lows: A (playground equipment) = 1, B (benches) = 3, C (picnic tables) = 0, D (tree and ﬂ  ower planting) = 4, E (walking paths) = 2. 
By using this example, you might concentrate your group discussions going forward more on building a park that emphasizes trees and ﬂ  owers, benches, and walking paths. But you might also consider that you may not have had a representative number 
of young parents with children in your pair-wise session. This example gives one set of rankings at one point in time and is a good

of young parents with children in your pair-wise session. This example gives one set of rankings at one point in time and is a good 
reminder that multiple sessions may be needed with different groups to get a representative picture of community preferences.190 A Guide to Assessing Needs6. Have participants count the number of times each option appears in the 
table. The option that was selected the greatest number of times, in com-parison with the alternatives, is the leading option. 
7 . Review the analysis carefully, noting that this technique does not directly 
facilitate the comparison of combinations (for example, Option A com-bined with Option C). Discuss with participants the results of the analy-sis so that you can make decisions or recommendations, with the analysis results being one of the primary inputs to the decision.
Websites
An example of pair-wise comparisons applied to voting can be found at 
http://www.pbs.org/teachers/mathline/concepts/voting/activity3.shtm.

Websites
Examples worked through to illustrate the technique can be found at 
http://deseng.ryerson.ca/xiki/Learning/Main:Pairwise_comparison.
Sample of Job Aids
Pair-Wise Comparison Template
 Option A Option B Option C Option D Option E
Option A  
Option BOption COption DOption ENeeds Assessment: Tools and Techniques  191 Needs Assessment: Tools and Techniques  191Purpose 
The purpose of a 2 × 2 matrix decision aid is to examine multiple perspec-
tives on issues identiﬁ  ed during a needs assessment. A number of perspec-
tives can be compared in the 2 × 2 matrix format (for instance, risks vs. 
rewards, your view vs. the view of others, what you know vs. what you don’t know, or urgency vs. importance). Therefore, we have combined these techniques on the basis of their shared similarity of using the 2 × 2

matrix to represent alternative perspectives.
Needs (or gaps between current and desired results) are viewed from many perspectives within an organization, which can make the ﬁ  ndings of an 
assessment challenging to prioritize and to turn into justiﬁ  able decisions. 
For example, when gaps between current and desired results are identiﬁ  ed, 
the perspectives of individuals directly associated with the performance (for example, public service providers) will often diff  er from the perspec-
tives of those who depend on the results (for example, general public, cus-tomers, and so on). Likewise, perspectives on the amount of potential risk that can be tolerated in relation to the potential beneﬁ  ts will also vary across

individuals and groups—including the views of partners internal to your organization (such as managers from other units, technology specialists, and others) and those external to your organization (such as government agency staff  members, development partners, community groups, and others).
Use 2 × 2 matrix decision aids to assist in identifying the priorities, 
selecting solutions or activities, facilitating group discussions, or verifying that you have examined the issues identiﬁ  ed in the needs assessment from 
multiple viewpoints. Although examples of 2 × 2 matrix decisions aids are 2 /H11547 2 MATRIX DECISION AIDS192 A Guide to Assessing Needsused in this guide to illustrate the value of the technique, you can substi-
tute these examples with other examples within the context of your assessment. The 2 × 2 matrix format allows you to compare and contrast a 
variety of perspectives in an easy-to-complete format.

• A 2 × 2 matrix decision aid can ensure that multiple perspectives are con-
sidered when needs assessment ﬁ  ndings are prioritized. 
• The results of a 2 × 2 matrix decision aid can help you communicate with 
others when prioritizing needs, identifying appropriate solutions, or jus-tifying decisions.
• You can use a 2 × 2 matrix decision aid to expand on needs assessment 
ﬁ ndings, including information on the preferences of diff  ering groups re-
garding what should be done in response to identiﬁ  ed needs. 
• A 2 × 2 matrix decision aid allows for potential positive and negative con-
sequences to be considered prior to decision making. 
• Using this technique, you can compare and contrast the value of taking an 
action (or selecting a need as a high priority, or implementing a solution) to not taking an action (or not selecting a need as a high priority, or not

action (or selecting a need as a high priority, or implementing a solution) to not taking an action (or not selecting a need as a high priority, or not 
implementing a solution). Too often the latter—decisions not to do some-thing—are not considered for their potential consequences or payoff  s.
• A 2 × 2 matrix decision aid ensures that multiple perspectives are 
included in decisions regarding all needs and potential solutions, thus avoiding a situation where needs assessment data are simply used to con-ﬁ rm preexisting perspectives about what should be done.
• A 2 × 2 matrix decision aid can be more limited than other tools or tech-
niques (for example, SWOT or brainstorming) for generating ideas about what to do next. 
• A 2 × 2 matrix decision aid typically requires that all stakeholders value 
the perspectives and potential diff  erences between groups within the

the perspectives and potential diff  erences between groups within the 
 organization.Needs Assessment: Tools and Techniques  193• The analysis of this technique is only as useful as the quality of informa-
tion available from the needs assessment. 
• Identiﬁ  ed comparative characteristics in each “cell” of the 2 × 2 matrix 
decision aid are only listed, and not prioritized or given diff  erentiating 
weights.
1. Create either a list of the needs (or gaps in results) that were already iden-
tiﬁ ed in the needs assessment process or a list of the potential activities (or 
solutions) that you are considering as recommendations that are based on the needs identiﬁ  ed during the assessment. It is best not to mix the two

solutions) that you are considering as recommendations that are based on the needs identiﬁ  ed during the assessment. It is best not to mix the two 
(needs and solutions). If you want to gain perspectives on both the priori-tization of the needs and the prioritization of potential interventions, then conduct two separate applications of the 2 × 2 matrix decision aid.
2. Identify representatives from other groups with varying perspectives on 
the issue (for instance, agency managers, new employees, ﬁ  eld employ-
ees, central or headquarters employees, donor institution representa-tives, government ministry offi   cials, community members, or other de-
velopment partners).
Example of Differing Perspective
1
1. Provide the representatives with the issues identiﬁ  ed during the needs 
assessment (for instance, needs or potential activities), and ask them to prioritize these issues according to their perspective. 
2. Prioritize the same list of issues from your perspective as well. If you

2. Prioritize the same list of issues from your perspective as well. If you 
are working with a team on the needs assessment, then this prioritiza-tion can be done as a team through a variety of group decision-making techniques.
3. With a priority list from each group, place the highest priority data ele-
ments into the 2 × 2 matrix decision aid. Consider including your priori-
ties in comparison with the priorities of another group (see table 3B.4). Or compare the priorities from diff  ering groups, leaving out your per-
spective (see table 3B.5). 
4. Review the complete 2 × 2 matrix decision aid—along with recommenda-
tions of how to expand the needs assessment to address gaps between 194 A Guide to Assessing Needswhat is known and what is unknown from each perspective—with your 
needs assessment partners. 
Example of Risk vs. Rewards
1. Provide the representatives with the issues identiﬁ  ed during the needs

assessment (for instance, needs or potential activities), and ask them to identify the associated risks and rewards for each issue. For example,
• What are the associated risks and rewards of addressing or not ad-
dressing the identiﬁ  ed need?Table 3B.4 Differing Perspectives Example A: Prioritizing Needs (Youth 
Employment)
High priorities 
of city youthLow priorities 
of city youth
High priorities of 
city employment agency • Low youth 
employment rate
• Few internship 
opportunities with local businesses• Low employment rate 
for aging populations
Low priorities of city 
employment agency • Few youth recreation 
centers open in evenings
• Moderately high 
education fees for youth training courses• Decreasing 
retention rate of city employment agency employees
Table 3B.5 Differing Perspectives Example B: Comparing Potential Solutions

Table 3B.5 Differing Perspectives Example B: Comparing Potential Solutions 
(Organizational Performance)
High priorities
for new employeesLow priorities
for new employees
for managers• Performance speciﬁ  c 
training
• Redesigned new 
employee orientation• New hiring standards 
• Renewed emphasis on 
standardized interviewing procedures
Low priorities
for managers• Improved mentoring 
program
• Quarterly performance 
feedback system• Motivational workshopsNeeds Assessment: Tools and Techniques  195• What are the associated risks and rewards of implementing or not 
implementing this activity?
2. Note that the analysis combines perspectives to examine the risks and 
rewards of taking or not taking action. Work with assessment partners to come to an agreement about the risks and rewards included in each 2 × 2 
matrix.

matrix.
3. Create a 2 × 2 matrix to illustrate the associated risks and rewards for 
each issue (see tables 3B.6 and 3B.7).
4. Review the complete 2 × 2 matrix with your needs assessment partners, 
along with recommendations of how to expand the needs assessment to address gaps between what is known and what is unknown. 
 Table 3B.6 Rewards vs. Risks Example C: Addressing Needs 
(Project Completion Delays)
Address need
(takes too long to complete 
projects)Do not address need
projects)
Rewards • Reduces the time to 
complete projects
• Makes project completion as 
important as project initiation • Maintains focus on project 
initiation
Risks • Distracts managers from 
other strategic priorities
• Increases the cost of projects• More projects are at risk of 
failure to meet goals
• Country needs change before

• Country needs change before 
a project can be completed
Table 3B.7 Rewards vs. Risks Example D: Implementing Solutions 
(Employee Mentoring)
Implement 
mentoring programDo not implement 
mentoring program
Rewards • Knowledge sharing
• Better engagement of new 
staff members• Saves time and money
• Do not have to place addi-
tional burdens on managers
Risks • Encourages sharing of bad 
habits
• Requires time of managers• New staff members are not 
able to perform roles as soon
• Knowledge of staff members 
continues to leave when they leave196 A Guide to Assessing NeedsTips for Success 
• Before getting started, discuss with participants the speciﬁ  c goals you are 
hoping to accomplish by using the 2 × 2 matrix decision aid. 
• Work with group members to include factors in all four quadrants of the

• Work with group members to include factors in all four quadrants of the 
matrix. Leaving quadrants of the matrix empty will limit your ability to make quality decisions.
• Focus each 2 × 2 matrix on just one need or potential solution. It can be 
tempting to save time by combining needs or solutions, but doing so typi-cally leads to general discussions rather than to a focused decision. 
• Strive to include at least three items in each of the four cells of the 2 × 2 
matrix. 
• Remember that a decision not to take action (or not to address a need, or 
not to implement a solution) is a decision that carries potential risks and rewards, just as does a decision to take action. 
• The book by Alex Lowy and Phil Hood (2004) contains more than 50 ex-
amples of 2 × 2 decision aids that can be used to imp rove performance.
Note
1. The diff  ering perspectives example is loosely based on the Johari Window

Note
1. The diff  ering perspectives example is loosely based on the Johari Window 
activity used by psychologists.
Beach, E. K. 1982. “ Johari’s Window as a Framework for Needs Assessment.” 
Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing 13 (1): 28–32. 
Lowy, Alex, and Phil Hood. 2004. The Power of the 2 × 2 Matrix: Using 2 × 2 
Thinking to Solve Business Problems and Make Better Decisions.  San Francisco: 
Witkin, Belle Ruth, and James W . Altschuld. 1995.  Planning and Conducting Needs 
Website
“Risks versus Rewards Worksheet” is available at http://www.lifehack.org/
articles/lifehack/risks-versus-rewards-worksheet.html. Needs Assessment: Tools and Techniques  197 Needs Assessment: Tools and Techniques  197Purpose 
The ﬁ  shbone diagram—so called because of its resemblance to a ﬁ  sh skel-

eton—is a cause-and-eff  ect diagram that can be used to identify the poten-
tial (or actual) cause(s) for a performance problem. Fishbone diagrams provide a structure for a group’s discussion about the potential causes of a problem. 
Fishbone diagrams are often used in needs assessment to assist in illustrat-ing and communicating the relationships among several potential (or actual) causes of a performance problem. Likewise, these graphical representations of relationships between needs (or discrepancies between desired and actual results) off  er you a pragmatic tool for building a system of performance-
improvement interventions—for instance, a combination of mentoring, using job aids, training, enhancing motivation, and arriving at new expecta-tions—around the often complex relationships found across potential (or actual) causes. 

• Fishbone diagrams permit a thoughtful analysis that avoids overlooking 
any possible root causes for a need. FISHBONE DIAGRAMS198 A Guide to Assessing Needs• The ﬁ  shbone technique is easy to implement and creates an easy-to- 
understand visual representation of the causes, the categories of causes, and the need. 
• By using a ﬁ  shbone diagram, you are able to focus the group on the big 
picture as to possible causes or factors inﬂ  uencing the problem or need. 
• Even after the need has been addressed, the ﬁ  shbone diagram shows 
 areas of weakness that—once exposed—can be rectiﬁ  ed before causing 
more sustained diffi   culties. 
• The simplicity of a ﬁ  shbone diagram can be both its strength and its 
weakness. As a weakness, the simplicity of the ﬁ  shbone diagram may 
make it diffi   cult to represent the truly interrelated nature of problems 
and causes in some very complex situations. 

1. Identify gaps between the results (or performance) that are required for 
the successful accomplishment of your program’s or project’s results chain (also commonly referred to as a results framework, logic frame, or logic model) and the current achievements to date.
2. Generate a clear, concise statement of the need(s). Make sure that every-
one in the group agrees with the need as it is stated. For example, the application of modern agricultural techniques among the population is at 25 percent, and the aim of your program or project is for 75 percent of the population to use modern techniques (leaving you with a gap or need of 50 percent).
3. Using a long sheet of paper or a white board, draw a horizontal line. This 
line will be the spine of the ﬁ  sh. Write the need along the spine, on the 
left-hand side.

left-hand side. 
4. Identify the overarching categories of causes of the need. Brainstorming 
is often an eff  ective technique for identifying the categories of causes. For 
each category of causes, draw a bone—a line at a 45-degree angle from the spine of the ﬁ  sh. Label each bone (see ﬁ  gure 3B.1) with the cause cat-
egories; for instance, categories could include materials, knowledge or skills, time, motivation, incentives, performance feedback, and others.
1
5. Have the group brainstorm to identify the factors that may be aff  ecting 
the cause or the need or both. For each category of causes, the group Needs Assessment: Tools and Techniques  199should be asking, “Why is this happening?” Add each “why” to the dia-
gram, clustered around the major cause category it inﬂ  uences.

6. Repeat the procedure by asking, “Why is this happening?” for each eff  ect 
until the question yields no more meaningful answers (see ﬁ  gure 3B.2). 
Figure 3B.1 A Basic Fishbone Diagram
Need (gap in results)Cause category
Cause category
CauseDetails why Cause
Details why
Details whyDetails whyCause categoryDetails why 
Cause
 
Figure 3B.2 An Annotated Fishbone Diagram
Need: Tobacco
consumptionamong youthCulture
Youth employment
AccessKnowledgeNo formal anti-tobaccocampaigns in schoolsLack of knowledge about health risksTV shows feature smokingHigh youth unemployment
High percentage of
adult smokersDecreasinggraduationratesOveralleconomicconditions
Few laws preventing youth purchases
Country is atobacco produ
cerFines are rarelyenforcedEasy access in
markets/shops200 A Guide to Assessing Needs7 . When the group has reached a consensus that the diagram contains an

markets/shops200 A Guide to Assessing Needs7 . When the group has reached a consensus that the diagram contains an 
adequate amount of information, analyze the diagram. In particular, look for causes that are appearing in more than one section of the diagram. 
8. Circle anything that seems to be a root cause for the need. Prioritize the 
root causes, and decide to take action, a move that may involve further investigation of the root causes. 
• Make sure that the group has consensus about both the need and the 
characteristics of the cause statement before beginning the process of building the ﬁ  shbone diagram. 
• If appropriate, graft (add) branches that do not contain a lot of informa-
tion onto other branches. Likewise, you can split branches that have too much information into two or more branches. 
• Make parsimonious use of words while populating the ﬁ  shbone diagram.

• Make parsimonious use of words while populating the ﬁ  shbone diagram. 
Only use as many words as necessary to describe the cause or eff  ect. 
Note
1. Also see the performance pyramid tool (page 236) for additional categories 
that may be applied.
Gupta, Kavita, Catherine M. Sleezer, and Darlene F. Russ-Eft. 2007 . A Practical 
Guide to Needs Assessment . San Francisco: Pfeiff  er. 
Witkin, Belle Ruth, and James W . Altschuld. 1995. Planning and Conducting Needs

Assessments: A Practical Guide. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. Needs Assessment: Tools and Techniques  201Websites 
Cause analysis tools (American Society for Quality has an example of a ﬁ  shbone 
diagram) are available at http://www.asq.org/learn-about-quality/cause-  analysis-tools /overview/ﬁ  shbone.html.
The ﬁ  shbone diagram (Six Sigma has templates for making ﬁ  shbone diagrams in 
Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel) is available at http://www.isixsigma.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=1416:the-cause-and-eff  ect-
aka-ﬁ  shbone-diagram&Itemid=200.
“Use a Fishbone Diagram to Help Attack Complex Problems” (from TechRepub-
lic) is available at http://articles.techrepublic.com.com/5100-10878_11-6092236.html?tag=nl.e053.202 A Guide to Assessing Needs 202 A Guide to Assessing NeedsPurpose

lic) is available at http://articles.techrepublic.com.com/5100-10878_11-6092236.html?tag=nl.e053.202 A Guide to Assessing Needs 202 A Guide to Assessing NeedsPurpose 
The purpose of scenarios is to provide contextual explorations of the poten-
tial strengths and weaknesses of diff  erent combinations of performance-
improvement interventions. Scenarios are most useful in situations where the number of possible directions is large or where there is a large degree of uncertainty. 
The best decisions are typically made when you can compare and contrast the potential beneﬁ  ts and the potential risks of each decision. The same is 
true in needs assessment, especially when it is time to recommend what to do next according to your needs assessment ﬁ  ndings. 
Use scenarios during this stage of your needs assessment to provide 
examples of diff  erent combinations of performance -improv ement activ-

ities. For instance, scenario A could be a mentoring program paired with some training and a job aid, whereas scenario B could be a management performance feedback tool paired with training, new work policies, and a new rewards structure. By comparing both the beneﬁ  ts and the risks 
of  alternative scenarios, you have a foundation for recommendations about the appropriate balance of risk and reward for your program or organization. SCENARIOSNeeds Assessment: Tools and Techniques  203Advantages and Disadvantages 
• Scenarios allow decisions to be made by examining multiple alternatives 
rather than single solutions. 
• Instead of simply reviewing options as discrete alternatives, scenarios

• Instead of simply reviewing options as discrete alternatives, scenarios 
can provide contexts for making decisions. Scenarios are especially valu-able when you are dealing with a complex situation in the context of the needs assessment. 
• Decision makers often value scenarios for their ability to provide a visual 
illustration of diff  erent alternatives within the organization’s context.
• Multiple scenarios can also be used to contrast positive and pessimistic 
views, thus providing a balanced perspective.
• Developing realistic scenarios can be time-consuming, and there is  no 
guarantee of what results will actually be yielded as the situation in the scenario is implemented. 
• Scenarios can (but should not) limit decision makers to examine only 
the  combinations of activities or solutions included in the presented  scenarios.

 1. Complete the identiﬁ  cation of needs (gaps in results) and the associated 
analysis of causal factors.
 2. Identify sets of potential activities or solutions that will assist in accom-
plishing desired results while also addressing the potential causes of problems with the current performance. 
 3. For each set of potential activities, create a scenario based on the results

 3. For each set of potential activities, create a scenario based on the results 
your program or organization could realistically expect to accomplish and the risks associated with the implementation of each set (including economic, time, and opportunity costs). Each scenario should use the same concrete time frame (for example, 1 year, 18 months, 3 years) and should apply similar constraints that could aff  ect implementation. 204 A Guide to Assessing Needs 4. In each scenario, describe the factors that are internal and external to 
the organization and that are likely to increase or decrease the success-ful achievement of desired results. Here are some ideas to consider when developing the substance of a scenario: 
a. Build uncertainties and unexpected events into each scenario.b. Use information on trends and on the character of the organization 
to write each scenario.

c. Write each scenario so that it seems plausible. Choose names used 
in the scenario carefully; they can communicate a great deal to the reader. 
d. It is generally a good idea to make each scenario about one page 
long. 
e. Give each scenario a short and meaningful title.
 5. Develop two or three scenarios for each of the sets of potential activities 
(or solutions) that meet the requirements dictated by the performance pyramid tool (see page 236) by Wedman (2010). Scenarios can be writ-ten from several perspectives (for example, yours, the agency manage-ment’s, a community member’s). Therefore, it is important that you de-scribe each scenario from a similar perspective (thus ensuring that you are comparing “apples to apples”). 
 6. After a solid draft of each scenario has been developed, validate the

6. After a solid draft of each scenario has been developed, validate the 
 scenarios with experts and others who are familiar with the situation. Make any changes recommended by the scenario reviewers before sharing the scenarios with decision makers. 
 7 . Schedule time with the groups or individuals who will be making deci-
sions about which activities to implement. 
 8. Provide at least two or three scenarios to the groups or individuals se-
lected for participation. Often, it is helpful to provide varying perspec-tives in diff  erent scenarios, including both positive and pessimistic 
views. If your scenarios are longer than a page or two, provide the sce-narios to the decision makers before the meeting.
 9. Discuss each scenario with the participants, highlighting the strengths

 9. Discuss each scenario with the participants, highlighting the strengths 
and weaknesses exhibited in the context described in each. (Scenarios are best estimates of how the interventions would be implemented and how the results would be accomplished; thus, decision makers must Needs Assessment: Tools and Techniques  205take into account that later implementation may or may not mirror the 
scenario’s description). 
10. Ask group members to rank each scenario and to provide alternative 
combinations of the activities that could be used for a second round of scenarios (if desired).
11. After you have ﬁ  nished administering the scenarios, you may be asked

11. After you have ﬁ  nished administering the scenarios, you may be asked 
to write a report discussing the results. If so, it is generally a good idea to include summaries of the scenarios, as well as an overview of how sce-narios were shared with participants. Keep your report short, highlight-ing key data without overburdening the readers with too much detail. Include observations and conclusions, and provide some suggestions for next steps.
• Create multiple scenarios, with each scenario having a unique balance 
of risk and beneﬁ  ts that are based on multiple perspectives within the 
organization. 
• Don’t paint too rosy a picture within each scenario. The scenarios should 
be realistic and should show no preference for one set of activities or so-lutions over another. 
• Inform decision makers that they don’t have to select a scenario but that

• Inform decision makers that they don’t have to select a scenario but that 
other combinations can also be developed, depending on the balance of rewards and risks that the organization is looking for in the program or project. 
Performance in the Workplace . Vol. 2:  Selecting and Implementing Performance 
Interventions , edited by Ryan Watkins and Doug Leigh, 51–80. San Francisco: 
Wiley/Pfeiff  er, and Silver Spring, MD: International Society for Performance

Wiley/Pfeiff  er, and Silver Spring, MD: International Society for Performance 
Improvement.206 A Guide to Assessing NeedsWitkin, Belle Ruth, and James W . Altschuld. 1995. Planning and Conducting Needs 
Assessments: A Practical Guide. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. 
Websites 
Examples of scenarios (from Arizona State University) are available at http://cals.
arizona.edu/futures/sce/scemain.html. 
Scenarios: An explorer’s guide is available at http://www-static.shell.com/static/
aboutshell/downloads/our_strategy/shell_global_scenarios/scenario_ explorersguide.pdf.  (This document from the Shell Corporation is written for people who want to build scenarios and for those who want to help develop scenario-thinking skills.) 
Scenarios Toolkit developed for The European Centre for the Development of

Scenarios Toolkit developed for The European Centre for the Development of 
Vocational Training is available at http://www.cedefop.europa.eu/EN/Files/6009_en.pdf.Needs Assessment: Tools and Techniques  207 Needs Assessment: Tools and Techniques  207Purpose 
The goal of a root cause analysis (RCA) is to identify the contributing causal 
factors that have led to a performance problem.
Identifying gaps between current and desired performance is the primary goal of a needs assessment, yet alone this information is not adequate for mak-ing decisions about what to do to improve  performance. An RCA is, ther efore, 
a useful tool for examining the contributing factors that are preventing cur-rent achievements from matching your desired accomplishments (see box 3B.1). An RCA off  ers a systematic process that can help you determine which 
processes, procedures, tools, or policies (or combination of the three) are lim-

iting performance and leading to the needs found in your assessment. 
Identiﬁ  ed root causes can then be targeted by the solution recommenda-
tions coming out of the needs assessment. Later, the results of the RCA can 
Box 3B.1 Sample Uses of Root Cause Analysis
• Separate problems from symptoms when conceptualizing new 
 projects with clients or partners.
• Identify factors causing a project to be at high risk of failure.• Determine why a policy reform did not accomplish desired results.• Resolve questions about how corruption entered a project.ROOT CAUSE ANALYSIS208 A Guide to Assessing Needsalso be monitored to ensure that organizational changes are having the 
desired eff  ect and to avoid suboptimization ( where imp rovements in one 
area lead to new problems in other areas). The ability of the RCA to provide this valuable information makes it an integral component to most needs assessments.

• An RCA provides a systematic process for examining performance prob-
lems for their root causes rather than relying on unveriﬁ  ed assumptions 
or stakeholder perceptions about causes.
• An RCA ensures that you inspect a performance issue from multiple per-
spectives to determine the range of causes leading to the less-than- desired performance (as opposed to assuming that the causes of the is-sues are well known and agreed upon by everyone involved).
• Many times an RCA will identify both the components of the system that

• Many times an RCA will identify both the components of the system that 
are blocking desired performance (for instance, out-of-date-procedures or misunderstood expectations) and the parts of the system that are working well at promoting desired performance (for instance, quality managerial feedback). In the end, improving performance routinely re-quires both ﬁ  xing the problems and expanding on the things that are be-
ing done right.
• An RCA will frequently identify more causal factors than you have an-
ticipated or are likely to have the budget to address individually. There-fore, it is important to determine the relative eff  ect of each factor and to 
address as priorities the eff  ects that are the most critical to success. 
• As with other systematic processes, an RCA can include procedures that

• As with other systematic processes, an RCA can include procedures that 
are not familiar to your organization and thus can require that you build a business case for taking additional time and resources to accurately identify the causal factors leading to the performance issue. 
• An RCA focuses on causes and does not tell you which interventions or 
activities will best address each causal factor. However, possible activi-ties are frequently identiﬁ  ed during the process. Only after causes are Needs Assessment: Tools and Techniques  209identiﬁ  ed is it beneﬁ  cial to turn to possible interventions or activities to 
address the causes.
1. Identify a discrepancy in performance (or need) from the information 
you have collected thus far in the needs assessment. Frequently, you will only want to complete an RCA for the highest-priority needs so that you can save resources.

2. Create a plan for analyzing the identiﬁ  ed need (gap in results). In many 
ways, the steps of the analysis will often look like a miniature needs as-sessment within the broader needs assessment. For instance, use a vari-ety of techniques—interviews, focus groups, and document or record reviews—to collect information on the causal factors leading to the per-formance problem. That information will then be used to identify and prioritize the causal factors and their relative attribution to the perfor-mance gap. 
3. Remember that your analysis may take from a couple of hours to a week 
or more, depending on the performance issue. Consequently, as you de-velop your plan, be sure that you take the scope of the analysis into ac-count when developing a budget and schedule.

4. Know that sometimes your RCA will be driven by a need that is directly 
related to a speciﬁ  c situation or incident (for instance, you ﬁ  nd out that a 
staff  member is using your organization’s procurement procedures to 
make fraudulent transactions or to cover up bribes to a local offi   cial). In 
those cases, it is especially important to start by determining exactly what happened and where the processes, procedures, training, policies, or reg-ulations failed to prevent the incident in the ﬁ  rst place. 
5. Observe that in other cases, however, the need will not be generated by

5. Observe that in other cases, however, the need will not be generated by 
any single event (such as when an agency fails to meet its annual perfor-mance targets for two years in a row). In those situations, it is more chal-lenging to determine which events, policies, procedures, or other activi-ties led to the gap in performance. The RCA processes work eff  ectively in 
both situations, though the tools and techniques for collecting informa-tion may diff  er.
6. Understand that the analogy of peeling an onion is often associated with 
RCA because causal factors are frequently many layers deep. At the begin-ning of the analysis, the causes of the need may seem easily identiﬁ  ed.210 A Guide to Assessing Needs For example, you may initially ﬁ  nd through interviews with managers 
that a procurement problem is caused by younger staff   offi  cers who do

that a procurement problem is caused by younger staff   offi  cers who do 
not have the experience or training to manage procurement matters. But that is only the ﬁ  rst layer. Later, when you talk to staff   members you might 
learn that because of time constraints and inadequate staffi   ng, training is 
off ered only twice a year and contains outdated information. Again, how-
ever, as you peel away the next layer and talk to the training department about why the course is off  ered only twice a year, you may discover that 
the training department only has a budget to off  er training twice a year. 
Additionally, the training department staff   members say that they are 
waiting for the department that sets procurement policies to update the procurement training manual.
7 . As is often recommended, ask the question “Why?” at least ﬁ  ve times so 
you can peel away the layers of causal factors. (See the questions and ta-ble 3B.8.)

 Problem Statement:  In rural areas of the country, the number of female 
students completing primary school education is signiﬁ  cantly below the 
1. Why  are female students in the area not completing primary school?
–  Because very few of them ever start primary school.
Table 3B.8 Root Cause Summary Table 
Problem: Low education rates for girls in rural areas
Causal factor #1 Path through root cause map Recommendations
Costs to rural families to 
send girls to school• School fees
• Girls provide labor in the home 
(child care, food preparation, water gathering)• Eliminate or reduce fees
• Subsidize parents who send girls 
to school
Causal factor #2 Path through root cause map Recommendations
Cultural norms about 
girls’ education• Boys regularly favored over girls
• Religious or other cultural

to school
• Religious or other cultural 
restrictions• Advocacy programs
• Awareness-raising about 
longer-term household economic beneﬁ  ts of girls attending school
Causal factor #3 Path through root cause map Recommendations
School access • Schools are not available in all 
villages• Education reform to reach rural 
schools
• Visiting seasonal tutors
Source: Adapted from Rooney and Vanden Heuvel (2004).Needs Assessment: Tools and Techniques  2112. Why  do they not start primary school?
– Because it is a great burden on their family to have them go to school.
3. Why  is it a great burden?
– Because it is expensive to send a child to school.
4. Why  is it so expensive?
– Because school fees must be paid for each child.
5. Why  are there additional fees for attending school?
– Because to get a teacher to come to a rural school, the village must

– Because to get a teacher to come to a rural school, the village must 
supplement the teacher’s salary .1
 With each need having many layers of closely related causal factors, plan 
to analyze at least four or ﬁ  ve layers for each causal factor and its root 
causes. Use fault tree analysis (see page 214), ﬁ  shbone diagrams (see page 
197), concept mapping (see page 220), performance pyramids (see page 236), and many other tools and techniques described in this book to assist you in peeling away the layers of causal factors.
8. Review the information you have collected at each layer of the RCA to

8. Review the information you have collected at each layer of the RCA to 
identify and prioritize the causal relationships. For instance, using that information, you might determine that the primary causes leading to the performance issue are related to motivation and incentives, with lesser causes being knowledge, skills, and available time to complete required procedures. In the end, you want to have a prioritized list of all the causal factors you identiﬁ  ed during your analysis.
  In most circumstances, you will not be able to quantify the contribu-
tion of each causal factor to the performance gap—that is, you will not be able to attribute 45 percent of the performance gap to cause A, 30 percent to cause B, and 25 percent to cause C—though it is usually beneﬁ  cial to

prioritize causes from major to minor contributors. You can use a number of collaborative decision-making techniques included in this book to as-sist in setting the priorities. Often, it is also valuable to create a visual representation of the relationships among causal factors. 
  For example, ask several of the participants who provided you with in-
formation during your analysis (through interviews, surveys, focus groups, reports that they authored, and so on) to review the prioritized 
list of  causal factors. Each participant should review the list to determine 
whether (a) all of the causal factors are identiﬁ  ed, (b) all of the relation-
ships  between the causal factors are taken into account, and (c) the highest- priority factors are those that contribute most signiﬁ  cantly to the 
need.212 A Guide to Assessing Needs9. For each high-priority causal factor that is identiﬁ  ed (and veriﬁ  ed 
through participant review), ﬁ  nd at least two potential interventions or

through participant review), ﬁ  nd at least two potential interventions or 
activities that address the causal factor, and ensure that it doesn’t con-tinue to negatively aff  ect performance. The activities can then be as-
sessed and compared as possible recommendations coming from the needs assessment.
• Don’t assume that the ﬁ  rst causal factor that people tell you about is the 
root cause of the performance problem. Take time and ask lots of ques-tions as you peel away the layers of causal factors to identify all of the factors leading to less-than-desirable results.
• Focus on what components of the performance system (activities, pro-
cesses, procedures, equipment, rules, policies, interpersonal relation-ships, and so on) are limiting the achievement of desired performance. 
• Avoid shifting the focus to any solution, intervention, or activity that

• Avoid shifting the focus to any solution, intervention, or activity that 
might be recommended during the analysis. Make note of the recom-mendation, and maintain your focus on the causal factors. Later, all of the recommended activities for improving performance can be com-pared and assessed for their potential value (both singularly and in various combinations).
Note
1. Based in part on an example from http://www.isixsigma.com/library/
content/c020610a.asp (July 23, 2008).
Altschuld, James W . 2010. Needs Assessment Phase III: Collecting Data (Book 3  of 
Altschuld, James W ., and J. N. Eastmond Jr. 2010. Needs Assessment Phase II:  
Paradies, Mark, and Linda Unger. 2000. Tap Root: The System for Root Cause 
Analysis, Problem Investigation, and Proactive Improvement.  Knoxville, TN:

Analysis, Problem Investigation, and Proactive Improvement.  Knoxville, TN: 
System Imp rovements.Needs Assessment: Tools and Techniques  213Rooney, James, and Lee N. Vanden Heuvel. 2004. “Root Cause Analysis for 
Beginners.” Quality Basics  (July): 45–53. Milwaukee, WI: American Society for 
Quality.
Development of Performance Technologies That Produce Useful Results. Amherst, MA: HRD Press, and Silver Spring, MD: International Society for Performance Imp rovement.
Website
“Root Cause Analysis for Beginners” is available at http://www.nmenv.state.nm.
us/aqb/Proposed_Regs/Part_7_Excess_Emissions/NMED_Exhibit_18-Root_Cause_Analysis_for_Beginners.pdf.214 A Guide to Assessing Needs 214 A Guide to Assessing NeedsPurpose 
A fault tree analysis (FTA) is a step-by-step procedure that is used to logi-

cally identify, evaluate, and quantify potential problem causes for a perfor-mance gap (failure) in a system and to determine strategies for preventing these causes. 
In a needs assessment, the typical function of a fault tree analysis is to iden-tify the causes  of performance gaps in a system (for example, your organiza-
tion, a division within your organization, or a government unit). FTA is especially useful when speciﬁ  c failures within the system lead to perfor-
mance gaps. The FTA provides a systematic process for analyzing situations and determining the relevant causes.
An FTA can help you to recognize the interrelationships among causes in 
the system and to evaluate the potential eff  ects of causes in terms of the

the system and to evaluate the potential eff  ects of causes in terms of the 
failure of the system. By addressing multiple causes, the FTA can also help you identify strategies that can be used to reduce the probability of future problems in the system.
The analysis procedures in an FTA are based on creating a visual rep-
resentation (a fault tree) that identiﬁ  es each of the potential causes, the 
 relationships (failure sequences) between the causes, and the prioritized prevention strategies. Fault tree analysis is used widely in many engineering disciplines, but it can also be used in needs assessment as a root cause analy-sis technique. It can be an eff  ective tool for increasing the chances of success

for a speciﬁ  c system. The technical nature of the technique does, however, FAULT TREE ANALYSISNeeds Assessment: Tools and Techniques  215likely require additional preparation beyond the process overview we pro-
vide here.
• An FTA can be used with both a large and a small numbers of 
 participants. 
• The FTA displays information in a structured, graphic way that makes 
it easy to interpret and communicate. 
• The FTA technique solicits input and insight from a wide number of 
 experts. 
• The focus in the FTA technique is on the system being analyzed, rather 
than on the individual people in the system. Thus, it may be easier to get a buy-in because people are less likely to feel threatened.
1
• Agreements and diverging views on system inputs are represented in 
the FTA.2
• An FTA can be used eff  ectively for analysis of recurrent and persistent 
problems, because such problems are likely to have common causes and contributory factors.

the FTA.2
problems, because such problems are likely to have common causes and contributory factors. 
• Because this technique is highly reliant on judgment and insight that are 
based on subjective opinions, there is a risk of inaccurate information, which compromises the accuracy of the results.
• If the wrong failure sources are identiﬁ  ed in an FTA, the subsequent re-
sults yielded may experience a ripple eff  ect of this error. Results may, 
therefore, not be valid or accurate. 
• FTAs may fail if the technique is not implemented in a disciplined fashion 
or if the system problem is so complex that multiple levels of potential causes exist for each problem type.
3 
• When the system of focus for the FTA is very large, quantitative analysis 
software may be required to analyze the results. 216 A Guide to Assessing Needs• FTA can be a relatively time-intensive and complex technique; in this

software may be required to analyze the results. 216 A Guide to Assessing Needs• FTA can be a relatively time-intensive and complex technique; in this 
book, we provide an overview of the process although additional read-ings are likely required for a successful application.
 1. If the technique is being applied in a formal, scheduled session, take the 
necessary steps to prepare for conducting the FTA.
a. If technological methods will be used, acquire concept mapping 
software, a computer, a projection device (for example, a video pro-jector), and a projection surface or screen. 
b. If nontechnological methods will be used, ensure that you have ac-
cess to a large surface area (that is, a whiteboard or chalkboard) on which you can create the concept map, as well as thick markers in various colors, tape, and so on. 
c. If you are doing the concept mapping session with a large number of

c. If you are doing the concept mapping session with a large number of 
participants, consider identifying a colleague or assistant who is able to create the actual concept map while the facilitator mediates the  session. 
d. Identify and invite participants who are experts on the system that 
will be the focus of the FTA. 
e. Schedule the FTA activity session. 
 2. Using your list of information required for the needs assessment, deﬁ  ne 
the system that will be the focus of the FTA. 
 3. Identify the “what should be” for the system either by identifying the 
system’s mission, purpose, or goals, or by deﬁ  ning the criteria for what 
the “ideal situation” would look like.
 4. Working with an expert on the system of focus, begin the process of 
building the fault tree (see ﬁ  gure 3B.3). Determine, in speciﬁ  c terms, 
“the top undesired event” for which you want to identify the underlying causes. Write the top undesired event at the top of the tree.

“the top undesired event” for which you want to identify the underlying causes. Write the top undesired event at the top of the tree. 
a. This undesired event will be the foundation on which the FTA will 
be constructed, so it is important that it be identiﬁ  ed in clear terms. 
 5. Identify the factors (conditions) that are in the immediate vicinity of 
the top undesired event and that could be causing it. Write those key factors immediately below the top of the tree. Needs Assessment: Tools and Techniques  217 6. Look at each of the key factors you have identiﬁ  ed in the previous step. 
What subfactors could be causing the key factors? Identify the subfac-tors, and place them underneath the appropriate factor on the tree. 
a. Do not move on to the next level of analysis until there is consensus 
that all factors at the current level have been identiﬁ  ed. 
 7 . Continue this procedure—building the tree-like graphic—until there is a 
general consensus that the tree is ﬁ  nished. 
VV

VV
VV
VEVENT A:
40 percent of city
street lights are
not functioning Top level event is
broken down into
contributing events“OR” symbol indicates that
Event A happens when one or
more of second level events 
(B, C, or D) happen
“AND” symbol indicates that
Event D happens only when all
third level events (E and F) 
happen
Event with
contributing events
that are not shown
Event with no
relevant contributing
factorsEVENT B:
Light bulbs have not
been checked or
changed regularlyEVENT C:
Electrical maintenance
is inconsistent
EVENT E:
Training for new
field technicians
has been delayed
EVENT G:
Budget for staff
training cut
EVENT H:
Training
cancelled
due to
weatherEVENT I:
The number
of trainers is
inadequateEVENT F:
Late budget
approvals have
delayed hiringEVENT D:
The number of field

EVENT H:
Training
cancelled
due to
The number
technicians is inadequateFigure 3B.3 Example of a Basic Fault Tree Analysis
Source: Based on examples from http://syque.com/quality_tools/toolbook/FTA/example.htm and http://syque.com/quality_tools/
toolbook/FTA/how.htm.218 A Guide to Assessing Needs 8. After the fault tree has been completed, work with experts to carefully 
and systematically analyze it for accuracy. Compare the fault tree’s fac-tors and structure against the actual system being analyzed. 
 9. Analyze the fault tree. This analysis can be done either statistically or 
through informal nonstatistical methods (such as brainstorming). To analyze quantitatively, use statistical analysis to determine the proba-bility of all the contributing factors you have listed in the tree.
4 This

4 This 
analysis can be complex, and we recommend doing additional readings before completing the analysis.
10. By drawing on your analysis, you should be able to identify the potential 
factors, as well as the sequences of factors, that may account for the performance problem that you identiﬁ  ed as the top undesired event.
11. Focus particularly on the factors that appear lowest in the tree, because 
remedying or preventing these root causes is the most eff  ective and ef-
ﬁ cient way to obstruct or eliminate the critical paths leading to the top 
undesired event. 
• The FTA technique works best for problems that have a medium level of 
complexity. For very complex problems, this technique can be diffi   cult to 
manage or overwhelming for people to interpret. 
• Remember that the expert insight that is used to construct the fault tree

• Remember that the expert insight that is used to construct the fault tree 
is generally of a very subjective nature. Take steps to consult as many experts as possible and to externally validate the fault tree and its out-comes. Both of these steps will reduce the subjectivity to some  extent. 
Notes
1. Based on Jonassen, Hannum, and Tessmer (1989).
2. Ibid.3. Based on http://www.greatsystems.com/rootcause.htm#FTA.4. Based on Jonassen, Hannum, and Tessmer (1989).Needs Assessment: Tools and Techniques  219References and Resources 
Task Analysis Procedures . Westport, CT: Praeger. 
Vesely, William E., F. F. Goldberg, Norman H. Roberts, and David F. Haasi. 1981 
Fault Tree Handbook (NUREG-0492).  1981. Washington, DC: U.S. Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission. http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/nuregs/staff  /sr0492/.
Websites

Websites 
Detailed discussion with description of the meaning of each ﬁ  gure in an FTA 
graphic is available at http://www.weibull.com/basics/fault-tree/index.htm.
Discussion of fault tree analysis with examples and how-to procedures is 
available at http://syque.com/quality_tools/toolbook/FTA/how.htm.220 A Guide to Assessing Needs 220 A Guide to Assessing NeedsPurpose 
Concept mapping is a method used to make a visual representation (that is, 
a picture or a map) of concepts or ideas and to illustrate their relationships. Terms such as mind map , and idea map  are essentially synonymous with the 
term concept map . A similar method, cluster mapping,  additionally uses sta-
tistics to deﬁ  ne clusters of similar items. 
In the context of needs assessment, concept mapping can be used for vari-

ous purposes, including data collection, consensus building, and decision making. Speciﬁ  cally, they can be used for the following: 
• Facilitate discussion and data collection during interviews or focus 
groups. 
• Support decision making between potential solutions for a given gap. • Engage in pattern matching for the purpose of consensus building in re-
lation to need identiﬁ  cation. 
• Identify organizational priorities.Concept maps can be created by either a single person or a group of people.

• Identify organizational priorities.Concept maps can be created by either a single person or a group of people. 
In the case of a single person creating a concept map, the purpose might be to identify the key ideas relative to a given problem. When concept mapping is used in a group setting, its purpose can be to identify and show the rela-tionship between units within an organization, to brainstorm ideas or solu-tions, or to systematically identify priorities or plan new approaches. CONCEPT MAPPINGNeeds Assessment: Tools and Techniques  221The key purpose of a concept map is to visually represent key elements 
and their relationships. This visual representation can be especially useful when complex relationships exist between elements. Concept maps gener-ate qualitative data, but the data can be interpreted using both qualitative and quantitative data analysis.

• Concept mapping represents ideas or views from a large group of partici-
pants or stakeholders in an easy-to-interpret format. 
• It generates data that can be interpreted qualitatively or quantitatively. • It identiﬁ  es complex relationships between issues, factors, and so on in a 
tangible, graphic format. 
• Because it is participant focused, everybody can have his or her ideas 
 represented.
• It shows at a glance speciﬁ  c performance areas, their interrelationship, 
and their strategic priority.
• It is simple to implement and understand for both you and the 
participant(s).
• Concept mapping uses a structured process that can be replicated easily 
and reliably. 
• It enables the organization to create a shared vision of performance areas 
and goals.
• It promotes active participation and, therefore, ensures that participant(s) 
stay on task. 
• It can be done using computer software or using paper. 

and goals.
• In the absence of a structured approach for creating concept maps, this 
approach can become messy and hard to read.
• Concept mapping includes only a high level representation of the perfor-
mance area that is the subject of the concept. This method does not easily allow for the inclusion of detailed information. 222 A Guide to Assessing Needs• In concept mapping, it may be hard to identify all the relationships be-
tween the concepts or ideas. 
• Interpretation of the concept map data can be involved. • The use of this method may require an experienced facilitator. 
The three main phases of the concept mapping technique are planning, 
gathering information, and analyzing and interpreting.
Planning
1. Determine the focus of the concept map by using the list of information

Planning
1. Determine the focus of the concept map by using the list of information 
required for the needs assessment. 
2. Identify the data analysis methods to be used after the concept map has 
been completed. 
3. Identify and invite participant(s) to build the concept map. 4. Establish the schedule for the concept mapping session(s). 5. Acquire resources required to conduct the concept mapping session.
a. If technological methods will be used, acquire concept mapping soft-
ware, a computer, and a projection device (for example, a video pro-jector) along with a projection surface or screen. 
b. If nontechnological methods will be used, ensure that you have access 
to a large surface area on which you can create the concept map, as well as thick markers in various colors, tape, and so on. 

participants, consider identifying a colleague or assistant who is able to create the actual concept map while you (or a hired facilitator) me-diate the session. 
Gathering Information 
1. Start the concept mapping session by introducing the purpose and focus 
of the concept map to the participant(s). Needs Assessment: Tools and Techniques  223a. If the concept mapping session is being conducted with a large num-
ber of participants, then identify “rules of play” and other information related to the group process. 
2. Begin the brainstorming process, encouraging participants to identify as 
many performance areas as possible related to the focus topic. Empha-size that this is the brainstorming phase of the process and, therefore, that all reasonable contributions are of value.

many performance areas as possible related to the focus topic. Empha-size that this is the brainstorming phase of the process and, therefore, that all reasonable contributions are of value. 
3. After brainstorming is completed, invite participants to identify redun-
dant information in the list (for example, two contributions that refer to essentially the same thing). Merge and synthesize those instances to cre-ate a ﬁ  nal list. 
4. Begin the structuring process. The process can be started individually, at 
ﬁ rst, or as a group from the start. 
a. Ask participants to work individually to sort (group or cluster) these 
performance areas into clusters of their choosing (or use an individual card sorting technique). Beginning the structuring process individu-ally off  ers individuals a chance to identify relationships among the 
performance areas before collaborating with the group to come up with a shared sorting of the listed items.

b. Ask participants to work together to sort (group or cluster) the per-
formance areas into clusters (or use a group card sorting technique). Beginning the structuring process as a group promotes a mediated process of consensus building to identify relationships between per-formance areas.
5. Items from the list are placed on a “map” (for example, drawn on a big 
piece of paper, or written on sticky notes that are placed on the wall) to illustrate their relationships. Clusters can be maintained from the previ-ous list, or new clusters may be formed in keeping with the visual map that is developing. More complex maps can be created using statistical techniques and software; in those instances, you should consult the re-sources that follow.
6. Ask participants to work either collectively or individually to restructure

6. Ask participants to work either collectively or individually to restructure 
the concept map by hierarchically laying out the concepts or clusters on the basis of one or more dimensions relevant to the focus statement. For example, arrange the items within each cluster by their feasibility within the organizational context. Work to build consensus among the group members on a ﬁ  nal map that represents their shared perspectives.224 A Guide to Assessing NeedsAnalyzing and Interpreting
There are diff  erent points at which the information captured in the concept 
map can be analyzed and interpreted. It can be interpreted during the actual concept mapping session (through the active involvement of the partici-pants), after the completion of the concept mapping session (by you or by an external data analysis expert), or at both points. The timing of the analysis and interpretation of the concept map information depends on the purpose and nature of the concept map.

You can interpret data from a concept map in innumerable ways, ranging 
from “eyeballing” the concept map to determine key trends or priorities, to performing thorough statistical analysis to assess construct validity. For this reason, restrict yourselves to identifying just a few ways you can go about using your concept map data for needs assessment purposes. 
Interpreting in-session data
When the concept maps are interpreted during the concept mapping ses-sion, consider actively involving the participants in the decision-making pro-cess. However, the extent to which in-depth statistical analysis can be done during the concept mapping session is very restricted. Most of the analysis you would do in session will fall into categories such as the following: 
• Coding:  Participants work with the facilitator to set up a simple coding

• Coding:  Participants work with the facilitator to set up a simple coding 
scheme that is related to the focus area of the concept map. The group then works together to code concepts or clusters on the concept map ac-cording to the coding scheme. Trends in the concept map data can be analyzed by doing frequency counts on the prevalence of each of the code categories. 
• Rank ordering:  If participants have been asked to use a predetermined 
scale to rate concepts or clusters of concepts, then you may consider us-ing rank ordering. In this case, you would ask all participants to report the rating they assigned for each cluster or concept. Add up the total rat-ing values per cluster or concept (depending on the unit of analysis), and place the values in rank order according to a dimension relevant to the focus statement for the concept map. 
Interpreting post-session data

Multidimensional scaling and hierarchical cluster analysis are two statisti-cal analysis methods that are often used when a thorough understanding of the information in the concept map is required. In addition to those Needs Assessment: Tools and Techniques  225approaches, however, several simple analysis approaches can be used after 
the concept mapping session has wrapped up. 
Here are two examples: 
• For decision making between alternate approaches for addressing a per-
formance gap, you might ask participants to rate the cluster on the basis of feasibility or desirability. Then set up your own system—after the con-cept mapping session—to rate the clusters while using your expertise in the area of need (see ﬁ  gure 3B.4). By comparing the ratings you have given

with those given by participants (that is, patterning), you can rank order the various approach clusters to determine the solutions that are most likely to succeed and to match the organization’s preferences.
• To compare the views or insights of two diff  erent groups of stakeholders, 
again use an approach to identify patterns. In this case, you would ask the stakeholder groups to separately rate the clusters related to the concept map focus area. You would then analyze the concept maps by comparing how diff  erent stakeholder groups rated each of the clusters (see ﬁ  gure 
3B.5). Clusters that are generally rated at the same level by each of the cluster groups would indicate a high degree of consensus between stake-holder groups. Clusters where ratings are very diff  erent would indicate 
divergence between stakeholder groups.
Examples 
Figure 3B.4 Example of Basic Concept Map to Illustrate Relationships
Improve
results
Needs analysisNeeds
assessment
Performance analysisworks to

Examples 
Improve
results
uses usesPerformance problem 
or opportunity
starts with226 A Guide to Assessing NeedsTips for Success 
• Be sure that you have clearly spelled out the focus area for the concept 
map prior to the concept mapping session. 
• To increase the comfort level of the participants,
• Explain the concept mapping process to them. • Reiterate that their names will not be directly tied to their contribu-
tions to the concept map (if applicable). 
• If the participant(s) in the concept mapping session have never worked 
with concept maps before, consider illustrating the process with a simple example. 
• During the initial brainstorming session, include all contributions in the 
concept map. 
• Do not worry about the look or structure of the concept map until the

• Do not worry about the look or structure of the concept map until the 
“structuring” phases of the concept map come around. Figure 3B.5 Example of Basic Concept Map with Clusters Overlaid on Individual Statements
Access to rural
schools factorsNeed: only 60% of the country’s children graduate from 
secondary schools in the current year. The target for five years from 
the current year is 90% secondary school graduation.
Family
economic
condition
factorsTransportation
factors
Gender
differences
factors
Local
culture
factorsMigrant
employment
factors
Community
economic
condition factors
Youth
opportunity
factorsNumber of
teachers
factors
School
quality
factorsNeeds Assessment: Tools and Techniques  227• Verbally repeat participants’ contributions to the concept map as they ex-

teachers
factors
School
quality
press them. Doing so will ensure that the concept map is the most accu-rate reﬂ  ection possible of the participants’ contributions. 
• If all participants will collectively work on clustering concepts, use sim-
ple strategies to make it visually easy to identify which concepts are being assigned to which clusters. For example, use the same color for all con-cepts assigned to the same cluster.
Jackson, Kristin M., and William M. K. Trochim. 2002. “Concept Mapping 
as an Alternative Approach for the Analysis of Open-Ended Survey Responses.” Organizational Research Methods 5 (October): 307–36. 
http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/mapping/mapping.htm. 
Trochim, William. 1989. “Concept Mapping: Soft Science or Hard Art?” Evalua-

tion and Program Planning  12: 87–110. http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/
research/epp2/epp2.htm.
Trochim, William, and Mary Kane. 2005. “Concept Mapping: An Introduction to 
Structured Conceptualization in Health Care.” International Journal for 
Quality in Health Care 17 (3): 187–91. http://intqhc.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/
reprint/17/3/187 .pdf.
Weller, Susan C., and A. Kimball Romney. 1988. Systematic Data Collection . 
Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications.
Websites 
“The Complexity of Concept Mapping for Policy Analysis” by Trochim and 
Cabrera is available at http://www.isce.edu/ISCE_Group_Site/web-content/ISCE_Events/Cork_2005/Papers/Trochim.pdf.
“Using Concept Mapping to design an indicator framework for addiction treat-
ment centres” is available at http://intqhc.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/17/3/193.
Additional Tools

Information on statistical analysis of concept maps can also be found in the following sources: 
• Free software for creating concept maps is available at http://cmap.ihmc.us/.
• “Q & A: What Is Concept Mapping?” is available at http://www.socialresearch
methods.net/tutorial/Katsumot/conmap.htm.228 A Guide to Assessing Needs 228 A Guide to Assessing NeedsPurpose 
The future wheel is a future-oriented technique. Future wheel activities are 
conducted to help participants analyze and explore eff  ects of a trend, event, 
circumstance, or issue. As such, this technique can be a useful tool for con-ducting structured brainstorming, determining needs, planning strategi-cally, and building consensus.
Future wheels are laid out as graphic depictions with the future event in

Future wheels are laid out as graphic depictions with the future event in 
a circle in the center, the ﬁ  rst-order eff  ects in the ﬁ  rst circle out from the 
event, the second-order eff  ects in the second circle out from the event, and 
so on. Future wheel activities can potentially be used to explore eff  ects of 
many diff  erent things (issues, trends, and events), so they can be used in 
virtually any setting (organization, community meeting, school, and so on). 
The future wheel has a variety of diff  erent needs assessment applications, as 
follows: 
• Forecast potential future scenarios. • Project future trends. • Systematically explore the possible eff  ects from a current situation or 
trend. 
• Analyze the possible pattern of eff  ects for a potential future event or 
trend.

trend. 
trend. 
• Forecast implications for a variety of alternative circumstances. FUTURE WHEELNeeds Assessment: Tools and Techniques  229• Determine the potential eff  ects of a variety of potential performance 
 solutions. 
• Collect data on a group’s perspectives on current and future situations 
and trends. 
• The future wheel is easy to use and does not require extensive training 
for the facilitator. 
• It is resource lean and, therefore, can be done anywhere, anytime. • It supports structured brainstorming.• It is intuitive to the participants.• It is not time-intensive and can be conducted in one, relatively brief, 
group session. 
• The future wheel can be used at any time in the needs assessment or stra-
tegic planning process. 
• It can be adapted for use in virtually any context: business and industry, 
community, personal.

community, personal. 
• It promotes systematic thinking about complex relationships between 
causes and consequences. 
• Through the use of concentric circles, it clearly identiﬁ  es the common 
bond that all identiﬁ  ed eff  ects have to the topic at the center of the future 
wheel. 
• Because future wheels are laid out in a sequential structure around a cen-
tral topic, they may be too superﬁ  cial to identify the complexities of a 
series of contributing factors that may all have diff  ering levels of inﬂ  u-
ence on the eff  ects identiﬁ  ed. 
• They may not clarify whether eff  ects are related to each other by cau-

sality or by correlation. Indeed, because of the use of the concentric circles, a future wheel may lead individuals to incorrectly believe there 230 A Guide to Assessing Needsis a causal relationship between two eff  ects, when those eff  ects are, in 
fact, linked only by correlation. 
• Future wheels present the potential risk that one or more individuals will 
believe that eff  ects identiﬁ  ed through a future wheel will, in fact, happen 
when in actuality they are merely “hypotheses” or “best guesses.” 
• The relatively rudimentary nature of future wheels makes it hard to rep-
resent projected time lines associated with the eff  ects added to the future 
wheel. Such time lines can be an essential ingredient for problem and solution analysis.

wheel. Such time lines can be an essential ingredient for problem and solution analysis. 
• Because participants engage in subjective and projective thinking to cre-
ate it, a future wheel should be used only as one of many sources of infor-mation for more systematic and empirical analysis. It cannot, by itself, be used for coming to conclusive decisions. 
The procedure for conducting a future wheel activity is fairly simple and  easy to implement. It consists of two key phases: preparation and implementation. 
Preparation 
1. From the list of information required for the needs assessment, identify a

1. From the list of information required for the needs assessment, identify a 
trend, event, or question for the future wheel activity. This trend, event, or question will be the future wheel’s main topic. A question might be “What is the result if you continue doing as you are doing?” and an event might be “Eff ect of talent loss on organizational productivity.” The topic should
a. Focus on current or anticipated future events and their consequences. b. Be suited to exploration through a small group interactive session. 
2. Invite a small group of people (preferably between 8 and 12 individuals) 
to participate in the activity. If you intend to use this exercise with more than a dozen or so people, it is recommended that you run the activity multiple times. 
3. Determine whether the topic of the future wheel merits the use of out-

side resources during the actual activity. If so, search for resources that provide key information on the theme or question that you have identi-Needs Assessment: Tools and Techniques  231ﬁ ed as being the subject for the future wheel activity. Those resources 
will be shared with the group of participants during the actual activity. For example, you may want to gather the following:
a. Descriptions of future events or trends from the professional literatureb. Results from future or projection studiesc. Results from other trend analysis or future scenarios d. Data that provide insight on current or alternative future scenarios
4. Gather the resources required for conducting the activity. 
a. Flip charts (or conﬁ  rm that you will be in a room with a whiteboard) 
b. Markers in a variety of colors
Implementation
Preparing participants
1. Begin by warming up the group. Introduce participants to the concept of

1. Begin by warming up the group. Introduce participants to the concept of 
the future wheel, and explain the process for the activity. Emphasize that all participant contributions are considered valuable and that group members are encouraged to participate actively. Explain that the future wheel is laid out by order of consequences: 
a. Primary (or ﬁ  rst-order) eff  ects: The most immediate consequences of 
the future wheel’s key topic.
b. Secondary (or second-order) eff  ects: The most immediate conse-
quences following from the ﬁ  rst-order consequences. Depending on 
the topic, you may also opt to include third- or fourth-order eff  ects in 
the future wheel before continuing.
c. Implications or opportunities: The ﬁ  nal wheel of the activities focuses 
on the implications or opportunities that come from the identiﬁ  ed 
 eff ects.

 eff ects. 
2. Tell the participants the approach that will be used to add an eff  ect to the 
future wheel. Some options include the following: 
a. Asking participants to brainstorm ideas for eff  ects and adding those 
eff ects as they are being identiﬁ  ed and without evaluating them ﬁ  rst. 
b. Discussing each idea and evaluating the plausibility of the idea. If there 
is a general consensus that the potential eff  ect is plausible, it is added 
to the concept map.232 A Guide to Assessing Needs3. Introduce participants to the key topic for the future wheel activity. Dis-

cuss the relevance and importance of understanding the key event. If you are using supplementary resources, provide all the group members with copies of the background resources that you have prepared, and give them time to review the resources. 
Creating the future wheel
1. Write the future wheel’s key topic (for example, youth unemployment, 
aging populations) in the center of your drawing space, and place a circle around it. 
2. Ask the group to identify the ﬁ  rst-order eff  ects. As ﬁ  rst-order eff  ects are 
identiﬁ  ed, draw lines out from the center circle (the lines are referred to 
as “spokes”), and write the ﬁ  rst-order eff  ects at the end of the lines. 
After all key ﬁ  rst-order eff  ects have been identiﬁ  ed, draw a circle that 
encloses all the ﬁ  rst-order eff  ects.

encloses all the ﬁ  rst-order eff  ects. 
3. From here, tell participants to shift their focus away from the future 
wheel’s key concept and to instead focus on the ﬁ  rst-order eff  ects that 
were identiﬁ  ed. Ask participants to identify the key potential results from 
the ﬁ  rst-order eff  ects. Add those eff  ects to the future wheel by drawing 
spokes from the circle around the ﬁ  rst-order eff  ects and by writing the 
second-order eff  ects at the end of each of those spokes. After all key 
 second-order eff  ects have been identiﬁ  ed, draw a circle around all of 
them.
4. Continue this process until there is a consensus that the sequence of 
implications for the key topic is evident. 
5. Finally, identify implications or opportunities that emerge from the

them.
5. Finally, identify implications or opportunities that emerge from the 
identiﬁ  ed eff  ects, which could include, for example, new programs or 
policies that will imp rove performance in relation to the identiﬁ  ed 
issues. The key to this ﬁ  nal step is to introduce activities (or solutions) 
into the  discussion.
Discussing and interpreting the future wheel
1. After the future wheel has been completed, give the participants an op-
portunity to look it over and to synthesize the information in it. 
2. Initiate a discussion on the key topic of the future wheel by asking ques-
tions targeted to the purpose of the needs assessment. Themes you may want to use to guide the discussion are the following:

tions targeted to the purpose of the needs assessment. Themes you may want to use to guide the discussion are the following: 
a. Evaluation of the implications of the future wheel’s key topicNeeds Assessment: Tools and Techniques  233b. Desirable vs. undesirable primary, secondary, or tertiary eff  ects
c. Eff  ects of the present situation on potential future events
d. Approaches to avoiding negative outcomes
Examining alternative approaches to using future wheels
Future wheel activities can be used in many diff  erent ways. Here are some 
alternative approaches: 
1. Invite a panel of experts to participate in the future wheel activity. After 
the key topic of the future wheel has been identiﬁ  ed, the panel should 
discuss how the key event may aff  ect a variety of themes (for example, 
recruitment, talent management, proﬁ  t margins, and so on). Each panel

recruitment, talent management, proﬁ  t margins, and so on). Each panel 
member then should work individually to write down ideas related to the themes raised in the discussion. Use a round-robin approach to ask panel members to contribute their ideas. After a comprehensive list has been created, they should place their ideas in labeled categories. The future wheel can be created by adding the labeled categories as primary, second-ary, or tertiary eff  ects.
1
2. The future wheel activity can also be used as an approach for forecast-
ing the implications of alternative solution scenarios. To use this ap-proach, generate a scenario (for example, the implementation of perfor-mance-supporting solutions to improve  customer service), and select

one aspect from that scenario to explore (for example, an electronic performance support system, or EPSS). Ask participants to identify the speciﬁ  cs of what the selected item can achieve (that is, what functions 
the EPSS can perform in light of the need), and add those participant contributions as primary eff  ects. Next, ask participants to identify what 
is required for them to make the items in the “primary eff  ects” section 
of the future wheel a reality (for example, what resources and applica-tions are required to create and implement the functions of the EPSS). Add this information as the “secondary eff  ects.” The future wheel is 
then elaborated with additional eff  ect levels.
2 (See the example in 
ﬁ gure 3B.6.)
• What key topic you select for the future wheel activity is a critical issue.

• What key topic you select for the future wheel activity is a critical issue. 
Make sure that you thoroughly evaluate potential key topics (and how they are formulated) by looking at the information required from the 234 A Guide to Assessing Needsneeds assessment, analyzing those requirements, and potentially solicit-
ing feedback from outside experts. 
• Carefully select participants for the future wheel activity on the basis of 
the activity’s goal. For example, the purpose of the activity is to gather expert insight about the potential implications of a current situation or trend; therefore, select participants who can knowledgably contribute to such an analysis. Figure 3B.6 Sample Future Wheel 
Youth
unemployment
Issue
Primary
effects
Secondary
effects
Implications
or opportunitiesMental
depressionYouth 
living at
home
longer
Youth
dissatisfaction
with societyYouth-
based
crimes

Youth
Issue
Primary
effects
Secondary
effects
living at
home
longer
Youth
based
crimes
Youth-
based
protests
More youth
pursuing
college and
graduate
degrees
Increasing
number of
educated
youth
More
young
entre-
preneursEducated
youth
migration
(braindrain)Youth
economic
productivity
decreasedDelays in
marriage
and
childen
Effects on
national
economyHeath
system
strains
Gross
domestic
product
effects
Tax
revenue
decreases
Source: Based on http://www.knoke.org/lectures/futureswheel.htm.Needs Assessment: Tools and Techniques  235• In a clear way, tell participants the approach that will be used for adding 
information to the future wheel. If the future wheel is being used for any-thing other than general brainstorming, it is essential to evaluate ideas carefully before they are added to the future wheel. 
• Take the time to thoroughly discuss the future wheel after it has been

• Take the time to thoroughly discuss the future wheel after it has been 
created. At this point, you can stimulate a creative and informed discus-sion that will be based on a common source of information (the future wheel). 
Notes
1. Based on Witkin and Atschuld (1995).
2. Adapted from http://abhijitkohli.googlepages.com/futureswheel.
Reference
Websites 
A four-step example of a future wheel is available at http://www.knoke.org/
lectures/futureswheel.htm.
“Future Wheels: Interviews with 44 Global Experts on the Future of Fuel Cells 
for Transportation and Fuel Cell Infrastructure” is available at http://www.navc.org/Future_Wheels_I.pdf. 
A short description and examples of future wheels are available at http://
jcﬂ owers1.iweb.bsu.edu/rlo/tarelevance.htm.

A downloadable template of a future wheel is available at http://www.globaledu
cation.edna.edu.au/globaled/go/cache/off  once/pid/1835; jsessionid=050A14CB
101EAF863AE979C80461FCB3.236 A Guide to Assessing Needs 236 A Guide to Assessing NeedsPurpose 
The performance pyramid is a framework for ensuring that your needs 
assessment addresses each component’s underlying performance.
The performance pyramid (see ﬁ  gure 3B.7 in Process Overview) by John 
Wedman (2010) is a valuable tool that can be applied throughout a needs 
assessment to ensure that all aspects of the performance system are con-sidered. Use the performance pyramid to provide structure when you are 
identifying needs, analyzing needs, and deciding what to do to improve  
performance. 
During your analysis, for example, use the pyramid to determine how

During your analysis, for example, use the pyramid to determine how 
each element of the pyramid framework relates to the identiﬁ  ed need. Some 
elements (such as rewards, recognitions, and incentives) may be hindering current performance, whereas others (such as knowledge and skills) may be 
concurrently supporting the achievement of desired results. 
Likewise, use the performance pyramid again when deciding how to cre-
ate a complete system for improving performance. For example, recommen-
dations coming out of your assessment ma y include imp rovement activities 
related to three elements of the pyramid framework: (a) tools, envi ronment, and processes; (b) rewards, recognition, and incentives; and (c) knowledge and skills. At the same time, you might recommend monitoring the other elements for possible suboptimization (that is, when imp rovements from

your activities have unintended, negative consequences in relation to other 
elements of the performance system). (For helpful sample templates of 
improvement activities to use as job aids, see pages 242–244.)PERFORMANCE PYRAMIDNeeds Assessment: Tools and Techniques  237Finally, the pyramid framework can be an eff  ective tool for communicat-
ing the results of your assessment with partners and stakeholders. The framework, as a visual, illustrates the relationships among key components in accomplishing desired results; at the same time, it is ﬂ  exible enough to 
apply in a variety of contexts.
• The performance pyramid provides a valuable framework that ensures 
that each foundation component of a performance system is addressed in all phases of a needs assessment.
• The performance pyramid off  ers an easy tool for communicating the sys-

temic characteristics of performance with assessment partners that are internal or external to the organization.
• Relationships between the elements of the pyramid framework (for ex-
ample, the relationship between the organization’s capacity to achieve desired results and the alignment of vision, mission, and objectives re-quired to accomplish results) can provide necessary links for ensuring that imp rovements in one area don’t lead to new performance challenges 
in others.
• The pyramid, as a visual, can be misinterpreted as a hierarchy. The six 
blocks in the inner pyramid image are, in reality, interchangeable. For ex-ample, motivation and self-concept can be illustrated as the top com-ponent of the pyramid—as could any other elements depending on the context.

• The pyramid does not provide a process for conducting a needs assess-
ment or for improving performance; rather it is just a framework for aligning the elements that support the achievement of results.238 A Guide to Assessing NeedsNeeds Analysis Applications
For each identiﬁ  ed need, complete an analysis of the need to identify the 
contributing factors that are leading to the discrepancy between current and desired performance (results). Use the performance pyramid as a frame-work for planning your analysis, collecting information, and then analyzing the ﬁ  ndings so you can make recommendations.Process Overview
Figure 3B.7 Wedman’s Performance Pyramid

Source: Adapted from Watkins and Leigh (2010). Wedman (2010) has granted permission for use herein.Needs Assessment: Tools and Techniques  2391. Begin by clearly stating the need in terms of what desired results are not 
currently being accomplished. Use this precise deﬁ  nition of the need to 
drive your needs analysis; otherwise, you will typically drift from the per-formance gap into symptoms of the problem or preferred ﬁ  xes. Remem-
ber, a needs analysis is a systematic process to break apart a need and to determine what components are leading to the performance gap.
2. For each element of the performance pyramid framework, collect infor-
mation regarding its potential relationship with the identiﬁ  ed need. It

mation regarding its potential relationship with the identiﬁ  ed need. It 
doesn’t matter which element you start with (culture, capacity, feedback, and so on), but by the end of the analysis, you should examine each ele-ment for its potential role in relation to the need. Here are some sample questions for each element of the pyramid framework:
• Motivation and Self-Concept
• Are people motivated to achieve the desired results as speciﬁ  ed by 
the need?
• Are people motivated to accomplish the goals of the organization 
and its partners?
• What factors may be reducing motivation?
• Performance Capability
• Are the “right” people available to do the work?• Do the best performers stay with the organization or leave?• Does the organization have adequate capacity to take on new 
 projects?
• Expectations and Feedback

projects?
• Do people know what results are expected?• After people have completed a task, are they told what they did well 
and what they can improve  in the future?
• Rewards, Recognition, and Incentives  
• Are there incentives for people to accomplish desired results?• Are there disincentives for performing well?• Are people recognized or rewarded for their performance?
• Tools, Environment, and Processes
• Do people have access to the resources (equipment, time, software, 
and so on) that are required to meet performance goals?240 A Guide to Assessing Needs• Does the organizational environment (or culture) support the 
achievement of desired results?
• Are there systematic processes in place to guide performance?
• Knowledge and Skills
• Do people know how to do what is asked of them?• Are people given (or do they come with) the necessary skills to 
• Organizational Culture

• Does the organization’s culture support the achievement of desired 
results?
• Are there norms within the culture of the organization that hinder 
any other component of the pyramid framework?
• Resources
• Do people have the necessary resources (time, money, and so on) to 
• Have the resources required for achieving desired results been 
identiﬁ  ed?
• Vision, Mission, and Objectives
• Are people aware of how their work contributes to the team, orga-
nization, clients, and larger society?
• Is there a clear strategic plan that can be used to guide decisions at 
all levels of the organization?
• Are people able to be “proactive” because they know where they 
want to go, or do they always have to be “reactive” to changing events?
• Signiﬁ  cant Accomplishments

• Are the desired results aligned with the vision, mission, and objec-
tives of the organization?
• What is the return on investment for accomplishing desired results?
• Continuous Monitoring
• Are there monitoring (or evaluation) systems in place within the 
organization that can measure performance in relation to each component of the pyramid framework?Needs Assessment: Tools and Techniques  241• Are performances routinely monitored across the organization?
• Are monitoring results and r eports used to imp rove performance?
3. Ask questions related to each element of the pyramid to both internal and

3. Ask questions related to each element of the pyramid to both internal and 
external partners in the needs assessment. Often, external clients and partners can identify contributing factors to performance problems more easily than those on the inside of the organization.
4. Analyze responses to your analysis questions so you identify which ele-
ments (or sub-elements) are most closely related to the need; those ele-ments will typically include causal factors contributing to the need as well as other factors that are leading to current successes. You can also use fault tree analysis (see page 214), root cause analysis (see page 207), concept mapping (see page 220), and other tools to support your analysis within the pyramid framework.
5. Move the elements of your pyramid around to illustrate the relationship

5. Move the elements of your pyramid around to illustrate the relationship 
you have found during your needs analysis. For instance, for the need, you might determine that the expectations and feedback element of the pyra-mid should really be placed at the top to illustrate its critical role in rela-tion to the need within the organizational context. Then the supporting elements—such as motivation and self-concept or incentives, rewards, and recognition—can be used to illustrate the foundations that must be built to ensure the success of the entire performance system. After all, no single element of the pyramid is more important than the others; for suc-cessful performance, you must have all elements working together.
Solution Identiﬁ  cation Applications
1. Remember that your needs analysis identiﬁ  es factors contributing to the

1. Remember that your needs analysis identiﬁ  es factors contributing to the 
performance gap for many of the pyramid’s components (for instance, motivation and self-concept or capacity or skills and knowledge). Like-wise, you will frequently ﬁ  nd several causal factors within a single ele-
ment of the pyramid (for example, two or three factors with the element of expectations and feedback may be contributing to less-than-desirable performance. 
2. Working with your needs assessment’s internal and external partners, es-
tablish a rough priority of the factors leading to identiﬁ  ed needs on the 
basis of their relationship—positive or negative—with the accomplish-ment of desired results. Precision  is not required, but a rough prioritiza-
tion can help you focus time, eff  ort, and other resources.242 A Guide to Assessing Needs3. For each identiﬁ  ed causal factor, pinpoint at least two potential solutions

tion can help you focus time, eff  ort, and other resources.242 A Guide to Assessing Needs3. For each identiﬁ  ed causal factor, pinpoint at least two potential solutions 
that could help imp rove the achievement of desir ed results (for exam-
ples, see the Job Aids section that follows). Having choices is important to quality decision making; therefore, it is important to identify at least two options for each factor. One option might seem to be clearly the bet-ter choice at ﬁ  rst, but that decision is best left until after you have identi-
ﬁ ed a variety of alternatives.
4. Before selecting any of the identiﬁ  ed solutions, determine what criteria 
will be used to weigh your options, thus ensuring that each alternative gets a fair appraisal of its potential. 
5. Judge each potential solution for each causal factor on the basis of the

5. Judge each potential solution for each causal factor on the basis of the 
criteria established in the prior step. It is frequently useful to apply a sys-tematic process, such as multicriteria analysis (see page 171), to assess each option.
6. When you have selected a variety of activities to address the factors lead-
ing to the need (performance gap), use the performance pyramid again to verify that you are addressing all components that (a) support perfor-mance and (b) ensure that the complete performance system will beneﬁ  t 
from the imp rovements.
Job Aids: A Sample of Improvement 
Activities to Consider
Expectation Feedback 
Possible imp rovement activities include clear performance guidelines,

Possible imp rovement activities include clear performance guidelines, 
 reference manuals for processes and procedures, realistic job previews, managerial coaching, quality assurance programs, quality on-boarding or orientation programs, benchmarking, performance appraisals, upward and peer evaluations, identiﬁ  cation and documentation of performance indica-
tors, goal setting, routine one-on-ones, and individual imp rovement plans.
Tools, Environment, and Processes 
Possible imp rovement activities include electronic performance support, 
job aids, performance aids, process reengineering, knowledge management, process imp rovement, ergonomics, workstation design, warning systems, 
labeling and color coding, safety planning, social networking, quality man-agement, team colocation, and six sigma.Needs Assessment: Tools and Techniques  243Rewards, Incentives, and Recognition

labeling and color coding, safety planning, social networking, quality man-agement, team colocation, and six sigma.Needs Assessment: Tools and Techniques  243Rewards, Incentives, and Recognition 
Possible imp rovement activities include bonus systems , commission systems, 
proﬁ  t sharing, merit award systems, annual awards ceremony, employee of 
the month, job sharing, ﬂ  ex hours, job enrichment, telecommuting, educa-
tion beneﬁ  ts, personnel in the spotlight, empowerment, and delegation.
Organizational Capacity 
Possible imp rovement activities include recruitment pr ograms, retention 
programs, early retirement, phased retirement, interviewing, job rotation, mergers, acquisitions, crowd-sourcing, outsourcing, succession planning, affi  rmative action programs, outplacement centers, cross training, internal 
recruitment programs, interview standards, and competency models.
Knowledge and Skills 
Possible imp rovement activities include classroom training , e-learning, team

Possible imp rovement activities include classroom training , e-learning, team 
learning, mentoring, coaching, quality on-boarding or orientation programs, on-the-job training, brown-bag lunch sessions, webinars, podcasts or vod-casts, and tuition reimbursement.
Motivation and Self-Concept
Possible imp rovement activities include job crafting , job sharing, ﬂ  ex hours, 
education beneﬁ  ts, career mentoring, career ladders, job rotation systems, 
and motivational communications.
Resources 
Possible imp rovement activities include restructuring, supply chain manage-
ment, cash ﬂ  ow analysis, budgeting and accounting systems, career manage-
ment programs, career ladders, outplacement, and cost reductions.
Continuous Monitoring
Possible imp rovement activities include performance monitoring, qual-

ity management, six sigma, program evaluations, training evaluations, goal/question/metric programs, ﬁ  nancial analysis, client surveys, balanced 
scorecard, key performance indicators, managerial dashboards, and needs assessments.244 A Guide to Assessing NeedsVision, Mission, and Objectives 
Possible imp rovement activities include mega planning, strategic planning, 
future search, SWOT analysis (see page 127), appreciative inquiry, scenario planning, workforce planning, job forecasting, tabletop analysis (see page 180), values identiﬁ  cation, and risk management.
Gilbert, Thomas F. 2007 . Human Competence: Engineering Worthy Performance . 
Tribute ed. San Francisco: Pfeiff  er.
Watkins, Ryan, and Doug Leigh, eds. 2010. Handbook for Improving Performance

Society for Performance Improvement. 
Watkins, Ryan, and John F. Wedman. 2003. “A Process for Aligning Performance 
Improvement Resources and Strategies.” Performance Improvement Journal  
42 (7): 9–17 .
Wedman, John F. 2010. “Performance Pyramid Model.” In Handbook of Improv-
ing Performance in the Workplace . Vol. 2:  Selecting and Implementing Perfor-
mance Interventions , edited by Ryan Watkins and Doug Leigh, 51–80. San 
Francisco: Wiley/Pfeiff  er, and Silver Spring, MD: International Society for 
Performance Imp rovement.
Wedman, John F., and L. Diggs. 2001. “Identifying Barriers to Technology-

 Enhanced Learning Environments in Teacher Education.” Computers in 
Human Behavior  17: 421–30.
Wedman, John F., and S. W . Graham. 1998. “Introducing the Concept of Perfor-
mance Support Using the Performance Pyramid .” Journal of Continuing 
Higher Education  46 (3): 8–20.
Wedman, John F., and M. Tessmer. 1993. “Instructional Designers’ Decisions and 
Priorities: A Survey of Design Practice.” Performance Improvement Quarterly  6 
(2): 43–57 .
Websites 
Many resources (including podcast interviews) on how to use the performance 
pyramid in a needs assessment are available at http://www.needsassessment.org.
Website and manual for using the performance pyramid are available at 
http://needsassessment.missouri.edu/.MANAGEMENT AND 
IMPLEMENTATION GUIDES AND CHECKLISTSAppendix A

In this appendix, you will ﬁ  nd several easy-to-use guides and checklists that 
can help you complete your needs assessment.
Appendix A.1 Implementation Plan for a Needs Assessment
Appendix A.2  Detailed Checklist for Needs Assessment Management 
Activities
Appendix A.3 A Six-Week Needs Assessment Implementation GuideAppendix A.4 Tools and Techniques to ConsiderAppendix A.5  Guide to Selecting Tools and Techniques (Applied Multi-
criteria Analysis)
Appendix A.6  Three-Phase Needs Assessment Process with Addi-
tional Details247Implementation Plan for a Needs 
AssessmentAPPENDIX A.1
This sample planning table provides a general set of tasks for carrying out 
your needs assessment. Because each needs assessment is unique, this sample can be adjusted to the particular requirements of your speciﬁ  c needs assess-

ment. For instance, a smaller-scale needs assessment may compress several of the activities into a few days of eff  ort, whereas  larger-scale assessments may 
require additional tasks, time, and involvement of partners to be able to appropriately adjust to the complexities of the organization. Nevertheless, the sample planning table can be a guide for you to determine what has to be done, who should be involved, and how long you estimate that it may take to complete a needs assessment.
Completing a needs assessment typically requires a number of people 
with diff  erent roles and levels of expertise. Low-skill tasks, such as schedul-
ing a meeting, can be completed by staff   members with minimum qualiﬁ  ca-

tions.  Medium-skill tasks, such verifying the links between proposed activities and needs, can be completed by staff   members with some special-
ized training. Finally, high-skill tasks, such as data analysis and interpreta-tion, require professionals with task-speciﬁ  c experience and expertise. 
Depending on your organization, people may have titles that are very diff  er-
ent from the ones we have used here. 248 A Guide to Assessing NeedsRecommended Primary Tasks Sample Activities Within Tasks
Preassessment
1. Establish the overall scope of 
the needs assessment.
• Determine who should be the main collaborators in designing the 
needs assessment.
• Schedule a meeting and invite collaborators.• Create an agenda.• Facilitate the meeting.• Sketch out the main goals, tasks, and design of the assessment;

• Schedule a meeting and invite collaborators.• Create an agenda.• Facilitate the meeting.• Sketch out the main goals, tasks, and design of the assessment; 
decide if external experts should be engaged.
• Conﬁ  rm agreements from the meeting.
• Decide how decisions will be made about the implementation of the 
assessment; for larger needs assessments, create a steering committee (SC) to guide the process.
2. Identify the primary 
performance issues.
• Identify and create a list of performance problems and opportunities. 
During the assessment, more or different items could emerge.
• Prioritize items from this list that the needs assessment should 
cover.
3. Deﬁ  ne the data requirements.
 • Deﬁ  ne the type of data required and sources of that information.
• Establish what data are not readily available, what you might want to 
collect, and what sources you plan to use.
• Gather preliminary data.
4. Create a management plan.
 • Deﬁ  ne objectives for the assessment.

• Prepare a time line and deadlines for tasks.• Identify the assessment team members, roles, and responsibilities. • For more details, see the detailed checklist for needs 
assessment management activities (see appendix A.2 and www.needsassessment.org/).Implementation Plan for a Needs Assessment  249
(continued on next page) 5. Validate your management 
plan.
• Collaborators and SC members should review and critique the 
management plan.
• Gather feedback from others who will have a stake in the success 
of the assessment: colleagues, peers, clients, partners, sponsors, community members, and so on.
• Revise the plan, as required.
Assessment
 1. Plan the data collection 
effort. 
 • Collect existing data (for example, documents) to be reviewed.

effort. 
• Decide on data collection methods to be used.• Create data collection instruments: surveys, interview protocols, and 
so on.
• Train data collectors (for example, facilitators of focus groups)• Schedule interviews, focus groups, performance observations, or 
other techniques to be used.
 2. Verify that data collection 
instruments will identify information about gaps.
• Analyze and cross-check all of the instruments.
• Ensure that information will be collected on both the current and 
desired results so you can identify gaps.
• Review the data collection techniques with team members so that 
everyone is aware of the critical information required.
• Obtain clearances from individuals or committees (for example, 
institutional review board) for data collection instruments and plans.
 3. Collect data.

 • Manage the collection of data to ensure that all critical perspectives 
are represented.
• Check that the instruments, techniques, and sources represent 
varying perspectives about the primary performance issues.
• Determine when the assessment has enough information to move 
to the next task.
• Enter the collected data into a secure database or central location.250 A Guide to Assessing NeedsRecommended Primary Tasks Sample Activities Within Tasks
 4. Determine gaps (needs) by 
analyzing current and desired results.
• Analyze the information collected to identify gaps between current 
and desired results.
• Verify that information collected from qualitative techniques (for 
example, interviews) is included in the analysis.
• Ensure that comparisons between current and desired results use

• Ensure that comparisons between current and desired results use 
equivalent information (for example, comparing apples to apples).
 5. Prioritize gaps (needs). 
 • Use information collected to prioritize the identiﬁ  ed gaps.
• Prioritize gaps according to size, scope, distinguishing 
characteristics, relative importance, or other criteria.
• Review the prioritized list with the assessment team members 
and SC.
• Collect additional information, if required, to reﬁ  ne the prioritization.
 6.  Determine causes of gaps.
 • For the highest-priority needs, create a plan for collecting 
information on the causal factors that are likely leading to the performance gaps.
• Plan for a needs analysis and root cause analysis for each of the 
highest-priority needs.
• Prepare to collect additional information using multiple techniques 
and tools, if necessary.

 7. Collect information about the 
causal factors (or root causes). 
 • Identify all signiﬁ  cant factors causing the performance gaps.
• Use tools (for example, ﬁ  shbone or fault tree diagrams) to assess 
the relationships among causal factors.
 Implementation Plan for a Needs Assessment  251 8. Analyze and synthesize the 
information you have collected about both gaps and causes.
• Link together information collected on gaps and causal factors.
• Be aware that there are typically multiple relationships among gaps 
and causal factors (for instance, one causal factor may be related to multiple gaps).
• Review the results of the analysis with SC members.• Prioritize needs and related causal factors using one or more

• Review the results of the analysis with SC members.• Prioritize needs and related causal factors using one or more 
decision-making techniques in this book (see Part 3B. Decision-Making Tools and Techniques). 
 9. Identify possible solutions 
(activities) to address priority gaps and associated causal factors.
• Identify two or more potential solutions (activities) that can be used 
to improve the results identiﬁ  ed with each priority gap.
• Verify that potential activities address one or more causal factors 
related to priority needs.
10. Evaluate the potential 
solutions (activities) using agreed-upon criteria so you determine which are most likely to lead to improvements.
• Establish criteria to be used for judging the potential value of each 
possible solution.
• Have the assessment team review the assessment criteria.• Judge each potential activity (that is, intervention, project) using the 
agreed-upon criteria.

(continued on next page)252 A Guide to Assessing NeedsRecommended Primary Tasks Sample Activities Within Tasks
11. Recommend the solutions 
that will best achieve the desired results.
• Review all of the information collected and the results of the 
analyses.
• Summarize the ﬁ  ndings related to priority needs and the causal 
factors.
• Recommend solutions that are likely to achieve success.
Postassessment
1. Summarize your 
recommendations in a report or presentation.
• Summarize the assessment of potential activities for each priority 
gap and causal factor.
• Take into account the social, political, technological, cultural, legal, 
and ethical factors that inﬂ  uence recommendations or decisions.
• Review and revise the summary on the basis of feedback from the 
assessment SC.
2. Communicate your draft

2. Communicate your draft 
ﬁ ndings to your stakeholders. 
• Before releasing your needs assessment report, share the ﬁ  ndings 
with stakeholders for review and comment.
• If you relied signiﬁ  cantly on data from a few individuals, ask them to 
review the draft report as well.
3. Integrate needs assessment 
results into activity monitoring and evaluation plans. 
• Use the ﬁ  ndings of the needs assessment to develop a plan for the 
monitoring and evaluation of solutions (activities) that occur. 
• Align assessment, monitoring, and evaluation activities through 
systematic planning and follow-up.
 Implementation Plan for a Needs Assessment  2534. Evaluate your needs 
assessment process. 
• Reﬂ  ect on the activities of the needs assessment, and note 
potential steps that could be taken to improve assessments in the future.

• For future needs assessments, report on recommendations for 
improvements to the processes. 
5. Document needs assessment 
efforts.
 • Write a summary or full report to communicate the needs 
assessment steps, decisions, and recommendations (see section 2 under the question “What Should Go in a Needs Assessment Report and Presentation?”).
• Create a presentation to communicate the needs assessment 
recommendations or decisions (see section 2 for further discussion).
• Send copies to all stakeholders as well as others who provided 
assistance during the needs assessment. 255This detailed checklist provides more speciﬁ  c guidance on the main ele-

ments to consider when planning, implementing, and managing a needs assessment. Adapt the checklist to the nature of your needs assessment (that is, according to the assessment scale, purpose, time line, and so on). This particular checklist is developed for teams who are involved with large-
scale  needs assessment projects, programs, or policies. 
The checklist should be used as a tool for determining and document-
ing plans from the preassessment to postassessment stages. Think of it as a living document during the assessment process, and plan to amend it throughout the undertaking so it regularly reﬂ  ects the current situation. 
Focus or title of the needs assessment:
Name of ofﬁ  ce or organization managing the 
needs assessment process:

Name(s) of checklist preparer(s):Date the needs assessment will begin:Date of the needs assessment’s planned 
completion:Detailed Checklist for Needs 
Assessment Management ActivitiesAPPENDIX A.2256 A Guide to Assessing NeedsFor each item that follows, you’ll want to indicate who is responsible 
for each step, plus any deadlines for completion. This is a very long list, and not every step is expected to occur in a given needs assessment. Yet we hope it will provide you with a rather comprehensive list of issues to consider for larger-scale or complex needs assessments.
Overall Purpose of the Needs Assessment
/H18554 Issue to be addressed.  Describe the nature of the issue (for example, 
problem, question, and so on) to be addressed through the needs assess-ment.
/H18554 Purpose or goal. What is expected to be learned from the needs assess-

ment? Why is the needs assessment to be undertaken?
/H18554 Use. How will the needs assessment ﬁ  ndings be used? Who will use 
them?
Planning and Management
/H18554 Requesters. Who requested that the needs assessment be done? Who 
will determine if it is successful?
/H18554 Sponsor(s).  Who is sponsoring the needs assessment?
/H18554 Expected sponsor contributions.  What types of sponsor contribu-
tions (for example, money, employee involvement, providing data, and so on) do you expect?
/H18554 Authorizations to carry out the needs assessment.  Are there any 
authorizations required—such as by a government body or an institu-tional review board—for conducting the needs assessment?
/H18554 Budget. What costs are expected or required for consultants, travel,

/H18554 Budget. What costs are expected or required for consultants, travel, 
supplies, rentals, and other items? (Provide details of each cost item for large-scale needs assessments.)
/H18554 Time.  How many days or weeks of employee time are expected for 
involvement with the needs assessment? Include time for all people involved at the diff  erent stages (from preassessment to postassessment) 
and the range of roles (from oversight roles to data collectors).
/H18554 Other resources. Explain other types and amounts of resources 
required.
/H18554 Period for conducting the needs assessment.  Over what period do 
you expect the needs assessment to occur? When is the ﬁ  nal needs 
assessment report to be submitted?
/H18554 Plans for the scope of work or terms of reference. What is the nature

/H18554 Plans for the scope of work or terms of reference. What is the nature 
of work to be done? Typically, these features are included in a larger-scope needs assessment:Detailed Checklist for Needs Assessment Management Activities  257• Needs assessment purpose and major questions to be addressed
• Overall management plan, time line, and scope of work (including the 
hiring of any consultants, and so on)
• Data requirements and data sources determination
• Stakeholder or informant determination
• Data collection method and instrument development
• Data collection implementation (for example, focus groups, inter-
views, and so on)
• Data entry, sorting, and assembly (for example, data entry, data orga-
nizing, and so on)
• Data analysis—qualitative and quantitative (for example, content

• Data analysis—qualitative and quantitative (for example, content 
analysis of qualitative data, statistical analysis of quantitative survey data, assembling themes and patterns)
• Ways to assemble the ﬁ  ndings (for example, constructing a story 
about the themes and patterns found, considering missing data and 
remediation approaches for handling missing information, clarifying the gaps, and so on)
• Written report preparation of the data (for example, writing a report 
of the analysis, preparing tables with ﬁ  ndings, developing graphical 
displays of information, and so on)
• Reviews and editing of reports (for example, internally, by peer or 
expert reviewers, and so on)
• Oral reporting of the ﬁ  ndings (for example, presentations on ﬁ  ndings 
to internal and external audiences, community, and so on)
• Information dissemination and communication (for example, within

• Information dissemination and communication (for example, within 
team only, to external groups, community announcements in news-papers, and so on)
• Follow-up action planning after completion of the needs assessment
/H18554 Responsible individual or team to carry out the needs assessment.  
Which individuals or groups will carry out the diff  erent steps of the 
needs assessment? Be sure to diff  erentiate between those who will man-
age and those who will implement (for example, carry out data collec-tion) the work. Also determine how the work will be divided.
/H18554 Internal, external, other.  Will the needs assessment be done by an 
internal resource (for example, employees of the same agency for whom the needs assessment is being conducted), by an external resource (for example, independent consultants), or through another arrangement

(for example, graduate student interns, some internal and some external resources)?258 A Guide to Assessing Needs/H18554 Skills of the assessors.  Are the skills of the assessors adequate and ver-
iﬁ ed? Is additional training or support required for them? What is the 
previous experience? Is sample work available?
/H18554 Quality assurance.  What are the criteria on which the quality will be 
judged? How will we ensure that the needs assessment is conducted in a quality manner?
/H18554 Conﬂ  icts of interest.  What are any potential conﬂ  icts of interest related 
to the planning, implementation, and management?
/H18554 Products.  What are the products (for example, a report, a presentation, 
technical advice, and so on) expected from the needs assessment pro-cess? What do the sponsors expect to see at the end of the process? When are the respective products to be delivered?
/H18554 Review process.  What are the plans for the needs assessment to be

/H18554 Review process.  What are the plans for the needs assessment to be 
reviewed against diff  erent criteria: quality, appropriateness of informa-
tion, and so on? Who will be the reviewers, and what is the justiﬁ  cation 
for their selection?
/H18554 Process monitoring.  What are the key benchmarks or deliverables to 
be monitored for progress in completing the needs assessment?
/H18554 Internal communications.  How will internal communications occur 
so that all members of the needs assessment team are aware of the important aspects of needs assessment implementation?
/H18554 Risks or constraints. What are known (or possible) risks or constraints 
to the successful implementation of the needs assessment?
/H18554 Credibility of the needs assessment. How do we ensure that the needs 
assessment is viewed internally and externally as being valid, free from bias, and so on?
/H18554 Costs and beneﬁ  ts of the approach taken in the needs assessment.

/H18554 Costs and beneﬁ  ts of the approach taken in the needs assessment. 
What are the provisions to weigh costs and beneﬁ  ts in choosing among 
diff erent approaches to carry out the needs assessment? How can costs, 
effi  ciencies, and beneﬁ  ts be adequately addressed?
Data Requirements and Sources
/H18554 Existing logic model review.  Does a logic model (results chain) exist? 
What are the plans for review and veriﬁ  cation that the logic model is 
properly reﬂ  ective of the current situation? If it does not exist, could a 
logic model be constructed, and who will be responsible for doing this?
/H18554 Existing data.  What data exist about the issue of inquiry? What do we

/H18554 Existing data.  What data exist about the issue of inquiry? What do we 
know about any gaps between current results and possible desired results to be achieved?Detailed Checklist for Needs Assessment Management Activities  259/H18554 Data quality, credibility, and veriﬁ  cation.  What do we know about 
how data were collected? Are the data suffi   ciently precise, reliable, rel-
evant, valid, and so on? How will we verify the quality?
/H18554 Data sources and access. What are the data sources (for example, data 
systems, informants, reports, and so on)? Do we have access to them?
/H18554 Useful missing data.  What information would be useful to know but is 
not available? How might we obtain it?
/H18554 Data costs. What might it cost us to obtain the data?
/H18554 Data security.  What are the provisions for securing data and ensuring 
the protection of the data and the conﬁ  dentiality (or anonymity) of

the protection of the data and the conﬁ  dentiality (or anonymity) of 
sources?
/H18554 Suffi   ciency of data and sources.  How will we know if our data are suf-
ﬁ cient—appropriate, targeted, comprehensive, and so on? How will we 
know when we have enough data to guide decisions?
/H18554 Sampling. Will sampling be used? If so, how? Will a sampling expert be 
engaged?
Stakeholders and Informants
/H18554 Stakeholders and informants.  Who (individuals, groups, community, 
and so on) are possible stakeholders and informants for the needs assess-ment? 
/H18554 Primary informants.  Who are primary informants? What information 
can they provide?
/H18554 Secondary informants.  Who are secondary informants? What infor-
mation can they  provide?
/H18554 Other informants.  Who are other informants? What information can 
they provide?
/H18554 Outreach and contact information for stakeholders or informants.

/H18554 Outreach and contact information for stakeholders or informants.  
How do we reach out to stakeholders or informants? Do we have contact information?
/H18554 Communications and protocols for contacting stakeholders or 
informants.  What are the protocols (for example, obtaining approv als 
for their participation, sending letters of invitation in advance, and so on) that we must observe in engaging with stakeholders or informants?
/H18554 Informed consent and disclosure.  Will letters of informed consent 
be prepared for informants prior to data collection occurring? Will notiﬁ  cations be prepared and shared with informants about how their

be prepared for informants prior to data collection occurring? Will notiﬁ  cations be prepared and shared with informants about how their 
information will be safeguarded or disclosed? Will ethics committees be involved in the process of preparing and collecting consent records? 260 A Guide to Assessing Needs/H18554 Coding of informants. How will codes be assigned to individual infor-
mants to track their responses and at the same time protect the conﬁ  -
dentiality of the information provided by them?
/H18554 Conﬂ  icts or biases of stakeholders or informants.  What are any 
potential conﬂ  icts that the diff  erent types of stakeholders or informants 
might have? What are any known biases?
/H18554 Updating stakeholders.  Who else should be kept informed on the 
progress of the needs assessment (for example, groups potentially indi-rectly aff  ected by the results of the needs assessment)?
Data Collection Method and Instrument Development

/H18554 Question development.  What are the main questions and subquestions 
to be asked? What type of information do we expect to receive from the questions? What are probing questions that data collectors should be prepared to ask following lead questions?
/H18554 Data collection methods.  What data collection methods are planned? 
What are the criteria for selecting the methods (for example, the method is likely to generate a high number of respondents, the method can be implemented within the budget and time constraints, informants usually provide multilayered levels of information with this method, and so on)?
/H18554 Data collection phasing and triangulation.  How will the data collec-
tion methods be phased? How will the data be triangulated?

/H18554 Instrument protocol development.  What topics should the instru-
ments cover? How should the instruments be structured and formatted? Are sample instruments available? Who is to develop the instruments? 
/H18554 Instrument testing and revisions.  How will the instruments be tested? 
Who will be responsible for revisions and secondary testing?
/H18554 Language requirements.  Are translation or interpretation services 
required? What will be the review process for translations?
/H18554 Incentives and compensation.  Will any incentives or compensation be 
provided to informants (that is, for their time and eff  ort)? What other 
arrangements will be made for the convenience of informants (for example, child care for focus group attendees, refreshments, and so on)?
/H18554 Administration of data collection.  When will the data collection

/H18554 Administration of data collection.  When will the data collection 
eff orts occur? How will the eff  orts be divided and coordinated?
/H18554 Selection and preparation of data collectors.  Do data collectors have 
the requisite technical skills? Do data collectors have the appropriate language and cultural or other backgrounds? How will data collectors be trained?Detailed Checklist for Needs Assessment Management Activities  261/H18554 Approval of data collection plans.  Who or which offi   ce (for example, 
institutional review board) will app rove the data collection instruments 
and plans?
Data Analysis Plans
/H18554 Data system management.  What is the system for managing data 
(for example, a  database)?
/H18554 Data entry. How will data be transcribed? How will data be entered into 
a database?
/H18554 Data entry instructions and coding.  Are instructions being prepared

/H18554 Data entry instructions and coding.  Are instructions being prepared 
for how to enter data? Is a “data dictionary” or explanation about how data are to be coded being prepared? 
/H18554 Data entry training.  Who is responsible for training data enterers? 
How and when will training occur?
/H18554 Data entry timing.  What are the plans for monitoring the timing of data 
transcription and entry so as not to lose, in particular, the nuances of qualitative narrative data?
/H18554 Data veriﬁ  cation. How will entered data be checked for errors?
/H18554 Quantitative data analysis.  How will quantitative data be analyzed 
(for example, Excel, SPSS, and so on)? What would sample data reports look like?
/H18554 Quantitative data analysis reviews.  What is the process for reviewing

/H18554 Quantitative data analysis reviews.  What is the process for reviewing 
the correct interpretation and reporting of raw numerical data, statisti-cal analyses, charts, and so on?
/H18554 Qualitative data analysis.  (Note multiple items that follow.)
• Interpreting qualitative data.  Who is in charge of overseeing the inter-
pretation of qualitative data, providing guidance, and so on?
• Content analysis of qualitative data. How will content be analyzed?
• Categorization of qualitative data.  How will categorization of themes 
occur? Who is responsible?
• Coding of qualitative data.  What is the process for coding? Who is 
responsible?
• Data dictionary preparation for qualitative data coding . What is the 
process for developing and documenting the data dictionary?
• Intercoder reliability for qualitative data analysis.  What are the provi-

sions for multiple raters and for cross-checking of coding or ratings?
/H18554 Data transfer.  If consultants or independent groups are conducting 
the needs assessment, how and in what form will collected data be 262 A Guide to Assessing Needstransferred to the needs assessment manager or team? How will respon-
dent data remain conﬁ  dential (where appropriate), and at the same 
time how will certain data be made available to the needs assessment manager or sponsor?
Findings or Results of the Assessment (completed after the assess-
ment is done)
/H18554 Current results. What are the current results being achieved?
/H18554 Desired results.  What are the desired results to be achieved? Indicate if 
there are stages of  results (for example, one year out, ﬁ  ve years out, and 
so on) and diff  erent levels of results (if any).

so on) and diff  erent levels of results (if any). 
/H18554 Gaps.  Did the research determine one or more gaps in results? What is 
it that should be achieved that is currently not being achieved?
/H18554 Existing strengths. What are the identiﬁ  ed existing results that are 
positive or can be considered strengths? What is working well and can possibly be grown or further supported?
/H18554 Alignment. Is there an alignment between gaps identiﬁ  ed at the strate-
gic, tactical, and operational levels?
/H18554 Prioritization of gaps. Were the gaps in results prioritized? Based on 
what criteria?
/H18554 Causal analysis. Were gaps analyzed for primary “causes”?
/H18554 Proposed solutions. Were activities (that is, solutions) identiﬁ  ed to 
address the “causes” of the gaps? How were the solutions prioritized?
/H18554 Logic model or results chain development.  Was a logic model devel-

oped (or revised) to illustrate the ﬁ  ndings? Were indicators and mea-
surements (and any targets and baselines) elaborated in the logic model?
/H18554 Capacity building. How can capacity be built within the organization 
to achieve desired results?
/H18554 Final recommendations. What were the recommended actions of the 
needs assessment? 
Written Reporting of the Data
/H18554 Expected content.  What are the expected contents and sections of the 
report? In what order will the sections be presented? Are existing reporting templates or tables of contents available?
/H18554 Format.  What are the formats indicating how the reports (for example, 
executive brief, full report, public information brief, and so on) should look?
/H18554 Graphics and charts.  What is expected in terms of graphic and chart

/H18554 Graphics and charts.  What is expected in terms of graphic and chart 
design? Will specialists in graphics and design be available for this work?Detailed Checklist for Needs Assessment Management Activities  263/H18554 Report timing.  What are the time lines for drafts, revisions, and ﬁ  nal 
versions of the reports?
/H18554 Audience.  Who are the diff  erent audiences for the diff  erent reports? 
Should diff  erent audiences get diff  erent reports?
/H18554 Report availability and dissemination.  How will reports be made 
available—hard copies, posted on websites, copies in public information or community centers?
/H18554 Language.  In what language(s) will the report(s) be made available? 
Will report(s) be made available in the language of majority and minor-ity stakeholders? What provisions will be made for those with low liter-acy skills?

/H18554 Feedback.  What is the process for giving the supervising authority, 
stakeholders, consultants, and others an opportunity to provide feed-back? Will stakeholders be able to provide feedback prior to the release of the report?
Reviews or Editing of Reports
/H18554 Reviewers.  Who are the reviewers: internal, external, academic or 
expert, beneﬁ  ciaries, and so on?
/H18554 Reviewer guidelines.  What guidelines are given to reviewers?
/H18554 Review schedule.  When will reviews occur? What is the expected turn-
around time for reviewers?
/H18554 Reviewer compensation.  Will reviewers be compensated in some 
way? If so, which reviewers?
Oral Reporting
/H18554 Expected content.  What will be presented orally?
/H18554 Format.  What are the formats of oral reporting: community brieﬁ  ngs, 
podcasts, radio, and so on?

podcasts, radio, and so on? 
/H18554 Visual tools.  What visual tools (for example, posters, PowerPoint pre-
sentations, and so on) will complement oral presentations?
/H18554 Report timing.  What are the time lines for the oral reporting?
/H18554 Audience.  Who are the diff  erent audiences for the diff  erent oral reports?
/H18554 Communications.  How will stakeholders know what the oral presenta-
tion schedule is, who is presenting, and how to participate?
/H18554 Language.  In what language(s) will the presentation(s) be made avail-
able? Will provisions be made available in the language of majority and minority stakeholders? 
/H18554 Feedback.  What is the process for giving stakeholders an opportunity to 
provide feedback?264 A Guide to Assessing NeedsFollow-Up Action Planning after Completion of the Needs Assessment

/H18554 Decisions.  What will the process be for decision making? Who are the 
decision makers?
/H18554 Communication about decisions.  How will decisions be communicated?
/H18554 Documenting decisions.  What is the process for documenting the 
decision-making process and ﬁ  nal decisions?
/H18554 Criticisms.  What is the process for documenting or acting on criticisms 
of stakeholders or doing both?
/H18554 Formative evaluation of needs assessment . What is the process for 
evaluating and making recommendations for ho w to imp rove the needs 
assessment process?265Completing a comprehensive needs assessment in a short period, for instance 
six weeks, requires a fair amount of planning and ﬂ  exibility. To help with quick

six weeks, requires a fair amount of planning and ﬂ  exibility. To help with quick 
assessments, we have created a simple guide that illustrates the major consider-ations and tasks that should be completed during each of the weeks. The guide focuses on four major categories of activities, each deﬁ  ning an important com-
ponent of the overall assessment. The categories represent activities that dis-tinct subgroups may work on during the assessment or that the whole team may collaborate on in all four categories. 
1. Partner commitment:  Gaining and maintaining the commitment of partners 
to support your needs assessment is essential, especially when you will be moving quickly to identify and to analyze needs so that you can make decisions.
2. Planning (desired results):  Deﬁ  ning the desired results at the strategic, tac-

tical, and operational levels provides for the important comparison of cur-rent and desired performance. Do not assume that desired results are clear or that adequate indictors and measures are available.
3. Data collection (current results): Deﬁ ning needs (that is, gaps in results) 
requires data regarding the current achievements with parallel indicators and measures of the desired results. Especially in quick assessments, the data col-lection process must be effi   cient to be able to properly identify needs.
4. Process management:  Organizing and administering your needs assessment 
is critical to your success.
Use this guide (along with the other tools and techniques included through-
out this book) to plan your next assessment, but keep in mind that planning for a successful needs assessment requires both patience and ﬂ  exibility. A Six-Week Needs Assessment

out this book) to plan your next assessment, but keep in mind that planning for a successful needs assessment requires both patience and ﬂ  exibility. A Six-Week Needs Assessment 
Implementation GuideAPPENDIX A.3266 A Guide to Assessing NeedsNeeds Assessment
Pre–needs 
assessment• Plan kickoff meeting.
• Identify team.• Identify and meet with sponsor.• Get team members out of other work so that they can participate fully.• Determine initial scope and needs assessment questions to propose to partners.• Identify potential team roles (and subteam roles).• Create a basic project plan for the needs assessment to propose to partners.
Partner 
commitment tasksPlanning tasks
(desired results)Data collection tasks
(current results)Process 
management tasks
Week 1: Specify 
requirements.• Identify and contact 
partners.
• Plan the partners 
meeting.
• Get buy-in for needs 
assessment scope and process.• Collect current strategic

partners.
meeting.
assessment scope and process.• Collect current strategic 
plans (SP) and related documents (previous needs assessments included).
• Identify key partners in 
deﬁ ning desired results 
at multiple levels (strategic, tactical, operational).
• Hold kickoff meeting 
with partners.• Review currently 
available data.
• Identify needs 
assessment questions to be answered.
• Specify data 
requirements to complete the needs assessment.
• Lay out data collection 
plan.
with partners.• Plan or organize 
meetings.
• Prepare documents 
required for each subgroup working on the assessment.
• Communicate with 
sponsor and partners.
• Establish budget and 
ﬁ nalize project plan.
Week 2:
Collect initial 
information.• Determine desired or 
required performance.
• Determine others who 
must be involved.
• Review data collection 
protocols.

Week 2:
• Bring in others for buy-in 
(such as other ministries, NGOs, community groups, and so on).• With partners, conduct 
a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis.
• Complete balanced 
scorecard. • Identify data sources, 
and inform them of the needs assessment.
• Meet with sources, 
and provide data requirements.
• Specify data collection 
instruments (surveys, interview protocols, and so on).• Plan and organize 
meetings.
required for each subgroup.
• Monitor progress and 
budget.A Six-Week Needs Assessment Implementation Guide  267• Match strategic plan 
elements with data collection requirements (see current results column).• Begin data collection.
Week 3: 
Complete data collection.• Ask partners to review

Week 3: 
Complete data collection.• Ask partners to review 
work to date.• Deﬁ  ne desired results at 
the strategic, tactical, and operational levels.• Specify additional data 
requirements to match the indicators and measures identiﬁ  ed for 
the desired results.
• Complete data collection. • Plan and organize 
meetings.
budget.
• Assist in data collection 
and analysis.
Week 4: 
Analyze data.• Ask partners to review 
work to date.• Add indicators and 
measures where necessary to the desired results.• Analyze data.
• Match data for current 
results with that of desired results to identify gaps (that is, needs).• Plan and organize 
meetings.
budget.

meetings.
budget.
Week 5: 
Analyze needs 
and identify 
potential 
solutions.• Review data and 
analysis.
• Review draft ﬁ  ndings.• Prepare draft report of 
desired results (including alignments with current processes, structures, and resources).• Analyze needs for causal 
factors.
• Complete initial needs 
analysis to deﬁ  ne leading 
factors contributing to needs.• Plan and organize 
meetings.
(continued on next page)268 A Guide to Assessing NeedsPartner 
• Identify at least two 
alternative activities for improving results in relation to each need.• Monitor progress and 
budget.
• Assist in preparing draft 
reports.

budget.
reports.
Week 6: Decide 
what to do.• Work with partners to prioritize needs.
• Work with partners to identify and prioritize alternative activities for improving 
• Prepare a draft report of ﬁ  ndings—both current results and gaps.• Plan and organize 
meetings.
budget.
Post–needs 
assessment• Develop required change strategy.
• Conduct performance analysis to deﬁ  ne the characteristics of the selected activities 
for improving performance.
• Deﬁ  ne the performance-improvement process, and establish monitoring and 
evaluation plans.• Plan for the dissemina-
tion of needs assessment ﬁ  ndings.
• Assist in writing ﬁ  nal 
reports and creating presentations about the ﬁ ndings.

• Evaluate the success of 
the needs assessment.269If you want to collect 
information about . . .And if you want to use that 
information to . . .Then you might want to consider . . .
Community needs Identify needs.  ✓Systematic document review
 ✓Focus groups
 ✓Dual-response surveys
 ✓Performance pyramid
 ✓Future wheel
 ✓Fishbone diagrams
 ✓World Café 
 ✓Nominal group technique
Prioritize needs.  ✓Root cause analysis
 ✓SWOT+
 ✓Scenarios
 ✓Concept mapping
 ✓Consensus building
 ✓Pair-wise comparison
(continued on next page)Tools and Techniques to ConsiderAPPENDIX A.4270 A Guide to Assessing NeedsIf you want to collect 
Community needs

(continued)Select potential solutions.  ✓Multicriteria analysis
Needs of speciﬁ  c clients Identify needs.  ✓Systematic document review
 ✓Interviews
 ✓Delphi
 ✓World Café
Prioritize needs.  ✓Interviews
 ✓Root cause analysis
 ✓SWOT+
 ✓2 × 2 matrix decision aids
 ✓Tabletop analysis
Select potential solutions.  ✓Multicriteria analysis
 ✓Nominal group techniqueTools and Techniques to Consider  271If you want to collect 

✓Nominal group techniqueTools and Techniques to Consider  271If you want to collect 
Organizational needs Identify needs.  ✓Survey
 ✓Systematic document review
 ✓Fault tree diagrams
 ✓SWOT+
Team performance Identify needs.  ✓Interviews
 ✓Guided expert review
 ✓Cognitive task analysis 
 ✓Task analysis
 ✓Case studies

✓Guided expert review
(continued on next page)272 A Guide to Assessing NeedsIf you want to collect 
Team performance 
(continued)Prioritize needs.  ✓Root cause analysis
Individual performance Identify needs.  ✓Interviews
 ✓Cognitive task analysis
 ✓Performance observations

✓Performance observations
 ✓Scenarios273Selecting which tools and techniques you should use during your needs as-
sessment will depend on several factors. By rating each of the factors indi-vidually, you can attain a quality estimate of which tools and techniques are going to be of the most value. There are, unfortunately, no scientiﬁ  c formu-
las that guarantee success although assessing each of the factors will help you decide which tools and techniques will be most helpful (see tables A.5.1 and A.5.2). 
Appropriateness

Appropriateness 
The appropriateness of the tool or technique depends on the information you require and the decisions you are hoping to make on the basis of your needs assessment. For instance, ask yourself these questions:
✓ How eff  ective is the tool or technique for collecting the necessary infor-
mation or making a decision?Guide to Selecting 
Tools and Techniques (Applied Multicriteria Analysis)APPENDIX A.5274 A Guide to Assessing NeedsTable A.5.1 Tools and Techniques Selection Rating
Instructions: Rate each selection factor on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 representing the minimum and 10

Instructions: Rate each selection factor on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 representing the minimum and 10 
representing the maximum value for each factor. For example, if using the card sorting tool is highly appropriate for facilitating a decision, it would get a score of 9 or 10; likewise, if you have little experience in conducting a card sort, then it may be rated as a 2 or 3. 
Tools and 
techniques 
being 
consideredSelection factor
(scored on a scale of 1 to 10)
Total Rank AppropriatenessCosts 
and 
beneﬁ  ts Feasibility Acceptability Experience
Source: Based on Stolovich and Keeps (2009).
Table A.5.2 Example of the Tools and Techniques Selection Rating
Tools and 
being 
and 
World Café 4 7 7 5 4 27 4
Fishbone 
diagram67 6 54 2 8 3
Focus 
group75 7 95 3 3 1
Interview 7 4 5 9 6 31 2

and 
Fishbone 
Focus 
Note: Consider applying the techniques of multicriteria analysis to your decisions about which tools and techniques to use in your 
needs assessment. All you have to do is apply a weight to each selection factor to help you prioritize those that are the most essential to your decisions regarding which tools and techniques to use in your needs assessment. To do so, you simply weight each of the ﬁ  ve selection factors (appropriateness, costs and beneﬁ  ts, feasibility, and so on) on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being 
the most critical factors in your decision. Then divide each weighting by 50. For instance, if acceptability to participants is  espe-
cially important within your organization, then you may wish to weight the factor with an 8 (8 ÷ 50 = .16). Score each of the t ools

cially important within your organization, then you may wish to weight the factor with an 8 (8 ÷ 50 = .16). Score each of the t ools 
and techniques being considered, and multiply all of the scored items by the factor weighting. For instance, in this example, World Café had an acceptability score of 5, and acceptability had a weight of .16. Thus, the ﬁ  nal score of the acceptability of the 
World Café technique is 4.84.Guide to Selecting Tools and Techniques  275✓ How effi   cient is the tool or technique for helping make a decision?
✓ Does the tool or technique complement the other activities you are plan-
ning to use to collect information or to make a decision during your needs assessment?
Costs and Beneﬁ  ts 
The ratio of costs to beneﬁ  ts can help you determine (a) when simple needs 
assessment tools or techniques may make more sense than complex processes or (b) when the value of beneﬁ  ts suggest that you should use more sophisti-

cated processes. For instance, ask yourself these questions:
✓ What are the potential costs associated with the tool or technique (for 
instance, time, money, opportunity costs)? 
✓ How do those costs relate to the potential value that the tool or technique 
can add to your needs assessment (for example, generating buy-in, in-volving stakeholders, collecting more accurate information)?
Feasibility 
Routinely, even the best-suited tools and techniques for your needs assess-ment may not be feasible in the organizational environment. Be aware of the many factors that can inﬂ  uence the feasibility of choosing one tool or 
technique over another. For instance, ask yourself these questions:
✓ How likely is it that the tool or technique can be applied successfully?

✓ How likely is it that the tool or technique can be applied successfully? 
✓ Will social, political, technological, cultural, or legal factors potentially 
limit the use of the tool or technique during your needs assessment?
Acceptability
Whichever needs assessment tools and techniques you choose to use in your assessment, they must also be viewed as acceptable by the multiple partners who are part of your assessment eff  ort. For instance, ask yourself 
these questions:
✓ Will the tool or technique be acceptable to those who will participate in 
the process? 276 A Guide to Assessing Needs✓ Will internal and external partners view the use of the tool or technique 
as an acceptable way to collect valid information or to make informed decisions?
Experience

Successfully using any of the needs assessment tools and techniques gets easier with experience. Although you don’t have to be an expert in data col-lection or decision making to complete a useful needs assessment, the more experience you have, the easier it will be. For instance, ask yourself these questions:
✓ Do you or other members of your needs assessment team have experi-
ence in applying the tools or techniques being considered? 
✓ Will you feel comfortable facilitating the use of the tool or technique 
during the needs assessment?
Reference
Workplace Performance.” In 2007 ASTD Handbook for Workplace Learning 
Professionals,  edited by E. Beich . Alexandria, VA: ASTD Press.277This process is an expanded version of the three-phase needs assessment

Professionals,  edited by E. Beich . Alexandria, VA: ASTD Press.277This process is an expanded version of the three-phase needs assessment 
process introduced in section 2 (see page 50) as a useful guide for planning larger-scale assessments.
1 Each of the three phases is aligned with identify-
ing, analyzing, and deciding as key tasks in completing any needs assess-ment, but the three-phase approach adds valuable details for managing an assessment from beginning to end. Use this guide in conjunction with the other implementation guides and tools included in appendix A to lead your next needs assessment.  
assessment and to ensure that implementation goes smoothly and generates justiﬁ  able information so you can make decisions.
1. With the sponsors of the assessment, determine the overall scope of the 

a. Determine what questions the needs assessment is intended to help 
answer.
b. Or determine what decisions the results of the assessment are intended 
to inform.Three-Phase Needs Assessment 
Process with Additional DetailsAPPENDIX A.6278 A Guide to Assessing Needs2. Depending on the scope of the assessment, identify the primary perfor-
mance issues that are leading to the needs assessment.*
a. Much of the initial information on performance issues will be gener-
ated through informal or formal discussions among stakeholders. These discussions may occur in, for example, community assemblies, organizational retreats, or more meetings.
b. Many documents can be useful in identifying the issues: strategic

b. Many documents can be useful in identifying the issues: strategic 
plans, annual reports, audits, oversight reviews, performance apprais-als, and others. Depending on the focus of your organization, issues—such as missed deadlines, low productivity, increasing employee ab-senteeism, lagging customer satisfaction, a jump in client complaints, new policies, declining market share, increasing poverty, or spread of disease—could be identiﬁ  ed.
3. Deﬁ  ne what data and information are required from the needs assess-
ment to adequately inform decisions. This step may require that you col-lect some preliminary information from key stakeholders and partners to be able to deﬁ  ne objectives and select methods.*
4. With others, create a management plan for the needs assessment. See 
the checklist in  Appendix A.2 for more details.
a. Include what the project objectives are for the needs assessment and

a. Include what the project objectives are for the needs assessment and 
how those objectives are aligned with other strategic, tactical, and op-erational goals of the organization.
b. Include the preliminary scope, context, boundaries, partners, time 
line, and budget for the needs assessment.
c. Include the data that are required, the sources of information to be con-
tacted, and the tools and techniques to be used to collect  information.
d. Include which tools and techniques will be used to analyze the data in 
order to create useful information and to make justiﬁ  able decisions.
e. Include the political, technological, legal, economic, or social factor of 
the pending assessment that may realistically limit the results that can be accomplished, as well as contingency plans for signiﬁ  cant events 
that may alter your assessment.

5. Validate your management plan for the needs assessment with the as-
sessment’s sponsors, colleagues, peers, clients, partners, and others who will have a stake in the success of the  assessment.Three-Phase Needs Assessment Process  279Phase 2. Assessment
 1. Make arrangements to collect the necessary information from the vari-
ous sources; schedule interviews, create surveys, arrange focus groups, collect documents to be reviewed, train group facilitators when neces-sary, schedule performance observations, and so forth.
 2. Review protocols, questionnaires, and other information-collection

2. Review protocols, questionnaires, and other information-collection 
tools to verify that you capture the necessary information regarding both the current achievements and the desired accomplishments.*
a. Ensure that data collection provides you with adequate information 
on both current and desired performance so that gaps in results (or needs) can be measured and prioritized. It is frequently tempting to focus on collecting information about how to solve problems or to implement predeﬁ  ned solutions, but that information is best left out 
of your needs assessment until needs are adequately identiﬁ  ed and 
compared.
b. Include in your review a mock analysis of the information that you 
might collect from sources. This mock analysis, or simulated report of ﬁ ndings, can identify weaknesses in your information-collection 
techniques that can be addressed before the actual implementation of the assessment.
 3. Collect information using a variety of tools and techniques, and include

 3. Collect information using a variety of tools and techniques, and include 
sources that represent varying perspectives on the primary perfor-mance issues.
a. Continue to focus your needs assessment on performance gaps (or 
needs) rather than on collecting information about potential causes or plausible solutions. If you do identify these items during your in-formation collection, take notes on the good ideas so you can keep them for later. Inevitably, many respondents during your data collec-tion will want to focus on off  ering plausible solutions, but for your 
assessment, you should redirect conversations to address all aspects of needs (such as existing performance issues, desired results, cur-rent results, and so on). 
b. Because it is easy to fall into the trap of discussing solutions rather

b. Because it is easy to fall into the trap of discussing solutions rather 
than performance results, it is important to have structured (or at least semistructured) instruments or protocols to follow.*280 A Guide to Assessing Needs 4. Deﬁ  ne needs that are based on performance gaps between current and 
a. Each need should have one or more indicators or performance mea-
sures that illustrate the size, scope, distinguishing characteristics, 
and relative importance of the need. To the extent possible, the com-parison of information related to current performance and desired results should be measured on the same scale. For example, a good 
comparator for current and desired performance would be the num-ber of HIV/AIDS patients receiving medicine versus the organiza-tion’s objective for the number of patients to receive medicine. 
b. In contrast, if your current performance measurement involves the

b. In contrast, if your current performance measurement involves the 
number of HIV/AIDS patients served, then an example of an imbal-anced measurement relationship would be using the percentage of new HIV/AIDS cases in a country or region to determine the desired performance. Both could be useful measurements, but—to the extent 
possible—you want to have “apples to apples” comparisons. That is, we must measure the same phenomena for the current and desired situations. At the same time, you are not restricted to having a single 
type of measurement, and it is possible—and often good practice—to 
have multiple sets of measurements for both current and desired 
 performance.*
 5. Establish an initial prioritization of needs on the basis of size, scope, 
distinguishing characteristics, and relative importance.*
a. Rough estimates of the costs to close each performance gap, in com-

parison with the costs associated with not closing the performance gap, can be useful in establishing priorities. Costs are not restricted to ﬁ nancial costs; they can also be costs related to time, socioeco-
nomic factors, political desirability, and so on. Rough estimates can be used here. In the next step, you will collect additional information to provide more detailed justiﬁ  cation for establishing priorities.
b. Work with internal and external organizational partners to review 
the information collected during the needs assessment and to set 
priorities. Decision-making techniques, such as nominal group or Delphi (see section 3), can be useful in setting priorities.
 6. For the highest-priority needs, create a plan for collecting information

6. For the highest-priority needs, create a plan for collecting information 
about the factors that are likely leading to the performance gaps.*Three-Phase Needs Assessment Process  281a. Analyze each need for the causal factors (or root causes) that are 
linked to less-than-desired performance. In addition to seeking out gaps, also take an appreciative inquiry  perspective about the needs so 
you can assess what is already working to accomplish desired re-sults. In its simplest terms, appreciative inquiry is an approach that focuses on determining what works instead of the more typical ap-proach of looking for problems. By building on what works and not simply focusing on problems, you can pursue opportunities where success is likely to occur.
b. Categorize potential causal factors to provide structure to your anal-

ysis when multiple types of causes exist. Common organizational factors include motivation, self-concept, workforce capacity, knowl-edge and skills of individuals, clearly deﬁ  ned expectations, appropri-
ate and timely performance feedback, availability of resources, pro-cesses, organizational culture, incentives, rewards, recognition, and alignment of individual performance objectives with organizational vision and mission. Besides these factors, consider additional types for your situation, context, and organization.
(1) Use the performance pyramid as a framework, for instance, to 
identify potential causal factors associated with each need (see page 236 in section 3B). 
(2) For each component of the pyramid, collect information to de-
termine if factors within that area are linked to discrepancies in performance.
 7 . Collect information regarding the causal factors (or root causes) associ-

ated with priority needs.
a. For each potential causal factor that you identify, use the appro-
priate tools and techniques to collect information that illustrates its potential eff  ect on the desired performance. To collect the nec-
essary information for determining the association of the causal factors with the identiﬁ  ed needs, use document reviews, task 
analysis, job analysis, performance observations, dual-response surveys, focus groups, and other techniques. 
b. Rarely will a priority need be associated with only a single causal fac-

tor. Therefore, to be sure that your assessment includes multiple per-spectives, use a variety of techniques to collect information, and don’t rely exclusively on either soft data (which are not indepen-dently veriﬁ  able) or hard data (which are independently veriﬁ  able).282 A Guide to Assessing Needs 8. Analyze and synthesize the useful information you have collected.*
a. Review the data from multiple perspectives, and also ask partners in 
the assessment to examine the data so you ensure that the analysis or synthesis does not represent potential biases about the needs, wants, or potential solutions.
b. Analyze and synthesize the information you have collected using ap-

propriate quantitative (mathematical or statistical) or qualitative (described in terms of words or images rather than numbers) tech-niques.
c. Reﬂ  ect on your ﬁ  ndings, and apply your professional judgment.
d. Include in your analysis the descriptions of possible imp rovement 
activities (solutions)—which were identiﬁ  ed during the assess-
ment—for each need. 
 9. For each priority need and its associated causal factors, identify multi-
ple performance- imp rovement activities that, in combination, could 
address the complete need.*
a. Identify at least tw o improv ement activities linked to each recog-
nized causal factor. Many activities will address several causal fac-tors. For instance, a mentoring program may address causal factors associated with motivation, feedback, expectations, and recognition. Likewise, having identiﬁ  ed options, you can compare alternatives by

eff ectiveness, effi   ciency, and cost-beneﬁ  t ratios.
b. Verify the alignment of possible improv ement activities with the 
identiﬁ  ed causal factors and the performance gap. In the end, not 
every causal factor will be addressed with a unique imp rovement ac-
tivity, but you should explore options for each identiﬁ  ed causal fac-
tor so that you can ﬁ  nd synergies and overlaps that may be useful 
when evaluating your options.
c. As a useful starting place for establishing priorities, estimate the 
costs to close each performance gap in comparison with the costs associated with  not closing the performance gap. More detailed pri-
oritizations will also require estimating the costs of alternative ac-tivities. For example, to address employee motivation issues, esti-mate the cost of off  ering a training program versus off  ering a 
mentoring program versus off  ering a bonus program.
10. Evaluate each potential performance-imp rovement activity to assess its

10. Evaluate each potential performance-imp rovement activity to assess its 
value to your improv ement eff  ort.*Three-Phase Needs Assessment Process  283a. Single solutions or imp rovement activities rarely accomplish sus-
tainable imp rovements in performance; therefore, you should work 
to identify an appropriate combination of activities that will accom-plish desired results. Evaluate the likely eff  ectiveness and effi   ciency 
of each proposed activity as well as of diff  ering combinations of 
 activities.
b. Explore the potential suboptimization of activities—and combina-
tions of activities—to ensure that imp rovements in one aspect of per-
formance do not come at the cost of decreasing performance in other areas.
11. Use the information to prioritize needs and to make recommendations 
regarding the improv ement eff  orts that will best achieve desired results 
within the given context.

a. Consider the long-term goals and objectives of the organization, em-
ployees, clients, countries, and others when setting priorities. 
b. Take into account the social, political, technological, cultural, legal, 
and ethical factors that inﬂ  uence setting priorities.
c. With internal and external partners, use decision-making tools and 
techniques to make decisions and recommendations for what ac-tions should be taken.
The purpose of this phase is to underscore that the assessment does not end once priorities have been set. Information from the assessment must be shared and used to guide decisions. Additionally, situations change, and you 
should routinely collect and assess information as part of ongoing monitor-

ing and evaluation. This activity supports the implementation of recommen-dations and off  ers opportunities to take corrective actions where necessary.
1. Summarize your recommendations in a needs assessment report or 
 presentation.
2. Communicate your ﬁ  ndings to your stakeholders. For larger-scale assess-
ments, this step may involve developing a dissemination strategy, com-
munication strategies, and assessment reports and presentations. It is also good practice to share ﬁ  ndings with people who provided informa-
tion and other inputs for your assessment.284 A Guide to Assessing Needs3. Integrate postassessment monitoring and evaluation activities into rec-
ommended activities that will be undertaken.
4. Evaluate your needs assessment process to determine if changes should 
Notes

Notes
*Typically, a good number of dependencies are identiﬁ  ed in any needs assessment 
plan. The items noted with asterisks are tasks in a dependent relationship that must be completed before a subsequent task can begin.
1. The three-phase needs assessment process is based on Jim Altschuld’s 2010 
book series, The Needs Assessment Kit , in which he provides guidance for 
managing an assessment through each of the three phases. 285Abbreviations
CTA cognitive task analysis 
EPSS electronic performance support systemFTA fault tree analysisHIV/AIDS  human immunodeﬁ  ciency virus/acquired immune deﬁ  ciency 
syndrome

syndrome
LDC least-developed countryM&E monitoring and evaluationMDG Millennium Development GoalsNATO North Atlantic Treaty OrganizationNGO nongovernmental organizationOECD Organisation for Economic Co-operation and DevelopmentPERT Program Evaluation Review TechniqueRCA root cause analysisSC steering committeeSMART Simple Multi-Attribute Ranking TechniqueSP strategic plansSWOT strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threatsWBI World Bank InstituteWI what isWSB what should be 287References and 
Recommended Readings
The following references and related readings are compiled from the refer-
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Altschuld, James W . 2003/2004. “Emerging Dimensions of Needs Assessment.” 
Performance Improvement  43 (1): 10–15.

— — —, ed. 2010. The Needs Assessment Kit.  Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. 
[A 5-volume series with individual titles]

• Stevahn, Laurel A., and Jean A. King. 2010. Needs Assessment Phase V: 
Altschuld, James W ., and David D. Kumar. 2004. “Needs Assessment.” In Encyclo-
pedia of Evaluation , edited by S. Mathison, 276. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage 
Publications.288 A Guide to Assessing NeedsAltschuld, James W ., and T. L. Lepicki. 2009. “Needs Assessment in Human 
Performance Interventions.” In Handbook of Improving Performance in the 
Workplace. Vol. 2:  Selecting and Implementing Performance Interventions , 
edited by Ryan Watkins  and Doug Leigh, 771–91. San Francisco: Wiley/
Improvement.

Altschuld, James W ., and Belle Ruth Witkin. 2000. From Needs Assessment to 
Action: Transforming Needs into Solution Strategies . Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage 
Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing 13 (1): 28–32.

33: 1–2.
Questioning: Engaging People’s Best Thinking.” The Systems Thinker  13 (9).
Clark, Richard E., David F. Feldon, Jeroen J. G. van Merriënboer, Kenneth A. 
Yates, and Sean Early. 2008. “Cognitive Task Analysis.” In Handbook of 
Research on Educational Communications and Technology , 3rd ed., edited by 
J. Michael Spector, M. David Merrill, Jeroen J. G. van Merriënboer, and Marcy P . Driscoll, 577–94. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Tribute ed. San Francisco: Pfeiff  er. 
Projects.” In Handbook of Human Performance Technology: Improving 
Individual Organizational Performance Worldwide, edited by Harold D. 
Stolovitch and Erica J. Keeps, 96–121. San Francisco: Pfeiff  er.
Harless, Joseph H. 1975. “An Ounce of Analysis Is Worth a Pound of Objectives.” 
Newnan, GA: Harless Performance Guild.
Hung, Hsin-Ling, James W . Altschuld, and Y-F. Lee. 2008. “Methodological and

Jackson, Kristin M., and William M. K. Trochim. 2002. “Concept Mapping as an 
Alternative Approach for the Analysis of Open-Ended Survey Responses.” References and Recommended Readings  289Organizational Research Methods 5 (October): 307–36. http://www.social 
researchmethods.net/mapping/mapping.htm. 
Kaufman, Roger. 1992. Strategic Planning Plus.  Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publishing.
— — —. 1998. Strategic Thinking: A Guide to Identifying and Solving Problems.  Rev. ed.

— — —. 1998. Strategic Thinking: A Guide to Identifying and Solving Problems.  Rev. ed. 
Washington, DC, and Arlington, VA: The International Society for Performance 
Improvement and the American Society for Training and Development.
— — —. 2000. Mega Planning: Practical Tools for Organizational Success.  Thousand 
— — —. 2006. Change, Choices, and Consequences: A Guide to Mega Thinking. 
Kaufman, Roger, and F. W . English. 1979. Needs Assessment: Concept and Applica-
tion. Englewood Cliff  s, NJ: Educational Technology Publications.
Kaufman, Roger, Hugh Oakley-Brown, Ryan Watkins, and Doug Leigh. 2003.

Kaufman, Roger, A. Rojas, and H. Mayer. 1993. Needs Assessment: A User’s Guide.   
Englewood Cliff  s, NJ: Educational Technology Publishers. 
Kaufman, Roger, and Ryan Watkins. 1996. “Mega Planning: A Framework for 
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Benchmarking, and Reengineering.” In The HR Handbook , Vol. 1, edited by 
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Kaufman, Roger, Ryan Watkins, and Doug Leigh. 2001. Useful Educational Results: 
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Kellogg Foundation. 2006. “Free Guide for Developing Logic Models.” http://www.

wkkf.org/knowledge -center/resources/2006 /02/WK-Kellogg-Foundation-
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Guide-12-steps-to-project-management-success.
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Needs and Task Analysis.  Boston, MA: Addison-Wesley.A
acceptability in needs assessment, 275
appreciative inquiries, 62, 63–64audio recordings, 99, 100, 160, 161
B
Bangladesh, needs assessment in, 22 b

B
benchmarking reviews, 91biases
of interviewees, 107in needs assessment, 89performance observations and, 145
“boundary conditions,” 77 n3
brainstorming
concept mapping and, 220, 223, 226ﬁ shbone diagrams and, 198
focus groups and, 97future wheels and, 228, 229, 231, 235SWOT+ technique and, 127 , 128, 130tabletop analysis and, 183World Café approach and, 135
budgets, 57buy-in
fault tree analysis and, 215focus groups and, 66of stakeholders, 90, 181
C
Cambodia, needs assessment in, 22 b
capacity development, 18. See also  
organizational capacity
card sorting techniques, 163cause-and-eff  ect diagrams, 197
Center for Global Development, 85 b
closed-ended questions, 117cluster analysis, hierarchical, 224
cluster mapping, 220. See also  concept 
mapping
coding schemes, 224cognitive demands tables, 160cognitive task analysis (CTA), 156–63

mapping
advantages and disadvantages of, 157needs assessment applications of, 156process overview for, 157–62
data analysis and veriﬁ  cation, 162
formatting results, 162information gathering, 159–61knowledge collection, preliminary, 
157–59
knowledge representations, 159
purpose of, 156tips for success, 162–63
websites for, 163
concept mapping, 163, 220–27
advantages and disadvantages of, 221–22fault tree analysis and, 216needs assessment applications for, 220–21performance pyramids and, 241process overview for, 222–26
analyzing and interpreting data, 222, 
224–25, 225–26 f
information gathering, 222–23planning, 222
purpose of, 220
 293INDEX
Boxes, ﬁ  gures, notes, and tables are indicated by b, f, n,  and t following page numbers.294 A Guide to Assessing Needsroot cause analysis and, 211

 293INDEX
tips for success, 226–27websites for, 227
concurrent verbal protocol analysis, 159, 
160, 161
consensus
building of, 183deﬁ ning of, 140, 142
continuous monitoring, 240–41, 243critical incident techniques, 97 , 109, 160–61CTA. See cognitive task analysis
culture, organizational, 240
D
data collection methods, 8–9, 9 b, 48, 62–65, 
64t, 66. See also  speciﬁ  c methods 
(e.g., document or data review)
data review. See document or data reviews
debrieﬁ  ng sessions, 185
decision making. See also  speciﬁ  c decision 
making techniques (e.g., tabletop analysis)
approaches to, 3, 3 b
discovery, 13 n2, 53
emerging opportunities, 13 n2, 53
“enough” information for, 66–67formal vs. informal, 26–27idea-imposition, 13 n2
information gathering and, 66, 68–70, 
69b
needs assessment and, 2–3, 9–10, 40–42,

69b
needs assessment and, 2–3, 9–10, 40–42, 
44–45, 49–50, 68–70, 69 b
overview of, 1–3systemic perspective for, 25, 26 b
deductive approaches to data analysis, 65deliverables from expert reviewers, 93–94Delphi technique, 137–43
advantages and disadvantages of, 138–39needs assessment applications of, 137–38process overview of, 139–42
data interpretation, 139, 142expert panel, 139, 140–41planning, 139–40questionnaires, 139, 140, 141–42
purpose of, 137tips for success, 142–43websites for, 143
developing countries, international experts 
in, 92
Development Assistance Committee 
(OECD), 35
discovery decision making, 13 n2, 53
discrepancies
in data collection, 62–64dual-response surveys and, 119–20, 122diverse data, 64–65
document or data reviews, 84–88

(OECD), 35
advantages and disadvantages of, 85–86cognitive task analysis and, 158needs assessment applications of, 84–85process overview of, 86–88purpose of, 84sample sources for, 84, 85 b
tips for success, 88
dual-response surveys, 116–24
advantages and disadvantages of, 117needs assessment applications of, 66, 116process overview of, 118–22
completed survey example, 119, 120–21 t
demographic diff  erences and, 119, 122
direction and, 119, 120–22discrepancy and, 119–20, 122position and, 119, 122
purpose of, 116questions, tips for writing, 118, 123samples of, 125–26tips for success, 122–23websites for, 124
E
Education Sector Development Framework 
(ESDF), 21 b
emerging opportunities decision making, 
13n2, 53
English language, data sources in, 85“enough” information for informed 
decision making, 66–67

E
13n2, 53
equiﬁ  nality principle of systems theory, 24
ESDF (Education Sector Development 
Framework), 21 b
evaluation vs. needs assessment, 34–35executive summaries, 75–76expectations and feedback, 27 , 239, 241, 242experts. See also  guided expert reviews
cognitive task analysis and, 157 , 158, 
159–63
concept mapping and, 225Delphi technique and, 137–43fault tree analysis and, 215, 216future wheels and, 233, 234as interviewees, 107needs assessment and, 66, 71performance observations and, 146tabletop analysis and, 185task analysis and, 149, 153
F
facilitators
for concept mapping, 222for focus groups, 98–99, 101–2Index  295needs assessment and, 66
for nominal group technique, 167–69for tabletop analysis, 182, 183, 185for World Café, 136for World Café approach, 133–34

fault tree analysis (FTA), 214–19
advantages and disadvantages of, 215–16needs assessment applications of, 214–15performance pyramids and, 241process overview for, 216–18, 218 f
purpose of, 214root cause analysis and, 211tips for success, 218websites for, 219
feasibility in needs assessment, 271feedback. See expectations and feedback
ﬁ rst-order eff  ects, 231, 232, 233
ﬁ shbone diagrams, 197–201
advantages and disadvantages of, 
197–98
data collection and, 8needs assessment applications of, 197process overview for, 198–200, 199 f
purpose of, 197root cause analysis and, 211tips for success, 200websites for, 201
focus groups, 95–105
advantages and disadvantages of, 96needs assessment applications of, 66, 
95–96
process overview of, 97–99purpose of, 95, 95 b
qualitative data from, 69sample outline and protocol, 101–5

95–96
closing, 102introductions, 101–2leading group, 102opening remarks, 101sample protocol, 103–5
tips for success, 99–100websites for, 100
front-end analysis, 33FTA. See fault tree analysis
future wheels, 228–35
advantages and disadvantages of, 229–30needs assessment applications of, 228–29process overview for, 230–33, 234 f
alternative approaches, 233implementation, 231–33interpretation, 232–33preparation, 230–31
purpose of, 228tips for success, 233–35websites for, 235G
Gantt charts, 56, 78 n9
gap analysis
for dual-response surveys, 119–22, 
125–26
fault tree analysis and, 214for ﬁ  shbone diagrams, 198
needs, identiﬁ  cation of, 30 b
needs assessment and, 16–21, 17 b, 47 , 52, 
60–61, 68, 72

125–26
performance pyramids and, 239, 241root cause analysis and, 207 , 211for tabletop analysis, 184–85for 2 × 2 matrix decision aids, 191, 193–94
Ghana, needs assessment in, 22 b
group techniques. See focus groups; 
nominal group techniques
“groupthink,” 96guided expert reviews, 89–94
advantages and disadvantages of, 90–91data collection and, 8needs assessment applications of, 89–90process overview of, 91–94
experts and, 91–93getting started, 91planning and conducting review, 93–94
purpose of, 89tips for success, 94
H
hierarchical (sequential) analysis, 149, 
150–51, 151 f
hierarchical cluster analysis, 224hypothetical tradeoff  s, 174
I
idea-imposition decision making, 13 n2
idea maps. See concept mapping
if–then analysis, 149, 151–52, 152 f

I
impacts in logic models, 59, 60improvement of performance. See 
performance imp rovements
incentives for participation, 143individual performance, 23–24inductive approaches to data analysis, 65information gathering. See data collection 
methods
inputs in logic models, 60Internet, 85, 118interpretation and translation services, 94interviews, 106–11
advantages and disadvantages of, 106–7checklist sample, 110–11cognitive task analysis and, 158–59, 160, 
161296 A Guide to Assessing Needsneeds assessment applications of, 66, 106
process overview of, 107–9protocol sample for, 113–15purpose of, 106qualitative data from, 69release agreement sample for, 112root cause analysis and, 210tips for success, 109websites for, 110
J
Johari Window activity, 196 n
K
knowledge audits, 160
L

J
K
L
Lao People’s Democratic Republic, 
education programming in, 21 b
large-scale assessment, 46, 50 f, 50–53
assessment phase, 50, 51–52, 279–83phases and basic steps, 50–51postassessment, 50, 52–53, 283–84preassessment, 50–51, 277–78
leadership roles in needs assessment, 57leading questions, 109, 123Likert-type scales, 118, 122listening skills, 109, 134–35logic models, 58–62, 59 f, 61f, 78n11
M
management styles, 57
Microsoft Excel, 142Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), 
22b, 84, 85 b
mind maps. See concept mapping
model-based analysis, 149, 152–54, 154 f
monitoring. See continuous monitoring
motivation and self-concept, 27 , 237 , 239, 
241, 243
multi-attribute utility analysis, 171, 177 n
multicriteria analysis, 171–79
advantages and disadvantages of, 171–72information requirements for, 67needs assessment applications for, 66, 72, 
171

171
pair-wise comparison vs., 188performance pyramids and, 242process overview for, 172–77 , 175–76 t
purpose of, 171sample templates for, 179tips for success, 177tools and techniques for, 269–71, 270 t
websites for, 178
multidimensional scaling, 224N
needs assessment, xii, 15–80
completion of, 73–75, 75 b
conducting, method of, 46–50
analyzing, 48–49decision-making, 49–50
identifying, 47–48
data collection for, 8–9, 9 b, 47 , 48 b, 
62–65, 64 t
appreciative inquiry and, 62, 63–64discrepancy and, 62–64diverse data, 64–65
decision making and, 2–3, 9–10, 40–42, 
duration of, 55–56“enough” information for informed 
evaluation distinguished from, 34–35frequently asked questions, 12, 15–38
beneﬁ  ts of, 25–26, 26 b
cycles of, 31, 31 f

evaluations vs., 34–35formal vs. informal assessment, 
26–27
gap analysis and, 16–18, 17 b
knowledge, assessing prior, 35–36need, deﬁ  nition of, 20 f, 20–22, 21–22 b
performance imp rovement and, 6–7 , 
6–7f, 22–25, 37 n2
problem solving and, 30–32rigidity of, 32–33, 33 b
surveys and, 36terminology for, 2, 18–19time frame for, 27–30, 28 t, 30b
tools, relation to other, 33–34, 34 b
uses of, 19–20
implementation activities, 71–73, 248–53, 
265–68
importance of, 5–7initial considerations, 44–46, 45 b
logic models and, 58–62, 59 f, 61f, 78n11
management of, 56–58, 255–64persons involved in, 4–5, 53–54, 54 t

reports and presentations for, 75–77 , 
76t
scope of, 39–44, 41 t
operational, 40, 43, 44–46strategic, 39, 42, 43, 44–46tactical, 40, 42–43, 44–46
solutions, activities for, 70–71Index  297tools and techniques for, 11–12, 65–66, 
269–76
typology of needs, 73, 74 t, 78n19
Needs Assessment Kit  (Altschuld), 5, 284 n
NGOs (nongovernmental organizations), 47nominal group techniques, 166–70
advantages and disadvantages of, 167data collection and, 8Delphi technique and, 137information requirements for, 67needs assessment applications of, 166process overview for, 167–69purpose of, 166tips for success, 169websites for, 170
nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), 
47 , 84
O
open-ended questions, 108, 117 , 140Organisation for Economic Co-operation 
and Development (OECD), 35, 85 b

47 , 84
O
organizational capacity, 27 , 239, 243organizational culture, 240organizational performance, 23outcomes in logic models, 59–60outputs in logic models, 60
P
pair-wise comparison techniques, 187–90
advantages and disadvantages of, 187–88needs and solutions, criteria for 
comparing, 188–89
needs assessment applications of, 18, 72, 
187
process overview for, 188–90, 189 t
purpose of, 187sample template for, 190websites for, 190
partners, internal and external, 47 , 56, 58. 
See also  stakeholders
peer reviews, 91performance analysis, 33. See also  
performance observations; performance pyramids
Performance-Based Instruction  (Brethower 
& Smalley), 24
performance gaps. See gap analysis
performance imp rovements, 6–7 , 6–7 f, 
22–25, 37 n2
performance observations, 144–47 . See also  
performance pyramids

advantages and disadvantages of, 145needs assessment applications of, 144process overview for, 145–47purpose of, 144, 144 b
task analysis vs., 148tips for success, 147websites for, 147
performance pyramids, 236–44
advantages and disadvantages of, 237continuous monitoring and, 240–41, 
243
expectations and feedback and, 239, 
241, 242
improvement activities samples for, 
242–44
knowledge and skills and, 236, 240, 243motivation and self-concept and, 237 , 
239, 241, 243
needs analysis applications of, 238–41needs assessment applications of, 71, 
236–37 , 238 f
organizational capacity and, 239, 243organizational culture and, 240process overview for, 238purpose of, 236resources and, 240, 243rewards, incentives, and recognition and, 
236, 239, 241, 243

root cause analysis and, 211scenarios and, 204signiﬁ  cant accomplishments and, 240
solution identiﬁ  cation applications for, 
241–42
tools, environment, and processes and, 
236, 239–40, 242
vision, mission, and objectives and, 240, 
244
PERT charts, 56, 78 n9
“positive examples” for document reviews, 
87
presentations and reports, 75–77 , 76 t
pricing-out methods, 174primary eff  ects. See ﬁ rst-order eff  ects
process tracing techniques, 163protocols
for cognitive task analysis, 161for document or data review, 87for experts, 92, 93for focus groups, 98, 101–5for interviews, 107–8, 113–15, 161for nominal group technique, 167for performance observations, 146
pyramid frameworks. See performance 
pyramids
Q

pyramids
Q
qualitative analysis techniques, 69quantitative analysis software, 215298 A Guide to Assessing Needsquestions
closed-ended, 117frequently asked questions about needs 
assessment. See needs assessment
leading, 109, 123open-ended, 108, 117 , 140
R
RAND, 137rank ordering, 224, 225rating scales, 118, 119 t
RCA. See root cause analysis
recordings
audio, 99, 100, 160, 161tabletop analysis and, 185–86video, 100, 160, 161
relevance reviews, 91replicable models, 25reports and presentations, 75–77 , 76 t
round robin reporting, 98, 233World Bank project reports, 85 b
representative tasks, 160return-on-investment analysts, 66The Rise and Fall of Strategic Planning  
(Mintzberg), 32
The ROI of Human Capital  (Fitz-Enz), 62
root cause analysis (RCA), 207–13
advantages and disadvantages of, 208–9fault tree analysis and, 214needs assessment applications of, 33, 
207b, 207–8
performance pyramids and, 241process overview for, 209–12, 210 t

purpose of, 207tips for success, 212website for, 213
round robin reporting, 98, 233
S
scalability of needs assessment, 25scenarios, 202–6
203
needs assessment applications for, 
66, 202
process overview for, 203–5purpose of, 202tips for success, 205websites for, 206
second-order eff  ects, 231, 232, 233
self-concept. See motivation and 
self-concept
simple multi-attribute ranking technique 
(SMART), 177 n
single-response surveys, 116SMART (simple multi-attribute ranking 
technique), 177 n
societal performance, 23–24soft skills, 152–53speed dating variation of World Café, 
135–36
sponsors for needs assessment, 56spreadsheet software, 69stakeholders. See also  partners, internal 
and external

135–36
buy-in of, 90, 181concept mapping and, 221, 225data collection and, 51, 68experts and, 93needs assessment and, 5, 46performance pyramids and, 237postassessment phase and, 52root cause analysis and, 208surveys and, 123SWOT analysis and, 128tabletop analysis and, 1852 × 2 matrix decision aids and, 192
World Café approach and, 132, 133
strategic planning, 15, 18, 32straw polls, 97–98strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and 
threats. See SWOT+ techniques
surveys, 36, 116. See also  dual-response 
surveys
swing methods, 174SWOT+ techniques, 127–31
advantages and disadvantages of, 127–28matrix for, 129 t, 129–31, 130 f
needs assessment applications of, 127performance pyramids and, 244process overview of, 128–30purpose of, 127tips for success, 130–31
T
tabletop analysis, 180–86

T
advantages and disadvantages of, 181–82needs assessment applications of, 180process overview for, 182–85
conducting sessions, 183–85planning and preparing, 182
purpose of, 180tips for success, 185–86websites for, 186
Tanzania, needs assessment in, 22 b
target audiences, 118–19task analysis, 148–55. See also  cognitive task 
analysis (CTA)
advantages and disadvantages of, 149cognitive task analysis vs., 156Index  299needs assessment applications of, 148
process overview of , 149–54
purpose of, 148tips for success, 154websites for, 155
task diagrams, 160time lines, 230tobacco industry, 77 n2
“top undesired events,” 216, 218Tracking Strategies  (Mintzberg), 32
tradeoff  s, hypothetical, 174

transcripts of knowledge-gathering 
sessions, 162
translation and interpretation services, 
94
transparency
of expert review process, 93World Café approach and, 133
triangulation of data, 882 × 2 matrix decision aids, 191–96
advantages and disadvantages of, 192–93needs assessment applications of, 191–92process overview for, 193–95
diff ering perspective example, 193–94, 
194t, 196 n
risk vs. rewards example, 194–95, 195 tpurpose of, 191
tips for success, 196website for, 196
U
Uganda, needs assessment in, 22 b
United Nations, databases of, 85 b
United Nations Development Programme, 
22b, 85b
United States, tobacco industry in, 77 n2
V
verbal protocol analysis. See concurrent 
verbal protocol analysis
video recordings, 100, 160, 161
W
weighted criteria, 174–75, 175–76 t, 178 n
World Bank
data sets of, 85 b

V
W
World Bank
information access policies of, 84project reports of, 85 b
World Café approach, 132–36
advantages and disadvantages of, 133needs assessment applications for, 132process overview of, 133–34purpose, 132speed dating variation of, 135–36tips for success, 134–35websites for, 136ECO-AUDIT
Environmental Benefits Statement
The World Bank is committed to preserving 
endangered forests and natural resources. The Office of the Publisher has chosen to print A Guide to Assessing Needs  on recycled 
paper with 50 percent postconsumer fiber in accordance with the recommended standards for paper usage set by the Green Press Initia-tive, a nonprofit program supporting publish-ers in using fiber that is not sourced from endangered forests. For more information, visit www.greenpressinitiative.org.Saved:
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wasteISBN 978-0-8213-8868-6
SKU 18868Making informed and justiﬁ  able decisions is the essential beginning to any success-
ful development project. However, critical steps must be taken to help ensure that
the decisions made will achieve the desired results. These steps rely on systematic
processes and tools—collectively known as “needs assessment”—that help decision makers resist the temptation to select solutions before results have been clearly identiﬁ  ed and 
deﬁ ned.
A Guide to Assessing Needs is intended to be a user’s guide for the ill-deﬁ  ned “front end”

deﬁ ned.
A Guide to Assessing Needs is intended to be a user’s guide for the ill-deﬁ  ned “front end” 
of development projects that starts with an initial concept and ends with a decision about the best path forward. From deciding to propose a sanitation project in South Asia to selecting approaches that strengthen school management in South America, decisions are the starting place of development. Filled with practical strategies, tools, and guides, this book covers not only large-scale formal needs assessments but also smaller, less-formal assessments that can guide daily decisions. It will be of particular interest to development practitioners.
A Guide to Assessing Needs is an essential resource for anyone who conducts needs assess-

ments. A solid discussion of methods and where they are best applied in the needs assessment process provides foundational knowledge for practitioners. Further, very important contribu-tions to the ﬁ  eld are made through closely linking assessments to an organizational perfor-mance perspective while at the same time off  ering numerous examples and illustrations of 
how it is utilized in international settings and contexts.  
James Altschuld, author of the Needs Assessment Kit, Professor Emeritus from the 
Ohio State University
A Guide to Assessing Needs off  ers a much broader perspective than many texts on project

A Guide to Assessing Needs off  ers a much broader perspective than many texts on project 
management or evaluation. It presents needs assessment within a results framework that applies to international development projects equally as well as to a variety of other contexts. An exceptionally wide range of data collection and decision-making tools are presented, alongwith descriptions of the purpose and rationale for each tool, its strengths and weaknesses, theprocess through which it is implemented, and tips for success. The book is a user-friendly reference manual, off  ering information for selecting among the diverse approaches to achieve
results. The authors bring together tools and techniques from diverse disciplines so that even experienced professionals are likely to ﬁ  nd many new approaches for collecting information and guiding decisions.

Michael Bamberger, co-author of RealWorld Evaluation: Working under Budget, Time, 
Data and Political Constraints and How to Design and Implement Equity-Focused EvaluationsSPECIAL ISSUE  - PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT, April 2000 - Roger Kaufman  & Ryan 
Watkins  
© rkaufman  1              GETTING SERIOUS ABOUT RESULTS AND PAYOFFS:  
We are what we say, do, and deliver  
 
             Roger Kaufman and Ryan Watkins  
 
Executive Summary  
 
The increasing responsibilities of professional for the results, 
consequences and payoffs of their  activities has lead us into a new 
era of professionalism.  For the performance professional this era 
requires a renewed focus on the scientific basis for decision making, 
the system approach to performance improvement and technology, 
as well as a consiste ncy in language that leaves no confusion 
regarding the value added for individuals, organization, and society.  
This article provides a model for defining and achieving success in

This article provides a model for defining and achieving success in 
the future through a glossary of terms that focuses on the results and 
payof fs for internal and external clients instead of the process, 
activities, and interventions we commonly apply.  
 
A requirement to deliver value added for external clients and society    
 
We are increasingly responsible for results, consequences and payoffs of  our 
actions and inactions. We no longer have the luxury of leaving the big questions 
and issues to leaders, supervisors, and executives.  
 
The new era we face is defining and achieving useful results for all stakeholders: 
including both internal and exter nal partners. And we must prove the value we 
add in terms of empirical data about what we deliver, what it accomplished, and 
what value it added for all stakeholders (not just the value it added to our team,

what value it added for all stakeholders (not just the value it added to our team, 
our department, or our organization, but to the entire system of internal and 
external partners). We can no longer get away with “feel good” discussions of 
how we increased efficiency or effectiveness of processes that may or may not 
add value to all of our clients, our client's clients, and the society . 
 
For example, governmental agenciesi are increasing becoming required to prove 
the value they add to citizens. Likewise, organizations world -wide are 
increasingly including societal value -added as an integral ingredient of their 
organizational purpose (K aufman, Stith, Triner, and Wakins,1998). Unfortunately, 
when we do talk about organizational results we too often stop short of societal 
and external client value added. We glibly refer to profits, client satisfaction, or

and external client value added. We glibly refer to profits, client satisfaction, or 
funding levels… and in so -doing we  miss the emerging paradigm (Popcorn, 
1990; Kaufman 1972, 1992, 1998, 2000) that organizations – all organizations – 
are but means to societal ends. Currently, our focus is often far too narrow. We 
tend to talk only about “systems” and not an overall and e ncompassing “system.” 
We call all results “outcomes” and we start our planning  as if the only benefactor SPECIAL ISSUE  - PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT, April 2000 - Roger Kaufman  & Ryan 
Watkins  
© rkaufman  2 of our efforts was the organizations itself (Kaufman, 1992, 1998, 2000). We 
narrow our focus and limit our value -added in both words and deeds.  
 
Our l anguage – terms we use (and abuse) often rob us of adding value   
 
Most of our performance improvement approaches and methods, including the

Most of our performance improvement approaches and methods, including the 
languageii we use in describing our profession, commonly leave questions 
concerning value added unanswered. We tend t o talk about means (e.g., online 
training programs, EPSS, CD -ROMs) and not ends (e.g., reduction in poverty, 
client value, product quality). Our language seems almost to encourage a 
number of confusions that “allows” for lack of precision and consequences.   
 
The performance professional of the future has to both know how to improve 
performance as well as how to justify why an individual or organization should 
improve performance.  For in addition to justifying what we use, do, accomplish 
and deliver, the ne w reality is that we must all now prove that there are useful 
results to both the client and to society. From a societal perspective, value -added

results to both the client and to society. From a societal perspective, value -added 
includes the survival, health, and well being of all partners. Planning for and 
achieving results at the socie tal level – value -added for tomorrow’s child – is 
termed "Mega Planning" or Strategic Thinking" (Kaufman, 1992, 1998, 2000). It is 
this system or super -system (society) that best begins our planning and serves 
as the basis for our evaluation and continuous  improvement.. But to be 
successful in planning for and demonstrating value -added, we must use words 
with rigor and precision.  Language that is crisp, to the point, and focused on 
results (including societal payoffs) is essential for professional success.  And then 
we must match our promises with deeds and payoffs that measurably add value.  
 
System, systems, systematic, and systemic: related but not the same

System, systems, systematic, and systemic: related but not the same  
To set the framework, let’s define these basic terms, relate them, and then use them to put 
other vo cabulary in context.  
 
System Approach : Begins with the sum total of parts working independently and together 
to achieve a useful set of results at the societal level. . .adding value for all internal and 
external partners. We best think of it is the large  whole and we can show it thus:  
 
 SPECIAL ISSUE  - PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT, April 2000 - Roger Kaufman  & Ryan 
Watkins  
© rkaufman  3 Systems Approach : Begins with the parts of a system – subsystems – that make up the 
“system”.  We can show it thus:  
 
It should be noted here that the “system” is made up of smaller elements, or subsystems, 
shown a s “bubbles” imbedded in the larger system. If we start at this smaller level, we will

shown a s “bubbles” imbedded in the larger system. If we start at this smaller level, we will 
start with a part and not the whole. So, when someone says they are using a “systems 
approach” they are really focusing on one or more subsystems... they are unfortunatel y 
focusing on the parts and not the whole. When planning and doing at this level, they can 
only assume that the payoffs and consequences will add up to something useful to society 
and external clients and this is usually a very big assumption.  
 
Systematic Approach: An approach that does things in an orderly, predictable, and 
manner does not assure the achievement of useful results.  
 
Systemic Approach: An approach that ef fects everything in the system. The definition of

Systemic Approach: An approach that ef fects everything in the system. The definition of 
“the system” is usually left up to the practitioner and may or not include external clients and 
society. It does not necessarily mean that when something is systemic it is also useful.   
 
Interestingly, thes e above terms are often used interchangeably.  Yet they are 
not the same.  Notice that when the words are used interchangeably and/or when 
on starts at the systems level and not the system level it will mean that we might 
not add value to external clients and society.  
 
Semantic quibbling? We suggest just the opposite. If we talk about a “systems” 
approach and don’t realize that we are focusing on splinters and not on the 
whole, we usually degrade what we use, do, produce, and deliver in terms of 
adding valu e inside and outside of the organization.  When we take a “systems”

adding valu e inside and outside of the organization.  When we take a “systems” 
approach we risk losing a primary focus on societal survival, self -sufficiency, and 
quality of life. We risk staying narrow.  
 
A primary focus on survival, health, and well being —the Mega l evel—is 
really important  
Watkins  
© rkaufman  4 Kaufman (2000) and in another article, Watkins, Leigh, and Kaufman (this issue) 
urge that we must focus on societal payoffs –on a “system” approach for both 
survival and ethical reasons.  He asks:  
 
What organizations that you pers onally do business with do you expect to 
really put client health, safety, and well being at the top of the list of what 
they must deliver?  
 
It is the rare individual who does not care whether or not the organizations that

It is the rare individual who does not care whether or not the organizations that 
affect their lives have a primar y focus and accountability for survival, health, 
welfare, and societal payoffs.  Most people, regardless of culture, want safety, 
health, and well being to be the top priority of everyone they deal with.  
 
What we do and deliver must be the same as that we  demand of others  
So, if we want Mega – value added for society – to be at the top of the list for 
others (e.g., airlines, government, software manufactures) why don’t we do unto 
others as we would have them do unto us? At best we give “lip service” to 
customer pleasure, profits, or satisfaction… and then go on to work on splinters 
of the whole.  We work on training courses for individual jobs and tasks, and then 
we hope that the sum total of all of the training and trained people adds up to

we hope that the sum total of all of the training and trained people adds up to 
organizational success. We too often don’t formally include external client 
survival and well being in our performance plans, programs, and delivery. We 
rarely start our plans or programs with an “outside -the-organization” Outcome1 
clearly and rigorously stated before se lecting the organizational results and 
resources(Outputs, Products, Processes, and Inputs).  
  
The words we use might get in the way of a societal added value focus. To keep 
our performance and value added focus, we should adjust our perspective when 
review ing the literature and as we listen to speakers at meetings.  Far too often 
we read and hear key terms used with altering (or case specific) definitions. 
There seems to be many words that sound familiar, and these words are often so

There seems to be many words that sound familiar, and these words are often so 
comfortable and identif y us as professionals that we neglect to question the 
meaning or appropriateness of use within the context. And when we apply the 
words and concepts inconsistently, we find that their varying definitions can 
abridge success.  
 
What we communicate to oursel ves and others --the words and phrases --are 
important since they operationally define our profession and communicate our 
objectives and processes to others. They are symbols and signs with meaning. 
When our words lead us away, by implication or convention , from designing and 
delivering useful results for both internal and external clients, then we must 
consider changing our perspectives and our definitions  
 
If we don’t agree on definitions and communicate with common and useful

If we don’t agree on definitions and communicate with common and useful 
understandings, then we will  likely get a “leveling” of the concepts —and thus our 
                                            
1 As we will note later, this word is used in a fuzzy way by most people for any kind of result.  SPECIAL ISSUE  - PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT, April 2000 - Roger Kaufman  & Ryan 
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© rkaufman  5 resulting efforts and contributions —to the lowest common denominator.  Let’s 
look as some frequently used words, define each, and see how a shift in focus to 
a more rigorous basis for our terms and defi nitions will help us add value to 
internal and external clients.  
 
The following definitionsiii come from our review of the literature and other 
writings  Many of the references and related readings from a wide variety of 
sources are included at the end of t he article. Italics provide some rationale for a

sources are included at the end of t he article. Italics provide some rationale for a 
possible perspective shift from conventional and comfortable to societal value 
added.iv  In addition, each definition identifies if the word or phrase relates most 
to a system approach, systems approach, syst ematic approach, or systemic 
approach (or a combination).  The level of approach (system, systems, etc.) 
provides the unit of analysis for the words and terms as they are defined in this 
article.  Alternative definitions, should also be analyzed based on t he unit of 
analysis.  If we are going to apply system thinking (decision making that focuses 
on valued added at the individual, organizational, and societal levels) then 
definitions from that perspective should be applied in our literature, 
presentations, workshops, and products.  
 
Here are the terms, definitions, and comments:

Here are the terms, definitions, and comments:  
  
ADDIE Model  (systems approach, systematic approach, systemic approach ): A 
contraction of the conventional instructional systems steps of Analysis, Design, 
Development, Implementati on, and Evaluation. It ignores or assumes a front 
determination through assessment of what to analyze, and it also assumes that the 
evaluation data will be used for continuous improvement.  
 
Change creation  (system approach): The definition and justificati on, proactively, of new 
and justified as well as justifiable destinations. If this is done before change management, 
acceptance is more likely. This is a proactive orientation for change and differs from the 
more usual “change management” in that it identi fies in advance where individuals and 
organizations are headed rather than waiting for change to occur and be “managed.”

organizations are headed rather than waiting for change to occur and be “managed.”  
 
Change management  (systems approach, systemic approach, systematic approach): 
Assuring that whatever change is selected will be accept ed and implemented 
successfully by people in the organization. Change Management is reactive in that it 
waits until change requirements are either defined or imposed and then moves to have 
the change accepted and used.  
 
Comfort Zones  (system approach, syst ematic approach, systemic approach): The 
psychological areas, in business or in life, where one feels secure and safe (regardless of 
the reality of that feeling). Change is usually painful for most people. When faced with 
change, many people will find reas ons (usually not rational) for why not to make and 
modifications.  This give rise to Tom Peter’s (1997)observation that “it is easier to kill an

modifications.  This give rise to Tom Peter’s (1997)observation that “it is easier to kill an 
organization that it is to change it.”  
 
Costs -Consequences Analysis  (system approach, systems approach): The pr ocess of 
estimating a return -on-investment analysis before an intervention is implemented.  It asks 
two basic questions simultaneously: what do you expect to give and what do you expect 
to get back in terms of results?  Most formulations do not compute cos ts and 
consequences for society and external client (Mega) return on investment. Thus, even 
the calculations for standard approaches steer away from the vital consideration of self -SPECIAL ISSUE  - PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT, April 2000 - Roger Kaufman  & Ryan 
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© rkaufman  6 sufficiency, health, and well being (Kaufman & Keller, 1997; Kaufman, Kelle r & Watkins, 
1998; Kaufman, 1998, 2000).

Watkins  
1998; Kaufman, 1998, 2000).  
 
Criteria : (system approach, systems approach, systematic approach, systemic 
approach) Precise and rigorous specifications that allow one to prove what has been or 
has to be accomplished. Many processes in place tod ay to not use rigorous indicators for 
expected performance. If criteria are “loose” or unclear, there is no realistic basis for 
evaluation and continuous improvement. Loose criteria often meets the comfort -test but 
doesn’t allow for the humanistic approach  to care enough about others to define, with 
stakeholders, where you are headed and how to tell when you have or have not arrived.  
 
Deep change  (system approach, systemic approach): Change that extends from Mega –
societal value added —downward into the orga nization to define and shape Macro, Micro,

societal value added —downward into the orga nization to define and shape Macro, Micro, 
Processes, and Inputs. It is termed “deep change” to note that it is not superficial or just 
cosmetic, or even a splintered quick  fix. Most planning models do not include Mega 
results in the change process, and t hus miss the opportunity to find out what impact their 
contributions and results have on external clients and society. The other approaches 
might be termed “superficial change” or “limited change” in that they only focus on an 
organization or a small part of an organization.  
 
Desired results : Ends (or results) identified through needs assessments that are derived 
from soft data relating to “perceived needs ”. “Desired” indicates these are perceptual and 
personal in nature.  
 
Ends : Results, achievements, conse quences, payoffs, and/or impacts. The more precise

Ends : Results, achievements, conse quences, payoffs, and/or impacts. The more precise 
the results the more likely that reasonable methods and means can be considered, 
implemented, and evaluated. Without rigor for results statements, confusion can take the 
place of successful performance.  
 
Evaluation : (systems approach, systematic approach) Compares current status (what is) 
with intended status (what was intended) and is most commonly done only after an 
intervention is implemented. Unfortunately, “evaluation” is used for blaming and not fixin g 
or improving. When blame follows evaluation, people tend to avoid the means and criteria 
for evaluation or leave them so loose that any result can be explained away.  
 
External Needs Assessment  (system approach): Determining and prioritizing gaps, 
then se lecting problems to be resolved at the Mega level. This level of needs assessment

then se lecting problems to be resolved at the Mega level. This level of needs assessment 
is most often missing from conventional approaches. Without the data from it, one cannot 
be assured that there will be strategic alignment from internal results to external v alue 
added.  
 
Hard data : (system approach, systems approach, systematic approach) Performance 
data that is based on objectives and is independently verifiable.  This type of data is 
critical. It should be used along with “soft” or perception data.  
Ideal Visi on (+): The measurable definition of the kind of world we, together with others, 
commit to help deliver for tomorrow’s child. An Ideal Vision defines the Mega level of 
planning. It allows an organization and all of its partners to define where they are hea ded 
and how to tell when they are getting there or getting closer. It provides the rationality and

and how to tell when they are getting there or getting closer. It provides the rationality and 
reasons for an organizational mission objective.  
 
Inputs  (systems approach, systematic approach): The ingredients, raw materials, 
physical and human resource s that an organization can use in its processes in order to 
deliver useful ends. These ingredients and resources are often the only considerations 
made during planning   . .without determining the value they add internally and external to 
the organization.  
Watkins  
© rkaufman  7 Internal Needs Assessment  (systems approach): Determining and prioritizing gaps, 
then selecting problems to be resolved at the Micro and Macro levels. Most needs 
assessment processes are of this variety (Watkins, Leigh, Platt, & Kaufman, 1998.)

assessment processes are of this variety (Watkins, Leigh, Platt, & Kaufman, 1998.)  
 
Learning  organization  (systems approach, systematic approach): An organization that 
sets measurable performance standards and constantly compares its results and their 
consequences with what is required. Learning organizations use performance data, 
related to an I deal Vision and the primary Mission Objective to decide what to change 
and what to continue . . . it learns from its performance and contributions. Learning 
organizations may obtain the highest level of success by strategic thinking: focusing 
everything th at is used, done, produced, and delivered on Mega results —societal value 
added. Many conventional definitions do not link the “learning” to societal value added. If 
there is no external societal linking, than it could well guide one away from the new 
requi rements.

requi rements.  
 
Macro -level of planning  (systems approach): Planning focused on the organization itself 
as the primary client and beneficiary of what is planned and delivered. This is the 
conventional starting and stopping place for existing planning approaches.  
 
Means  (systems approach, systematic approach): Processes, activities, resources, 
methods, or techniques used to deliver a result. Means are only useful to the extent that 
the deliver useful results. . .at all three levels of planned results: Mega, Macro,  and Micro.  
 
Mega level of planning  (system approach): Planning focused on external clients, 
including customers/citizens and the community and society that the organization serves. 
This is the usual missing planning level in most formulations. It is the o nly one that will

This is the usual missing planning level in most formulations. It is the o nly one that will 
focus on societal value added: survival, self -sufficiency, and quality of life of all partners. 
Also termed “strategic planning plus.” It is suggested that this type of planning is 
imperative for getting and proving useful results.  
 
Mega thinking  (system approach): Thinking about every situation, problem, or 
opportunity in terms of what you use, do, produce, and deliver as having to add value to 
external clients and society. Same as Strategic Thinking.  
 
Methods -means analysis  (systems appr oach, systematic approach): Identifies possible 
tactics and tools for meeting the needs identified in a “system analysis.” The 
Methods -Means Analysis identifies the possible ways and means to meet the needs and 
achieve the detailed objectives that are iden tified in this Mega plan, but does not select

achieve the detailed objectives that are iden tified in this Mega plan, but does not select 
them. Interestingly, this is a comfortable place where some operational planning starts. 
Thus, it either assumes or ignores the requirement to measurably add value within and 
outside the organization.  
 
Micro -level planning  (systems approach): Planning focused on individuals or small 
groups (such as desired and required competencies of associates or supplier 
competencies). Planning for building -block results.  This also is a comfortable place where 
some operationa l planning starts. Starting here usually assumes or ignores the 
requirement to measurably add value to the entire organization as well as to outside the 
organization.  
 
Mission analysis  (systems approach): Analysis step that identifies: (1) what results and

Mission analysis  (systems approach): Analysis step that identifies: (1) what results and  
consequences are to be achieved; (2) what criteria (in Interval and/or Ratio scale terms) 
will be used to determine success; and (3) what are the building -block results and the 
order of their completion (functions) required to move from the current result s to the 
desired state of affairs. Most mission objectives have not been formally linked to Mega 
results and consequences, and thus strategic alignment with “where the clients are” are 
usually missing (Kaufman, Stith, Triner, and Watkins 1998).  SPECIAL ISSUE  - PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT, April 2000 - Roger Kaufman  & Ryan 
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© rkaufman  8  
Mission Ob jective  (systems approach): An exact, performance -based statement of an 
organization’s overall intended results that it can and should deliver to external clients

organization’s overall intended results that it can and should deliver to external clients 
and society. A mission objective is measurable on an Interval or Ratio scale so states not 
only “where are we headed” but also adds “how we will know when we have arrived.” A 
mission objective is best linked to Mega levels of planning and the Ideal Vision to assure 
societal value added.  
 
Mission statement  (systems approach): An organization’s Macr o-level “general 
purpose,”  A mission statement is only measurable on a Nominal or Ordinal scale of 
measurement and only states “where are we headed” and leaves of rigorous criteria for 
determining how one measures successful accomplishment.  
 
Need  (system approach, systems approach, systematic approach, systemic approach)): 
The gap between current results and desired or required results. This is where a lot of

The gap between current results and desired or required results. This is where a lot of 
planning “goes off the rails.” By defining any gap as a “need” one fails to distinguish 
between me ans and ends and thus confuses what and how. If “need” is defined as a gap 
in results then there is a triple bonus: (1) it states the objectives (What Should Be), (2)  it 
contains the evaluation and continuous improvement criteria (What Should Be) and (3) it 
provides the basis for justifying any proposal for by using both ends of a need –What Is 
and What Should Be in terms of results – proof can be given for the costs to meet the 
need as well as the costs to ignore the need.  
 
Needs analysis  (systems approac h): Taking the determined gaps between adjacent 
Organizational Elements, and finding the causes of the inability for delivering required

Organizational Elements, and finding the causes of the inability for delivering required 
results.  A needs analysis also identifies possible ways and means to close the gaps in 
results —needs —but does not sele ct them. Unfortunately, “needs analysis” is usually 
used interchangeable with “needs assessment.” They are not the same. How does one 
“analyze” something (such as a need) before they know what should be analyzed? First 
assess the needs, then analyze it.  
 
Needs assessment  (system approach, systems approach): A formal process that 
identifies and documents gaps between current and desired and/or required results, 
arranges them in order of priority on basis of the cost to meet the need as compared to 
the cost o f ignoring it, and selects problems to be resolved. By starting with a needs 
assessment, justifiable performance data and the gaps between What Is and What

assessment, justifiable performance data and the gaps between What Is and What 
Should Be will provide the realistic and rational reason for both what to change as well as 
what to continue. When the needs assessment starts at the Mega level then the “+” is 
appropriate.  
 
Objectives (system approach, systems approach):  Precise statement of purpose, or 
destination of where are we headed and how will we be able to tell when we have 
arrived; the four parts to an objective are 1) what result is to be demonstrated, 2) who or 
what will demonstrate the result, 3) where will the result be observed, 4) what interval or 
ratio scale criteria will be used. Loose or process -oriented objectives wil l confuse 
everyone (c.f. Mager, 1997). A Mega level result is best stated as an objective.  
 
Outcomes  (system approach): Results and payoffs at the external client and societal

Outcomes  (system approach): Results and payoffs at the external client and societal 
level. Outcomes are results that add value to society, community, and external c lients of 
the organization. These are results at the Mega level of planning.  
 
Outputs  (systems approach): The results and payoffs that an organization can or does 
deliver outside of itself to external clients and society. These are results at the Macro 
level of planning where the primary client and beneficiary is the organization itself. It does 
not formally link to Outcomes and societal well being unless it is derived from Outcomes 
and the Ideal (Mega) Vision.  SPECIAL ISSUE  - PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT, April 2000 - Roger Kaufman  & Ryan 
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© rkaufman  9  
Paradigm (system approach, systems approach, systematic approach, systemic 
approach): The framework and ground rules individuals use to filter reality and

Watkins  
approach): The framework and ground rules individuals use to filter reality and 
understand the world around them (Barker, 1992). It is vital that people have common 
paradigms that guide them. That is one of the functions of th e Mega level of planning and 
Outcomes so that everyone is headed to a common destination and may uniquely 
contribute to that journey.  
 
Performance accomplishment system  (PAS)  (system approach, systems approach, 
systemic approach):  Any of a variety of inter ventions (such as “instructional systems 
design and development,” quality management/continuous improvement, benchmarking, 
reengineering, and the like that) that are results oriented and are intended to get positive 
results. These are usually focused at th e Micro/Products level. This is my preferred 
alternative to the rather sterile term “performance technology” that often steers people

alternative to the rather sterile term “performance technology” that often steers people 
toward hardware and premature solutions (Kaufman, 1999, 2000).  
 
Processes  (systems approach, systematic approach): The mea ns, processes, activities, 
procedures, interventions, programs, and initiatives an organization can or does use in 
order to deliver useful ends. While most planners start here, it is dangerous not to derive 
the Processes and Inputs from what an organizatio n must deliver and the payoffs for 
external clients.  
 
Products  (systems approach): The building -block results and payoffs of individuals and 
small groups that form the basis of what an organization produces, delivers inside as well 
as outside of itself, an d the payoffs for external clients and society. Products are results 
at the Micro level of planning.

at the Micro level of planning.  
 
Quasi -need  (systems approach, systematic approach)): A gap in a method, resource, or 
process. Many so -called “need assessments” are really quasi needs ass essments since 
they tend to pay immediate attention to means (such as training) before defining and 
justifying the ends and consequences (Watkins, Leigh, Platt, & Kaufman, 1998)  
 
Required results (system approach, systems approach, systematic approach, sys temic 
approach): Ends identified through needs assessment which are derived from hard data 
relating to objective performance measures.  
Results: Ends, Products, Outputs, Outcomes; accomplishments and consequences. 
Usually misses the Outputs and Outcomes.  
 
Soft data (system approach, systems approach): Personal perceptions of results. Soft 
data is not independently verifiable. While people’s perceptions are reality for them, they

data is not independently verifiable. While people’s perceptions are reality for them, they 
are not to be relied on without relating to hard –independently verifiable – data as well.  
 
Strategic alignment  (system approach): The linking of Mega/Outcomes, Macro/Outputs, 
and Micro/Product level planning and results with each other and with Processes and 
Inputs. By formally deriving what the organization uses, does, produces, an d delivers to 
Mega/external payoffs, strategic alignment is complete.  
 
Strategic planning plus - Mega planning  (system approach) Five steps, or elements for 
defining and delivering a preferred future that include: 1) Deriving the Tactical & 
Operational pla ns, 2) Making/Buying/Obtaining resources, 3) Implementation —and 
simultaneously —4) Continuous improvement/formative evaluation, and then 5)

simultaneously —4) Continuous improvement/formative evaluation, and then 5) 
Determine effectiveness and efficiency. While not strictly planning, this is the part that 
puts all of the previous p lanning to work to achieve positive results.  
Watkins  
© rkaufman  10 Strategic thinking  (system approach): Approaching any problem, program, project, 
activity, or effort with noting that everything that is used, done, produced, and delivered 
must add value for external clients a nd society. Strategic thinking starts with Mega.  
 
System analysis  (system approach): Identifies and justifies WHAT should be 
accomplished based on an Ideal/Mega Vision and is results -focused.  It is a series of 
analytic steps that include Mission analysis,  Function analysis, and (if selected) Task

analytic steps that include Mission analysis,  Function analysis, and (if selected) Task 
analysis. It also identifies possible methods and means (methods -means analysis) but 
does not select the methods -means. This starts with rolling -down (from outside to inside 
the organization) linkages to Mega.  
 
System s analysis  (Systems approach): Identifies the most effective and efficient ways 
and means to achieve required results. Solutions and tactics -focused. This is an internal 
–inside the organization —process.  
 
Tactical planning (systems approach): Finding o ut what is available to get from What Is 
to What Should Be at the organizational/Macro level. Tactics are best identified after the 
overall mission has been selected based on its linkages and contributions to external 
client and societal (Ideal Vision) res ults and consequences.

client and societal (Ideal Vision) res ults and consequences.  
 
Wants  (systems approach): Preferred methods and means assumed to be capable of 
meeting needs.  
 
What is : Current operational results and consequences; these could be for an individual, 
an organization and/or for society.  
 
What should  be: Desired or required operational results and consequences; these could 
be for an individual, an organizational and/or society.  
Wishes ( -): Desires concerning means and ends.  It is important not to confuse “wishes” 
with needs.  
 
Making sense of definiti ons and their contribution to a Mega perspective . What 
can we surmise by a close consideration of the above definitions and the 
consideration of the possible perspective (unit of analysis) differences between 
conventional use and what is suggested here?  H ere are some:

conventional use and what is suggested here?  H ere are some:  
 
1. System approach  systems approach  systematic approach  systemic 
approach.  
2. Mega level planning  Macro level planning  Micro level planning.  
3. System analysis  systems analysis.  
4. Means  ends.  
5. Outcome  Output  Product  Process  Input,  
6. There are three levels of planning: Mega, Macro, and Micro and three related 
types of results: Outcomes, Outputs, Products.  
7. Need is a gap in results, not a gap in Process or Input.  
8. Needs assessment  needs analysis (nor front -end analysis, or problem 
analy sis). 
9. Strategic planning  tactical planning  operational planning.  
10. Change creation  change management.  
Watkins  
© rkaufman  11 Nitpicking? No. In order to assure that we help bring about positive change, we

SPECIAL ISSUE  - PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT, April 2000 - Roger Kaufman  & Ryan 
Watkins  
© rkaufman  11 Nitpicking? No. In order to assure that we help bring about positive change, we 
have to design, develop, and deliver that change. And we have to prov e our 
contributions. So the words and concepts we use are much to important to leave 
loose and open to confusion.  
 
References  
Barker, J. A. (1992) Future edge: Discovering the new paradigms of success.   
New York: William Morrow & Co., Inc.  
Kaufman, R. (20 00). Mega Planning. Thousand Oaks, CA. Sage Publications.  
Kaufman, R. (1999) From How to What to Why: The Handbook of  Performance 
Technology as the  Gateway to  the Future. In Stolovitch, H. & Keeps, E. 
The Handbook of Performance Technology – 2nd Edition , San Francisco, 
CA: Jossey -Bass.  
Kaufman, R. (1998)  Strategic Thinking: A Guide to Identifying and Solving 
Problems . Revised . Arlington, VA. & Washington, D.C. Jointly published

Problems . Revised . Arlington, VA. & Washington, D.C. Jointly published 
by the American Society for Training & Development and the International 
Society for Performance Improvement.  
 
Kaufman, R., Keller, J. and Watkins, R. (1995). What Works and What Doesn’t: 
Evaluation Beyond Kirkpatrick. Performance and Instruction . Vol. 35, No. 
2, pp. 8 -12 
Kaufman, R. & Keller, J. (1994: Winter) Levels of Eval uation: Beyond Kirkpatrick. 
Human Resources Quarterly .  Vol. 5, No. 4. Pp. 371 -380.  
Kaufman, R. (1992)  Strategic planning plus: An organizational guide.. Revised.  
Newbury Park, CA: Sage.  
Kaufman, R. (1972) Educational System Planning .  Englewood Cliffs,  NJ. 
Prentice -Hall. 
Langdon, D., Whiteside, K., McKenna, M. (1999). Intervention Resource Guide: 
50 performance improvement tools . San Francisco, CA: Jossey -Bass,

50 performance improvement tools . San Francisco, CA: Jossey -Bass,  
Mager, R. F. (1997)  Preparing Instructional Objectives : A Critical Tool in the 
Development o f Effective Instruction.” 3rd ed. Atlanta: Center for Effective 
Performance.  
Peters, T. (1997). The Circle of Innovation : You Can't Shrink Your Way to 
Greatness . New York: Knopf .  
Popcorn, F. (1991) The Popcorn Report .  New York: Doubleday.  
Watkins, R., Leigh, D., Platt, W., And Kaufman, R. (1998). Needs Assessment: A 
digest, review, and comparison of needs assessment literature. 
Performance Improvement , Vol. 37, No. 7, pp.40 -53. 
Watkins, R., Leigh, D., Foshay, R. & Kaufman, R. (1998). Kirkpatrick Plus: 
Evaluation and Continuous Improvement With a Community Focus. 
Educational Technology Research and Development Journal . Vol. 46, No.

Educational Technology Research and Development Journal . Vol. 46, No. 
4. SPECIAL ISSUE  - PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT, April 2000 - Roger Kaufman  & Ryan 
Watkins  
© rkaufman  12  
Related readings  
Banathy, B. H. (1992) A systems view of education: Concepts and principles for 
effective practice .  Engl ewood Cliffs, NJ: Educational Technology 
Publications.Beals, R. L.  (1968: Dec.) Resistance and Adaptation to 
Technological Change: Some Anthropological Views.  Human Factors . 
Bertalanffy, L. Von. (1968)  General systems theory .  New York: George 
Braziller . 
Block, P. (1993) Stewardship .  San Francisco, CA: Berrett -Koehler Publishers.  
Branson, R. K. (1998:Aug.) Teaching -Centered Schooling Has Reached Its 
Upper Limit: It Doesn’t Get Any Better Than This. Current Directions in 
Psychological Science ,  Vol. 7,  No. 4. Pp.  126 -135.  
Churchman, C. W. (1969, 1975)  The systems approach  (1st and 2nd eds.).  New

Churchman, C. W. (1969, 1975)  The systems approach  (1st and 2nd eds.).  New 
York: Dell Publishing Company.  
Clark, R. E., &  Estes, F. (March -April 1999). The Development of Authentic 
Educational Technologies. Educational Technology , 38(5), 5 -11. 
Conner, D. R. (1998).  Building Nimble Organizations.  NY, John Wiley & Sons.  
Deming, W. E. (1972) Code of Professional Conduct. Int. Stat. Rev.  Vol. 40, No. 
2, pp. 215 -219. 
Deming, W. E. (1986) Out of the Crisis .  Cambridge:  MIT, Center for Advanced 
Engineering Technology.  
Deming, W. E. (1990: May 10)  A System of Profound Knowledge. Wash. D. C., 
Personal memo.  
Drucker, P. F.  (1973)  Management: Tasks, responsibilities, practices .  New 
York: Harper & Row.  
Drucker, P. F. (1993) Post-Capitalis t Society .  New York: HarperBusiness.  
Drucker, P. F. (1994: Nov.) The Age of Social Transformation.  The Atlantic 
Monthly .  pp. 53 -80.

Monthly .  pp. 53 -80. 
Drucker, P. F. (1998: Oct, 5) Management’s New Paradigm. Forbes , pp. 152 -
168. 
Forbes, R. (1998:Aug.) The Two Bottom Lines : Let’s Start To Measure. The 
Quality Magazine . Vol. 7, No. 4. Pp. 17 -21, 
Gilbert, T. F.  (1978).  Human competence: Engineering worthy performance .  
New York: McGraw -Hill. 
Greenwald, H.  (1973).  Decision therapy .  NY: Peter Wyden, Inc.  
Gruender, C. D. (1 996:May -June) “Constructivism and Learning: A Philosophical 
Appraisal”. Educational Technology, v36, n3, p21 -29. 
Harless, J. (1998) The Eden Conspiracy: Educating for Accomplished  
Citizenship . Wheaton, IL: Guild V Publications.  
Joiner, B. L. (1986: May) Us ing Statisticians to Help Transform Industry in 
America.  Quality progress .  pp. 46 -50.

America.  Quality progress .  pp. 46 -50.  
Kaufman, R. (1994: Feb.) Auditing Your Needs Assessment. Training & 
Development . Management Association.  
Kaufman, R., Watkins, R., & Sims, L. (1997) Costs -Consequences  Analysis: A 
Case Study. Performance Improvement Quarterly ; Vol. 10, No. 3. Pp. 7 -
21. Formatted:  Font: Not BoldSPECIAL ISSUE  - PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT, April 2000 - Roger Kaufman  & Ryan 
Watkins  
© rkaufman  13 Kaufman, R. (May -June, 1997) Avoiding the “Dumbing Down” of Human                                    
Performance Improvement. Performance Improvement . 
Kaufman, R. (1997: Oct.) A New Reality for Organizational Success: Two Bottom 
Lines.  Performance Improvement , vol. 36, #8.  
Kaufman, R., Stith, M., & Kaufman, J. D.. (1992: Feb.) Extending Performance 
Technology to Improve Strategic Market Planning.  Performance &

Technology to Improve Strategic Market Planning.  Performance & 
Instructi on Journal . 
Kaufman, R. & Swart, W. (1995: May -June) Beyond Conventional Benchmarking: 
Integrating Ideal Visions, Strategic Planning, Reengineering, and Quality 
Management.  Educational Technology . Pp. 11 -14. 
Kaufman, R. & Watkins, R.  (1996:Spring) Costs -Consequences Analysis.  HRD 
Quarterly . Vol. 7, Pp. 87 -100. 
Kaufman, R. & Watkins, R.  (1999) Using an ideal vision to guide Florida’s 
revision of the State Comprehensive Plan: A sensible approach to add 
value for citizens. In DeHaven -Smith, L. (edit.) Florida’s future: A guide to 
revising Florida’s State Comprehensive Plan . Tallahassee, Fl. Florida 
Institute of Government.    
Kaufman, R. (1999, July) Research, Practice, Comfort, and our Future. 
Performance Improvement .

Performance Improvement . 
Kaufman, R., Thiagarajan, S., and MacG illis, P. (Editors). (1997).  The 
Guidebook for Performance Improvement: Working With Individuals and 
Organizations.   San Francisco, Pfeiffer - Jossey Bass.  
Kuhn, T. (1970) The structure of scientific revolutions . Second Edit. Chicago: 
University of Chica go Press.  
LaFeur, D., & Brethower, D. (1998)  The Transformation: Business Strategies for 
the 21st Century.  Grand Rapids, MI.  IMPACTGROUPworks.  
Langdon, D. Ied,) Intervention Resource Guide: 50 performance improvement 
tools. San Francisco, CA: Jossey -Bass. 
Marshall, R. & Tucker, M. (1992) Thinking for a living: Education & the wealth of 
nations .  New York: Basic Books.  
Mintzberg, H. (1995) Strategic Thinking as “Seeing.” In Garratt, B., Edit. (1995)

Mintzberg, H. (1995) Strategic Thinking as “Seeing.” In Garratt, B., Edit. (1995) 
Developing Strategic Thought: Rediscovering the Art of D irection -Giving .  
London, McGraw -Hill Book Company.  
Muir, M., Watkins, R. Kaufman, R., & Leigh, D. (1998: Apr.) Costs -
Consequences Analysis: A Primer. Performance Improvement . Vol. 37, 
No. 4, pp. 8 -17, 48.  
Naisbitt, J. & Aburdene, P. (1990) Megatrends 2000 : Ten new directions for the 
1990’s .  New York: William Morrow & Co.  
Nanus, B. (1992) Visionary Leadership .  San Francisco: Jossey -Bass.  
Peters, T. (1997) The Circle of Innovation: You Can’t Shrink Your Way to 
Greatness.  New York: Alfred A. Knopf.  
Rummler , G. A. & Brache, A. P.  (1990)  Improving performance: How to manage 
the white space on the organization chart .  San Francisco: Jossey -Bass 
Publishers.  
Senge, P. M. (1990)  The Fifth Discipline: The Art & Practice of the Learning

Senge, P. M. (1990)  The Fifth Discipline: The Art & Practice of the Learning 
Organization.  New York: Doubleday -Currency.  SPECIAL ISSUE  - PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT, April 2000 - Roger Kaufman  & Ryan 
Watkins  
© rkaufman  14 Triner, D. Greenberry, A., & Watkins, R. (1996: Nov. -Dec.) Training Needs 
Assessment: A Contradiction in Terms? Educational Technology . Vol. 
XXXVI, No. 6., Pp. 51 -55. 
Watkins, R., Triner, D., & Kaufman, R. (1996: July). The Death and Re surrection 
of Strategic Planning: A Review of Mintzberg’s The Rise and Fall of 
Strategic Planning.  International Journal of Educational Reform .  
Watkins, R. & Kaufman, R. (1996: Nov.) An Update on Relating Needs 
Assessment and Needs Analysis. Performance Improvement . Vol. 35, No. 
10, Pp. 10 -13. 
 
Roger Kaufman (rkaufman@onap.fsu.edu) is professor and director, Office for

Roger Kaufman (rkaufman@onap.fsu.edu) is professor and director, Office for 
Needs Assessment and Planning at Florida State University. He is also Research 
Professor of Engineering Management at the Old Dominion University, Norfolk, 
Virginia.  
 
He is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, a Fellow of the 
American Academy of School Psychology, and a Diplomate of the American 
Board of Professional Psychology.  He has been awarded the highest honor of 
the International Society for Performance Improvement by being named “Member 
for Life,” an organization for which he also served as president and he has been 
awarded the Thomas F. Gilbert Professional Achievement Award by that same 
organization.  He has publi shed 33 books and 187 articles on strategic planning, 
performance improvement, quality management and continuous improvement,

performance improvement, quality management and continuous improvement, 
needs assessment, management, and evaluation.  
 
Ryan Watkins is a program professor of instructional technology and distance 
educa tion at Nova Southeastern University.  He has published over 18 articles on 
topics including needs assessment, leadership, strategic planning, and return -on-
investment.  He is currently co -authoring his first book. Ryan can be reached at 
rwatkins@email.com . 
 
i The so -called US Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) does exactly this and 
demands links to a strategic plan. Evolving in this initiative is the linking of strategic planning to 
societal return on investment (Watkins, Le igh, Foshay, & Kaufman, 1998).  
ii Danny Langdon (1999) speaks to the language of work and the importance of the terms and

ii Danny Langdon (1999) speaks to the language of work and the importance of the terms and 
concepts we use and understand.  
iii This section, at first, might sound a bit tedious. I feel it important to carefully consider each ter m, 
definition, and implications in order to make a rational decision on whether or not to participate in 
a perspective adjustment.  SPECIAL ISSUE  - PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT, April 2000 - Roger Kaufman  & Ryan 
Watkins  
© rkaufman  15                                                                                                                                   
iv These are in alphabetical order. At first, some of the definitions won’t “follow” but please scan 
the list for words not ye t defined.  5Performance Improvement, vol. 52, no. 5, May/June 2013
©2013 International Society for Performance Improvement

Published online in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com)  •  DOI: 10.1002/pfi.21345TURNING SOCIAL CAPITAL INTO SOCIAL PERFORMANCE: THREE CASE STUDIES AND A NEW FRAMEWORK FOR VALUE CREATION
Mariano L. Bernardez, PhD  Roger Kaufman, PhD
Sociologists, political scientists, and economists have described different dimensions and 
functions of social capital from their disciplinary perspectives, emphasizing the value and impact of social relationships, governance institutions, or efficient and reliable economic transactions, respectively. In this article, we propose to integrate all three perspectives and the research accumulated in those fields in a common, practical framework for effectively using social capital assets in producing value-adding social and organizational performance. 
FROM THE ONSET of this century, all organizations

FROM THE ONSET of this century, all organizations 
everywhere have been responding to globalized competi-tion (Sirkin, Hemerling, & Bhattacharya, 2008). Not only companies but entire countries, cities, and states compete in chasing corporate office space, tourists, stock markets, smokestacks (Black & Chandra, 1996), and financial and human capital by offering lower taxes, a stronger rule of law (Agrast, Botero, & Ponce, 2011), a facility for doing business (World Bank, 2007; Heritage Foundation, n.d.), access to infrastructure, good communications, and a good quality of living (United Nations Development Program, 2003). At the core of all these competitive strengths lies the elusive power of social capital:  the conditions that social 
ecosystems large and small—from families to organiza-tions, markets, towns, and countries—provide their mem-bers for creating wealth and well-being by combining their relational, organizational, and institutional resources.
SOCIAL CAPITAL DESCRIBED

For all its pervasive power, social capital remains hard to define and harness: politicians, marketers, and salespersons seek it by working rooms and crowds, polling and shak-ing hands and kissing babies. City dwellers, home own-ers, young parents, and retirees measure social capital in 
terms of quality of life, safe and friendly neighborhoods, good schools, and inclusive communities and networks. Entrepreneurs, investors, and businesspeople look for social capital in the form of efficient markets and organizations, rule of law, climate for doing business, stability, and guaran-tees for contracts and investment. Government, taxpayers, and voters look for good institutions and governance.
Like the blind men in the Sufi tale, each one of these

Like the blind men in the Sufi tale, each one of these 
perspectives has a good hold on a particular dimension of social capital yet not enough to figure out the full elephant in the room. As a consequence, academics, businesspeople, and politicians disperse their efforts in partial solutions and hoped-for magic bullets for building social capital—from fixing windows to nation building, public housing and rent control to welfare, one laptop per child or corporate social responsibility—with disappointing results and costly unintended con-sequences. As is the case in the early stages of any new technology focused on testing partial solutions by trial and error—from incandescent light bulbs to coal-fired power plants to public housing—most of social capital goes to waste or creates unintended negative conse-quences (Merton, 1936).6    www.ispi.org  •  DOI: 10.1002/pfi  •  MAY/JUNE 2013Social capital is both a result of and a resource for

societal and organizational performance. As a resource, social capital can be an asset for societal and organizational performance—providing trust, rule of law, brand loyalty, and care for shared public resources—or a liability as “anti–social capital”—building gangs, weakening institutions and the rule of law, making contracts unenforceable, raising the cost of transactions, and provoking tragedies of the com-mons by destroying shared resources (Hardin, 1998, p. 3).
Relational Capital
Individuals, small groups, organizations, and societies develop the primary dimension of social capital, relational 
capital,  by establishing and maintaining relationships; 
sharing values, beliefs, and ideology; informally sanction-ing behavior; and driving what economist Thomas C. Schelling (1978/2006) called the “micro motives” for indi-vidual action that add up as Adam Smith’s (1776/2003, p. 572) invisible hand driving economic and social macro behavior (Schelling, 2006, p. 12; Solow, 2000, p. 34).

Organizational Capital
Businesses view social capital primarily as organizational 
capital,  facilitating economic transactions between groups or individuals mediated by firms and markets. They are 
organized in business ecosyste ms, industries, and value 
chains that create aggregated economic and social value.
Institutional Capital
Governments and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) view social capital as institutional capital, involv-
ing the rules and sanctions, formal and informal, that regulate and provide structure and framework for social interactions and economic transactions such as the rule of law, property and labor rights, contracts, and sanctions.
Governments, communities, and organizations can

Governments, communities, and organizations can 
turn social capital into value-adding performance by adopting a practical, comprehensive framework, shown in Figure 1, that helps multiple stakeholders and specialists work together in projects, aligning their efforts to increase value-adding societal and organizational performance.
FIGURE 1. SOCIAL CAPITAL: LEVELS AND COMPONENTSMost of social capital goes to 
waste or creates unintended negative consequences.Performance Improvement   •  Volume 52  •  Number 5   •  DOI: 10.1002/pfi    7We will illustrate how the three dimensions and 
views of social capital affect organizational and social performance, and how they can be measured and inte-grated for turning around organizations and communities with examples and results from three cases in Argentina, Mexico, and Panama.
FROM SOCIAL CAPITAL TO VALUE-
ADDING SOCIAL PERFORMANCE: THREE KEY STEPS
In order to turn social capital into value-adding social,

In order to turn social capital into value-adding social, 
organizational, and individual performance, we must consider three key steps: establishing a shared vision among all stakeholders, measuring and reporting the value added (or subtracted) by social capital, and building a supportive social ecosystem.
Step 1: Establish a Shared Vision With All 
Stakeholders
Defining a common purpose among all stakeholders is

Defining a common purpose among all stakeholders is 
the most critical step for turning social capital into value-adding social performance. According to Roger Kaufman’s Minimal Ideal Vision (MIV; Kaufman, 1996, 2006, 2011) shown in Table 1, all stakeholders in the ecosystem can reach an agreement in a common vision for their shared future, identifying and prioritizing needs (defined as gaps in results) and focusing efforts in all three dimensions. For each MIV element, stakeholders can identify gaps between the current and desired level—what is against what should be—and agree on their priority.
 Kaufman’s Vital Signs, described in Table 2, provide a 
common framework for helping diverse stakeholders find common ground and agreement about shared goals. Using Vital Signs as a guiding star, communities (level 1) and organizations (level 2) can es tablish the needs—defined

as gaps in results—to be addressed and prioritized and their corresponding requirements of social capital.
Step 2: Measure Social Capital’s Value Added: 
Making a Double-Bottom-Line Business Case
A wide variety of indicators such as the market price 
of mailing lists, sales referrals, brand names, or initial public offerings that turn private ownership into pub-licly traded shares can provide a glimpse of the mostly underreported and undermeasured value of intangible assets such as social capital. Our performance-centered approach brings these intangibles to the social and orga-nizational balance sheet. We use social and organizational performance results as dependent variables for measuring and analyzing the social and economic impact of different forms of social capital interventions considered as inde-
pendent variables.
At the microeconomic level, organizations and com-

munities can monetize the value added or subtracted in a double-bottom-line business case by social and anti–social capital factors and interventions—from improving communities’ civic engagement, quality of life, employ-ment, and rule of law, to customers’ and stakeholders’ relationships to organizational culture, effectiveness, and responsiveness—at three levels of performance: value added to society (Mega level), to organizations (Macro level), and to products and services delivered by social capital interventions (Micro level) (Bernardez, 2008). 
This performance-centered approach links and aligns

This performance-centered approach links and aligns 
social capital interventions to specific and measurable social and organizational results, accounting for its value as an asset or liability in the double-bottom-line business case. Using this methodology, governments, organiza-tions, and communities can monitor and manage the effective use of new and existing social capital and control the progress and return on investment on turning around anti–social capital.
The double-bottom-line business case (see Table 3 
for an example) has three top lines: (1) a Mega top line, reflecting value added to consumers, shareholders, envi-ronment, and community; (2) a Macro top line reflecting revenue, cost savings, and assets appreciation (and reduc-tion of liabilities) for organizations; and (3) a Micro top line reflecting the number of products and services deliv-ered and the time and work involved in interventions to create social capital or turn around anti–social capital.

The indicators in each category of the three top lines 
described in Table 3 summarize a wide variety provided by current research (Bell & Morse, 2003, 2008; Henriques & Richardson, 2004; Holliday, Schmidheiny, & Watts, 2002); Hopwood, Unerman, & Fries, 2010; Laszlo, 2003; Morse, 2004; Savitz & Weber, 2006; Willard, 2003). Entrepreneurial ecosystems 
can be designed and developed addressing and complementing the three dimensions of social capital with specific subsystems.8    www.ispi.org  •  DOI: 10.1002/pfi  •  MAY/JUNE 2013They might not be present on each specific case or vary 
depending on the specific metrics that apply. In specific applications, generic indicators such as increased revenue or reduced negative impact can (and should) be broken down in more customized metrics (Hubbard, 2007; Parmenter, 2007), such as tourism revenue or reduced damage to property, in order to increase traceability and keeping managers and officers accountable.

In the example in Table 3, Micro level interventions 
are measured in different units, such as the Doing Business Rating (DBR) or Index of Economic Freedom (IEF) rating points, employable workforce, direct and indirect jobs, housing units, or reduced crime and incar-
ceration rates. These can be translated into economic impact based on available local research, such as the cost of incarceration, the amount of property lost to crime, or the increased business and community revenue gener-ated per point of improved DBR rating or per average new investment.
The business case for social capital presents two 
bottom lines: the first, or conventional, bottom line ((BL)
11) reflects the net result for organizations: 
BL1 = (Macro revenue – Cost). The second, or social 
bottom line (( BL)12), also factors in the net result for TABLE 1 MINIMAL IDEAL VISION
THERE WILL BE NO LOSS OF LIFE OR ELIMINATION OF THE SURVIVAL OF ANY SPECIES

THERE WILL BE NO LOSS OF LIFE OR ELIMINATION OF THE SURVIVAL OF ANY SPECIES 
REQUIRED FOR HUMAN SURVIVAL. THERE WILL BE NO REDUCTIONS IN LEVELS OF SELF-SUFFICIENCY, QUALITY OF LIFE, LIVELIHOOD, OR LOSS OF PROPERTY FROM ANY SOURCE INCLUDING: (INDICATE GAPS FOR EACH ELEMENT IN THE RIGHT COLUMN)GAPS BETWEEN 
WHAT IT IS 
AND WHAT IT 
SHOULD BE
 War and/or riot and/or terrorism, and civil unrest
 Shelter
  Unintended human-caused changes to the environment including permanent destruction of the environment 
and/or rendering it nonrenewable
 Murder, rape, or crimes of violence, robbery, or destruction to property
 Substance abuse Disease
 Pollution
 Starvation and/or malnutrition Child abuse Partner/spouse abuse
 Accidents, including transportation, home, and business/workplace
  Discrimination based on irrelevant variables including color, race, creed, sex, religion, national origin, age, 
location

Accidents, including transportation, home, and business/workplace
location
  Poverty will not exist, and every woman and man will earn as least as much as it costs them to live unless 
they are progressing toward being self-sufficient and self-reliant
  No adult will be under the care, custody, or control of another person, agency, or substance: all adult citi-
zens will be self-sufficient and self-reliant as minimally indicated by their consumption being equal to or less than their production
Consequences of the Basic Ideal Vision: Any and all organizations, public and private, will contribute to the achievement and maintenance of this Basic Ideal Vision and will be funded and continued to the extent to which it meets its objectives and the Basic Ideal Vision is accomplished and maintained.

People will be responsible for what they use, do, and contribute and thus will not contribute to the reduction 
of any of the results identified in this basic Ideal Vision.Performance Improvement   •  Volume 52  •  Number 5   •  DOI: 10.1002/pfi    9consumers, shareholders, environment, and communi-
ties: BL2 = ((Mega + Macro revenue) – Costs).
Mega level indicators such as productive jobs, good 
health, appropriate housing, self-sufficiency, and unem-ployment are monetized using existing social research (e.g., the impact of demographic changes, institutions, and relational capital in societal and organizational per-formance and costs) and economic data (e.g., average 
wages, economic multipliers, and social costs of “non-quality” such as welfare, unemployment insurance, or damage to property or environment).
When a direct indicator of an intangible is not avail-

able, the business case can use proxy metrics like the wage cost of down time provoked by preventable illnesses. The TABLE 2 VITAL SIGNS
SIGNS EXAMPLES OF SOCIAL CAPITAL REQUIREMENTS
First level: Basic survival for all people
•   Self-sufficiency: Poverty will not exist, and all adult persons 
will earn at least as much as it costs them to live unless they are progressing toward being self-sufficient and self-reliant•   Organizational capital: Self-sustainable business ecosystem, 
viable productive organizations providing jobs
•   Zero pollution: No permanent destruction of the environment •   Institutional capital: Effective rules and governance of com-
mon pooled resources

•   No deaths or permanent disabilities from what is delivered •   Institutional capital: Consumer protection rules and institutions
•   Organizational capital: Safe products and services
•   No starvation or malnutrition resulting in incapacity •   Organizational capital: Self-sufficient organizations, sustain-
able jobs, efficient health care systems
•   Relational capital: Family and community care, effective 
health care and education (higher Development Index levels)
•   No partner or spouse abuse resulting in incapacitating physi-
cal or psychological damage•   Relational capital: Stable, well-integrated families, 
family life, community support
•   No disease or disabilities resulting in incapacity •   Relational capital: Family and health care support

•   No substance abuse resulting in incapacity or dependency •   Relational capital: Family and support groups (Alcoholics 
Anonymous, church)
•   No murder, rape, crimes of violence, robbery, or destruction of 
property•   Institutional capital: Rule of law, property and civil rights, 
effective law enforcement
•   Organizational capital: Self-sustainable business providing 
jobs above poverty level
•   Relational capital: Community engagement and participa-
tion, family support, high Higher Development Index levels, turning around “anti–social” relational capital
•   No war, riot, terrorism, or civil unrest resulting in incapacity of 
individuals or groups•   Institutional capital: Rule of law, property and civil rights, 
•   No accidents resulting in incapacity •   Organizational capital: Safe products and services

•   Citizen quality of life •   Institutional capital: Rule of law, property and civil rights; 
 Second level: Organizational survival
1.   Continued funding based on measurable positive return on 
investment•   
Organizational capital: Effective, competitive organizations 
providing superior client experiences, products and ser-vices, high Doing Business ratings and Index of Economic Freedom levels
•   Institutional capital: Rule of law, protection of contracts and 
investment
2.   Programs, projects, activities, and operations that meet all 
performance objectives while adding value to first tier requirements•   Organizational capital: strategic alignment, Mega-focus
Source.  Kaufman  (2012a, 2012b).10    www.ispi.org  •  DOI: 10.1002/pfi  •  MAY/JUNE 2013Years 
MEGA TOP LINE 1234 5

Consumers (aggregated) 5,700,000 6,840,000 8,208,000 9,849,600 11,819,520
 Increased revenue 2,000,000 2,400,000 2,880,000 3,456,000 4,147,200

 Cost savings 500,000 600,000 720,000 864,000 1,036,800 Increased productivity 1,000,000 1,200,000 1,440,000 1,728,000 2,073,600 Human capital appreciation 2,000,000 2,400,000 2,880,000 3,456,000 4,147,200 Intellectual capital revenue 200,000 240,000 288,000 345,600 414,720Shareholders (aggregated) 1,500,000 1,800,000 2,160,000 2,592,000 3,110,400 Increased wealth (shares, dividends) 1,500,000 1,800,000 2,160,000 2,592,000 3,110,400Environment (aggregated) 3,300,000 3,960,000 4,752,000 5,702,400 6,842,880 Reduced negative impact 2,000,000 2,400,000 2,880,000 3,456,000 4,147,200 Increased renewable assets 1,000,000 1,200,000 1,440,000 1,728,000 2,073,600 Increased nonrenewable assets 300,000 360,000 432,000 518,400 622,080TOTAL SOCIETAL REVENUE (MEGA) (in US dollars) 10,500,000 12,600,000 15,120,000 18,144,000 21,772,800

MACRO TOP LINE
Increased revenue 1,200,000 1,440,000 1,728,000 2,073,600 2,488,320
Cost savings 1,350,000 1,620,000 1,944,000 2,332,800 2,799,360Assets appreciation (brand, IC, company valuation) 250,000 300,000 360,000 432,000 518,400TOTAL ORGANIZATIONAL REVENUE (MACRO) 
(in US dollars)2,800,000 3,360,000 4,032,000 4,838,400 5,806,080
MICRO TOP LINE: PRODUCTS AND SERVICES (INTERVENTIONS, UNITS DELIVERED)
Social capital interventions
Improving organizational capitala56791 0
Employable workforce members 2,000 2,400 2,880 3,456 4,147
Direct jobs 1,600 1,920 2,304 2,765 3,318Indirect jobs 6,000 7,200 8,640 10,368 12,442New investment projects 5 7 8 10 12Housing (units) 4,500 6,300 7,560 9,072 10,886“Anti–social” capital interventionsReduced crime rate (percentage points) 25 20 16 13 10Number of reduced property damage incidents 15 9 5 3 2Reduced incarceration (cases) 250 200 160 128 102Reduce cases of preventable disease 345 138 55 22 9COSTS (in US dollars)

Social capital interventions (hours/people) 1,920,000 1,536,000 1,228,800 983,040 786,432“Anti–social” capital interventions (hours/people) 357,000 285,600 228,480 182,784 146,227
TOTAL COSTS (in US dollars) 2,277,000 1,821,600 1,457,280 1,165,824 932,659BOTTOM LINE 1 (B1)– (MACRO-COSTS) (in US 
dollars)523,000 1,538,400 2,574,720 3,672,576 4,873,421
BOTTOM LINE 2 (B2){(MEGA+MACRO)–COSTS}
(in US dollars)11,023,000 14,138,400 17,694,720 21,816,576 26,646,221
CONVENTIONAL ROI (B1/COSTS) (in US dollars) 1.2 1.8 2.8 4.2 6.2
SOCIETAL ROI (B2/COSTS) (in US dollars) 5.8 8.8 13.1 19.7 29.6
aMeasured in terms of hard indicators such as World Bank’s Doing Business Ranking (DBR), Heritage Foundation’s Index of Economic  Freedom (IEF), and United

aMeasured in terms of hard indicators such as World Bank’s Doing Business Ranking (DBR), Heritage Foundation’s Index of Economic  Freedom (IEF), and United 
Nations Development Program’s Human Development index (HDI).Source.  Bernardez (2009).TABLE 3 DOUBLE-BOTTOM-LINE BUSINESS CASE: EXAMPLEPerformance Improvement   •  Volume 52  •  Number 5   •  DOI: 10.1002/pfi    11U.S. Congressional Budget Office and World Bank have 
developed a considerable number of proxy and leading indicators, as have Hubbard (2007), Bell and Morse (2003, 2008), Hopwood et al. (2010), and Morse (2004). 
A low or negative social return on investment (ROI) 
indicates that the social capital intervention may actually subtract value from its intended beneficiaries, as in the case of failed welfare and foreign aid programs (Hankcock, 1989; Moyo, 2009; Polman, 2010; Sowell, 2009). A low or negative conventional ROI indicates that the social capital intervention is not economically sustainable.

Used as a research framework, the double-bottom-
line business case facilitates collecting and monitoring all critical variables data for testing each social capital intervention, turning a 5-year social capital development process into an experimental design with controlled variables allowing the application of time series analysis and other advanced research methods (Booth, Colomb, & Williams, 1995; Chatfield, 2004; Creswell, 2009). Using the double-bottom-line business case as a common score-board, different stakeholders can track and align their goals and metrics.
Step 3: Align and Organize Social Capital 
Factors in an Effective Social Ecosystem
The successful creation of value-adding social capital, 
from California’s Silicon Valley to Singapore to China’s Special Economic Zones to India’s digital cities around the Indian Institutes of Technology, shows that positive

from California’s Silicon Valley to Singapore to China’s Special Economic Zones to India’s digital cities around the Indian Institutes of Technology, shows that positive 
social change comes faster in smaller, entrepreneur-ial ecosystems operating as innovation’s support sys-tem with institutions that can more rapidly showcase results, inspiring emulation rather than imposing change (Baumol, Litan, & Schramm, 2007; Bernardez, 2009; Iansiti & Levien, 2004) .
Entrepreneurial ecosystems can be designed and 
developed addressing and complementing the three dimensions of social capital with specific subsystems (Hooghe & Stolle, 2003). Intellectual capital and contracts protection, infrastructure, and common pooled resources (CPR) management can provide adequate institutional capital; market, finance and logistics support supply orga-nizational capital; security, education, housing, and com-munity development foster relational capital (Figure 2).

Multiple social capital factors and interventions can 
be aligned by developing a shared vision among all stakeholders (Kaufman, 1996) based on the perspective of the shared “customers” of their social and business ecosystem—such as residents, visitors, and patrons of multiple businesses in the community (Bernardez, 2008; Bernardez, Arias Vallarino, Krivatsy, & Kaufman, 2012).
Using this integrated framework, multiple organiza-
tions and institutions in Colón City, Panama, coordi-nate interventions for improving the city’s social capital and turning around anti–social capital—from turning 
FIGURE 2. MANAGING SOCIAL CAPITAL THROUGH BUSINESS ECOSYSTEMS12    www.ispi.org  •  DOI: 10.1002/pfi  •  MAY/JUNE 2013gang members into tourist guides and employees in 
waste management jobs to involving former squatters in rehousing and hospitality projects.
Using a cross-organizational flowchart (Figure 3),

Using a cross-organizational flowchart (Figure 3), 
multiple businesses can organize in value chains serving shared customers. Each organization participating in a value chain providing some of the products and services required for a common customer (in the case of Colón City, visitors and residents) can visualize how their prod-ucts and services contribute to the shared customers’ experience in coordination with others.
The cross-organizational flowchart tracks the eco-
nomic flow, tying residents’ income, jobs, and organi-zations and investors’ revenue and ROI to customers’ consumption and spending. Multiple organizations can also visualize their participation in one or more value chains supporting the customer experience.
Bringing about a fast-growing, emerging economy

Bringing about a fast-growing, emerging economy 
depends crucially on rapidly developing value-adding social capital and turning it into effective social perfor-mance. Three 5-year case studies in Argentina, Mexico, and Panama that follow illustrate the possibilities and results of using an integrated framework and methodol-ogy focused on three levels of results.
TURNING PICKETERS AND 
UNEMPLOYED INTO FARMERS: THE REFINOR CASE IN ARGENTINA
Refinor is a company operating two refineries in two 
states in northwest Argentina and a 1,200-mile pipeline. After taking over the refineries in the process of priva-

tization, Refinor focused from 1994 to 1996 on reengi-neering and streamlining its operations and training and developing personnel and management. In spite of the progress made in operational and financial performance, it became evident in 1996 that the region’s social and eco-nomic problems were worsening, with high unemploy-ment rates and social turmoil, depressing the consumer market and making the three cities where the company operated inhospitable for Refinor’s employees and their families. Riots, fuel pilferage, gang activities, and drug trafficking were on the rise, menacing businesses and residents alike.
Refinor’s management hired a consulting team with

Refinor’s management hired a consulting team with 
the mission of proposing a plan for turning around anti–social capital in the three cities, with the understanding that addressing social problems was essential for any viable business strategy. The consulting team engaged company employees, unions, local businesses, NGOs, local government, and community members in defining a shared vision for the region and the cities of Tartagal, Pocitos, and Mosconi. The resulting strategic plan com-mitted all stakeholders to reducing the local unemploy-ment rate, property loss, riots, addiction, gang activities, and preventable diseases.
Between 1996 and 1998, Refinor invested in rebuilding

Between 1996 and 1998, Refinor invested in rebuilding 
social capital, helping unemployed residents start agri-cultural businesses, creating school boards for focusing education on the required competencies, and supporting health and rehabilitation programs and improving health care, infrastructure, and waste management. Social indi-cators started to improve: in three years, people who had 
FIGURE 3. ALIGNING SOCIAL CAPITAL INTERVENTIONS IN COLÓN CITY, PANAMAPerformance Improvement   •  Volume 52  •  Number 5   •  DOI: 10.1002/pfi    13previously been unemployed started 120 new small farms

with the help of their own children who were attending local agro-technical schools. Crime and social unrest fell significantly as the unemployment rate reduced by half thanks to new jobs created in the process. New farming increased the demand for diesel and gasoline, helping Refinor expand its market share by becoming the brand of choice in the region it helped turn around. Refinor’s double-bottom-line business case reflected the impact of the investment in social capital in 1996 and 1997, turning a profit in the conventional and social bottom line during the third year.
In 1998, Refinor was sold to a Brazilian state company,

In 1998, Refinor was sold to a Brazilian state company, 
Petrobras, which decided not to continue with the invest-ment in social capital and reducing significantly the hours of social work. The disappointing results that followed from 1998 to 2002 confirmed the crucial impact of social capi-tal: unemployment and social conflict rose, and Refinor’s market share and revenue took a significant downturn. A double-bottom-line business case helped measure the impact of variations in unemployment, riots, strikes, and damage to property in adding or subtracting economic value in market, communities, and Refinor’s business.
An analysis of the 9-year period with a double-bot-
tom-line business case showed a significant correlation between investment in social capital, measured in hours of social works and social performance indicators such as property loss, riots, and similar other incidents and business performance measured in terms of market share (Figure 4).
BRINGING MEXICANS BACK TO

BRINGING MEXICANS BACK TO 
MEXICO: THE PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT INSTITUTE AT ITSON
For decades, Mexico has been in an unfortunate situation 
due to the loss of social capital to continuous migra-tion, weak and dysfunctional institutions, and pervasive levels of anti–social capital. In 2005, the Sonora Institute 
of Technology (ITSON) developed a new vision for the southern Sonora region based on Kaufman’s MIV and validated it with its academic community and communi-ties and taxpayers in the region. The core idea behind the new vision was to reverse migration, keeping and bring-ing back Mexicans to sustainable jobs and livable commu-nities in Mexico. Following a strategic plan focused on the new vision’s strategic and the mission goals, ITSON
 estab-
lished a doctoral program, the Performance Improvement Institute (PII), focused on graduating not only individu-als but value-adding organizations.
Between 2005 and 2009, the PII helped create, incu-

bate, and position in the market 34 new projects involving start-ups, NGOs, and community networks for micro-finance, clusters, and business incubators for strategic industries along the Guaymas agribusiness corridor to the Pacific (see Figure 5).
The strategic plan for developing the southern Sonora 
ecosystem (Bernardez, 2009; Rodriguez Villanueva & Lagarda, 2009) served as the framework for coordinat-ing multiple organizations and industries serving shared national and international markets and customers.
Each new project was assigned a team of doctoral can-

didates, put in charge of the planning; MBA incubation students, put in charge of managing the new organizations during the incubation and acceleration stages; and project sponsors—business owners, social entrepreneurs, inves-tors and government and NGO leaders—providing finan-cial support and ownership involvement (see Figure 6).
By adopting this three-tiered approach, the PII pro-
gram sought not only to graduate employable profession-als and new organizations, but also to support them with relational, organizational, and institutional capital orga-nized in social ecosystems. This model helped increase relational capital, providing entrepreneurs, angel capital, and business, government, and nonprofit organization leaders with bonding and bridging opportunities for accomplishing the shared vision and indicators.

FIGURE 4. REFINOR: CORRELATION BETWEEN BUSINESS PERFORMANCE AND INVESTMENT IN SOCIAL CAPITAL14    www.ispi.org  •  DOI: 10.1002/pfi  •  MAY/JUNE 2013
FIGURE 5. SOUTHERN SONORA CORRIDOR
FIGURE 6. PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT INSTITUTE THREE-TIERED ORGANIZATION: 
PLANNERS, MANAGERS, AND SPONSORSPerformance Improvement   •  Volume 52  •  Number 5   •  DOI: 10.1002/pfi    15Social capital was developed in four innovative ecosys-
tems addressing the region’s strategic priorities: agribusi-ness and biotechnology, software and logistics, ecotourism and sustainable development, and education and health (see Table 4 for summary of job creation during the evalu-ation period).
TURNING AROUND ANTI–SOCIAL 
CAPITAL: A MODEL FOR COLÓN CITY, PANAMA
Once the proud and thriving Atlantic gate to the Panama

Once the proud and thriving Atlantic gate to the Panama 
channel, Colón City had turned into an undesirable situ-ation for anti-social capital after decades of neglect and political stalemate. The dilapidated buildings of the his-toric center occupied by squatters stood in stark contrast

with the bustling Tax-Free Trade Zone and the cruise ports and hotels circled by protecting walls as a reminder of an occupied city. Crime-ridden streets, shootings, fall-ing property value, crumbling infrastructure, and unsani-tary conditions triggered a slow but steady middle-class flight to Colón’s suburbs. The city’s population dropped from 200,000 to 60,000 in two decades. As the national celebration for the Panama Canal extension drew near, government and business leaders finally agreed on tack-ling the long-postponed, politically toxic challenges. They called for a plan for turning around Colón before 2014, the canal extension deadline. 
Their first step was to conduct a comprehensive needs 
assessment with the participation of all of Colón’s stake-holders—from residents, government, businesses, to TABLE 4 PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT INSTITUTE JOB CREATION STATISTICS, 2004–2012
INNOVATIVE ECOSYSTEM DIRECT AND INDIRECT JOBS CREATED
2004 2008 2012

Agribusiness and biotechnology 35 234 3,500
Software and logistics 85 370 4,300
Ecotourism and sustainable development 40 110 1,500
Education and health (Digital City) 30 270 2,000
Total 190 984 11,300
Source.  Rodriguez Villaneuva and Lagarda (2009).
TABLE 5 COLÓN TRANSFORMATION: STRATEGIC INDICATORS
STRATEGIC INDICATOR GAPS IN RESULTS BASED ON A SHARED IDEAL VISION AVERAGE PRIORITY
Education in Colón is preparing future citizens properly 1
Residents and visitors are safe 2
Gangs are not active in Colón 3
The quality of life in Colón is good 3
The elected officials are committed to a new, safe, and thriving Colón 3
New businesses are coming to Colón 3
Everyone who lives in Colón wants everyone to be safe and for businesses to thrive4
5
The infrastructure for Colón is sufficient for growth 616    www.ispi.org  •  DOI: 10.1002/pfi  •  MAY/JUNE 2013visitors, squatters, and gang members—in order to mobi-

5
lize them around a shared vision for the future. Engaging in collective action was the first step for rebuilding social capital. A customized version of Roger Kaufman’s MIV was used as the starting point for several panels that came up with the priorities and goals for all major strategic indi-cators described in Table 5. The column Average Priority shows the priority that a consensus of all stakeholders gave to each one of the strategic indicators, defining measur-able goals for the transformation and future of Colón.
Priorities were translated into measurable strategic 
goals for the 2010–2014 period, validated by all stakehold-ers and aligned with governme nt strategic plans in five

goals for the 2010–2014 period, validated by all stakehold-ers and aligned with governme nt strategic plans in five 
key areas (Gobierno Nacional—Republica de Panama, 2009): security, job creation and employment, housing and development, health and sanitation, and tourism.
In order to achieve progress in closing the gaps in all 
strategic indicators, avoiding the fate of previous projects that focused on improving specific areas, the consulting team developed a framework and tools to coordinate all the efforts and actions required for a successful recovery and transformation (Figure 7).
Following this model, Colón City would be able to 
turn its multiple problems into linked opportunities: housing, other building, tourism, and sanitation could provide well-paying, stable jobs as an alternative to low-paying, high-risk gang activities and improve health and education standards.
CONCLUSION: LESSONS LEARNED

Experiences around the world and the findings of the Refinor, PII, and Colón City cases show that there is no 
FIGURE 7. FRAMEWORK FOR COLÓN’S 
TRANSFORMATIONSource. Bernardez, Arias Vallarino, Krivatsy, and Kaufman (2012).magic bullet or single solution for turning around anti–
social capital. Only an integrated approach that builds on all three dimensions of social capital—relational, organizational and institutional—stands an effective chance of success.
Social capital can be an asset or a liability. Turning 
social capital into value-adding social performance requires a focus on measurable social, organizational, and individual results.
Applying an integrated framework focused on value-
adding performance, communities, organizations, and indi-viduals can turn social capital into a force for good. 
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Recommended Reading

Bernardez, M. (2005). Achieving business success by develop-ing clients and community: Lessons from leading companies, emerging economies and a nine year case study. Performance 
Improvement Quarterly,  18(3), 37–55.18    www.ispi.org  •  DOI: 10.1002/pfi  •  MAY/JUNE 2013MARIANO L. BERNARDEZ, PhD, is director and research professor at the Performance

Improvement Institute and the Sonora Institute of Technology. He is an international consultant on organizational change, business development, and performance improvement. His 35-year career has included working as a management development expert for the United Nations and Fortune 500 companies and as a strategic business consultant to leading companies in Europe, Latin America, and the United States. He has extensive experience in company start-ups in Europe and emerging countries. He has been a board member of ISPI; he founded ISPI international chapters in Argentina, Mexico, and Spain; and he received ISPI Leadership awards in 1998 and 2002. In 2011, he was designated ISPI Member for Life. He is an active speaker at conferences in Europe and the United States. He is the author of six books on performance improvement in Spanish and multiple articles published in professional and research publications. He may be reached at mbernardez@expert2business.com

ROGER KAUFMAN, PhD, is professor emeritus, Florida State University; director of Roger Kaufman 
& Associates; and distinguished research professor at the Sonora Institute of Technology. He is an ISPI past president, honorary life member, and Thomas F. Gilbert Distinguished Professional Achievement Award recipient and the recipient of the American Society for Training and Development’s Distinguished Contribution to Workplace Learning and Performance award. He has published 40 books and more than 275 articles on strategic planning, performance improvement, quality management and continuous improvement, needs assessment, management, and evalua-tion. He may be reached at rkaufman@nettally.comMega Thinking and Planning: An
Introduction to Deﬁning andDelivering Individual and
Organizational Success
Roger Kaufman
Adding value to our shared society using your
organization as the primary vehicle isMega
thinking and planning. It is straightforward,

and sensible. From this shared societal value-addedframe, everything one uses, does, produces, and deli-vers is linked to deliver shared and agreed-on positiveorganizational as well as societal results.
This societal frame of reference, or paradigm, I call
theMega level of thinking and planning. If you are not
adding value to our shared society, you have no assur-
ance that you are not subtracting value. Starting with
Mega as the central focus of strategic thinking gener-ates the data base for strategic planning.
A central question that every organization should
ask and answer is, If your organization is the solution,
what’s the problem?
This fundamental proposition—using a Mega fo-
cus—represents a shift from the usual attention only to
oneself, individual performance improvement, and

one’s organization to making certain you also add valueto external clients and society.
An Overview of the Basic Concepts and Tools for Mega
Thinking and Planning
There are three basic guides, or templates, that help deﬁne and achieve
individual and organizational success. Each is described in much greater detail
ina numberofbooks (seethe references),but for our entry intoMegaplanningand strategic thinking here is a short introduction to these three guides.
5
PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT QUARTERLY, 22(2) PP. 5–15
&2009 International Society for Performance Improvement
Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI: 10.1002/piq.20052All organizations are means to so-
cietal ends, and thus Megathinking andplanning starts with a primary focus on
adding value for all stakeholders, in-

cluding our shared society. It is prag-matic, realistic, practical, and ethical.Deﬁning and achieving continual orga-nizational success is possible. It relieson three basic elements: (1) a societalvalue-added ‘‘frame of mind’’ (yourperspective and commitment aboutyour organization, people, and ourshared world), (2) shared determina-tion and agreement on where to headand why (everyone who can or mightbe affected by the shared objectivesmust agree on purposes and resultscriteria), and (3) pragmatic and basictools. The article presents the basicconcepts for thinking and planningMega to deﬁne and deliver value to
internal and external partners, deﬁning
and delivering individual and organiza-tional success.Guide 1: The Organizational Elements Model (OEM). It is important to
deﬁne and link (align) what any organization uses, does, produces, and

deliversto achieve external client andsocietal value-added. A tool formaking
sure that everything an organization uses, does, produces, and delivers doesaddvaluetoexternalclientsandsocietyiscalledtheOrganizationalElementsModel (OEM) and is shown in Table 1.
1For each element, there is an
associated level of planning: strategic planning (and thinking) starts with
Mega while tactical planning starts with macro and
operational planning with micro.
Note. These deﬁnitions of strategic and tactical are
different from other convent ional usages. I suggest that
deﬁning strategic as adding value to society and tactical
as deﬁning the best ways and means to achieve societalr e s u l t si sm o r ep r a g m a t i ca n de n c o u r a g e sp l a n n e r st ojustify any organizational mission in terms of Mega.

These elements are also useful for deﬁning the
basic questions every organization must ask and answer, as seen in Figure 1.
Guide 2: Six Critical Success Factors. A number of factors provides an
essential framework for this approach and for Mega planning. Unlikeconventional critical success factors, these are for successful planning, notjust for the things that an organization must get done to meet its mission.These are for Mega planning, regardless of the organization.
The six critical success factors for Mega thinking and planning are shown
in Figure 2. Unlike many other presentations of critical success factors, theserelate to any organization, public or private. Most critical success factors
discussed in the management literature refer to organization-speciﬁc factors

related to a unique business. The factors seen in Figure 2 apply to anyorganization and are ‘‘above’’ organization-speciﬁc factors.
Guide 3: Six-Step Problem-Solving Process Model. A process for getting from
‘‘what is’’ to ‘‘what should be’’ is shown in Figure 3. These functions are (1.0)identifying problems on the basis of needs, (2.0) determining detailedsolution requirements and identifying (but not yet selecting) solutionalternatives, (3.0) selecting solutions from among alternatives, (4.0)
implementation, (5.0) evaluation, and (6.0) continual improvement (at
each and every step).
Each time you want to identify opportunities and resolve problems

systematically to get from current results and consequences to desired ones,use the six-step process. This process allows identiﬁcation of opportunitiesbefore immediately moving to solving problems. The Mega thinking andplanning approach does not assume that improving performance within theexisting situation is automatically useful. An organization can often improve
performance but later discover that the performance in question does not
add measurable value to the organization or to the shared society.
To be successful—to do and apply Mega planning—you have to realize
that yesterday’s methods and results are often not appropriate for tomorrow.Adding value to our
shared society, using
your organization as the
primary vehicle, is Mega
thinking and planning.

6 DOI: 10.1002/piq Performance Improvement QuarterlyMost planning experts agree that the past is only prologue, and tomorrow
must be crafted through new patterns of perspectives, tools, and results. Thetools and concepts formeeting the new realities of society, organizations, andpeople are linked to the six critical success factors.
The details and how-tos for the three guides are also found in the
referenced sources. The three basic guides or templates should beconsidered as forming an integrated set of tools—like a fabric—instead of eachone on its own.TABLE 1 FIVE LEVELSOF RESULTS, LEVELSOF PLANNING, AND BRIEF DESCRIPTION
ORGANIZATIONAL
ELEMENTLEVEL OF
PLANNING AND
FOCUS BRIEF DESCRIPTIONTYPE OF
PLANNING
Outcomes Mega Results and their consequences for external

PLANNING
clients and society (shared ideal vision)Strategic
Outputs Macro Results an organization can or does deliver
outside of itselfTactical
Products Micro Building-block results that are produced within
the organizationOperational
Processes Process Ways, means, activities, procedures, projects,
methods used internally
Inputs Input Human, physical, ﬁnancial resources an
organization can or does use
Note. These deﬁnitions of strategic and tactical are different from other conventional usages. I suggest that deﬁning
strategic as adding value to society and tactical as deﬁning the best ways and means to achieve societal results is more
pragmatic and encourages planners to justify any organizational mission in terms of Mega.
From Change, Choice, and Consequences ; Roger Kaufman, &2006. Used by permission of the publisher: HRD,

Press, Inc., Amherst, MA, www.hrdpress.com.
From 30 Seconds That Can Change Your Life ; Roger Kaufman, &2006. Used by permission of the publisher: HRD,
FIGURE 1. FINDING DIRECTION: THE ORGANIZATIONAL ELEMENTS MODEL (OEM)
Volume 22, Number 2 / 2009 DOI: 10.1002/piq 7A Mega planning framework has three phases:
1. Scoping
2. Planning3. Implementation and continual improvement
During the scoping phase, one may ﬁnd opportunities that were not
readily apparent from most reactive problem-solving approaches to strategic

Press, Inc., Amherst, MA, www.hrdpress.com.From 30 Seconds That Can Change Your Life ; Roger Kaufman, &2006. Used by permission of the publisher:
HRD, Press, Inc., Amherst, MA, www.hrdpress.com.
FIGURE 2. SIX CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS FOR MEGA THINKING AND PLANNING.
Source. Adapted from Kaufman (1972, 1998, 2000, 2006a, 2006b).
FIGURE 3. SIX-STEP OPPORTUNITY-FINDING AND PROBLEM-SOLVING PROCESS
8 DOI: 10.1002/piq Performance Improvement Quarterlyplanning. From this framework, speciﬁc tools and methods are provided to
do Mega planning. It is not complex, really. If you simply use the three guides,
you will be able to put it all together.
When doing Mega planning, you and your associates will ask and answer

the questions shown in Figure 1. This also identiﬁes the organizationalelements in terms of the questions you and your organization should (andmust) ask and answer.
A yes to all questions will deliver Mega planning and allow you to prove
that you have added value—something that is becoming increasinglyimportant. These questions relate to Guide One,
which deﬁnes each organizational element in
terms of its label and the question addressed. Ifyouuseanddoallofthem,youwillaligneverythingyou use, do, produce, and deliver to adding mea-surable value to yourself, your organization, andexternal clients and society.
Mega planning is proactive. Many approaches
to organizational improvement wait for problems
to happen and then hastily respond. But there is a temptation to react to

problems and never take the time to plan. With Mega planning, surprises arefewer and success is deﬁned—before problems spring up—and then system-atically achieved.
The Six Critical Success Factors in Brief
Let us examine the six critical success factors—Guide Three—to get a
sense of the frame of mind (or paradigm) Mega planning permits.
Factor 1: Do Not Assume That What Worked Before Will Work Now. Do not
assume that what worked for you and others in the past will work in the future.T h e r ei se v i d e n c ej u s ta b o u te v e r y w h e r ew el o o kt h a tt o m o r r o wi sn o tal i n e a rprojection—a straight-line function— of yesterday and today. Examples are car
manufacturers that squander their dominant client base by shoving

unacceptable vehicles into the market, and airlines that focus on shareholdervalue and ignore customer value. An in creasing number of credible authors
have said, and continue to tell us, that the past is at best prologue and not aharbinger of what the future will be. In fact, old paradigms can be so deceptivethat Tom Peters (1997) suggests that ‘‘organizational forgetting’’ must becomeconventional organizational culture.
Timeshavechanged,andanyonewho doesnotalsochange appropriately
is risking failure. It is vital to use new and wider boundaries for thinking,
planning, doing, and delivering. Doing so will require getting out of thecurrent comfort zone. Not doing so will likely deliver failure.
Factor 2: Use an Ideal Vision (Not Limited to Your Own Organization). Here is
another area that requires some change from the conventional ways of doingIt is important to deﬁne
and link (align) what any
organization uses, does,

produces, and delivers to
achieve external client and
societal value-added.
Volume 22, Number 2 / 2009 DOI: 10.1002/piq 9planning: use an ideal vision (Mega) as the
underlying basis for all strategic thinking,
planning, and doing. Do not be limited to
your own organization. This ideal vision isidentical for all organizations, public andprivate. When planning for one’sorganization, simply identify which of thevariables to commit to deliver and move evercloser to the ideal.
Anidealvision,asseen inExhibit1, identiﬁesthekindofworldwewantto
help create for tomorrow’s child. It identiﬁes measurable variables that can

be used to (1) identify needs at the Mega or societal level, (2) presentmeasurable criteria for an organization’s mission, and (3) ensure that every-thing an organization uses, does, produces, and delivers will add measurablevalue to all stakeholders.
From this societal-linked ideal vision, every organization can identify
what part or parts of the vision it commits to deliver and move ever closer to.If we base all planning and doing anchored on the ideal vision of the kind of
society we want for future generations, we can achieve ‘‘strategic alignment’’
for what we use, do, produce, and deliver, as well as the external payoffs forour outputs.To be successful—to do and
apply Mega planning—you
have to realize that
yesterday’s methods and
results are often not
appropriate for tomorrow.
EXHIBIT 1 AN IDEAL VISION

There will be no loss of life or elimination or reduction of level of well-being, survival, self-sufﬁciency, or
quality of life from any source including but not limited to:
War, riot, or terrorismUnintended human-caused changes to the environment, including permanent destruction of the
environment or rendering it nonrenewable
Murder, rape, or crimes of violence, robbery, or destruction of propertySubstance abuseDisease
Starvation or malnutrition
Destructive behavior (directed toward child, partner, spouse, self, elder, or others)Accidents in transportation, home, or business or workplaceDiscrimination based on irrelevant variables, including color, race, age, creed, gender, religion, wealth,
national origin, or location
Poverty will not exist, and every woman and man will earn at least as much as it costs to live unless the

person is progressing toward being self-sufﬁcient and self-reliant. No adult will be under the care,
custody, or control of another person, agency, or substance; all adult citizens will be self-sufﬁcient and
self-reliant as minimally indicated by their consumption being equal to or less than their production.
Source. Adapted from Kaufman (2000, 2006a, 2006b).
From Change, Choice, and Consequences ; Roger Kaufman, &2006. Used by permission of the publisher: HRD, Press,
Inc., Amherst, MA, www.hrdpress.com.From 30 Seconds That Can Change Your Life ; Roger Kaufman, &2006. Used by permission of the publisher: HRD,
10 DOI: 10.1002/piq Performance Improvement QuarterlyThe ideal or Mega vision is not the same as design and development but
simply constitutes a North Star toward which everyone in the organization

can develop products and steer closer. On very simple decision criteria and
time, a decision to be made entails objectively asking and answering, Will this
take us closer to or further away from Mega?
Mega thinking and planning is about deﬁning a shared success, achieving
it, and being able to prove it.
Mega thinking and planning is a focus not on one’s organization alone
buton societynow and inthe future. Itis about augmenting measurable valueto and for all individuals and stakeholders. (Mega thinking and planning is
not a tool for the actual design, development, implementation, and evalua-

tion of organizational effectiveness but rather for scoping and settingrequirements, and for checking on measurable contributions and alignment.The operational analysis, design, development, implementation, and evalua-tion or continual improvement is best done by a number of excellent modelsand approaches, such as Bernardez, 2006a, 2006b; Brethower, 2006; Gilbert,1978; Guerra, 2003; Kaufman, Guerra, and Platt, 2006; Rummler, 2004;Watkins, 2007; among others.)
Mega thinking and planning has been offered for many years, perhaps
ﬁrst formally with Kaufman (1972) and further developed in Kaufman andEnglish (1979), and continuing through this article. In one form or another,using a societal frame for planning and doing has shown up in the works ofother respected thinkers, among them Senge (1990) and more recentlyPrahalad (2005) and Davis (2005). The concept was introduced by Kaufman,Corrigan, and Johnson (1969).

Appropriately, there seems to be a lessening of resistance to Mega
thinking and planning; there continues a migration from individual perfor-
mance as the preferred unit of analysis for performance improvement to onethat includes ﬁrst consideration of society and external stakeholders. It isresponsible, responsive, and ethical to add value to all.
Factor 3: Differentiate Ends and Means. Focus on what (Mega/outcomes,
macro/outputs, micro/products) before how. People are doing-types; they
want to swing right into action and in so doing usually jump right intosolutions (means) before knowing the results (ends) they must deliver.
Writing and using measurable performance objectives is something on
which almost all performance improvement authors agree. Objectivescorrectly focus on ends and not methods, means, or resources.
Ends(the what) sensibly should be identiﬁed and deﬁned before weselect

how to get from where we are to our destination. If we do not select oursolutions, methods, resources, and interventions on the basis of what resultswe are to achieve, what do we have in mind to make the selection of means,resources, or activities?
Focusing on means, processes, and activities is usually more comfortable
as a starting place for conventional performance improvement initiatives.Starting with means, for any organization and performance improvementinitiative, would be like picking up process tools and techniques without a
Volume 22, Number 2 / 2009 DOI: 10.1002/piq 11clear map of an identiﬁed destination (along with a statement of why you
want to get to the destination in the ﬁrst place). Also, a risk for starting a

performance improvement journey with means and processes is that there
will be no way of knowing whether your trip is taking you toward a usefuldestination, or knowing the criteria for telling you if you are making progress.
It is vital that successful planning focus ﬁrst on results (and not how)—
useful performance in measurable terms—for setting its purposes; formeasuring progress and furthering continuous improvement toward theimportant results; and for determining what to keep, what to ﬁx, and what toabandon. This rigorous base sets the stage for another related critical success
factor 3 (use and link all three levels of results), through application of the

OEM, and for factor 4 (prepare objectives that have indicators of how you willknow when you have arrived). The OEM relies on a results focus because itdeﬁnes what every organization uses, does, produces, and delivers, and theconsequences of all this for external clients and society.
Factor 4: Prepare Objectives With Rigorous Indicators of Arrival. It is vital to
state,precisely, measurable, andrigorously,whereyou are headedandhowtotell when you have arrived.
2
Statements of objectives must be in performance terms so that one can
plan how best to get there, how to measure progress toward it. Everything ismeasurable, in spite of the conventional wisdom, so do not deceive yourselfinto thinking you can dismiss important results as being ‘‘intangible’’ or‘‘nonmeasurable.’’
3It is only sensible and rational to make a commitment to
measurable purposes and destinations. Increasingly organizations through-

out the world are focusing on Mega-level results.4
Objectives, at all levels of planning, activity, and results, are absolutely
vital.
Factor 5: Use and Align All Three Levels of Planning and Results. As we noted
infactor 2,it isvital to prepareall objectives thatfocus onlyonends,never just
on means or resources. There are three levels of results, shown in Table 2,that are important to target and link.
Factor 6: Deﬁne Need as a Gap Between Current and Desired Results. Con-
ventional English-language usage would have us employ the common word
need as a verb (or in a verb sense) to identify means, methods, activities, and
actions and resources we desire or intend to use.
5Terms such as ‘‘need to,’’
‘‘need for,’’ ‘‘needing,’’ and ‘‘needed’’ are common, conventional, anddestructive to useful planning.

We have already noted this as critical success factor 2. In order to do
reasonable and justiﬁable planning we have to (1) focus on ends and not meansand thus (2) use need as a noun. Need, for the sake of useful and successful
planning, is used only as a noun, as a gap between current and desired results.
If we use need as a noun, we will be able to justify not only useful
objectives but also what we do and deliver on the basis of cost-consequenceanalysis. We will be able to justify everything we use, do, produce, and deliver.It is the only sensible way we can demonstrate value-added.
6
12 DOI: 10.1002/piq Performance Improvement QuarterlyIndividual and organizational success can be achieved on purpose, not as

6
a by-product of working earnestly at one or more levels of an organization. By‘‘thinking Mega and acting Mega’’ one may apply the six critical successfactors and be able to achieve success and be able to prove it.
Notes
1It should be noted that the OEM is useful for making sure there is inclusion
of each factor in organizational success; it does not actually do the alignment.
2An important contribution of strategic planning at the Mega level is that
objectives can be linked to justiﬁable purpose. Not only should you haveobjectives that state where you are headed and how you will know when you
have arrived; they should also be justiﬁed on the basis of why you want to get
where you are headed. It is true that objectives deal only with measurabledestinations, but useful strategic planning adds the reasons the objectivesshould be attained.

3There are four scales of measurement: nominal, ordinal, interval, and ratio.
If you can’t name something, how do you know it even exists?
4Cf. Kaufman, Watkins, Triner, and Stith (1998).
5Because most dictionaries provide common usage not necessarily correct
usage, they note that "need’’ is used as a noun as well as a verb. This dual
conventionalusagedoesnotmeanitisuseful.Muchofthisarticledependsona shift in paradigms about need. The shift is to use it only as a noun . . . never asa verb or in a verb sense.
6Sloppy word usage is comfortable but deceptive. How can one justify a
statement ‘‘we ‘need’ to do a needs assessment’’ when the only practical needsassessment is about gaps in results, not gaps in means or resources? Wordshave meaning, and using the same word as a noun and as a verb does not

model what a true needs assessment is.
Bernardez, M. (2006a). Desempen ˜o organizacional. Chicago: ITSON Business Global
Press.
Bernardez, M. (2006b). Tecnologı ´a del desempen ˜o humano. Chicago: ITSON Business
Global Press.TABLE 2 LEVELS OF PLANNING AND RESULTS
PRIMARY CLIENT ANDBENEFICIARY LEVEL OF PLANNING LEVEL OF RESULT TYPE OF PLANNING
Society and external clients Mega Outcomes Strategic
Organization itself Macro Outputs TacticalIndividuals and small groups Micro Products Operational
Volume 22, Number 2 / 2009 DOI: 10.1002/piq 13Brethower, D. (2006). Performance analysis: Knowing what to do and how . Amherst, MA:
HRD Press.
Davis, I. (2005, May 26). The biggest contract. Economist ,375(8428).
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Washington, DC, and Arlington, VA: International Society for Performance Improve-
ment and American Society for Training and Development. (Also Spanish ed., El
Pensamiento estrategico , Centro de Estudios: Roman Areces, S.A., Madrid.)
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planning . Amherst, MA: HRD Press.
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who refuse to be mediocre . Amherst, MA: HRD Press.
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ness to society’s needs: A tentative utility model. Journal of Socio-Economic Planning
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wood Cliffs, NJ: Educational Technology.
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works and what doesn’t . Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press/Sage.
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Organizations, visions, mission, purposes, and indicators on the move towardsocietal payoffs. Performance Improvement Quarterly ,11(3), 32–44.
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Knopf.
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proﬁts . Upper Saddle River, NJ: Wharton School Publishing/Pearson Education.
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MD: International Society for Performance Improvement and American Society for
Training and Development.
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York: Doubleday-Currency.
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ment of performance technologies that produce useful results . Amherst, MA: HRD
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Lessons from leading companies, emerging economies, and a nine year case study.Performance Improvement Quarterly ,18(3), 37–55.
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Communication Review ,16, 415–425.
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invited issue on Mega planning), 18(3), 3–5.

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team and organization development sourcebook (pp. 213–224). New York: McGraw-
Hill.
Kaufman, R., & Guerra-Lopez, I. (2008). The assessment book: Applied strategic thinking and
performance improvement through self-assessments . Amherst, MA: HRD Press.
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Partners in human performance improvement. Performance in Practice , 8–9.
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Aligning people, performance, and payoffs . San Francisco: Jossey-Bass/Pfeiffer.
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Performance Improvement ,42(7), 5–8.

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and accomplishing . Lancaster, PA: Proactive.
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ROGER KAUFMAN
Roger Kaufman is professor emeritus, educational psychology and

learning systems, Florida State University. He is also Distinguished ResearchProfessor, Sonora Institute of Technology (Mexico). He is past president aswell ashonorary member forlife ofthe International Societyfor PerformanceImprovement (ISPI) as well as the recipient of the Thomas Gilbert Award,ISPI. He has recently been recognized by ASTD for distinguished contribu-tion to workplace learning and development. He consults worldwide and isthe author of 39 books and more than 260 articles on strategic planning,
needs assessment, and evaluation. E-mail: rkaufman@nettally.com
Volume 22, Number 2 / 2009 DOI: 10.1002/piq 15  419
PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT QUARTERLY, 33(4) PP . 419–442
© 2020 International Society for Performance Improvement.

Published online in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com). DOI: 10.1002/piq.21329Challenges Faced by Certified 
Performance Technologists in 
Conducting Needs Assessment
Christopher D. Adams  | John Baaki  | Jill E. Stefaniak 
Conducting a needs assessment is a criti -
cal task for human performance improve -
ment practitioners (Dessinger, Moseley, & 
Van Tiem, 2012a). There are many models of needs 
assessment in the literature, and the definitions, 
expectations, and outcomes represented in vari -
ous models can be very different. However, there is 
general agreement on some best practices, such as 
assessing both current and desired states and obtain -
ing data from multiple sources (Leigh, Watkins, 
Platt, & Kaufman, 2000; Watkins & Altschuld, 2014). 
Practitioners face a number of challenges when they

Practitioners face a number of challenges when they 
conduct needs assessments, such as job role limita -
tions (Carliner et al., 2015; Hoard & Stefaniak, 2016) 
and political influences (Wedman, 2014). As a result of such challenges, 
needs assessments described in published cases often fail to employ best 
practices (Kang, 2012; Witkin, 1994). Further, in many published cases, 
practitioners report modifying or combining existing models to fit the 
needs of a particular project (Bednar, 1988; Duman, Chyung, Villachica, 
& Winiecki, 2011; Lundberg, Elderman, Ferrell, & Harper, 2010).
The International Society for Performance Improvement (ISPI) certi -
fies human performance improvement practitioners under the designa -
tion of Certified Performance Technologist (CPT) (Snyder, Moore, & 
Rasile, 2013). To receive the CPT designation, practitioners must demon -

strate experience in applying 10 standards (Certified Performance Tech -
nologist Standards, n.d.). The 10 standards are:
1. Focus on results or outcomes.
2. Take a systemic view.
3. Add value.
4. Work in partnership with clients and stakeholders.
5. Determine need or opportunity.Though there are many models 
for needs assessment in the literature, 
reviews of published cases often find 
that no particular model is referenced 
or that best practices indicated by mod -
els are not employed. The present study 
examines how Certified Performance 
Technologists (CPTs) conduct needs 
assessment in practice. CPTs were sur -
veyed to determine which models of 
needs assessment they reference in their 
work, what challenges they face in con -
ducting needs assessments, and what 
strategies enable success despite those 
challenges.

420 DOI: 10.1002/piq  Performance Improvement Quarterly6. Determine cause.
7. Design solutions, including implementation and evaluation.
8. Ensure solutions’ conformity and feasibility.
9. Implement solutions.
10. Evaluate results and impact.
In operationalizing the determined need or opportunity standard, 
ISPI specifies actions by which “competent practitioners design and con -
duct investigations to find out the difference between the current and 
the desired performances (the performance 
gap)” (Certified Performance Technolo -
gist Standards, n.d.). Practitioners initiate 
discussions with clients, scope the assess -
ment, select appropriate methods, gather 
and analyze data, and report findings with 
recommendations. To receive the CPT des -

ignation, applicants must document, through client attestations, their 
participation in at least three projects where they have demonstrated the 
10 standards. To become certified, CPTs must be able to conduct needs 
assessments according to best practices.
Our research focus was to understand how CPTs conduct needs 
assessments in practice. We surveyed CPTs to determine which models 
of needs assessment they reference in their work, what challenges they 
face in conducting needs assessments, and what strategies enable success 
despite those challenges. We were guided by four research questions:
1. How frequently do CPTs conduct needs assessments?
2. What models do CPTs reference in conducting needs assessments?
3. What activities do CPTs actually perform during needs 
assessments?

4. What challenges do CPTs face when they conduct needs 
Background
We were interested in how CPTs conduct needs assessments in practice. 
We were interested in learning more about which needs assessment models 
CPTs reference, what needs assessment challenges CPTs face, and how CPTs 
meet challenges. Our literature review of the practice of needs assessment 
began with general systems theory. We then identified needs assessment 
models informed by general systems theory. Finally, we reviewed studies 
of needs assessment in practice and how researchers in the field of human 
performance technology have studied practitioners’ needs-assessment chal -
lenges. Of the needs-assessment studies published in human performance

lenges. Of the needs-assessment studies published in human performance 
technology journals that have referenced needs-assessment models, the 
majority have cited Kaufman’s (1983), Witkin’s (1994), and Wedman’s (2014) 
models for serving as guiding frameworks for their assessments.To better understand the factors 
preventing the application of best 
practices, this study examined how 
performance practitioners, particularly 
CPTs, make decisions during the conduct 
of needs assessments.
 19378327, 2021, 4, Downloaded from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/piq.21329 by Test, Wiley Online Library on [02/04/2023]. See the Terms and Conditions (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/terms-and-conditions) on Wiley Online Library for rules of use; OA articles are governed by the applicable Creative Commons License
 Volume 33, Number 4 / 2021 DOI: 10.1002/piq  421General Systems Theory and Needs Assessment

Volume 33, Number 4 / 2021 DOI: 10.1002/piq  421General Systems Theory and Needs Assessment
The practice of needs assessment has roots in general systems theory. 
Proposed by von Bertalanffy (1968), general systems theory holds that 
there are universal organizing principles that are true for any system. 
Within this framework, a system can be generally defined as a group of 
functionally interrelated parts where the system is more than the sum of 
the parts and the parts cannot be understood separately from the whole 
(Mizikaci, 2006; Richey, Klein, & Tracey, 2011).
A system can be either closed, if isolated from its environment, or 
open, if capable of interacting with its environment (von Bertalanffy, 
1968). As a practicing biologist, von Bertalanffy was interested in devel -
oping the theory of open systems, which meant, as every living system 
does, systems exchanging matter with the environment (von Bertalanffy,

does, systems exchanging matter with the environment (von Bertalanffy, 
1972). Von Bertalanffy concluded that an open system as a general system 
model was the correct choice. However, as general systems theory and 
the systems approach expanded, the definition of general systems theory 
came under scrutiny (von Bertalanffy, 1972). The challenge to a systems 
approach was that boundaries are dynamic rather than spatial (von Berta -
lanffy, 1972). Because spatial boundaries of what appears to be an object 
or thing actually are indistinct, identifying what belongs to the system 
and what does not belong becomes difficult. Concerned that systems 
theory was moving toward the, “mechanization and devaluation of man 
toward technocratic society, ” von Bertalanffy (1972, p.423–424), from a 
humanistic aspect, saw general systems theory as limited to a restricted

humanistic aspect, saw general systems theory as limited to a restricted 
vision. Von Bertalanffy explained a restricted vision through hierarchies, 
which he believed bridged the gap between science and a humanistic 
aspect. We view this restricted vision as general systems theory maintain -
ing boundaries.
Through a lens that general systems theory deals with bounded sys -
tems, we first consider Mizikaci’s (2006) four characteristics of an open 
system. Open systems
 ♦Are goal oriented.
 ♦Receive inputs from the environment.
 ♦Produce outputs to achieve goals.
 ♦Receive feedback from the environment in response to the outputs.
Inspired by von Bertalanffy, we include a fifth characteristic: that 
an open system is bounded. We contrast an open system with a closed 
system, in which the final state is fully determined by initial conditions.

system, in which the final state is fully determined by initial conditions. 
An open system exhibits the principle of equifinality, meaning that, as a 
result of interacting with its environment, the system can achieve its goals 
in a number of different ways (Richey et al., 2011).
Applying a systems approach to improving performance, Kaufman 
(1968) developed his influential megaplanning model, which adds two 
important principles to a needs-assessment conceptual framework 
informed by general systems theory: (a) needs are gaps in results and 

422 DOI: 10.1002/piq  Performance Improvement Quarterly(b) needs occur at multiple, interrelated levels. Defining a need as a gap 
between a current state and a desired future state, Kaufman (1968) sug -
gested that many assessment activities focus on generating solutions 
(means) before determining desired results (ends). As a result, Kaufman 
stressed that needs assessment should be concerned only with identifying 
and prioritizing needs and that it should occur before the determination 
of cause or the selection of any intervention.
Megaplanning derives its name from the highest level of needs con -
sidered by the model and helps provide clarity that social systems are 
not pure open systems but instead are bounded, as von Bertalanffy real -
ized. Kaufman proposed three organizational levels—mega, macro, and 
micro—and three associated types of planning—strategic, tactical, and 
operational (Kaufman, 1983). The mega level, which is bounded by soci -

ety, focuses on results required by society as a whole. From a systems 
perspective, the mega level is the environment in which an organizational 
system functions (Richey et al., 2011; Watkins & Altschuld, 2014). The 
macro level, which is bounded by the organization, focuses on results 
required by the organization (Kaufman, 1983). Again, from a systems 
view the organization is the system, which interacts with the environ -
ment through inputs, outputs, and feedback. The micro level, which is 
bounded by an organization’s subsystems (division, department, team, 
etc.) focuses on results required by individuals or groups within the orga -
nization. The micro level relates to the interdependent, connected parts 
of an organizational system.
Needs-Assessment Models Informed by General Systems Theory

Kaufman’s model (1983) for needs assessment is informed by general 
systems theory; it is influential, and well represented in the literature 
(Altschuld, 2004; Watkins & Altschuld, 2014; Witkin, 1994), but it is 
certainly not unique. In identifying needs assessment models informed 
by general systems theory, we first reflected on our combined extensive 
experience as performance improvement practitioners. Our extensive 
experience with needs assessments as practitioners rather than research -
ers was a starting point to help us identify models that CPTs are more 
than likely have used and studied. To complement our practitioner 
experience, we reviewed needs assessment model comparisons. When 
reviewing comparisons, we focused on needs-assessment models that

reviewing comparisons, we focused on needs-assessment models that 
are informed by general systems theory. Leigh et al. (2000) compared 14 
multidisciplinary models of needs assessment and needs analysis char -
acterized by a focus on results addressed and the linkage between mega 
(society), macro (organization), micro (individual/small group), process 
(efforts and activities), and inputs (resources). Leigh et al. (2000) differen -
tiated models based on three primary factors:
1. Needs-assessment models vary in their consideration of ends ver -
sus means.

sus means.
 Volume 33, Number 4 / 2021 DOI: 10.1002/piq  4232. Needs-assessment models can be differentiated by the scope of 
need on which they focus, from individual to organizational to 
societal.
3. Needs-assessment models suggest different methods for data col -
lection, ranging from single-method approaches to multi-method 
data triangulation.
Sleezer (1992) stated three factors useful in differentiating models: 
(1) where the model begins, (2) where the model ends, and (3) the results

(1) where the model begins, (2) where the model ends, and (3) the results 
produced by the model. Models of needs assessment may begin either 
with the assumption that a need has not yet been identified or with the 
assumption that a need has been identified. An example of a model that 
assumes a need has been identified is Rossett’s (1982) model for training-
needs analysis, which assumes a general need for training and focuses on 
identifying specific requirements. As to the results produced by a needs 
assessment model, models can result in information about needs or solu -
tions, priorities for addressing needs, or both information and priorities.
Watkins, Leigh, Platt, and Kaufman (1998) compared 30 multidisci -
plinary needs-assessment models focusing on
 ♦The intended audience and client
 ♦Results formally addressed at several organizational levels
 ♦Functional processes

 ♦Criteria used to assess findings
Watkins et al. (1998) began with basic needs assessment–related 
questions (e.g., what results are we now achieving and how do those com -
pare with those we should deliver?). They concluded that although these 
are difficult questions, needs assessments focused on audience, results, 
functional processes, and criteria will answer the questions and better 
ensure an organization’s success.
From our practitioner experience, we reviewed Wedman’s (2014) Per -
formance Pyramid model, which was developed after the Sleezer (1992), 
Watkins, et al. (1998), and Leigh, et al., (2000) reviews. Rather than focus 
on different levels of need, the Performance Pyramid model is concerned 
with three components necessary for significant accomplishment: vision,

with three components necessary for significant accomplishment: vision, 
resources, and a support system. Taking a systems approach with bound -
aries, the three components must be in alignment if an organization is 
to achieve its goals. In the application of Wedman’s model, practitioners 
gather data about each component of the pyramid to identify and diagnose 
needs. Table 1 represents the needs assessment models we chose for the 
study and states which comparison manuscripts referenced the models.
Studies of Needs Assessment in Practice
Much of the literature concerning needs assessment is composed 
of published cases (Witkin, 1994). Some researchers have collected and

of published cases (Witkin, 1994). Some researchers have collected and 
424 DOI: 10.1002/piq  Performance Improvement QuarterlyTABLE 1    NEEDS ASSESSMENT MODELS INCLUDED IN THE STUDY
MODELLEIGH, ET AL. 
(2000)SLEEZER 
(1992)WATKINS, ET AL. 
(1998)
Authur’s Performance Evaluation 
Matrix (1993)•
Burton and Merrill’s Four Phase 
Model 1988)• •
Darraugh’s Six Step Model (1991) •
Gilbert’s Performance Matrix 
(1978)• •
Gordon’s Front-End Analysis 
Model (1994)• •
Hannum and Hansen’s Needs 
Analysis Model (1989)• •
Harless’ Front-End Analysis Model 
(1975)•

(1978)• •
(1975)•
Johnson’s Training Requirement 
Model (1996)•
Kaufman’s Organizational 
Elements Model (1992, 1998)• • •
Mager and Pipe’s Performance 
Analysis Model (1997)• • •
Ostroff and Ford’s Levels of 
Perspective Model (1989)• •
Robinson and Robinson’s 
Performance Relationship 
Map (1995)• • •
Rossett’s Training Needs 
Assessment Model (1987)• • •
Rothwell and Kazanas’ Needs 
Assessment for Planning Model 
(1992)• •
Rummler and Brache’s 
Relationship Map (1990)• • •
Wedman’s Performance Period 
Model (2014)
Witkin and Altschuld’s Three 
Phase Needs Assessment Model 
(1995)• •
Zemke and Kramlinger’s Figuring 
Things Out Model (1985)• •
reviewed such published cases to inform theory and validate models by 
studying needs assessment in practice.
Witkin (1994) conducted a review of 125 needs assessments reported

Witkin (1994) conducted a review of 125 needs assessments reported 
in education literature from 1981 through 1994, excluding any studies 
that were purely for research or to propose or validate a model. Reviewing 
 Volume 33, Number 4 / 2021 DOI: 10.1002/piq  425the reported needs assessments, Witkin identified themes relating to sev -
eral variables: focus, methods, the role of priorities, and the use of mod -
els. Most needs assessments occurred in an educational environment,

els. Most needs assessments occurred in an educational environment, 
focused on small groups of students or teachers. Over half of the reported 
assessments focused on the training needs or perceptions of service pro -
viders. Regarding methods, 69% of reported studies used only one method 
of data-collection. Of these single methods, 45% were written surveys. 
Only 48% of reviewed studies prioritized needs. Witkin found fewer than 
five percent of the assessments were based on a particular model.
Witkin (1994) was primarily concerned with needs assessment as a 
means for setting goals and priorities for program planning and evalua -
tion in U.S schools. She established the timeframe for her study because 
of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act, signed in 1981, which elimi -
nated much of the federal legislation that mandated needs assessments,

nated much of the federal legislation that mandated needs assessments, 
precipitating a drop in the number of needs assessments conducted for 
program-planning purposes.
Moseley and Heaney (1994) reviewed 106 articles reporting needs-
assessment efforts across five disciplines (science, education, medicine, 
business, public services). The goal of this review was to examine how 
needs-assessment practice differed based on context. The authors found 
much confusion regarding the theory and practice of needs assessment. 
For example, they found few examples of prioritization of needs, though 
its importance is stressed in the literature. Also, though literature recom -
mends observation and interviews as preferred methods for data collec -
tion, in practice surveys were the most popular method.
The authors noted several implications for human performance tech -

nology (HPT) practitioners (Moseley & Heaney, 1994). In particular, they 
noted that a wide variety of models for needs assessment exist and that 
actual practice of needs assessment falls along a continuum from formal to 
informal, depending on the practice area. Even though much of the litera -
ture regarding needs assessment originates in educational technology, many 
training programs are designed without reference to a needs assessment.
In the field of human performance technology, needs analysis is often 
represented as gap analysis, which is central to many HPT process mod -
els (Wilmoth, Prigmore, & Bray, 2010). In the HPT model endorsed by 
ISPI, gap analysis occurs at the start and is referred to as performance

ISPI, gap analysis occurs at the start and is referred to as performance 
analysis of need or opportunity (Dessinger, Moseley, & Van Tiem, 2012b). 
Included in performance analysis of need or opportunity are two prec -
edents—organizational analysis and environmental analysis—and one 
antecedent—cause analysis (Dessinger, Moseley, & Van Tiem, 2012b).
Kang (2012) sought to validate the 2012 ISPI human performance 
improvement model through qualitative research. Kang (2012) found that 
while some aspects of the ISPI model were present in many cases and 
major phases of the model were present in most cases, the detailed pro -
cesses and elements of the model were frequently not present in practice. 
For example, actual processes used to identify gaps (assess needs) differed 
from the model. Kang proposed a refined HPT model that more closely

from the model. Kang proposed a refined HPT model that more closely 
426 DOI: 10.1002/piq  Performance Improvement Quarterlyaligns with reported practice. For example, in the refined model perfor -
mance and cause analyses are linked whereas the sources of information 
for these analyses are broken into distinct elements.
Challenges Facing Practitioners
Performance improvement practitioners face a number of challenges 
in conducting needs assessments. First, needs assessment is carried out 
in many different contexts and for many different purposes (Moseley &

in many different contexts and for many different purposes (Moseley & 
Heaney, 1994). As such, even the term needs assessment  is often used 
incorrectly and interchangeably with related terms such as needs analy -
sis, front-end analysis, training-needs analysis, and needs surveys (Wat -
kins, Leigh, Platt, & Kaufman, 1998).
Practitioners may also be constrained by their job role and prevented 
from approaching needs strategically. For example, Carliner et al. (2015) 
sought to explore the competencies required of a performance consultant 
as a job role defined in the literature for training and development profes -
sionals as well as to more broadly examine the role of consulting in the 
field. This study examined three research questions:
1. Which competencies are sought in a performance consultant?
2. What is an appropriate job title for that position?

3. How do these competencies align with competency models pub -
lished by professional associations?
The authors noted that very little empirical evidence exists describ -
ing the role of performance consultant in the workforce, though it is well 
defined in the literature.
To answer the three research questions, Carliner et al. (2015) worked 
with the Canadian Society for Training and Development (CSTD) to 
recruit and select job descriptions from large Canadian businesses. The 
CSTD provided the authors with a sample of 56 job descriptions, remov -
ing any identifying information. Because very few job descriptions spe -
cifically referred to performance consulting, related titles were included. 
Using this sample, the authors conducted a qualitative content analysis to

Using this sample, the authors conducted a qualitative content analysis to 
identify themes related to their research questions. Based on this analysis, 
they settled on an answer for their second research question, determin -
ing that an appropriate job title for what the literature calls performance 
consulting is learning consultant .
In regard to their remaining research questions, Carliner et al. (2015) 
found that actual competencies sought out by employers were more train -
ing focused and tactical than those proposed by the model provided by the 
CSTD. The authors proposed that this limits the value of the role as com -
pared with the more strategically aligned position envisioned in the literature.
Finally, even when practitioners can approach needs strategically, 
they may be constrained by their job roles such that they cannot evaluate

they may be constrained by their job roles such that they cannot evaluate 
the results of the needs assessments they conduct. Hoard and Stefaniak 
(2016) noted that there is little empirical evidence evaluating the actual 
 Volume 33, Number 4 / 2021 DOI: 10.1002/piq  427skills and knowledge of HPT practitioners against standard competen -
cies accepted by the field. The authors surveyed HPT practitioners to 
determine their perceptions of the HPT standards published by the ISPI 
and their actual use of those standards in the workplace. Since the study

and their actual use of those standards in the workplace. Since the study 
sought to measure perceptions of HPT practitioners, participants were 
recruited from the general memberships of the ISPI and the Association 
for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT). Status as a 
practitioner was assigned to participants who indicated that they had one 
or more years of HPT work experience.
In addition to experience, demographics such as employment level, 
work setting, and level of academic achievement were also tracked. Par -
ticipants were presented with 40 statements derived from the ISPI’s HPT 
standards and asked to indicate on a Likert-type scale how relevant those 
statements were to their daily work. Participants were asked to review the 
ISPI’s 10 practitioner standards and indicate, in an open-response format, 
any elements they felt were missing from these standards. Participants

any elements they felt were missing from these standards. Participants 
were also asked which standards they routinely achieved and which they 
struggled to achieve.
Respondents indicated generally positive perceptions of the ISPI 
standards. The model was generally applied in the workplace as well, 
but respondents did indicate difficulties arising from silo organizational 
structures, which prevented some practitioners from participating in 
implementation and evaluation activities related to their projects. Other 
practitioners reported having little opportunity to perform needs assess -
ment due to work contexts where such assessments were not valued 
enough to receive funding. Returning to the discussion that social sys -
tems are not pure open systems but are bounded, respondents’ difficulties 
arising from silo (or bounded) organizational structures are examples of

arising from silo (or bounded) organizational structures are examples of 
von Bertalanffy’s stance that boundaries are dynamic rather than spatial.
The focus of this research is to understand how CPTs conduct needs 
assessments in practice, including the models referenced and challenges 
faced in applying those models.
The study was guided by the following four research questions:
3. What activities do CPTs actually perform during needs assessments?
4. What challenges do CPTs face when conducting needs assessments?
Methods
This study used a questionnaire to collect both quantitative and qual -
itative data. Quantitative data collected included
 ♦CPT certification status
 ♦Demographic information (i.e., work setting, geographic region, job 
role, and level of academic achievement).

428 DOI: 10.1002/piq  Performance Improvement Quarterly ♦Descriptors of needs-assessment practice (frequency of needs-
assessment practice, models referenced when conducting a needs 
assessment, and frequency of significant challenges).
Regarding frequency of significant challenges, we asked “of the needs 
assessments you’ve participated in, how often did you face significant 
challenges that hindered or prevented your completion of the needs 
assessment?”

To prompt participants to elaborate on quantitative responses, we 
asked participants to respond to three requests:
1. Please list any models for needs assessment you reference that are 
not listed above.
2. Describe significant challenges you’ve faced in conducting needs 
3. Describe strategies you’ve successfully employed to mitigate any 
challenges you’ve just described.
Participants
Participants for this study were recruited from among active CPTs. 
ISPI is the certifying body for the CPT designation (Snyder et al., 2013). 
The basis of this certification is a set of 10 standards, several of which relate 
directly to needs assessment (Certified Performance Technologist Stan -
dards, n.d.). To receive the CPT designation, applicants must document,

dards, n.d.). To receive the CPT designation, applicants must document, 
through client attestations, their participation in at least three projects in 
which they demonstrated the 10 standards. Therefore, CPTs represent a 
group of professionals proficient in the practice of needs assessment.
ISPI supports student research through its membership via a direct 
email from the society’s research committee to members. Also, there is an 
active ISPI member group on the LinkedIn social media platform. Both of 
these channels were used to solicit participation.
Though CPTs practice in over 30 different countries, vary widely in 
years of experience, and work in many different sectors and contexts, for 
this study the only qualification for inclusion was an active CPT designa -
tion. The rationale was that CPTs are already self-selected by their inter -

est in the field and are qualified by the standards of the ISPI. However, it 
was critical that the CPT was active. The directory of CPTs published by 
ISPI listed over 1,200 practitioners at the outset of this study, but only 
roughly 350 of those practitioners had a certification renewal date that 
occurred in the future, indicating that the majority of practitioners listed 
were no longer active as defined for this study.
Instruments
A questionnaire in the form of an electronic survey using the Google 
Forms web application was developed. The questionnaire began with 
a qualifying question to determine whether the participant is an active

a qualifying question to determine whether the participant is an active 
 Volume 33, Number 4 / 2021 DOI: 10.1002/piq  429CPT. Since there could be some confusion on the part of lapsed CPTs, a 
definition of active CPT based on certification renewal date was provided:
Note that for the purposes of this study an active CPT is someone 
who has received the CPT designation from the International Society for 
Performance Improvement (ISPI), who periodically renews that designa -
tion as required by the ISPI, and whose current certification renewal date 
occurs in the future as of today.

Participants were then asked to provide demographic information 
through a series of closed-response questions. None of the demographic 
questions were used as a requirement for participation.
Participants were asked a series of closed-response questions relat -
ing to their practice of needs assessment. These questions included how 
frequently they perform needs assessments and how frequently they face 
significant challenges when performing needs assessments. Participants 
were also presented with a list of 18 needs-assessment models with 17 
models compiled from the comparison manuscripts by Sleezer (1992), 
Watkins et al. (1998), and Leigh et al. (2000). Wedman’s Performance 
Pyramid Model was the one model that did not appear in the comparison 
manuscripts given that Wedman developed his model in 2014.

Understanding that there are many needs-assessments models, we 
wanted to be practical with the number of needs-assessment models 
that we presented. We wanted to present models represented in the rel -
evant literature and to present named models that participants might 
recognize, use, and/or have studied. Of the 17 models compiled from the 
comparison manuscripts, 76% appeared in at least two of the manuscripts 
(see Table 1). Although Harless’s Front-end Analysis model appeared only 
in the Sleezer (1992) manuscript, as experienced practitioners we main -
tained that the Harless model is a model a CPT would recognize. Authur’s 
Performance Evaluation Matrix and Darraugh’s Six Step Model appeared 
only in the Watkins, et al. (1998) manuscript. In both cases, the Authur

only in the Watkins, et al. (1998) manuscript. In both cases, the Authur 
and Darraugh models are clearly informed by general systems theory.
Participants were asked to select any needs assessment models that 
they reference when conducting a needs assessment. Participants were 
able to select a null response (I do not reference any specific model when 
conducting a needs assessment). Participants were able to select “I ref -
erence a model or models of needs assessment not listed here. ” When 
choosing models that participants reference when conducting a needs 
assessment, participants were allowed to check more than one response.
To ensure the validity and relevance of the questionnaire, three expe -
rienced human performance practitioners reviewed the questionnaire. 
Two reviewers hold active CPT designations, and one is a current board 
member of the ISPI.
Procedures

Participation was solicited via a direct email from the ISPI research 
committee and via a post to the ISPI LinkedIn group message board. 
We had a list of active CPTs from ISPI. Participants from LinkedIn were 
430 DOI: 10.1002/piq  Performance Improvement Quarterlycross-referenced with the list of active CPTs. The solicitation included 
a brief description of the study and its purpose, an informed-consent 
document, and a link to the electronic survey in Google Forms. The ini -

tial solicitation attracted only 42 responses, so a second round of emails 
specifically targeted to active CPTs were sent. This second solicitation 
attracted 40 additional responses. We cross-referenced the second solici -
tation with the active CPTs from ISPI and our first 42 participants to 
ensure that we had no duplicate participants.
Results
For quantitative demographic and needs-assessment practice questions, 
the frequency of each response was counted. Data for each open-response 
question was coded and categorized to identify relevant themes and then 
reviewed for confirmation and revision if necessary. Once revised, a count 
of the thematic incidences was produced for each open-response question.
Respondents
Of the 82 total unique responses collected, 80 (n = 80) indicated that they

Of the 82 total unique responses collected, 80 (n = 80) indicated that they 
were active Certified Performance Technologists as defined by the instru -
ment. The two respondents who indicated they were not active CPTs were 
removed from the response pool and were not considered in further analysis.
CPTs, as befits holders of a performance-based professional certifi -
cation, are experienced practitioners. Since our inclusion criterion was 
“active Certified Performance Technologists, ” we did not measure for gen -
der as we deemed gender irrelevant to active CPT status. All respondents 
(n = 80) indicated having at least 10 years of experience as a performance 
improvement practitioner. Most (n = 52) responded that they had between 
10 and 30 years of experience, and a small group (n = 13) had over 30 years’ 
experience working in performance improvement. Figure 1 summarizes

experience working in performance improvement. Figure 1 summarizes 
the distribution of years of experience reported by all respondents.
In addition to experience, responses indicate that CPTs are typically 
highly educated. Most respondents report holding a graduate or profes -
sional degree (n = 57) or doctorate (n = 18). Professional degree referred 
to practice-focused graduate-level degrees such as those awarded in med -
icine, dentistry, law, theology, etc. Remaining respondents held associ -
ated or undergraduate degrees.
Respondents were geographically dispersed, with some international 
representation. Most respondents are based in the United States (n = 63), 
with the highest concentration in the mid-West region (n = 21). Figure 2 
shows the frequency of respondents by geographic region.
Practice Setting
Regarding job roles, respondents were almost evenly split between

Regarding job roles, respondents were almost evenly split between 
practitioners (n = 43) and either managers (n = 22) or executives (n = 12). 
 Volume 33, Number 4 / 2021 DOI: 10.1002/piq  431Three respondents identified their job role as faculty. These job roles 
are practiced mostly in a corporate setting, with 33 respondents work -
ing within for-profit organizations and 29 as self-employed consultants. 
Remaining respondents were evenly distributed between higher educa -
tion, government, and nonprofit work settings. Participants’ work setting

tion, government, and nonprofit work settings. Participants’ work setting 
distributions were similar to where performance improvement profes -
sional work as reported by ISPI (Where We Work, n.d.).
Needs Assessments in Practice
Respondents were asked how many needs assessments they had 
participated in each year, on average, over the past five years. Since 
CPTs may participate in aspects of human performance improvement 
FIGURE 1.  FREQUENCY OF YEARS OF EXPERIENCE AS A PERFORMANCE 
IMPROVEMENT PRACTITIONER
FIGURE 2.  FREQUENCY OF RESPONDENTS BY GEOGRAPHIC LOCATION

432 DOI: 10.1002/piq  Performance Improvement Quarterlyinitiatives beyond needs assessments and because such initiatives may 
take months or years to complete, a span of five years was selected 
to account for years where some respondents were simply occupied 
with different phases of their various projects. In following the ISPI 
standards, CPTs should perform needs assessments as part of their 
practice. It is understandable, then, that only two respondents indicated 
that they had not participated in a needs assessment during the past 
five years. Most respondents (n = 39) indicated they participate in one 
to five needs assessments on average per year. The remaining half of 
respondents (n = 40) participate in more than five needs assessments 
per year on average, with a small group (n  =  4) performing over 30. 
Figure 3 summarizes respondents’ average yearly participation in needs 
assessments.
When asked how frequently the projects in which they participate

When asked how frequently the projects in which they participate 
include needs assessment, all respondents indicated that needs assess -
ments were conducted for at least some projects. For a quarter of the 
respondents (n  =  20), projects infrequently include needs assessments. 
The remaining respondents participated in projects that frequently 
(n = 47) or always (n = 13) include needs assessments.
We asked participants: Of the needs assessments you’ve participated 
in, how often did you face significant challenges that hindered or pre -
vented your completion of the needs assessment? We were careful not 
to lead the participants to a specific definition of significant challenges. 
Quantitatively, participants responded never , infrequently , frequently , or 
always . Qualitatively, we asked participants to describe significant chal -

lenges they faced in conducting needs assessments. Most respondents 
responded that they never (n  =  9) or infrequently (n  =  41) face chal -
lenges that hindered or prevented the completion of a needs assessment. 
The remaining respondents, about a third, indicated that they frequently 
FIGURE 3.  AVERAGE YEARLY PARTICIPATION IN NEEDS ASSESSMENTS FOR LAST 
FIVE YEARS
 Volume 33, Number 4 / 2021 DOI: 10.1002/piq  433(n = 27) or always (n = 3) encountered significant challenges while con -

Volume 33, Number 4 / 2021 DOI: 10.1002/piq  433(n = 27) or always (n = 3) encountered significant challenges while con -
ducting needs assessments.
Referencing Models of Needs Assessment
Respondents were presented with 18 needs assessment models and 
asked which, if any, of the models respondents referenced when conduct -
ing a needs assessment. Respondents were free to choose more than one 
model, and they could also indicate two alternative conditions. They 
could indicate that they do not reference any models or that they refer -
ence models not presented in the list of 18 models.
Of the 18 models presented, 15 were selected by at least one respon -
dent. The most frequently referenced model was Gilbert’s Performance 
Matrix, selected by 49 respondents. Three additional models stood out, 
referenced by at least 29 participants each. These were Mager and Pipe’s 
Performance Analysis Model (n  =  31), Harless’s Front-End Analysis

Performance Analysis Model (n  =  31), Harless’s Front-End Analysis 
Model (n = 30), and Rummler and Brache’s Relationship Map (n = 29). 
Figure  4 summarizes the frequency with which each of the 18 models 
presented were referenced.
A quarter of respondents (n = 20) indicated that they do not refer -
ence any specific model when conducting a needs assessment. However, 
seven of those respondents selected this option in addition to one or 
more of the models presented. This could indicate that these CPTs are 
influenced by models learned in the past, while not referencing any one 
specific model in practice.
Sixteen respondents indicated that they reference models not pre -
sented by the instrument. When asked to identify these models, responses 
fell into one of three categories: (1) models referenced in the literature, (2) 
models specific to an organization, and (3) personal or proprietary mod -

els created by the individual practitioner.
FIGURE 4.  MODELS REFERENCED BY RESPONDENTS WHEN CONDUCTING NEEDS 
ASSESSMENTS
434 DOI: 10.1002/piq  Performance Improvement QuarterlyTwo respondents cited Van Tiem, Moseley, and Dessinger’s ISPI 
Human Performance Technology model, and two cited Binder’s Six Boxes 
Performance Thinking model. Other models cited in this category, by one 
respondent each, are as follows:
 ♦Langdon’s New Language of Work (1995)
 ♦Tatum’s A-B-C Theory (Proprietary Model)

 ♦Gillum & Mortenson’s Ledge Walking Technique (2013)
 ♦Mankin’s Performance DNA Model (Proprietary Model)
 ♦Rothwell’s Environments of Human Performance (2005)
 ♦Moore’s Action Mapping Methodology (n.d.)
Three respondents cited models related to specific organizations. Mod -
els cited in this category were Deloitte’s CYPRESS methodology, the USAID 
Human & Institutional Capacity Development (HICD) model, and the Mal -
colm Baldrige National Quality Award criteria. Finally, three respondents 
indicated that they reference only personal or proprietary models for needs 
assessment. All three of these individuals, however, also identified models 
from the presented list on which their own practice is based.
Challenges
Respondents were asked to describe significant challenges they have

Respondents were asked to describe significant challenges they have 
faced in conducting needs assessments. Seventy-one respondents pro -
vided answers to this prompt, and from those responses, six prevailing 
themes emerged. The frequency of occurrence of each of these themes is 
presented in Table 2.
The most frequently described challenge was that of time. Respon -
dents described this challenge in one of two ways. The first was as a 
constraint imposed by project sponsors, either as project deadline or a 
limit on available resource hours. Several respondents linked this to a 
perception that needs assessment is too time-consuming to be practical 
for certain projects. The second way the challenge of time was described 
might also be labeled “timing. ” Several participants noted the difficulty 
in scheduling time with multiple clients and stakeholders to conduct

in scheduling time with multiple clients and stakeholders to conduct 
TABLE 2    FREQUENCY OF CHALLENGES FACED IN CONDUCTING 
NEEDS ASSESSMENTS
CHALLENGES FREQUENCY
Time and Timing 24
Client Focused on Solution 18
Lack of Access 16
Lack of Support 12
Lack of Perceived Value 9
Budget Constraints 8
 Volume 33, Number 4 / 2021 DOI: 10.1002/piq  435interviews or focus groups in an efficient manner. Perhaps related to the 
challenge of time is the challenge of budget, with four participants includ -
ing both time and budget in their responses.

Next in order of frequency, respondents described challenges faced 
when clients settled on a solution or course of action prior to any assess -
ment of need. Multiple respondents labeled this behavior as “jumping” 
to solutions. When faced with this situation, respondents found it far 
more difficult to influence clients to make decisions based on data since 
that would delay implementation of an already favored solution. Perhaps 
because of this difficulty, several respondents linked the challenge of solu -
tion focus to that of time.
Lack of access, both to pre-existing data and to assessment partici -
pants was also noted by many respondents as a challenge in conducting 
needs assessment. Such issues of access may stem from a lack of support 
from client and sponsor, which is another consistent theme among respon -

dents. This may, in turn, have its roots in the final theme cited among the 
described challenges—the lack of perceived value of needs assessments on 
the part of clients, sponsors, stakeholders, and fellow practitioners.
Strategies
Respondents were also asked to describe strategies they have success -
fully employed to mitigate any challenges described. As compared with 
the challenges described, respondents offered a broader range of success -
ful strategies, though few of the themes in this category are represented 
as strongly as those for challenges. The frequency of occurrence of vari -
ous strategies is presented in Table 3.
The most frequently noted strategy is the development of a part -
nership strategy with clients and stakeholders. Respondents described 
developing ongoing relationships (beyond the context of a single

developing ongoing relationships (beyond the context of a single 
needs assessment) with specific clients. Such clients were described by 
TABLE 3    SUCCESSFUL STRATEGIES EMPLOYED IN CONDUCTING 
STRATEGIES FREQUENCY
Partnership Strategy 22
Communicating Benefits 15
Speed 11
Clear Communication 10
Explaining Risks 7
Chunking Work 6
Re-label the Process 6
Build into Standard Process 4
Tailor Assessment to Situation 4
<Figure captions>
436 DOI: 10.1002/piq  Performance Improvement Quarterlyrespondents with various terms such as partner , champion , and sponsor .

436 DOI: 10.1002/piq  Performance Improvement Quarterlyrespondents with various terms such as partner , champion , and sponsor . 
Respondents also described beneficial behaviors of these clients, such 
as buy-in , full participation , and support . A number of respondents also 
described efforts, over time, to develop trust between themselves and 
ongoing clients.
Another strongly represented theme was communication. Several 
respondents simply noted clear and frequent communication with clients 
in general terms. Others specifically described success with communi -
cating and explaining the benefits of needs assessments and the risks 
of implementing solutions without first assessing needs. A number of 
respondents described using past projects, both successes and failures, to 
effectively communicate benefits and risks.
The final strongly represented theme involved strategies to increase 
the speed of needs assessment. There were two significant subcategories

the speed of needs assessment. There were two significant subcategories 
within this theme. The first was using tools, including electronic tools 
such as cloud-based platforms and process tools such as agile and distrib -
uted processes to conduct needs assessments more rapidly. The second 
sub-category was a focus on achieving “quick wins” and “early successes” 
to generate additional sponsorship and build support to complete a more 
extensive needs-assessment effort.
Four additional themes were noted by several respondents each. 
Respondents reported success with chunking needs assessments into dis -
crete steps, with client reports following each step. Another, perhaps related, 
strategy was tailoring needs assessments to specific situations and levels. 
Respondents also reported success with incorporating needs assessment

Respondents also reported success with incorporating needs assessment 
into a standard organization-wide process, which would build-in sponsor -
ship beyond the context of any specific needs-assessment effort. Finally, 
several respondents reported successfully overcoming client resistance by 
simply re-labeling the process. Suggested alternative names included due 
diligence, planning, fact finding, data gathering, and constituent building.
Discussion
Since needs assessment is such a critical component in the practice 
of human performance technology, this study proposed four research 
questions to aid in understanding how CPTs conduct needs assessment 
in practice.
Frequency at Which CPTs Conduct Needs Assessments
The data suggests an answer of “often but not always. ” As was noted 
previously, this question was considered both in terms of how many needs

previously, this question was considered both in terms of how many needs 
assessments CPTs typically complete each year and how often the projects 
in which CPTs participate include needs assessments. Among the CPTs 
participating in this study it is typical to perform between one and five 
needs assessments each year. However, several respondents also indicated 
that needs assessments were only infrequently included in their projects. 

Volume 33, Number 4 / 2021 DOI: 10.1002/piq  437This is of concern to practitioners, as one of the 10 standards by which the 
ISPI certifies CPTs is, “Standard 5: Determine Need or Opportunity” (Cer -
tified Performance Technologist Standards, n.d.). If credentialed, expe -
rienced practitioners cannot always follow this standard, then programs 
that prepare and develop novice practitioners must take this into account.
Models of Needs Assessment Referenced by CPTs
This study also posed the question of which models CPTs reference 
in conducting needs assessments. Responses were many and varied. The 
CPTs surveyed in this study even added eight models to the list of 18 
models presented by the survey instrument. Most CPTs report referencing 
some model in practice, which seems to contradict the lack of cited models 
in Witkin’s (1994) study of published cases. One explanation of this differ -
ence may be that experienced practitioners learn and reference a number of

ence may be that experienced practitioners learn and reference a number of 
models, selecting and combining them as best suits a specific project. The 
present study supports this explanation in that 53 respondents indicated 
that they reference more than one model and three of these CPTs specifi -
cally indicated that though they are influenced by models, in practice they 
use a model of their own creation. This relationship between models and 
practice also has implications for the preparation of novice practitioners. 
Practitioners often learn and practice applying a single model of needs 
assessment. Results of the current study imply that novice practitioners 
should be encouraged to explore the features of multiple models of needs 
assessment. Then, in practice, they should be given opportunities to syn -
thesize those features as best fits specific, and varied, situations.

Activities and Challenges Faced by CPTs in Conducting Needs 
Assessments
The final two research questions, which are somewhat related, asked, 
“What activities do CPTs actually perform during needs assessments?” 
and “What challenges do CPTs face in implementing best practice when 
conducting needs assessments?” The data indicates that when CPTs con -
duct needs assessments, they encounter a number of common challenges 
and employ similar strategies to overcome those challenges. The challenge 
most frequently faced by practitioners is time and the perception, on the 
part of stakeholders, that the benefits of needs assessment are not as valu -
able as the time invested. Some CPTs indicate that they employ strategies 
to conduct needs assessments more rapidly or to manage the perception

to conduct needs assessments more rapidly or to manage the perception 
that assessment activities are taking too long. Interestingly however, the 
strategy most frequently employed by CPTs 
is developing sustained positive relation -
ships with clients so that they have sponsor -
ship and support, including time, to conduct 
appropriate needs assessments. Again, these 
results can inform the preparation of nov -
ice practitioners. The development of skill The strategy most frequently employed 
by CPTs is developing sustained positive 
relationships with clients so that they 
have sponsorship and support, including 
time, to conduct appropriate needs 

438 DOI: 10.1002/piq  Performance Improvement Quarterlyin needs assessment must be paired with practice in developing sustained 
client relationships if practitioners are to be successful.
Implications for Practitioners
Most of the challenges noted by participants in this study can be 
viewed as issues of opportunity, rather than any specific challenges car -
rying out the process steps of an assessment. Participants noted a lack of

rying out the process steps of an assessment. Participants noted a lack of 
sufficient time, access, and support to simply perform needs assessment. 
These findings align with earlier research which found that many solu -
tions are implemented without reference to needs assessment, project 
sponsors do not value thorough assessments of need, and analysis to 
specify the features of a pre-determined solution is often substituted for 
needs assessment (Carliner et al., 2015; Hoard & Stefaniak, 2016; Leigh 
et al., 2000; Watkins et al., 1998).
For a needs assessment to be effective, the consultant’s actions must 
be purposeful. It is imperative that they grasp a solid understanding of 
the system they are trying to improve. While articles on general systems 
theory have proposed ideas of open versus closed systems (Von Berta -
lanffy, 1968), our findings suggest that the performance improvement

lanffy, 1968), our findings suggest that the performance improvement 
consultants struggle when operating in an open system.
Von Bertalanffy (1972) reminds us that “the concept of ‘system’ con -
stitutes a new ‘paradigm’” (p. 421). To understand that paradigm and 
make recommendations to improve performance, the system should be 
bounded for the consultant’s targeted actions to be most effective. Many 
of the challenges identified in our study are a result of performance con -
sultants struggling to manage constraints imposed by the system. By bind -
ing the system and narrowing the scope for assessment, we believe the 
performance consultant can focus on specific areas of performance and 
interrelations within the system. Keeping a system open imposes other 
challenges to the needs-assessment process such as widening the reach for 
conceptual constructs to interfere with the identified goals of the project.

In order to manage these challenges, we suggest that the performance 
improvement consultant take an active role in managing the system, 
rather than being a mere object operating within one. The consultant 
should take an active role in determining the scope or boundaries of a 
system no differently than they would when selecting data-collection tools 
and strategies to obtain the necessary information to make recommenda -
tions for a project. In doing so, they are in a better position to create a zone 
of performance for the needs assessment to take place. This will allow for 
more targeted data collection and recommended performance solutions.
Limitations
By design a limited target population was selected for this study. By 
soliciting responses only from CPTs, we gathered responses from practitio -

ners who had already proven themselves experienced, knowledgeable, and 
 Volume 33, Number 4 / 2021 DOI: 10.1002/piq  439capable of performing needs assessment. The CPT credential is also based 
on a process and on standards that support the value of needs assessment, 
indicating that some assessment should be conducted as part of every per -
formance improvement initiative. However, limiting the target audience to 
current and active CPTs resulted in a small final response pool. Additional

current and active CPTs resulted in a small final response pool. Additional 
inquiry with an expanded target group qualified by experience or alternative 
credentials could produce data more generalizable to practitioners in general.
It should also be noted that this study relied on self-reporting of 
model use, challenges, and successful strategies in practice. It is pos -
sible that CPTs, highly expert in conducting needs assessment, cannot 
accurately self-assess the specific knowledge and skills they put into 
practice. Respondents may have, for example, selected models from the 
presented list with which they were most familiar – even though their 
personal practice may differ significantly from those models. Models use, 
as applied in this study, provides only a first approximation of the actual 
activities CPTs actually put into practice.
Future Research

As noted previously, this study relies on self-reported data. A fol -
low-up to this study could follow practitioners as they conduct needs 
assessments by periodically interviewing practitioners and by collecting 
artifacts created during the assessment. Actual project activities could be 
compared with features of referenced models and data regarding success -
ful strategies collected in the present study.
In published needs-assessment cases, practitioners stated that they 
modify or combine existing models to fit the needs of a particular project 
(Bednar, 1988; Duman, Chyung, Villachica, & Winiecki, 2011; Lundberg, 
Elderman, Ferrell, & Harper, 2010). Given the limits of our questionnaire, 
we were not able to capture how practitioners modify or combine mod -
els. Determining how practitioners combine or modify different aspects

els. Determining how practitioners combine or modify different aspects 
of different models would provide further insight into how practitioners 
practice human performance improvement.
Needs assessment is only one component of the practice of human per -
formance improvement. Certainly, other models are commonly employed 
by CPTs for project activities such as performance analysis, intervention 
selection, and measurement. Practitioners could find benefit in future stud -
ies of this type that address other human performance improvement activi -
ties. The present study would suggest that experienced practitioners draw 
from a number of models and apply them as they feel appropriate for a 
given project. The overlap and influence of models between different proj -
ect phases could provide valuable insights for less experienced practitioners.
Conclusion

CPTs reference a variety of models of needs assessment, often adapt -
ing parts of several models into their own personal practice. Experienced 
practitioners encounter several common challenges in conducting needs 
440 DOI: 10.1002/piq  Performance Improvement Quarterlyassessment and have developed strategies to overcome them. Most com -
monly, challenges are rooted in the perceptions of clients and stakehold -
ers—namely, that a pre-determined solution is sufficient or that there is

ers—namely, that a pre-determined solution is sufficient or that there is 
no time available for assessment. CPTs seek to overcome these challenges 
by developing sustained relationships with clients, communicating the 
benefits of selecting solutions only after needs have been defined and the 
risks involved in failing to do so. Overcoming these challenges means that 
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CHRISTOHER D. ADAMS
CHRISTOHER D. ADAMS is a graduate candidate in the 
Instructional Design & Technology program at Old Dominion University

Instructional Design & Technology program at Old Dominion University 
in Norfolk, VA. His research interests focus on strategies employed by 
successful human performance practitioners to make decisions in their 
work and to form sustained client relationships. He may be reached at 
cadams039@odu.edu
JOHN BAAKI
JOHN BAAKI is an Assistant Professor in the Instructional Design 
& Technology program at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, VA. 
He has research interests in both instructional design and human 
performance improvement. His research focuses on empathic design 
and how we have empathy for others, context, and oneself. He is 
interested in what a localized context of use means for both stakeholders 
and designers. He may be reached at jbaaki@odu.edu
JILLL E. STEFANIAK
JILLl E. STEFANIAK is an Assistant Professor in the Learning,

JILLl E. STEFANIAK is an Assistant Professor in the Learning, 
Design, and Technology program in the Department of Career and 
Information Studies at the University of Georgia. Her research interests 
focus on the professional development of instructional designers and 
design conjecture, designer decision-making processes, and contextual 
factors influencing design in situated environments. She may be reached 
at jill.stefaniak@uga,edu
14
Determining Envir onmental and Contextual Needs
Jill E. Stefaniak

14
Because instructional design emphasiz es facilitating learning and impr oving per formance, instructional designers
must begin b y acquiring necessar y information about their learners’ educational journe ys. Needs assessment can
assist instructional designers t o mak e recommendations and design appr opriate solutions (both instructional and
non-instructional solutions) that will assist their learners in tr anslating what is taught t o their successful
implementation.
The purpose of a needs assessment is t o identify the gap between the curr ent state of per formance and the
desir ed state of per formance (Altschuld & K umar , 2010). This gap in per formance is what then becomes the need.
While needs assessment can be a power ful and informativ e tool, the instructional designer cannot get lost in
analysis and dela y their design work (Stefaniak, Baaki, Hoar d, & Staplet on, 2018). They need t o be able t o work

within the scope of their design space, r ely on the r esour ces the y have available t o them, and mak e decisions t o
the best of their knowledge.
This chapter will addr ess how v alidating needs and contextual fact ors inﬂuencing learner per formance can be
accounted for in instructional design t o ensur e the tr ansf er of learning in r eal-world contexts. It will also
demonstr ate how information gather ed fr om needs assessment can be le veraged t o identify and de velop the
necessar y scaffolds t o manage the learning experience. 
Exploring the Intersection Between Needs Assessment, Needs
Analysis, and Instructional Design
Riche y, Klein, and Tracey (2011) deﬁned instructional design as “the science and ar t of cr eating detailed
speciﬁcations for the de velopment, e valuation, and maintenance of situations which facilitate learning and

performance ” (p. 3). If we wer e to dissect this deﬁnition, I would point out that instructional designers ar e
responsible for the following: (1) creating detailed speciﬁcations ; (2) conducting e valuations ; and (3) maintaining
of situations that facilitate learning and per formance.
The information that a needs assessment yields pr ovides the details and speciﬁcations needed for an
instructional designer t o create an instructional pr oduct that is cust omiz ed and accounts for the unique needs of
the learning audience. It also pr ovides benchmark data r egar ding the curr ent le vel of per formance (or situation)Design for Learning
2that the instructional designer and their team can e valuate and compar e after instructional inter ventions ha ve
been designed and implemented. Instructional designers and the team members will also be better positioned t o

monit or the instructional deliv ery and tr ansf er of knowledge t o the job or desir ed application if the y have been
presented with suﬃcient data concerning these phases.
It is impor tant t o diff erentiate between needs assessment and needs analysis as the y are not synonymous with
one another but ar e often used inter changeably . Needs assessment  is the pr ocess of gathering information t o
determine whether ther e is a gap between the curr ent state and the desir ed state. This gap yields the need . Needs
analysis  is the pr ocess of fur ther inv estigating the situation t o understand why this gap exists in the ﬁrst place.
The data that is gather ed during the needs assessment is analyz ed to determine what is contributing t o or
causing the gap (Kaufman & Guerr a-Lopez, 2013).

Needs assessment and needs analysis pr ovide an oppor tunity for an instructional designer t o de velop
instructional materials that can ha ve a meaningful impact on their learning audience. In mor e cases than not,
when instructional designers ar e brought ont o a pr oject, the solution (need) has alr eady been decided:
We need  to design an online degr ee pr ogram
We need  to design a saf ety course for incoming emplo yees
We need  to design a team tr aining course for the hospital staff
If you look closely , you will see that each of the abo ve-mentioned statements contained the wor d need . Whether it
is your client or a super visor , the need has alr eady been decided. Another ca veat is that ther e are a lot of times

wher e the need has been decided with no needs assessment e ver ha ving been conducted (P eterson & P eterson,
2004). Oftentimes when this occurs, the instructional designer begins work on their tasks only t o ﬁnd that the y
have a lot of unanswer ed questions:
Why ar e the learners experiencing this pr oblem?
How will the y use the instruction after tr aining tak es place?
How will we know if the y are implementing what the y have learned in their actual jobs?
How do we know that the instruction we ha ve designed is doing what it was meant t o do?
Has the or ganization tried this type of instructional method in the past?
What is the r ationale for pr oposing online instruction?
Are we sur e that instruction is going t o solv e the pr oblem?
Is ther e a subject matter exper t that we can speak with t o provide some mor e guidance on what the
learners need?

All of these questions ar e very speciﬁc and unique t o the learning audience of a pr oject. Some of these questions
may be r elated t o the instructional envir onment while others ma y be looking ahead t o how learners will be
expected t o transf er this knowledge t o a r eal-world setting (i.e. the classr oom, a job).
Regar dless of what needs assessment model ma y be r eferenced, a typical assessment will consist of ﬁv e-steps:
problem identiﬁcation, identiﬁcation of data sour ces, data collection, data analysis, and r ecommendations. Table
1 provides an o verview of each of these steps. While these steps ar e usually completed linearly , the individual
who is conducting the needs assessment needs t o continue t o modify the pr oblem and identify additional data

sour ces as mor e information is unco vered during the assessment. With that in mind, the needs assessment
process is v ery similar t o the instructional design pr ocess in that both pr ocesses ar e recursiv e.Design for Learning
3Table 1
Overview of Needs Assessment Pr ocess
StepDescription
Identiﬁcation of
ProblemThis step is typically completed in consult with a client (or the individual(s)) r equesting
instructional design ser vices. During this phase, the purpose of the needs assessment
(the pr oblem) is identiﬁed for the instructional designer t o begin gathering data t o
addr ess the gap in per formance.
Data Sour cesOnce the pr oblem t o be explor ed has been identiﬁed, instructional designers must
identify data sour ces that will help them better understand the situation. Instructional

designers must gather data that will help them explor e the situation fr om multiple
angles. Examples of data sour ces include, but ar e not limited t o, task analyses, dir ect
obser vations, focus gr oups, inter views, document analysis, r eviews of existing work
products, and sur veys.
Data Collection This phase inv olves the instructional designer gathering data based on the data
sour ces that wer e identiﬁed in the pr evious step.
Data Analysis Once data collection is complete, the instructional designer begins t o analyz e all data
to identify patterns and fact ors contributing t o the pr oblem identiﬁed at the beginning
of the assessment. Depending on the ﬁndings fr om the data collection and analysis
phases, the pr oblem ma y be modiﬁed t o be mor e consistent with the actual situation

as depicted b y the data.
Recommendations Upon identifying patterns contributing t o the pr oblem, the instructional designer mak es
a list of r ecommendations t o present t o their client. These r ecommendations ar e
typically prioritiz ed accor ding t o the se verity of need and le vel of ur gency .
Figure 1 pr ovides an o verview of how needs assessment and needs analysis can help le verage instructional
design pr actices t o suppor t the tr ansf er of learning. Conducting a needs assessment pr ovides the instructional
designer with the oppor tunity t o contextualiz e their pr oject. It pr ovides them with an oppor tunity t o gain insight
into things the y should include in their designs, as well as things the y should consider t o avoid. Regar dless of the

situation, a needs assessment will help an instructional designer identify or v erify the pr oject needs. This is
especially helpful when the needs ha ve alr eady been identiﬁed without the guidance of a needs assessment.
Needs analysis also aids the instructional designer b y providing some context as t o why these needs exist in the
ﬁrst place. If learners ar e facing r ecurring challenges completing a par ticular task, instructional designers should
understand the causes so that the y can account for these issues in their designs. By de veloping a better
understanding of fact ors that contribute t o or inhibit the tr ansf er of learning, instructional designers will be able t o
develop a mor e realistic appr oach t o the instructional solution. It will also pr ovide them with the oppor tunity t o

determine if cer tain non-instructional inter ventions ar e needed t o suppor t the tr ansf er of learning.Design for Learning
4Figure 1
The Relationship Between Needs Assessment, Needs Analysis, and Instructional Design
The Role of Context in Needs Assessment
Needs assessment is r ecogniz ed as being an impor tant component of the instructional design pr ocess (Dick,
Carey, & Car ey, 2009, Morrison, Ross, Kalman, & K emp, 2013; Smith & Ragan, 2005; Cennamo & Kalk, 2019);
howe ver, it often tends t o be minimiz ed to focus mor e on learner analysis. Contextual analysis is also a term that
is used synonymously with needs assessment in a lot of instructional design liter ature. A seminal piece written b y
Tessmer and Riche y (1997) suggested that contextual analysis should account for fact ors inﬂuencing

performance in the orienting, instructional, and tr ansf er contexts. Figur e 2 pr ovides an o verview of the mor e
common fact ors that inﬂuence each of these contexts. Tips for how t o addr ess these thr ee contexts will be
discussed fur ther in this chapter . By addr essing these fact ors in instructional design pr actices, designers put
themselv es in a better position t o design experiences that wer e relevant t o the learning audience.
Design for Learning
5Figure 2
Common Contextual F actors Inﬂuencing Instructional Design Adapted fr om Tessmer & Riche y (1997
While contextual analysis aims at understanding the learner ’s work pr actice, needs assessment fur ther delv es
into identifying, classifying, and v alidating the needs of users as the y per tain t o the context (envir onment). It is

imper ative that a designer fully understand the intricacies and nuances of the context (envir onment) so that the y
can design a pr ototype that addr esses par ticular contextual fact ors that ma y suppor t or inhibit the tr ansf er of
learning int o the r eal-world envir onment (Smith & Ragan, 2005). These fact ors, both good and bad, ultimately
inﬂuence the instructional designer ’s design. 
While ther e are diff erent types of analyses that an instructional designer ma y be r equir ed to emplo y during a
project, it is impor tant t o recogniz e that while the y are all diff erent, the y are not mutually ex clusiv e. While each has
different foci, all of these foci fall under the needs assessment umbr ella.
6Table 2
Overview of Analyses an Instructional Designer Ma y Utiliz e to Inform Their DesignDesign for Learning
7Method of

6Table 2
7Method of
AnalysisDescription Resour ces and Studies for
Needs
AnalysisAnalysis that occurs after a needs assessment has
been conducted t o understand the r oot causes
contributing t o a pr oblem.Brown (2002)
Crompt on, Olsz ewski, and
Bielef eldt (2016)
Dick and Car ey (1977)
Stefaniak et al. (2018)
Stefaniak, Mi, and Afonso
(2015)
Contextual
AnalysisThe pr ocess of analyzing fact ors that ma y contribute
to or inhibit knowledge acquisition and tr ansf er of
learning.Arias and Clark (2004)
Morrison, Ross, and
Baldwin (1992)
Perkins (2009)
Tessmer and W edman
(1995)
Envir onmental
AnalysisThe pr ocess of focusing on the impact that the
learner ma y have on the envir onment outside of the
organization such as cust omers, competit ors,
industr y, and society .Lowy ck, Elen, and Clar ebout
(2004)
Mark er (2007)
Rothwell (2005)
Tessmer (1990)

(2004)
Learner
AnalysisThe pr ocess of capturing an in-depth understanding
of an instructional designer ’s learning audience.
Demogr aphic data, pr erequisite skills, and attitudinal
information ar e typically gather ed to inform the
instructional designer . Baaki et al. (2017)
Dudek and Heiser (2017)
Öztok (2016)
Stefaniak and Baaki (2013)
van Rooij, S. W . (2012)Design for Learning
8individuals per forming job-r elated tasks and
documenting in a step-b y-step fashion. Task analyses
are done t o help instructional designers design
instruction that is aligned with how the job will be
performed in a r eal-world setting.Jonassen, Tessmer , and
Hannum (1998)
Militello and Hutt on (1998)
Schr aagen, Chipman, and
Shalin (2000)
Table 2 pr ovides an o verview of the v arious types of analyses that ma y be used. Examples of instructional design

studies that ha ve explor ed these t opics in mor e detail ar e also included for r eference. A commonality among all
of these analyses is that the y typically inv olve collecting data fr om multiple sour ces t o gain a better
understanding of the situation. Out of all of the analyses listed in Table 2, needs assessment is most often the
most time-consuming because it r equir es instructional designers t o identify appr opriate data sour ces, collect
data, conduct data analysis, and consult with their client on r ecommendations for mo ving for ward. Dir ect
obser vations, document analysis, inter views, focus gr oups, and sur veys ar e all examples of the types of data
collection t ools an instructional designer ma y utiliz e when conducting an analysis.

The use of the abo ve-mentioned data sour ces has been used t o inform the de velopment of learner personas in
instructional design (Anv ari & Tran, 2013; A vgerinou & Andersson, 2007; Baaki, Maddr ell, & Stauff er, 2017; v an
Rooij, 2012). With mor e emphasis being placed on user experience design pr actices, mor e attention is being
placed on who our learners ar e as opposed t o gener alizing the learning audience. Learner analyses and
contextual analyses ar e complementar y in that both yield data that will inform the other . Envir onmental analyses
add an additional la yer by focusing on the impact that the learner ma y have on the envir onment outside of the
organization such as cust omers, competit ors, industr y, and society (Rothwell, 2005).

The Reality of Instructional Design W ork and Needs Assessment
While I would lo ve to see e very instructional designer be an adv ocate for needs assessment and push back when
clients or super visors pr esent need statements with no assessment v alidating that the identiﬁed needs warr ant
instruction, the r eality is that most instructional designers will ha ve a har d time ar guing the need t o pause a
project and conduct a thor ough needs assessment (Hoar d, Stefaniak, Baaki, & Dr aper , 2019; Stefaniak et al.,
2018). Needs assessments are conducted; but often because the client has r ecogniz ed the impor tance of needs
assessment befor e appr oaching an instructional designer t o work on a pr oject. It is also impor tant t o note that a

needs assessment is only as good as the data that is collected.Design for Learning
9Table 3
Needs Statements and F urther Inquiries
Client Need Statements Instructional Designer Inquiries
We need  to design an online degr ee
program.How ar e courses curr ently being off ered?
What is the mark et for online instruction?
What is the r ationale for mo ving t owar ds the de velopment of
an online degr ee?
We need  a new learning management
system.How ar e training materials curr ently being st ored?
What f eatur es ar e used in the existing LMS?
What f eatur es ar e needed?
How ar e the instruct ors and students curr ently using the
LMS?
We need  to design a saf ety course for
incoming emplo yees.What do incoming emplo yees need t o know about saf ety
upon star ting a new job?
What incident(s) occurr ed that suggests ther e is an

LMS?
immediate need t o create a saf ety course?
What other tr aining courses ar e incoming emplo yees
expected t o complete?
What does this mean for the instructional designer? Recognizing that the absence of a thor ough needs
assessment is a common issue in our ﬁeld, ther e are str ategies that instructional designers can emplo y to gather
additional data and information r elevant t o the pr oject the y have been assigned.
If a client has decided t o conduct a needs assessment, it is impor tant for the instructional designer t o par ticipate
in framing the needs b y asking appr opriate questions. Table 3 pr ovides an o verview of examples of needs
statements and questions an instructional designer can ask t o gain fur ther clariﬁcation of the situation. Lik e most

projects, ther e are varying degr ees of complexity an instructional designer can delv e int o when addr essing needs
assessment (Rossett, 1999). The amount of time and r esour ces that an instructional designer can apply t owar ds
gathering additional data for a pr oject will ultimately determine the scalability of the le vel of analysis that is
completed (Stefaniak, 2018; Tessmer , 1990).
Just because a client or a super visor ma y not allocate the time or funding needed t o suppor t a needs
assessment, that does not mean that the instructional designer has t o abandon the idea alt ogether . At the v ery
least, ther e are key components that an instructional designer should addr ess during an initial intak e meeting with
the client or kick-off meeting with the instructional design team. Table 4 pr ovides examples of diff erent steps

instructional designers can tak e if the y wer e to scale a needs assessment pr oject.Design for Learning
10Table 4
Scalability of Instructional Design Needs Assessments
Level of Scale Tasks
Low (1–2
weeks)Review existing tr aining materials.
Review documents explaining job pr ocesses.
Meet with a subject matter exper t (in the or ganization) t o provide guidance on
content that should be emphasiz ed in the instructional pr oduct.
Obtain an o verview of the learning audience b y the client.
Medium (1
month)Review existing tr aining materials.
Conduct obser vations of emplo yees per forming job tasks.
Update existing task analyses.
Meet with individuals that r epresent multiple le vels of authority within the
organization r elated t o the instructional pr oject.
High (se veral

months)Review existing tr aining materials.
Review str ategic planning documents.
organization.
Conduct inter views and/or focus gr oups t o understand fact ors that ar e inhibiting
the tr ansf er of learning.
Triangulate information fr om multiple sour ces t o understand patterns
contributing t o or inhibiting emplo yee/learner per formance on the job.
Table 5 pr ovides an example of a form that instructional designers can use t o gather the data the y need t o ensur e
their instructional design work is contextually r elevant t o the learners’ needs. This form is not meant t o be an

exhaustiv e list of questions instructional designers should ask at the beginning of a pr oject; r ather , it is intended
to help instructional designers spark conv ersation with their client about the contextual fact ors and needs of the
project that should be addr essed thr oughout the design. Depending on the information pr ovided in the intak e
form, instructional designers will decide whether a detailed task analysis is r equir ed to understand speciﬁc tasks
expected of the learning audience.Design for Learning
11Table 5
An Example of an Instructional Design Intak e FormDesign for Learning
12INSTRUC TION AL DESIGN PROJEC T INTAKE FORM
Date: Client:
Instructional Designer: Project Name:
PROJEC T OVERVIEW
1. What is the purpose of the pr oject (instructional need)?
2. What is the scope of the pr oject?
3. Learning platform (i.e., face-t o-face, blended, online)

4. Overarching course goal
5. Learning objectiv es
. What le vel of impor tance is the tr aining? (i.e., se vere, moder ate, mild)
LEARNING A UDIENCE
1. Who is the intended learning audience?
2. What ar e the learners’ experiences with the pr oject t opic?
3. What challenges do learners typically experience with this t opic?
4. What ar e the learners’ o verall attitudes t owar d training?
5. What information will the instructional designer ha ve access t o regar ding the learning audience? (i.e., job
obser vations, meetings with learners, work pr oducts, inter views, etc.)
INSTRUC TION AL ENVIRONMEN T
1. How will the instruction be deliv ered?
2. How will learners access the material?
3. What is the length of the course?
4. What ar e the learners’ r oles during instruction?

5. What is the instruct or’s role during instruction?
. What types of assessment need t o be included in the instruction?
TRANSFER (APPLICA TION CON TEXT)
1. How soon after the tr aining will learners apply their newly acquir ed skills?
2. What ar e the anticipated challenges with applying these new skills in a r eal-world envir onment?
3. What r esour ces ar e available t o suppor t learners during this tr ansf er phase (i.e., job aids)?
4. Who is r esponsible for monit oring learners with tr ansf erence?
EVALUATION
1. How and when will the instructional tr aining be e valuated for eff ectiv eness?
2. Who will be r esponsible for conducting an e valuation?
3. What methods of e valuation will be used t o determine the eﬃciency and eff ectiv eness of the instruction?Design for Learning
13OTHER COMMEN TS

To adher e to Riche y et al. ’s (2011) deﬁnition of instructional design encompassing the facilitation of learning,
instructional designers must task themselv es with gathering as much information as the y can t o understand the
contexts that their learners will experience (i.e. the learning and tr ansf er contexts). Not only is it necessar y for the
instructional designer t o understand the instructional envir onment, but the y must also ha ve insight int o how their
learners will apply the knowledge obtained fr om instruction and apply it t o a r eal-world setting. The purpose of
this chapter is t o provide instructional designers with an intr oduction t o the potential that needs assessment
offers instructional designers and pr ovide some str ategies and t ools that can be applied t o an instructional

design pr oject r egar dless of the context.Design for Learning
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Suggested Citation
Stefaniak, J. E.  (2021). Determining Envir onmental and Contextual Needs. In J. K. McDonald  & R. E. W est
(Eds.), Design for Learning: Principles, Pr ocesses, and Pr axis. BYU Open Textbook Network.
https:/ /open.b yu.edu/id/needs_analysis
CC BY-NC: This work is r eleased under a CC B Y-NC license, which means that y ou ar e free
to do with it as y ou please as long as y ou (1) pr operly attribute it and (2) do not use it for

commer cial gain.
Like this? Endorse it!About This Book
Why is this topic important?
Most experts agree that human learning, training, and performance-improvement ini-
tiatives should begin with a needs assessment that examines the relevant people-related problems and performance improvement opportunities. Human resourcedevelopment and performance improvement practitioners rely on a needs assessmentto develop and implement practical solutions for individuals, work groups, organiza-tions, communities, and nations.
What can you achieve with this book?
This how-to handbook is perfect for anyone who seeks a systematic approach to assess-
ing needs, including those who are responsible for introducing a training or devel-opment pr ogram; assessing the development needs of a workfor ce; impr oving

individual, gr oup, or ganization, or interorganization performance in the workplace; or
providing community, national, and international development interventions.
You will read about real-life cases and tips, and about needs assessment thought
leaders and their ideas and models. You will also get a treasury of tools including work-sheets, r eady-to-use forms, and templates for planning a cour se of action. The accom-
panying CD-ROM, which is packed with job aids, will allow you to customize the tools
for your own use.
How is this book organized?
Part One begins with a bird’s-eye view of needs assessment. Use the information on
what needs assessment is, on the well-known models and theories of needs assess -
ment, and on the how-tos of data collection and analysis to frame your needs assess-

ment and to enhance your credibility with stakeholders and clients.
Part Two describes four approaches to needs assessment that can contribute greatly
to success. A chapter describes each approach, including when to use the approach, andits beneﬁ ts, drawbacks, and critical success factor s. Where appropriate, time-saving tipsffirs.qxd  11/2/06  11:09 AM  Page iare offered. Key steps are explained, and corresponding forms and worksheets in the
Toolkit section are referenced.
Part Three describes strategies for managing a needs assessment. It includes ideas
for writing proposals and reporting, strategies for dealing with the ethical issues that
can arise when implementing a needs assessment, and answers to frequently asked
Part Four contains the Needs Assessment Toolkit. It includes various templates that

can be replicated and used as they are or customized by making changes on the CD-
ROM included with this book.ffirs.qxd  11/2/06  11:09 AM  Page iiAbout Pfeiffer 
Pfeiffer serves the professional development and hands-on resource needs of
training and human resource practitioners and gives them products to do theirjobs better. We deliver proven ideas and solutions from experts in HR develop-ment and HR management, and we offer effective and customizable tools toimprove workplace performance. From novice to seasoned professional, Pfeif-fer is the source you can trust to make yourself and your organization moresuccessful.
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and HR pr ofessionals. Our Essential Knowledge r esour ces tr anslate the expertise
of seasoned professionals into practical, how-to guidance on critical workplace
issues and problems. These resources are supported by case studies, worksheets,and job aids and are frequently supplemented with CD-ROMs, websites, andother means of making the content easier to read, understand, and use.
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www.pfeiffe r.comffirs.qxd  11/2/06  11:09 AM  Page iiiffirs.qxd  11/2/06  11:09 AM  Page ivAPractical Guide to
Second Ed ition
Kavita Gupta
upda ted and e xpanded by
Catherine M. Sleezer
and Darlene F . Russ-Eftffirs.qxd  11/2/06  11:09 AM  Page vCopyright © 2007 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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Gupta, Kavita, date.
A practical guide to needs assessment / Kavita Gupta; updated and expanded by Catherine M. Sleezer and 
Darlene F . Russ-Eft.—2nd ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.

p. cm.
ISBN-13: 978-0-7879-8272-0 (cloth)ISBN-10: 0-7879-8272-5 (cloth)
1. T raining needs—Evaluation. 2. Needs assessment. I. Sleezer, Catherine. II. Russ-Eft, Darlene F . III. Title.
HF5549.5.T7G87 2007
658.3’124—dc22 2006030501
Acquiring E ditor: M atthe w Davis Director of Development: Kathleen Dolan Davies
Production Editor: Nina Kreiden Editor: Alice Rowan
Manufacturing Supervisor: Becky Carreño Editorial Assistant: Julie RodriguezIllustrations: Lotus Ar t
Printed in the United States of America
P r i n t i n g1 0987654321
second editionA Practical G uide to Needs Assessment, Second Edition. Copyright © 2007 b y John Wiley & Sons,
Inc. R eproduced b y permission of Pfeiffer , an I mprint of Wiley. www.pfeiffer.comffirs.qxd  11/2/06  11:09 AM  Page viContents
List of Figures ix

List of Toolkit Forms on CD-ROM xiiiAcknowledgments xv
Introduction 1
PART ONE: FUNDAMENTALS OF NEEDS ASSESSMENT
ONE Overview of Needs Assessment 13
TWO Ideas and Models That Guide Practice 29
THREE Strategies for Collecting and Analyzing D ata 43
PART TW O: GET TING DO WN T OBRASS T ACKS
FOUR Knowledge and Skills Assessment 77
FIVE Job and Task Analysis 105
SIXCompetency-Based Needs Assessment 131
SEVEN Strategic N eeds Assessment 157
PART THREE: MAN AGING A NEEDS ASSESSMENT
EIGHT Writing Proposals and Reports 189
NINE Ethical Issues 213
TEN Answ ers to F requently Asked Q uestions 227
viiftoc.qxd  11/2/06  11:07 AM  Page viiPART FOUR: NEEDS ASSESSMENT TOOLKIT
Toolkit Forms 241
Glossary 305
References 315
Index 323

Index 323
About the Authors 333How to Use the CD-ROM 335APRACTICAL GUIDE TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT, SECOND EDITION viiiftoc.qxd  11/2/06  11:07 AM  Page viiiixList of Figures
I.1 Overview of Book Contents 6
I.2 Quick Reference Guide to Chapters 10
1.1 Deﬁnition of a Need 15
1.2 ASystems Model of Evaluation 17
1.3 Soccer Player Who Knows Game’s Rules
but Lacks Game’s Skills 19
1.4 Ruth’s Sketch of a Simpliﬁed Systems Diagram 22
1.5 Effort Required for the Needs Assessment Approaches 25
1.6 Matrix of Needs Assessment Approaches 26
2.1 Barriers to P erformance and S ample Q uestions 37
2.2 Organization E lements M odel D iagram 39
2.3 Comparison of the T raditional and Systems Views
of an O rganization 40
3.1 Sample I nterview Protocol, Script, and Questions 47
3.2 Tips for Preparing for an Interview 48

3.3 Tips for Developing Interview Questions 48
3.4 Tips for Conducting an Interview 49
3.5 Various Types of Focus Group Reports 51
3.6 Types of Questions and When to Use Them 58
3.7 Tips for Preparing and Implementing Surveys 61
3.8 Comparison of Primary Data-Gathering Methods 64flast.qxd  11/2/06  11:11 AM  Page ix3.9 Example of Frequency and Percentage Calculations
for a Quantitative Question Showing All Responses 68
3.10Example of Frequency and Percentage Calculation for
aQuantitative Question Showing Only Respondents 69
4.1 Common Purposes of a Knowledge and Skills Assessment 86
4.2 Job Activity Self-Assessment 88
4.3 Performance Skills Proﬁle 89
4.4 Interview Questions for Lead Drivers 100
4.5 Interview Questions for Supervisors 101
4.6 Interview Questions for Vice Presidents 102
4.7 Course Outline 103

5.1 Sample Toolkit Form 5.1: Job Analysis Questionnaire 113
5.2 Sample Toolkit Form 5.2: Job T raining and Non-
T raining Recommendations I 120
5.3 Sample Toolkit Form 5.3: Job T raining and 
Non-T raining Recommendations II 122
5.4 Quality Control Inspector Position T raining Plan 130
6.1 Competency-Based Needs Assessment Project Plan 140
6.2 Sample Script for a B ehavioral Interview 142
6.3 Sample Toolkit F orm 6.3: Competency D ictionar y
Showing Two D omains for a S ales Position, Three 
Competencies in Each D omain, and Their Deﬁnitions 147
6.4 Sample Toolkit Form 6.4: Competency Model for 
aSales P osition 148
6.5 Sample Rating Scale 150
6.6 Competency Model: Branch Manager 155
7.1 Toolkit Form 7.1: Business Issues Worksheet—Sample
Questions 162

7.2 Five Forces Model: Consumer Electronics 164
7.3 Outline of a Simple Business Plan 167
7.4 Sample Performance Measures 168APRACTICAL GUIDE TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT, SECOND EDITION xflast.qxd  11/2/06  11:11 AM  Page x7.5 Example of a SIPOC Process Map 171
7.6 Sample Toolkit Form 7.3: Process Map Worksheet
for an Order Management Process 173
7.7 Sample Fishbone Diagram 178
7.8 Sample Toolkit Form 7.4: Gap Analysis Worksheet 179
7.9 Business Issues: XYZ Corporation 183
7.10 Performance Improvement Planner: XYZ 
Corporation 184
8.1 Potential Needs Assessment Obstacles and Tips for
Overcoming Them 193
8.2 Some Questions from Toolkit 8.1: Needs Assessment 
Checklist 196
8.3 Draft Needs Assessment Proposal: T & J Marine 
Products 197
8.4 Phase 1 In-Process Report for T & J Marine
Products 206

9.1 Examples of Real-Life Needs Assessment Issues 215
9.2 Joint Committee on Standards for Educational 
Evaluation, Program Evaluation Standards 217
9.3 American E valuation Association, G uiding P rinciples 
for E valuators 221
9.4 International S ociety for Performance Improvement,
Code of Ethics 226
10.1 Example of a N eeds Assessment That Involved Many 
Stakeholders 230
10.2 Additional Needs Assessment Resources 234List of Figures xiflast.qxd  11/2/06  11:11 AM  Page xiflast.qxd  11/2/06  11:11 AM  Page xiiList of Toolkit Forms on CD-ROM
2.1 Tools and Strategies for Assessing Systems 241
4.1 Knowledge and Skills Assessment Interview Guide 243
4.2 Skills Assessment Survey 247
4.3 Customer-Service Knowledge and Skills 
Assessment Survey 249
4.4 Management Knowledge and Skills Assessment

4.4 Management Knowledge and Skills Assessment 
Survey 252
4.5 Knowledge and Skills Assessment Curriculum Plan 256
5.1 Job Analysis Questionnaire 258
5.2 Job Training and N on-Training R ecommendations I 
(Professional/S upervisory/Management) 262
5.3 Job T raining and Non-T raining Recommendations II 
(Administrative) 264
5.4 Job Task Analysis Checklist 266
6.1 Competency Project Plan Worksheet—Detailed
Schedule of Events 267
6.2 Competency Interview Worksheet 268
6.3 Competency Dictionary Worksheet 273
6.4 Competency Model Worksheet 275
6.5 Individual Learning Development Plan 276
7.1 Business Issues Worksheet 277
xiiiflast.qxd  11/2/06  11:11 AM  Page xiii7.2 Fisher’s Models of Organizational Performance 
Worksheet 279
7.3 Process Map Worksheet 287
7.4 Gap Analysis Worksheet 289
7.5 Change Readiness Checklist 290
7.6 Performance Improvement Planner 291
8.1 Needs Assessment Checklist 293

8.2 Needs Assessment Proposal Template 297
8.3 Needs Assessment Report Template 300APRACTICAL GUIDE TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT, SECOND EDITION xivflast.qxd  11/2/06  11:11 AM  Page xivxvAcknowledgments
the pr ocess of writing this book was similar to the pr ocess w e
describe for needs assessment; it was collaborative. Similar to any large
collaborative project, the ﬁnal product reﬂects the contributions of manypeople. B elow we name a few.
Insights gained from reading and talking with such practitioners and
researchers as James Altschuld, David Bjorkquest, Susan Fisher, Mar-guerite Foxon, Dana Gaines, Thomas Gilbert, Roger Kaufman, MichaelLeimbach, Bob M ager,Hallie P reskill, James C. Robertson, Allison Ros-
sett, Geary Rummler, Richard Swanson, Ryan Watkins, and Robin Yap

informed our work. Co-learning with such clients, students, and col-leagues as G aryConti, M aria Cseh, Andrea Ellinger, Mary Anne Gularte,
Kathleen Kelsey, Dale Kunneman, Flores Nichols, Bob Nolan, Donna
Paparazzo, Melanie Spector, and Thomas Wood also informed our work.
Thanks to D avid M inger, Julie Suchanek, Beverly Winsch, and oth-
ers who contributed cases for the book. A special thanks to the reviewers,
Gary McLean, Deane Gradous, Gwyneth T racey, Sanya Sattar, and Jef-frey White who examined the ﬁrst draft with eagle eyes and providedinsightful comments and suggestions.
Thanks to the staff at Pfeiffer ,including Matthew C. Davis, Kath-
leen Dolen Davies, Nina Kreiden, Alice Rowan, Diane T urso, Ralph
Lao, and R onnie M oore, who pr ovided competent and professional
assistance ev ery step of the way. Thanks also to Oregon State Univer-

sity, Oklahoma State University, and Baker Hughes–Centrilift for theirflast.qxd  11/2/06  11:11 AM  Page xvsupport. A special thanks to our family members, who continue to pro-
vide patience, understanding, and encouragement.
Collaboration contributed to the fun of writing this edition. We hope
that you ﬁnd the results worthwhile.
Baker Hughes–Centrilift
Darlene F . Russ-Eft
Oregon State University, CorvallisAPRACTICAL GUIDE TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT, SECOND EDITION xviflast.qxd  11/2/06  11:11 AM  Page xviIntroduction
needs assessment is an impor tant step in the performance improvement
business. I tprecedes the design and dev elopment of any human r esource
development (HRD) or human performance technology (HPT) initia-

tive. Needs assessment is a process for examining and framing people-related pr oblems and per formance improvement opportunities. It might
be initiated in r esponse to a pr oblem or oppor tunity ,or it might be used
in ongoing learning or performance improvement efforts.
Needs assessment can focus on one or mor eindividuals, on people
within units or teams, on people acr oss job functions, or ev en on an
entire organization. It can also focus on the people-related problems and
impr ovement opportunities that are an ordinary part of interorganiza-
tional, community ,national, and international education, dev elopment,
and performance improvement efforts.
Needs assessment relies on “insider” information about a situation.
Whether w ework as internal or external consultants on needs assess-

ment with partners who have insider information about a situation, we
do so to diagnose the needs accurately and to provide practical solutionsto address the needs. In some cases, however, we lack the knowledge,skills, or tools to conduct an effective assessment or we are confusedabout which approach to use, given the wide array of choices.
1cintro.qxd  11/2/06  11:13 AM  Page 1PURPOSE OF THE BOOK
This book bridges the gap between needs assessment theory and prac-
tice. Over the years, scores of practitioners have expressed their frus-tration at the lack of resources that describe needs assessment inpractitioner terms. This book, which was initially released in 1999, wasaresponse to this frustration, and it provided a resource for the pro-

fessionals who were responsible for assessing workplace needs for train-ing, learning, organization development, and performance improvement.The book was also used b ypractitioners in human per formance tech-
nology, human resource management, management, professional devel-
opment, education, community development, and adult education.
Today, professionals who are responsible for improving learning and
performance in the wor kplace still need practical information on ho w
to conduct a needs assessment. However, the landscape for needs assess-
ment has changed gr eatly since 1999. For example
• Organizational decisions, which are often made with great speed
and communicated with a few key strokes, can have local andglobal impact.
• Technology plays a larger role in managing data within organiza-
tions and also provides new ways to collaborate.
•Newways to collect and shar einformation include online sur veys,
e-mails, blogging, and sear ches of Internet documents.

•The availability of relevant ethical guidelines by professional
associations has increased.
Consequently ,it is time to update the book.
Today, strategic alignment within organizations is critical and data-based
decision making and efﬁ ciency ar emoreimpor tant than ev er.For many
organizations, strategic alignments with members of a larger community
or with business partners in interorganizational efforts are just as vital.APRACTICAL GUIDE TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT, SECOND EDITION 2cintro.qxd  11/2/06  11:13 AM  Page 2Today’s human performance problems and opportunities are complex.
Seldom does one person or group have sufﬁcient information or politicalsupport to identify and implement optimal solutions. Collaboration isrequired for such needs assessment efforts.

Our understanding of human performance in complex systems has
also grown. Today, we better understand how organizational systemsoperate. We can more accurately identify the components and links thatcontribute to learning and performance improvement.
You will ﬁnd new material throughout this second edition, but the
focus remains: describing needs assessment in practitioner terms. The bookstill bridges the gap between needs assessment theory and practice. It stillprovides practitioners with how-to answers to fundamental questions suchas, 
How is a needs assessment done? and What are the steps involved in a
competency-based needs assessment? At the same time, it provides ground-
ing from research and theory.
The ﬁrst edition of the book was written by Kavita Gupta. She

The ﬁrst edition of the book was written by Kavita Gupta. She 
gave her blessing to Catherine Sleezer and Darlene Russ-Eft to up-date and expand on the material in the ﬁ rst edition, but she was not
involved in writing the second edition, because she is no longer work-ing in the area. What is new in this edition? You will ﬁnd the followingimpr ovements:
•Updated needs assessment forms
•More information on the reasons for implementing a needs
• More information on needs assessment models and thinking 
that may be especially useful when conducting a complex needsassessment
• Additional examples of needs assessments in various settings,

including for-proﬁt, nonproﬁt, and public sector settings; educa-tional institutions; and organizations that offer community pro-grams for adultsIntroduction 3cintro.qxd  11/2/06  11:13 AM  Page 3• New chapters on ethical issues, managing a needs assessment, and
answers to frequently asked questions
Expert tips and case studies appear throughout the book marked with
the following icons:
This icon marks an expert tip that can save you time, money,
and frustration.
This icon marks a short case that demonstrates an aspect of
AUDIENCE FOR THE BOOK
This book is intended primarily for practitioners who ar elooking for
systematic approaches to conducting needs assessments as the basis forthe following types of initiatives:
•Introducing a training, development, or change program or

initiativ e
•Assessing the development needs of a workforce
• Improving individual, group, organization, or interorganization
performance in the workplace
• Providing community, national, and international development
interventions
The book’s straightforward approach is designed to keep you on tar-
get with your initiative. Its no-frills style allows you to reach the heartof the subject matter quickly and apply the principles right away.APRACTICAL GUIDE TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT, SECOND EDITION 4cintro.qxd  11/2/06  11:13 AM  Page 4The book is also for educators and students who want to learn more

about practical approaches to needs assessment. A supplemental instruc-tor’s guide with exercises and discussion questions is available for thisedition. Finally, the book is appropriate for small-business owners,family-owned businesses, and heads of small- or medium-sized orga-nizations, including those who perform needs assessment only on anoccasional basis.
SCOPE OF THE BOOK
The book lays the foundation for sound needs assessment practice
through initial grounding in the whats and whys of the process. Thisfoundation is followed by the how-tos of needs assessment. The bookincludes the following elements:
•Aframe workfor understanding needs assessment and the
philosophy for doing one
•Needs assessment models
• Information on how to collect and analyze data
•Step-b y-step strategies for launching and implementing four 
needs assessment approaches
•Information on managing needs assessments
•Resour ces for accessing additional information

• A Toolkit containing forms and worksheets for immediate use,
both in hard copy and on a CD-ROM
•Aglossar yto facilitate the use of a common language among
HRD practitionersIntroduction 5cintro.qxd  11/2/06  11:13 AM  Page 5HOW THE BOOK IS ORGANIZED
The book has four sections, as shown in Figure I.1.
Part One (Chapters One through Three) begins with a bird’s-eye
view of needs assessment. Use the information on what needs assess-ment is, on the well-known models and theories of needs assessment,and on the how-tos of data collection and analysis to frame your needsassessment and to enhance your credibility with stakeholders and clients.
Chapter One deﬁnes 
needs assessment and describes its key features.
Italso describes some challenges to assessing needs within complex sys -

tems, and it contains a matrix that compares the four needs assessment
approaches that are described in the book.
Chapter T wo describes practical needs assessment models and the-
ories. I talso identiﬁ es some thought leaders in the ﬁeld. Being able toAPRACTICAL GUIDE TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT, SECOND EDITION 6
Part 2: FourApproache stoNeeds Asse ssment
Chapter 4
Knowledge
and skills
assessmentChapter 5
Jobandtask
anal ysisChapter 6
Competency-
based needs
assessmentChapter 7
Strategi c
needs
assessmentPart 4:
ToolkitFormsPart 1:Overview
Chapter 1
Needs assessm ent
fundamentalsChapter 2
Theories
and modelsChapter 3
Colle cting and
anal yzing data
Part 3 :ManagingaNeeds Assess ment
Chapter 8
Reports and
proposalsChapter 9
EthicalissuesChapter 10
Answe rsto
frequently
asked questions

Theories
Chapter 8
Answe rsto
FIGURE I.1 Overview of Book Contentscintro.qxd  11/2/06  11:13 AM  Page 6reference these works and thought leaders can increase your credibility
with clients and other stakeholders.
Chapter Three describes strategies for gathering and analyzing data.
It offers guidelines for conducting interviews, focus groups, and obser-vations. It also presents things to consider when reviewing writtenrecords and developing surveys. In addition, the chapter discusses howto analyze your needs assessment data. 
Part Two (Chapters Four through Seven) describes four approaches

to needs assessment that can contribute greatly to success. Each approachis described in a separate chapter that includes when to use the approach,its beneﬁts, its drawbacks, and its critical success factors. Where appro-priate, time-saving tips are offered. Key steps are explained and corre-sponding forms and worksheets in the Toolkit section are referenced.
Chapter Four is the ﬁrst in the series of how-to chapters. It details
steps for doing a conventional needs assessment to identify the knowl-edge and skill needs for training.
Chapter Five explains the steps for performing a job and task analy-
sis and for formulating a training plan based on the resulting informa-tion. It also shows how to write effective job and task statements.
Chapter Six explains how to do a competency-based assessment. The

steps for developing competencies using behavioral interviews arepresented, and a competency dictionary and competency model aredescribed.
Chapter S even shows how to link performance problems and per-
formance needs to the business strategy of an organization. Porter’s
(1980) ﬁve-forces model for analyzing the external environment isexplained, and guidelines for using process maps are provided.
Part Three (Chapters Eight through Ten) describes strategies for
managing a needs assessment. It includes ideas for writing proposals and reporting, strategies for dealing with the ethical issues that can arisewhen implementing a needs assessment, and answers to frequently askedquestions.Introduction 7cintro.qxd  11/2/06  11:13 AM  Page 7Chapter Eight explains how to write proposals and reports. It also
describes how to use these documents to keep a needs assessment on track.

Chapter Nine describes ethical issues that may arise when conduct-
ing a needs assessment. It also provides insights for addressing such issues.
Chapter Ten presents answers to frequently asked questions; for
example, what to do about the client who does not pay or how to han-dle project creep. It presents practical strategies for addressing theseissues.
Part Four contains the Needs Assessment Toolkit. It includes vari-
ous templates that can be replicated and either used as they are or cus-tomized by making changes on the CD-ROM ﬁles included with thebook.
HOW TO USE THE BOOK
This book includes basic information for those who have little prior
knowledge about needs assessment, as well as more sophisticated infor-mation for experienced needs assessment practitioners who ar efacing
complex situations. I fyou fall into the ﬁrst category, consider review-

ing all the chapters ﬁ rst. You can then use the information immediately
or assimilate it and use it at a later date. F or instance, if you want to con-
duct a job and task analysis for technicians right away ,then consult
Chapter F ive. You can also use the corresponding Toolkit templates. At
alater date you may want to perform a competency study for ﬁrst-line
supervisors. The guidelines outlined in Chapter Six, as well as the cor-responding forms and worksheets, can provide a head start on this typeof assessment.
If you have prior knowledge or experience with needs assessment,
skim through Part One. Then focus on those chapters in Part T wo thatprovide more in-depth information.APRACTICAL GUIDE TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT, SECOND EDITION 8cintro.qxd  11/2/06  11:13 AM  Page 8If you are involved in a complex needs assessment or run into prob-

lems while conducting a needs assessment, check out the models andtheories in Chapter T wo and the ideas for managing a needs assessmentin Chapters Eight, Nine, and Ten.
This guide is designed to provide you with resources that you can
tailor to your own situation. As different assessment opportunities arisein the workplace, consider using one or a combination of the approachesdescribed in the book to proceed with your project. For a quick refer-ence guide to the chapters, see Figure I.2.
TOOLKIT FORMS ON CD-R OM
The CD-ROM at the back of the book was designed to be used in con-
junction with this second edition of APractical Guide to Needs Assess-
ment. It contains Microsoft®Word versions of the Toolkit forms found
in Part Four of the book. These forms may be customized to meet yourneeds and used for multiple pr ojects.Introduction 9cintro.qxd  11/2/06  11:13 AM  Page 9APRACTICAL GUIDE TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT, SECOND EDITION 10
To Consult
Review the book’s contents. Introduction

To Consult
Learn what a needs assessment is, some challenges Chapter 1
to assessing needs within complex systems, and 
the differences among the four approaches to 
needs assessment that are described in this book.
Learn about practical needs assessment models and Chapter 2
thought leaders in the ﬁeld.
Determine which data-gathering methods to use Chapter 3
in a needs assessment and how to analyze the data.
Link performance problems or performance needs to Chapter 7
the business strategy of an organization.
Identify training needs. Chapters 1, 2, 4
Identify knowledge, skills, and abilities needed for a 
speciﬁ cjob or task.
Develop a job description.
Develop a job training plan. Chapters 1, 2, 3, 5
Identify competencies for effective performance.
Build success pr oﬁles for people, par ticularly in 
super visory or managerial jobs.
Assess gaps in pr oﬁciency levels and for mulate 
training or per formance management systems. Chapters 1, 2, 3, 6

Develop a long-ter mperformance improvement plan. Chapters 1, 2, 3, 7
Write a needs assessment proposal or create in-
process and ﬁnal reports. Chapter 8
Troubleshoot your needs assessment. Chapters 2, 3, 8, 9 10
FIGURE I.2 Quick Reference Guide to Chapterscintro.qxd  11/2/06  11:13 AM  Page 10IFundamentals
of Needs
Assessmentp01.qxd  11/2/06  11:14 AM  Page 11p01.qxd  11/2/06  11:14 AM  Page 12ONE
PURPOSE
This chapter will enable you to accomplish the following:
• Describe what a needs assessment is.
•Identify the purposes and characteristics of a needs assessment.
• Deﬁne key terms.• Describe four approaches to needs assessment.
OVERVIEW
Most experts agree that human learning, training, and performance-
improvement initiatives should begin with a needs assessment. This

OVERVIEW
chapter sorts through the confusing collection of ideas about what aneeds assessment really is and the best ways to conduct one. As you readthe following examples of typical requests that should lead to needsassessments, think about their similarities and differences:
•
“The vice president is ready to start his personal development program.
How should he proceed?”
13Overview of 
Needs Assessmentc01.qxd  11/2/06  11:29 AM  Page 13•“T eam production is down! The engineers say the technician team is
struggling with the new process. The team disagrees. Can you givethem all training or something?”
•“We need to update our professional certiﬁcation program. What
should the new curriculum include?”
•“Which workforce development initiatives should we invest in to
make our country more competitive in the global marketplace?”

•“Next year our plant will continue the projects in Six Sigma quality
and culture change. We will also implement new manufacturingprocedures, install new equipment, and introduce new product lines.If employees try to make all these changes at once, productivity willfall. Where do you recommend we start? How can these efforts beintegrated?”
These requests probably sound familiar to most human resource
development (HRD) and human performance technology (HPT) pro-fessionals. Let ’s consider their similarities ﬁrst and then their differences.
Along the way, we will discuss the characteristics of needs assessmentand deﬁne some key terms.
SIMIL ARITIES AMONG NEEDS
ASSESSMENT REQUESTS
First, did y ou identify dissatisfaction with the curr ent situation and desire

for change as similarities among the requests? Each request implies that
a gap or discrepancy exists between what is and what could be or shouldbe. A learning or performance gap between the current condition andthe desired condition is called a need (see Figure 1.1).
Needs assessment is a process for ﬁguring out how to close a learn-
ing or performance gap. It involves determining what the importantneeds are and how to address them. The process includes comparing thecurrent condition to the desired condition, deﬁning the problem orA PRACTICAL GUIDE TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT, SECOND EDITION 14c01.qxd  11/2/06  11:29 AM  Page 14problems, understanding the behaviors and mechanisms that contrib-

ute to the current condition, determining if and how speciﬁc behaviorsand mechanisms can be changed to produce the desired condition,developing solution strategies, and building support for action.
Second, did you notice the similar aims for the requests? They all
focus on 
addressing current issues or on specifying future learning or per-
formance needs. Needs assessment requests are typically aimed at the fol-
lowing situations:
• Solving a current problem
•Avoiding a past or current problem
•Creating or taking adv antage of a future opportunity
• Providing learning, development, or growth
Third, did you notice that all the requests imply a solution that
requires training, learning, performance improvement, or a combination
of these? Needs assessment is a diagnostic process that relies on data col-

lection, collaboration, and negotiation to identify and understand gapsin learning and performance and to determine future actions. Examplesof actions that could be implemented as the result of a needs assessmentinclude offering improved incentives, providing better information,engaging the appropriate people, enhancing the work design, supply-ing essential tools or technology, and implementing training or learn-ing programs.Overview of Needs Assessment 15
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0-7879-8272-5Fig. 1.1Desir ed
Condition
Current
Condit ionThis gap b etween
the current condi tion
and a des ired condition
is calle d a nee d.
FIGURE 1.1 Deﬁnition of a Needc01.qxd  11/2/06  11:29 AM  Page 15Fourth, did you also recognize that the requests are alike in including
little evidence and few clues about whether taking the requested action will

likely improve learning or performance? Important details about the sit-uation and the expected course of action are unknown to both the personswho request a needs assessment and the persons who receive such requests.
Similar to the sample requests at the beginning of this section, most
requests that lead to needs assessments include fuzzy goals, incompati-ble beliefs, ﬂawed assumptions, and large leaps in logic. In addition,they contain 
little diagnostic information about the speciﬁc behaviors or
mechanisms that produced the current condition, about what particu-lar changes could create the desired condition, or about what supportmay be required from other people. Assessing needs in such situationsbefore jumping in with solutions greatly increases the likelihood of suc-cess and avoids costly mistakes.
Finally , did y ou notice that all the sample r equests include 
challeng -

challeng -
ing questions? The right answ ers to these questions cannot be found in
a book or on the I nternet. I ndeed, such questions do not have one right
answer. Using commonsense solutions or throwing resources at such sit-
uations seldom work well either.
Instead, the requests for learning, training, and performance
improvement initiatives must be evaluated and the “merit, worth, orvalue” (Scriven, 1991, p. 139) of the various options must be analyzed.Thus, needs assessment is a type of evaluation.
The Systems Model of Evaluation (Preskill & Russ-Eft, 2003; Russ-
Eft & Preskill, 2005) identiﬁes various factors that affect the success andthe outcomes of an evaluation, including a needs assessment (see Figure1.2). Factors in the needs assessment or evaluation project itself (suchA PRACTICAL GUIDE TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT, SECOND EDITION 16
Throwing resources at problems or opportunities is like throw-

ing a chocolate pie at the wall and hoping some of it will stick:
the action is more likely to create a mess than an improvement; fur-thermore, it is a waste of good resources.
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0-7879-8272-5ICON 2c01.qxd  11/2/06  11:29 AM  Page 16as the approach to managing the project) are shown in the model’s inner
circle; factors within the organization (such as the organization’s mission,vision, and strategic goals) are shown in the model’s outer circle; andfactors that are outside the organization (such as customer expectations)are shown in the shapes that encircle the ring of organizational factors.Thus many factors can inﬂuence how the challenging questions raisedby a needs assessment are answered.Overview of Needs Assessment 17
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0-7879-8272-5Fig. 1.2LegalRequirements
TechnologyCustomer
Expectati ons
Global
EnvironmentCompetitionWorkforceDiversity
Comm unicati ng
and Reporting
Evaluation
Proce sses

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Global
Proce sses
and FindingsDesigning the
Evaluation and
Data Coll ection
Instrumen ts,
Collect ing Da taManaging
the
EvaluationFocusing
the
Analyzing
dataOrganization’s Mission, Vision, Strategic Goals
CommunicationsLeadership
CultureThe Evaluation Process
Political Context
Evaluator CharacteristicsIntended Use of FindingsSystems and Structures
FIGURE 1.2 A Systems Model of Evaluation
Reprinted with permission from Sage, appearing in Russ-Eft, D., and Preskill, H. (2005). In search
of the Holy Grail: ROI evaluation in HRD. Advances in Developing Human Resources, 71–85.c01.qxd  11/2/06  11:29 AM  Page 17We have considered the similarities among the requests that lead
needs assessment. Next, we consider their differences.
DIFFERENCES AMONG REQUESTS THAT LEAD
TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT

First, did you notice that the sample requests target different levels of
learning and performance? Needs assessment can be used to diagnose the
learning and per formance needs of individuals, teams, functional units,
and whole organizations. They can also be used to diagnose the people-related issues of inter organizational groups, communities, countries, and
even international effor ts.
Second, did you notice that the requests focus on 
various aspects of learn-
ing and per formance? Learning is the act of gaining kno wledge or skills. It
can exist in the individual and it can r eside in an organization ’s systems,
databases, technologies, and culture. T raining supports individual learning
(that is, a gain in kno wledge and skills) through specialized instruction and
practice. The terms knowledge and skill have differ ent meanings:

•Knowledge: The body of facts about a subject matter and 
the understanding that a person acquires through study or experience
•
Skill: Knowledge that one proﬁciently applies in appropriate
situations
The goalie in Figure 1.3 may have in-depth knowledge of soccer rules
and the various plays allowed in the game. His role on the team is toprevent the ball from going into the net and allowing the opposing teamto score. The picture shows that he has failed to block several balls.
Performance includes accomplishments, the processes that result in
accomplishments, and the capacity for future performance. Let us con-sider each of these aspects of performance for our soccer goalie:A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT, SECOND EDITION 18c01.qxd  11/2/06  11:29 AM  Page 18•Accomplishment: The major accomplishment desir ed for the goalie

during the game is to sav e the goal b y preventing the ball fr om
going into the net.
•Process: To save the goal, the goalie integrates his knowledge of
how to play the position with such skills as deﬂecting the ball andfalling on it. His knowledge and skills interact with other factors(such as the defensive skills of his teammates) to affect how well he carries out the pr ocess of playing goalie.
•
Capacity: The goalie ’s capacity for per formance includes his bundle
of skills and resources that can be applied to future play. Theyindicate his abilities to apply his mental, physical, and social skills
to add value to the team.
The goalie ’s accomplishments, processes, and capacity could affect the
team’s accomplishments (for example, the number of games won), their
processes (such as the strategies the team uses while playing the game),
and their capacity (that is, the team ’s bundle of skills and resources that
can be applied to future play).Overview of Needs Assessment 19
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0-7879-8272-5Fig. 1.3FIGURE 1.3 Soccer Player Who Knows Game’s Rules but Lacks Game’s Skillsc01.qxd  11/2/06  11:29 AM  Page 19Some people see learning and performance as separate activities. We
see them as interconnected. As seen in the example of the goalie, learn-ing in the form of knowledge and skills can affect performance and viceversa. Although, learning is not directly observable, the behaviors thatcreate performance can often be observed. Thus, changes in behaviorare often used to infer that learning has occurred. For example, if ourgoalie observed a new technique, practiced the technique, and in sub-sequent games effectively used that technique, we could infer that learn-ing had occurred.
This section has described the similarities and differences among

sample requests that lead to needs assessments, and in the processdescribed the characteristics of needs assessments and deﬁned some keyterms. Next we focus on the beneﬁts of needs assessment.
BENEFITS OF A NEEDS ASSESSMENT
A needs assessment frames the pr oblems or opportunities of interest and
builds relationships among the people and groups who have a stake inthe issue. It also provides the foundation for planning and action toimprove learning, training, and per formance. M ore speciﬁ cally, a needs
assessment can align r esour ces with strategy, build relationships among
those who hav e a stake in the situation, clarify pr oblems or oppor tuni-
ties, set goals for futur e action, and provide data for decision making.
A needs assessment can also identify lev erage points and r esources for
making changes, establish objectiv es for initiativ es, prioritize actions,

determine who must be involved for the HRD and HPT efforts to be
successful, and provide baseline data for later evaluation of results.
Equally important, a needs assessment can build support for HRD and
HPT efforts. The processes of using accurate data and negotiating amongdiffering points of view can engage and mobilize decision makers and oth-ers who have a stake in the situation. By sharing their knowledge, insights,and resources, those who are closest to the situation contribute to creatingsolutions that are practical, credible, and appropriate for the situation.A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT, SECOND EDITION 20c01.qxd  11/2/06  11:29 AM  Page 20Given all of these beneﬁts, it is obvious why so many training,

learning, and performance improvement models advocate systematic needs assessment: it ensures that interventions are relevant and address the needs.
FOUR APPROACHES TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT
Needs assessments are particularly important to HRD and HPT pro-
fessionals who must align their work with strategic individual, organi-zational, or community needs. In today’s competitive climate, improvinglearning, training, and performance is emphasized more than everbefore.
At the same time, individuals, organizations, and communities guard
their resources. Today’s decision makers want HRD and HPT initiativesto focus on their critical priorities and to drop the non-value-addedwork. Needs assessments can provide such a focus, but politics will affecthow needs assessments are actually conducted.
Consider the situation facing Ruth Duple, the new manager of learn-
ing and organization development for an international ﬁrm that manu-factur es computer equipment. The ﬁ rm’s management team r ecently

speculated that poor super visory performance was causing quality prob-
lems, incr eased turno ver, and missed pr oduction deadlines. They handed
the pr oblem to Ruth. When she reviewed this new challenge, Ruth real-
ized that she did not kno w how the poor supervisory performance related
to the organization ’s strategic goals, the cause or causes of the problems,
or the management team’s vision for supervisory performance.Overview of Needs Assessment 21
Some people focus on the problems in a situation, while others
recognize that the same problems present opportunities for
improvement.
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0-7879-8272-5ICON 2c01.qxd  11/2/06  11:29 AM  Page 21To aid her thinking, Ruth sketched a simpliﬁed systems diagram of

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her ﬁrm (see Figure 1.4). The large oval represents the ﬁrm. Note that itis bordered with dashed lines to acknowledge that changes from outsidethe ﬁrm (such as government regulations, politics, and raw materials) canaffect the ﬁrm, and that changes from inside the ﬁrm (such as increasedwages) can affect the larger environment. Inputs to the ﬁrm’s performancesystem include the employees, tools, and raw materials (such as gears).
Within the ﬁrm, each gray box represents a distinct unit or depart-

ment that contributes to the production process. Of course the ﬁrm actu-ally has many more units than are shown in Figure 1.4. Employees ineach unit use work processes (shown by the darker gray horizontal boxes)to convert materials and other inputs into unit outputs. The outputs ofone unit become the inputs for other units. When all the production pro-cesses are complete, the ﬁrm’s output—computer equipment—is loadedon trucks for shipment to customers.
The employees in each unit report to a supervisor who in turn re-
ports to a manager. The managers and some other executives report tothe ﬁ rm’s CEO.
For the sake of simplicity, Ruth did not include in her sketch the col-
laborative efforts that span units, the feedback that supervisors receivefrom internal and external customers and fr om managers, or the ﬁ rm’sA PRACTICAL GUIDE TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT, SECOND EDITION 22
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0-7879-8272-5Fig. 1.4Inputs
Outputs

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Outputs
FIGURE 1.4 Ruth’s Sketch of a Simpliﬁed Systems Diagramc01.qxd  11/2/06  11:29 AM  Page 22structure, politics, and culture. However, her sketch does provide a focus
for thinking about the needs assessment.
As an experienced HRD professional, Ruth knows many needs
assessment models, each with its own jargon and unique steps. She isalso familiar with the needs assessment study by Mathews et al. (2001).It focused on organizations in the United Kingdom, Finland, and Por-tugal that were implementing quality management practices such as ISO9001:2000. The study ranked the importance of the following elementsto assessing training needs within an organization:
• Senior management decisions
• Supervisors’ opinions• Skills inventory• Employee surveys•Analysis of projected business or service plans
•Customer opinions
• T raining audits•Requests fr om wor k groups
• External consultant
•Advisor y committee

The study found that senior management decisions and super visors ’
opinions r eceiv ed much higher rankings than the other elements, indi-
cating the importance of the senior management and supervisors in
determining training needs. The authors recommended that objectiveand formal methods of assessing needs be more widely adopted. Thisstudy highlights that while management and supervisor perspectives areimportant, using objective data and formal methods could ensurebroader support for addressing quality management practices.
Ruth’s ﬁrm must address its quality problems, increased turnover, and
missed production deadlines to remain competitive in today’s marketplace.Overview of Needs Assessment 23c01.qxd  11/2/06  11:29 AM  Page 23Given the competitive importance of these issues, Ruth decided to use a

formal needs assessment approach to gain more knowledge about the gapbetween actual and desired supervisory performance and to ﬁgure out howto close it. She considered four formal needs assessment approaches thatcan be used separately or in combination.
The ﬁrst approach, 
knowledge and skills assessment, focuses on the
knowledge and skill needs that may exist. If such needs do exist, theycan be addressed with training. Ruth could survey the supervisors them-selves to obtain a list of their knowledge and skill needs or she could talk to managers. Ruth could then implement training programs thataddress the needs. This approach to needs assessment is described inChapter Four.
The second approach, 
job and task analysis, focuses on information

about the scope, responsibilities, and tasks of particular job functions.Because Ruth knows that supervisors regularly mishandle performancereviews, she could implement a job and task analysis to gather speciﬁcinformation about how this supervisory job task should be conductedin the ﬁ rm. Ruth could use this needs assessment approach to prioritize
the knowledge, skills, and other improvements that are required to closethe gap between the way the performance reviews are conducted andthe way they should be conducted. This appr oach to needs assessment
is described in Chapter F ive.
The thir d appr oach, 
competency-based needs assessment, focuses on
determining the competencies needed for speciﬁ c job functions. Com-
petencies ar e the kno wledge, skills, attitudes, values, motivations, and
beliefs that people must hav e to be successful in a job . Ruth knows that

successful supervisors are those whose teams continually outperform
other teams and whose subordinates tend to remain with the organi-zation. Ruth could use this needs assessment approach to identify spe-ciﬁc behaviors that are exhibited by successful supervisors and notexhibited by less successful supervisors. This approach to needs assess-ment is described in Chapter Six.
The fourth approach, 
strategic needs assessment, focuses on learning
and performance gaps within the context of an organization’s businessA PRACTICAL GUIDE TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT, SECOND EDITION 24c01.qxd  11/2/06  11:29 AM  Page 24strategy. Ruth could use this needs assessment approach to learn how

supervisors do and do not contribute to the unit’s and the ﬁrm’s stra-tegic goals and about the work mechanisms that contribute to their cur-rent performance. She could also consider factors in the ﬁrm’s externaland internal environments. Ruth could use the information she gathersto map the desired work processes and outcomes, to develop supervi-sory training, and to address non-training issues. This approach to needsassessment is described in Chapter Seven.
Figure 1.5 is a graph of the time and labor required to complete each
of the four approaches. The approaches in the lower portion of the chartare less time- and labor-intensive. Figure 1.6 summarizes the approachespresented in Figure 1.5, starting with the lower-most approach, describ-ing when to use each approach and its advantages and disadvantages.
Regardless of which approach you decide to use, consider the reali-

ties of conducting needs assessments in the workplace. First, time willalways be a critical factor, as most clients or sponsors will be more con-cerned about implementing the actual improvement than about spend-ing time analyzing needs. S econd, line managers may be reluctant to
release personnel to participate in interviews or focus groups, especiallyif operations will be affected. Third, needs assessments are political. Indi-viduals hold differing and sometimes conﬂ icting opinions, and they use
power and inﬂuence to achieve their own ends. Therefore, a needs assess-
ment usually inv olves negotiating cooperation among people to achiev e
a common task.Overview of Needs Assessment 25
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0-7879-8272-5Fig. 1.5• Strategi c Needs Assessme nt
• Compete ncy-Based Assessment
• Job a nd Task Analysis
• Knowledge a nd Skill s Assessm entTime
Labor

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Labor
FIGURE 1.5 Effort Required for the Needs Assessment Approachesc01.qxd  11/2/06  11:29 AM  Page 25Approach Purpose When to Use Advantages Disadvantages
Knowledge and Identify the knowledge Implement new Ensures training is Has a limited focus
Skills Assessmentand skills required to technology linked to the 
perform a job learner’s needs
Identify training needs
Easiest to implement
Develop a training plan
Job and Task Determine Develop new job Stimulates interest Does not take into 
Analysis responsibilities and descriptions or revise because people have account the external 
tasks necessary to existing position opportunity to de- factors that may affect
perform a job proﬁles ﬁne jobs job performance
Identify task listings Deﬁnes skill Time-consuming
for new or redesigned requirements for 
job functions: entry-level versus Costly

knowledge, skills, senior positions
abilities, and standards Assumes that the work 
Identiﬁes additional is static
Develop consistent knowledge, skills, and
training requirements, abilities to move Assumes that there is 
especially for technical across or upward one best way to 
and specialized jobs within a job function perform the workc01.qxd  11/2/06  11:29 AM  Page 26Competency- Identify knowledge, Identify competencies Determines qualities Time-consuming
Based Needs skills, and attitudes that are required that distinguish 
Assessment for superior job for jobs average from Requires high 
performance superior performance involvement of many 
Measure proﬁciency people within an 
levels of people Provides information organization
about current and 
Develop standardized future predictors of Costly

training job performance
Requires good project 
Develop performance management system 
management systems for large projects
(recruiting, hiring, 
promoting, or career 
planning)
Strategic Needs Examine existing Link performance Develops long-term Time-consuming
Assessment performance improvement needs to solutions to existing 
problems (reactive) business strategy of performance Costly
or address new and the organization or problems or new 
future performance community performance needs Requires that a business
needs (proactive) strategy exist
within the context of Identify performance Solves problems that
the organization’s or the improvement oppor- affect core business 
community’s business tunities at various processes
strategy levels (such as 
individual, process, Eliminates non-value-

Develop long-term and organizational) added activities
performance 
improvement plan
FIGURE I.6Matrix of Needs Assessment Approachesc01.qxd  11/2/06  11:29 AM  Page 27After considering the four approaches, Ruth concluded that this
could be a high-stakes needs assessment both for the ﬁrm and for hercareer. Because of the project’s importance, Ruth decided to review theneeds assessment tools presented in the next chapter before selecting aneeds assessment approach.
Needs assessment involves carefully analyzing a situation and building

support for action. Regardless of which needs assessment approach youchoose to implement, the message is simple: needs assessments set thedirection for learning, training, and performance improvement initia-tives. The next chapter describes some practical models and thinkingthat can contribute greatly to a successful needs assessment.A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT, SECOND EDITION 28c01.qxd  11/2/06  11:29 AM  Page 28TWO
PURPOSE
• Recognize the difference between needs and wants.
• Identify different kinds of needs.• Recognize different kinds of assessments.• Recognize the pioneers in the needs assessment ﬁeld.• Add clout to your needs assessments with powerful ideas 
and models.
OVERVIEW
Why should you take the time to learn about needs assessment ideas and

OVERVIEW
models? Because they can make your job easier and add great value to yourneeds assessment! Today’s learning and performance improvement situa-tions are complex. Moreover, HRD and HPT initiatives are key driversof growth, transformation, and productivity for individuals, organizations,communities, and countries. In this high-stakes environment, knowing
29Ideas and Models
That Guide Practicec02.qxd  11/2/06  11:30 AM  Page 29need assessment ideas and models that provide the language and insights
for success is simply smart practice.
You should also know the names of the pioneers who contributed
signiﬁcantly to our current understanding of needs assessment; for exam-ple, Thomas Gilbert, Joe Harless, Roger Kaufman, Robert Mager, Alli-son Rossett, Geary Rummler, and Richard Swanson. As you read thischapter and other chapters in this book, watch for their names.

The ideas and models presented in this chapter can be used in con-
junction with the approaches to needs assessment described in Chap-ters Four, Five, Six, and Seven. The ideas and models are grouped intothree categories based on use: (1) prioritizing needs, (2) measuring per-formance, and (3) ﬁnding the causes of problems.
PRIORITIZING NEEDS
Most individuals, teams, organizations, communities, and countries
have more wants and needs than available resources to address them. Use
the information in this section to quickly separate needs from wants,distinguish among various kinds of need, and consider the analysis theproject requires.
A want is something the client would like to have even though it
does not contribute to the long-term learning or performance goal. ByA PRACTICAL GUIDE TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT, SECOND EDITION 30
During initial meetings with the client or decision makers to
contract a needs assessment, be pr epared, if asked, to discuss

needs assessment ideas, models, and pioneers. M ost decision makers
carefully select the analyst who conducts their assessment, and they
often r ely on informal discussions of these topics to select practi -
tioners who have the appropriate and in-depth knowledge.
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0-7879-8272-5ICON 2c02.qxd  11/2/06  11:30 AM  Page 30contrast, a need, when addressed, contributes to achieving the desired
learning or performance goal by closing the gaps between the currentcondition and the desired condition. Thus, important questions for anyproposed needs assessment are, 
Whose needs will the project address? and
What kind of needs will the project address?
Because needs assessments are implemented in complex systems, a

change in one level or element of the system can affect other levels andelements. For example, a needs assessment within an organization canproduce results that contribute to the larger shared society (Kaufman,2005). However, practitioners should carefully consider the focus fora needs assessment before starting any project. Three kinds of needs thatyou are likely to see in practice and that warrant a needs assessment areas follows:
•
Strategic or operational business needs. These are gaps between cur-
rent and desir ed conditions relative to achieving a business strat-
egy. Closing these gaps is critical for the long-term success of the
entity or its units.
•Individual performance needs. These are gaps between current 
and desir ed conditions r elative to a person’s accomplishments,

behaviors, or capacity for per formance. An individual sometimes
closes such gaps to meet personal goals or to meet strategic oroperational business goals.
•
Learning needs. These are gaps in knowledge and skill between the
current and desired conditions. Most needs assessment experts agreethat individuals hav e learning needs. In addition, growing bodies of
literature describe team and organizational learning needs.
Other kinds of needs may involve various groups (such as speciﬁc
teams or departments, organizational units, or community and nationalgroups) and different foci (such as sales performance or community col-laboration and development).Ideas and Models That Guide Practice 31c02.qxd  11/2/06  11:30 AM  Page 31When determining which needs to address ﬁrst, keep in mind that

interventions will be perceived as valuable only if they contribute toreducing the need by providing a solution. Usually the strategic or oper-ational business needs are assessed for an entity before other kinds ofneeds are assessed. The ultimate goal of interventions in private sectororganizations is usually increased proﬁtability (reduced costs and time,improved quality, or increased revenues), and the goal of interventionsin public sector organizations is usually fuller achievement of the mis-sion or the funding goals.
The kind of need and the context inﬂuence the type of analysis that
should be conducted:
•
Business analysis: To identify an organization ’s strategic or opera-
tional goals, clarify that they ar e appr opriate and determine ho w
to measure them.
•Performance analysis: To identify the capacity and processes for
producing accomplishments, to ensur e that per formance r equir e-
ments and changes are linked to organizational strategic or opera-

tional goals, and to ensure that performers have the support theyneed to achiev e the goals.
•
Cause analysis: To identify the speciﬁc reasons for performance gaps.
•Training needs assessment: To identify the performance gaps that
can be addr essed with training solutions. This type of analysis is
usually conducted for pr oviders of training solutions. It identiﬁes
the training gaps and the non-training gaps that inﬂuence the
effectiveness with which the performance gaps can be closed.
MEASURING PERFORMANCE
Some people claim that it is impossible to measure performance pre-
cisely or to establish its values. They are correct. Other people claim that

not all HRD and HPT initiatives are designed to produce economicvalue. They are also correct.A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT, SECOND EDITION 32c02.qxd  11/2/06  11:30 AM  Page 32We ﬁnd, however, that most people rely on less-than-perfect mea-
sures to make decisions and that they do indeed place economic val-ues on learning and performance when making such decisions asselecting products to use, choosing strategies for accomplishing tasks,assigning people to participate in projects, and selecting needs to address.One key to making better decisions is to share the expectations, crite-ria, and formulas for measuring and valuing performance.
Gilbert’s (1978) Behavior Engineering Model (BEM) is the classic

model for measuring performance. It describes the relationships amongbehaviors, accomplishments, and performance. Behaviors are what peo-ple do, accomplishments are their outputs, and individual performanceincludes both behaviors and accomplishments. Consider the follow-ing three examples:
• In a restaurant, three waiters serve meals.
• In a garage, ten mechanics repair autos.•In a clinic, twenty physicians treat patients.
The accomplishments in these examples are the served meals,
repair ed autos, and tr eated patients. The behaviors ar e the speciﬁ c ac-
tions taken b y the individuals who ser ved meals, repaired autos, and
treated patients. A ccording to the BEM, an individual ’s performance
reﬂects both valued accomplishments and the costs of their behaviors.
To measure performance efﬁciently among the individuals in a group,
try this Gilbert (1978) strategy:Ideas and Models That Guide Practice 33

When measuring performance, ﬁrst look at the desired condi-
tion and then identify and measure the accomplishments that
contribute to r eaching it. Then analyze the behaviors that contribute
to the accomplishment.
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0-7879-8272-5ICON 2c02.qxd  11/2/06  11:30 AM  Page 331.Compare the accomplishments of typical and outstanding
performers.
2.Identify patterns in their accomplishments. (For example, have 
the typical and outstanding performers reached the same levels of accomplishment? What are the differences in their patterns?)
3.Find the speciﬁc behaviors that contribute to the patterns.
When typical and outstanding performers work in the same envi-

ronment, their differences in accomplishment are often the result ofsmall differences in their behaviors. The following case shows a real-lifeexample of such differences.A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT, SECOND EDITION 34
A needs assessment at a call center for a provider of tele-
phone ser vices r elied on comparing typical and outstanding
performance. The call center ’s mission was to incr ease the
satisfaction and retention of the customers who had complaints. A
strategic goal was to addr ess 99 percent of all customer complaints
effectiv ely and efﬁ ciently . However, the employees who recorded
customer complaints often misrecorded their addresses and phone
numbers, making it difﬁcult to follow up with customers.
Measuring and comparing the accomplishments of emplo yees
who worked the call lines revealed that one outstanding em-

ployee had a far higher level of accomplishment than the otheremplo yees as measured by the number of customer complaints
accurately and quickly entered into the call center’s database.
Further inv estigation revealed that the outstanding employee
used different behaviors than the typical employees. For example,
when a customer called in a complaint, the outstanding employeeasked about their contact information and typed changes into thecall center database at about seventy words per minute. She alsorepeated the contact information back to customers while entering
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0-7879-8272-5ICON 1c02.qxd  11/2/06  11:30 AM  Page 34Today, performance improvements are typically measured using
return-on-investment (ROI). This formula compares the investment in
a program with its r eturn.

ROI = pr ogram beneﬁ ts minus costs/pr ogram costs ×100
For example, to calculate the R OI for a pr ogram with a $85,800 beneﬁ t
and a $5,000 cost, ﬁ rst calculate that $85,800 minus $5,000 equals
$80,800. Then divide $80,800 by $5,000 and multiply the result by 100.
This equals 16.16 per cent. F or each $1 inv ested, the r eturn is $16.Ideas and Models That Guide Practice 35
it into the database, thus ensuring accuracy. By comparison, typical
employees usually had to hunt and peck to locate the correct keysfor entering data, and they did not repeat back to the customer thechanges they had entered into the database.
The call center supervisor knew that the average number

The call center supervisor knew that the average number 
of missed service calls due to this issue was ﬁfteen per week and the average costs for technicians who drove around but could not ﬁnd the customer was $110 (wages and transportation). Tocalculate the annual cost of poor per formance, the super visor
multiplied ﬁfteen by $110 times ﬁfty weeks per year to get
$85,800. These costs were so high that the supervisor did not 
even bother calculating the av erage wor th of dissatisﬁ ed customers
who chose a new telephone company when technicians did not
solve their problems.
Instead, he impr oved unit performance by using a two-
pronged intervention that (a) provided training on keyboarding
skills to employees who needed them and (b) changed the workdesign so that ev eryone who answered customer complaints
repeated changes in contact information while entering them into

the computer. The total cost for these changes was around $5,000.c02.qxd  11/2/06  11:30 AM  Page 35DIAGNOSING THE CAUSES
OF POOR PERFORMANCE
Learning and per formance needs may be only v aguely understood when
they ﬁ rst come to our attention. M oreover, as H arless (1970) often
observed, organizations—when confronted with problems—tend to
look for solutions ev en befor e the pr oblem is fully deﬁned or alternate
courses of action hav e been consider ed. H arless r ecommended fr ont-
end analysis for uncovering the root causes of performance problems
prior to looking for solutions. We now examine the root causes of indi-
vidual, organizational, and systems pr oblems.
Individual Performance Problems
When individuals do not per form as expected, organizations often train

them or remove them. Mager and Pipe (1984) differentiated between
performance problems that result from a skill deﬁciency and those that
result from other causes (such as lack of motivation or obstacles to per-forming). There is little point to providing individuals with knowledgeand skills if the lack of performance is caused by low motivation orobstacles to performing (such as lack of resources).
Gilbert (1978) identiﬁed six barriers to performance for individuals.
Figure 2.1 shows the six variables and sample questions for identifyingA PRACTICAL GUIDE TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT, SECOND EDITION 36
When measuring accomplishments, such soft measures as
improved teamwork or innovation can be converted into hard

numbers by considering exactly how the accomplishment affectsmission-critical work. Resources that offer speciﬁc strategies for com-pleting such conversions include 
Forecasting the Financial Beneﬁts
of HRD, by Swanson and Gradous (1990), and Measuring Return on
Investment (ROI) Basics, by Phillips and Phillips (2005).
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0-7879-8272-5ICON 2c02.qxd  11/2/06  11:30 AM  Page 36whether a variable is a barrier. The traditional assumption is that if an
individual performer would simply change, improvement would result(for example, “if he were not so lazy,” or “if she could do the work,” or“if they just had the knowledge and skills. . . .”). However, performanceproblems more often result from a lack of support in the work envi-ronment (for example, bad data, worn-out tools, or poor incentives).
For instance, the expensive software purchased by a school system to

improve student reading skills received little use even though the teach-ers in the system had received training on how to use the software. Theexpected performance did not appear until the school superintendentdialogued with teachers about how using the software could improvestudent learning, supplied sufﬁcient computers, and provided feedbackon the level of the software use in each classroom.Ideas and Models That Guide Practice 37
Barriers to Performance Sample Question About the Barrier
1.Data Does the individual have suf ﬁcient and reliable
information (such as purpose and expectations
for the job and feedback on per formance) to
guide per formance?
2.Tools Does the individual have all the r esour ces 
needed to perform the work?
3.Incentives Are the ﬁnancial and nonﬁnancial incentives 
adequate and based on performance?
4.Knowledge Is lack of knowledge (or skill) contributing to 
the problem?

5.Capacity Do the individual’s physical, emotional, and
intellectual abilities match the job 
requirements?
6.Motives Does the person have the appropriate motives 
to perform this work well?
FIGURE 2.1 Barriers to Performance and Sample Questionsc02.qxd  11/2/06  11:30 AM  Page 37Organizational Performance Problems
Diagnosing an organization’s problems is complex. Here we review two
models that can aid you in this process.
The Organization Elements Model
In the Organization Elements Model (OEM), needs assessment and stra-
tegic planning are used to link and deﬁne an organization’s desired exter-nal and internal results (Kaufman, 1992, 2005). Elements in the OEMinclude the following:
•
Inputs: The r esour ces an organization uses
•Processes: The internal ways, means, methods, activities, and

•
procedur es an organization uses to achieve desired results
•Products: The results produced within an organization
•Outputs: The end results delivered outside an organization
•Outcomes: The effects or payoffs for clients and society
You can use the OEM diagram in F igure 2.2 to compare the current
situation and the desired situation across all ﬁve elements, thus obtain-
ing information about the organization (the inputs, process, and prod-ucts), the external clients (the outputs), and the societal context (theoutcomes).
Improving P erformance: Managing the White Space
on the Organizational Chart
With the publication of their book Improving Performance in 1995,

Rummler and Brache revolutionized the practice of needs assessment inorganizations. Instead of referring to a traditional organizational chartwith its departmental silos, they described an organization as a systemwith such components as inputs, a processing system, outputs, markets,and shareholders.A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT, SECOND EDITION 38c02.qxd  11/2/06  11:30 AM  Page 38They also showed how to depict the interrelationships between
departments. Figure 2.3 compares a traditional view and a systems viewof an organization. N eeds assessment practitioners who understand the
systems vie w of organizations can mo ve bey ond focusing on activities
that occur within departmental silos to focusing on activities that occur
across departments.
Rummler and B rache also described the impor tance of diagnosing

performance needs that occur at three levels: the organization, the pro-
cesses, and the individual jobs and performers. Because the three lev-els ar e inter dependent and critical to the whole system ’s optimal
performance, a failur e of any one can affect the ability of the organiza -
tion to perform optimally. Today most needs assessment practitioners
recogniz e that organizations are systems comprised of subsystems. More-
over, many practitioners and decision makers r efer to the thr ee levels of
performance that were ﬁrst identiﬁed by Rummler and Brache.
Diagnosing Systems
Our knowledge about how to analyze complex systems has improved
greatly in recent years. Eoyang (2004) presented strategies and tools forassessing the patterns that occur within systems:Ideas and Models That Guide Practice 39

Inputs Process Products Outputs Outcomes
What should be
What is
Most people who use systems thinking in their work acknowl-
edge that nosingle systemic tool depicts the whole truth about
a situation.
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0-7879-8272-5ICON 2FIGURE 2.2 Organization Elements Model Diagram
Source: Kaufman, 1992.c02.qxd  11/2/06  11:30 AM  Page 391.Surface structures are patterns visible to anyone in the organization
and easily measured (for example, lagging sales, interpersonal con-ﬂict, and client dissatisfaction).
2.Evident deep structures are patterns that are partially or totally
invisible but easily measured (for example, the beliefs shared bymembers of the organization about its mission).
3.Subtle deep structures are patterns that are invisible and not easily

measured (for example, data points that occur at different placesand are distributed across time).A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT, SECOND EDITION 40
FIGURE 2.3 Comparison of the Traditional and S ystems Views of an Organization
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0-7879-8272-5Fig. 2.3Departm ent
Systems View of an Organ izationTraditio nal V iew of an OrganizationDepartmentPresident
Departm ent Depa rtmentVice
PresidentVice
Presidentc02.qxd  11/2/06  11:30 AM  Page 40Toolkit Form 2.1 shows assessment tools and strategies for each of the
three categories. You can use it to become more intentional in imagin-ing multiple options for each type of system pattern.
The ideas and models described in this chapter can be used with the four

approaches presented in this book. Select the ones that best ﬁt your sit-uation and use them to cut through the complexities in your situation.The next chapter describes strategies for collecting and analyzing data.Ideas and Models That Guide Practice 41c02.qxd  11/2/06  11:30 AM  Page 41c02.qxd  11/2/06  11:30 AM  Page 42THREE
PURPOSE
This chapter will enable you to do the following:
•Prepare for and conduct individual inter views.
• Conduct focus groups.
• Make observations.•Develop and use surveys.
• Gather data from documents and artifacts.
•Compar e featur es of inter views, focus groups, surveys, and
obser vations.
•Identify strategies for analyzing data.
• Identify ways to communicate ﬁndings.
OVERVIEW
Needs assessment results reﬂect the methods that were used to collect the
data and the methods that w ere used to analyz e it. Thus, data collec -

OVERVIEW
tion and analysis ar e cornerstone skills of any needs assessment pr oject.
43Strategies for
Collecting and
Analyzing Datac03.qxd  11/2/06  11:35 AM  Page 43Most needs assessments rely on multiple data-collection methods.
To identify the training needs of plant personnel, you could choose toconduct interviews. To measure the proﬁciency levels of ﬁeld engineers,you could choose to conduct a survey 
andobserve them at work. This

chapter will help you decide which methods are most appropriate andwill provide guidelines for using the methods. It also describes how toanalyze the data after they have been collected to produce accurate anduseable results. While you can hire experts who specialize in data col-lection and analysis methods (such as statistics and survey design), mostmethods are straightforward to learn.
DATA-COLLECTION METHODS
The data-collection methods discussed in this chapter ar e interviews,
focus gr oups, sur veys, observations, and archival records. Additional
methods, such as the nominal gr oup technique, action r esearch, and
Dacum (developing a curriculum) are beyond the scope of this chapter.
For real-life applications of these latter data-gathering techniques, con-sult 
In Action: Conducting Needs Assessment (Phillips & Holton, 1995).
Inter views
Some people assume that inter views are one of the easiest tools for gath-

ering information about learning and performance needs. A brief dis-
cussion with customer ser vice associates could unco ver reasons whyA PRACTICAL GUIDE TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT, SECOND EDITION 44
Needs assessment is the ﬁrst phase of the professional devel-
opment model used by the Jefferson County Public Schoolsin Louisville, Kentucky. The needs assessment determines
what professional development is needed, why it is needed, whoneeds it, and what knowledge, skills, and improved performancewill result. Sources of data for the needs assessment include obser-vations, interviews, surveys, and reviews of written documents.
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0-7879-8272-5ICON 1c03.qxd  11/2/06  11:35 AM  Page 44phone calls are not being handled properly. An in-depth discussion with

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senior management could clarify perspectives on strategic training issues.However, such interviews can be challenging; a certain amount ofknowledge and skill is involved in conducting informative interviews.
Types of Interviews
Interviews can be conducted in person, by phone, or by computer tech-
nology (such as online cameras, videoconferencing, and instant mes-saging). The greatest beneﬁt of one-on-one, in-person interviews is thehuman interaction that occurs. In-person interviews allow the inter-viewer to observe facial expressions and other nonverbal cues fromrespondents.
Phone interviews are useful when people in remote locations cannot

be accessed easily. They are also useful when people do not have the timeand resources to travel to meet in person. Because most people willrefuse to participate in long phone interviews, phone interviews are typ-ically scheduled to last no longer than thirty minutes. Such time limi-tations clearly r educe the amount of information that can be gathered.
Therefore, phone interview is not the optimal choice when extensivediscussion is likely.
Computer-aided telephone inter viewing can be used for some inter -
views; the text appears on the computer scr een for the interviewer along
with the r esponse options, and the inter viewer can enter the inter viewee’s
responses. In addition to computer-aided telephone interviewing,
computer-suppor ted inter views can be a good choice when people are
comfor table using technology such as online cameras and videoconfer -

encing. With these aids, as with in-person interviews, the interviewer can
observe nonverbal cues and, as with phone interviews, people do not haveto travel to meet in person.
Whether conducting interviews in person, by phone, or using com-
puter technology, it is useful to remember the following tips:
• Use a moderate tone.
•Enunciate clearly .Strategies for Collecting and Analyzing Data 45c03.qxd  11/2/06  11:35 AM  Page 45• Avoid speaking rapidly.
• Keep the discussion focused.• Probe for additional responses to your questions.
Interview Approaches
Interviews can be structured (or scripted), unstructured, or semistruc-

tured. In structured interviews, a list of objectives and a correspond-ing list of questions guide the interview process. In unstructuredinterviews, questions are not listed in advance. Rather, a list of objec-tives and topics to be covered guide the interview. In semistructuredinterviews, a list of objectives with corresponding questions initiallyguide the interview and the interviewer spontaneously asks supplementalquestions to explor e further ar eas of interest.
In structured or scripted interviews, the interview dialogue and the
questions, and in some cases the responses to closed-ended questions,are written out and practiced in adv ance. Scripts are useful when mul-
tiple interviewers are involved in the data-gathering process and when

using computer-aided interviewing. A script can be combined with aprotocol that details all data-collection procedures (for example, how
interviewees are initially contacted, interview follow-up procedures, andthe conﬁdentiality agreement). Scripted interviews help to ensure accu-racy and consistency of the inter view process. They may, however,
inhibit spontaneity. Figure 3.1 shows a sample interview protocol, thescript, and the sample questions.
Keys to a successful interview include preparing for it and developing
questions befor e actually conducting the inter view. Some people prepare
for the interview before developing questions and some people develop
questions ﬁrst. Figures 3.2, 3.3, and 3.4 present tips for each of these tasks.
Focus Groups
In the focus group interview method, people who have something in

common are brought together and asked their opinions and ideas abouta speciﬁc topic. Most focus groups are made up of ﬁve to eight people.A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT, SECOND EDITION 46c03.qxd  11/2/06  11:35 AM  Page 46Strategies for Collecting and Analyzing Data 47
Protocol
These interviews are conducted as part of a strategic needs assessment that focuses
on customer perceptions of a manufacturing division. The performance improve-ment specialist will conduct interviews during the next week with all the directreports of the vice president of manufacturing. The administrative assistant willschedule the interviews. All interview responses will be grouped for reporting to the
president and the vice president of manufacturing and are therefore anonymous.

The interview script and sample questions will guide the activity; as issues surface,additional questions may be asked. The collected data will be analyzed by identify-
ing themes.
Interview Script
Thank you for agreeing to see me. The purpose of this interview is to discuss the
recent customer sur vey and to get your views for the strategic needs assessment. I
am inter viewing all of the direct reports of the vice president of manufacturing. I
will group the responses from all the interviews before reporting the results to the
president and vice pr esident of manufacturing, so your r esponses to questions will
be anonymous. I have a list of questions to get us started and there may be other
questions as we talk. Would you like to see the list of questions?
Sample Questions
1.What do you think about the recent customer survey?
2.What changes in our pr oduction pr ocess do you think we should make to

address our weaknesses and improve our strengths?
3.What other factors outside the organization could lead to changes in our pro-
duction pr ocess? Follow-up: What could the changes look like?
4.Are there other factors inside the organization that could lead to changes in our
production pr ocess? Follow-up: What could the changes look like?
5.What ar e the bar riers to making efﬁcient and effective changes in the produc-
tion process?
6.What ar e the suppor ts for making ef ﬁcient and effective changes in the produc-
7.In thinking about our future production process, what additional information
should be considered?
8.Do you have any additional thoughts on the customer survey?
9.Thank you for meeting with me to discuss the strategic needs for the produc-

tion area. If I think of additional questions later or need clariﬁcation on a ques-tion, can I call you?
FIGURE 3.1 Sample Interview Protocol, Script, and Questionsc03.qxd  11/2/06  11:35 AM  Page 47A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT, SECOND EDITION 48
1.Place easy-to-answer , open-ended questions at the beginning. This will help
the interviewee to begin talking and can help to develop trust and rapport.
2.Place impor tant questions near the beginning of the inter view.
3.Place contr oversial or sensitive questions, including demographic questions, at
the end.
4.Specify the amount of time to be spent on each question.
5.Ensur e that each question matches a stated objective.
6.Sequence questions from general to speciﬁc.
7.Sequence and cluster questions in a logical or der.

8.Ensur e that questions ar e clear , concise, and jar gon-fr ee.
9.Be sure that questions are appropriate for the skill and experience levels of the
10. Provide adequate space between questions to r ecord infor mation.
11. Pilot-test interview questions.
12. Make appropriate revisions.1.Familiarize yourself with technical and industry-speciﬁc terms.
2.Obtain background information about the problem or issue of concern if
possible.
3.Establish the purpose, expected outcomes, and objectives for the interview.
4.Determine whether the interview will be conducted in person, by phone, or
online.
5.Identify a comfortable and private location for conducting a one-on-one, in-
person interview.
6.Decide how information will be recorded. Handwritten notes? Typing
responses into computer? Tape recording? Video recording?

7.Test the equipment that will be used.
8.Develop an inter view pr otocol if multiple inter viewers will be involved.
9.Notify interviewees and their managers or supervisors of the interviews.
10. Send a letter of intr oduction to each inter viewee that states the objectives of 
the inter view:
a.Explain why he or she was selected.
b.Specify whether conﬁ dentiality will be maintained.
c.Explain how the r esults will be used.
11. Specify a time when you will call to schedule an interview appointment.
12. Call the inter viewee to schedule the inter view.
13. Allow twenty to thir ty minutes between interviews to document the results.
14. Allow ﬂexibility in scheduling to accommodate those working in shifts.
FIGURE 3.2 Tips for Preparing for an Interview

FIGURE 3.3 Tips for D eveloping I nterview Questionsc03.qxd  11/2/06  11:35 AM  Page 48To be effective, focus groups require skilled facilitators. Krueger and
Casey (2000) noted that a facilitator must be mentally prepared, famil-iar with such techniques as the ﬁve-second pause and probing for moreinformation, and able to show positive regard and empathy for partic-ipants. As Schwarz (1995) pointed out, focus group facilitators mustkeep in mind that they ar e not content exper ts, mediators, arbitrators,
or judges. Schwarz’s suggestions for facilitators included the following:
• Accept responses in a nonjudgmental manner.
• Avoid making decisions or comments about a group’s work.• Encourage an atmosphere of openness and mutual respect.
The work of conducting needs assessments via focus groups involves
three phases: pr epare, conduct, and report.
Prepare

Prepare
Preparing for a focus group involves several activities. First, the facilitator
becomes familiar with the purpose of the focus group and its expected
outcomes, the topic of interest, and any speciﬁc terminology or jargonStrategies for Collecting and Analyzing Data 49
1.Begin with a few rapport-building questions.
2.Obtain permission to record the interview.
3.Avoid adhering rigidly to the question sequence. Be ﬂexible, but ensure that all
questions have been covered by the end. If they have not been, schedule afollow-up phone or online interview.
4.Give all participants an equal amount of time to respond to each question.
5.Clarify responses when necessary.
6.Ask for concrete examples to support statements.
7.Separate facts from opinions, if possible.
8.Maintain a neutral attitude.
9.Avoid discussing r esults with other inter viewees.

10. Ask whether inter viewees have additional questions or comments at the end.
11. Offer appreciation for participation.
12. Summarize key points.
13. Ask whether inter viewees can be contacted again if necessar y.
FIGURE 3.4 Tips for Conducting an Interviewc03.qxd  11/2/06  11:35 AM  Page 49that is likely to be used. Second, the facilitator develops and pilot-tests a

list of questions that will encourage focus group participants to discloseinformation on the topic. In a few cases, the facilitator creates a short sur-vey for use during the focus group sessions. Such a document can help toorient participants to the topic and can provide a ﬁller task for those whoarrive early. During this preparing stage, the facilitator identiﬁes a timeand arranges a speciﬁc location for the focus group meeting. Next, thefacilitator selects and recruits members of the target population to par-ticipate in the focus group. Finally, the facilitator gathers resources for thesession (for example, note paper, name tags, and ﬂip-chart paper). In mostcases, the facilitator also arranges refreshments for the participants.
Conduct
At the beginning of a session, the facilitator intr oduces himself or her-

Conduct
self, identiﬁ es the purpose of the session, describes the facilitator r ole,
establishes the objectives, reviews the agenda, and sets the ground rules.
In some cases, a colleague can act as a recorder for the session; the facil-
itator should intr oduce this person and his or her r ole.
During the session, the facilitator must balance the following tasks:
• Lead and facilitate the discussion.
•Encourage participation.
• Manage those who dominate the discussion.
• Write responses on a ﬂip chart.• Ensure that the tape recorder (if used) is functioning (or have the
recorder do this).
• Keep track of time so that the session ends as scheduled.
Report
The last phase in administering a focus group consists of two steps: ana-

Report
lyzing data and preparing a report. The analysis of focus group data mustbe systematic, because all the reported ﬁndings must be supported bydata (Krueger & Casey, 2000). Figure 3.5 shows various kinds of reports.A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT, SECOND EDITION 50c03.qxd  11/2/06  11:35 AM  Page 50Chapter Eight contains additional information on how to report
needs assessment results.
Surveys
Developing good surveys is difﬁcult. Following a systematic process
helps to ensure that the objectives and desired results are achieved. Thephases involved in surveying needs are as follows:
•Prepare.
•Design.
• Develop questions.
•Write instructions.
• Write the cover letter.
• Pilot-test.
• Conduct the survey and follow-up.
Prepare
Critical tasks during the preparatory phase are to establish the goals for

Prepare
this data-collection effort and to become familiar with the situation andtypical expressions. Before constructing a survey, it is useful to familiarizeyourself with difﬁcult terms. If necessary, consider using a subject-matterStrategies for Collecting and Analyzing Data 51
• Narrative reports are written, about 15 to 30 pages long, and include quotations.
• Top-line reports are written and often used for interim reports that are given to
the client within several days of the focus group; they are several pages long and
provide bullet points of information relevant to the purpose of the focus group.
• Bulleted reports are written and outline a narrative report using words and
phrases that convey the report’s meaning.

• Oral reports are verbal, tell the audience why the focus group was important, pres-
ent ﬁndings, and allow the audience to respond to the results and ask questions.
•Electr onic r eports, which may be integrated into other types of reports, rely on
Internet, data storage devices, and digital recording devices.
FIGURE 3.5 Various Types of Focus Group Reportsc03.qxd  11/2/06  11:35 AM  Page 51expert or an internal team member to translate technical jargon into sim-
pler language.
You may also want to observe people in their work environments or

review written reports. Observations can provide useful informationabout how people perform their job tasks, and conducting a few inter-views can also help to surface items for the survey. Previous surveys andreports can provide ﬁgures, indices, or trends that help in framing spe-ciﬁc questions. They may also provide question items that you can usein your survey.
At this point you will need to decide whether a previously designed
or commercially available survey can be used or modiﬁed or whetheryou will need to design a new survey that is appropriate for the spe-ciﬁc situation. The ﬁrst two options may save you both time and money,but a survey speciﬁc to the particular issues, audience, or situation maynot be available.
Design
When designing a sur vey, consider the following factors:
•The number of people involved. If the group to be surveyed is large,

Design
use mostly closed-ended questions that can be r ecorded and analyz ed
easily b y computer . (More detail about closed-ended questions is pro-
vided later in this chapter .) If qualitativ e information is r equir ed, decide
whether to include open-ended questions or conduct separate inter views
or focus gr oups to collect the r equired information.
•How the data will be collected. Survey data may be collected using
paper forms, or you may collect data by posting the survey online using
an organization’s intranet or the Internet.A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT, SECOND EDITION 52
Many online tools and services are available for creating surveys
and collecting survey data. To ﬁnd free tools and services, search
the Internet using the term free online survey.
GUPTA

GUPTA
0-7879-8272-5ICON 2c03.qxd  11/2/06  11:35 AM  Page 52•How the data will be analyzed. Responses to online surveys are often
analyzed with easy-to-use Web-based software. Responses to paper instru-ments can be analyzed by hand counting answers, or the surveys can beelectronically scanned. Surveys that will be electronically scanned mayrequire special predesigned “bubble” forms. In such cases, consider usingthe services of an internal market research department or an externalagency to provide assistance in instrument design. Universities with data-processing departments may provide such services for a nominal fee.
•
Whether color schemes will be used. Robinson and Robinson (1989)

•
suggested using a color-coding system if a large number of surveys willbe sent to different sources. This technique facilitates the data-analysisprocess by allowing completed surveys to be categorized by group forlater analysis. If color papers are used, be sure they are pastel so that theprint can be easily read.
Develop Questions
Nothing is more frustrating than sending out ﬁve hundred surveys to
ﬁnd out later that 60 percent of the respondents misinterpreted a ques-
tion. When developing survey questions, it is crucial to follow a fewbasic guidelines.
Sequence questions. The sequence in which questions appear is impor -
tant. I t is generally effectiv e to begin a survey with a few simple and
interesting questions. P otentially sensitiv e questions should be pr esented
later. In most cases, place demographic items at the end of the survey.
Also, av oid clustering similar items together as w ell as labeling sections.

Such clustering and labeling can cr eate “halo” effects, which occur when
the rating on an item affects the rating on another item.
Limit the amount of information gathered in one question. Requests
for multiple pieces of information should always be divided into sepa-rate questions. For example, “Is this task challenging and rewarding?”asks for two pieces of information. In many cases, respondents will eitheroverlook the second portion of the question entirely or just not answerit. A more effective way to gather the same information is to ask twoquestions, “Is this task challenging?” and “Is this task rewarding?”Strategies for Collecting and Analyzing Data 53c03.qxd  11/2/06  11:35 AM  Page 53Avoid complexity. Frame questions so they can be answered easily.

Avoid asking questions that require extensive calculations. For example,“How many sales calls do you make in a year?” requires respondentsto compute an annual ﬁgure based on their weekly or monthly totals.Similar information could be elicited by an easier question, “How manysales calls do you make per week?” or alternatively, “How many salescalls do you make in a typical work day?”
Word questions carefully. Questions must be clear and easy to under-
stand. Here are a few guidelines to follow when wording questions:
•Use simple wor ds.
• Avoid leading questions such as, “Do you feel that offering this
well-tested management training program will improve your man-agerial skills?”
•Avoid negatively phrased questions such as, “Did you not receive
the computer training?”
Determine the type of questions. As mentioned earlier , there are dif-
ferent types of questions. T wo basic types are open-ended questions andclosed-ended questions.

Open-ended questions requir e respondents to answ er in their o wn
words. Asking open-ended questions may elicit in-depth r esponses. For
example, an open-ended question could be, “ What do y ou see as the
mission of this organization? ”
Fill-in-the-blank questions , which r epresent a type of open-ended
item, ar e useful when y ou want to limit the length of responses but are
unable to determine all of the possible options. For example:
“Your location: .”
Asking open-ended or ﬁll-in-the-blank questions is relatively easy.
However, you should think carefully about using such questions in asurvey because analyzing the various responses requires more time andeffort than analyzing closed-ended questions.
Closed-ended questions, in contrast to open-ended questions, allow

respondents to choose from deﬁned options. An advantage to askingA PRACTICAL GUIDE TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT, SECOND EDITION 54c03.qxd  11/2/06  11:35 AM  Page 54closed-ended questions is that they facilitate data entry and analysis. A
disadvantage of asking closed-ended questions is that respondents can-not elaborate on their answers. There are several types of closed-endedquestions:
• T wo choice
• Multiple choice• Scales of various kinds
Two-choice questions (for example, yes/no or true/false) are asked
when an answer can be either one thing or the other, and the responsesare mutually exclusive. For example:
Q.Everyone has access to the organization’s mission statement.
Tr u e
False
Note that ev en with two-choice questions y ou must decide whether to
provide other options, such as “don’t know” or “not applicable.”
Multiple-choice questions usually include a list of four or more options

from which r espondents select one or more responses. For example:
Q.With which of the following departments do you work most
closely? (Check only one.)
a. Accounting
b. Information Services
c. Human Resources
d. Marketing
e. Operations
A ﬁll-in-the-blank option may be included. The preceding exam-
ple could offer an additional choice:
f. Other, please specify: Strategies for Collecting and Analyzing Data 55c03.qxd  11/2/06  11:35 AM  Page 55Scales of various kinds. T wo types of scales commonly used in surveys
are the Likert-type scale and the interval scale.
Survey items that ask respondents to rank or rate values and attitudes
use Likert-type scales (Likert, 1932). When using such scales, it is usu-
ally best to assign the most positive value at the higher end of the scale(Paul & Bracken, 1995). T wo examples follow:

Q. Employees should receive monthly safety training. (Check one
of the following.)
1 = S trongly disagree
2 = Disagree3 = Somewhat agree4 = Agree
5 = Strongly agree
Q.How skilled are your coworkers in troubleshooting the new com-
puter equipment? (Check one of the follo wing.)
1 = Very low skilled
2 = Low skilled
3 = A verage skilled
4 = Highly skilled5 = Very highly skilled
Survey items that collect numeric information from or about respon-
dents use 
interval scales. These scales ar e also useful for obtaining infor -
mation about a range of possibilities. For example:
Q. How many loans do you close in a week? (Select one.)
a. Under 25
b. 25–35
c. 36–45
d. 46–55

a. Under 25
b. 25–35
c. 36–45
d. 46–55
e. Over 55A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT, SECOND EDITION 56c03.qxd  11/2/06  11:35 AM  Page 56Note that a common mistake when creating interval scales is to pro-
vide options that overlap. Such a mistake would appear if we were topresent the following option for the previous question:
Q. How many loans do you close in a week? (Circle only one.)
a. Under 25
b. 25–35
c. 35–45d. 45–55
e. 55 and over
[The respondent would have difﬁculty answering if the number of loans
equaled 35, 45, or 55.]
Figure 3.6 summarizes when to use each type of question.
Write Instructions
The four th phase in pr eparing sur veys inv olves writing explicit instr uc-
tions. When writing instr uctions, specify how respondents should com-
plete the form. E xplain whether they should cir cle items, use check

marks, ﬁll in the “bubble,” or write comments. I ndicate whether sur vey
items r equire only one response or multiple responses. State the amount
of time required to complete the survey, to whom it should be returned,and by when.
Write the Cover Letter
Another critical phase in implementing surveys is preparing the cover
letter . A co ver letter explains why the person is being asked to complete
the survey and how they will beneﬁt from it. To improve the response
rate, ask a senior staff member (such as the president of the company)to endorse the sur vey with his or her signature. State whether the infor-
mation that is gathered will be kept conﬁdential.Strategies for Collecting and Analyzing Data 57c03.qxd  11/2/06  11:35 AM  Page 57Pilot-Test
After a sur vey has been designed, it is usually a good idea to pilot-test

it. A pilot test can identify pr oblems in constr uction or physical lay out;
it can also answer the following questions:
• Are the instructions clear and concise?
•Can r espondents understand the questions easily?
• Can respondents answer the questions easily?
• Do respondents have enough space to record their comments?•Do the questions elicit responses that address the survey purpose?A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT, SECOND EDITION 58
Type of Question When to Use the Question
Open-Ended or Fill-in-the-Blank Obtain qualitative information
Capture respondents’ own wordsProbe for more informationSeek more information as a follow-up to a
closed-ended question
Closed-Ended Obtain quantitative information
Two-Choice Obtain opposite or mutually exclusive 
answers
Multiple Choice Obtain one r esponse fr om a list of choices 
(with instr uction to “check only one”)
Obtain multiple r esponses fr om a list of

answers
Obtain multiple r esponses fr om a list of 
choices (with instr uction to “check as many 
as apply”)
Obtain responses with no rank order
Obtain cer tain demographic data
Likert Scale Obtain ratings (and possibly rank order)
Interval Scale Obtain interval-level data
FIGURE 3.6 Types of Questions and When to Use Themc03.qxd  11/2/06  11:35 AM  Page 58The process of pilot-testing consists of several steps. If diverse groups

will be surveyed, select a few people from each group. In a private meet-ing room, distribute the form and ask respondents to complete it whileyou are in the room. Observe the respondents’ reactions closely andwatch faces for reactions that may indicate confusion or frustration.In addition, ask respondents to write on the survey anything they foundconfusing. After the survey questions are answered, ask respondents todescribe their understanding of each question, discuss their reasons fortheir responses, and identify any problems.
Later, summarize the results of the pilot test. Tabulate the pilot-test
survey responses to see if there will be any problems with data analysisand if the kind of data produced addresses the purpose for the survey.

After an initial pilot test, make appropriate changes to the form and
conduct a second pilot test. If the group size for the survey is more thantwo hundred people, use ten to twenty respondents in the pilot test(Callahan, 1985).
Conduct the Sur vey and Follow-Up
Upon completion of the pilot test, the sur vey is ready to launch. If a
paper sur vey is used, print it on high-quality paper. If an online survey
is used, launch the Web site. Be sure to monitor the incoming responses

frequently. If you encounter nonrespondents—a situation that is verylikely—be prepared to follow up (Dillman, 2000). The follow-up pro-cess involves sending a reminder three weeks after the initial survey waslaunched. Three weeks after that reminder, another copy of the surveyis sent to all nonrespondents (if you know who the nonrespondents are)with a request to complete the survey as soon as possible; if you do notknow who the nonrespondents are, you should send a copy of the surveyStrategies for Collecting and Analyzing Data 59
You may discover while analyzing pilot data that the survey
responses do not r eally address the initial purpose of the sur-
vey. To save the day, revise the survey and pilot-test it again.
GUPTA

GUPTA
0-7879-8272-5ICON 2c03.qxd  11/2/06  11:35 AM  Page 59to everyone, asking those who have not yet responded to complete the
survey and return it.
Figure 3.7 summarizes the phases and steps for developing and
implementing surveys. It also provides some additional tips.
Observation
Observation is another method used to collect data during needs assess-
ments. When used systematically , obser vation can yield meaningful
results. Like interview data, observational data can be collected in a
structur ed or unstr uctured fashion. The time frame for the observation,
whether str uctur ed or unstr uctur ed, is established. With structured
observations, decisions as to exactly which factors will be monitored are
made prior to the obser vation. For example, an analyst could use struc-

tured obser vation to monitor the number of emplo yees in a kitchen who
wash their hands prior to preparing food. With unstructured observa-
tions, the analyst collects information on all aspects of inter est in a sit-
uation. F or example, the analyst could obser ve the same kitchen to see
and record all behaviors of interest.
Structured observations have some advantages:
•They r educe the potential for bias.
• They increase the reliability of observations.• They provide an accurate way to report data.
As Rossett (1987) suggested, use the unstructured method to obtain an
initial feel for a situation. Then follow up with a structured observation.
One problem that arises with observation, whether structured or

unstructured, is that people often alter their behavior when beingwatched by others. To avoid this problem, use unobtrusive techniques.For example, observe people from an inconspicuous spot. You canreduce anxiety by dressing in attire similar to the attire of those youare observing.A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT, SECOND EDITION 60c03.qxd  11/2/06  11:35 AM  Page 60Strategies for Collecting and Analyzing Data 61
1.Prepare.
• Familiarize yourself with the background situation.• Speak with appropriate groups of employees to deﬁne and clarify jargon or
technical terms.
• Establish the purpose and expected outcomes for the survey.
2.Design.
• Determine whether questions from previously developed surveys can be used
in their entirety or in part.
• Determine whether any commercial surveys can be customized.

2.Design.
• Determine how conﬁdentiality will be maintained.
•Consult with a technical specialist if an electr onic or W eb-based survey will be
used or if computerized analysis will be per formed.
• Determine how results will be analyzed and presented.
•Deter mine whether outsour cing will be necessar y.
•Decide whether color schemes should be used.
3.Develop questions.
•Ensur e that each question has a purpose.
• Determine which type of question (open- or closed-ended) will elicit the best
response. (Limit the number of open-ended questions if the survey will be
sent to a lar ge number of people, to avoid needing an undue amount of time
for data analysis.)
• Ensure that each question asks for only one piece of information.
•Avoid leading and biased questions.

• Avoid negatively phrased questions.• Avoid personal or identifying questions.
•Ask questions that the r espondents ar e qualiﬁed to answer.
• Avoid jargon, abbreviations, or colloquialisms.•Use gender -neutral ter ms.
•Write questions that are clear and concise.
• Arrange questions in a logical sequence from general to speciﬁc.
•Position dif ﬁcult or sensitive questions at the end.
• Number items.
• Provide space for comments.
• Use boldface or italic type and underline where appropriate.• Use plenty of white space.
• Number pages.
4.Write instructions.
•Write instr uctions on how to answer questions.
• Explain complicated or confusing terms.

FIGURE 3.7 Tips for Preparing and Implementing Surveysc03.qxd  11/2/06  11:35 AM  Page 61The notes that document unstructured observation are usually recorded
on notepaper or in a computer ﬁ le that is labeled with the name of the
obser ver, the location, and time of the obser vation. F orms are usually cre-
ated to document structured observations. Here are a few tips for prepar-
ing str uctur ed observation forms:
• Include the name of the observer and the observation date and
location.
•Include a checklist of items to be observed, including the individ-
ual tasks and subtasks performed during your observation and
either the fr equency of per formance or the amount of time taken
to per form a task. Also include the star t and end times.
• Design the checklist with space for recording both qualitative and
quantitative data.

• Provide space for comments and additional notes.A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT, SECOND EDITION 62
5.Write a cover letter.
• State the purpose of the survey.
• Provide a history of previous research or ﬁndings when appropriate.• Show the beneﬁt to the user.• Explain why the respondent was selected.• State when and how the form should be returned.
• Thank the respondent for completing the survey.
6.Pilot-test survey.
• Select participants for the pilot test.
• Conduct and observe the pilot test.• Make appropriate modiﬁcations based on results of the pilot test.
• Conduct a second pilot test if necessary.
• Make ﬁnal modiﬁcations.
7.Conduct the survey and follow-up.
• Distribute or post the survey.
• Determine the response rate.
• Send reminder memo, postcard, or e-mail three weeks following the original
survey.

survey.
• Send a reminder and second survey three weeks following the ﬁrst reminder.
FIGURE 3.7 Tips for Preparing and Implementing Surveys (continued)c03.qxd  11/2/06  11:35 AM  Page 62Documents and Artifacts
Another vital source of information in needs assessments are the data
contained in current and historical documents and other artifacts suchas business plans, mission statements, job descriptions, performancereviews, Web sites, training evaluation forms, sales records, customer-service call records, personnel records, budgets, and photographs. Suchdata can be qualitative or quantitative. The beneﬁt of collecting such datais optimized when these data are collected in conjunction with anotherdata-gathering method.
Following are a few tips for using data from documents and artifacts:

• Be clear about the type of information you are seeking before
undertaking an extensive search of records.
• Seek permission prior to using archival or company records.•Look for tr ends and patterns in the data.
Figure 3.8 summarizes the primary data-gathering methods discussed
in this chapter.
TECHNOL OGY AND D ATA COLLECTION
Given the wide use of technology today, you should consider incorpo-
rating technology into the data-collection process. As described byGayeski (2004), wireless mobile technologies can be used effectively andefﬁciently to diagnose and solve performance problems. “The market isfull of small, but powerful, PDAs [personal digital assistants] with dig-ital cameras and audio plug-ins that can record interviews and otheraudio. You could take notes, quickly assemble a job aid that documentedthe repair, and wirelessly post it to a Website” (p. 49).

As another example, a survey can be administered in-person to a large
or small audience using response technology. With response technology,Strategies for Collecting and Analyzing Data 63c03.qxd  11/2/06  11:35 AM  Page 6364
Method When to Use Time Required Cost Resources Required
Conduct Analyze 
or Implement Data HRD Management
One-on-One Conduct strategic, High High Medium Time Budget
Interviews competency, job task to high
analysis, or knowledge Skilled Time
and skills assessment. interviewer
Obtain sensitive information.
Discuss complex issues 
that require explanations.
Gain support.
Phone Conduct strategic or Low to medium Medium Low Time Time
Interviews knowledge and skills 
assessment. Skilled
Gather small pieces of interviewer
information.
Ask follow-up questions.
Obtain information when 
respondents are 
geographically disbursed.
Obtain information 
from many sources quickly.
Obtain nonsensitive 
Obtain more quantiﬁable 
and qualitative information.

Save travel costs.c03.qxd  11/2/06  11:35 AM  Page 64Focus Conduct strategic, Low High Medium Time Budget
Groups competency, job task to high
analysis, or knowledge Skilled 
and skills assessment. facilitator
Collect qualitative data.
Gather information when Note 
group behavior determines taker or 
job performance. recorder
Surveys Conduct strategic, Low to medium Low Low
competency, job task 
analysis, or knowledge 
and skills assessment.
Use when individuals are 
Obtain quantiﬁable data.
Responses to closed-ended 
questions can be categorized 
easily.
FIGURE 3.8Comparison of Primary Data-Gathering MethodsTime
Knowledge
of survey
development
Data tracking
skills
Data analysis
skillsBudget
Administrative

easily.
Knowledge
of survey
skills
supportc03.qxd  11/2/06  11:35 AM  Page 65FIGURE 3.8Comparison of Primary Data-Gathering Methods(continued)Method When to Use Time Required Cost Resources Required
ObservationsConduct strategic, job and Low Low to Low Time
task analysis, or knowledge medium
and skills assessment. Availability 
Document performance. of individuals
Observe frequency of 
performance. Knowledge of 
Document amount of time the performance
taken to perform a task. to be observed
Observation 
form
Current and Conduct strategic, Low Medium Low Time Permission
Historical competency, job task 
Documents analysis, or knowledge 
and Other and skills assessment.
Artifacts Provide background 
Collect qualitative or

Collect qualitative or 
quantitative data.c03.qxd  11/2/06  11:35 AM  Page 66the survey participants use remote controllers to respond to each sur-
vey item as it appears via a PowerPoint presentation. The individualresponses to each item are sent immediately to the analyst, who with thepress of a button can show the group their collective responses and cre-ate a report.
Finally, it is important to recognize the usefulness of Web-based sur-
veys. Respondents can access a survey and respond when it is convenientfor them. Furthermore, the data are immediately captured in a databasethat can be easily analyzed.
Which technologies are useful will depend on the organization and
the client. Consider how available technologies might be used effectivelyand efﬁciently for your situation.
DATA ANALYSIS

There are two kinds of data: quantitative and qualitative. Numerical
data ar e quantitativ e.All other kinds of data ar e qualitativ e.Examples
of quantitative data include sales records, product ratings, and time logs.Examples of qualitative data include words, graphics, videos, photo-graphs, and sound r ecordings.
Quantitativ e data can be gathered, scored, and analyzed more easily
and quickly than qualitativ e data. They may be summariz ed and pr e-
sented using v arious kinds of tables, charts, and graphs. In contrast, qual-
itative data ar e more difﬁcult and time-consuming to collect and analyze,
but they pr ovide rich and detailed information.
The computer software for analyzing quantitative data (such as Excel,

SPSS, and SAS) or qualitative data (such as NVIVO and Atlas) improvesthe ease, accuracy, and speed of data analysis. The following paragraphsprovide an overview of some of the basic analyses that can be used. Moredetailed and complex analyses are beyond the scope of this book. How-ever, many books and articles describe speciﬁc procedures for analyzingvarious kinds of quantitative and qualitative data, and Chapter Ten con-tains references that will get you started.Strategies for Collecting and Analyzing Data 67c03.qxd  11/2/06  11:35 AM  Page 67Analyzing Quantitative Data
In most needs assessments, quantitative data analyses are limited to
descriptive statistics. These analyses basically describe the survey data.

Statistical software, such as SAS and SPSS, make it easy to do these cal-culations. However, you can also perform these calculations yourself.
To begin analyzing quantitative data, create a spreadsheet that includes
all the items for which such data were collected. Figure 3.9 shows anexample of such a tally sheet for analyzing the quantitative data obtainedfrom a sur vey question. Of course you could create a similar tally sheet
for quantitative data obtained through other methods (such as observa-
tions and interviews). The example shows the response choices for theitem (such as extremely well, very well, and moderately well), the valueof each r esponse choice (for instance, 5 for extr emely well), the frequency

of each response (obtained by counting the actual responses), and thepercentage of individuals who selected each response. Using this exam-ple, let us r eview how to calculate frequencies and percentages.
Frequency. This measure counts the number of times each response
choice was selected. A quick glance at the frequency column in Figure3.9 reveals that the greatest number of people (ﬁfty-four) thought lineworkers performed the new process moderately well, but only ﬁve peo-ple thought line workers performed the new process extremely well.A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT, SECOND EDITION 68
Item Response Frequency Percentage
How well did line 5 Extremely well 5 3
workers perform 4 Very well 14 8the new process? 3 Moderately well 54 32
2 Not well 51 31
1 Not at all well 33 20
No response 10 6
Total 167 100
FIGURE 3.9 Example of Frequency and Percentage Calculation for a

Quantitative Question Showing All Responsesc03.qxd  11/2/06  11:35 AM  Page 68Percentages. This measure is useful for comparing the categories of
responses. To calculate the percentage for a response, divide its frequencyby the total frequency. For example, the percentage for the response
extremely well was calculated by dividing its frequency (5) by the total
(167) and then rounding the number (or .02994 or 3 percent).
It should be noted that in the preceding example the nonrespondents

are included in the calculation of the percentages. Another option wouldbe to calculate the percentages based only on those who responded (withN = 157), but when doing so it would be important to include the fre-quency of nonrespondents (that is, 10) and to indicate the total numberof respondents plus nonrespondents (that is, 167). Figure 3.10 displaysthese results. It should be noted that in this example the total percentageadds up to 99 because of rounding.
Other Useful Measures
In addition to reporting the frequencies and percentages for each cate-
gory, you can also report a single value that provides information aboutwhat is typical for a question. This value is called a “measure of centraltendency .” There are three different measures of central tendency: (1) the
mode, (2) the median, and (3) the mean or average.
The

The 
mode is simply the most fr equent r esponse. Let us take the last
example pr esented. I n this case, the mode, or most fr equent r esponse,
is “3 moderately w ell.”Strategies for Collecting and Analyzing Data 69
workers perform 4 Very well 14 9
the new process? 3 Moderately well 54 34
2 Not well 51 32
1 Not at all well 33 21
No response (10)
Total 157 99
FIGURE 3.10 Example of Frequency and Percentage Calculation for a 
Quantitative Question Showing Only Respondentsc03.qxd  11/2/06  11:35 AM  Page 69The median represents the middle-most point, or the point that
would divide the distribution into the top 50 percent and the bottom50 percent. If we again take the last example and add the percentagesfrom the bottom of the scale (21 + 32), we see that 50 percent wouldfall into the category of “2 not well.” This, then, is the median.
The

The 
mean is the average for the question. The steps for calculating
the mean are as follows:
1. For each response, multiply the response value by the number 
of respondents. The calculations for the responses in Figure 3.10 areas follows:
Extremely well 5 
×5 = 25
Very well 14 ×4 = 56
Moderately well 54 ×3 = 162
Not well 51 ×2 = 102
Not at all w ell 33 ×1 = 33
378
2.Add the pr oducts for all responses (in this case, 25 + 56 + 162 +
102 + 33 = 378) and divide this total b y the number of r espondents
(that is, 378/157 = 2.4076). In the example in Figure 3.10, the meanor av erage is thus 2.41.
Finally, you can report on the values that indicate the degree of
spread, or variation, in the data. These values are called a 
measure of vari-
ability. Again, there are three options: (1) the range, (2) the interquar-
tile range, and (3) the standard deviation.
The range simply measures the difference between the highest and

the lo west response. So, in the preceding example, the range would con-
sist of the differ ence betw een “5 extr emely w ell” (the highest r esponse)
and “1 not at all w ell” (the lo west response), or 5 – 1 = 4. This measure
communicates that in this case the highest and lowest response options
were chosen b y one or mor e of the r espondents.A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT, SECOND EDITION 70c03.qxd  11/2/06  11:35 AM  Page 70Theinterquartile range is the difference between the value at the 75th
percentile and the value at the 25th percentile. In the case above, the valueat the 75th percentile is “3 moderately well” and the value at the 25th per-centile is “2 not well.” So the interquartile range would be 3 – 2 = 1.
The

The
standard deviation measures how much an individual value varies
from the mean. A low standard deviation means that the responses varylittle from the mean; a high standard deviation means that the responsesvary greatly from the mean. One major advantage of the standard devia-tion is that it provides information needed for more advanced statistics.We use statistics software or math calculators to compute standard devi-ations. For the example in Figure 3.10, the standard deviation equals 1.02.
Although most needs assessments rely primarily on the descriptive
statistics just discussed, there are occasions when it is necessary to under-take other types of analyses. These may involve making inferences froma sample group to the entire population (using inferential statistics),examining relationships (using correlational analyses), focusing on pre-dicting relationships (using regression analyses), or testing for signiﬁ-cant differ ences among variables or groups. To learn more about these

types of statistics, refer to an introductory or advanced text on statisticsand research methods.
Analyzing Qualita tive Data
Analyzing qualitativ e data inv olves classifying the data into categories.
These categories may come fr om other sources (such as previous data-
collection effor ts) or they may be deriv ed from the current data. Cate-
gories deriv ed from the current data can be developed by reviewing the
entire data set and determining the major themes, or they can be derived
from the use of speciﬁc words or phrases.
In most needs assessment projects, qualitative data includes responses

to open-ended questions; thus the analysis involves reading and reread-ing the responses to determine the meaning of the statements. Once themeaning of a statement has been determined, one can decide how tocategorize the response. The following steps should be used when under-taking such analyses:Strategies for Collecting and Analyzing Data 71c03.qxd  11/2/06  11:35 AM  Page 71• Read and reread each statement.
• Make notes or underline important phrases.• Develop codes, such as a name, acronym, or number, for each
category.
• Assign codes to each statement and sort them into the categories.• Review the statements within each category and revise the
categorization.
• Have a colleague sort some of the data into the categories and

compare the results with the earlier categorization of data todetermine the level of agreement.
• Count the number of statements within each category.•Decide ho w you will r eport the results.
For more complex qualitative analyses, please consult the resources in
Chapter Ten.
Reliability, Validity, and Trustworthiness
Related to Da ta Collection and Analysis
Reliability, validity, and trustworthiness are terms that describe the level
of conﬁdence we have in the data collection and analysis. Reliability
refers to the degree of consistency. This consistency can be among raters
(as with the agreement among different people categorizing qualita-tive data), among questions in a survey that measure the same concept,or among r esponses to similar sur veys giv en at different times. Measures
of reliability, such as Cronbach’s alpha or test-retest reliability, can be

calculated with most statistical software packages.
Validity refers to ho w well the data-collection method or instr ument
accurately reﬂects the concepts or phenomena being measured. For
example, validity provides information about the extent to which a sur-vey and the items it contains accurately measur e emplo yees’ skills. ToA PRACTICAL GUIDE TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT, SECOND EDITION 72c03.qxd  11/2/06  11:35 AM  Page 72obtain face validity as well as some measure of content validity, have the
data-collection methods reviewed by subject-matter experts. Other formsof validity require statistical analyses. More information on these analy-
ses can be found in the resources appearing in Chapter Ten.
Trustworthiness is a concept closely related to reliability and validity
but it tends to be used for qualitativ e data and qualitativ e analyses. G uba
and Lincoln (1981)pr oposed four criteria for tr ustworthiness:

•Truth value: the degree to which one can establish the “truth” of
the ﬁ ndings, potentially b y using multiple methods
•Applicability: the degree to which the ﬁndings may be applicable
in other settings
•Consistency: the degr ee to which the r esults can be consider ed reli-
able and stable
•Neutrality: the degree to which the ﬁndings come from the study
and not fr om the biases of the analyst
Being attentive to the data-collection methods and analyses and

determining the levels of reliability, validity, and trustworthiness pro-vides support for the needs assessment ﬁndings. We can place more con-ﬁdence in rigorously collected and analyzed data than in shoddilycollected and analyzed data. Further details on these procedures canbe found in Russ-Eft and Preskill (2001) and in the resources providedin Chapter Ten.Strategies for Collecting and Analyzing Data 73
You would probably not believe data that were collected using
a rubber ruler. The data would not be reliable because the mea-
surements would change depending on how taut the ruler was. Sim-ilarly, you should examine other data-collection instruments todetermine whether they collect data consistently.
GUPTA
0-7879-8272-5ICON 2c03.qxd  11/2/06  11:35 AM  Page 73CONCLUSION

GUPTA
Data collection and analysis are essential parts of needs assessment. This
chapter has described the most commonly used methods of data gath-ering. As seen, each method has its strengths and weaknesses. Needsassessments are optimized when a combination of data-gathering meth-ods is used. This chapter also has described methods for analyzing quan-titative and qualitative data. Regardless of which methods are used tocollect and analyze data, it is important to consider the reliability, valid-ity, and tr ustwor thiness of the data.
The tools and concepts presented in this chapter will be used through-
out the book. The next chapter describes how to collect and analyze datawhen conducting a knowledge and skills assessment.A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT, SECOND EDITION 74c03.qxd  11/2/06  11:35 AM  Page 74IIGetting Down
to Brass Tacksp02.qxd  11/2/06  11:16 AM  Page 75p02.qxd  11/2/06  11:16 AM  Page 76FOUR

PURPOSE
• Determine what a knowledge and skills assessment is.
• Know when to use a knowledge and skills assessment.
•Recognize the beneﬁts and drawbacks of the approach.
• Identify critical success factors for completing a knowledge 
•Examine the steps for under taking a kno wledge and skills
• Examine how a knowledge and skills assessment was conducted 
at Packaged Delivery, Inc.
RELATED TOOLKIT JOB AIDS
The following job aids are available in the Toolkit section of this book
for use with the material in this chapter:
77Knowledge and
Skills Assessmentc04.qxd  11/2/06  11:37 AM  Page 77• Knowledge and Skills Assessment Interview Guide

• Skills Assessment Survey• Customer-Service Knowledge and Skills Assessment Survey• Management Knowledge and Skills Assessment Survey• Knowledge and Skills Assessment Curriculum Plan
OVERVIEW
As a human performance generalist for a medium-sized manufacturing

OVERVIEW
company, you may need to implement a company-wide orientation pro-gram; as the training manager of a large health care facility, you may beasked to develop a series of management training programs for super-visory staff; as the HRD manager within a global ﬁnancial servicesorganization, you may need to launch a sales development initiative; oras the learning specialist within an agency, you may be asked to createa cultural awareness program. Before launching any training, learning,or development program, you must usually gather information aboutthe developmental needs of your target group or groups and determinewhether training is, in fact, the appr opriate solution.
By using a systematic appr oach, y ou can ensur e that gaps in per for-
mance ar e identiﬁ ed corr ectly. Usually , only those gaps caused b y lack
of kno wledge or skills can be improved through training. Performance

deﬁciencies that occur because of lack of motivation, environmentalproblems, or systems issues require non-training interventions, such aschanges in the selection process, the performance appraisal process, thereward system, or the production system.
When designing training programs, the roles of HRD and HPT pro-
fessionals vary, but some of their more common responsibilities includethe following:
• Creating a training agenda
• Developing a speciﬁc training program (course or module)A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT, SECOND EDITION 78c04.qxd  11/2/06  11:37 AM  Page 78• Developing a training curriculum
• Implementing the agenda, program, or curriculum
A needs assessment provides the information that is necessary for
designing and implementing effective training programs. The basic pur-pose of a knowledge and skills assessment is twofold:

1.To identify the knowledge and skills that people must possess in
order to per form effectiv ely on the job
2.To prescribe appropriate interventions that can close the knowl-
edge and skills gaps
The amount of time spent conducting needs assessments varies.
Although most kno wledge and skills assessments ar e per formed in less
than a month, a few take up to a year or more to complete. The knowl-
edge and skills assessment described in the case presented later in thischapter was completed in ﬁ ve weeks.
When to Use
A kno wledge and skills assessment is most likely to be useful under the
following cir cumstances:
• When new business opportunities arise

When to Use
• When a new system or technology must be implemented• When existing training programs must be revised or updated• When new job responsibilities must be assumed by people• When jobs must be upgraded• When organizations undergo downsizing• When organizations experience rapid growthKnowledge and Skills Assessment 79c04.qxd  11/2/06  11:37 AM  Page 79Beneﬁts and Drawbacks
There are two main beneﬁts from conducting a knowledge and skills
assessment:
• It ensures that training programs are developed based on 
identiﬁed needs.
• It is relatively easy to implement.
The main drawback to the approach is that it lacks the detail of a job
and task analysis, a competency assessment, or a strategic needs assess-ment. These more in-depth and complex assessment methods aredescribed in Chapters Five, Six, and Seven.
Critical Success F actors

The following factors must be present for the successful completion of
a kno wledge and skills assessment:
•Support, both human and monetary, from senior ofﬁcials or senior
management as w ell as fr om the community members or line staff
• Buy-in from special interest groups, such as labor unions, espe-
cially if the assessment is perceived by some as a threat to theirpositions
•Availability of personnel for data-gathering purposes
KEY PHASES
A kno wledge and skills assessment is made up of ﬁ ve phases:
Phase 1: G ather pr eliminary data
Phase 2: Plan
Phase 3: Perform training requirements analysisA PRACTICAL GUIDE TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT, SECOND EDITION 80c04.qxd  11/2/06  11:37 AM  Page 801. Develop tools
2. Collect data
Phase 4: Analyze dataPhase 5: Prepare and present a report
Phase 1: Gather Preliminary Data
As mentioned earlier, deﬁciencies in human performance and changes
in the envir onment often trigger the need for training. F or instance,

managers in Company A may be outstanding coaches but lack techni -
cal skills. Technical staff in Company B may not have problems oper-ating machine X because they ar e familiar with the pr ocedures, but they
may hav e problems operating machine Y, which was r ecently installed.
Community members may understand the need for collaboration, but
lack the needed skills.
In any case, the ﬁ rst step in conducting a kno wledge and skills assess -
ment is to gather some preliminary information about the training or
performance needs of the target groups. As a ﬁrst step, review availabledocuments and r ecords. These may include statements about the organ -
ization’s or unit’s goals, performance data (such as production records,

error rates, safety violations, and performance appraisal records), andtraining materials and r ecords. (S ee Chapter Three for more details on
reviewing records and documents.)
After the document review, some additional sources that can be
tapped for conducting this preliminary analysis include the following:
• Senior ofﬁcials and managers
• Target audience•Functional heads or managers of the target audience
• Subordinates• Internal or external customersKnowledge and Skills Assessment 81c04.qxd  11/2/06  11:37 AM  Page 81• Suppliers
• Others (such as peers or technical support staff)
Since you are gathering preliminary information, it is usually best to

conduct these individual or group interviews with three to ﬁve people.This will enable you to obtain different perspectives without devotinglarge amounts of time to the task. If a key person is unavailable for aface-to-face interview, the same information may be obtained througha phone interview.
For a manufacturing company , the primar y group could consist of
a senior manager , a midlev el manager , a subor dinate, and a r elativ ely
new employee. For a health care facility, information could be obtained
from a senior manager , a ﬁrst-line supervisor, and a subordinate. For a
global ﬁ nancial ser vices organization, inter views could be under taken
with the senior vice president of sales, the senior vice president of mar-
keting, a r egional sales manager, and a sales associate. For an interna-
tional dev elopment organization, information could be obtained fr om

a funding partner, a senior manager, and regional associates. As indi-
cated in these examples, it is critical to obtain the perspectives of one ortwo key decision makers (such as senior managers).
The objectives of this phase are as follows:
1.
Establish the goals of the assessment. As the follo wing example illus -
trates, the goals expr essed by various interviewees could be quite dif-
ferent from one another in purpose and scope. It is therefore critical
to clarify the purpose of an assessment in the beginning so that appro-priate data can be collected.
• Goal 1: Determine the worldwide knowledge and skills of all
Company Y technicians.
• Goal 2: Determine the knowledge and skills of all Company

• Goal 2: Determine the knowledge and skills of all Company 
Y Level 1 and Level 2 technicians in the United States andCanada.A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT, SECOND EDITION 82c04.qxd  11/2/06  11:37 AM  Page 822.Obtain a holistic perspective about the knowledge and skills. In par-

ticular, it is important to determine whether the solution really shouldinvolve training or should focus on some other systemic issues. (SeeMcLean, 2005, for some ideas about addressing non-training issues.)Use the general questions in Toolkit Form 4.1 to help elicit a broadunderstanding about whether and how a lack of knowledge and skills isaffecting workplace productivity. The second set of questions on theform can be used to develop a better understanding with the client aboutwhat the needs assessment should accomplish. After all the necessarydata have been obtained, summarize your ﬁndings in a brief report thatcontains the following elements:
• Statement of the problem
• Situation analysis• Goals
• Preliminary ﬁndings
• Next steps
An example of a report that outlines the context for one knowledge
and skills assessment is giv en on pages 84–85. This information was

provided by Julie Suchanek, government relations director for the Ore-gon Community College Association’s Legislative Committee.
The next step inv olves dev eloping a wor k plan to ensure that you stay
on target with your assessment. Sometimes this work plan is developed
as part of a larger proposal, as discussed in Chapter Eight. When prepar-ing a wor k plan, seek the input of y our client or contact at the begin -
ning of the project, because this person usually has the best knowledge
of group operations, peak business periods to avoid, and so forth. Thefour steps for planning an assessment begin on page 85.Knowledge and Skills Assessment 83c04.qxd  11/2/06  11:37 AM  Page 83A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT, SECOND EDITION 84
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

The Oregon Community College Association (OCCA)
Legislative Committee comprises seventeen members—the institu-tional president or a local board member from each Oregon com-munity college. Beyond attendance at the committee meetings, therate by which committee members are retaining information, tak-ing action on the information retained, and developing leadershipin the area of the legislature is unclear.
SITUATION ANALYSIS
The charge to the committee is to r ecommend legislativ e and pol-
icy actions to the thir ty-four-member OCCA boar d. These r ecom -
mendations shape the positions the OCCA takes on policies before
the O regon legislature and various commissions and boards at the
state lev el.
GOALS
The purpose of assessing the needs of the OCCA Legislative Com-
mittee is to determine the lev el of learning and inv olvement by
members of the committee. The assessment focuses on thr ee
criteria—member morale, member engagement, and member

action— to unco ver the level of respect for the committee per-
ceived by committee members, information retained by members,
and how this translates into legislative action by members.
PRELIMIN ARY FINDINGS
Observation and selected interviews indicate that there may be
varying levels of member morale, member engagement, and mem-ber action.GUPTA
0-7879-8272-5ICON 1c04.qxd  11/2/06  11:37 AM  Page 841.Determine what types of data must be collected. The goals estab-
lished in the ﬁrst needs assessment phase set the stage for data-collec-tion efforts in this phase.
2.
Determine sources of data. For groups with fewer than thirty mem-
bers, include ev ery person in y our study. If your target audience includes
differ ent gr oups or hierar chical lev els, select a r epresentativ e sample from

each group or level. For more information on sample sizes, consult Per-
formance Consulting by Robinson and Robinson (1995) or Evaluation
in Organizations by Russ-E ft and P reskill (2001). I n addition, use the
following guidelines when making decisions about whom to include in
an assessment:
•When implementing a new system or technology, involve techni-
cal or subject-matter experts, the target audience, supervisors, and
end users.
•When assessing kno wledge and skill needs for an existing pr ocess,
involve subject-matter experts, job incumbents, supervisors, and
other r elated internal or external customers.
• When revising or updating an existing training program or an

HRD or HPT intervention, include the target audience andsupervisors. Consider including subject-matter experts and otherrelated internal or external customers if needed or required.Knowledge and Skills Assessment 85
NEXT STEPS
Further data collection will involve additional observations and
review of available documents and records. A knowledge and skillsassessment will be undertaken with all committee members. Byidentifying how the committee is perceived by its own members,OCCA can work to increase learning in an effort to increasemorale, engagement, and action by committee members.c04.qxd  11/2/06  11:37 AM  Page 85• When developing a new training program or an HRD or HPT
intervention, include the target audience, subject-matter experts(if required), supervisors, and other related internal or externalcustomers.

3.
Examine the purposes of the knowledge and skills assessment and
determine the types of analyses that must be performed. Figure 4.1 shows
some of the common purposes of a knowledge and skills assessment andsuggests the kinds of questions that will be addressed by the analyses.Usually, the speciﬁc business needs of an organization will determinewhether any statistical analyses, such as correlations, must be computed.As mentioned in Chapter Three, if you lack expertise in such areas asstatistics or survey design, consider engaging someone with expertise inpreparing data-collection instruments and in analyzing data.
4.
Identify the types of tools that will be used to collect data. Typically,
using two or three different data-gathering methods increases the valid-A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT, SECOND EDITION 86

1.Learner analysis (What do learners know or need to know, and what do they
not know?)
2.Subject-matter analysis (What do subject-matter experts say is important?)
3.Comparison of knowledge levels: current versus desired (How does the current
level of knowledge differ from what is needed or desired?)
4.Comparison of skill levels: current versus desired (What are the current skills
and how do they dif fer from what is needed or desired?)
5.Attitude toward learning (What is the attitude toward learning among the
target group?)
6.Attitude towar d change (What is the attitude towar d change among the 
7.Attitude toward existing training programs (What is the attitude about the
current training pr ograms?)
8.Attitude toward a new system or technology (What is the attitude toward 
the new system or technology?)

9.Quality of existing training pr ograms (What is the quality level of the existing
training programs?)
FIGURE 4.1 Common P urposes of a Kno wledge and S kills A ssessmentc04.qxd  11/2/06  11:37 AM  Page 86ity, trustworthiness, and reliability of data. For instance, you could sup-
plement surveys with follow-up interviews or observations, or you coulduse focus groups as your primary data-gathering tool and collect addi-tional information through observation. An overview of the primarydata-gathering methods, including their beneﬁts and drawbacks, is givenin Chapter Three.
After you have completed the four steps of Phase 2, inform the peo-
ple involved about your plan through letters, phone calls, or e-mail, andobtain approval from the client and advisory group to proceed with theassessment.
Phase 3: P erform T raining Requ irements Analysis

A performance gap is the difference between the current condition (or
what is), and the desired condition (or what should be). A knowledgeand skills assessment helps to deﬁne such a gap by identifying whereperformance deﬁciencies exist. The ﬁrst two phases helped to lay thegroundwork for developing the assessment instruments or tools. Thethird phase consists of two steps: develop the assessment tools and col-lect the assessment data.
Step 1: Dev elop Assessment T ools
Because ev ery organization ’s assessment r equir ements ar e unique, the
best strategy is to follo w the basic guidelines for preparing interview
forms, surveys, and focus group questions discussed in Chapter Three.As a guideline, allow about two days to prepare each instrument, but beprepared to allow additional time if special features must be included.
Figures 4.2 and 4.3 are examples of instruments for measuring gaps

in skill proﬁciencies. Figure 4.2 is a simple self-assessment instrumentthat was used to monitor job activity levels at a major hospital. Figure4.3 shows a portion of a performance skills proﬁle for assessing theknowledge and skills of employees at an insurance company. A blankform that can be customized is provided in the Toolkit section at theback of the book (see Toolkit Form 4.2).Knowledge and Skills Assessment 87c04.qxd  11/2/06  11:37 AM  Page 87A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT, SECOND EDITION 88
Importance
1 – Unimportant
2 – Minor
3 – Important
4 – Very Important
5 – Critical
Instructions: For each task activity, circle the number corresponding to its importance for your job, the amount of time you 
spend on it, and how well you feel you perform it.
Medicare Tape Run
Edit Lists 12345 012345 12345
Tape List Claims 12345 012345 12345
Paper Claims 12345 012345 12345

Sort Error Claims for Reviewers 12345 012345 12345
Call on Medicare Tape Runs 12345 012345 12345
Work All Railroad EOB’s 12345 012345 12345
Check All Payments 12345 012345 12345
Review All Rejects 12345 012345 12345
Resubmit with Correct Information 12345 012345 12345
Meet with Supervisor for 
Major Problems 12345 012345 12345
Work on Groups 12345 012345 12345
Call Patients to Correct Primary Insurance 12345 012345 12345
Call Medicare to Update Insurance 12345 012345 12345Amount of 
Time Spent
0 – Never do this task
1 – Very little compared to
other tasks
2 – Somewhat less compared
to other tasks
3 – Same amount as other tasks
4 – More compared to other
tasks
5 – A great deal more com-
pared to other tasksPerformance
1 – Have low or no skill
2 – Perform well
enough to get by
3 – Perform in this 
area without any
problem

tasks
problem
4 – Have a deﬁnite
strength or high
skill
5 – Have maximum skill
FIGURE 4.2Job Activity Self-Assessmentc04.qxd  11/2/06  11:37 AM  Page 88Knowledge and Skills Assessment 89
1. About You
Name: Date:
a.Department: Date of Employment:
Title of Current Job:
Objective of Current Job (Describe in ten words or less.):
b.What equipment do you routinely use in your current work? (Check all that
apply.)
Telephone Computer (terminal) PC
Typewriter Calculator Fax Copier
Microphone Other
c.List other equipment her e:
2. About Your Formal Education (optional)
Circle the highest scholastic level achieved: 11 or below , 12, 13, 
14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, or mor e
3. About Your Work Experience
a.What other positions have you held? (List most current ﬁrst.)
Title Brief Description of Job Objective

b.Equipment used in these jobs (other than those listed above)
4. About Your Computer Experience
Listed below are some of the most common computer applications used at our
company.
In column A, rate your skill level in the application used in your current job.
In column B, rate your skill level in the application not used in your current job
but in which you possess prior experience.
FIGURE 4.3 Performance Skills Proﬁlec04.qxd  11/2/06  11:37 AM  Page 89A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT, SECOND EDITION 90
If an item is not applicable, place a check mark in the NA column.
Use the following scale:
None Poor Average Good Excellent
12 3 4 5
ABN A
Active Directory User interface
CMW Medical billing system
Dragon Naturally Speaking Voice-activated system
EMR Electronic medical records
End Notes Notes and citation system

12 3 4 5
ABN A
HTML Hypertext markup language
Lotus Notes E-mail and forms
Microsoft Ofﬁce MS Ofﬁce applications, as follows:
Access Database
Excel Spreadsheet
Outlook Calendar and e-mail
PowerPoint Presentation
Project Project management
Publisher Publication
Visio Flow charts, process, and so on
Word Word processor
MS Visual Studio Programming
Netware Utilities Novell application
Windows User interface
WordPerfect Word processor
XML Markup language
Please add below and rate those applications not listed above.
5.About T raining Related to Y our Occupation
List below any formal training received during the last ﬁve years relating to any
job you held at any company. List in sequence beginning with the most current.

FIGURE 4.3 Performance Skills Proﬁle (continued)c04.qxd  11/2/06  11:37 AM  Page 90Knowledge and Skills Assessment 91
Date Name of Training Course Date Name of Training Course
1. 5.
2. 6.
3. 7.
4. 8.
(If you need more space, use a separate sheet and print your name on it.)
6. About Assessing Your Training Needs
Given your current duties, accountabilities, and position objectives, assign two rat-
ings to each of the items listed below .
In column A, rate your need for training.
In column B, rate its importance to your job.
Provide a rating, as above, for any entry you make on the ”other” line.
Very low Low Average High Very high
1 234 5
A BN A Communication Skills
a.Oral communication skills

1 234 5
b.Written communication skills (letters/memos/r eports)
c.Formal presentation skills
d.Leading effective meetings
e.Other . Please specify:
Customer-Service Skills
a.Telephone skills
b.Listening/questioning skills
c.Handling difﬁcult customers and complaints
d.Other. Please specify:
Performance Management Skills
a.Monitoring per formance/cor recting pr oblems
b.Providing feedback/motivation
c.Coaching, counseling
d.Conﬂict management
FIGURE 4.3 Performance Skills Proﬁle (continued)c04.qxd  11/2/06  11:37 AM  Page 91In addition, Toolkit Form 4.3, a customer-service training survey,

and Toolkit Form 4.4, a management development survey, are includedto help you start to develop these types of assessments. Note that ToolkitForm 4.4, the management development survey, can be administeredto the managers’ managers, their subordinates, or both to obtain manyperspectives about managerial effectiveness in the organization. Fol-lowing are some additional tips to consider when developing tools:
• Refer to the goals and objectives of your assessment.
• Include an opening paragraph (a statement of purpose and

instructions for completing a survey, or an overview and introduc-tion for interviews and focus groups), an indication of the conﬁ-dentiality of the responses, the main section (the questions), and aclosing (possibly demographic questions in the case of surveys, orclosing r emar ks for conducting inter views or focus groups).
•Separate and label sections clearly .
•Include appropriate labels when using a rating scale.
•Decide whether to use an even-numbered rating scale, such as a
four-point or six-point scale, or an odd-numbered scale, such as a
ﬁve-point or seven-point scale. An odd-numbered scale allowsrespondents to choose the middle rating rather than be forced to
choose one end of the scale or the other. Scales that have morepoints give respondents more choices, but, if the group is toosmall, make it difﬁcult to see patterns in the data.

• If you use two sets of rating scales per question (shown below) and
want to combine them, seek the exper tise of someone who can
interpret the results accurately. For example:A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT, SECOND EDITION 92
PROFICIENCY
Very Low Low Average High Very High
Operate DVD 1 2 3 4 5
IMPORTANCE TO JOB
Operate DVD 1 2 3 4 5c04.qxd  11/2/06  11:37 AM  Page 92• Limit the number of questions so that interviews and focus groups
can be concluded in two and a half hours and surveys can be com-pleted in twenty-ﬁve or thirty minutes.
• Limit the number of items to be assessed in a survey. For instance,

if you listed more than ﬁfty items and the majority received a rat-ing of 3 or below (indicating that training is needed), you wouldneed to develop a training plan that could accommodate all theseprograms. Because most people attend an average of seven trainingprograms per year, it could take several years to train everyone. Amore effective strategy is to prioritize the items to be included in asurvey on the basis of the most critical requirements for the job.
• Pilot-test the data-collection instruments and revise them based on
feedback.
Step 2: Collect Data
After you have prepared your instruments, you will be ready to begin
the data-collection process. Here are a few tips to remember when col-lecting data:
• When working in a team, ensure that everyone follows the same
procedure.

•Limit the time allowed for returning surveys, usually to ten days.
• Have supervisors or managers follow up if instruments have not
been r eceived after the ten-day limit.
Phase 4: Analyze Data
After completing Phase 3, you will have collected data from surveys,
interviews, or focus groups. To analyze the data, use the process for com-piling r esults that y ou selected for y our plan in P hase 2. Following are
a few strategies for ensuring success:
• Limit responsibility for this task: assume it yourself or delegate it
to one or two individuals whose judgment and skills you trust.
• Review the data for discrepancies, deviations, and irregularities.Knowledge and Skills Assessment 93c04.qxd  11/2/06  11:37 AM  Page 93• Present irregularities in the data in a separate section.

• Always keep your client apprised of discrepancies in the data.• Omit extraneous or irrelevant data; for example, eliminate facts or
details that do not pertain speciﬁcally to the assessment and itsobjective. (This includes extraneous information that you mayhave gathered while interviewing or conducting focus groups.)
• List responses that do not fall into a previously deﬁned category in
a separate section titled “other.”
•Establish codes for qualitativ e data (that is, data that ar e not
numerical) so that y ou can gr oup r esponses into categories. F or
example, review the responses to the open-ended survey questions
to determine whether ther e are major themes or categories. If the
majority of r esponses to a question fall into thr ee main categories,

assign codes A, B, or C (or relevant descriptive words) to the data
accor ding to the three predetermined categories. This coding
scheme can then be used as y ou review the notes or tape-r ecord-
ings from the interviews or focus groups. As you review the data,
you may need to add additional categories that emerge.
•Next to each category, list the frequency of responses. For
example:
Q. Why do you think team training is needed?
TYPE OF RESPONSE NUMBER OF RESPONSES
A. People don’t know how to work in teams. 15
B. There is lack of cooperation among units. 10
C. There is lack of clarity about team roles. 11
• When faced with conﬂicting data, seek the opinion of an expert or
individual qualiﬁed to make a judgment.A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT, SECOND EDITION 94c04.qxd  11/2/06  11:37 AM  Page 94Phase 5: Prepare and Present a Report

The ﬁnal phase of a knowledge and skills assessment is preparing and
presenting a formal report. Reports generally contain the following ele-ments:
• Executive summary
• Goals or objectives• Overview of data-collection methods• Findings or conclusions• Recommendations•Appendix
Chapter Eight provides additional information on report writing.
Other examples of formal r eports can be found in H olton (1995).
Here are a few guidelines for presenting your conclusions and rec-
ommendations to your client and interested stakeholders:
• Tailor the presentation style to the culture of your organization.
• Verify budgetary constraints so that recommendations are on tar-
get.
• Present your recommendations in a table with the following head-

get.
ings: cost, urgency, availability of resources (monetary and non-monetary), and feasibility.
•Research the feasibility of each recommendation thoroughly and
offer alternatives where needed.
•Use benchmar king data when available.
• Provide cost-beneﬁt information, if appropriate.
• Support your recommendations with citations and “best practices”
from authorities in the ﬁeld or industry.Knowledge and Skills Assessment 95c04.qxd  11/2/06  11:37 AM  Page 95If you are preparing and presenting a curriculum plan, following is
a suggested list of content areas to include:
• Overview
• Statement of the problem• Learner analysis• Detailed course objectives• Course outlines• T raining schedule (quarterly, bi-annual, or annual)• T raining delivery strategy•Evaluation strategy
Toolkit Form 4.5 can be used to develop high-level and detailed cur-

riculum plans. The plan can include a core or advanced curriculum or
both. U sually , core curriculums ar e mor e appropriate for beginning or
intermediate learners.
This chapter has presented the methods and tools for performing a
knowledge and skills assessment. H ere is a case study of an assessment
completed for Packaged Delivery, Inc.A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT, SECOND EDITION 96
The information for this case was contributed b y Jeanne
Strayer, a training and performance improvement consul-
tant based in Oceanside, California. Although all events are
real, the company has been giv en a ﬁ ctitious name at the r equest of
the contributor. The case shows the approach used to conduct a
needs assessment in pr eparation for a ne w company-wide training
program. The key tool sho wn her e is a set of interview questions
used for lead drivers, ﬁrst-line supervisors, and senior managers.
GUPTA

GUPTA
0-7879-8272-5ICON 1c04.qxd  11/2/06  11:37 AM  Page 96Knowledge and Skills Assessment 97
Packaged Delivery, Inc., is one of the largest packaged product
delivery companies in the United States. It manufactures and dis-tributes products through home and commercial delivery, as well asthrough retail outlets such as supermarkets. The company has sixregions in ten states. Each region has between four and sixbranches. Each branch is responsible for delivering its product tocustomers on designated routes. Depending on the size of thebranch, lead drivers may report to two or more sales supervisors.
THE NEED
Packaged D elivery, Inc., r ecognized that lead drivers were being
asked to expand their job duties. Because of their seniority, leads
were expected to coach and train their peers—those responsible for

driving r outes and deliv ering pr oducts. The leads beneﬁ ted because
coaching offered a balance to their driving, delivery, and book-
keeping duties. The company beneﬁted because the leads often
noticed and corr ected per formance pr oblems with ne w trainees.
Yet the leads did not necessarily have the skills to be effective train-
ers and coaches. Although they had sound technical skills, develop-ing people r equir ed a differ ent type of skill. The company saw the
need for a program to help drivers learn to train and coach others.
THE APPROACH
A ﬁve-phase approach to conducting the needs assessment was used.
The major steps and ﬁndings in each phase are summarized here.
Preliminary data were gathered when the designated course devel-
oper met with the HR director and two regional vice presidents.

The gr oup conﬁ rmed the situation but also pointed out somec04.qxd  11/2/06  11:37 AM  Page 97A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT, SECOND EDITION 98
unique characteristics of the leads’ situation that had to be
addressed:
• Leads were placed in a position of responsibility but had
little or no authority.
• It was difﬁcult for leads to ﬁnd time to train and coach
because their regular duties consumed so much time.
• Leads needed to strike the right balance between 
resolving problems behind the scenes and going to 
the supervisor when management intervention was
required, which was especially true because of union
regulations.
• Leads were often promoted within the same group, a situ-
ation that sometimes led to new dynamics and tensions
with their former peers.
Phase 2: Develop a Plan

1. The HR director and two regional vice presidents agreed to
the scope of the training and the plan for the needs assessment. Alloperational leads in the company (appr oximately 110 people)
would be trained. The needs assessment would involve interviews
with members of the target audience (the leads), their supervisors,and selected HR personnel who w ere seen as expert in coaching
skills and union practices.
2.The follo wing goals w ere identiﬁ ed for the interviews:
• Determine the gap between current and desired levels of
training and coaching skills.
• Assess the leads’ attitudes toward training.• Obtain stories about real-life situations that could later
serve as examples, case studies, or role-plays during the
training.c04.qxd  11/2/06  11:37 AM  Page 98Knowledge and Skills Assessment 99

Phase 3: Conduct a Needs Assessment
1. Interview instruments were created for the leads (see Figure
4.4), their supervisors (see Figure 4.5), and the company’s vicepresidents (see Figure 4.6).
2. Instruments were reviewed and approved by the HR director.3. Interviews were conducted with fourteen leads, six supervi-
sors, and two regional vice presidents. Interviews with the supervi-sors and vice presidents conﬁrmed the data collected from the leads.
4.Interviews with HR personnel were particularly helpful in
determining the types of coaching and training skills needed for
nonsupervisory positions. These interviews also provided valuableinsights into the constraints faced b y the leads when working as
union members.
Phase 4: Analyze the Data
1. Recurring themes in the qualitative interview data were

noted, organiz ed into categories, and coded. F or example,
responses to a question about obstacles to coaching others while
working on the job were grouped into three categories:
• Lack of time to coach
•Physical envir onment (open spaces with no priv acy)
•Personal reluctance to coach former peers
2. The interviews also yielded quantitative, or numerical, data
that helped to determine and rate the deﬁ ciencies in the leads ’
skills. The items and their ratings included the following (on a 5-
point scale with 1 as low and 5 as high):
• Listening empathetically 3.2
• Giving directions clearly 3.2
• Giving feedback constructively 3.0
•Involving people rather than telling them what to do 2.5c04.qxd  11/2/06  11:37 AM  Page 99A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT, SECOND EDITION 100
1.According to the job description, a lead driver spends time training new hires

and coaching experienced drivers as well as covering open routes. What per-centage of your time do you estimate is spent on training and coaching?
2.What common performance problems do new hires have? Experienced drivers?
3.What sorts of situations call for coaching on your part?
4.What are the biggest challenges of a lead driver’s job?
5.What were the biggest pitfalls you encountered as a new coach and trainer?
Follow-up question #1: What mistakes did you make at ﬁrst?
Follow-up question #2: What lessons have you learned over time?
6.What do you do when someone is having trouble or not meeting standards?
7.Can you tell me about a successful experience you have had coaching someone?
Follow-up question #1: What made it successful?
8.Tell me about a not-so-successful experience you have had coaching 
someone.
Follow-up question #1: Why was it not successful?

someone.
9.How do you encourage and motivate other lead drivers?
Follow-up question #1: Do you use incentives or r ewar ds?
Follow-up question #2: Do you tr y other things (for example, pay compli -
ments, r ecognize people, give personal attention)?
10. What keeps you fr om being a good coach on the job?
11. Have you received training in coaching people?
12. Please rate yourself on the following skills on a scale of 1 (low) to 5 (high).
These ratings ar e conﬁ dential and will not be attributed to any one person.
a.Listening empathetically
b.Giving directions clearly
c. Giving feedback constructivelyd. Involving people rather than telling them what to doe. Demonstrating a new skill in such a way that another person understands
the critical aspects, that is, does it correctly

f. Guiding a team member to a solution for a problemg. Knowing how to recognize someone for a job well doneh. Pointing out how someone’s behavior is negatively affecting indicators and
key measures
13. What topics would you like to see covered in training?
FIGURE 4.4 Interview Questions for Lead Driversc04.qxd  11/2/06  11:37 AM  Page 100Knowledge and Skills Assessment 101
and coaching experienced drivers, as well as covering open routes. What per-centage of a driver’s time do you estimate is spent doing training and coaching?
2.What are some of the skills you expect a lead driver to demonstrate as a coach
or trainer?
Follow-up question #1: Do the lead drivers currently perform these skills?
Follow-up question #2: Why or why not?
3.What would the impact be on your branch if lead drivers were used effectively
as coaches and trainers?

4.What kinds of situations call for coaching by drivers?
Follow-up question #1: What measur es should be taken?
5.What is a common performance problem for a new hire?
Follow-up question #1: For an experienced driver?
6.What ar e the biggest challenges lead drivers face as coaches?
7.What are the biggest pitfalls you have seen new coaches fall into?
Follow-up question #1: What mistakes do they commonly make?
8.Do lead drivers have the skills to help solve a pr oblem rather than just bring it
to the person’s attention?
Follow-up question #1: For example, can a lead driver come up with strategies to
help someone increase sales, improve customer satisfaction ratings, and so on?
9.Think about the lead drivers who report to you now. How would you rate
them on a scale of 1 (low) to 5 (high). These ratings are conﬁdential and will

not be attributed to any one person.
a. Listening empatheticallya.Listening empathetically
b.Giving dir ections clearly
c. Giving feedback constructively
d.Involving people rather than telling them what to do
e. Demonstrating a new skill in such a way that another person understands
the critical aspects, that is, does it cor rectly
i.Encouraging and motivating others
10. Does anything keep lead drivers from being good coaches on the job?
Follow-up question #1: Are there physical constraints, time constraints, or
other factors?
11. Have lead drivers received any training in coaching people?

12. What topics would you like to see covered in training?
FIGURE 4.5 Interview Questions for Supervisorsc04.qxd  11/2/06  11:37 AM  Page 101A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT, SECOND EDITION 102
1.How would you like to see lead drivers used as coaches and trainers for 
new hires?
2.What impact would the lead drivers have if used effectively as coaches or
trainers?
Follow-up question #1: What key measures or indicators would be affected?
3.What are the biggest challenges lead drivers face on the job as coaches or
trainers?
4.What would you like to see emphasized in a coaching skills program for lead
drivers?
All items that received a rating of 3.5 or under were earmarked
for training.
Phase 5: Write a Report
1. The report prepared for the HR director summarized the

drivers?
results of the needs assessment and provided speciﬁc recommenda-tions for the content, skills, examples, and issues to be co vered dur-
ing training. The report included a proposed outline of thetraining program, which not only incorporated all the recommen-dations but also showed the sequence of topics (see Figure 4.7).
2. The report was submitted and the proposed outline approved.
Some modiﬁcations were made prior to course development.
The Results
The program was well received by management and the leads
because it met their identiﬁ ed needs. I n addition, the examples used
in the training came fr om real-life stories. The course served as a
stepping stone for those leads who aspired to becoming supervisors.

The company , the leads, and the driv ers beneﬁ ted fr om the pr ogram.FIGURE 4.6 Interview Questions for Vice Presidentsc04.qxd  11/2/06  11:37 AM  Page 102CONCLUSION
A kno wledge and skills assessment is one of the most basic and common
forms of needs assessment conducted by HRD and HPT professionals
in the wor kplace. This chapter has described a ﬁ ve-phase appr oach for
doing such an assessment. The key to performing a successful knowledge
and skills assessment is to follo w a fe w simple guidelines.Knowledge and Skills Assessment 103
I. Welcome to Coaching
A. WelcomeB. Factors affecting how much you are able to coachC. Course objectivesD. Exercise: Think about a coach you had in the pastE. Are you coaching now?
II. The Coach as Trainer
A. Giving directions
B. Exercise: Beneﬁts and drawbacks of showing and telling versus 
notshowing 
and telling

C.Exercise: Lessons learned
III.The Coach as Counselor
A.Introduction
B. The ABCs of understanding behavior
C.Listening empathetically
D.Giving feedback
E. Performance coaching: A seven-step model
IV. The Coach as Motivator
A. Leading by example
B.Getting to know each person
C. Incentives and rewards
V.Achieving Success
A. Challenges faced by lead drivers in their roles as coachesB. Lessons learned from others
C.When and wher e to coach
D. Handling problem situationsE.Working with your super visor
FIGURE 4.7 Course Outlinec04.qxd  11/2/06  11:37 AM  Page 1031.Adapt and modify your strategy based on the situation. Although it is
recommended that more than one data-gathering method be usedfor a needs assessment, the case in this chapter shows that a pro-gram can be successful with interviews alone.

2.To facilitate the data-collection process, consider using existing or
“found” data.
3.Limit the size of the group from which information must be obtained.
This simpliﬁes the data-analysis phase considerably. If large groups
must be used, be sure you have established a sound data-collectionand analysis methodology.
The next chapter describes how to conduct a job and task analysis.A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT, SECOND EDITION 104c04.qxd  11/2/06  11:37 AM  Page 104FIVE
PURPOSE
•Deﬁne a job and task analysis.
•Recognize when to use one.
• Recognize beneﬁts and drawbacks of the approach.•Identify critical success factors for doing a job and task analysis.
• Identify key elements, including job responsibilities and job tasks.

•Examine three phases for conducting a job and task analysis.
• Identify shortcuts to the process.• Examine how a job and task analysis was conducted at Boehringer
Mannheim Corporation.
The following job aids are available in the Toolkit section of the book:
105Job and
Task Analysisc05.qxd  11/2/06  11:38 AM  Page 105• Job Analysis Questionnaire
• Job T raining and Non-T raining Recommendations I
(Professional/Supervisory/Management)
• Job T raining and Non-T raining Recommendations II
(Administrative)
• Job Task Analysis Checklist
OVERVIEW
Undertaking a job and task analysis is not as difﬁcult as it appears. After
you understand what it is and how it is done, the analysis can usuallybe accomplished without problems.

OVERVIEW
Job analysis is a method for gathering, organizing, evaluating, and
reporting work-related information (Brannick & Levine, 2002; Butru-ille, 1989; Fine & Cronshaw, 1999). Task analysis is a method for deter-mining the kno wledge, skills, tools, conditions, and requirements needed
to perform a job (Callahan, 1985; Shepherd, 2001). Although some peo-ple consider these separate types of analyses, we combine them becauseof their similarities.
The primar y objectiv e of a job and task analysis is to gather infor-
mation about the scope, r esponsibilities, and tasks for a par ticular job
function or functions. The HRD practitioner may use this information
in preparing job pr oﬁles or position descriptions. Position descriptions
in turn ser ve as a platform for linking job requirements to current or

future training needs.
Doing a job and task analysis helps people within an organization
develop a clearer picture of what their jobs entail. It helps them under-stand what is expected of them. It also helps supervisors and managersestablish criteria for job performance and thus lay a foundation for per-formance management and career planning systems.
The amount of time required to complete a job and task analysis can
vary from a few days to several months. How much time such a projectA PRACTICAL GUIDE TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT, SECOND EDITION 106c05.qxd  11/2/06  11:38 AM  Page 106takes depends on the number of job analyses that must be developed,
recognizing that each position can include many different jobs and tasks.
When to Use
A job and task analysis is most valuable under the following circumstances:

When to Use
• When new or existing job descriptions or position proﬁles 
for managerial and non-managerial jobs must be developed as part of a performance management system
• When jobs must be redesigned and tasks (including the 
requisite knowledge, skills, attitudes, and behaviors) for each jobidentiﬁed
•When a consistent set of training r equirements must be created,
especially those inv olving highly technical or specializ ed job
functions
Beneﬁts and Drawbacks
Conducting a job and task analysis has sev eral beneﬁ ts for the organization:
•It stimulates buy-in and inter est because people ar e directly
involved in deﬁning their jobs and tasks.
• It provides supervisors with a proﬁle of skill sets that are 
necessary for people to perform competently in a given jobfunction.

• It serves as a basis for distinguishing the skill requirements of
various job classiﬁcations or levels within a position (such as entry-level versus senior positions).
• It serves as a benchmark for determining what additional knowl-
edge, skills, attitudes, and behaviors people must acquire to moveacross categories or upward within a job category.Job and T ask Analysis 107c05.qxd  11/2/06  11:38 AM  Page 107• It helps in the growth and professional development of people
within an organization or a community.
The approach has drawbacks:
• It does not take into account external factors that may affect per-
formance.
• It takes time and commitment.•It is costly .
Critical Success Factors
A few prerequisites are crucial to the successful completion of a job and
task analysis pr oject or initiativ e:

formance.
• Support from senior management or senior ofﬁcials
• Availability of both human and monetary resources• A stable environment (It is difﬁcult to question people about their
jobs during downsizing, mergers, or takeovers; furthermore, theirjobs and tasks may be changing.)
• Open communication about why the analysis is being prepared
and how it will impact the job incumbents
Both the organization and its employees have much to gain from a
job and task analysis, given the right approach and the right environ-ment. We begin by deﬁning a few key terms. Then we present guide-lines for writing effective job task statements and standards. Finally wediscuss the steps for conducting a job and task analysis.
Deﬁnition of Terms
Before we provide guidelines for writing job task statements and stan-

dards, we deﬁne a couple of terms:A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT, SECOND EDITION 108c05.qxd  11/2/06  11:38 AM  Page 108•Job responsibility. The scope of activities for a job function or job
position. For example, a job responsibility of an operations manager isto 
ensure that staff members participate in the annual corporate professional
education program.
•Job task. What must be done to fulﬁll a responsibility. Usually four
to six tasks are associated with each responsibility. Continuing the ex-ample of the operations manager, one job task associated with the abovejob responsibility is to 
develop an annual professional education program
for each staff member.
WRITING JOB T ASK ST ATEMENTS
Most people are familiar with the term responsibilities. For the super-

visor position, one responsibility may be to manage work performance.Another may be to conduct performance reviews. Each responsibilitycomprises several job tasks. A job task statement essentially describes thewhat, why , and how of a job, as shown in the following example:
What? Type a report
Why? To document the minutes of a meetingHow? By using a word-processing program
In general, it is useful to follo w a few basic rules when writing job
task statements:
•Restrict each sentence to one idea.
• Avoid using jargon.
• Avoid using negatives, such as “will not participate in the fund-
raising campaign.”
In addition, job task statements should always begin with a speciﬁc

verb. Following are a few verb substitutions for increasing speciﬁcity:Job and T ask Analysis 109c05.qxd  11/2/06  11:38 AM  Page 109INSTEAD OF CONSIDER USING
Communicate Write, speak
Gauge Evaluate, identify, measure, assess, determine
Strive Accomplish, meet, conduct
The following statements have been rewritten to begin with a spe-
ciﬁc action verb:
1. Work under direction of supervisor to develop an employee
pension plan.
Write an emplo yee pension plan under direction of supervisor.
2. Interface monthly with business unit heads.
Meet monthly with business unit heads.
3. Interact with treasury department to support implementation 
of new credit policy.
Conduct w eekly meetings with tr easur y depar tment staff to suppor t
implementation of new cr edit policy .

4.Serve as lead for presentation of updated tariff policy plan.
Lead presentation on the updated tariff policy plan.
WRITING ST ANDARDS
Occasionally, job task statements add another component—a stan-
dard—at the end of the statement. A standar d speciﬁ es ho w a task
should be per formed. F or instance:
• Calculate correctly the number of home closings per quarter.
•Monitor implementation of the corr ective action policy by report-
ing employee deviations to management.
•Process ne w claims cour teously in ten to ﬁfteen minutes.A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT, SECOND EDITION 110c05.qxd  11/2/06  11:38 AM  Page 110For example:
ASSEMBLY OF HELP DESK MANUALS
Task statement Assemble help desk manuals.
Standards Make twenty copies of each one-hundred-page

binder using a copier, without assistance, within
ﬁve business days. Insert ﬁve tab dividers into each
binder in the proper places.
It is relatively easy to specify standards for administrative and tech-
nical jobs, because the degree of accuracy required for job performanceis both speciﬁc and high. However, because of the time required toobtain and spell out such standards, completing a job and task analy-sis for a skilled worker takes longer.
KEY PHASES
There are three phases in conducting a job and task analysis:
Phase 1: P repare
1.Identify high performers
2.Prepare job analysis questionnaire
3.Prepare materials
Phase 2: Conduct job task analysis work session
1.Prepare for the work session
2.Reﬁne job responsibilities
3.Identify job tasks

4.Identify training and non-training requirementsJob and T ask Analysis 111c05.qxd  11/2/06  11:38 AM  Page 111Phase 3: Develop and present job training and non-training recom-
mendations
Phase 1: Prepare
This phase consists of several tasks. Start by assembling a project team.
Depending on the scope of your project, a team may be limited to youand a facilitator who leads the job and task analysis work session (seedetail in Phase 2), or it can include ﬁeld personnel and subject-matterexperts. For high-proﬁle projects, an advisory committee or expert panelmay be necessary.
Identify High Performers
Select four to six key people in a range from above average to high per-

formers in the job category being analyzed. The criteria for selectinghigh performers is explained in Chapter Six (see page 138). Occasion-ally, a job function expert—that is, someone within or outside theorganization who is considered an expert in a particular job task—canbe used as a resource. Job function experts are especially helpful whenthe job being analyzed is very technical or specialized.
During this pr eparatory stage, inform participants that they have
been selected to pr ovide input for a job and task analysis. Also inform
their super visors. I f emplo yees ar e located else wher e, make trav el and
other arrangements. B rief participants about the process.
Prepare Job Analysis Questionnaire
Figure 5.1, Sample Toolkit Form 5.1, shows a sample job analysis sur-

vey that can be used to obtain job-related information prior to hold-ing a work session. A week before the scheduled date of the session,distribute the survey to participants via mail, e-mail, or the Web. Inaddition to starting participants’ thinking about the critical tasksinvolved in performing a job, the survey stimulates their interest in theprocess of job and task analysis.A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT, SECOND EDITION 112c05.qxd  11/2/06  11:38 AM  Page 112113
TOOLKIT FORM 5.1 Job Analysis Questionnaire
Purpose: The purpose of this questionnaire is to gather information about your job.
Directions: Answer all the questions. Return the survey to [name/ depar tment] by
[date].
Name:
Sample Questions:
1.List all of your major responsibilities. Then prioritize each item by assigning a

[date].
Name:
number to it. For example, assign the number “1” to the responsibility you consider 
the most important.
Develop data record layouts, input forms, record formats, testing schemes,
and test data. 1
Write computer programs using logic ﬂow charts, record layouts, and record formats. 2
Ensur e program accuracy by cr eating test pr ograms, conducting spot checks, and
reviewing output. 3
Document pr ograms, operations, and pr ojects in accor dance with company standar ds. 4
Assist computer operations personnel with implementation of pr ograms. 5
2.Why are these responsibilities important to your job?
I need the speciﬁcations from the project lead to ensure that the logic
programs and operating techniques I produce are efﬁcient. I use the software

programs and manufacturer routines in areas of sort, utility, and bulk media
conversion. I require a PC for documentation and program development, and
the disk storage device for creating permanent ﬁles.
3.What equipment and tools do you use in your job?
PC computer, disk storage device, software programs, computer
manufacturer routines, and job ﬂow speciﬁcations from the project leader.
4.Describe some speciﬁ c duties or tasks that you per form in your job, as related to your
major responsibilities. List the responsibilities that you previously mentioned. After you
indicate the speciﬁc duty or task, please state how often you perform this duty or task.
FIGURE 5.1 Sample Toolkit Form 5.1: Job Analysis Questionnairec05.qxd  11/2/06  11:38 AM  Page 113114
TOOLKIT FORM 5.1 Job Analysis Questionnaire (continued)

Develop data record layouts: I review and evaluate job ﬂow speciﬁcations to make sure
they are clear and that the project can be completed in the speciﬁed time. I do this 
about every three months.
Write computer programs: I write or modify computer programs including testing them
almost daily.
Assist computer operations: I assist operations with the implementation of programs about 
once a week.
5.What knowledge do you r equir e to perform your job successfully?
I need to know about accounting and manufacturing systems and data
management techniques, and to have some understanding of communication
concepts.
6.What qualities ar e necessar y to make you successful in your job?
I need to be able to work in a fast-paced environment and meet deadlines.
I need to have good interpersonal skills to work with project leaders and

I need to have good interpersonal skills to work with project leaders and 
operations personnel. I also need to be detail-oriented and to care about quality control.
7.What prior knowledge, skills, attitudes, and behaviors did you bring to your position that
helped to make you successful in your job?
To be successful in this job takes either a college degr ee or one or mor e
years of pr ogramming experience. Y ou need to be awar e of the latest 
techniques in data processing, especially if it affects programming.
8.List any courses, workshops, or training programs you attended in the past that you feel
have helped you succeed in your job.
I took a communications course last year that helped me understand myself
and others better. It made it easier for me to work with and understand the 
project leaders. I also completed a course in data management techniques,

which was helpful because the ﬁeld changes so frequently.
FIGURE 5.1 Sample Toolkit Form 5.1: Job Analysis Questionnaire (continued)c05.qxd  11/2/06  11:38 AM  Page 114Prepare Ma terials
Spend time r eviewing the r eturned sur veys and transcribe key job
responsibilities from the surveys onto ﬂip-chart paper. For example:
EMPL OYEE PRIMAR Y JOB RESPONSIBILITIES
Sue 1.Execute marketing and strategic initiatives for
asset management group.
2.Develop advertising, direct mail, customer
communication, and public relations program
for asset management group products.
John 1.Manage pr oduct dev elopment, competitive
pricing analysis, and reporting for asset man-
agement group products.
2.Implement strategic and marketing programs
worldwide for asset management group.
Phase 2: Conduct J ob Task Analysis W ork Session

The work session to elicit information from participants requires the
use of skilled group facilitation. The primary objective of the work ses-sion is to identify key r esponsibilities and job tasks r equir ed for effec -
tive on-the-job performance. Once these requirements have been115
9.Describe any other contributing factors that you feel have made you successful in 
your job.
The systems project leader is very supportive. He helps me whenever I have
a question or a problem with computer operations or data conversion 
personnel. He also lets me know where I stand and gives me feedback on my work.
FIGURE 5.1 Sample Toolkit Form 5.1: Job Analysis Questionnaire (continued)c05.qxd  11/2/06  11:38 AM  Page 115obtained, the group can further deﬁne the training and non-training

requirements for a job.
Prepare for the Work Session
Prepare an agenda for the work session. The following sample agenda
can be used as a guide. Immediately before the session, gather materi-als, including the prepared ﬂip charts, completed surveys, copies of theagenda, blank ﬂip charts, and markers. Also reserve a meeting room.When setting up the meeting room, post the prepared ﬂip charts in aprominent place.
TIME ACTIVITY
8:00 a.m.–8:30 a.m. Orientation.
• Introductions.• Review purpose and signiﬁcance of the 
session.
• Review agenda.• Discuss “housekeeping” issues: breaks, lunch,
phone, interr uptions, pr otocol.
8:30 
a.m.–10:00 a.m. Reﬁne list of r esponsibilities.
•Review prepared ﬂip chart of responsibilities.
•Brainstorm additional r esponsibilities.
• Combine similar responsibilities.

8:30 
10:00 a.m.–10:20 a.m. Break.
10:20 a.m.–1:00 p.m. Identify tasks for each job responsibility.
• Use data from questionnaires to brainstorm tasks.• Review list and omit nonessential tasks.
1:00 
p.m.–2:00 p.m. Lunch break.
2:00 p.m.–3:15 p.m. Identify the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and com-
petencies required to perform each task.
3:15 p.m.–3:30 p.m. Break.A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT, SECOND EDITION 116c05.qxd  11/2/06  11:38 AM  Page 1163:30 p.m.–4:15 p.m. Identify training and non-training requirements
necessary to acquire the knowledge, skills, atti-
tudes, behaviors, and competencies for each task.
4:15 p.m.–4:45 p.m. Prioritize the training needs based on consensus
about the tasks most critical to job performance.
4:45 p.m.–5:00 p.m. Close.

• Review next steps in the process.• Ask for subject-matter expert’s availability for
reviews.
• Thank participants.
Note: The time required to complete the analysis may vary. An addi-
tional half day or day may be needed, depending on the complexity of thejob responsibilities, the number of participants, and the facilitator’s skills.
Reﬁne Job Responsibilities
The ﬁ rst order of business during a work session is to obtain consen-
sus from participants about the key responsibilities involved in per-forming their jobs. The group then works to reﬁne the list of jobresponsibilities posted on the prepared ﬂip chart by combining similarstatements under one statement. For example, Sue’s ﬁrst statement andJohn’s second statement from the earlier example can be rewritten as fol-lows:

Conduct mar keting and strategic initiatives worldwide for the asset
management gr oup.
Identify Job Tasks
Next, ask participants to use the information from their completed sur-
veys to brainstorm a list of tasks for each job responsibility. Post these
on a ﬂip chart. Ask participants to review the list of tasks and delete
those they consider nonessential to the job. Finally, ask participants toidentify the kno wledge, skills, attitudes, and behaviors required to per-
form each task.Job and T ask Analysis 117c05.qxd  11/2/06  11:38 AM  Page 117Identify Training and Non-Training Requirements
Ask participants to identify the training needed to acquire the knowl-
edge, skills, attitudes, and behaviors for each task. For example:
Position: Project Leader
Job responsibility 1: Manage multiple systems projects.Job tasks: Manage project schedules.
Manage internal technical experts, project team,
and vendors.
Prepare interim and ﬁnal reports.

Knowledge: Project management, softwar e architecture.
Skills and abilities: Team leadership, resource management, oral and
written communication skills.
Attitudes: Highly motivated, future-oriented.Behaviors: Listen carefully to requests, record conversations in
detail.
Prerequisite Computer operating systems, client-server 
knowledge and skills: systems, work ﬂow and imaging implementation.
T raining required: Advanced project management, team manage-
ment, writing business r eports.
Finally, ask participants to prioritize training and non-training needs
on the basis of tasks they consider most critical to job per formance.
Phase 3: Develop and Present Job Training and 
Non-Training Recommendations
The purpose of this phase is to r eview and organiz e the information

obtained fr om the work session. Prepare a preliminary draft of the job
responsibilities, the tasks, and the training and non-training r ecom -
mendations. P resent this draft to super visors for r eview. Ask supervisors
to reﬁne the list by adding or deleting tasks. After the draft has beenA PRACTICAL GUIDE TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT, SECOND EDITION 118c05.qxd  11/2/06  11:38 AM  Page 118approved, prepare a ﬁnal copy of the job training and non-training rec-

ommendations. You can use Toolkit Form 5.2 to prepare the job train-ing and non-training recommendations for professionals and supervisoryand management personnel, and Toolkit Form 5.3 to prepare the jobtraining and non-training recommendations for administrative jobs.Figures 5.2 and 5.3 give sample job training and non-training recom-mendations for a marketing manager and an administrative assistant.
You may need to obtain additional approval from the human re-
sources department. After you have received approvals from all appro-priate sources, present and distribute the ﬁnal statement to seniormanagement and the target audience.
To facilitate this process, use the checklist provided in the Toolkit
section, Toolkit Form 5.4, which lists the steps that should be followedwhen conducting a job and task analysis.
TIME-SAVING TIPS
A job and task analysis can be a time-consuming process. Following are
a few ways to save time during the process:

•Ask the human r esources department for a copy of any existing
position descriptions, but be awar e that such descriptions may or may
not be curr ent. If they are current, you can use this information to reﬁne
your sur vey. Asking more focused survey questions can reduce the
amount of time spent in a wor k session.
• Eliminate one step in the process by asking participants’ supervisors
to attend the latter portion of a work session for the purpose of reviewingthe preliminary draft of the job training and non-training recommenda-tions statement as it is developed by the group. Doing this reduces theamount of time spent sending out the statement and waiting for approvals.
Your situation may require detailed documentation on how high-per-

forming employees actually accomplish tasks. Such additional work anal-ysis is often required for developing technical, systems, or managerialJob and T ask Analysis 119c05.qxd  11/2/06  11:38 AM  Page 119120
TOOLKIT FORM 5.2 Job Training and Non-Training Recommendations 
Job Title: Marketing Manager
Department: MarketingLocation: New York
Job Responsibility 1: Develop advertisements
1.Job Task: Deﬁne client needs
2.Job Task: Write ad copy
3.Job Task: Establish rapport with newspaper representatives
4.Job Task: Track ad response
5.Job Task: Manage advertising budget
Competencies: Grammar, understand the process of placing ads, math, organizational skills,
ability to meet deadlines, interpersonal skills, word processing
Training Requirements: Features and process of writing advertisements, time management
Non-T raining Requir ements: Computer system for tracking

Job Responsibility 2: Develop dir ect mail
1.Job Task: Write promotional materials, newsletters, pamphlets
2.Job T ask: Identify potential audience
3.Job T ask: Maintain database
4.Job T ask: Evaluate vendor ser vices and pricing str uctur e
5.Job T ask: T rack r esponse rate
Competencies: Grammar, math, market research, database management, analytical skills,
computer skills
Training Requirements: Writing, database management, marketing, desktop publishing
Non-Training Requirements: Computer tools for database management and desktop
publishing
Job Responsibility 3: Maintain and develop customer communications
1.Job Task: Call customers once a quarter
2.Job Task: Respond to phone inquiries
FIGURE 5.2 Sample Toolkit F orm 5.2: Job Training and Non-Training Recommendations Ic05.qxd  11/2/06  11:38 AM  Page 120121

(Professional/Supervisory/Management) (continued)
3.Job Task: Mail appropriate materials to customers
4.Job Task: Request referrals
Competencies: Interpersonal skills, ability to handle multiple tasks, follow-through skills,
product knowledge
Training Requirements: Time management, communication, product information, stress
management
Non-Training Requirements: Availability of needed materials
Job Responsibility 4: Develop public r elations
1.Job Task: Attend Chamber of Commerce meetings
2.Job T ask: Identify community charities
3.Job T ask: Identify and par ticipate in community activities
4.Job Task: Write articles for local newspapers
5.Job T ask: Conduct pr esentations at schools, colleges, and pr ofessional meetings

Competencies: Grammar , community awareness, interpersonal skills, writing skills,
assertiveness, presentation skills
Training Requir ements: Asser tiveness, writing, interpersonal skills, public speaking
Non-Training Requirements: Notiﬁcation of Chamber of Commerce meetings, notice of
deadlines for newspapers and meetings
Job Responsibility 5: Benchmark company performance
1.Job T ask: Review competitors’ materials
2.Job Task: Review industry literature
3.Job Task: Attend professional association meetings
Competencies: Knowledge of competition, awareness of industry publications, research
techniques, analytical skills, interpersonal skills
Training Requirements: Communication, market r esearch, interpersonal skills

Non-Training Requirements: Vendor to obtain competitors’ materials, access to industry
literature
FIGURE 5.2 Sample Toolkit Form 5.2: Job Training and Non-Training  and Non-Training
Recommendations I (continued)c05.qxd  11/2/06  11:38 AM  Page 121122
TOOLKIT FORM 5.3 Job Training and Non-Training Recommendations II
Job Title: Administrative Assistant
Department: Accounting
Location: New York
Job Responsibility 1: Track accounts receivable
1.Job Task: Use spreadsheet to record accounts receivable
2.Job Task: Supply CFO with weekly summary report
3.Job Task: Contact delinquent accounts
4.Job Task: Reconcile ledger discrepancies
Knowledge: Accounting, math, knowledge of customer base
Skills/Abilities: Spreadsheet, word processing, interpersonal skills, organizational skills,
attention to detail
Attitudes: Team player

Behaviors: Completes work and double-checking in a timely fashion
Standar ds:Balanced accounts, timely and accurate r eports, no accounts receivable balances
more than forty-ﬁve days old
Training Requirements: Accounting, math, spreadsheets, word processing, time manage-
ment, pr ocedur e for contacting delinquent accounts
Non-Training Requirements: Up-to-date accounting software
Job Responsibility 2: Pay accounts payable
1.Job T ask: Review invoices for accuracy
2.Job T ask: Rectify invoice discr epancies
3.Job Task: Balance payable accounts
4.Job Task: Prepare and mail payments
Knowledge: Accounting, math
Skills/Abilities: Attention to detail, spreadsheet, interpersonal skills, organizational skills

Standards: Accounts balanced, all discrepancies rectiﬁed, payments made within forty-ﬁve
days of the due date
FIGURE 5.3 Sample Toolkit Form 5.3: Job Training and Non-Training Recommendations IIc05.qxd  11/2/06  11:38 AM  Page 122123
(Administrative) (continued)
Training Requirements: Accounting, math, spreadsheets, interpersonal skills, organizational skills
Job Responsibility 3: Prepare ﬁnancial reports
1.Job Task: Review monthly records for accuracy
2.Job Task: Collect ﬁnancial information for use in statistical analysis and business plans
3.Job Task: Prepare statistical summaries for management reports
4.Job T ask: Duplicate and supply copies to senior management

Knowledge: Accounting
Skills/Abilities: Attention to detail, analytical skills, math, word processing, writing skills,
time management, operation of the copy machine
Behaviors: Completes work in a timely fashion
Standar ds:Accurate, r eadable, and timely r eports provided to all senior managers
Training Requir ements: Accounting, company standar ds and practices, wor d processing,
writing skills, time management, copy machine operations
Non-Training Requirements: Access to company standards, computer and word process-
ing software, access to copy machine
Job Responsibility 4: Assist CFO with communications
1.Job T ask: Prepare memos
2.Job Task: Prepare meeting summaries
3.Job T ask: Monitor e-mail, inter nal mail, and dir ect inquiries
4.Job Task: Handle phone calls

Knowledge: Phone and e-mail systems, names and positions of company personnel
Skills/Abilities: Writing skills, wor d processing skills, organizational skills, interpersonal skills
Attitudes: Outgoing, team player
Behaviors: Completes work in timely fashion, notiﬁes CFO of problems or delays
Standards: Memos and reports are concise, understandable, and timely; e-mail, internal mail,
direct inquires, and phone calls are handled professionally
FIGURE 5.3 Sample Toolkit Form 5.3: Job Training and Non-Training Recommendations II
(continued)c05.qxd  11/2/06  11:38 AM  Page 123training. E xamples include training operators on the exact steps of a pro-
cedure (such as how to operate a complicated machine), training employ-

ees in how to troubleshoot a process that involves many people performinginterrelated tasks (such as shipping an order with many parts), or train-ing new managers how the ﬁrm’s experts perform unobservable knowl-edge work (such as targeting potential clients). You could document suchinformation-intensive work by following a job and task analysis with morespeciﬁc analysis procedures, such as those described by Swanson (1994).124
Training Requirements: Writing skills, word processing skills, phone system, e-mail, internal
mail systems, organizational skills, interpersonal skills
Non-Training Requirements: Access to computer, e-mail, phone, and internal mail systems

Job Responsibility 5: Track sales force activity
1.Job Task: Review sales reports, compare actual sales with forecast sales
2.Job Task: Review sales expenses and compare with budget
3.Job Task: Charge expenses to appropriate customer or product accounts
4.Job Task: Prepare monthly sales expense report
5.Job Task: Calculate sales bonus and commission compensation
Knowledge: Actual sales, forecast sales, budget allowances, knowledge of customer and
product accounts, compensation rates
Skills/Abilities: Analytical skills, math, wor d processing
Standards: Monthly sales expenses are charged to appropriate accounts; sales reports are
accurate and pr epared monthly; bonuses and commissions ar e accurately calculated by last
Friday of each month

Training Requir ements: Company ﬁ nancial r eports, inter nal and external accounts, math,
word processing
Non-Training Requirements: Timely access to company ﬁnancial records, internal and
exter nal accounts
(continued)c05.qxd  11/2/06  11:38 AM  Page 124• Stay aware of the goal for the job and task analysis and avoid col-
lecting and analyzing data that do not relate to your goal. Notice, forexample, that the case study presented shortly, which focuses only ontraining needs, does not analyze non-training needs.
This chapter has presented the methods and tools required to per-
form a job and task analysis. Take a look at how the process was actu-ally done at Boehringer Mannheim Corporation.

CASE STUDY AND TOOLSJob and T ask Analysis 125
The information for the following case was contributed 
by Mary Keller, HR consultant for Boehringer MannheimCorporation. This case shows how a job and task analysis
was carried out to go beyond a set of recommendations in order to dev elop a training plan for a Quality Control Inspector. The
end product is a position training plan.
Boehringer M annheim Corporation (BMC) is a priv ately 
held worldwide health car e device manufactur er. This bio-
technology company has a div erse portfolio of “in vitro” diag-
nostic test systems, automated clinical chemistr y systems,
heter ogeneous and homogenous testing, therapeutics, and bio -
chemical pr oducts.
BMC pr oducts ar e used b y physicians and life science research

laboratories in many ways, including for diabetes monitoring, patient
sample analysis, and coagulation. BMC-West, located in Pleasanton,California, researches, develops, and manufactures medical diagnostickits. This West Coast company employs about 270 employees.
The Need
As a part of the requirements for obtaining ISO 9001 certiﬁcation,
the company had to meet the standard set by Element 4.19: T raining.GUPTA
0-7879-8272-5ICON 1c05.qxd  11/2/06  11:38 AM  Page 125A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT, SECOND EDITION 126
This element, one of twenty in the standard, required employees to
be qualiﬁed to perform their jobs. Documentation of their qualiﬁca-tion was also needed.
At BMC, this requirement was satisﬁed by putting in place a

training record system, position training plans, updated resumes,and company-wide training programs. All training systems, plans,and programs were strategically linked with the business goals ofthe company.
The Approach
Before examining the job and task analysis appr oach used b y BMC
to develop its position training plans, it is useful to review a couple
of terms that w ere speciﬁ c to BMC’s situation.
•A  position training plan (PTP) is a table that lists the 
knowledge, skills, attitudes, and behaviors needed for an 
individual to per form a job . It also contains the training and
development activities that ar e necessar y for acquiring minimal
competencies.
•A learning channel is a method for acquiring kno wledge,
skills, attitudes, and behaviors. Learning channels ar e broad cate -

gories of employee and manager activities that facilitate learning
and dev elopment. They include the following:
OJT On-the-job training
A Assignment or pr oject
M Mentoring or coaching
W Workshop, class, or seminarC Continuing education
S Self-directed studyc05.qxd  11/2/06  11:38 AM  Page 126Job and T ask Analysis 127
To meet the requirements spelled out by a position training
plan, an employee must complete the training and developmentactivities, show evidence of previous comparable training, ordemonstrate proﬁciency on the job. The PTPs are used as a guideby managers to identify the competencies an employee must haveto perform on the job and the suggested learning channels foracquiring those competencies.
BMC took the following steps in the job and task analysis pro-
cess it used to dev elop its position training plans.

1.The human r esour ce and quality assurance depar tments
identiﬁed the jobs for which PTPs needed to be written. Produc-
tion jobs w ere given priority because these jobs were more likely to
be audited b y the ISO r eview team.
2. Descriptions for the targeted jobs were completed. They
included the r esponsibilities, the scope of decision making, 
and the kno wledge, skills, attitudes, and behaviors for each job
function.
Phase 2: Conduct J ob and T ask Analysis W ork Session
1. Human resource consultants met with managers and super-
visors in small groups to explain the function of the PTPs and howthey would be developed.
2. The following process was used to develop the PTPs:
•Managers worked primarily on the PTPs for the jobs of
persons r eporting to them.
• Each knowledge, skill, and ability (KSA) from the job
description was listed on the PTP .

•Managers then added to and r eﬁned the KSAs.c05.qxd  11/2/06  11:38 AM  Page 127CONCLUSION
Job and task analysis is a powerful tool that HRD and HPT practitioners
can use to develop workforce potential. The information obtained fromthis process can serve as an important link in the evolution of manyother related human development endeavors.A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT, SECOND EDITION 128
• One or more learning channels were listed next to each
KSA, which permitted ﬂexibility in planning for acquiring
the new skill or knowledge and at the same time acknowl-
edged that formal workshops or classes were not alwaysthe best way to acquire a skill.
• Comments were added (for example, a ﬁrm deadline for
meeting a certain training requirement was stated).
• The human resources department reviewed the draft PTPs

and issued ﬁ nal appr ovals.
Phase 3: Dev elop and Present Recommendations
and a J ob Training Plan
1.Managers and the human r esour ces depar tment signed the
ﬁnal PTPs.
2.PTPs were made available to all employees.
A sample PTP for a quality contr ol inspector is sho wn in 
Figure 5.4.
PTPs were issued for ﬁfty-nine nonexempt jobs in the company.
The requirements for Element 4:19 of ISO 9001 were met. Job
descriptions, PTPs, managers’ requirements for job performance,and the training needed to develop the requisite skills for a jobwere ﬁrmly and logically linked.c05.qxd  11/2/06  11:38 AM  Page 128A job and task analysis is particularly useful in industries where jobs

are highly technical or specialized. Many state and federal agencies, suchas the U.S. Departments of Defense and Labor, have used the methodto develop standardized training requirements for their employees.
This chapter has described a job and task analysis approach to needs
assessment. It has established a context for the process by deﬁning keyterms and concepts, describing the writing of job task statements andstandards, and reviewing the steps in the process. The case described abiotechnology company’s experience with the analysis process and its out-comes. The next chapter presents details on undertaking a competency-based assessment.Job and T ask Analysis 129c05.qxd  11/2/06  11:38 AM  Page 129130
DEPARTMENT: OPERATIONS, QA/QC
Knowledge
Training/Education Learning ChannelComments
High school or equivalent C
Basic understanding of GMPs and their OJT, W, C, M
application to the job
Advanced working knowledge of critical and OJT, A, M Demonstrates independent judgment.

noncritical chemical inspections Resolves problems and makes decisions and
recommendations within the advanced scope of
inspection.
Advanced working knowledge of packaging OJT, A, M
materials inspection
line, ﬁlling line, and labeling line clearance
List what is required in each of these areas for 
minimal competence in performing the job:
Knowledge Approved by: Date:
•Business
•Areas of Expertise HR Approval: Date:
FIGURE 5.4Quality Control Inspector Position Training Planc05.qxd  11/2/06  11:38 AM  Page 130SIX
PURPOSE
This chapter will enable you to accomplish the following tasks:
• Determine the purpose of a competency-based needs 
•Decide when to use the appr oach.
•Identify the beneﬁ ts and drawbacks of the appr oach.

• Recognize critical success factors for performing a competency-
based needs assessment.
•Explain key terms, such as competency dictionar y, core 
cluster , competency model, and individual lear ning develop-
ment plan.
• Identify ﬁve phases for conducting a competency-based needs
•Examine how a competency-based needs assessment was per-
formed at Midsize Community Savings Bank.
131Competency-Based
Needs Assessmentc06.qxd  11/2/06  11:39 AM  Page 131RELATED TOOLKIT JOB AIDS
The following job aids for use with the material in this chapter are avail-
able in the Toolkit section of the book:
• Competency Project Plan Worksheet
• Competency Interview Worksheet• Competency Dictionary Worksheet• Competency Model Worksheet• Individual Learning Development Plan
OVERVIEW

OVERVIEW
As a pr ofessional, y ou must be able to communicate and interact effec -
tively with peers, supervisors, and internal and external customers. As a
manager, you must be able to lead, solve problems, and act decisively.As a fr ont-line super visor, you must be able to assume ownership of
customer-service problems. A competency is a knowledge, skill, atti-
tude, or behavior that enables a person to perform effectively the activ-ities of a giv en occupation or to function to the standar ds expected in
employment (International Board of Standards for T raining, Perfor-
mance, and Instruction
®, 2005).
Competencies and competency assessment were introduced by psy-
chologists Robert White (1959), David McClelland (1973), and Spencerand S pencer (1993). McLagan (1980) observed, “Without clear com-

petency criteria, recruiters select, managers manage, trainers train, and
career planners plan to different (and sometimes even conﬂicting) imagesof the capabilities required to do a job” (p. 23). Today many companies,such as General Electric, Digital Equipment Corporation, the WaltDisney Company, and Hallmark Cards, have developed competencymodels for improving managerial and organizational performance.
The purposes of a competency-based needs assessment are as follows:A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT, SECOND EDITION 132c06.qxd  11/2/06  11:39 AM  Page 132• Identify the competencies necessary for superior job performance.
• Create a composite picture or best-practice model of the compe-
tencies necessary for a particular job function or functions.

• Deﬁne incompetence and determine the knowledge, skills,
attitudes, and behaviors that should be avoided for optimumperformance.
In a competency-based approach, the focal point is the person, or
performer. A competency-based needs assessment seeks to identify theknowledge, skills, attitudes, and behaviors the performer needs in orderto excel in a job.
The time needed to complete a competency study varies. Although
some studies take a fe w months to complete, others take sev eral y ears.
The amount of time needed depends on the project’s scope and level of
complexity.
When to Use
A competency-based approach is most effective under the following
circumstances:
•When competencies for management, super visory, or pr ofessional jobs
must be identiﬁ ed.In some cases, upper management may demand

that competencies be identiﬁed. In other cases, you, as the analyst,may feel that a competency appr oach is warranted.
•
When a cr edible system or “ template ” must be dev eloped for recruiting,
hiring, developing, and promoting individuals within speciﬁc jobs
(Boyatzis, 1982). The competency approach can aid in creating
needed job speciﬁ cations.
•When the competencies for a particular professional group must 
be examined across many different organizations and even manydifferent cultures and nations.
In some cases, organizations thatCompetency-Based Needs Assessment 133c06.qxd  11/2/06  11:39 AM  Page 133develop training programs for speciﬁc professional groups will use
a competency approach.
The beneﬁts of a competency-based needs assessment are as follows:

• It establishes the qualities or characteristics that distinguish aver-
age from exemplary performance.
• It provides in-depth information about current and future predic-
tors of job per formance.
• It helps to increase job satisfaction because people have a clear
vision of what is expected of them.
• It can be used to create standardized training and development
programs.
•It can be used to develop standards and assessments for certiﬁcation.
The approach has several limitations:
• It is time-consuming because it requires the involvement of many
people within an organization, including managers and seniormanagers, and occasionally such external agencies as r egulators
and customers.
• It is costly to implement.• It requires good project management skills.
Several factors are essential to the success of a project (Grifﬁths, 1997):

• Competencies must produce outcomes that are consistent with the
needs and goals of an organization.A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT, SECOND EDITION 134c06.qxd  11/2/06  11:39 AM  Page 134• There must be a sponsor or driver who can leverage a project.
• Users must have ownership, that is, people must recognize what is
in it for them.
• The model must be simple enough that people can easily access
and use it.
• The model must be ﬂexible so it can complement existing perfor-
mance management systems within an organization.
Before outlining the steps for doing a competency-based needs assess-
ment, let us review a few terms that are used in this chapter.
Competency is knowledge, skills, attitudes, or behaviors that enable

one to perform the activities of a given occupation or function to thestandar ds expected in emplo yment. This kno wledge or these skills, atti -
tudes, or behaviors should be observable and measurable. That is, you
and others should be able, for example, to test the person ’s kno wledge,
obser ve the person per forming the skills, or determine the person ’s atti-
tude through some sort of assessment.
A 
performance statement is a detailed explanation of the activities that
are summariz ed in a competency statement (Richey , Fields, & F oxon,
2001), but it is not simply a list of tasks. For example, one of the instruc-
tional design competencies is, “Communicate effectiv ely in visual, oral,
and written form,” and an associated per formance statement is, “ Write
and edit text to pr oduce messages that are clear, concise, and grammat-

ically corr ect” (Richey, Fields, & Foxon, 2001, p. 46). In many cases,
a single competency consists of certain knowledge, skills, attitudes, and
behaviors. The performance statement can provide greater clarity aboutthe speciﬁcs of the larger competency.
Domain is a cluster of related competencies grouped together under
a broad dimension. For example, leadership as a domain might consistof such competencies as delegation, coaching, and team building.
A 
competency model organizes “identiﬁed competencies into a con-
ceptual framework that enables the people in an organization to under-stand, talk about, and apply the competencies” (Marrelli, 1998, p. 10).Competency-Based Needs Assessment 135c06.qxd  11/2/06  11:39 AM  Page 135A competency model can focus on one job function (for example, sales

manager), a job family (such as sales associate, sales manager, or salesexecutive), or multiple job families (for instance, sales, production, orresearch and development).
A 
competency dictionary is an organized list of deﬁnitions for individual
competencies. For example, the deﬁnition of the competency prospect-
ingfor salespeople might read, “Evaluates current and future market con-
ditions and uses this information to develop sales projections and goals.”
An individual learning development plan shows the learning activi-
ties, support, resources, success indicators, and measures for improvinga person’s performance.
PHASES OF A COMPETENCY NEEDS ASSESSMENT
Various scholars hav e offer ed appr oaches for conducting a competency
needs assessment. There are two main approaches:
1.Critical incident and behavioral ev ent interviewing (Bergmann,
Hurson, & Russ-Eft, 1999; Flanagan, 1954; McClelland, 1973;
Russ-Eft, 2004; Spencer & Spencer, 1993)

2.Expert dev elopment and v alidation (Klein, S pector , Grabowski, &
de la Teja, 2004; Richey, Fields, & Foxon, 2001; Rothwell, 1996)
Although both appr oaches focus on the kno wledge, skills, attitudes,
and behaviors that people must have to perform a given occupation or
job function, they differ in some aspects. Readers who are interestedin comparing the approaches are invited to check out the referenceslisted abo ve.
The following are the phases for the ﬁrst approach.
Phase 1: Develop a project plan
1.Establish parameters
2.Identify key players
3.Develop wor k planA PRACTICAL GUIDE TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT, SECOND EDITION 136c06.qxd  11/2/06  11:39 AM  Page 136Phase 2: Conduct behavioral interviews
1.Obtain preliminary information
2.Obtain behavioral information
3.Analyze behavioral information

Phase 3: Construct competency model
1.Create competency dictionary
2.Create competency model
Phase 4: Assess gaps
1.Identify gaps
2.Analyze results
Phase 5: I mplement model
Phase 1: Develop a Project Plan
This phase involves reﬁning the scope and objectives for a project, cre-
ating a project team, and establishing a project management structure.
Step 1: Establish Parameters
First, it is essential to determine the focus of the competency model and
deﬁne ho w it will be used. This is usually done b y conducting one-on-
one interviews with senior management. The following questions can
be asked during these interviews:
• What is the purpose of the competency study?
• How will the competency study meet the business needs of the
organization?Competency-Based Needs Assessment 137c06.qxd  11/2/06  11:39 AM  Page 137• How many competency models must be created? For example, will

a model be needed for a job function, such as sales manager; a jobfamily, such as sales associate, sales manager, or sales executive; ormultiple job families, such as sales, production, and research anddevelopment?
• For what purposes will the competency models be used? For exam-
ple, will they be used for recruiting, hiring, training, performancemanagement, or career planning?
• What resources of time, personnel, and budget are available for
this effort?
• What additional constraints are anticipated, such as deadlines or
input from external customers?
Step 2: Identify Key Players
After project parameters are established, identify the people who will
participate in the project. Most small to medium-sized projects requirea sponsor , a group of high performers, the target audience, a human

resource manager, ﬁeld personnel, and one or more training profes-sionals. Large-scale projects may also require a steering committee andproject liaison person to coor dinate and administer a pr oject. S ubject-
matter exper ts are required when the job content for developing a com-
petency model is highly technical and complex terms must be translated.
High performers are the main source of information about the
behaviors and actions that ar e necessar y to do a job successfully. High
performers ar e people who
• Consistently exceed expectations and achieve “very good” to
“excellent” ratings on company performance reviews
• Consistently meet or exceed business and unit objectives• Are informally labeled “masters” or experts by their peers and
managers

managers
• Are sought for their knowledge of or expertise in a particular subjectA PRACTICAL GUIDE TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT, SECOND EDITION 138c06.qxd  11/2/06  11:39 AM  Page 138• Are respected by others, which is particularly important in organi-
zations in which close teamwork is necessary
Usually human resource personnel and managers can identify high per-
formers within an organization.
Step 3: Develop Work Plan
After key players have been identiﬁed and their availability has been
determined, the next step is to develop a work plan. Figure 6.1 shows asample high-level work plan for two hundred people. A form to scopeout tasks in more detail can be found in Toolkit Form 6.1.
After the project plan is developed and approved, it is time to begin
the data-collection process.
Phase 2: Conduct Beha vioral Interviews

The next step involves gathering data to build a competency model.
Several of the data-collection methods described in Chapter Three, 
such as surveys, individual interviews, focus groups, and observations,can be used.
The main adv antage of sur veys is that, once they ar e designed, they
can easily be used to collect data fr om many differ ent people in many dif-
ferent locations. H owever, such problems as low response rate or the lack
of detailed behavioral information could diminish their effectiv eness.
The main adv antage of individual inter views is that detailed infor-
mation can be gather ed, par ticularly when the interviewer has the oppor-
tunity to probe and further clarify responses. However, conducting
individual interviews requires a great deal of time and effort.
The main advantage of focus-group interviews is that information

from many different people can be gathered at one time. However, neg-ative group dynamics could interfere with the data-collection effort. Fur-thermore, focus groups may not produce a variety of views. Excellentfacilitation skills and the ability to develop and ask effective questionsare important prerequisites for conducting focus group interviews.Competency-Based Needs Assessment 139c06.qxd  11/2/06  11:39 AM  Page 139FIGURE 6.1Competency-Based Needs Assessment Project Plan
Fig 04.01□
Gupta Apractical Guide to Needs Assessment□
Jossey Bass Pub — Richard Sheppard IllustrationTask Name
Assemble Project TeamJanuary FebruarySchedule of Events - Overview (Sample)
March April May June July
Orient Project Team
Prepare Interview Form
Conduct Interviews
Analyze Interview Data

Develop Competency Dictionary
Develop Competency Model
Hold Steering Committee Meeting
Design Assessment Instrument
Administer Assessment Instrument
Analyze Results
Prepare Summary
Return Survey to Managers/Employees
Prepare Manager Briefing
Hold Manager/Employee Meeting
Send Copy of Plan to Human Resources1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17(  )(  )c06.qxd  11/2/06  11:39 AM  Page 140The technique described in this chapter for using behavioral inter-
views—with individuals or groups—to gather the very speciﬁc behav-ioral information for building a competency model is adapted fromFlanagan’s (1954, 1974) Critical Incident Method. The basic purposeof behavioral interviews is to obtain two types of information frominterviewees:
• Background and job-related information

• Information about what high performers do (or do not do) that
makes them successful and what low performers do (or do not do)that makes them fail
There are two steps to take to obtain both types of data.
Step 1: Obta in Preliminary Information
In the beginning, it is essential to establish the right tone for an inter -
view. Techniques for doing this include building rapport and main-
taining a neutral attitude. Additional guidelines for preparing andconducting inter views ar e given in Chapter Three. Figure 6.2 shows a
sample script you can use to start developing an actual interview. Note
that the sample script is appropriate for one-on-one interviews. How-ever, you could modify it and use it for group interviews and surveys.
After y ou complete this pr eliminar y intr oduction, y ou can giv e
participants the opportunity to talk about themselves and their job
responsibilities.
Step 2: Obtain Behavioral Information

The follo wing sample questions may be used to obtain both job-r elated
and behavioral information. For a sample interview worksheet, see
Toolkit Form 6.2 in the Toolkit section of the book.
1.What are the ﬁve main responsibilities of your job? (Probe for
quantiﬁable results such as, “Meet sales quota every quarter.”)Competency-Based Needs Assessment 141c06.qxd  11/2/06  11:39 AM  Page 1412.What skills and abilities do you need to accomplish each of these
responsibilities? (Probe for quantiﬁable behaviors and actions suchas, “M ake ﬁ ve new cold calls per month.”)
3.What other skills and abilities do you require to make you success-
ful in y our job? (P robe for behaviors and actions such as, “B e
courteous to customers.”)A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT, SECOND EDITION 142

Thank you for agreeing to participate in this study. As mentioned in the letter you
received last week, we are asking good performers to help us conduct a [name of
job] competency study. The purpose of the study is to help [name of company]
identify the competencies necessary for success in a [name of job] position.
We will be asking you and others what it takes to be successful in this position and
what might result in failure. [Company name] would like to draw on your insights,as well as the insights of others like you, to create a best-practice model for [name
of position].
This model will be used in two ways. First, we will use it to improve the hiring and
selection process for [name of position]. We will use the competency criteria identi-
ﬁed in this study to select people who are most likely to succeed in the job.

Second, we will use the model to create a training program for [name of position].
We will also develop individualized development programs to advance the skills of
[name of position]. Management is committed to this ver y impor tant pr oject.
The format for collecting the information is fairly straightforward. During our
interview, I will ask you to think about several critical incidents or speciﬁ c situa-
tions that occurred during your work career in [name of ﬁeld]. Then I will ask you
to tell me two types of stories: those that led to the major successes you have
experienced and those that led to unsuccessful outcomes. Please note that theinformation you provide will be analyzed along with that provided by other people.
No individual names will be included, and no speciﬁ c persons will be identiﬁ ed.

Before we begin, I wonder if you have any questions or concerns.Now, before we discuss any of these incidents, I’d like to learn a little about you
and your job.
FIGURE 6.2 Sample Script for a Behavioral Interview
Source: Adapted from Competence at Work by Lyle M. Spencer and Signe M. Spencer, 
© 1993 by John Wiley and Sons, Inc. Used by permission of John Wiley and Sons, Inc.c06.qxd  11/2/06  11:39 AM  Page 1424.For the next group of questions, think about a speciﬁc time [in the
past week, month, or year] when you or someone else experiencedsuccess as a [position].
What was the context? When did it happen? Who was involved?
(Probe for behaviors and actions such as, “Took the initiative,made quick decisions, listened carefully.”)
What did you feel or think? (Probe for behaviors and actions
such as, “I felt empowered and handled the problem myself.”)

What did you say? Why were these actions and words effective?
(Probe for behaviors and actions, such as, “I took the initiativeand called to authorize the overdue shipment of several cartonsof tape. This pleased the customer.”)
What w ere the r esults? What signiﬁ cance does this ev ent have?
(Probe for behaviors and actions, such as, “I learned that by 
acting quickly and decisiv ely, I saved the company from losing a
customer .”)
5.For the next group of questions think about a speciﬁc time [in the
past week, month, or year] when you or someone else experiencedfailur e as a [position].
(Probe for behaviors and actions such as, “F ailed to take the ini -
tiativ e, could not decide, did not listen carefully.”)

such as, “I felt guilty, disappointed, or angry.”)
What did y ou say? Why w ere these actions and words ineffec-
tive? (Probe for behaviors and actions, such as, “I failed to solve
the customer’s problem. He became angry and upset.”)
What were the results? What signiﬁcance does this event 
have? (Probe for behaviors and actions, such as, “I lost a goodcustomer.”)Competency-Based Needs Assessment 143c06.qxd  11/2/06  11:39 AM  Page 143Questions 4 and 5 can be repeated to obtain additional critical
incidents.
Most interviews take between two and two-and-a-half hours to com-
plete. Learning to develop effective follow-up questions during an inter-view takes time and experience. There is no comprehensive list that isappropriate for all interviews. However, here are a few suggestedprompts:

• Describe for me . . .
• Tell me about a time when . . .• Tell me about a situation that . . .•Can y ou be mor e speciﬁc about . . . ?
• Can you give me an example of . . . ?
• What speciﬁcally happened next?•What was y our response?
• What did you think when . . . happened?
• When you said . . . , what did you mean?•I’d like to hear more about . . .
Pitfalls to A void
Key to successful outcomes is avoiding the following pitfalls:
•Using the wrong questions. For example, asking “why” questions
that r equire interviewees to justify, explain, or rationalize their
behavior or asking leading questions.
•Encour aging guesses. For example, asking inter viewees to guess or
anticipate their future actions or reactions or asking them to guess
or anticipate how others might act or react.A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT, SECOND EDITION 144c06.qxd  11/2/06  11:39 AM  Page 144•Using ineffective prompts. For example, encouraging responses

through your body language, intonations, or comments, or inac-curately paraphrasing an interviewee’s responses and interruptingthe interviewee with questions.
•
Making assumptions. For example, jumping to conclusions without
knowing the facts or anticipating an interviewee’s next words (suchas completing sentences for the interviewee).
•
Interrupting.
Step 3: Analyze Behavioral Information
To analyze the incidents, you can follow the guidelines set forth by
Flanagan (1954, 1974). These include the following:
1.Select a frame of reference. For example, later in the chapter we
provide sample forms for a competency assessment on the job cat-egory “sales performance.” The title serves as a frame of reference
for distinguishing this competency model from one created for the

job category “customer service.” We recognize that in some orga-nizations sales and customer ser vice are aspects of the same job
category. For these organizations, the frame of reference could beexpanded to “sales and customer service.”
2.Sort a sample of incidents into a few categories according to the
selected frame of reference.
3.Develop tentative headings for major categories, for example,
leadership and knowledge of the industry.
4.Sort additional incidents into these major categories and dev elop
subcategories as needed. For example, under the leadership cate-
gory you might identify coaching and vision.
5.Prepare tentative deﬁnitions for major categories, including gen-

eral statements about each category. For example, the deﬁnitionCompetency-Based Needs Assessment 145c06.qxd  11/2/06  11:39 AM  Page 145for leadership could read, “Uses the company vision to help others
achieve personal and organizational goals.”
6.Decide on the level of speciﬁcity or generality to be used. For
example, you could decide whether to group listening skills with
interpersonal to reduce the number of major categories.
7.Redeﬁne major categories and subcategories as needed while con-
tinuing to classify incidents.
8.After all incidents have been classiﬁed, review deﬁnitions and
revise where needed.
9.Arrange to hav e exper ts in the ﬁ eld or a select gr oup of inter -
viewees complete an independent check of the classiﬁcation
system.
Phase 3: Construct Competency Model

system.
The analyzed data from the previous step results in a preliminary draft
of a competency model. You may want to obtain an independent check
of it and enlist the client and the stakeholders in considering its applic -
ability to the organization before you complete the two steps of thisphase: create a competency dictionary and create a competency model.
Step 1: Create Competency Dictionary
Review and edit deﬁnitions that were created in the previous phase until
you are satisﬁed with them. Finally, write an overall statement thatdescribes each dimension. Figure 6.3 shows Toolkit Form 6.3, theCompetency D ictionary Worksheet, ﬁlled out with information for
a sales position. T wo dimensions, 
leadership and interpersonal, are shown

in the example. The description for the dimension leadership is, “Uses
the company vision to help others achiev e personal and organiza-
tional goals.” The description for the dimension interpersonal is, “Proj-
ects an attitude that is positive, perceptive, and sensitive to audienceneeds.”A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT, SECOND EDITION 146c06.qxd  11/2/06  11:39 AM  Page 146Step 2: Crea te Competency Model
The model is essentially a high-level depiction of the dimensions and
competencies contained in the dictionary. Note that certain positionsrequire certain competencies while others require different competen-cies. Figure 6.4 shows a sample competency model for the job family
sales using Toolkit Form 6.4. After the ﬁrst draft of the competency

model has been created, obtain approval from senior management and the human resources department. If necessary, make additionalchanges to the dictionary and the model based on their feedback. Pre-pare a ﬁnal copy.147
TOOLKIT FORM 6.3 Competency Dictionary—Sales
1.Leadership: Uses the company vision to help others achieve personal and organizational
goals.
Competencies/Core Clusters Deﬁnitions
Coaching Assists others to advance to their knowledge and skills
by providing advice, encouragement, and feedback.
Inﬂuencing Uses authority and personal charisma to gain support
and commitment for goals.
Vision Recognizes future opportunities for the organization
and establishes long-term goals to maximize theirpotential.
2.Interpersonal: Pr ojects an attitude that is positive, per ceptive, and sensitive to 
audience needs.
Competencies/Cor e Clusters Deﬁnitions

Articulation Expresses facts and emotions with clarity; generates an
interest in the audience.
Listening Uses active listening skills to understand the audience’ s
point of view and to improve communication.
Self-Awareness Is aware of how his or her personal actions and atti-
tudes af fect others; is per ceptive and understands own
strengths and weaknesses.
FIGURE 6.3 Sample Toolkit Form 6.3: Competency Dictionary Showing Two Domains for a
Sales Position, Three Competencies in Each Domain, and Their Deﬁnitionsc06.qxd  11/2/06  11:39 AM  Page 147148
TOOLKIT FORM 6.4 Competency Model—A Sales Position
Competencies/Core Clusters
Sales Sales Sales 
Dimensions Associate Manager Executive
1. Leadership
Uses the company vision Inﬂuencing Coaching Coaching
to help others achieve Inﬂuencing Inﬂuencingpersonal and Vision
organizational goals.

2. Interpersonal
Projects an attitude that is Articulation Articulation Articulation
positive, perceptive, and  Listening Listening Listeningsensitive to audience needs. Self-awareness Self-awareness Self-awareness
3. Knowledge of the Industry
Maintains an up-to-date Product and Product and Product and 
understanding of the industry service service service by reading industry journals, knowledge knowledge knowledgeattending meetings and Market Market Market 
conventions, and networking. knowledge knowledge knowledge
4. Management
Uses company r esour ces and Decision making Decision making Decision making
personnel to meet or exceed Budget control Budget control
company goals. Stafﬁng Stafﬁng
Team building Team building
5.Sales Skills
Meets or exceeds sales Prospecting

goals by anticipating and Presentation Presentation Presentation
responding to clients’ needs Persuasion Persuasion Persuasion
for services and products. Customer service Customer service Customer service
6. Personal Attributes
Possesses values, attitudes, Initiative Initiative Initiative
qualities, and behavior that are Integrity Integrity Integrityconsistent with the industry and Flexibility Flexibility Flexibility
the organization’s standards.
FIGURE 6.4 Sample Toolkit Form 6.4: Competency Model for a Sales Positionc06.qxd  11/2/06  11:39 AM  Page 148Phase 4: Assess Gaps
When the competency model is complete, you can use it to identify the

gaps in the proﬁciencies of individuals who perform the job functions.It is only after these gaps have been identiﬁed that appropriate inter-ventions can be developed to close them. This phase consists of twosteps: identify gaps and analyze results.
Step 1: Identify Gaps
As explained in Chapter One, a gap is the difference between an actual
condition and an ideal condition, or the difference between what per-formance is and what performance should be. Surveys are an effectivetool for gathering this type of data. You will need to decide who shouldreceive the survey. You may want to involve all of the key players men-tioned earlier or you may want to involve the target group only.
Figure 6.5 shows a simple rating scale that can be used to obtain

information. N ote that in an actual sur vey the competencies that 
were identiﬁ ed in the competency assessment would be listed in the left
column.
Note that the sur vey could use other types of scales, such as “How
impor tant is this competency for success on the job? ” or “H ow fre-
quently do y ou do this competency? ” or both.
Step 2: Analyze Results
After the sur veys hav e been distributed and r eturned, data can be ana-
lyzed by using one of the software packages that are available for this
purpose, or they can be tabulated by hand. As discussed in ChapterThree, you may want to examine the frequency of responses, a measure
of central tendency (such as the average, median, or mode), and a mea-

sure of variability (such as the standard deviation, the quartile range, orthe range). If you surveyed people from different groups (such as thetop performers and the average performers in the job), you may wantto examine the differences among the groups.Competency-Based Needs Assessment 149c06.qxd  11/2/06  11:39 AM  Page 149A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT, SECOND EDITION 150
SAMPLE SURVEY QUESTIONS
Instructions: On the following rating scale, ﬁll in the bubble that corresponds
most closely to the degree with which you agree or disagree that the statementrepresents a critical part of the job.
Strongly Strongly Not
Disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Agree Applicable
Coaching:
Assists others
in advancing 
their 
knowledge and skills 
by providing 
advice, en-couragement,
and feedback.
Inﬂuencing:
Uses authority
and personal charisma to gain suppor t 
and 
commitment to goals.•• •••••••• ••
•• •••••••• ••

and 
FIGURE 6.5 Sample R ating Scale
Reviewing an actual competency assessment could provide
useful insights for your project. Russ-Eft (2004) described a
competency assessment that inv olved 460 customer ser vice
providers from companies in North America, Europe, and Asia.
GUPTA
0-7879-8272-5ICON 2c06.qxd  11/2/06  11:39 AM  Page 150Phase 5: Implement Model
Competency models have many applications. They can be used to cre-
ate individual development plans and to develop selection, hiring, andother performance-management systems. Here we discuss one appli-cation: individualized learning development plans.
The ﬁrst step in developing individualized learning development

plans is to share the employees’ completed surveys with managers. Aftermanagers receive a copy of the survey results, a brief meeting can be heldwith them to explain how to develop and use learning developmentplans. During this meeting, copies of the Toolkit Form 6.5, IndividualLearning Development Plan, can also be distributed. Managers canadapt the following agenda to conduct a meeting with employees:
1.Review individual areas of strengths and identify opportunities 
for development.
2.Identify the support and resources required to facilitate
3.Develop an action plan that best meets the needs of the learners.
4.Create a schedule for implementing learning and dev elopment
activities.
5.Discuss a follow-up plan.
After a competency model has been implemented, results can be

monitored at both the organizational and individual levels. At the indi-vidual lev el, managers can conduct quarterly or annual progress checks
with their employees. At the organizational level, the impact of the
assessment can be measured using other data, such as client satisfactionsurveys or reorders or whatever might be relevant to the employees.
The preceding sections presented the methods and tools for con-
ducting a competency-based assessment. Now it is time to see how itwas actually done at Midsize Community Savings Bank.Competency-Based Needs Assessment 151c06.qxd  11/2/06  11:39 AM  Page 151A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT, SECOND EDITION 152
The information for this case was contributed by Anne
Marie Dyckman, director of human resources at MidsizeCommunity Savings Bank. Although most of the case

events are real, the name of the bank is ﬁctitious. The goal of thecase study was to develop a competency model for branch man-agers. The key tools shown here are the competency dictionary andthe competency model. The case study shows that the compe-tency-based approach to needs assessment can be implementedﬂexibly. For example, the manager’s skills in this case were assessedafter the competency model was implemented.
Midsize Community Savings Bank is a Federal Deposit Insur-
ance Commission (FDIC) state-chartered bank with more than $1billion in assets. H istorically a mortgage bank, it later changed to
commercial lending activities. The bank has eighteen branch loca-tions, each headed by a branch manager. Only sixteen branchmanagers participated in the competency study.
The Need

The Need
The pr esident of the bank r ecogniz ed that branch managers
requir ed a cor e set of competencies in or der to be effectiv e. He also
recognized that managers possessed these competencies, but to dif-
fering degr ees. F urther, the bank president wanted to establish a
standardized method for selecting new candidates for the branch
manager position.
A competency needs assessment was expected to pr ovide a
model of best practices for branch managers. The model wouldalso serve as a resource for creating a training curriculum and as anaid for senior management in making better choices when hiringnew candidates.GUPTA
0-7879-8272-5ICON 1c06.qxd  11/2/06  11:39 AM  Page 152Competency-Based Needs Assessment 153
The project-planning and competency-modeling processes for

Midsize Community Savings Bank were divided into four phases:
Phase 2: Conduct behavioral interviewsPhase 3: Construct the competency model
Phase 4: Implement the model
1.The HR director met with the bank president and senior
managers to determine ho w the project ﬁt with the business goals
and strategies. It was decided that the HR director would workwith management to determine business issues and relevantmeasures.
2.The HR director developed a project plan that included the
size, scope, responsibilities, and time that would be needed tocomplete the project.
Phase 2: Conduct Beha vioral Inter views
1.The pr esident of the bank and the HR dir ector identiﬁ ed the
best possible sources of interview data. They also identiﬁed the best

candidates for the competency study .
2.The HR director interviewed selected individuals and asked
them to provide examples from their past that showed a speciﬁctime when a skill or behavior was used. The dir ector obtained a
detailed list of the critical knowledge, skills, attitudes, and behav-
iors that allowed branch managers to succeed.
Phase 3: Construct the Competency Model
The HR director completed the following steps:c06.qxd  11/2/06  11:39 AM  Page 153A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT, SECOND EDITION 154
1.Organized and ordered the interview data by identifying
similarities and patterns in behavioral data
2.Prepared a draft of the completed template
3.Edited the content and grouped common themes
4.Created competency deﬁnitions and developed a compe-
tency dictionary (as shown later in the chapter)

5.Created the ﬁrst draft of the competency model
6.Presented the ﬁrst draft of the dictionary and model to
senior management
7.Made appropriate revisions
8.Presented the ﬁnal dictionary and competency model to sen-
ior management (see F igure 6.6 for the branch-manager
competency model)
Primary and secondary competencies for branch managers were
identiﬁed. Primary competencies were considered essential to suc-cess on the job. They included self-conﬁdence, initiative, achieve-ment orientation, conceptual thinking, creative thinking, soundbusiness understanding, customer-service orientation, and inter-personal understanding. Secondary competencies were consideredimportant to the job. They included information seeking, leader-ship, teamwork, and cooperation.
Implement Model

A proﬁle of a successful branch manager was developed. This pro-
ﬁle served as the basis for a new selection process. Using a ﬁve-itemrating scale ranging from “very strong evidence skill is not present”to “very strong evidence skill is present,” potential candidatescould be assessed on their ability to perform effectively in a branchmanager position.
The competency model also served as the basis for a perfor-
mance appraisal system that used a seven-item Likert-type scaleranging from 1 = fails to 7 = exceeds. In addition, the model wasused to establish a framework for training.c06.qxd  11/2/06  11:39 AM  Page 154CONCLUSION
Organizations must hav e ways to maximize human capital by identi-
fying and closing gaps in performance. Performance gaps can be mea-sured more easily when an ideal model exists.
The competency-based appr oach helps an organization deﬁne the

knowledge, skills, attitudes, and behaviors necessary for people to per-form efﬁciently in their jobs. The results can be applied in many waysto achieve higher levels of performance. This chapter has shown howindividual learning dev elopment plans can be created after a compe-
tency model has been built. The case study described ho w a competency-
based needs assessment was used to impr ove candidate selection, the
performance appraisal system, and training for new and existing man-
agers in a bank.
The chapter described a pr ocess for identifying the competencies
necessary for people to perform successfully in their jobs. The focus was
on the ways an individual per formed in his or job . In the next chapter ,
on strategic needs assessment, the focus changes to examining the larger

organization as well as the individuals within that organization.Competency-Based Needs Assessment 155
Dimensions Competencies
1. Personal Self-conﬁdence Initiative Achievement
orientation
2. Thinking Conceptual Information Creative 
thinking seeking thinking
3. Technical Sound 
business 
understanding
4.Relational Customer Leadership Interpersonal Teamwork 
service understanding and 
orientation cooperation
FIGURE 6.6 Competency Model: Branch Managerc06.qxd  11/2/06  11:39 AM  Page 155c06.qxd  11/2/06  11:39 AM  Page 156SEVEN
PURPOSE
• Describe the purpose of a strategic needs assessment.
• Recognize when to use the approach.
•Identify the beneﬁts and drawbacks of the approach.
• Recognize critical success factors for performing a strategic needs

•Identify ﬁ ve phases for conducting a strategic needs assessment.
•Examine how a strategic needs assessment was performed at the
ﬁctitious Company XYZ.
RELATED T OOLKIT JOB AIDS
157Strategic Needs
Assessmentc07.qxd  11/2/06  11:41 AM  Page 157• Business Issues Worksheet
• Fisher’s Models of Organizational Performance Worksheet• Process Map Worksheet• Gap Analysis Worksheet• Change Readiness Checklist• Performance Improvement Planner
OVERVIEW
Organizational leaders use strategic thinking and planning to anticipate
issues and situations so they can shape them and gain competitive advan-tage. E very organization faces a variety of performance problems dur-

ing the course of its business cycle. The scope and magnitude of these
performance problems differ, but when the problems affect core busi-ness pr ocesses, using quick-ﬁ x solutions to close performance gaps can
be harmful. In such situations, strategic interventions are necessary.
Before implementing a strategic intervention to improve perfor-
mance, it is essential to examine per formance gaps within the context
of the marketplace and the total business operation. Only then canappropriate solutions be prescribed and a road map for closing the gapsbe followed.
A strategic needs assessment examines the internal and external fac -
tors that affect performance within the context of an organization’s busi-ness strategy and identiﬁes the gaps between the current and desiredconditions. Closing these gaps is critical for an organization ’s long-term

success.
While many people view strategic needs assessment as a systematic
approach for determining the strategic or operational needs of a busi -
ness ﬁrm, it can also be used in other types of organizations, such as
an organizational unit, a nonproﬁt organization, a country, a commu-nity, or an inter organizational entity .A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT, SECOND EDITION 158c07.qxd  11/2/06  11:41 AM  Page 158Implementing a strategic needs assessment requires partnership
between the analyst who implements the needs assessment and the clientwho is responsible for business results. What does the analyst bring tothe partnership? Credibility, trust, HRD and HPT knowledge and skills,and a deep knowledge of the business (Robinson & Robinson, 2006).
When to Use
A strategic needs assessment is most effective in the following situations:
•When per formance impr ovement needs are linked to the business
strategy of an organization

When to Use
• When the organization is undertaking long-term performance
improvement or organizational change initiatives
• When processes that do not add value to an organization must be
identiﬁed
Beneﬁ ts and Dra wbacks
Doing a strategic needs assessment offers many beneﬁts. For example,
it allows an organization to do the following:
• Develop long-term solutions to existing performance problems or
new performance needs.
•Solve problems that affect core business processes, such as product
development, order processing, or service delivery.
The main drawbacks to the appr oach are as follows:
• It can be time-intensive.
• It often requires participation by many people.•It might be costly .Strategic Needs Assessment 159c07.qxd  11/2/06  11:41 AM  Page 159• It requires the analyst to use advanced organization development

skills.
The success of a strategically focused project depends on several factors:
• Sponsorship from executive management
• Proactive participation of senior and line managers• Access to resources such as customers, suppliers, and business
resources
• Organizational readiness to change
Following ar e a few terms that will be used in the chapter:
•
Mission: A broad statement describing an organization’s future
plans and directions
•Business goal: A statement describing a measur e or target that will
be achieved during a certain period, for example: “$100 billion inrevenue by the year 2010”
•
Business unit: A department or function within an organization,
such as production or operations
•Business pr ocess: A series of activities that pr ovide products, deliver
services, or manage resources, such as handling accounts receivable
within the ﬁnance business unit
•Process map: A graphic illustration of the steps or activities that are

performed in a business process (see the example in Figure 7.6later in this chapter)
•
Process boundar y:An arbitrar y “line ” that sho ws wher e a business
process begins and where it ends, such as the process boundary for
an order management process that begins when the customer-service unit sends a mail or der and ends when a pr oduct is
received by a customerA PRACTICAL GUIDE TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT, SECOND EDITION 160c07.qxd  11/2/06  11:41 AM  Page 160•Performance improvement planner: A blueprint that documents all
the performance-improvement projects that must be undertakento improve the overall effectiveness of an organization 
KEY PHASES
A strategic needs assessment has ﬁve phases:
Phase 1: G ather pr eliminar y information about the situation
Phase 2: Examine external environment

KEY PHASES
Phase 3: Examine internal environment
1.Validate business strategy
2.Document curr ent performance
3.Identify causes of per formance gaps
Phase 4: Chart future environmentPhase 5: Develop performance improvement plan
1.Assess readiness for change
2.Select interventions
In the wor kplace, some organizations hav e compr ehensiv e and use -
ful strategic plans and other organizations hav e not y et completed their
plans. B ecause a strategic needs assessment r elies on a thorough under-
standing of the organization ’s strategy, the following discussion of the
phases and the steps within them includes background information on
strategic planning.
Phase 1: Gather Preliminary Information
About the Situation
The purpose of this phase is to develop a better understanding of a cur-

rent or futur e per formance need. For example, a 30 percent increase
in customer complaints would indicate that a current problem exists. AStrategic Needs Assessment 161c07.qxd  11/2/06  11:41 AM  Page 161mandate from senior management stating that a company’s workforce
must be prepared for the demographic changes that will occur by 2012would indicate a future performance need.
During this phase, it is not necessary to seek information from too

many people. Discussions with a few key people will provide enoughdata to establish preliminary process boundaries and a deﬁnition of theperformance problem or opportunity. A good ﬁrst action is to conductinterviews with a few senior executives from the involved business unit.Later, the span of inquiry can be widened to include middle manage-ment and ﬁrst-line supervisors. Toolkit Form 7.1 contains an interviewworksheet, The Business Issues Worksheet, that could be used to exam-ine an existing performance problem or to address a future performanceneed. Figure 7.1 offers ﬁve questions from that worksheet.
You can also obtain supporting information from secondary sources,

such as transcripts of conversations with customers. After you completea preliminary analysis, it is important to document your ﬁndings in areport that includes the following elements:
• The background of the problem or need
•The scope of the pr oblem or need
• The performance improvement goals•The evidence examinedA PRACTICAL GUIDE TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT, SECOND EDITION 162
TOOLKIT FORM 7.1 Business Issues Worksheet
• What are the key business issues that must be addressed?
• What are the consequences of not taking action?• Which business processes are currently affected?•What ar e the per formance improvement goals?
•What pr events the achievement of business goals?
FIGURE 7.1 Toolkit Form 7.1: Business Issues Worksheet—Sample Questionsc07.qxd  11/2/06  11:41 AM  Page 162Use the information in the report to plan the remaining phases of
Phase 2: Examine External Environment

Many external factors can affect organizational performance. During
Phase 2, information is collected on external factors, and these data areanalyzed. The purpose of this phase is to
• Identify and isolate external factors affecting a performance need.
•Determine the implications of these external factors.
Porter’s classic (1980) Five Forces model offers a useful framework for
performing this type of analysis in organizations. According to Porter’smodel, organizations are affected by ﬁve forces:
• New competitors who could erode an organization’s proﬁtability
or market share
•Major suppliers or supply chains that could raise costs or contr ol
the availability of products
• Substitute products or services that could cause demand for a
product to fall
•Customers who could switch to other products, thus causing prof-
its to drop
• Competition among industry players

its to drop
Note that organizational units can also face these forces. A full-
ﬂedged ﬁve forces analysis is beyond the scope of this book but, as Figure7.2 sho ws, the model ser ves as a useful frame work for determining the
threats and opportunities that could impede or enhance organizational
performance. It also helps to identify the critical business issues thatmust be consider ed when dev eloping a solution to a per formance oppor-
tunity or need.Strategic Needs Assessment 163c07.qxd  11/2/06  11:41 AM  Page 163A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT, SECOND EDITION 164
GUPTA
0-7879-8272-5Fig. 7.2Threat of New
Entrants
New low-cost players
Diversif ication of
computer industry
Entry of component
suppl iers
Intra-Industry
Rivalry
Increasing pri ce
compet ition
Lack of emphasis
on qua lity
Threat of

Entrants
suppl iers
Rivalry
on qua lity
Threat of
Substitutes
personal computer
industry players
Explosion of
Internet so ftwareCustomers’ Power
Intense price
Frequent sw itching
of suppliers
Eroding loyaltySupplie r Bargai ning
Power
Disappea ring
wholesalers
Stonger compon ent
suppl iers
FIGURE 7.2 Five Forces Model: Consumer Electronics
Source: Adapted with permission of The Free Press, a Division of Simon & Schuster, from
Competitive Strategy: T echniques for Analyzing Industries and Competitors, by Michael E. Porter.
Copyright © 1980 by The Free Press.c07.qxd  11/2/06  11:41 AM  Page 164For example, potential threats to a company in the consumer elec-

tronics industry include new and potential entrants (such as the emer-gence of new technologies), diversiﬁcation of the computer industry,and entry of new suppliers (refer to the top box of Figure 7.2). Simi-larly, price wars, as shown in the box titled “Customers’ Power,” canresult in loss of customers.
Usually, information pertaining to the external forces (that is, the
ﬁve forces) affecting a performance problem or need can be obtainedfrom discussions with the senior leaders of a company. The followingexisting sources can also be used:
• Industry reports
• Industry conferences and proceedings• Business newspapers, such as the 
Wall Street Journal
• Dow Jones Industrial Index
• Specialized trade journals• Market research data•Customer-satisfaction sur veys
•Notes from meetings with customers or suppliers
•In-house sales or purchasing databases

•Secret shoppers
• Dun and Bradstreet reports
• SEC reports
When using the Five Forces model, it is also helpful to remember
that other forces, such as governmental and regulatory restrictions, canaffect a per formance need. For instance, a new regulatory bill can cause
a slowdown in customer purchases that in turn can result in lower prof-
its. As Porter (1980) suggested, these additional factors should be exam-ined within the context of the ﬁve main factors listed earlier.Strategic Needs Assessment 165c07.qxd  11/2/06  11:41 AM  Page 165Phase 3: Examine Internal Environment
Phase 3 provides answers to the questions What is the organization’s com-
petitive strategy given its external environment? Which business processes areaffected by the performance problem or performance need?

petitive strategy given its external environment? Which business processes areaffected by the performance problem or performance need? 
and What are
the performance gaps? Depending on the scope of the performance need,
this phase can take a few days or several months to complete. It has threesteps: validate the business strategy, document current performance, andidentify causes of performance gaps.
Step 1: Validate Business Strategy
Business strategies are the sets of policies, plans, and directions that the
organization uses to achiev e its business goals. They can be found in the
business plan. Figure 7.3 shows an outline for a simple business plan.
The organization’s business strategy sets the direction for learning
and per formance-impr ovement initiatives. Organizational goals and
goals across levels, units, and processes should be aligned (Gephart &
Van Buren, 1996; Rummler & Brache, 1995). Problems often arisewhen ther e is misalignment.

Business plans can be very detailed. For examples, see the business
plans at the U.S. Small Business Administration Web site, http://sba.gov.When r eviewing a business plan, focus your attention on the strategies
and tactics that pertain to your particular project. For example, if you are
seeking to discover reasons for declining production, examine the sec-tion of the business plan that contains production goals. If a businessplan is not available or if the information is dated, you could conductindividual or gr oup interviews with senior executives to obtain these data.
Step 2: Document Current Performance
This step in a strategic needs assessment focuses on documenting, or

mapping, exactly how current performance occurs. The process of doc-umenting the elements and relationships that affect your organization’sparticular need can make obvious the deﬁciencies and discrepancies inthe performance system.A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT, SECOND EDITION 166c07.qxd  11/2/06  11:41 AM  Page 166Figure 7.4 shows sample performance measures that can be used to
document business pr ocess activities during this stage of the analysis. As
the ﬁgure illustrates, the quality of services provided by an accountingunit can be measur ed by the number of err ors per bill. I n the same way ,
customer satisfaction can be measur ed by the number of invoices that
were incorrect. Any deviation from a stated objective is an indication
that a pr oblem exists.
An organization is composed of hundr eds of processes; therefore,

mapping performance is no simple undertaking. However, as Mankins
and S teele (2005) point out, per formance bottlenecks ar e often invisible
to top management. M oreover, without good information about howStrategic Needs Assessment 167
Mission
Become the most powerful and service-oriented retail company.
Become the leader in every global market served by the end of the decade.
Business Goal
Gain 10 percent of market share by the end of the ﬁscal year and 20 percent
of market share by the end of the second ﬁscal year.
Introduce three new lines of consumer products by the end of this ﬁscal year.Reduce the cost of manufacturing our top three products by 30 percent.
Other components of a business plan:
• Critical success factors
•Market analysis

• Competitive analysis• Tactical analysis• Financial analysis including cash ﬂow (actual and projected)•Head count plan
•Proﬁt and loss statement (actual and pr ojected)
• Balance sheet (actual and projected)
FIGURE 7.3 Outline of a Simple Business Planc07.qxd  11/2/06  11:41 AM  Page 167and why poor performance is occurring, top management ﬁnds it virtu-
ally impossible to implement appropriate corrective action.
In a hierar chical organization, some processes cross individual, group,
and organizational levels. Examples include activities that contribute to
high-lev el organization processes (such as product launches that typi-
cally inv olve marketing, product development, and sales), groups that
contribute to the overall organization (such as human resources), andindividuals who contribute to gr oup pr ocesses. S ome pr ocesses occur at

the same lev el but inv olve different aspects of performance, such as a
team accomplishment that also increases its learning and its capacity for
futur e accomplishment.
Many tools ar e available for documenting current performance. Four
that provide especially powerful insights are (1) Organizational Perfor-
mance M odels, (2) the SIPOC diagram, and (3) pr ocess mapping.A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT, SECOND EDITION 168
Customer
Process Cost Quality Time Satisfaction
Accounting/ Bills pro- Number Amount of Number of 
Billing cessed per of errors time taken bills 
person processed to process generated
per bill a bill incorrectly
Treasury/ Bank Percentage Average Number
Accounts reconciliation of receivables number of of posting Receivable per person outstanding days sales errors
past ninety outstanding
days

days
Production Average Number of Amount of Number of 
cost per defects orders returns per unit below produced shipped on thousand 
ten cents per billion time units sold
FIGURE 7.4 Sample Performance Measuresc07.qxd  11/2/06  11:41 AM  Page 168Organizational Performance Models. Fisher’s (2000) theory of or-
ganizational performance in for-proﬁt organizations contains modelsthat are useful for mapping current performance at the individual,group, and organizational levels. At each level, these models show theaspects of performance that reﬂect our current understanding of sys-tems theory (that is, capacity, production process, learning process, andaccomplishments). Fisher’s models also show cross-level performancerelationships.
Toolkit Form 7.2 contains the Fisher models (Fisher, 2000; Fisher

& Sleezer, 2003) and provides a brief description of each. Use thesemodels to map the processes for your particular situation, to show howyour performance need is linked to organizational performance, and topoint out where potential deﬁciencies and discrepancies in a perfor-mance system might be occurring. In addition to providing visualimages, the models contain useful language for discussing the processesthat contribute to a particular performance need.
When using these models, pay attention to how learning and per-
formance changes ar e transferred. For example, a needs assessment that
recommends improving an organization’s performance by training indi-viduals should specify the processes by which such learning improvesorganizational per formance. I t should detail exactly ho w incr eased indi -
vidual kno wledge and skills will pr oduce increased individual perfor-

mance and also exactly ho w incr eased individual per formance will
eventually increase organizational performance.
Measur ement is important when specifying how learning and per-
formance impr ovements transfer to performance. For example, are indi-
vidual behaviors pooled to achieve organizational performance? Or are
they averaged? Or does performance emerge from a complex combi-nation of diverse individual contributions into team performance thatis subsequently transferred to organizational performance? The answersdepend on the situation.
Mapping precisely how the transfer of learning and improved perfor-
mance actually occurs in a complex organization requires some heavy-dutyStrategic Needs Assessment 169c07.qxd  11/2/06  11:41 AM  Page 169analysis work. However, this work is important because breakdowns in the
transfer-of-learning and the transfer-of-performance processes result inwasted resources.

SIPOC Diagram. SIPOC stands for suppliers, inputs, process, outputs,
and customers. This tool reﬂects the systems view of organizations that
was discussed in Chapter One and is useful for ﬁnding out and docu-menting at a high level the inputs, outputs, and work ﬂows of a speciﬁcprocess. Start by asking about the outputs:
• What results or outputs does the process deliver?
• What inputs are required to make the process successful?• Who provides the inputs to the process?
•Who ar e the customers of the pr ocess?
• What do the customers of this process require?
• What steps are involved in completing the process?
A SIPOC Map for car repair created by the U.S. Army Operation
Oversight Ofﬁce is shown in Figure 7.5.
The steps for completing a SIPOC process ﬂow are as follows:
1.Use the information gathered during Phases 1 and 2 of the strate-

gic needs assessment to deﬁ ne the scope of the pr oject and the spe -
ciﬁc process you will examine.
2.Use the outputs to deﬁne the end point of the process and the
inputs to deﬁne the starting point for the process. The SIPOC willA PRACTICAL GUIDE TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT, SECOND EDITION 170
When mapping organizational performance, save time by
starting with the accomplishments that are delivered to the
product market.
GUPTA
0-7879-8272-5ICON 2c07.qxd  11/2/06  11:41 AM  Page 170GUPTA
0-7879-8272-5Fig. 7.5Get customer/
insurance
approvalEstimate
repair cost
and timeOrder partsAssign
mechanicCustomer
drops off carInspect
car
Test drive Install partsCustomer
picks up carSuppliers Inputs Process Outputs Customers
EnablersProcess description: Repair of car damaged in a collision Auto parts
distributor
Car ownerAuto part

car
CarRepaired car Car owner
Insurance
Company
Insurance CompanyProcess map:
Source: http://www.army.mil/aeioo/cbpi/tools/htm#SIPCO.FIGURE 7.5Example of a SIPOC Process Map
Source:http://www.army.mil/aeioo/cpi/tools.htm#three c07.qxd  11/2/06  11:41 AM  Page 171not identify processes that occur before the starting point or after
the end point.
3.Record the process outputs, or results, and the customers who
receive them.
4.Record the process inputs and the suppliers for each input.
5.Record the supports, or enablers, for the process.
6.Label the SIPOC process ﬂow with a title identifying the process
it illustrates.
7.Review the completed SIPOC process ﬂow with the project spon-
sor and other involved stakeholders for veriﬁcation.

Process Mapping. One major reason for performance gaps is activities
that do not contribute to business or customer needs. N on-value-added
activities result in waste and increased costs. These activities must be
understood and documented so that gaps in performance can be min-imized. Simple real-life examples of non-value-added activities include
unnecessary duplication of tasks; idle or waiting time when no task is
being performed; and checking, logging, or approving tasks that wereperformed correctly.
A process map uses graphic symbols, such as ovals and arrows, to
show the steps of a process and the ﬂow of information. A processboundary shows where a process begins and ends. For example, the pro-cess boundar y for order management in an organization begins when

a customer-service unit sends a mail order and ends when the productis received by a customer. You can use Toolkit 7.3 as an aid in map-ping a pr ocess. As an example, the pr ocess for ﬁ lling a customer ’s order
in one organization is shown in Figure 7.6.A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT, SECOND EDITION 172
Many software packages are available that quickly and easily
produce pr ocess maps (for example, Visio and Corel Flow).
GUPTA
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TOOLKIT FORM 7.3 Process Map Worksheet
A process map uses graphic symbols to show the steps of a process. It also shows where a pro-
cess begins and ends. Following are the graphic symbols to use:
1.To show information received from a source OUTSIDE a process boundary, such as a cus-

tomer, customer request, or another business unit, use a RECTANGLE.
2.To show any activity that is being carried out WITHIN a process, such as completing a
form, use an OVAL.
3.To show the FLOW between activities (INPUTS and OUTPUTS), use an ARROW.
TIPS FOR PROCESS MAPPING
1.Before mapping a process, deﬁne the starting and ending points and the level of
detail that is needed.
2.Document steps in sequence. Try to restrict your diagram to major steps at ﬁrst. Do
not become bogged down in too much detail.
3.Begin by identifying the output and the input. Then identify the ﬁrst major process
activity , such as pr ocessing quotes, as shown in Figur e 7.6. Deter mine the ﬂow of
information to and from this process. Use single-pointed arrows for information that
ﬂows in one direction. For information that ﬂows between two units or processes,

use two-pointed ar rows.
4.Identify the next major process. Document the inputs and outputs to this process.
5.Link all major processes as well as inputs and outputs.
6.If you cannot deﬁ ne inter mediate steps, make notes. Come back to this step later .
7.When you have ﬁnished creating your process map, retrace steps to verify accuracy
of information collected.
8.Review the pr ocess map with the project sponsor and other involved stakeholders
for veriﬁcation.
FIGURE 7.6 Sample Toolkit Form 7.3: Process Map Worksheet
for an Order Management Processc07.qxd  11/2/06  11:41 AM  Page 173A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT, SECOND EDITION 174
GUPTA
0-7879-8272-5Fig. 7.6Quote
Processi ng
File
File
Processi ngInvestor
Repo rtingCusto mer
and/or
Closing Agent
Quote
Custo mer
InvestorEscrow
CheckPayo ff

GUPTA
File
File
and/or
Quote
Custo mer
Packa ge
Front -End
Paid Pap ers
Processi ngPayo ff
FileGovernment
Customer
Proce ssing Office
Microf ilm Un itInsurance
CertificateInsurance
CertificatePayo ff 
CheckPayo ff 
Statement
Escrow
Check
CashieringEscrow
Check
Government
AgencyTelephone
UnitMail
Department
Form
1234Questions to AskQuestions to Ask
1. Wh at are the outputs?
2. Wh ere do t he ou tputs go?
3. Wh at are the ext ernal inputs?
4. Wh ere do i ntern al inp uts come 
    from?
5. Wh at is the se quence of 
    activities th at must be performed 
    to com plete thi s process?
6. Wh o perform s each activity?
7. Ho w mu ch time do es it take to 
    perform each a ctivity or step?
Payo ff FileForm 1234
DocumentsProcess: Bank Payo ff Process
Departmen t or Un it
Processi ng ActivityKey:Key:
Flow o f Information

perform each a ctivity or step?
for an Order Management Process (continued)c07.qxd  11/2/06  11:41 AM  Page 174When completing a process map, it is important to maintain per-
spective about how much detail is needed. You need to capture all thedetails that matter but avoid wasting time in documenting extra detailsthat do not provide relevant information for your problem or need.
Once a process map is completed, it should be examined to identify
such opportunities for performance improvement as bottlenecks, weaklinks, poorly deﬁned activities, and activities that do not add value. Also, the map can be used to document responsibilities, standards, andmeasures for each step of the process.
Step 3: Identify Causes of P erformance Ga ps

Comparing the curr ent documented performance to the ideal, future, or
expected per formance r eveals the existence, location, and nature of gaps
in such ar eas as quality of equipment, completeness of av ailable infor-
mation, and worker knowledge, skills, attitudes, and behaviors. Tech-
niques such as root cause analysis, brainstorming, and a Fishbone diagramand procedure analysis can be useful in uncovering the real cause of prob-lems and thus produce signiﬁcant long-term performance improvement.
Root cause analysis was developed from the insight that most often
symptoms of performance problems rather than their underlying causesare addressed. Root cause analysis is a procedure for identifying the most probable causes of problems so organizations can eliminate themrather than continue to deal with their symptoms. The procedureStrategic Needs Assessment 175
If you plan to institute a new process or improve a process in

an organization, consider benchmar king industr y leaders.
Benchmarking is a process of measuring the products and pro-
cesses of industry leaders using speciﬁed standards and using theinformation to impr ove your product or process. When bench-
marking, be sur e to consider the larger systems because a pr oduct
or process that works well for one organization may not do well in
another organizational system.
GUPTA
0-7879-8272-5ICON 2c07.qxd  11/2/06  11:41 AM  Page 175involves continuing to ask “Why?” until the pattern becomes evident
and the causes of the problem become obvious.
Brainstorming is a method of problem solving in which group mem-
bers contribute ideas spontaneously. To encourage creativity, the ideasare not evaluated or discussed until everyone has contributed. Often anidea that originally seemed far-fetched leads to the solution.
A 
Fishbone, or Ishikawa, diagram is used to show all the causes (or

A 
inputs) for a single problem. Figure 7.7 shows a sample ﬁshbone diagram.To create such a diagram, ﬁrst ﬁll in the problem statement, which in thisexample is that workers are dissatisﬁed. Then identify all the categories ofproblems, which in the example are management, manpower, materials,and machines. Then show causes of the problem and arrange them by cat-egory and by their level of importance. The result is a picture that showsrelationships among the potential causes of a problem.
Procedure Analysis. Procedure analysis is a systematic process for doc-
umenting step-by-step the process for completing a complex or impor-tant task. O ften the subject expert demonstrates the task and the analyst
records the steps that are performed to complete the task. Swanson(1996) provides information on how to conduct such an analysis.
To document P hase 3 activities, use Toolkit F orm 7.4. (S ee Figure 7.8

for a sample of the form.)A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT, SECOND EDITION 176
When a pump manufacturing ﬁrm found a higher number
of defects in its popular small pump, the division vicepresident told the chief learning ofﬁcer (CLO) to “Fix it,
now! ” As a ﬁrst step, the CLO conducted a speedy strategic needs
assessment. He examined the external environment by talking withthe vice president of marketing and reviewing some industryreports. He learned that the demand for the pumps had increasedand would likely remain strong. Product defects were the major
GUPTA
0-7879-8272-5ICON 1c07.qxd  11/2/06  11:41 AM  Page 176Phase 4: Chart Future Environment
After deﬁ ciencies and causes of per formance gaps hav e been identiﬁ ed,
start documenting the desir ed processes and performance. The map cre-
ated in this phase is a reconﬁgured process map at the same level of detail

as the one cr eated in the pr evious phase. U sually , new organizationalStrategic Needs Assessment 177
problem in retaining customers. Looking internally, the CLO
found that
• Many new workers had been hired and more new hires were
expected.
• T raining new hires was done on the job using knowledgeable
workers who had previously been trained by the productengineer or the director of quality.
• The parts acquisition process had not changed.
To document current performance, the CLO asked the 
director of quality and the product engineer to demonstrate the procedure for assembling the pump. At ﬁrst they did not seethe need for the demonstration, but they eventually agreed to do itand gathered the parts for assembling two pumps.
Interestingly, just before beginning the demonstration, the

director of quality joked with the product engineer thatperformance would really improve when all employees could
assemble pumps as well as they did. You can almost guess whathappened next. While demonstrating the corr ect assembly steps,
these subject exper ts saw that they each used differ ent pr ocedur es.
They ﬁ rst hotly argued about whose pr ocedure caused more
defects. They then decided to wor k together to impr ove the assem -
bly pr ocess, which the CLO documented using procedure analysis.
The resulting document was used to train employees, which, inturn, r esulted in fe wer defective pumps.c07.qxd  11/2/06  11:41 AM  Page 177charts, job classiﬁcations, performance measures, or team structures are
needed to support a new system. Minimizing unnecessary specializationand rigidity in job content can impr ove per formance at the organiza -
tional, pr ocess, and job lev els. To access guidelines for per forming an

analysis at the job and task lev els, see Chapter F ive.
Phase 5: Dev elop P erformance-Improv ement Plan
In this phase the analyst essentially transforms the information that was
mapped in the earlier phase into a per formance impr ovement plan, a
blueprint, that documents all the performance-improvement projects
that must be undertaken to improve the overall effectiveness of an organ-ization. This phase involves two steps: assess readiness for change andselect interventions.
Step 1: Assess Readiness for Change
First, it is essential to assess whether an organization and its people 
are ready to implement a performance improvement plan. A formal 
plan to determine change readiness is particularly necessary when theperformance-impr ovement plan will require signiﬁcant changes in pro-A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT, SECOND EDITION 178
GUPTA
0-7879-8272-5Fig. 7.7Traditional hierarc hyManpo wer

GUPTA
MaterialsWorkers are 
dissatisfiedLack motivation
Old and o utdatedRetire ment ageManagement
Machi nes
FIGURE 7.7 Sample Fishbone Diagramc07.qxd  11/2/06  11:41 AM  Page 178cesses, systems, or jobs. F or example, the implementation of a ne w call-
management system may involve establishing standards and institutinga training pr ogram, a communications pr ogram, and a per formance-
management system.
Making obvious preparations for change is a strategy for building
trust among people who will be affected b y the change. Creating or
maintaining an open wor k climate will help to minimiz e people ’s resis-
tance to change. When launching a change initiative, it is usually best
to assign the initiativ e to a project leader or facilitator who can man-
age the whole effor t. See Toolkit F orm 7.5 for a checklist that can be
used to guide this effor t.
Step 2: Select Interventions

Next, it is necessary to select the interventions that will most effectively
suppor t the implementation of a per formance-improvement plan. The
performance-improvement planner is a useful tool when undertaking
this task. Toolkit Form 7.6 shows the factors that must be considered,such as critical success factors, pr erequisites for starting a project, and
other related project requirements. Using this systematic approach allows
the value and cost of each performance-improvement project to beassessed quickly and easily .
This chapter has presented the methods and tools for doing a stra-
tegic needs assessment. Here is how it was done at XYZ Corporation.179
TOOLKIT FORM 7.4 Gap Analysis Worksheet
Current  
Performance Performance
Process Indicators Gap Effect
Quote 5 business days Customers expect Lost business; 
processing quote within 2 days dissatisﬁed

Current  
processing quote within 2 days dissatisﬁed 
customer
Escrow check 7 business days Tax data not Processing 
processing received on time delay
File processing 10 business days Payoff package Processing 
incomplete delay
FIGURE 7.8 Sample Toolkit Form 7.4: Gap Analysis Worksheetc07.qxd  11/2/06  11:41 AM  Page 179A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT, SECOND EDITION 180
This ﬁctitious case was contributed by Bob Carroll, an
organizational consultant. Carroll has been involved in sev-eral performance improvement initiatives for a major com-
puter company. The key tools shown here are a Business IssuesWorksheet and a Performance Improvement Planner.
Andre Adams, a training director at XYZ Corporation, used the

strategic needs assessment approach to develop a long-term perfor-mance improvement plan for the company. XYZ Corporation is alarge wholesale distributor of electronic goods. With over $3 bil-lion in assets, the company markets a variety of products, includ-ing computers, television and video equipment, and cameras, toFar Eastern countries.
The Need
The electronics division of XYZ had not been keeping pace with
its other stor e divisions or with its competition. S ales targets had
not been met for two y ears. The division had been, and could
again be, a very lucrative operation for the store. Management
wanted to kno w what was causing a dr op in sales and what actions,
if any , were needed to turn things ar ound.
The training dir ector used a ﬁve-phase approach to conduct the
strategic needs assessment.

Phase 1: Assess current situation
1.The HRD dir ector conducted a series of inter views with the
president, two senior vice presidents, and a representative
sampling of middle managers and ﬁ rst-line super visors of the
electr onics division.GUPTA
0-7879-8272-5ICON 1c07.qxd  11/2/06  11:41 AM  Page 180Strategic Needs Assessment 181
2.The HRD director reviewed one hundred customer-satisfac-
tion surveys taken during the period just before sales beganto drop off, then reviewed another one hundred surveystaken during the period when sales went into decline.
3.The HRD director established preliminary performance
improvement goals based on system capabilities and pre-pared a report that summarized the key ﬁndings from theﬁrst two steps.
Phase 2: Exam ine External Environment
1.The HRD director researched the business environment in

which XYZ and its competitors operated. This was back-ground for a more detailed examination of the consumer
electronics market. He consulted industry and trade journalsand reviewed customer-satisfaction surveys.
2.He also conducted focus groups with a sample of the
division’s customers. As a result of these inquiries, the train-ing director learned that much of the customer dissatisfac-tion resulted from a new Asian competitor who was offeringlower prices and longer credit periods to his organization’scurrent and potential customers. The competitor also deliv-ered products faster.
Phase 3: Examine Internal Environment
1.The business plan was reviewed for its applicability to the
changing envir onment. I t revealed that the division had
planned to emphasize quality and speed of delivery rather

than lower prices. This plan was being executed despite the fact that the ne w competitor ’s low price policy was
hurting sales. Figure 7.9 shows the business issues for XYZ
Corporation.c07.qxd  11/2/06  11:41 AM  Page 181A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT, SECOND EDITION 182
2.Process maps for shipping and purchasing were created, 
and performance gaps between ideal and actual were identiﬁed.
Phase 4: Chart Future Environment
1.The senior leaders of the company and the training director
identiﬁed the performance needed to regain lost marketshare. They decided to ask the division to emphasize qualityand speed b y reducing pr oduct defects and the time required
to ship or ders. They also decided to cut costs and extend
credit and to work with the division to place greater empha-

sis on customer r elationships.
2.A reorganization of the shipping and pur chasing depar t-
ments was included in the new plan, which called for
impr oved relationships with wholesalers and distributors.
Phase 5: Dev elop P erformance Improv ement Plan
1.To ensure that the plan would be implemented smoothly,
the HRD director ﬁrst assessed the organization’s readinessfor change.
2.Based on that analysis, the following major performance-
improvement projects were identiﬁed:
•Implement a ne w order-management system.
•T rain to support the implementation of the new order-
management system, including team building, relationship
management, and customer-ser vice training.
Figure 7.10 shows the performance-improvement planner that was
used for this pr oject.c07.qxd  11/2/06  11:41 AM  Page 182Strategic Needs Assessment 183
Key business issues Reduce order delivery time

Develop new order-management systemImprove linkage between shipping, receiving,
and product delivery
Improve quality of service to customersImprove supplier relationshipsCreate ownership in order delivery processReduce prices
Extend cr edit period
Length problems existed 2 years
Consequences of not Lose even more customers
solving problems
Business pr ocesses affected Shipping, sales, purchasing, credit, ﬁnance,
marketing
Performance improvement goals Reduce order delivery time by 50 percent
Reduce product costs by 10 percent
Extend credit by 30 days
Obstacles to success Inability of suppliers to ship goods fr om 
overseas on time
Union r ules
Limit on number of hours shipping and 
receiving personnel will work on the job
FIGURE 7.9 Business Issues: XYZ Corporation

The ne w order-management system was fully implemented one
year later. It helped boost the electronics division’s sales. XYZ Cor-
poration regained the market share it had lost. A follow-up surveyshowed that customer-satisfaction lev els were as high as they had
been before the new competitor had captured some of the market. c07.qxd  11/2/06  11:41 AM  Page 183A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT, SECOND EDITION 184
Project Identiﬁcation Number: 123
Project Description: Order delivery performance improvement
Project Sponsor (Name/Business Unit): Chuck Brady/Sales
Performance Improvement Goal: Reduce order delivery time from twenty days
to ten days.
Critical Success Factors:
1.Participation of purchasing, shipping, and sales units
2.Communication of program beneﬁts to customers and employees

3.Pilot pr ogram in two r egions befor e nationwide r ollout
Obstacles to Success:
1.Current shipping vendor’s performance
2.Union rules
3.Aging inventory computer system
4.Lack of performance measures for purchasing and shipping supervisors
Prerequisites for Starting the Project:
1.Improved understanding of customer needs
2.Shipping vendor par ticipation in sales planning
Project Structure: Steering committee composed of unit heads from purchasing,
shipping, and sales; pr oject manager; and one analyst from each business unit
who understands the processes.
Team Requirements: Knowledge of policies in unit; two years’ experience in pur-
chasing, shipping, and sales pr ocess; operating knowledge of computer system
Resources: Budget, staff
Expected Cost: $1.2M

FIGURE 7.10 Performance Improvement Planner: XYZ Corporationc07.qxd  11/2/06  11:41 AM  Page 184Strategic Needs Assessment 185
Beneﬁts
1.Improved sales: $2.0M
2.Reduced returns: $1.0M
3.Reduced inventory: $2.0M
Timeline
Expected Expected 
Milestone Start Date Completion Date
1.Analysis 1/1 2/28
2.Cost-beneﬁ t analysis 3/1 3/5
3.Plan pilot 3/6 3/15
4.Perform pilot 3/16 3/31
5.Launch pr ogram 4/1 4/15
6.Rollout program 4/16 4/30
Completed By: Approved By:
Date: Date:
FIGURE 7.10 Performance Improvement Planner: XYZ Corporation (continued)c07.qxd  11/2/06  11:41 AM  Page 185CONCLUSION
A strategic needs assessment addresses the needs that are linked to the
core business strategies of an organization. It should be used wheneverperformance needs affect strategic business processes.
The success of a performance-improvement initiative depends on

several factors, including an assessment of the organization’s readinessto change and a carefully crafted performance-improvement plan. Inthis chapter we have provided ways to examine factors in the externaland internal envir onments that can affect the organization ’s perfor-
mance. The focus was on the organization and its processes. The next
section describes strategies for managing a needs assessment project.A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT, SECOND EDITION 186c07.qxd  11/2/06  11:41 AM  Page 186IIIManaging a
Needs Assessmentp03.qxd  11/2/06  11:17 AM  Page 187p03.qxd  11/2/06  11:17 AM  Page 188EIGHT
PURPOSE
• Explore the process of contracting a needs assessment.
• Review the purposes of a needs assessment proposal.

PURPOSE
•Apply practical tips for writing a needs assessment proposal.
• Use the needs assessment checklist.•Learn ho w to use the needs assessment pr oposal, the in-process
reports, and the ﬁ nal report to manage the needs assessment.
•Learn how to manage needs assessment documents.
• Needs Assessment Checklist
• Needs Assessment Proposal Worksheet• Needs Assessment Report Worksheet
189Writing Proposals
and Reportsc08.qxd  11/2/06  11:42 AM  Page 189OVERVIEW
Managing a needs assessment project begins with the ﬁrst client meet-

ing and ends when the client accepts the ﬁnal report. With practicalproject-management skills, a needs assessment can be completed efﬁ-ciently and in a way that builds goodwill among those who participate.Regardless of which needs assessment approach or model you select, youshould consider how you will contract the needs assessment, managedocuments, and report progress.
CONTRA CTING A NEEDS ASSESSMENT
Contracting is the ﬁ rst and most critical step in the consulting pr ocess.
It includes meeting with the client for the ﬁrst time, writing the pro-
posal, and obtaining the contract. A needs assessment contract is anagreement that speciﬁ es the desired outcomes or processes, the timeline,
what each party will do, and the budget for a project.
Block (2000) deﬁned a consultant as someone who has inﬂuence

in a situation but does not have the power to make changes or imple-ment programs directly. Most analysts, whether they are hired from out-side or wor k internally, are consultants. They report to a client or
decision maker who has the authority to make decisions that address
the sensed need.
During their ﬁrst meeting, the analyst and the client size each other
up. They decide if they really want to work together, and they considerthe best ways to accomplish the needs assessment. Indeed, this meetingis like a job interview. Usually, the ﬁrst meeting between the analyst andthe client centers on the following concerns:A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT, SECOND EDITION 190
Working on a poorly managed needs assessment feels like
following a runaway train. You may not know where the train

is going, but you can sure monitor its progress by following thebillowing steam, hot air, damage, and destruction.
GUPTA
0-7879-8272-5ICON 2c08.qxd  11/2/06  11:42 AM  Page 190• The nature of the sensed problem
• The context surrounding the problem• The resources that various stakeholders, including the client and
the analyst, bring to the project
• The timeframe for the effort
The client wants to know if the analyst has a strong work ethic, a
track record of producing the expected results in similar situations, thecompetencies required to complete the project, and the skills to limitthe costs by applying efﬁcient methods. Implementing an effective needsassessment requires many competencies (International Board of Stan-dards for T raining, Performance, and Instruction
®, 2005; King, 1998;
Rothwell, 1996) including:
• Knowledge about the work environment

• Knowledge about performance improvement, management, and
systems thinking
•Skill in consulting, pr oblem-solving, negotiating, and adv ocating
for change
•Skill in collecting data using such methods as focus groups, inter-
views, and obser vation
• Skill in analyzing qualitative and quantitative data
•Skill in exchanging information verbally, in writing, and through
presentations
• Ability to collaborate effectively with the client and the project
stakeholders
•Knowledge and skills in applying r elevant needs assessment
theories and models
• Ability to manage the needs assessment project effectively• Ability to negotiate outcomes that maximize performance and
learning Writing Proposals and Reports 191c08.qxd  11/2/06  11:42 AM  Page 191• Knowledge of ethical standards and skills in following these
standards
The analyst must also consider whether the needs assessment is likely

standards
to be successful. Key questions that the analyst should answer beforeagreeing to implement a needs assessment include the following:
• Can the project use his or her knowledge, skills, and abilities?
• Does the client seek information for making decisions and taking
action, or is the needs assessment window dressing for decisionsthat have already been made?
• Does the decision maker have the power to take action based on
needs assessment information?
•Do all those who are involved support change?
• Do the client and project stakeholders act ethically?•Are sufﬁ cient r esour ces available to complete the project?
When answers to any of these questions reveal that issues exist, con-
sider ways to address them before agreeing to conduct the needs assess-ment. Some additional potential obstacles and tips for overcoming themare shown in Figure 8.1.
If possible, avoid conducting a needs assessment when there are

insufﬁcient resources, the timeline is too short, the decision maker lacksthe authority to take action based on the pr oject ﬁ ndings, or unethical
behaviors are promoted. If you cannot avoid the project, check out the
consulting strategies suggested by Block (2000) and McNamara (2005)for ways to minimiz e the pr oblems.A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT, SECOND EDITION 192c08.qxd  11/2/06  11:42 AM  Page 192Writing Proposals and Reports 193
Following are some common potential needs assessment obstacles (“O”) and their
suggested solutions (“S”).
O Lack of consensus about goals.
S Gain consensus by obtaining the commitment of a senior executive and
communicating that commitment throughout the organization.
S Gain consensus by convening an advisory group consisting of a senior
executive, a midlevel manager, and members of the target group.
S Revisit the business goals of the organization and ensure that the assess-

ment ties in with one or more goals.
O Senior management supports the effort, but line managers or supervisors
do not.
S Obtain buy-in from a line manager or supervisor who can inﬂuence other
managers.
SSeek the inter vention of senior management and make the assessment a
priority for middle managers.
OLack of a sponsor with authority .
S Seek the support of someone in a higher position.
OToo much background information to review in a reasonable time.
S Revisit the goals of the assessment, establish priorities, and discard informa-
tion that is not relevant to the assessment.
S Enlist one or more groups within the organization to summarize the critical
information for you.
O Conﬂict about types of data that must be collected.
S Revisit the goals of the assessment.SConvene an advisory group, as described earlier, to review the data collec-

tion plan and r esolve the conﬂicts.
O Bias in favor of a particular instrument.
SShow the beneﬁ ts of other instruments.
FIGURE 8.1 Potential Needs Assessment Obstacles and
Tips for Overcoming Themc08.qxd  11/2/06  11:42 AM  Page 193During the ﬁ rst client meeting, the analyst also gathers information
to use in drafting a written proposal. For example, the analyst records pre-
cisely the client’s description of the need, including the words and phrasesthat ar e used to describe the context, the stakeholders ’ roles, and the prob-A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT, SECOND EDITION 194
O Resistance to questioning from middle management or special interest
groups (such as union members or line staff).
S Promote awareness about the beneﬁts of the assessment through informa-
tional meetings.

S Seek the intervention of senior management and make the assessment a
S Explain the needs assessment process and how the results will be used.
O Lack of access to those working night shifts or people assigned to restricted
work areas.
SFind alter native personnel.
SObtain special per mission to gather data.
ODisagr eement among team members about the method to use to imple -
ment the assessment.
S Seek the opinion of a third party such as a senior manager.
O Lack of willingness on the part of people to change when implementing a
new system or technology.
SCreate a change r eadiness pr ogram.
O Attitude of “Who has the time to complete another survey?”
SObtain buy-in by having the pr esident of the company or a senior manager
endorse the process.
SExplain beneﬁ ts to users.
SOffer incentives for completing the instrument.

OLack of buy-in to needs assessment results (especially negative or contro-
versial ﬁndings).
S Present alternatives to overcome negative or controversial ﬁndings.
SPresent “negative” ﬁ ndings as opportunities for improvement.
Tips for Overcoming Them (continued)c08.qxd  11/2/06  11:42 AM  Page 194lems or oppor tunities. After the analyst and the client verbally decide that
a written proposal is warranted, the analyst may request copies of organ-

ization documents that are relevant to the project, including the missionstatement, the strategic plan, marketing materials, organization charts,annual reports, project descriptions, and ﬁnancial information. These doc-uments provide important terms, concepts, and information about howthe needs assessment ﬁts with other organizational efforts; all of these maybe included in the proposal.
Some clients prefer that the needs assessment be billed at an hourly
rate, while others prefer that the consultant quote a cost for the entireproject in the proposal. In the latter case, the consultant should care-fully consider speciﬁcs about what will be required to complete the proj-ect. Toolkit Form 8.1 is a checklist for thinking about the importantaspects of gathering preliminary data, planning the needs assessment,collecting data, analyzing the information, pr eparing the r eport, and

making the pr esentation. F igure 8.2 lists four of the questions appear -
ing in the Toolkit.Writing Proposals and Reports 195
When contracting, if your gut feels queasy or the hair on the
back of your neck stands up, consider whether you want to be
involved in the needs assessment and whether the planned action isreally appropriate, and at the same time, check the ethical guide-lines in Chapter Nine.
GUPTA
0-7879-8272-5ICON 2
To obtain written r ecords that sho w the corr ect spellings of
stakeholders’ names and their current titles, exchange business
cards. You can encourage others to share their business cards bypassing out y our o wn car d when intr oducing yourself.
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0-7879-8272-5ICON 2c08.qxd  11/2/06  11:42 AM  Page 195THE NEEDS ASSESSMENT PROPOSAL
The needs assessment pr oposal is a document that offers the consultant ’s
insights on the pr oject’s purpose, phases, pr ocesses, expected outcomes,
timeline, and expenses. At the beginning of a needs assessment, the pro-

posal to some extent frames an ambiguous situation and pr esents a plan
of action for completing the pr oposed pr oject. I t also establishes the tone
of the project—for example, that the project will be a collaborative effort
among the client, the analyst, and the stakeholders—and clariﬁ es
responsibilities. Figure 8.3 shows a sample needs assessment proposal.(See Toolkit Form 8.2 in the Toolkit section of the book for a template.)
After the proposal is drafted, the client and the analyst review it
together to ensure that the analyst has accurately understood the sensedproblem and the context, and that the planned process for completing
the needs assessment is appropriate and achievable. Often the client and

analyst revise the initial proposal to reﬂect their negotiations on exactlyhow a needs assessment will be implemented. Most misunderstandings
at this point can be negotiated. This review may occur in person, by
telephone, or online. Once the proposal is approved by the client, itserves as a written contract.A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT, SECOND EDITION 196
Gather Preliminary Data
1.Have you had preliminary meetings to gather information from your client
contact and other key people?
2.Have you considered the ethical guidelines that may be important in
gathering and analyzing preliminary data?
3.Have you obtained senior management’s perspectives about the goals of 
the assessment?
4.Have you identiﬁed the attitudes of learners’ and other stakeholders 
toward the needs assessment and the new program, system, training, ortechnology?

FIGURE 8.2 Some Questions from Toolkit 8.1: Needs Assessment Checklistc08.qxd  11/2/06  11:42 AM  Page 196197
Draft Proposal:
Needs Assessment for T & J Marine Products
Submitted to: Tom Sloboth
Plant Manager
T & J Marine ProductsStreet
City, State, Zip
Phone number/e-mail addr ess
Submitted by: Sally Bur ns
Human Resour ce Development Consultant
Address
Date: XX/XX/XXXX
FIGURE 8.3 Draft N eeds Assessment Proposal: T & J Marine Productsc08.qxd  11/2/06  11:42 AM  Page 197198
Purpose
T & J Marine Products (T&J’s) manufactures and markets products for water sports and
pleasure boating. The plant is not meeting its strategic goals of increasing market leader-ship in two areas: developing new products and implementing new product distribution

systems. The plant manager believes that a lack of supervisory knowledge and skills are
likely contributors to the failure.
The needs assessment will accomplish the following:
1.Determine if, when, where, and how a lack of supervisory knowledge and skills
affects workplace performance.
2.Prioritize the supervisory training that is needed to meet the strategic goals.
The needs assessment has ﬁve phases. The table on the next page shows each project
phase, the purpose of the phase, the pr ocess for completing the phase, the expected out -
comes, and the projected due date. Upon completion of each phase, the analyst and theplant manager will review a draft report that details the process and outcomes. They will

also review the proposed processes for completing the entire needs assessment. All datacollection will be completed on-site; however, all data analysis and report writing will becompleted of f-site. The analyst will gr oup the data; no individual data will be reported.
Note that this needs assessment focuses on knowledge and skill needs. Consequently, if
Phase 1 of the project, 
Gather preliminary data about the sensed needs, reveals that a lack
of knowledge and skills does not contribute signiﬁ cantly to the per formance problem, the
needs assessment will be redesigned or discontinued.
Stafﬁng
Sally Burns, the consultant for this project, is a certiﬁed performance technologist. She has

Stafﬁng
worked with many organizations to address their learning and performance needs. Shesubscribes to the ethical guidelines of ISPI and the Academy of Human Resource Develop-ment. She recognizes that training and non-training solutions can contribute to improvedperformance. She also values participation in the needs assessment by all those who maybe affected by the solutions.
Cost
The costs ar e $150 per hour. The ﬁrm will reimburse the analyst for such agreed-upon
expenses as travel and copying. The ﬁ rm will also pr ovide administrative assistance for
scheduling interviews and observations, and a work station for the duration of the project.
This contract may be r enegotiated at any time as needed.
FIGURE 8.3 Draft Needs Assessment Proposal: T & J Marine Products (continued)c08.qxd  11/2/06  11:42 AM  Page 198199

Table of Needs Assessment Phases, Processes,
Outcomes, and Timelines
Phase 1: 
Gather Phase 3: preliminary Phase 2: Analyze data about Plan the knowledge Phase 4: Phase 5:
the sensed needs and skill Analyze Prepare the 
needs assessment requirements the data ﬁnal report
Purpose • Establish • Develop a • Develop the • Interpret the • Document 
goals work plan assessment collected the needs
• Determine to ensure tools and data using assessment 
whether and that the collect the systematic process
how the lack assessment assessment and useful and of supervisory stays on data processes outcomesknowledge targetand skills affects T&J
Process •Review the
process for 
this phase and
revise if needed
•Deter mine
what types of
data must becollected andthe sour ces of
data
•Determine the
types of data-

data
collection toolsthat will beused
• Determine 
the types ofanalyses that• Review the
process forthis phaseand revise ifneeded
•Prepare each
tool
•Validate, 
pilot-test, 
and obtainapproval for
each tool fr om
the HRD
director andthe plantmanager
• Review the•Review the
process for
this phase
and r evise if
needed
• Compile 
the qualita -
tive data
(for ex-ample, thestories)
•Compile the
quantitativedata (for
example,surveyresults)
• Write the•Review
organization,
performance,
and industr y
data
• Interview two
managers,two super vi-
sors, and the
humanresource
director
• Summarize
each inter-view andreview the
summary•Review 
the process
for this phaseand r evise if
needed
•Combine
from allphases of theneeds assess-ment
•Meet with
to report theneeds assess -
ment r esults

needed
•Combine
•Meet with
• Meet with
supervisors
FIGURE 8.3 Draft Needs Assessment Proposal: T & J Marine Products (continued)c08.qxd  11/2/06  11:42 AM  Page 199200
Outcomes, and Timelines (continued)
Phase 1: 
Gather Phase 3: preliminary Phase 2: Analyze data about Plan the knowledge Phase 4: Phase 5:the sensed needs and skill Analyze Prepare the 
Out-
comemust be per-
formed
• Decide how
data will becollected andmanaged
A draft r eport
that r ecom-
mends (1) the
type of data to
be collected, (2)the datasources, (3) thetypes of data-collection toolsto be used, (4)the types ofanalysis to bedraft data-
collection pro-cess withthose who willbe involved init and revise the processbased on theirfeedback
• Collect the
data

data
• Monitor the
data-collectionprocess
• Organize the
data
A draft report
that (1) docu -
ments the 
needs assess-ment tools anddescribes thevalidation, pilottesting, andapproval pro-cesses, (2)describes themeeting todraft
analysis
• Draft the
trainingpriorities
• Meet with
the plantmanager to reviewthe draftanalysis
• Meet with
those whowill beaffected to review
the draft
analysis
of the ana -
lyzed data and
training priori-ties that is dis -
seminated tothose who areinvolved in theprocessdocument
with theinterviewee
that (1) sum-
marizes thearchival datareviewed andthe interviews,(2) establishesgoals for theassessment, and(3) describeswhether andhow lack ofto report the
needsassessmentresults
The ﬁnal
needs assess-ment report

The ﬁnal
FIGURE 8.3 Draft Needs Assessment Proposal: T & J Marine Products (continued)c08.qxd  11/2/06  11:42 AM  Page 200201
Phase 1: 
Gather Phase 3: 
preliminary Phase 2: Analyze data about Plan the knowledge Phase 4: Phase 5:
Pro-
jectedDueDateJune 9 June 2review the 
data-collectionprocess withstakeholders andany revisions tothe process, and(3) describeshow data werecollected, moni-tored, and orga-
nized for analysis
May 17performed, and
(5) how the col-lected data will be managed
April 19supervisory
skills affectsT&J’s perfor-
mance and

mance and
whether thesolution shouldinclude training,and (4) identi-ﬁes non-train-ing solutionsthat could con-tribute to per-formanceimprovement
April 3
FIGURE 8.3 Draft N eeds A ssessment P roposal: T & J Marine Products (continued)
Before reviewing the draft proposal with a client, the analyst
can state that changes in the document are expected. Nor-
mally, the client and analyst together identify a few terms or stepsin the process that require clariﬁcation. The client’s revisions to theproposal indicate his or her commitment to the project. When thedraft proposal is revised, be sure to include these edits.
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0-7879-8272-5ICON 2c08.qxd  11/2/06  11:42 AM  Page 201Ways to Use the Needs Assessment Proposal
A written needs assessment proposal serves many purposes. As previously

GUPTA
described, it initially frames the project and, once approved, serves asa written contract for the needs assessment.
Project creep occurs when the scope of a project keeps growing. Proj-
ect shrink occurs when the scope of the project keeps getting smaller. To
prevent either situation, use the approved proposal to guide the needsassessment process. For example, complete the needs assessment inphases. I mmediately befor e beginning a phase, review with the client
the pr ocess that was documented in the appr oved pr oposal. After each
phase, set the stage for obtaining client approval of the interim report
for the phase b y reviewing the approved proposal. As conditions change
in organizations, such r eviews can pr event wasted effor ts.
The approved needs assessment proposal also serves as a communi-

cation tool. For example, the analyst can share a copy of it with inter-viewees and use the table as a visual map to sho w ho w individual
contributions ﬁt into the larger project.
In addition, the approved needs assessment proposal provides a
record of the pr oject’s decisions. As such it serves as the benchmark for
in-process and ﬁnal reports and for renegotiating the needs assessment,
if necessary. The proposal is not written in stone; it should be renego-tiated as expectations shift. O f course, such r enegotiations may affect
the pr oject’s outcomes, costs, and timeline.
Practical Tips for Writing a Needs Assessment Proposal
Following are some practical tips for writing a needs assessment proposal:
• The cover page should contain the project name, the client’s name

and contact information, the analyst’s name and contact informa-tion, and the date. If you have ever dug through a pile of paperson your desk to ﬁnd important information about a project, youA PRACTICAL GUIDE TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT, SECOND EDITION 202c08.qxd  11/2/06  11:42 AM  Page 202will realize the importance and convenience of having contact
information on the cover page.
• Check and double-check spelling, especially proper nouns and
organization-speciﬁc terms.
• Write the proposal in business language. Use organization-speciﬁc
language and keep to the point. Most needs assessment proposalsfor business are three to six pages, but there are times when alonger proposal is needed.
• In the purpose section, remind the reader why the project is

important and the value of the expected accomplishment.
• Because most problems require both training and non-training
solutions, consider addr essing both training and non-training in
the needs assessment proposal. Do so in a way that considers theanalyst’s skills and that works for the client and the organization.(Note: this often r equires conferring with the client.)
•Verify budgetary constraints so that recommendations are reason-
able and on target.
•Place the cost section at the end of the document so the client sees
it after he or she understands ho w the needs assessment is framed
and the plans for completing it.
• Document each revision to a needs assessment proposal in writing
and date the document. (This document can be referred to if anew client joins the pr oject or if any disagreement later arises
about the project.)
• Number the pages of the proposal, and staple or bind the proposal
if sending a paper copy .

A proposal that is accepted or approved by the client becomes the
contract for the needs assessment. To protect both the client and the
analyst, it is usually best to document this agreement in writing. WithWriting Proposals and Reports 203c08.qxd  11/2/06  11:42 AM  Page 203the contract in place, the analyst can focus on completing each phase of
the needs assessment in turn.
MANAGING NEEDS ASSESSMENT DOCUMENTS
A quick review of the table in Figure 8.3, the draft needs assessment pro-

posal, reveals that every phase involves collecting, analyzing, and syn-thesizing data. Consequently, the number of documents that the analystuses and creates can become overwhelming unless they are organizedand well managed, especially in a large needs assessment. To avoid los-ing information that is irreplaceable and wasting time thumbing throughdocuments to ﬁnd just the right one, analysts create a project manage-ment system and routinely organize needs assessment information asit is collected.
Most needs assessment projects include digital documents (such as
electronic reports) and printed documents (such as company brochuresand business car ds), so the project management systems should accom-
modate both types of documents. A project management system shouldinclude a physical folder for each of the following elements:

• Contact information (such as business cards)
• Background information•Each phase of the project
• Project notes
• Budget and cost information• Miscellaneous information•Computer back-up discs
It should also contain electronic folders for background materials,
reports, collected data, and analyzed data. Having organized locationsfor all needs assessment materials and reports and back-up copies ofA PRACTICAL GUIDE TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT, SECOND EDITION 204c08.qxd  11/2/06  11:42 AM  Page 204computer ﬁles makes it easier to write reports and saves hours of work.
An inexpensive ﬁle box works well for storing such materials: it keepseverything together in one place and does not take up much space inthe ofﬁce. Furthermore, it is portable, so project materials can be avail-able at meetings.
Reports

Reports
A needs assessment project typically relies on in-process reports and a
ﬁnal report. An in-process report documents the purpose, process, out-comes, and timeline for one phase of the needs assessment. The ﬁnalreport may be a compilation of the proposal and all the in-process re-ports, together with a brief intr oduction. (Alternativ e forms of report-
ing can be found in Torres, Preskill, and Piontek, 2005.)
The client and other stakeholders review these reports and provide
feedback that keeps the needs assessment pr oject on track. E qually impor-
tant, the process of reviewing reports engages stakeholders in the needs
assessment process, which facilitates later implementation of its solutions.
To draft an in-process report quickly, use the table in the approved
proposal. Use your word processing program to copy and paste theselected column fr om the table into a ne w document. R evise the text to
reﬂect what actually occurred, add a cover page, and format the docu-

ment. Figure 8.4 shows an in-process draft report for Phase 1 of the T & J M arine P roducts Needs Assessment.
Most needs assessment projects also require a ﬁnal report. If you have
been pr oviding interim r eports and maintaining contact with the client,Writing Proposals and Reports 205
A needs assessment report highlights some aspects of a situa-
tion and minimiz es other aspects. Think carefully about what
you highlight and minimize!
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0-7879-8272-5ICON 2c08.qxd  11/2/06  11:42 AM  Page 205206
Draft Report
Phase 1: Gather preliminary data about the sensed needs
T & J Marine Products
Street
Phone number/e-mail address
Human Resource Development ConsultantAddr ess

Street
FIGURE 8.4 Phase 1 In-Process Report for T & J Marine Productsc08.qxd  11/2/06  11:42 AM  Page 206207
Executive Summary
This ﬁrst phase of the needs assessment gathered preliminary data about the sensed needs.
The outcomes of this phase provide the foundation for Phase 2 of the needs assessment.
The goals, process, ﬁndings, and recommendations for this phase are summarized here.
Goals:
1.To establish goals for the assessment
2.Determine whether and how the lack of supervisory knowledge and skills affects
T&J’s performance.
Process:
The needs assessment process for this phase included the following steps:
1.Review organizational, performance, and industry data.
2.Interview two managers, two super visors, and the human r esour ce development
director.

director.
3.Summarize each interview and review the document with the interviewee.
Findings:
1.The market for water spor ts and pleasur e boating is changing. T o compete ef fec-
tively , T&J must meet its strategic goals.
2.Lack of consistent pr ocesses and walking the talk by upper management caused
some lack of tr ust.
3.Interviewees r ecognized that the boating industr y has become mor e competitive,
and they wanted mor e timely information to use in improving their performance.
4.Some inter viewees ar e competent in telling managers what they want to hear rather
than in r eporting the actual situation.
5.Supervisors need additional knowledge and skills to achieve the strategic goals.
6.Non-training needs that should be addr essed to impr ove per formance include
improving feedback fr om managers and impr oving work processes by eliminating

unnecessar y process steps.
Recommendations: The Phase 1 r esults indicate that for T&J to achieve its strategic
goals, the supervisors need new knowledge and skills. To improve performance most effec-
tively, non-training needs should be addressed at the same time.
FIGURE 8.4 Phase 1 In-Process Report for T & J Marine Products (continued)c08.qxd  11/2/06  11:42 AM  Page 207208
Goal
The goal of this ﬁrst phase of the project was twofold:
2.To obtain a broad understanding of whether and how the lack of supervisory knowl-
edge and skills affects T&J’s performance and whether the solution should includetraining (See Attachment A: 
Projected Needs Assessment Phases, Processes, Out-
comes, and Timelines. )
Process

Process
Completing this phase of the needs assessment involved the following steps:
1.Review or ganizational, per formance, and industr y data.
2.Interview two managers, two super visors, and the human resource development
director.
3.Summarize each inter view and r eview the document with the inter viewee.
Step 1: Review organizational, performance, and industry data
To complete this step, the following organizational data were reviewed:
• Strategic plan
• Organization chart
•Marketing r eports for product areas
• Product development plan• Product distribution plan
•T&J’s cultur e survey results for 2005 and 2006
The following performance data were reviewed:
•The performance reports for each unit
The following industr y data were reviewed:
For the boating industry:
•

•
Boating Industr y(magazine) annual statistical r eview
• Recreational Boat Building Industry home page: http://www.rbbi.com
For water sports:
• www.roho.co.uk
• www.boothandel.nl
• www.nauticfriend.com
FIGURE 8.4 Phase 1 In-Process Report for T & J Marine Products (continued)c08.qxd  11/2/06  11:42 AM  Page 208209
Step 2: Interview a manager, two supervisors,
and the human resource development director
The analyst conducted interviews between April 6 and April 10 with two managers, two
supervisors, and the HRD director. The analyst chose these interviewees on the basis oftheir key roles in contributing to the organization’s strategic goals. The analyst began each

interview with a short introduction about the purpose of the needs assessment, and a dis-cussion about how the interviewee was chosen to participate in the needs assessment and
how their information would be used. Each interviewee was told that information would begrouped for reporting and that only triangulated information (that is, information that was
obtained from more than one person or one data-collection method) would be reported.
Notes were taken during each interview. They were also digitally recorded as a back-up.
Step 3: Summarize each interview
and review the document with the interviewee
After the analyst summarized the interviews and excerpted key facts, each interviewee
reviewed the text of his or her inter view and noted points of clariﬁ cation or modiﬁ cation.

The interviews were revised to reﬂect these changes.
Phase 1 Findings
The pr eliminar y data r eported in this section wer e obtained fr om at least two people or by
at least two data-collection methods.
1.The market for water sports and pleasure boating is changing. To compete effec-
tively, T&J must meet its strategic goals.
some lack of trust.
4.Some interviewees are competent in telling managers what they want to hear
rather than in r eporting the actual situation.
5.Super visors need additional knowledge and skills to achieve the strategic goals.

6.Non-training needs that should be addr essed to improve performance include
improving feedback from managers and improving work processes by eliminating
unnecessary process steps.
Recommendations
The Phase 1 r esults indicate that for T&J to achieve its strategic goals, the super visors need
new knowledge and skills. One example is to understand the strategic performance
reports. The outcomes of this phase provide the foundation for Phase 2 of the needs
assessment. T o impr ove per formance most effectively, non-training needs should be
addressed at the same time.
FIGURE 8.4 Phase 1 In-Process Report for T & J Marine Products (continued)c08.qxd  11/2/06  11:42 AM  Page 209the ﬁnal report with its ﬁndings and recommendations will not come
as a surprise. The following items may be included in a formal report:
• Executive summary (typically a page)

• Purpose• Process• Findings• Recommendations• Appendix (including supporting instruments and data)
When preparing reports, include pie charts, graphs, and diagrams as
appropriate to highlight key ﬁndings.
In-Person Oral Reports and Presentations
In-person oral reports and presentations provide an opportunity for the
client and other stakeholders to ask questions, discuss the ﬁndings, andconsider the implications of the needs assessment. I n other words, such
reports and presentations provide a forum that enables the needs assess-ment stakeholders to 
own the results. The ﬁnal report is the basis for dis-
cussion during the ﬁ nal meeting on the needs assessment. It documents
both the needs assessment process and ﬁndings.
Report the positives that you found in the situation ﬁrst. Report your

ﬁndings about potential improvements honestly and in a way thatrespects all the stakeholders. I dentify problem areas cited by multiple
sources, and recommend one or more feasible actions.
Following are guidelines for these presentations:
• Tailor the presentation style to the culture of the organization and
to the decision makers’ preferences. Today, many oral presenta-tions r ely on P owerPoint slides, but check with the client before
preparing the presentation. Avoid the mistake made by the consul-A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT, SECOND EDITION 210c08.qxd  11/2/06  11:42 AM  Page 210tant who presented a group of decision makers in a fast-paced
organization with a ﬁfty-page report. That consultant, after spend-ing many hours writing the report, was disappointed whennobody read it.

• Use a cost-beneﬁt analysis when appropriate (for an overview of
how to do a cost-beneﬁt analysis, see Phillips, 2003; Swanson &Gradous, 1990).
• Structure the meeting to move from the known and easy to the
unknown and more difﬁcult. Use the needs assessment proposal toremind everyone about the situation at the start of the needsassessment.
• Recognize that some people may want to edit the report. If their
edits are ﬁtting, accept them. If their edits are problematic, youmay need to explain why you did not include them in your report.
•Support your recommendations with citations from authorities in
the ﬁ eld and y our kno wledge of industr y best practices.Writing Proposals and Reports 211
Hale (2005) pointed out that per formance improvement
professionals often cram their language and models into the

clients’ head. While as experts we need to know the professionalideas, language, and models, Hale advised that when we work withclients we should avoid using our jargon and as much as possible
talk to clients in their o wn language. 
GUPTA
0-7879-8272-5ICON 2c08.qxd  11/2/06  11:42 AM  Page 211CONCLUSION
Managing the needs assessment process is essential to completing the
project effectively and in a timely manner. Most needs assessments arenot implemented exactly as they are proposed and must be modiﬁed.For example, an interviewee may be on vacation during the time fordata collection or a new decision maker may join the project and wishto make changes. Manage the needs assessment process to allow for ﬂex-ibility, stakeholder input, and progress, and thus increase the proba-bility that the client will use the needs assessment ﬁ ndings. The next

chapter focuses on ethics, which can also inﬂuence how needs assess-
ment projects are conducted and how ﬁndings are used.A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT, SECOND EDITION 212c08.qxd  11/2/06  11:42 AM  Page 212NINE
PURPOSE
• Examine ethical issues relevant to needs assessments.
• Refer to ethical standards used by several different professional
organizations.
OVERVIEW
In this chapter, we focus on an area where expert-level insights are
critical—the ethical issues that sometimes arise during a needs assess-ment. We introduce some ethical issues for consideration and presentethical guidelines (which are sometimes called standards) that have beenadopted by various professional organizations. By having these standardsavailable, you can refer to them as ethical issues arise.
213Ethical Issuesc09.qxd  11/2/06  11:43 AM  Page 213ETHICS IN NEEDS ASSESSMENT
Most decisions in a needs assessment involve value judgments, and value

judgments often lead to ethical issues. Because a needs assessment is builton the trust of everyone who participates, your personal integrity and yourability to negotiate skillfully such issues as conﬁdentiality, conﬂict of inter-est, data representation, and so forth are critical to achieving a successfulneeds assessment and the later implementation of your recommendations.
Knowing your personal and professional values before you start a
needs assessment is helpful in establishing and managing others’ expec-tations about how you will act in speciﬁc situations. Figure 9.1 presentsexamples of issues that hav e arisen in actual needs assessments. As you
read them, consider how well you know your own personal and pro-fessional values.A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT, SECOND EDITION 214

Ethical issues in needs assessment ar e often linked. F or
example, when the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC) collects needs assessment data for HIV-
prevention pr ograms, they must protect the conﬁdentiality of indi-
viduals who contacted counselors to be tested on whether they are
infected with the HIV virus. Simultaneously the CDC must ensurethat the agency collects accurate data on the rate of HIV transmis -
sion for decision making. Although it is difﬁ cult, the needs assess -
ment should be designed to address the ethical issues related to
conﬁ dentiality, respect for patients’ rights, and data accuracy. In this
case, CDC must assur e client accuracy without using client names.
GUPTA
0-7879-8272-5ICON 1
Most needs assessments are by nature political because they
involve either support for or challenges to those who are in

GUPTA
power. In such situations, ethics are likely to be important.
GUPTA
0-7879-8272-5ICON 2c09.qxd  11/2/06  11:43 AM  Page 214Individuals who are working on a needs assessment may ﬁnd it difﬁcult
to sort out the ethical issues in a situation and to identify appropriateresponses to them. I n recent years, professional associations have developed
guidelines, or standards, that help in identifying and negotiating ethical
issues. Such guidelines can be found at the following Web sites:
• Joint Committee on Standards for Educational Evaluation,
Program Evaluation Standards: http://www.wmich.edu/evalctr/jc
• American Evaluation Association, Guiding Principles for Evalua-
tors: http://www.eval.org/Publications/GuidingPrinciples.aspEthical Issues 215
Ethical Issues or Not; You Decide.

As you read each of the following real-life scenarios, decide whether ethical
issues are involved and what appropriate actions you could take.
• During a random review of organization documents, you discover that a
manager has downloaded child pornography from the Internet.
• Your client guesses the name of an interviewee who made negative
comments in a conﬁdential interview. She plans to “correct the person’s
misperceptions.”
•A person on the needs assessment team misr epresents the data in hopes of
inﬂuencing an external agency to fund developmental activities that she
believes will be beneﬁcial for the agency.
•A colleague asks to use the job and task data you are collecting to negotiate 
a higher salary.
• While conducting a competency analysis for a division, the ﬁrm’s president

tells you conﬁdentially that the division will be shut down and that your client(the HR manager), who does not yet know this information, will be laid off.
• The well-known instrument your team uses to determine needs for individual
development and education is not valid, but clients r eally like the r esults and
ﬁnd them useful.
• You realize that your client’s goal for the needs assessment is to provide
objective data that will suppor t his depar tment’ s claim for an increased share
of the organization’s budget.
FIGURE 9.1 Examples of Real-Life Needs Assessment Issuesc09.qxd  11/2/06  11:43 AM  Page 215• International Society for Performance Improvement, Human
Performance Technology Code of Ethics: http://www.ispi.org
• Academy of Human Resource Development, Standards on Ethics
and Integrity: http://www.ahrd.org

• American Psychological Association, Ethical Principles of Psychol-
ogists and Code of Conduct: http://www.apa.org/ethics/code2002.html
• Organization Development Network, Principles of Practice:
http://www.odnetwork.org/principlesofpractice.html
As you look at the guidelines at these sites and at the sev eral sets of
standards and the background on their development discussed here, note
their similarities and differ ences.
Joint Comm ittee on Standards for Educational
Evaluation, Program Evaluation Standards
In 1975, twelve professional organizations that had concerns about the
conduct of ev aluations (including needs assessments) formed the J oint
Committee on Standards for Educational Evaluation. This committee

continues to be located at the Evaluation Center at Western MichiganUniversity . They issued their ﬁrst set of standards in 1981, revolving
around four areas:
• Utility
• Feasibility
• Propriety• Accuracy
A second edition of these standar ds was published in 1994, and they ar e
still considered current. The standards are shown in Figure 9.2.A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT, SECOND EDITION 216c09.qxd  11/2/06  11:43 AM  Page 216Ethical Issues 217
The Program Evaluation Standards
Summary of the Standards
Utility Standards
The utility standards are intended to ensure that an evaluation will serve the
information needs of intended users.
U1 Stakeholder Identiﬁcation—Persons involved in or affected by the evalua-
tion should be identiﬁed so that their needs can be addressed.
U2 Evaluator Credibility—The persons conducting the evaluation should be

both trustworthy and competent to perform the evaluation so that the evalu-
ation ﬁndings achieve maximum credibility and acceptance.
U3 Information Scope and Selection—Information collected should be broadly
selected to address pertinent questions about the program and be responsiveto the needs and inter ests of clients and other speciﬁ ed stakeholders.
U4 V alues Identiﬁcation—The perspectives, procedures, and rationale used to
interpret the ﬁndings should be carefully described so that the bases for value
judgments ar e clear .
U5 Report Clarity—Evaluation reports should clearly describe the program being
evaluated, including its context, and the purposes, procedures, and ﬁndings ofthe evaluation so that essential infor mation is provided and easily understood.
U6 Repor t Timeliness and Dissemination—Signiﬁ cant interim ﬁ ndings and

evaluation r eports should be disseminated to intended users so that they can
be used in a timely fashion.
U7 Evaluation Impact—Evaluations should be planned, conducted, and
reported in ways that encourage follow-through by stakeholders so that thelikelihood that the evaluation will be used is increased.
Feasibility Standards
The feasibility standards are intended to ensure that an evaluation will be
realistic, pr udent, diplomatic, and fr ugal.
F1 Practical Procedures—The evaluation procedures should be practical, to
keep disruption to a minimum while needed information is obtained.
F2 Political Viability—The evaluation should be planned and conducted in
anticipation of the different positions of various interest groups so that their 
FIGURE 9.2 Joint Committee on S tandar ds for E ducational

Source: http://www.eval.org/EvaluationDocuments/progeval.htmlc09.qxd  11/2/06  11:43 AM  Page 217A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT, SECOND EDITION 218
Evaluation, P rogram E valuation S tandards (continued)
Source:http://www .eval.org/E valuationD ocuments/pr ogeval.htmlcooperation may be obtained and so that possible attempts by any of these
groups to curtail evaluation operations or to bias or misapply the results canbe averted or counteracted.
F3 Cost Effectiveness—The evaluation should be efﬁcient and produce
information of sufﬁcient value so that the resources expended can be justiﬁed.
Propriety Standards
The propriety standards are intended to ensure that an evaluation will be

conducted legally , ethically , and with due regard for the welfare of those
involved in the evaluation, as well as for those affected by its results.
P1 Ser vice Orientation—Evaluations should be designed to assist or ganiza -
tions to address and effectively serve the needs of the full range of targeted
participants.
P2 For mal Agreements—Obligations of the formal parties to an evaluation
(what is to be done, how, by whom, and when) should be agreed to in writ-ing so that these parties are obligated to adhere to all conditions of the
agreement or formally to renegotiate it.
P3 Rights of Human Subjects—Evaluations should be designed and con -
ducted to respect and protect the rights and welfare of human subjects.
P4 Human Interactions—Evaluators should respect human dignity and worth

in their interactions with other persons associated with an evaluation so thatparticipants are not threatened or harmed.
P5 Complete and Fair Assessment—The evaluation should be complete 
and fair in its examination and r ecording of str engths and weaknesses of the
program being evaluated so that str engths can be built upon and pr oblem
areas addressed.
P6 Disclosur e of Findings—The for mal par ties to an evaluation should ensure
that the full set of evaluation ﬁndings along with pertinent limitations are
made accessible to the persons affected by the evaluation, and to any others
with expressed legal rights to receive the results.
P7 Conﬂ ict of Inter est—Conﬂict of interest should be dealt with openly and
honestly so that it does not compr omise the evaluation pr ocesses and r esults.c09.qxd  11/2/06  11:43 AM  Page 218Ethical Issues 219

Source:http://www .eval.org/E valuationD ocuments/pr ogeval.htmlP8 Fiscal Responsibility—The evaluator’s allocation and expenditure of
resources should reﬂect sound accountability procedures and otherwise beprudent and ethically responsible so that expenditures are accounted for andappropriate.
Accuracy Standards
The accuracy standards are intended to ensure that an evaluation will reveal
and convey technically adequate information about the features that deter-
mine the worth or merit of the program being evaluated.
A1 Program Documentation—The program being evaluated should be
described and documented clearly and accurately so that the program is
clearly identiﬁ ed.
A2 Context Analysis—The context in which the program exists should be

examined in enough detail that its likely inﬂuences on the program can be
identiﬁ ed.
A3 Described Purposes and Pr ocedur es—The purposes and pr ocedur es of the
evaluation should be monitored and described in enough detail that they can
be identiﬁed and assessed.
A4 Defensible Infor mation Sources—The sources of information used in a
program evaluation should be described in enough detail that the adequacy
of the information can be assessed.
A5 Valid Infor mation—The infor mation gathering pr ocedur es should be cho -
sen or developed and then implemented so that they will ensur e that the
interpr etation arrived at is valid for the intended use.
A6 Reliable Infor mation—The infor mation gathering pr ocedur es should be
chosen or developed and then implemented so that they will ensure that the

information obtained is sufﬁciently reliable for the intended use.
A7 Systematic Information—The information collected, processed, and
reported in an evaluation should be systematically reviewed and any errors
found should be cor rected.
A8 Analysis of Quantitative Information—Quantitative information in an
evaluation should be appropriately and systematically analyzed so that evalu-ation questions are effectively answered.c09.qxd  11/2/06  11:43 AM  Page 219American Evaluation Association, Guiding Principles
Although the J oint Committee ’s Program Evaluation Standards already
existed, members of the American Evaluation Association felt it was
important for the organization to develop its own set of principles. TheGuiding Principles for Evaluators focus on ﬁve major principles:
•Systematic inquiry
•Competence

• Integrity and honesty• Respect for people• Responsibilities for the general and public welfare
These Guiding Principles were ﬁrst issued in 1995; they were reviewed
and revised, and the revisions were ratiﬁed by the membership in 2004(see Figure 9.3). Note that Principle 2 focuses on evaluation questions.In a needs assessment, the evaluation questions revolve around whichneeds should be addressed and the criteria for making such decisions.A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT, SECOND EDITION 220
A9 Analysis of Qualitative Information—Qualitative information in an evalu-
ation should be appropriately and systematically analyzed so that evaluationquestions are effectively answered.
A10 Justiﬁed Conclusions—The conclusions reached in an evaluation should
be explicitly justiﬁed so that stakeholders can assess them.

A11 Impartial Reporting—Reporting procedures should guard against distor-
tion caused by personal feelings and biases of any party to the evaluation sothat evaluation reports fairly reﬂect the evaluation ﬁndings.
A12 Meta-evaluation—The evaluation itself should be formatively and sum-
matively evaluated against these and other per tinent standar ds so that its
conduct is appr opriately guided, and so that on completion stakeholders can
closely examine its strengths and weaknesses.
FIGURE 9.2 Joint Committee on Standards for Educational
Evaluation, P rogram E valuation Standards (continued)
Source:http://www .eval.org/E valuationD ocuments/pr ogeval.htmlc09.qxd  11/2/06  11:43 AM  Page 220Ethical Issues 221
The Principles
A. Systematic Inquiry: Evaluators conduct systematic, data-based inquiries.

1.To ensure the accuracy and credibility of the evaluative information they
produce, evaluators should adhere to the highest technical standards
appropriate to the methods they use.
2.Evaluators should explore with the client the shortcomings and strengths
of both the various evaluation questions and the various approaches that
might be used for answering those questions.
3.Evaluators should communicate their methods and approaches accurately
and in sufﬁcient detail to allow others to understand, interpret, and cri-
tique their work. They should make clear the limitations of an evaluation
and its results. Evaluators should discuss in a contextually appropriateway those values, assumptions, theories, methods, results, and analysessigniﬁ cantly af fecting the interpretation of the evaluative ﬁndings. These
statements apply to all aspects of the evaluation, from its initial concep-

tualization to the eventual use of ﬁndings.
B. Competence: Evaluators provide competent performance to stakeholders.
1.Evaluators should possess (or ensure that the evaluation team possesses)
the education, abilities, skills, and experience appr opriate to under take
the tasks proposed in the evaluation.
2.To ensure recognition, accurate interpretation, and respect for diversity,
evaluators should ensure that the members of the evaluation team collec-tively demonstrate cultural competence. Cultural competence would bereﬂected in evaluators seeking awareness of their own culturally based
assumptions, their understanding of the worldviews of culturally dif ferent
participants and stakeholders in the evaluation, and the use of appropri-ate evaluation strategies and skills in working with culturally differentgroups. Diversity may be in terms of race, ethnicity, gender, religion,

socioeconomics, or other factors per tinent to the evaluation context.
3.Evaluators should practice within the limits of their professional training
and competence, and should decline to conduct evaluations that fall sub-stantially outside those limits. When declining the commission or request
is not feasible or appropriate, evaluators should make clear any signiﬁ-
cant limitations on the evaluation that might result. Evaluators should 
FIGURE 9.3 American Evaluation Association, Guiding Principles for Evaluators
Source: http://eval.org/Publications/GuidingPrinciples.aspc09.qxd  11/2/06  11:43 AM  Page 221A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT, SECOND EDITION 222
make every effort to gain the competence directly or through the assis-
tance of others who possess the required expertise.
4.Evaluators should continually seek to maintain and improve their compe-
tencies in order to provide the highest level of performance in their eval-

uations. This continuing professional development might include formal
coursework and workshops, self-study, evaluations of one’s own practice,and working with other evaluators to learn from their skills and expertise.
C. Integrity/Honesty: Evaluators display honesty and integrity in their own
behavior, and attempt to ensure the honesty and integrity of the entire evalua-
tion process.
1.Evaluators should negotiate honestly with clients and relevant stakehold-
ers concerning the costs, tasks to be undertaken, limitations of methodol-ogy, scope of r esults likely to be obtained, and uses of data resulting from
a speciﬁc evaluation. It is primarily the evaluator’s responsibility, not the
client’s, to initiate discussion and clariﬁcation of these matters.
2.Befor e accepting an evaluation assignment, evaluators should disclose

any roles or relationships they have that might pose a conﬂict of interest(or appearance of a conﬂict) with their role as an evaluator. If they pro-
ceed with the evaluation, the conﬂ ict should be clearly ar ticulated in
reports of the evaluation results.
3.Evaluators should r ecord all changes made in the originally negotiated
project plans, and the r easons why the changes wer e made. If the
changes would signiﬁ cantly affect the scope and likely results of the eval-
uation, the evaluator should infor m the client and other impor tant stake -
holders of the changes and their likely impact in a timely fashion (bar ring
good r eason to the contrary) before proceeding with further work.
4.Evaluators should be explicit about their own, their clients,’ and other
stakeholders’ inter ests and values concer ning the conduct and outcomes

of an evaluation.
5.Evaluators should not misrepresent their procedures, data, or ﬁndings.
Within reasonable limits, they should attempt to prevent or correct mis-
use of their work by others.
6.If evaluators determine that certain procedures or activities are likely to
produce misleading evaluative information or conclusions, they have the
responsibility to communicate their concerns and the reasons for them. 
FIGURE 9.3 American Evaluation Association, Guiding Principles for Evaluators,
(continued)
Source: http://eval.org/Publications/GuidingPrinciples.aspc09.qxd  11/2/06  11:43 AM  Page 222Ethical Issues 223
If discussions with the client do not resolve these concerns, the evaluator

should decline to conduct the evaluation. If declining the assignment isunfeasible or inappropriate, the evaluator should consult colleagues orrelevant stakeholders about other, proper ways to proceed. (Options
might include discussions at a higher level, a dissenting cover letter or
appendix, or refusal to sign the ﬁnal document.)
7.Evaluators should disclose all sources of ﬁnancial support for an evalua-
tion, and the source of the request for the evaluation.
D.Respect for People: Evaluators r espect the security , dignity , and self-
worth of respondents, program participants, clients, and other evaluationstakeholders.
1.Evaluators should seek a compr ehensive understanding of the important
contextual elements of the evaluation. Contextual factors that may inﬂu-

ence the r esults of a study include geographic location, timing, political
and social climate, economic conditions, and other r elevant activities in
progress at the same time.
2.Evaluators should abide by cur rent professional ethics, standards, and
regulations regarding risks, harms, and burdens that might befall those
participating in the evaluation; regarding informed consent for participa-tion in evaluation; and r egarding informing participants and clients about
the scope and limits of conﬁdentiality.
3.Because justiﬁ ed negative or critical conclusions from an evaluation 
must be explicitly stated, evaluations sometimes pr oduce r esults that
harm client or stakeholder inter ests. Under this cir cumstance, evaluators
should seek to maximize the beneﬁ ts and reduce any unnecessary harms

that might occur , provided this will not compr omise the integrity of 
the evaluation ﬁ ndings. Evaluators should car efully judge when the bene -
ﬁts from doing the evaluation or in performing certain evaluation proce-
dures should be foregone because of the risks or harms. To the extentpossible, these issues should be anticipated during the negotiation of 
the evaluation.
4.Knowing that evaluations may negatively affect the interests of some
stakeholders, evaluators should conduct the evaluation and communicate
its results in a way that clearly respects the stakeholders’ dignity and 
self-worth.
Source: http://eval.org/Publications/GuidingPrinciples.aspc09.qxd  11/2/06  11:43 AM  Page 223A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT, SECOND EDITION 224

5.Where feasible, evaluators should attempt to foster social equity in evalua-
tion so that those who give to the evaluation may beneﬁt in return. Forexample, evaluators should seek to ensure that those who bear the burdensof contributing data and of incurring any risks do so willingly, and that they
have full knowledge of and opportunity to obtain any beneﬁts of the evalu-ation. Program participants should be informed that their eligibility to
receive services does not hinge on their participation in the evaluation.
6.Evaluators have the responsibility to understand and respect differences
among participants, such as differences in their culture, religion, gender,
disability, age, sexual orientation, and ethnicity, and to account forpotential implications of these dif ferences when planning, conducting,

analyzing, and reporting evaluations.
E. Responsibilities for General and Public Welfare: Evaluators articulate
and take into account the diversity of general and public interests and valuesthat may be related to the evaluation.
1.When planning and reporting evaluations, evaluators should include rele-
vant perspectives and interests of the full range of stakeholders.
2.Evaluators should consider not only the immediate operations and out -
comes of whatever is being evaluated, but also its br oad assumptions,
implications, and potential side effects.
3.Freedom of infor mation is essential in a democracy . Evaluators should allow
all relevant stakeholders access to evaluative infor mation in for ms that
respect people and honor promises of conﬁdentiality. Evaluators should dis-

seminate infor mation to stakeholders as r esour ces allow . Communications
that ar e tailor ed to a given stakeholder should include all r esults that may
bear on interests of that stakeholder and refer to any other tailored com-
munications to other stakeholders. In all cases, evaluators should strive to
present r esults clearly and simply so that clients and other stakeholders can
easily understand the evaluation process and results.
4.Evaluators should maintain a balance between client needs and other
needs. Evaluators necessarily have a special relationship with the clientwho funds or requests the evaluation. By virtue of that relationship,
evaluators must strive to meet legitimate client needs whenever feasible

and appropriate to do so. However, that relationship can also placeevaluators in difﬁcult dilemmas when client interests conﬂict with other 
Source: http://eval.org/Publications/GuidingPrinciples.aspc09.qxd  11/2/06  11:43 AM  Page 224Ethical Issues 225
interests, or when client interests conﬂict with the obligation of evalua-
tors for systematic inquiry, competence, integrity, and respect for people.In these cases, evaluators should explicitly identify and discuss the con-ﬂicts with the client and relevant stakeholders, resolve them when possi-
ble, determine whether continued work on the evaluation is advisable if
the conﬂicts cannot be resolved, and make clear any signiﬁcant limita-tions on the evaluation that might result if the conﬂict is not resolved.

5.Evaluators have obligations that encompass the public interest and good.
These obligations are especially important when evaluators are supported bypublicly generated funds; but clear threats to the public good should never
be ignored in any evaluation. Because the public interest and good are rarely
the same as the interests of any particular group (including those of the clientor funder), evaluators will usually have to go beyond analysis of particular
stakeholder interests and consider the welfare of society as a whole.
Interna tional Society for Performance 
Improv ement, Code of Eth ics
The next set of ethical standards was established by the International
Society for P erformance Improvement (ISPI). These standards empha-
size six principles of ethical practice (see F igure 9.4). ISP I’s program,

Certiﬁed Performance Technologist, distinguishes practitioners who
have proven that they can produce performance improvement and train-ing results using a systematic process. Individuals who wish to receivethis certiﬁcation must sign a statement agreeing to conduct themselvesin ways that are in keeping with the six principles.
Academy of Human Resource Development, 
Standards on Ethics and Integrity
The primary goal of the Academy of Human Resource Development
Standar ds on E thics and I ntegrity was to “deﬁne more clearly a holis-
tic balance among individuals, groups, organizations, communities, andFIGURE 9.3 American E valuation Association, Guiding Principles for Evaluators,

Source: http://eval.org/Publications/GuidingPrinciples.aspc09.qxd  11/2/06  11:43 AM  Page 225societies whenever conﬂicting needs arise” (Russ-Eft et al., 1999, ii).
Because conﬂicting needs often arise when conducting a needs assess-ment, these standards are particularly useful. They include seven gen-eral principles plus decision rules for many situations that HRDprofessionals encounter, including those found in needs assessments.The standards can be accessed at www.AHRD.org.
This chapter has focused on the ethical issues you may confront when

conducting a needs assessment. Various ethical issues in needs assess-ments might be linked. You should know your personal and professionalvalues before engaging in a needs assessment. In addition, this chapterhas presented several sets of guidelines for ethical standards and ethi-cal practices from professional organizations. These guidelines can pro-vide you with direction when facing difﬁcult ethical issues.A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT, SECOND EDITION 226
The Code of Ethics is intended to promote ethical practice in the profession. . . .
The Code of Ethics is based on six principles:
1. Add Value Principle. Strive to conduct yourself, and manage your projects
and their results, in ways that add value for your clients, their customers, and
the global environment.
2. Validated Practice Principle. Make use of and promote validated prac-
tices in performance technology strategies and standards.

3. Collaboration Principle. Work collaboratively with clients and users, func-
tioning as a trustworthy strategic partner.
4. Continuous Improvement Principle. Continually improve your proﬁ-
ciency in the ﬁeld of performance technology.
5. Integrity Principle. Be honest and truthful in your representations to
clients, colleagues, and others with whom you may come in contact while
practicing performance technology.
6. Uphold Conﬁdentiality Principle. Maintain client conﬁdentiality, not
allowing for any conﬂict of interest that would beneﬁt yourself or others.
FIGURE 9.4 International Society for P erformance I mprovement, Code of Ethics
Source:http://www .ispi.orgc09.qxd  11/2/06  11:43 AM  Page 226TEN
PURPOSE
This chapter will enable you to learn answers to frequently asked ques-
tions about needs assessments.
OVERVIEW

PURPOSE
OVERVIEW
In this chapter we present answers to the questions that are commonly
asked about needs assessments. You can use the answers to these com-monly asked questions to improve the efﬁciency and effectiveness ofyour needs assessment projects.
COMMONLY ASKED QUESTIONS
AND THEIR ANSWERS
Following are seven commonly asked questions about needs assessments
and their answ ers.
1. Some people tell me that reports of previous needs assessment
are collecting dust in their ofﬁ ces. H ow can I make sur e the ﬁ ndings
from my needs assessment ar e used?
227Answers to
Frequently AskedQuestionsc10.qxd  11/2/06  11:44 AM  Page 227Consider the following strategies for increasing the usability of your
needs assessments:
•Select projects carefully. Before agreeing to work on a project, ﬁnd

out whether the proposed project addresses important performance orlearning requirements. Also determine whether the project’s clients andstakeholders have the needed authority, visible support for the project,and desire to take action. Determine whether the project is likely to pro-duce ﬁndings that are relevant, timely, and useful. Examine the politi-cal context, including the level of consensus among key stakeholders.Identify potential obstacles to a successful outcome and work with yourclient to determine if and how they can be overcome before agreeing toconduct the needs assessment.
•
Involve the client and stakeholders in the needs assessment process in
ways that are meaningful to them. Involve them in learning and decision
making regarding the needs assessment process and facilitate their par-ticipation in implementing the ﬁndings.
•

•
Realize that the seemingly logical process of implementing a needs
assessment may actually modify the situation. That is, the needs assessment
is an intervention. During an effective needs assessment, the client andstakeholders adjust their per ceptions and gain ne w insights. The inter -
personal dynamics in the situation will often change during the data-
collection and analysis pr ocess. These adjustments in per ceptions, v alues,
and po wer dynamics are often as powerful as the needs assessment ﬁnd-
ings that ar e documented in the ﬁ nal report.
•
Implement the needs assessment in phases and use the ﬁ ndings from
each phase as the basis for action in the next phase, as was illustrated in the
sample needs assessment proposal in Chapter Eight.

•
•Keep the needs assessment focused on the agreed-upon purpose.
Conduct regular meetings with stakeholders to review the needs assess-
ment purpose and the current progress toward that purpose. Nego-tiate any proposed changes in the purpose with the client and stake-holders. Do not allow the needs assessment process to be subverted forpersonal gain.A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT, SECOND EDITION 228c10.qxd  11/2/06  11:44 AM  Page 228•If the needs assessment ﬁndings were not used, explore with the client
the reasons for this decision. Determine if some of these reasons can be
overcome, and ascertain whether some parts of the recommendationscan be implemented.
2. How can I avoid having the needs assessment results used for

actions that may create long-term problems for the organization,such as inappropriate lay-offs and downsizing?
Needs assessment ﬁndings often point to an opportunity for devel-
oping people within an organization. Some organizational leaders may,however, view the ﬁndings as an opportunity to remove individuals andreduce costs. Here are a few suggestions for avoiding this as well as otherpotentially inappropriate actions:
• As part of the proposal and contracting process, learn whether the
project addresses important performance requirements and discussalternatives for addressing those requirements. Be alert for discus-sions of actions y ou consider inappropriate.
• Examine previous organizational experiences with needs assess-
ments and determine ho w the r esults w ere used. If previous needs

assessments led to inappropriate actions, discuss these with the
client before deciding whether or not to proceed with the pro-posed pr oject.
•Examine the political situation, including the views of key stake-
holders. Determine, in advance, the possibilities for inappropriateinterpretations and uses of the ﬁndings.
• Keep the needs assessment focused on its stated purpose and objec-
tives. This may be best achieved by conducting regular meetingswith stakeholders to review the purpose and the current progress.
3. This book emphasizes stakeholder involvement, but how do I
deal with multiple stakeholders at various levels throughout theorganization?Answers to Frequently Asked Questions 229c10.qxd  11/2/06  11:44 AM  Page 229This is a very common situation, particularly in large and complex

organizations. One tip is to recognize that stakeholders can participatein various ways throughout the needs assessment process. Figure 10.1describes an actual needs assessment that was provided by David Minger,vice president of Student Affairs at Coconino Community College. Itshows one approach to encouraging many stakeholders to be involved.A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT, SECOND EDITION 230
Coconino Community College (CCC) is located in Coconino County in
northern Arizona. At 18,617 square miles, the county is the second largest in the United States. CCC consists of two large campuses in 
Flagstaff, plus campuses throughout the district in Page, Williams, and 
Grand Canyon. Additional classes are held in Tuba City and Fredonia. The distances between campuses mean that the use of technology to 
deliver education, student services, and general communications is

deliver education, student services, and general communications is 
absolutely crucial. Technology is also used to build and maintain virtual teams among employees who work asynchronously and at great distances
from one another.
In 2004, the Student Af fairs (SA) Division set two major goals: (1) put all
services online “24/7,” and (2) use technology to link dispersed teams and
provide team members with communications, training, and assessment tools.
A needs assessment was used to achieve the goals.
Process for Technology Needs Assessment
The needs assessment involved four phases:
Staff Input
The vice president for student affairs (VPSA) conducted one-on-one inter-
views with all employees in the SA Division, devoting more than eighty hours
over a several-month period. The interview process captured several hundred

speciﬁc ideas, many of which were related to the use of technology and all ofwhich were recorded in a database. The ideas ranged from the speciﬁc—bet-ter reports are needed in or der to drop nonpaying students—to broad strate-
gic considerations—implement plans to meet futur e, not just cur rent, needs.
FIGURE 10.1 Example of a Needs Assessment That Involved Many Stakeholdersc10.qxd  11/2/06  11:44 AM  Page 2304. This book emphasizes stakeholder participation in the needs
assessment project, but should I involve people who do not want toparticipate?
If the needs assessment is conducted b y one person and the ﬁndings
and decisions that result affect only that person, then little collabora-
tion is r equir ed. H owever, we know of few such situations. More com-
monly , needs assessments involve multiple participants, shared decision

making, and shared responsibility for ensuring that the ﬁndings of the
needs assessment ar e implemented to pr oduce the expected r esults.Answers to Frequently Asked Questions 231
Informal Comparative Study of Former or Other Colleges
Learning about best practices at other colleges was addressed through staff
attending conferences and by other means. The VPSA noted that the avail-ability of technologically enhanced services at CCC varied from those at
other colleges. As a result a number of services were ﬂagged for improve-
ment, for example, automating veriﬁcation of enrollment and putting theveriﬁcation service online.
Listing and Clustering the Identiﬁed Needs
The various ideas fr om the pr eviously mentioned one-on-one inter views
were grouped into categories. For example, all items related to admissions

(for example, creating applications and new admissions reports online) were
put in the same categor y. The r esult was a ﬁ fty-item document with head -
ings and subheadings that could double as a checklist. Each of the ﬁ fty items
showed a need for concrete action or resources to advance the division
towar d its goals.
Involving the Larger Campus Team
The next step was to bring together managers from the SA Division and
experts from Information Technology Services. At their initial meeting, they
worked to deter mine to whom each r equest would be r eferred for discussion,
prioritization, and resource allocation. That conversation continues.
FIGURE 10.1 Example of a Needs Assessment That Involved

FIGURE 10.1 Example of a Needs Assessment That Involved 
Many Stakeholders (continued)c10.qxd  11/2/06  11:44 AM  Page 231Learning why the stakeholders do not want to participate is a starting
point for action. Consider obtaining answers to the following questions:
• Does the individual understand the purpose and expectations for
the needs assessment?
• Does the individual expect the needs assessment to result in a loss
of personal power or power of a favored group?
• Is a larger social drama unfolding with increasing tension between
the forces for change and the forces against change?
• Is the individual concerned that the needs assessment process may
not produce accurate and appropriate ﬁndings?
•Does the individual feel that his or her opinions and insights will
be ignored or used to cause personal harm or harm to others?
• Does the individual feel respected (or not respected) by the other
stakeholders?

Once y ou kno w an individual ’s reasons for noninvolvement, you may
address the issues by using the following tactics:
•Schedule a shor t meeting betw een y ou and the individual to
clarify misunderstandings and highlight the beneﬁts and risks of
collaboration.
•Consider discussing the noninv olvement with his or her supervisor
to determine whether that person can suppor t your work.
If the abo ve tactics seem unsuccessful and the individual ’s collabo-
ration is important to the needs assessment or to implementing its ﬁnd-
ings, discuss the issue with your client and develop a solution. Forexample, y ou may consider whether to let the individual ex cuse him- or
herself or whether other changes can be made in the needs assessment

process that would encourage participation. If you decide to let indi-viduals ex cuse themselv es, consider ho w this will impact the needs assess-
ment ﬁndings and their implementation.A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT, SECOND EDITION 232c10.qxd  11/2/06  11:44 AM  Page 2325. Some authors describe needs assessment as a type of evalua-
tion, and others describe needs assessment and evaluation as distinctprocesses. What is the relationship between needs assessment andevaluation?
The purpose of evaluation is to determine the merit, worth, or value
of something. There are many types of evaluation (for example, forma-tive evaluation, summative evaluation, and needs assessment). Needsassessment 
isa type of evaluation because it relies on data to determine
the merit, worth, or value of various needs in a situation and to nego-tiate the most effective way to address those needs.
Some people also use the term

Some people also use the term 
evaluation to describe the measurement
of how something was done, the efﬁciency and effectiveness of actions, orhow well the solution produced the desired results. Thus, many HRD orHPT models show the needs assessment phase occurring at the beginningof a process and the evaluation phase occurring after an intervention hasbeen designed, developed, and implemented. The term 
evaluation used
this way can refer to measuring a needs assessment process and outcomesto determine the efﬁ ciency and effectiveness of actions and how well the
process and results of the needs assessment matched the desired results.
6.What additional r esour ces could be especially helpful when
conducting a needs assessment?
Many good needs assessment r esour ces ar e available. F igure 10.2
shows some of our favorites. We turn to such resources when working

on a complex needs assessment or one that has high stakes for individ -
uals or organizations. O ne cautionar y note: authors deﬁne their terms,
such as needs assessment, needs analysis, and performance analysis, in
different ways.
7. This book describes formal needs assessments. Are informal
needs assessments ever useful?
Yes! Informal assessments are an unspoken, natural part of commu-
nication. For example, two people meet in the hallway. One personassesses the situation, notices that the other is carrying a large stack ofpapers, and decides to submit an important report later.Answers to Frequently Asked Questions 233c10.qxd  11/2/06  11:44 AM  Page 233A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT, SECOND EDITION 234
1. A resource with additional practical tactics and information on

data-collection techniques. Figuring Things Out by Zemke and Kram-
linger (1982) is a golden oldie that offers practical tactics for implementing aneeds assessment, such as, “Start the study as high in the organization as
possible and work your way down” (p. 8). It also describes how to imple-
ment data-collection techniques, including the popular ones (for example,observation and interview) and such techniques as consensus groups, fault
tree analysis, and behavioral frequency counts.
2. A resource with additional ideas for analyzing needs and prioritiz-
ing them. From Needs Assessment to Action (Altschuld & W itkin, 2000)
offers many strategies for systematically analyzing needs assessment data. Italso describes systematic processes for establishing priorities.
3. Resources that describe various types of needs assessment.
Review Rossett’s books, articles, and Web page. First Things Fast

(Rossett, 1999) focuses on performance analysis, which Rossett deﬁned as
the preliminary study of a situation to determine if a more detailed trainingneeds assessment is justiﬁed. Her Web site, http://www.josseybass.com/
legacy/r ossett/rossett/resources.htm, provides analysis strategies for three
different types of situations: performance problems, people development,and rollouts (that is, when an organization is introducing a change).
4. A research-based model for implementing a knowledge and skills
assessment. The Per formance Analysis for T raining (PAT) Model (Kunne -
man & Sleezer, 2000; Sleezer, 1990) can be a useful addition to a knowledgeand skill assessment. The P AT model includes a set of worksheets that detail
the phases, steps, and activities involved in deter mining the training needs in

an organization. This is one of the few models of needs assessment that has
been r esear ched.
5.Models of the human performance technology process. The Human
Performance T echnology Process model (V an Tiem, Moseley , & Dessinger,
2004) at http://www.ispi.org/services/whatshptmodel.pdf shows the rela-
tionships among per formance analysis; cause analysis; intervention selection,
design, and development; inter vention implementation and change; and
evaluation.
6. Books that describe HRD and HPT. Two resources that discuss needs
assessment as part of systematic approaches to HRD and HPT are the Hand-
book of Human Performance Technology (Pershing, 2006) and Foundations
FIGURE 10.2 Additional N eeds A ssessment R esourcesc10.qxd  11/2/06  11:44 AM  Page 234When assessments are shared informally with other group or orga-

nizational members, they become explicit (Jordan & Putz, 2004). Thedialogue that results from sharing informal assessments can raise aware-ness of issues, pr oduce information, provide support for individuals, and
create the groundwork for future action.
Informal assessments ar e less likely to pr ovide baseline facts and ﬁg-
ures for evaluating future actions when they are based on ﬂawed data
collection or analysis. For example, a group of employees who discussedtheir unit ’s needs for change during their afternoon br eak may not real-
ize that only those who agreed with the leader (and represented a small
minority of the unit) voiced their opinions.
Another caution when using informal needs assessments is that they
may lack stakeholder participation at the level required for future action.Answers to Frequently Asked Questions 235

of Human Resource Development (Swanson & Holton, 2001). If you are fac-
ing a complex situation, these resources may be especially helpful.
7. Books that present various approaches to and tools for evalua-
tion, including needs assessment. Evaluation in Organizations: A Sys-
tematic Approach to Enhancing Learning, Performance, and Change
(Russ-Eft & Preskill, 2001) describes various approaches to evaluation, along
with a step-by-step process for designing and implementing such projects.
Building Evaluation Capacity: 72 Activities for Teaching and Training
(Preskill & Russ-Eft, 2005) elaborates the ideas from the previous book and
provides worksheets and activities that can be used to engage stakeholders.
8. Conferences sponsored by professional associations that have

exper t presentations on needs assessment. Good places to lear n
about the cutting-edge thinking of practitioners include conferences that are
sponsor ed by ASTD (www .astd.or g) and the Inter national Society for Per for-
mance Impr ovement (www .ispi.org). A good place to learn about new
research and scholarship on needs assessment and how that affects practice
is the Academy of Human Resour ce Development (www .ahrd.org), and a
good place to lear n about advances in needs assessment as part of evalua-
tion is the American Evaluation Association (www.eval.org).
FIGURE 10.2 Additional Needs Assessment Resources (continued)c10.qxd  11/2/06  11:44 AM  Page 235For example, three like-minded managers decided their direct reports

would comply with a new procedure. They were surprised when theiremployees, who were angry with the decision, made sure that the newprocedure was ineffective.
Situations that are highly politicized, complex, or resource intensive
usually require precise thinking, extensive negotiation, and documen-tation. A formal needs assessment is the right tool for such situationsbecause it prescribes a process, documents one or more characteristicsof the situation, and usually results in a report. However, in situationswhere there is high agreement and low costs, consider using an infor-mal needs assessment. Also consider using informal needs assessment toget participation from stakeholders in a low-cost way.
Both formal and informal assessments are useful for investigating

needs, identifying the causes of current performance, ﬁnding appropri-ate solutions, and building a momentum for action. Decide whetheryour situation requires an informal or formal needs assessment or a com-bination of both.
This chapter pr ovided answers to commonly asked questions. It also
identiﬁ ed resour ces that y ou can use to extend y our needs assessment
knowledge.
HRD and HPT pr ofessionals who conduct needs assessments to
impr ove learning and performance now work in challenging times.
Learning and performance improvement has become more important

than ever before for individuals, groups, organizations, communities,countries, and international groups. Moreover, new strategies offer morechoices than ever before for collecting and analyzing data and reportingresults; new research ﬁndings present fresh insights into how to improvelearning and performance; new technologies provide innovations incommunication and data management.A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT, SECOND EDITION 236c10.qxd  11/2/06  11:44 AM  Page 236The information presented in this chapter in combination with infor-

mation from earlier chapters on needs assessment theories, approaches,data-collection and analysis strategies, and managing a needs assessmentcan help you plan a needs assessment and also deal with issues as theyarise. In addition, Part Four contains forms to help you get started.
The assumptions and choices that you make at the beginning of
learning, training, and performance improvement initiatives set theirdirection. This book has highlighted ways to use data to inform needsassessment assumptions and has described various choices that are avail-able when planning and implementing a needs assessment. Given itsimportance to HRD and HPT initiatives, using this information toinform practice and improve the efﬁciency and effectiveness of needsassessments is well worth the effort.Answers to Frequently Asked Questions 237c10.qxd  11/2/06  11:44 AM  Page 237c10.qxd  11/2/06  11:44 AM  Page 238IVNeeds Assessment

Toolkitp04.qxd  11/2/06  11:18 AM  Page 239p04.qxd  11/2/06  11:18 AM  Page 240TOOLKIT FORM 2.1 Tools and Strategies for Assessing Systems
Directions: Review the ﬁrst column and identify the type of system pattern for your situa-
tion. Then consider the various assessment strategies and tools for that pattern.
Types of System Patterns Assessment Strategies and Tools
Visible patterns that are easily Identify the visible patterns using such complexity 
measured metaphors as the butterﬂy effect and edge of
chaos.
Distinguish among linear, nonlinear, and random;
systemic and nonsystemic patterns.
Use mathematical models (such as the Balanced
Scorecard) to track mutually causal factors.
Use the 15 per cent concept. Gar eth Mor gan
(2006) states that in a work situation, a person has
only about 15 percent control because 85 percent
of the contr ol is shaped by the str uctur es, systems,
events, and culture in which they operate. The
same is true for organizations. Morgan recom-

mends not tr ying to change the 85 per cent that is
out of control, but instead knowing where the
inﬂuence lies and where it can be exercised.
Patterns that are only partially visible Become knowledgeable about the focus issue 
or invisible, but easily measur ed from the literature and practice, so 
you know where and how to look for these patter ns.
Describe or model the subtle r elationships and
structures that shape human system dynamics.
Inﬂuence the self-organizing process in human
systems by shifting components that ar evisible
and that inﬂuence the nonlinear dynamics.
Use mathematical tools to represent the subtle,
nonlinear dynamics of a human system.
Diagram a network by using network analysis as
described in 
Linked: The New Science of Networks

by Barabasi (2002). TouchGraph can be used to
diagram networks. This open-source softwarepackage can be found at www.touchgraph.com.
241 APractical Guide to Needs Assessment, Second Edition. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley &
Sons, Inc. Reproduced by permission of Pfeiffer, an Imprint of Wiley. www.pfeiffer.comc11.qxd  11/2/06  11:46 AM  Page 241TOOLKIT FORM 2.1 Tools and Strategies for Assessing Systems (continued)
Use social network analysis tools to map and mea-
sure the informal relationships between people.
These tools can reveal key value creators and
informal knowledge communities that drive per-
formance.
Patterns that are invisible and not Use facilitated individual and group reﬂections to
easily measured identify nonlinear dynamics.

formance.
Use mathematical models (such as data mining,
computer simulation, and ar tiﬁcial intelligence) to
make visible the emer ging patter ns that are deeply
embedded in the phenomena.
Note: The information in this table was adapted from Eoyang, G. (2004). Practitioner’s land-
scape. Emergence: Complexity & Organization, 6 (1, 2), 55–60.
242 APractical Guide to Needs Assessment, Second Edition. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley &
Sons, Inc. Reproduced by permission of Pfeiffer, an Imprint of Wiley. www.pfeiffer.comc11.qxd  11/2/06  11:46 AM  Page 242243 APractical Guide to Needs Assessment, Second Edition. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley &
Sons, Inc. Reproduced by permission of Pfeiffer, an Imprint of Wiley. www.pfeiffer.comTOOLKIT FORM 4.1 Knowledge and Skills Assessment Interview Guide

Interviewer: Interviewee:
General Questions
1.Why do you think training is needed?
2.Describe speciﬁc instances of how workplace productivity has been affected by lack of
knowledge and skills.
3.Give speciﬁc examples of how shortfalls in performance have affected unit goals, overall
organization goals, or customer-satisfaction indices. (Add other indicators that are speciﬁc
to your or ganization).c11.qxd  11/2/06  11:46 AM  Page 243244 APractical Guide to Needs Assessment, Second Edition. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley &
4.What other factors (internal or external) do you think are causing performance problems?
Questions for Client Contact

5.What are the goals of the assessment?
6.What resources (monetary and nonmonetary) will be available for conducting the
assessment?
7.Whose approval must be obtained in order to proceed with the assessment?
8.Which gr oups must buy in to the concept?c11.qxd  11/2/06  11:46 AM  Page 244245 APractical Guide to Needs Assessment, Second Edition. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley &
9.What are the most convenient times for collecting data?
10. What is the projected timeline for implementing the solutions?
11. List characteristics of the target audience, such as age, educational level, learning styles,
attitudes toward learning, and computer literacy.

12. What is the appr oximate size of the tar get audience by position, geographic location, and
so for th?c11.qxd  11/2/06  11:46 AM  Page 245246 APractical Guide to Needs Assessment, Second Edition. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley &
13. Has the target audience received prior training in this area? If so, what type of training?
14. What are the prerequisites for the program or programs?
15. Will certiﬁcation be required?
16. Who are the internal and external customers of the target audience? c11.qxd  11/2/06  11:46 AM  Page 246247 APractical Guide to Needs Assessment, Second Edition. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley &

Sons, Inc. Reproduced by permission of Pfeiffer, an Imprint of Wiley. www.pfeiffer.comTOOLKIT FORM 4.2 Skills Assessment Survey
The Human Resources Department is conducting a survey of the job requirements of all [name of
job function] at [name of company]. The information collected will be used to prepare a trainingplan for all [name of job function]. Your input is vital for ensuring the success of this initiative.
Instructions: This survey should take approximately ﬁfteen to twenty minutes to complete. For
each of the following items, please circle the appropriate rating. For items that are not applica-
ble, circle “N.A.” Please be candid in your responses.
Key:
1=Very low 2 = Low 3 = Medium 4 = High 5 = Very high N.A. = Not applicable
Current Level of Proﬁciency
[Enter skills here]
Example:

Key:
Example:
1.Obtain product information from customer 1 2 3 4 5 N.A.
Note: Add a place to enter demographic information.c11.qxd  11/2/06  11:46 AM  Page 247248 APractical Guide to Needs Assessment, Second Edition. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley &
Sons, Inc. Reproduced by permission of Pfeiffer, an Imprint of Wiley. www.pfeiffer.comTOOLKIT FORM 4.2 Skills Assessment Survey (continued)
Interpretation of Scores
All items that receive a rating of “3” or below indicate a need for training. The assumption is
that the desired rating is “4” or above.
To ensure accuracy of responses, because there is a possibility that ratings may be inﬂated, do
the following:
• Conduct follow-up interviews with unit managers to corroborate information obtained from
surveys.

surveys.
• Consider sending anonymous surveys. (The major disadvantage of this method is that indi-
vidualized training needs cannot be identiﬁed.)c11.qxd  11/2/06  11:46 AM  Page 248249 APractical Guide to Needs Assessment, Second Edition. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley &
Sons, Inc. Reproduced by permission of Pfeiffer, an Imprint of Wiley. www.pfeiffer.comTOOLKIT FORM 4.3 Customer-Service Knowledge and Skills 
Assessment Survey
The Training Department is conducting a customer-service training needs assessment at [name
of company]. The information collected will be used to prepare a training plan for all customer-service personnel. Your input is vital for ensuring the success of this initiative.
Instructions: This questionnaire will take approximately twenty-ﬁve minutes to complete. Please
be candid when responding to the questions.

1.What are the ﬁve main responsibilities of your job? List the approximate percentage of
time you spend on each job responsibility.
2.What knowledge and skills do you r equir eto be successful in your job?
3.What are the critical success factors for effective performance in your job?
4.What are the main barriers to your success?c11.qxd  11/2/06  11:46 AM  Page 249250 APractical Guide to Needs Assessment, Second Edition. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley &
Assessment Survey (continued)
5.What are the most difﬁcult aspects of your job?
6.What should the training priorities for your job function be?
7.What prior customer-service training have you received? List all training received, includ-
ing in previous jobs.

8.What are your preferred learning styles (self-paced, computer-based, classroom)?
Describe any others.c11.qxd  11/2/06  11:46 AM  Page 250251 APractical Guide to Needs Assessment, Second Edition. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley &
Note: The following portion of the questionnaire can also be distributed to supervisors and
other internal or external customers if the instructions are modiﬁed.
9.Please complete the following self-assessment, using the following scale:
1=Very Poor 2 = Poor 3 = Average 4 = Good 5 = Excellent N.A. = Not Applicable
a.Knowledge of customer-service standards 1 2 3 4 5 N.A.

b. Knowledge of customer-service phone etiquette 1 2 3 4 5 N.A.
c.Knowledge of pr oducts 1 2 3 4 5 N.A.
d. Knowledge of pr oduct r ules and r egulations 1 2 3 4 5 N.A.
e.Ability to handle customer-service calls 1 2 3 4 5 N.A.
f.Ability to respond promptly to requests 1 2 3 4 5 N.A.
g.Ability to handle customer complaints 12345 N . A .
h.Ability to solve problems quickly 1 2 3 4 5 N.A.
i.Ability to make decisions quickly 1 2 3 4 5 N.A.
j.Ability to negotiate 1 2 3 4 5 N.A.
k.Ability to listen carefully 1 2 3 4 5 N.A.
l.Ability to manage str ess 1 2 3 4 5 N.A.
[Add questions of your own.]
Position/T itle: Unit:c11.qxd  11/2/06  11:46 AM  Page 251252 APractical Guide to Needs Assessment, Second Edition. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley &

Sons, Inc. Reproduced by permission of Pfeiffer, an Imprint of Wiley. www.pfeiffer.comTOOLKIT FORM 4.4 Management Knowledge and Skills Assessment Survey
The Training Department is conducting a company-wide training needs assessment at [name
of company]. The information collected will be used to prepare a training plan for all [name ofjob function] personnel. Your input is vital for ensuring the success of this initiative.
2.What knowledge and skills do you r equire to be successful in your job?

3.What are the critical success factors for your effective performance?
4.What are the main barriers to your success?c11.qxd  11/2/06  11:46 AM  Page 252253 APractical Guide to Needs Assessment, Second Edition. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley &
7.What prior management training have you received? List all such training received,
including in previous jobs.
8.What ar eyour pr eferred lear ning styles (self-paced, computer -based, classr oom)?
Describe any others.

Position/T itle: Unit:c11.qxd  11/2/06  11:46 AM  Page 253254 APractical Guide to Needs Assessment, Second Edition. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley &
Instructions: This survey will take only a short time to complete. Please rate your 
[managers/subordinates] on the following items, using the key below. Please be candid 
when responding. Circle your choices.
Key: 1=Strongly Disagree 2 = Disagree 3 = Somewhat Agree
4=Agree 5 = Strongly Agree N.A. = Not Applicable
Leadership
1.They are visionaries. 1 2 3 4 5 N.A.
2.They serve as coaches and mentors. 1 2 3 4 5 N.A.
3.They encourage teamwork. 1 2 3 4 5 N.A.
4.They tr eat me and my coworkers fairly . 1 2 3 4 5 N.A.

5.They tr eat me and my coworkers with respect. 1 2 3 4 5 N.A.
6.They project a positive view of the organization
to clients and customers. 1 2 3 4 5 N.A.
Communication
7.They clearly communicate what is expected of me. 1 2 3 4 5 N.A.
8.They clearly communicate what is expected
of my coworkers. 1 2 3 4 5 N.A.
9.They keep me informed about critical business 
issues that may have an impact on my job. 1 2 3 4 5 N.A.
10. They keep me updated about the unit’ s
accomplishments through memos and other communication channels. 1 2 3 4 5 N.A.
11. They are effective in making presentations 
to others. 1 2 3 4 5 N.A.
12. They establish clear channels of communication 
between group members. 1 2 3 4 5 N.A.
13. They establish clear channels of communication
between this unit and other units. 1 2 3 4 5 N.A.

Performance Management
14. They ar egenuinely concer ned about my
job performance. 1 2 3 4 5 N.A.c11.qxd  11/2/06  11:46 AM  Page 254255 APractical Guide to Needs Assessment, Second Edition. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley &
15. They provide me and my coworkers with 
challenging tasks. 1 2 3 4 5 N.A.
16. They provide opportunities for professional
growth and development. 1 2 3 4 5 N.A.
17. They conduct effective performance appraisal 
meetings. 1 2 3 4 5 N.A.
18. They resolve conﬂicts effectively. 1 2 3 4 5 N.A.

19. They provide feedback at the appropriate time. 1 2 3 4 5 N.A.
Project Management
20. They delegate tasks according to the appropriate 
skill and experience level of the group members. 1 2 3 4 5 N.A.
21. They effectively forecast the workload of the group. 1 2 3 4 5 N.A.
22. They plan ef fectively. 1 2 3 4 5 N.A.
23. They take appropriate corrective action when 
necessary. 1 2 3 4 5 N.A.
Customer Service
24. They put the customers’ needs befor ethe needs
ofthe or ganization. 1 2 3 4 5 N.A.
25. They ar esensitive to the needs of customers. 1 2 3 4 5 N.A.
26. They ar econtinually seeking ways to pr ovide 
superior ser vice to customers. 1 2345 N . A .
27. They are aware of industry standards for 
customer service. 1 2 3 4 5 N.A.
Sales
28. They demonstrate effective negotiation skills. 1 2 3 4 5 N.A.

Sales
29. They proactively identify sales opportunities 
with internal and external customers. 1 2 3 4 5 N.A.
30. They forge strong relationships with internal 
and external customers. 1 2 3 4 5 N.A.c11.qxd  11/2/06  11:46 AM  Page 255256 APractical Guide to Needs Assessment, Second Edition. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley &
Sons, Inc. Reproduced by permission of Pfeiffer, an Imprint of Wiley. www.pfeiffer.comTOOLKIT FORM 4.5 Knowledge and Skills Assessment Curriculum Plan
Core Curriculum
Year 1 Year 2 Year 3
Sales Executive
Sales Manager
Sales Associatec11.qxd  11/2/06  11:46 AM  Page 256257 APractical Guide to Needs Assessment, Second Edition. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley &

Sons, Inc. Reproduced by permission of Pfeiffer, an Imprint of Wiley. www.pfeiffer.comTOOLKIT FORM 4.5 Knowledge and Skills Assessment Curriculum Plan (continued)
Advanced Curriculum
Sales Associatec11.qxd  11/2/06  11:46 AM  Page 257258 APractical Guide to Needs Assessment, Second Edition. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley &
Sons, Inc. Reproduced by permission of Pfeiffer, an Imprint of Wiley. www.pfeiffer.comTOOLKIT FORM 5.1 Job Analysis Questionnaire
[date].
Name:
1.List all your major responsibilities. Then prioritize each item by assigning a

[date].
Name:
1.List all your major responsibilities. Then prioritize each item by assigning a 
number to it. For example, assign “1” to the responsibility you consider 
most important.
2.Why ar ethese r esponsibilities important to your job?c11.qxd  11/2/06  11:46 AM  Page 258259 APractical Guide to Needs Assessment, Second Edition. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley &
Sons, Inc. Reproduced by permission of Pfeiffer, an Imprint of Wiley. www.pfeiffer.comTOOLKIT FORM 5.1 Job Analysis Questionnaire (continued)
4.Describe some speciﬁc duties or tasks you perform in your job that are related 
to your major responsibilities. List the responsibilities you mentioned previously. 
After you indicate the speciﬁ cduty or task, please state how often you per formthis 
duty or task.

5.What knowledge do you require to perform your job successfully?c11.qxd  11/2/06  11:46 AM  Page 259260 APractical Guide to Needs Assessment, Second Edition. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley &
6.What qualities are necessary to make you successful in your job?
7.What prior knowledge, skills and abilities, or attitudes did you bring to your position 
that helped to make you successful in your job?
8.List any courses, workshops, or training pr ograms you attended in the past that you 
feel have helped you succeed in your job.c11.qxd  11/2/06  11:46 AM  Page 260261 APractical Guide to Needs Assessment, Second Edition. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley &

9.Describe any other contributing factors you feel have made you successful in 
your job.c11.qxd  11/2/06  11:46 AM  Page 261TOOLKIT FORM 5.2 Job Training and Non-Training Recommendations I
Job Title (Professional/Supervisory/Management):
Department:Location: 
Job Responsibility 1 :
1.Job Task: 
2.Job Task: 
3.Job Task: 
4.Job Task: 
5.Job Task: 
Competencies: 
Training Requirements: Non-Training Requirements: 
Job Responsibility 2 :
1.Job T ask: 
3.Job T ask: 
4.Job T ask: 
Training Requir ements: 
Non-Training Requirements: 
Job Responsibility 3 :
4.Job Task:

5.Job T ask: 
Training Requirements: 
Non-Training Requirements: aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
262 APractical Guide to Needs Assessment, Second Edition. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley &
Sons, Inc. Reproduced by permission of Pfeiffer, an Imprint of Wiley. www.pfeiffer.comc11.qxd  11/2/06  11:46 AM  Page 262TOOLKIT FORM 5.2 Job Training and Non-Training Recommendations I
Department:Location:
Job Responsibility 4 :
Job Responsibility 5 :
Training Requir ements:

Job Responsibility 6 :
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
263 APractical Guide to Needs Assessment, Second Edition. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley &
Sons, Inc. Reproduced by permission of Pfeiffer, an Imprint of Wiley. www.pfeiffer.comc11.qxd  11/2/06  11:46 AM  Page 263264 APractical Guide to Needs Assessment, Second Edition. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley &
Sons, Inc. Reproduced by permission of Pfeiffer, an Imprint of Wiley. www.pfeiffer.comTOOLKIT FORM 5.3 Job Training and Non-Training Recommendations II
Job Title (Administrative):

Knowledge: 
Skills/Abilities: Attitudes: Behaviors: Standards: Training Requirements: Non-Training Requirements: 
2.Job T ask: 
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaac11.qxd  11/2/06  11:46 AM  Page 264265 APractical Guide to Needs Assessment, Second Edition. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley &
Skills/Abilities: Attitudes: Behaviors: 
Standards: 

Non-T raining Requir ements: 
Job Responsibility 4: 
Skills/Abilities: Attitudes: Behaviors: Standards: Training Requirements: 
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaac11.qxd  11/2/06  11:46 AM  Page 265266 APractical Guide to Needs Assessment, Second Edition. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley &
Sons, Inc. Reproduced by permission of Pfeiffer, an Imprint of Wiley. www.pfeiffer.comTOOLKIT FORM 5.4 Job Task Analysis Checklist
Assemble project team.
Select above-average high performers and/or subject-matter experts who will
provide input for the work session.
Notify employees’ supervisors.
Conduct brieﬁng if necessary.
Prepare job analysis questionnaire.
Distribute or mail questionnair es.
Summarize questionnaires.

Prepare ﬂip chart for session. List key job responsibilities supplied by all
Prepare agenda for work sessions.
Obtain materials for session.
Prepare meeting room for session.
During session, reﬁne list of job responsibilities.
Create task statements for each job responsibility.
Omit nonessential tasks.
Identify knowledge, skills, and abilities required to perform tasks.
Identify training requirements to perform job tasks.
Prioritize training needs.
Prepare draft of job training plan.
Submit draft of job training plan to supervisors for approval.
Prepare ﬁnal draft of job training plan.
Distribute copies of ﬁnal job training plan.c11.qxd  11/2/06  11:46 AM  Page 266267 APractical Guide to Needs Assessment, Second Edition. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley &

Sons, Inc. Reproduced by permission of Pfeiffer, an Imprint of Wiley. www.pfeiffer.comTOOLKIT FORM 6.1 Competency Project Plan Worksheet—
Detailed Schedule of Events
Completion 
Task SC PL HRM SM 1 SM 2 C TP Date
Subtotal: 
(Hours)
Project Members: (Enter names of pr oject members her e)
Key: SC = Steering Committee PL = Project Liaison HRM = Human Resource Manager
SM 1 = Sales Manager 1 SM 2 = Sales Manager 2 C = Client
TP = Training Professionalc11.qxd  11/2/06  11:46 AM  Page 267268 APractical Guide to Needs Assessment, Second Edition. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley &
Sons, Inc. Reproduced by permission of Pfeiffer, an Imprint of Wiley. www.pfeiffer.comTOOLKIT FORM 6.2 Competency Interview Worksheet
Name of Interviewer: Date: 
I. About the Interviewee
Name: Position: 
Unit: Highest Degree: 
Previous Training Received:

Previous Training Received: 
II. About the Interviewee’s Job
Name of Manager: Number of Subordinates: 
Previous Jobs (Year, Position, Company, Location):
1.What are the ﬁve main responsibilities of your job?a aa aa aa ac11.qxd  11/2/06  11:46 AM  Page 268269 APractical Guide to Needs Assessment, Second Edition. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley &
Sons, Inc. Reproduced by permission of Pfeiffer, an Imprint of Wiley. www.pfeiffer.comTOOLKIT FORM 6.2 Competency Interview Worksheet (continued)
2.What skills and abilities do you require to accomplish each of the above?
3.What other skills and abilities do you r equire to make yourself successful in your job?
III. About the Interviewee’s Work Experiences
4.Think about an incident you experienced that resulted in a successful outcome. What was

the context? When did it happen? Who was involved?c11.qxd  11/2/06  11:46 AM  Page 269270 APractical Guide to Needs Assessment, Second Edition. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley &
5.What did you feel or think?
6.What did you say? Why wer ethese actions and wor ds effective?
7.What wer ethe results? What signiﬁcance does this event have?c11.qxd  11/2/06  11:46 AM  Page 270271 APractical Guide to Needs Assessment, Second Edition. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley &
8.Think about an incident you experienced that resulted in an unsuccessful outcome. What

was the context? When did it happen? Who was involved?
9.What did you feel or think?c11.qxd  11/2/06  11:46 AM  Page 271272 APractical Guide to Needs Assessment, Second Edition. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley &
10.What did you say? Why were these actions and words ineffective?
11.What ar esome other actions you did not take at the time that could have helped you
succeed?
12.What wer ethe results? What signiﬁ cance does this event have?c11.qxd  11/2/06  11:46 AM  Page 272273 APractical Guide to Needs Assessment, Second Edition. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley &
Sons, Inc. Reproduced by permission of Pfeiffer, an Imprint of Wiley. www.pfeiffer.comTOOLKIT FORM 6.3 Competency Dictionary Worksheet
1.
Core Clusters Deﬁnitions
2.
3.

1.
2.
3.
Core Clusters Deﬁnitionsc11.qxd  11/2/06  11:46 AM  Page 273274 APractical Guide to Needs Assessment, Second Edition. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley &
Sons, Inc. Reproduced by permission of Pfeiffer, an Imprint of Wiley. www.pfeiffer.comTOOLKIT FORM 6.3 Competency Dictionary Worksheet (continued)
4.
5.
6.
CoreClusters Deﬁnitionsc11.qxd  11/2/06  11:46 AM  Page 274275 APractical Guide to Needs Assessment, Second Edition. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley &
Sons, Inc. Reproduced by permission of Pfeiffer, an Imprint of Wiley. www.pfeiffer.comTOOLKIT FORM 6.4 Competency Model Worksheet
Dimensions Position 1 Position 2 Position 3 Position 4
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.c11.qxd  11/2/06  11:46 AM  Page 275APractical Guide to Needs Assessment, Second Edition. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley &
Sons, Inc. Reproduced by permission of Pfeiffer, an Imprint of Wiley. www.pfeiffer.comTOOLKITFORM6.5IndividualLearningDevelopmentPlanfor
(Year)
EmployeeName: Position:
BusinessUnit: Manager:
Learningand InternalandExternal
Competencyto Development Supportand Success Completion Review
BeDeveloped Activities ResourcesNeeded Measures Date Date
EmployeeSignature: Date:
ManagerSignature: Date:a aa aa aa ac11.qxd  11/2/06  11:46 AM  Page 276277 APractical Guide to Needs Assessment, Second Edition. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley &
Sons, Inc. Reproduced by permission of Pfeiffer, an Imprint of Wiley. www.pfeiffer.comTOOLKIT FORM 7.1 Business Issues Worksheet
To examine an existing performance problem
1.What are the key business issues that must be addressed?

2.How long have the problems existed?
3.What are the consequences of not solving these problems?
4.Which business pr ocesses ar eaffected by the problems?
5.What ar ethe per formance impr ovement goals?
6.What is pr eventing these goals from being achieved?c11.qxd  11/2/06  11:46 AM  Page 277278 APractical Guide to Needs Assessment, Second Edition. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley &
Sons, Inc. Reproduced by permission of Pfeiffer, an Imprint of Wiley. www.pfeiffer.comTOOLKIT FORM 7.1 Business Issues Worksheet (continued)
To address a future performance need
2.Why must these issues be addressed?
3.Which business processes are currently affected?
4.What ar ethe per formance improvement goals?

5.What is pr eventing these goals fr om being achieved?c11.qxd  11/2/06  11:46 AM  Page 278TOOLKIT FORM 7.2 Fisher’s Models of Organizational Performance
Worksheet*
This form describes eight models that can be used to map organizational performance. A brief
description introduces each and space for taking additional notes follows each. Use these mod-els, individually or in combination, to consider the various relationships among aspects of per-formance, how performance improvements at one level actually combine to create performance
improvements at another level, and whether the necessary performance supports are in place.
Models 1 through 4 focus on relationships among aspects of performance at the same hierar-

chical level within an organization (that is, the individual level, the group level, or the organiza-tional level). Models 5, 6, and 7 focus on how phenomena at one level can affect theperformance of interest at another level. Model 8 integrates Models 1 through 4 and Model 5.
Model 1: Organization Level Performance
This model shows processes that occur among the aspects of performance at the highest level in
an organization. Each solid arrow in Figure 1 indicates the direction of the process among the
aspects of per formance. For example, the ar row between capacity and pr oduction pr ocess r eﬂects
the pr ocess that occurs when or ganizational r esources are used to create products or services.
The dotted circle represents the organization’s permeable boundary. The thick shaded arrows

show exchanges with the exter nal resour ce and pr oduct markets. The resource market is the
competitive space where the organization obtains land, capital, natural resources, and so forth.
The product market is the competitive space where the organization interacts with customersand r eceives economic r ents for its pr oducts and services. Economic rents are the returns received
in excess of the cost of creating the product or service.
The organization’s capacity includes the resources that were obtained from the resource mar-
ket or from organizational members and that can be selected to produce a product or service.
The organization’s accomplishments garner economic rents that ﬂow back into organization
capacity, and experience that contributes to the learning process. Organizational performance

also depends on the performance that occurs at the individual and the group levels. Performance
at these levels is shown in Models 2, 3, and 4.
279 APractical Guide to Needs Assessment, Second Edition. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley &
Sons, Inc. Reproduced by permission of Pfeiffer, an Imprint of Wiley. www.pfeiffer.comc11.qxd  11/2/06  11:46 AM  Page 279280 APractical Guide to Needs Assessment, Second Edition. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley &
Sons, Inc. Reproduced by permission of Pfeiffer, an Imprint of Wiley. www.pfeiffer.comTOOLKIT FORM 7.2 Fisher’s Models of Organizational Performance
Worksheet (continued)
FIGURE 1 Aspects of Or ganization Level Per formance
Notes on aspects of or ganizational level per formance: 
Model 2: Individual Level Performance

Each individual is a distinct unit who combines his or her personal resources (individual capacity)
with the resources provided by the organization (such as tools, data, and raw materials) to pro-
duce value-enhanced accomplishments that are deployed to other parts of the organization. Indi-vidual accomplishments become the resources that fuel the production process of other individuals
and groups, thus creating a value-added chain. The individual production process adds value to
aportion of the ﬁ nal organizational accomplishment that is instrumental to the organization’s per-
formance. The overlap of individual and organizational capacity in Figure 2 depicts that when an

individual learns by engaging in the production process or by evaluating accomplishments, theinitial lear ning is stored in the individual’s memory and contributes to organizational memory if
shared. Knowledge held by an individual can be viewed as part of the organization’s aggregate
capacity (but not necessarily organizational memory, because most of this knowledge is lost tothe or ganization if the individual leaves). ResourceMarket
ProductMarketOrganizationalBoundary
Product ion
Process
Learning
ProcessAccomplishme nt
MemoryCapacity
EconomicRentsExperiencec11.qxd  11/2/06  11:46 AM  Page 280281 APractical Guide to Needs Assessment, Second Edition. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley &

Learning
Sons, Inc. Reproduced by permission of Pfeiffer, an Imprint of Wiley. www.pfeiffer.comModels 3 and 4: Gr oup Level Performance
This level is very complex, as shown in Model 3 (see Figure 3). Each dot represents an individ-
ual who operates in the manner described at the individual level. Moreover, the individuals couldbe operating at different speeds and be at different stages in the performance cycle.
The clusters of dots enclosed with dashed lines r epresent gr oups. The overlapping clusters show
individuals who have multiple relationships.
Performance at the group level also includes the aspects of performance (see Model 4 in Figure
4). Capacity at the group level includes group member skills, abilities, and knowledge as well as

resources provided by the organization. It also includes resources that result from interactions
among individuals within the group and that enable the group to produce accomplishments that
the same individuals working alone could not attain.
The group production process involves individuals working together in value-enhanced ways that
areunavailable to the gr oup’sindividual members. The group’s accomplishments become
resources to other parts of the organization, where they lead to further enhancement in a value-
adding chain. The group receives feedback from the production processes and from OrganizationalBoundary
Product ion Produ ction
ProcessProcess
LearningLearning
ProcessProcessAccomplishment Accomplishmen t
Individual
MemoryOrga nization
CapacityCapacity

FIGURE 2 Aspects of Individual Level Performance
Notes on aspects of individual level per formance:TOOLKIT FORM 7.2 Fisher’s Models of Organizational Performance
Worksheet (continued)c11.qxd  11/2/06  11:46 AM  Page 281282 APractical Guide to Needs Assessment, Second Edition. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley &
comparisons with set standar ds; this feedback r esults in new knowledge that may be used to
improve gr oup pr oduction pr ocesses and thus enhance the value of gr oup accomplishments. The
new knowledge that a gr oup acquires by evaluating its accomplishment and by reﬂecting on the

feedback fr om the pr oduction pr ocess may become or ganizational memor yvia sharing and for -
mal documentation.
Model 5: Compositional Links Among Performance Levels
Use a compositional link when performance at one level combines to create performance at a
higher level. For example, a ﬁrm’s organizational climate for innovation reﬂects the shared per-
ceptions of all the employees in a ﬁrm. Compositional links occur within the same aspect of per-formance. As an example, the model in Figur e5shows the compositional links for the capacity
aspect of performance. One arrow shows the link that could occur if individual contributions

combine to create organization capacity; another arrow shows the link that could occur if indi-vidual contributions combine to cr eate gr oup capacity; and a thir darrow shows the link that
could occur if group contributions combine to create organization capacity. For more informa-
tion on compositional links see Klein and Kozlowski (2000).OrganizationalBoundary
FIGURE 3 Complexity at the Gr oup Level
Notes on aspects of complexity:c11.qxd  11/2/06  11:46 AM  Page 282283 APractical Guide to Needs Assessment, Second Edition. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley &
OrganizationalBoundary
Process
Learning
FIGURE 4 Aspects of Gr oup Level Per formance

Process
Learning
Notes on aspects of gr oup level per formance:
IndividualGroupOrganizationCapaci ty
FIGURE 5 Compositional Links Among Performance Levels
Notes on compositional links that are relevant to the need:c11.qxd  11/2/06  11:46 AM  Page 283284 APractical Guide to Needs Assessment, Second Edition. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley &
Model 6: Cross-Level, Multi-Aspect Links
Some relationships link both the levels and the aspects of performance. The model in Figure 6

shows a sample of these relationships for two aspects of performance: capacity and process. Indi-vidual capacity may affect group production when individual skills contribute to the group pro-cess. Individual capacity may directly affect organizational production process (such as an expert
technician’s role). Organization capacity contributes to individual production when the individ-
ual uses the organization’s pool of resources (such as computers) to do work. Group capacityinﬂuences the individual’s production process when an individual, as part of a group process,
learns skills that he or she then transfers to the individual production process.
IndividualGroupOrganizationProd uction
Process
FIGURE 6 Example of Cr oss-Level, Multi-Aspect Links

Process
Notes on cr oss-level, multi-aspect links:c11.qxd  11/2/06  11:46 AM  Page 284285 APractical Guide to Needs Assessment, Second Edition. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley &
Model 7: Hybrid Relationships
This model (see Figure 7) introduces the notion of hybrid relationships. In such cases, perfor-
mance at one level affects performance at another level, which in turn affects a process. Forexample, an individual can share an idea that modiﬁes a group’s production process. As anotherexample, a group can brainstorm ideas that modify the organization’s production process. Closer
inspection shows that hybrid links are actually combinations of the compositional and intralevel

links described earlier. In each example, the sharing of resources with others is at the core of therelationship.
Model 8: Intralevel and Compositional Relationships
To aid in understanding, Model 8 shows the intralevel and compositional relationships described
in Models 1, 2, 4, and 5 (see Figur e8). Note that to keep the ﬁgure legible, the relationships
between top management and the product and resource markets are not shown. The arrowsbetween the aspects of performance depict process transfers at all three levels.
*Note that earlier versions of this information were published in Fisher and Sleezer (2003).IndividualGroupOrganizationProd uction
Process
FIGURE 7 Example of Hybrid Links
Notes on hybrid links: c11.qxd  11/2/06  11:46 AM  Page 285APractical Guide to Needs Assessment, Second Edition. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley &

Sons, Inc. Reproduced by permission of Pfeiffer, an Imprint of Wiley. www.pfeiffer.comIndividualMemory
OrganizationalMemory
Group
OrganizationIndividual
Group
Organization
Group
OrganizationCapacityIndividual
Group
OrganizationAccom
plishm
entResource Ma rket
Product MarketO
rganizationalBoundaryProductionProcess
LearningProcessIndustry
Compensation
MeasuredCompensationExperienceEconomicRents
FIGURE8IntralevelandCompositionalRelationshipsinOrganizationalPerformance
NotesonFigure8:c11.qxd  11/2/06  11:46 AM  Page 286287 APractical Guide to Needs Assessment, Second Edition. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley &
Sons, Inc. Reproduced by permission of Pfeiffer, an Imprint of Wiley. www.pfeiffer.comTOOLKIT FORM 7.3 Process Map Worksheet

Aprocess map shows the steps or activities that are being performed in a business process. A
process boundary shows where a business process begins and ends. For example, the processboundary for order management begins when a customer-service unit sends a mail order andends when a product is received by a customer.
Instructions
Tips for Pr ocess Mapping
1.Document steps in sequence. Try to restrict your diagram to major steps at ﬁrst. 
Do not become bogged down in too much detail.

2.Begin by identifying the ﬁ rst major pr ocess activity ,such as pr ocessing quotes, as 
shown in the attached ﬁ gure. Deter mine the ﬂow of information to and from this
process. Use single-pointed arrows for information that ﬂows in one direction. For
information that ﬂ ows in both dir ections between two units or pr ocesses, use two-
pointed ar rows.
3.Identify the next major process. Document the inputs and outputs to this process.
4.Link all major processes as well as inputs and outputs. If you cannot deﬁne interme-
diate steps, make notes. Come back to this step later.
5.When you have ﬁ nished creating your process map, retrace steps to verify accuracy
of infor mation collected.c11.qxd  11/2/06  11:46 AM  Page 287TOOLKIT FORM 7.3 Process Map Worksheet 
Process:
Key:
Depar tment or Unit
Processing Activity

Process:
Key:
Flow of Information in One DirectionFlow of Infor mation in Both Directions
288 APractical Guide to Needs Assessment, Second Edition. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley &
Sons, Inc. Reproduced by permission of Pfeiffer, an Imprint of Wiley. www.pfeiffer.comQuestions To Ask
1.What is the sequence of
activities that must be per-formed to complete thisprocess?
2.Who performs each
activity?
3.How much time does it take
to perform each activity or
step?
4.What are the external
inputs?
5.Wher edo inter nal inputs
come fr om?
6.What are the outputs?
7.Wher edo the outputs go?c11.qxd  11/2/06  11:46 AM  Page 288TOOLKIT FORM 7.4 Gap Analysis Worksheet
Current  
Performance 
289 APractical Guide to Needs Assessment, Second Edition. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley &

Current  
Sons, Inc. Reproduced by permission of Pfeiffer, an Imprint of Wiley. www.pfeiffer.comc11.qxd  11/2/06  11:46 AM  Page 289290 APractical Guide to Needs Assessment, Second Edition. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley &
Sons, Inc. Reproduced by permission of Pfeiffer, an Imprint of Wiley. www.pfeiffer.comTOOLKIT FORM 7.5 Change Readiness Checklist
Have clear objectives for the change initiative been established?
Has a leader been assigned to facilitate the change effort?Does the leader have the requisite interpersonal and organization development
skills to facilitate the change initiative?
Are adequate internal resources available for implementing the performance
improvement plan?
Areexter nal resour ces requir ed?
Have reasons for change been communicated to top management?
Is top management committed to implementing the per formance

Is top management willing to take risks to implement the performance
Have reasons for change been communicated to middle management?Is middle management committed to implementing the per formance
Have r easons for change been communicated to fr ontline employees?
Arefrontline employees committed to implementing the performance
Have milestones for celebrating successes been established?Have strategies for motivating and reinforcing those involved in the
performance improvement initiative been devised?
Has a follow-up plan to monitor the change initiative been developed?c11.qxd  11/2/06  11:46 AM  Page 290291 APractical Guide to Needs Assessment, Second Edition. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley &

Sons, Inc. Reproduced by permission of Pfeiffer, an Imprint of Wiley. www.pfeiffer.comTOOLKIT FORM 7.6 Performance Improvement Planner
Project Identiﬁcation Number:
Project Description:
Project Sponsor (Name/Business Unit):
Performance Improvement Goal:
Project Structure:
Team Requirements:
Resources:
Expected Cost:
Beneﬁts:c11.qxd  11/2/06  11:46 AM  Page 291292 APractical Guide to Needs Assessment, Second Edition. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley &
Sons, Inc. Reproduced by permission of Pfeiffer, an Imprint of Wiley. www.pfeiffer.comTOOLKIT FORM 7.6 Performance Improvement Planner (continued)
Timeline
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Timeline
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Completed By: Approved By: 
Date: Date: a aa ac11.qxd  11/2/06  11:46 AM  Page 292293 APractical Guide to Needs Assessment, Second Edition. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley &
Sons, Inc. Reproduced by permission of Pfeiffer, an Imprint of Wiley. www.pfeiffer.comTOOLKIT FORM 8.1 Needs Assessment Checklist
The following checklist may be used for a variety of needs assessments, including the four
approaches presented in this book. Because the assessment requirements for each situation
differ, use the items that are most applicable to your organization’s needs. Also, note thatsome needs assessments have additional steps that are not included in this checklist.
2.Have you considered the ethical issues that may arise while gathering

preliminary data and the ethical codes that can guide your actions?
3.Have you obtained senior management’s perspectives about the goals of
4.Have you identiﬁed the attitudes of learners and other stakeholders toward
the needs assessment and the new program, system, training, or technology?
5.Is there consensus about the goals of the needs assessment among those
involved?
6.Do you have a holistic perspective about the project, the organization, and
its lar ger envir onment?
• How does this project ﬁt with other organizational efforts?• How do the organization’s systems, culture, and politics support the project?• Have you identiﬁed what factors are likely to impede the needs
assessment or the pr oject?

• Have you identiﬁed the prerequisites for installing, developing, using,
revising, or updating the program, system, training, or technology?
• Have you identiﬁed whether changes are needed that are complementary
to the ef fort you are working on (for example, changes in work design,
rewards, tools, culture, training, or environment)?c11.qxd  11/2/06  11:46 AM  Page 293294 APractical Guide to Needs Assessment, Second Edition. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley &
Sons, Inc. Reproduced by permission of Pfeiffer, an Imprint of Wiley. www.pfeiffer.comTOOLKIT FORM 8.1 Needs Assessment Checklist (continued)
• If complementary changes are needed, do you know who is responsible
for implementing and monitoring the changes?
• Have you identiﬁed the educational level of the target audience?• Have you determined learners’ preferred learning styles?• Have you identiﬁed the computer literacy levels of the target audience?

7.Have you determined what testing or evaluation strategies will be used to
measur esuccess?
8.Have you determined whether certiﬁcation will be required?
9.Have you identiﬁ ed resources that are available to conduct and implement
10.Do you require the assistance of external sources, such as subject-matter
experts or consultants?
11.Have you reviewed records, reports, and other pertinent extant data?
12.Have you obtained input fr om all other per tinent sour ces, such as units,
archives, and internal or external sources?
13.Have you deter mined what kind of needs assessment you will conduct (that
is, job and task, knowledge and skill, competency, or strategic analysis)?
Plan the Assessment
14.Have you established a project plan?

15.Have you established a system for managing the needs assessment?
16.Have you determined what types of data must be collected?
17.Have you identiﬁed multiple sources of data?
18.Have you identiﬁed multiple data-gathering methods that will be effective?c11.qxd  11/2/06  11:46 AM  Page 294295 APractical Guide to Needs Assessment, Second Edition. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley &
19.Have you designed the process or processes for collecting and storing data?
20.Have you established a mechanism for tabulating and analyzing results?
21.Have you developed a plan for having the appropriate people review the
draft data analysis?
22.Have you considered the ethical guidelines that should be followed when

planning and implementing this plan?
23.Have you notiﬁed the appropriate people about the assessment?
24.Have you obtained approval to proceed with the assessment?
Data Collection
25.Have you developed the needs assessment tools?
26.Have you validated the needs assessment tools?
27.Have you pilot-tested the needs assessment tools?
28.Do you have a system for managing the collected data?
29.Have you scheduled the data collection?
30.Have you communicated the purpose and pr ocess of the data collection
with those who will par ticipate in it?
Analyze Data
31.Have you compiled results?
32.Have you identiﬁed patterns and deviations in data?
33.Have you organized the data for review by the client and stakeholders?
34.Have you briefed your client contact and senior management about the

draft r esults of the assessment?c11.qxd  11/2/06  11:46 AM  Page 295296 APractical Guide to Needs Assessment, Second Edition. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley &
Prepare Final Report and Presentation
35.Have you established priorities for implementing the solutions identiﬁed by
36.Have you estimated projected costs and beneﬁts for implementing each
solution?
37.Does the report contain all the relevant information?
38.Is the report accurate, precise, and concise?
39.Is the report format appropriate for the audience and organization?

solution?
40.Have you included all the appropriate supporting documents in the appendix?c11.qxd  11/2/06  11:46 AM  Page 296TOOLKIT FORM 8.2 Needs Assessment Proposal Template
Replace the information in the brackets with information speciﬁc to your project.
Proposal: [Title of the needs assessment]
Submitted to: [Client’s name]
[Client’s title][Client’s address]
[Client’s phone/e-mail number]
Submitted by: [Analyst’s name]
[Analyst’s title]
[Analyst’ saddress]
[Analyst’ sphone number/e-mail address]
Date: [Date pr oposal is submitted to client]
[Name of Proposal] Page 2
297 APractical Guide to Needs Assessment, Second Edition. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley &

Sons, Inc. Reproduced by permission of Pfeiffer, an Imprint of Wiley. www.pfeiffer.comc11.qxd  11/2/06  11:46 AM  Page 297TOOLKIT FORM 8.2 Needs Assessment Proposal Template (continued)
Purpose
[Insert one to two paragraphs with background information about the organization and the
reason for conducting the needs assessment.]
[Insert one paragraph that overviews the needs assessment, describes how it will accom-
plish the purpose, and refers to the table on the next page.]
Stafﬁng
The analyst for this project, [insert consultant’s name], has [insert brief description of the
analyst’s experience/education/certiﬁcation in needs assessment].
Cost
The costs for the needs assessment are [insert per hour costs or total project costs]. In addi-

Cost
tion, the organization will pay for such agreed-upon expenses as [specify expenses theorganization will pay]. The or ganization will also pr ovide the analyst with [specify the ser-
vices that the organization will provide for the needs assessment, such as transportation,
copying, mailing, and printing]. [Specify the work that the analyst will do at the organiza-tion] will be done on-site; however ,[specify the needs assessment work that will not be
completed at the worksite] will be completed off-site. This contract can be renegotiated at
any time as needed.
298 APractical Guide to Needs Assessment, Second Edition. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley &

Sons, Inc. Reproduced by permission of Pfeiffer, an Imprint of Wiley. www.pfeiffer.comc11.qxd  11/2/06  11:46 AM  Page 298299 APractical Guide to Needs Assessment, Second Edition. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley &
Sons, Inc. Reproduced by permission of Pfeiffer, an Imprint of Wiley. www.pfeiffer.comTOOLKIT FORM 8.2 Needs Assessment Proposal Template (continued)
[Proposal Name] Page 3
Projected Needs Assessment Phases, Outcomes, and Timelines
Phase 1: Phase 2: Phase 3: Phase 4: Phase 5:
[title] [title] [title] [title] [title]
Purpose [Insert the [Insert the [Insert the [Insert the [Insert the 
purpose purpose purpose purpose purpose
of the of the of the of the of the 
phase.] phase.] phase.] phase.] phase.]
Process [Insert the [Insert the [Insert the [Insert the [Insert the

Process [Insert the [Insert the [Insert the [Insert the [Insert the 
steps steps steps steps steps required to required to required to required to required to 
complete complete complete complete complete 
the phase.] the phase.] the phase.] the phase.] the phase.]
Outcome [Insert the [Insert the [Insert the [Insert the [Insert the 
expected expected expected expected expected outcome or outcome or outcome or outcome or outcome or 
outcomes.] outcomes.] outcomes.] outcomes.] outcomes.]
Projected [Insert the [Insert the [Insert the [Insert the [Insert the 
Due expected expected expected expected expected 
Date completion completion completion completion completion 
date for date for date for date for date for

date for date for date for date for date for 
the phase.] the phase.] the phase.] the phase.] the phase.]c11.qxd  11/2/06  11:46 AM  Page 299300 APractical Guide to Needs Assessment, Second Edition. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley &
Sons, Inc. Reproduced by permission of Pfeiffer, an Imprint of Wiley. www.pfeiffer.comTOOLKIT FORM 8.3 Needs Assessment Report Template
Directions: Replace the information in the brackets with information speciﬁc to your project.
Report Title: [for example, Phase I Report, Final Report, etc.]
[Client’s phone number/e-mail address]

Date: [Date pr oposal is submitted to client]c11.qxd  11/2/06  11:46 AM  Page 300301 APractical Guide to Needs Assessment, Second Edition. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley &
Sons, Inc. Reproduced by permission of Pfeiffer, an Imprint of Wiley. www.pfeiffer.comTOOLKIT FORM 8.3 Needs Assessment Report Template (continued)
[Insert one or two sentences that overview what was accomplished in this reporting
period.] [Insert one sentence stating why this accomplishment is important for the project
and organization.] The following sections summarize the goals, process, ﬁndings, and rec-ommendations for this phase.
Goals
1.[List a goal for the project or phase here.]
2.[List another goal for the project or phase here.]
3.[Continue listing project goals.]
Process

Goals
Process
1.[List a pr ocess step for the project or phase.]
2.[List another process step for the project or phase.]
3.[Continue listing pr ocess steps and writing descriptions as needed.
Findings
1.[List a ﬁ nding for the pr oject or phase her e.]
2.[List another ﬁnding for the project or phase here.]
3.[Continue listing ﬁndings as needed.]
[Summarize the recommendations for the phase and project, which are based on the ﬁnd-
ings, in one or two paragraphs.]c11.qxd  11/2/06  11:46 AM  Page 301TOOLKIT FORM 8.3 Needs Assessment Report Template (continued)
[Title of the phase or project]
Goal
The goals of this phase were:
1.[List a goal here.]
2.[List another goal here.]
(See Attachment A: Projected Needs Assessment Phases, Processes, Outcomes, and
Timelines.)
Process

Goal
Process
Completing this phase of the needs assessment involved [summarize the process steps that
were used to complete this phase. These should match the steps that are listed in Attach-ment A.]
Findings
[Summarize all ﬁndings here.]
[Report all recommendations here.]
Attachment A: Projected Needs Assessment Phases,
Processes, Outcomes, and Timelines
302 APractical Guide to Needs Assessment, Second Edition. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley &
Sons, Inc. Reproduced by permission of Pfeiffer, an Imprint of Wiley. www.pfeiffer.comc11.qxd  11/2/06  11:46 AM  Page 302303 APractical Guide to Needs Assessment, Second Edition. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley &

purpose purpose purpose purpose purposeof the of the of the of the of the 
steps steps steps steps steps 
required to required to required to required to required to 
expected expected expected expected expected outcome or outcome or outcome or outcome or outcome or outcomes.] outcomes.] outcomes.] outcomes.] outcomes.]

date for date for date for date for date for the phase.] the phase.] the phase.] the phase.] the phase.]c11.qxd  11/2/06  11:46 AM  Page 303c11.qxd  11/2/06  11:46 AM  Page 304Glossary
Accomplishments The outputs r esulting from certain actions and
behaviors.
Actuals Current per formance or kno wledge (Rossett,
1987).
Anonymity Characteristic of information such that its
source (the author or the person who generatedit) is not known.
Anticipated needs Needs that are expected to prevail in the future.
Behavior Actions of a person, or what people do (H arless,
1970).
Behavioral inter views Adata-collection method that obtains

1970).
information about what high per formers do that
makes them successful and what low performersdo that makes them fail. (
See also Critical
incident.)
Brainstorming Amethod of problem solving in which group
members contribute ideas spontaneously ,and
these ideas are not initially judged.
Business goal Astatement describing a measur eor target for
an organization or a business unit that will be
achieved during a certain period.
Business process Aseries of activities that provide products,
deliver services, or manage resources.
305bgloss.qxd  11/2/06  11:21 AM  Page 305Business strategies The sets of policies, plans, and directions that
the organization uses to achieve its business
goals.
Business unit Adepartment or function within an

goals.
Closed-ended question Aquestion containing speciﬁc options from
which a respondent must choose, such as a
multiple-choice question.
Comparative needs Needs occurring among two or more entities
with similar characteristics.
Competency Aknowledge, skill, or attitude that enables a
person to per form effectiv ely the activities of a
given occupation or to function to the standar ds
expected in emplo yment (International Board of
Standards for T raining, Performance, and
Instruction, 2005).
Competency dictionary An organized list of deﬁnitions for individual
Competency model Acomposite pictur eor conceptual frame workof
the competencies necessary for people to be
successful in a job function.
Conﬁdentiality The speciﬁcs of what is seen or heard is kept
private and not shared with anyone.
Conﬂict of interest Aclash between one’s personal interests and

one’sprofessional position.
Consultant Someone who has inﬂuence in a situation
but does not have the power to make changes or implement programs directly (Block, 
2000).
Corecluster Competencies gr ouped together under a broad
dimension.
Cost-beneﬁt analysis Acomparison of the costs and beneﬁts for one
or mor eoptions.APRACTICAL GUIDE TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT, SECOND EDITION 306bgloss.qxd  11/2/06  11:21 AM  Page 306Critical incident Process of collecting information about
important (critical) performance in special
situations (incidents) (Flanagan, 1954, 1974).
Critical-incident needs Needs that become apparent after system failures.
Curriculum An overall plan containing the objectives, course
modules, content outline, and delivery strategies
for training or educational programs.

Deﬁciency How a situation deviates (in a negative
direction) from the ideal (Harless, 1970).
Domain Acluster of related competencies grouped
together under a broad dimension.
Downsizing Areduction in the number of personnel within
an organization; also called a reduction in force
or RIF .
Environment Conditions surrounding performance, such 
as the work environment, equipment, tools, or machinery used in performing tasks (Harless, 1970).
Ethics Aset of principles or values, in this case the
principles guiding the conduct of pr ofessionals
under taking needs assessments.
Expressed needs Needs that are evident (e.g., demands for a
product or service exceed supply).
Evaluation Aprocess for determining and r eporting on the
merit, worth, or value of needs or of a program,
process, or product.

Formative evaluation An evaluation whose purpose is to identify
possible modiﬁ cations for impr oving a pr ogram,
Needs assessment Aprocess for ﬁguring out the gap between the
current condition and the desired condition
(called a need) and how to address the need and
close the gap .Glossary 307bgloss.qxd  11/2/06  11:21 AM  Page 307Summative An evaluation whose purpose is to make a ﬁnal 
evaluation judgment on the merit, worth, or value of a
program, process, or product.
Extant data Aterm given to quantitative and qualitative
information used during the course of a needs
assessment; these data already exist indocuments and records.
Felt needs Needs that reﬂect what people think 
they need.
Fill-in-the-blank An open-ended question that limits the length
question of responses.

they need.
Focus gr oup Adata-collection method in which the opinions
of ﬁveto eight people who share similar
exper tise (such as operations staff) are sought.
Gap Difference between what is and what should
be, between an actual state (what results are)and a desired state (what results should be)(Kaufman, Rojas, and Mayer, 1993).
High per formers People who consistently ex ceed expectations
and are informally labeled “masters” or experts
bytheir peers and managers.
Human system dynamics The ﬁeld that explores the underlying forces
that shape the ever-emerging and dynamicpatterns of human systems of all sizes.
Individual lear ning Aplan that is dev eloped for a person and
development plan shows the learning activities, support
and resources, success indicators, and measures

Interval scales Aseries of mar ks that is used to r ecord
information. The information can come from
aclosed-ended question. This numeric
information possesses the followingcharacteristics: (1) the points on the scaleAPRACTICAL GUIDE TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT, SECOND EDITION 308bgloss.qxd  11/2/06  11:21 AM  Page 308appear in an increasing (or decreasing) order
and (2) there exists an equal distance between
points on the scale.
Interventions Activities that interfere so as to modify a
process or situation. For example, organization
development consultants use suchinterventions as teambuilding and culture
change to modify the process or situation inthe client’s context.
Interviews Adata-collection method used with

individuals that can be conducted in person,by phone, or by computer technology (such asonline cameras and videoconferencing).
Semi-str uctured Alist of objectiv es with corr esponding
interviews questions initially guides the interview; 
the interviewer spontaneously asks
supplemental questions to further explore areas of interest.
Structured Alist of objectives, a corresponding list of
interviews questions, and in some cases, a corresponding
list of r esponses to questions that guide the
interview process.
Unstructur ed Questions ar enot listed in adv ance of the 
inter views interview; rather, a list of objectives and the
topics to be covered guide the interview.
Job analysis Aprocess of gathering, organizing, evaluating,
and reporting work-related information.

Job function expert Someone within or outside the organization
who is considered an expert or highly skilled in
aparticular job task.
Job responsibility The scope of activities for a job function or job
position, such as operations manager .Glossary 309bgloss.qxd  11/2/06  11:21 AM  Page 309Job task What must be done in order to fulﬁll a
responsibility—usually there are four to six
tasks for each responsibility.
Job task statement The what, why, and how of a job.
Knowledge The body of facts about a subject matter and
the understanding that a person acquires
through study or experience. What people
must know, such as subject matter, concepts,
or facts, in order to do a job.
Learning The gaining of kno wledge, understanding,
skills, and abilities; is not observable.
Learning channel Away of acquiring kno wledge, understanding,

skills, and abilities.
Likert-type scale Ascale on which respondents are asked to rate
values or attitudes (Likert, 1932).
Mission Abroad statement describing an organization’s
future plans and directions.
Multiple-choice Atype of closed-ended question that includes
question alist of three or more options from which
respondents select one or mor eresponses.
Need Alearning or performance gap that exists
between the current condition and the desired
condition.
Needs assessment Adiagnostic pr ocess that r elies on data
collection, collaboration, and negotiation to
identify and understand gaps in learning and
performance and to determine future actions.
Needs assessment Adocument that speciﬁ es the pr oject’spurpose, 
proposal phases, processes, expected outcomes, timeline,

and expenses. When approved, the proposal
serves as a contract.APRACTICAL GUIDE TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT, SECOND EDITION 310bgloss.qxd  11/2/06  11:21 AM  Page 310Network Acomplex, interconnected group or system.
Nominal scale Aseries of marks that is used to record
information. Each mark has a name (e.g., bad,
average, good, and so forth), but the choices
are not arranged in any prescribed order.
Normative needs Needs that arise when an individual or group is
not meeting one or more established standards.
Observation Atype of data collection that involves the
watching, inspecting, and taking note ofbehaviors and the envir onment.
Open-ended question Aquestion that a respondent answers in his or
her o wn wor ds.
Optimals Desired knowledge or performance (Rossett,
1987).

1987).
Performance Behaviors and their resulting accomplishments
and capacities; performance, unlike learning, isobservable.
Performance Ablueprint that documents all the per formance
improvement planner improvement projects that must be undertaken
to impr ovethe o verall effectiv eness of an
Performance statement An explanation or elaboration of the activities
that constitute a competency statement andprovide speciﬁcs of the larger competency.
Pilot test Atrial run in which an object, such as a data-
collection instrument, is tested for problems or
“bugs.”
Position training plan Amatrix of the kno wledge, skills, and abilities
needed for an individual to perform a job.
Process boundary An arbitrary “line” that shows where a business

“bugs.”
process begins and ends.Glossary 311bgloss.qxd  11/2/06  11:21 AM  Page 311Process map Agraphical illustration of the steps or activities
that are performed in a business.
Project creep Expansion of or increase in a project that
occurs when the scope of a project keeps
growing.
Project shrink Contraction of or reduction in a project that
occurs when the scope of the project keeps
getting smaller.
Qualitative data Data that are not numeric; can be words,
diagrams, or pictur es.
Quantitative data Data that can be expressed in numeric form,
such as indices, sales av erages, or number of
word-processing programs used.
Reliability The level of consistency in the item or the
data; reﬂects the level of error in themeasurement.
Return on investment Net program beneﬁts divided by program

Return on investment Net program beneﬁts divided by program 
(ROI) costs multiplied by 100.
Root cause analysis Asystematic procedure for identifying the
most pr obable cause of pr oblems so
organizational leaders can eliminate themrather than continue to deal with theirsymptoms. The process involves continuing toask “Why?” until the pattern becomes evidentand the causes of the problem become obvious.
Self-organization The tendency for complex adaptive systems to
generate new organizational forms
spontaneously when pushed far from
equilibrium.
Skills or abilities Knowledge that one proﬁciently applies in
appropriate situations; what people must do in
order to perform a job.APRACTICAL GUIDE TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT, SECOND EDITION 312bgloss.qxd  11/2/06  11:21 AM  Page 312Social network theory Analysis technique that depicts social

relationships using nodes and ties. Nodes are
the individual entities within a network; ties
are the relationships between the entities. Asocial network maps all the relevant ties
between the nodes that are being studied. Asocial network analysis can provide both avisual and a mathematical analysis of human
relationships.
Stakeholders People who have a stake in the outcomes of a
needs assessment; the ﬁndings and recom-
mendations may affect them or their wor k.
Standard Acriterion that speciﬁes how a task should be
performed.
Survey Adata-collection method typically used to
gather data from many people at one time; can
be mailed, e-mailed, or offered online.
Task analysis Amethod of determining the knowledge,
skills, tools, conditions, and requirementsneeded to perform a job.

Training Aprocess that supports individual learning (a
gain in kno wledge and skills) thr ough
specializ ed instr uction and practice.
Trustworthiness The level of conﬁdence that we can trust
particular data (typically qualitative) to provide
insight into “truth” or “reality.” The procedures
used to collect and analyze data affect
trustworthiness of the data. For example, data
that are collected and analyzed using sloppyprocedures are not trustworthy.
Two-choice question Aclosed-ended question the answ er to which
can be either one thing or the other (e.g.,yes/no, true/false), and the responses are
mutually exclusive.Glossary 313bgloss.qxd  11/2/06  11:21 AM  Page 313Validity The level of conﬁdence we can have that
speciﬁc data provide insight into “truth” or
“reality.” Procedures that are used to collect and

statistically analyze data (typically quantitative)affect the validity of the resulting data.
Want Something the client would like to have even
though it does not contribute to the learning or
performance goal.
Worthy performance The ratio of valuable accomplishments to
costly behaviors (Gilbert, 1978).APRACTICAL GUIDE TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT, SECOND EDITION 314bgloss.qxd  11/2/06  11:21 AM  Page 314References
CHAPTER ONE
Mathews, B. P ., Ueno, A., Kekale, T., Repka, M., Pereira, Z., & Silva, G.
(2001). Quality training: Needs and evaluation-ﬁndings from a Euro-pean survey. 
Total Quality Management, 12 (4), 483–490.
Preskill, H., & R uss-E ft, D. (2003). A frame workfor reframing HRD eval-
uation practice and research (pp. 199–257). In A. M. Gilley, L. Bierema,
&J. Callahan (Eds.), Critical issues in HRD. Cambridge, MA: Perseus.

Russ-E ft, D., & P reskill, H. (2005). In search of the holy grail: ROI evalua-
tion in HRD. Advances in Developing Human Resources, 7 (1), 71–85.
Scriven, M. (1991). Evaluation thesaurus (4th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
CHAPTER TW O
Eoyang, G. (2004). Practitioner’s landscape. Emergence: Complexity &
Organization, 6 (1, 2), 55–60.
Gilbert, T. J. (1978). Human competence: Engineering worthy performance.
NewYork: McGraw Hill.
Hale, J. A. (2005). The future of ISD—Death if we keep killing it. Paper
presented at International Society for Performance Improvement confer-
ence, Dallas.
Harless, J. (1970). An ounce of analysis (is worth a pound of objectives).
Newman, GA: Harless Performance Guild.
Kaufman, R. (1992). Strategic planning plus: An organizational guide.

315bref.qxd  11/2/06  11:25 AM  Page 315Kaufman, R. (2005). Deﬁning and delivering measurable value: A mega
thinking and planning primer. Performance Improvement Quarterly,
18(3), 6–16.
Mager, R. F ., & Pipe, P . (1984). Analyzing performance problems; Or, you
really oughta wanna (2nd ed.). Belmont, CA: Pitman Management and
T raining.
Phillips, J. J., & Phillips, P . P . (2005). Measuring return on investment (ROI)
basics. Alexandria, VA: American Society for T raining and Development.
Rummler, G. A., & Brache, A. P . (1995). Improving performance: How to
manage the white space in the organization char t.San Francisco: J ossey-B ass.
Swanson, R. A., & G radous, D. B. (1990). Forecasting the ﬁnancial beneﬁts
of human resource development. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
CHAPTER THREE
Callahan, M. (1985, February). Be a better needs analyst. Infoline 8502.

Alexandria, VA: American S ociety for T raining and Development.
Dillman, D. A. (2000). Mail and internet surveys: The tailored design method
(2nd ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
Gayeski, D. (2004, November). Goin’ mobile. T+D, 58 (11), 46–51.
Guba, E. G., & Lincoln, Y. S. (1981). Effective evaluation: Improving the
usefulness of ev aluation r esults thr ough r esponsiv eand natur alistic
approaches. San Francisco: J ossey-B ass.
Krueger, R. A., & Casey, M. A. (2000). Focus groups (3rd ed.). Thousand
Liker t, R. (1932). A technique for the measurement of attitudes. Archives 
of Psychology, 140, 1–55.
Paul, K., & Bracken, D. (1995, January). Everything you always 
wanted to kno wabout employee surveys. Training and Development,
49(1), 47.
Phillips, J. J., & H olton, E. F ., III. (E ds.) (1995). Inaction: Conducting

49(1), 47.
Phillips, J. J., & H olton, E. F ., III. (E ds.) (1995). Inaction: Conducting 
needs assessment. Alexandria, VA: American Society for T raining and
Development.APRACTICAL GUIDE TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT, SECOND EDITION 316bref.qxd  11/2/06  11:25 AM  Page 316Robinson, D., & Robinson, J. (1989). Training for impact. San Francisco:
Rossett, A. (1987). Training needs assessment. Englewood Cliffs, NJ:
Educational Technology Publications.
Russ-Eft, D., & Preskill, H. (2001). Evaluation in organizations: A systematic
approach to enhancing learning, performance, and change. Cambridge,
MA: Perseus.
Schwarz, R. (1995, May). Hiring good facilitators. Training and Develop-
ment, 49 (5), 67.
CHAPTER FOUR
Holton, E. F ., III (E d.) (1995). Inaction: Conducting needs assessment.
Alexandria, VA: American Society for T raining and Development.
McLean, G. N. (2005). Organization dev elopment: Principles, processes,

performance. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler.
Robinson, D. G., & Robinson, J. C. (1995). Performance consulting:
Moving beyond training. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler.
Russ-Eft, D., & Preskill, H. (2001). Evaluation in organizations: A 
systematic approach to enhancing learning, performance, and change.
Cambridge, MA: P erseus.
CHAPTER FIVE
Brannick, M. T., & Levine, E. L. (2002). Job analysis: Methods, research, and
applications for human resource management in the new millennium.
Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Butruille, S. (1989, March). Be a better job analyst. Infoline 8903.
Callahan, M. (1985, March). Be a better task analyst. Infoline 8503.
Fine, S. A., & Cronshaw, S. F . (1999). Functional job analysis: A foundation

for human resources management. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Shepher d, A. (2001). Hierarchical task analysis. NewYork: Taylor & Francis.References 317bref.qxd  11/2/06  11:25 AM  Page 317Swanson, R. A. (1994). Analysis for improving performance. Tools for diagnos-
ing organizations and documenting workplace expertise. San Francisco:
CHAPTER SIX
Bergmann, H., Hurson, K., & Russ-Eft, D. (1999). Everyone a leader: 
Agrassroots model for the new workplace. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
Boyatzis, R. (1982). The competent manager. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
Flanagan, J. C. (1954). The critical incident technique. Psychological B ul-
letin, 51, 327–358.
Flanagan, J. C. (1974). Measuring human performance. Palo Alto, CA:
American I nstitutes for R esearch.
Grifﬁths, B. (1997, February). Constr ucting and validating a competency

model. Unpublished manuscript.
International Board of Standards for T raining, Performance, and
Instruction®(2005). Glossary of terms. Retrieved September 6, 2005,
from http://www.ibstpi.org.
Klein, J. D., S pector ,J. M., G rabowski, B. L,, & de la Teja, I. (2004).
Instructor competencies: Standards for face-to-face, online, and blended set-
tings (3rded.). Greenwich, CT: Information Age.
Marrelli, A. F .(1998). An intr oduction to competency analysis and model -
ing. Performance I mprovement, 37 (5), 8 –17.
McClelland, D. C. (1973). Testing for competence rather than for “intelli-
gence.” American Psychologist, 28, 1–14.
McLagan, P . (1980, December). Competency models. Training and Devel-
opment, 34 (12), 23.
Richey, R. C., Fields, D. C., & Foxon, M. (2001). Instructional design com-

petencies: The standards. Syracuse, NY: ERIC Clearinghouse on Informa-
tion & Technology, Syracuse University.
Rothw ell, W.J. (1996). ASTD models for human per formance impr ovement:
Roles, competencies, and outputs. Alexandria, VA: American Society for
Training and Development.APRACTICAL GUIDE TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT, SECOND EDITION 318bref.qxd  11/2/06  11:25 AM  Page 318Russ-Eft, D. (2004). Customer service competencies: A global look. Human
Resource Development International, 7, 211–231.
Spencer, L. M., & Spencer, S. M. (1993). Competence at work: Models for
superior performance. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
White, R. W. (1959). Motivation reconsidered: The concept of competence.
Psychological Review, 66, 297–333.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Fisher, S. R. (2000). Amultilevel theory of organizational performance. Doc-

toral dissertation, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater.
Fisher, S. R., & Sleezer, C. M. (2003). An overview of a multilevel theory of
organizational per formance. Paper pr esented at I nstitute of B ehavioral
and A pplied M anagement conference, Tampa, FL.
Gephar t, M. A., & Van Buren, M. E. (1996, October). Building synergy:
The power of high-performance work systems. Training & Development,
50(10), 21–36.
Mankins, M. C., & Steele, R. (2005, July–August). T urning great strategy
into great performance. Harvard Business Review, 83 (7/8), 64–72.
Porter, M. E. (1980). Competitive strategy. New York: Free Press.
Robinson, D., & Robinson, J. (2006). The art and the science of perfor-
mance consulting. Performance Improvement, 45 (4), 5 –8.

manage the white space in the organization chart. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Swanson, R. A. (1996). Analysis for improving performance: Tools for diagnos-
CHAPTER EIGHT
Block, P . (2000). Flawless consulting (2nd ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Instruction®.(2005). Evaluator competencies. Retrieved 9/1/06 from
www .ibstpi.org.References 319bref.qxd  11/2/06  11:25 AM  Page 319King, S. B. (1998). Practitioner veriﬁcation of the human performance
improvement analyst competencies and outputs. Doctoral dissertation,

Pennsylvania State University. Digital Dissertations, AAT 9915873.
McNamara, C. (2005). Field guide to consulting and organizational develop-
ment with nonproﬁts. Minneapolis: Authenticity Consulting, LLC.
Phillips, J. J. (2003). Return on investment in training and performance improve-
ment programs (2nd ed.). Burlington: MA: Butterworth-Heinemann.
Rothwell, W. J. (1996). ASTD models for human performance improvement:
Training and D evelopment.
Swanson, R. A., & G radous, D. B. (1990). Forecasting the ﬁ nancial beneﬁ ts
of human r esource dev elopment. San Francisco: J ossey-Bass.
Torres, R. T., Preskill, H., & Piontek, M. (2005). Evaluation strategies for
communicating and r eporting: Enhancing learning in organizations 
(2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
CHAPTER NINE
American Evaluation Association (2004). Guiding principles for evaluators.

Retrieved July 25, 2006, from http://www.eval.org/Publications/
GuidingPrinciples.asp.
International Society for Performance Improvement (2002). Code of ethics.
Retrieved July 25, 2006, from www.ispi.org.
Joint Committee on Standards for Educational Evaluation (1994). The
program evaluation standards: How to assess evaluations of educational pro-grams.
Thousand O aks, CA: S age.
Russ-Eft, D., Burns, J. Z., Dean, P . J., Hatcher, T. G., Otte, F . L., &
Preskill, H. S. (1999). Academy of Human Resource Development
Standards on Ethics and Integrity. Bowling Green, OH: AHRD.Retrieved 7/25/06 from www.ahrd.org.
CHAPTER TEN
Altschuld, J. W., & Witkin, B. R. (2000). From needs assessment to action:

Transforming needs into solution strategies. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.APRACTICAL GUIDE TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT, SECOND EDITION 320bref.qxd  11/2/06  11:25 AM  Page 320Jordan, B., & Putz, P . (2004). Assessment as practice: Notes on measures,
tests, and targets. Human Organization, 63 (3), 346–358.
Kunneman, D. E., & Sleezer, C. M. (2000). Using performance analysis for
training in an organization implementing ISO-9000 manufacturing prac-
tices: A case study. Performance Improvement Quarterly, 13 (4), 47–66.
Pershing, J. A. (2006). Handbook of human performance technology (3rd ed.).
San Francisco: Wiley.
Preskill, H., & Russ-Eft, D. (2005). Building evaluation capacity: 72 activities
for teaching and training. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Russ-Eft, D., & Preskills, H. (2001). Evaluation in organizations: A
systematic appr oach to enhancing lear ning, per formance, and change.
Sleezer, C. M. (1990). The dev elopment and v alidation of a performance
analysis for training model (vols. 1–3). Doctoral dissertation, University
of Minnesota. Digital Dissertations, AAT 9100979.
Swanson, R. A., & Holton, E. F ., III. (2001). Foundations of human resource
development. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler.
Van Tiem, D. M., Moseley, J. M., & Dessinger, J. C. (2004). Fundamentals
of per formance technology (2nd ed.). S ilver Spring, MD: International
Zemke, R., & Kramlinger, T. (1982). Figuring things out: A trainer’s guide to

needs and task analysis (4th ed.). Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
TOOLKIT FORMS
Barabasi, A. (2002). Linked: The new science of networks. Cambridge, MA:
Perseus.
organizational performance. Paper presented at Institute of Behavioral
and Applied Management Conference, Tampa, FL.
Klein, K. J., & Kozlowski, S. W. J. (2000). Multilevel theory, research, and
methods in organizations: Foundations, extensions, and new directions. San
Francisco: Jossey-Bass.References 321bref.qxd  11/2/06  11:25 AM  Page 321Morgan, G. (2006). Provocative ideas: The 15% concept. Retrieved 7/6/06
from http://www.imaginiz.com/.
GLOSSARY

GLOSSARY
Flanagan, J. C. (1954). The critical incident technique. Psychological
Bulletin, 51, 327–358.
Gilbert, T. J. (1978). Human competence: E ngineering worthy performance.
New York: McGraw-Hill.
International Board of Standards for T raining, Performance, and Instruction
(2005). Glossar yof ter ms. Retriev ed September 6, 2005 fr om
http://www .ibstpi.org.
Kaufman, R., R ojas, A. M., & Mayer, H. (1993). Needs assessment: A user’s
guide. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Educational Technology Publications.
Liker t, R. (1932). A technique for the measur ement of attitudes. Archives of
Psycholog y,140, 1–55.

Educational Technology Publications.APRACTICAL GUIDE TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT, SECOND EDITION 322bref.qxd  11/2/06  11:25 AM  Page 322A
Academy of Human Resource
Development S tandar ds on E thics and
Integrity ,215, 225 –226 ﬁg
Guiding P rinciples, 215, 220 –225 ﬁg
American P sychological Association,
Ethical Principles of Psychologists and
Code of Conduct, 216
Applicability ,73
Artifacts, 63, 66 ﬁg
Assessing competency gaps, 149 –150 ﬁg
Atlas TI, 67
B
Barriers to performance, 37 ﬁg
Behavioral information: analyzing,
145–146; obtaining, 141–144
Behavioral interviews: described, 139,
141; obtaining behavioralinformation, 141–144; obtainingpreliminary information, 141; pitfallsto avoid, 144–145; sample script for,
142
ﬁg

142
ﬁg
BEM (Behavior Engineering Model), 33
Benchmarking, 176Bergmann, H., 136
Block, P ., 190, 194
BMC (Boehringer Mannheim
Corporation) case study, 125–128
Boyatzis, R., 133Brache, A. P ., 38, 39, 166Bracken, D., 56Brainstorming, 177Brannick, M. T., 106Business analysis, 32Business goals: establishing knowledge
and skills assessment, 82; Statement ofthe Problem, 84; strategic needsassessment, 160
Business Issues Worksheet, 162
ﬁg
Business plan, 167 ﬁg
Business process, 160
Business unit, 160
C
Call center case study, 34–35
Callahan, M., 106Case studies: BMC (Boehringer
Mannheim Corporation), 125–128;call center, 34–35; Jefferson CountyPublic Schools, 44; Midsize 
323Indexbindex.qxd  11/2/06  11:27 AM  Page 323Case studies, continued
Community Savings Bank,
152–155 ﬁg;Oregon Community

College Association, 84–85; PackagedDelivery, Inc., 96–103
ﬁg;pump
manufacturing ﬁrm, 177–178; XYZCorporation, 180–185
ﬁg
Casey, M. A., 49, 50
Cause analysis, 32
CCC (Coconino Community College)
[Arizona], 231
Challenging questions, 16Change: assessing readiness for, 178–179;
benchmarking to institute, 176;selecting interventions for, 179
Charting future environment, 177–178Closed-ended questions, 54–55, 58
ﬁg
Competencies: assessing gaps in,
149–151 ﬁg;deﬁnition of, 135;
domain of related, 135
Competency dictionar y: creating a,
146–147 ﬁg;deﬁnition of, 136
Competency model: Competency Model
Worksheet, 147, 148 ﬁg;constructing,
146–147; deﬁnition of, 135–136;implementing, 151; MidsizeCommunity Savings Bank case studyon, 155
ﬁg
Competency-based needs assessment:
beneﬁ tsand drawbacks of, 134;

ﬁg
critical success factors of, 134–136;described, 24, 132–133; MidsizeCommunity Savings Bank case studyon, 152–155
ﬁg;perspectiv eof,25ﬁg;
phases of, 136–155 ﬁg;Toolkit job aids
related to, 132, 140 ﬁg;when to use,
133–134
Competency-based needs assessment
phases: 1: dev eloping project plan,
137–139, 140 ﬁg;2: conducting
behavioral interviews, 139, 141, 145;3: constructing competency model,
146–148 ﬁg;4: assessing gaps, 149–
150ﬁg;5: implementing model, 151
Consistency, 73Consumer Electronics Five Forces Model,
164
ﬁg
Contracting needs assessment, 190–195
Critical Incident Method, 141Cronshaw, S. F ., 106
D
Data analysis: of behavioral information,
145–146; of competency gaps, 149;knowledge and skills assessment,93–94; Packaged Delivery, Inc. reporton, 99
ﬁg–102 ﬁg;qualitative data, 67,
71–72; quantitative data, 67,68

ﬁg–71; reliability, validity,
trustworthiness issues of, 72–73; typesof,67
Data collection: determining types and
sources of data for, 85; identifyingtypes of tools used in, 86–87;knowledge and skills assessment, 80,81–83; methods of, 44–63,64
ﬁg–66ﬁg;as needs assessment skill,
43–44; reliability, validity,trustworthiness issues of, 72–73;technology and, 63, 67; trainingrequirements analysis prior to, 93
Data-collection methods: comparison of
primary, 64
ﬁg–66ﬁg;documents and
artifacts, 63, 66 ﬁg,81–82; focus
groups, 46, 49–51 ﬁg,65ﬁg;
interviews, 44–46, 47 ﬁg–49ﬁg,64ﬁg;
obser vation, 60, 62, 66 ﬁg;surveys,
51–60, 61 ﬁg–62ﬁg,65ﬁg
Dela Teja, I., 136
Descriptiv estatistics, 68

Digital Equipment Corporation, 132APRACTICAL GUIDE TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT, SECOND EDITION 324bindex.qxd  11/2/06  11:27 AM  Page 324Dillman, D. A., 59
Documents: current organizational
performance, 166–168; data collection
using, 63, 66 ﬁg,81–82; managing
needs assessment, 204–211. See also
Reports
Domain, 135
Draft Needs Assessment Proposal: T&J
Marine Products, 197 ﬁg–201 ﬁg
Duple, R., 21–24
Dyckman, A. M., 152
E
Environment: charting future, 177–178,
182ﬁg;external, 163–165, 181 ﬁg;
internal, 166–177, 181 ﬁg–182 ﬁg
Eoyang, G., 39
Ethical issues: Academy of Human
Resource Development Standards onEthics and Integrity on, 215,
225–226
ﬁg;American Evaluation
Association Guiding Principles on,215, 220–225
ﬁg;contracting needs
assessment and, 192, 195; examples ofreal-life needs assessment, 215
ﬁg;ISPI

225–226
ﬁg;ISPI
(International Society for PerformanceImprovement) Code of Ethics on,215, 225, 226
ﬁg;Joint Committee on
Standards for Educational Evaluation
on, 216–220 ﬁg;overview of needs
assessment, 213, 214–216
Evaluation Center (Western Michigan
University), 216
Evaluation in Organizations (Russ-Eft &
Preskill), 85
Evident deep str uctur es, 40
Excel, 67
External environment: affecting
organizational per formance, 163; F ive
Forces model on, 163–165F
FAQs (frequently asked questions): 1. on
increasing usability of needsassessment, 227–229; 2. on
controlling inappropriate uses of needsassessment, 229; 3. on managing
multiple stakeholders, 229–230; 4. onincreasing stakeholder participation,230–232; 5. on relationship betweenassessment and evaluation, 233; 6. on
additional helpful resources, 233,
234

234
ﬁg–235 ﬁg;7. on informal needs
assessments, 233, 235–236
Fields, D. C., 135, 136Fill-in-the-blank questions, 54, 55Fine, S. A., 106Fishbone (or Ishikawa) diagram, 175,
176
ﬁg
Fisher, S. R., 169
FiveForces model, 163 –165
Flanagan, J. C., 136, 141, 145
Focus gr oups: compar ed to other
methods, 65 ﬁg;conducting, 50;
deﬁnition of terms for analysis of data,
51ﬁg;described, 46, 49; pr eparing,
49–50; r eporting on, 50
Forecasting the Financial Beneﬁts of HRD
(Swanson & G radous), 36
Foxon, M., 135, 136
Frequencies, 68 ﬁg,69ﬁg
G
Gap Analysis Worksheet, 179 ﬁg
Gayeski, D., 63
General Electric, 132Gephart, M. A., 166Gilbert, T., 30, 33, 36Goals. 
SeeBusiness goals
Grabowski, B. L., 136Gradous, D. B., 36, 211Index 325bindex.qxd  11/2/06  11:27 AM  Page 325Grifﬁths, B., 134

Group performance, 33–34Guba, E. G., 73
Guiding Principles, 220–225
ﬁg
Gupta, K., 3
H
Hale, J. A., 41
Hallmark Cards, 132Harless, J., 30, 36High performers, 112Holton, E. F ., III, 44HPT (human performance technology):
beneﬁts of needs assessment to, 20;common requests made to, 14;initiatives as driver of, 29; needsassessment challenges facing,236–237; training programs designrole by, 78–79
HPT initiativ es: designed to produce
economic value, 32; as drivers, 29;
target audience of, 85, 86
HRD (human resource development):
beneﬁts of needs assessment to, 20;common requests made to, 14; needsassessment challenges facing,236–237; needs assessment standardsfor, 226; training programs design roleby, 78–79
HRD initiatives: designed to produce

economic value, 32; as drivers, 29;target audience of, 85, 86
Hurson, K., 136
I
Improving Performance (Rummler &
Brache), 38, 166
InAction: Conducting N eeds A ssessment
(Phillips & Holton), 44
In-person report presentations, 210–211Individual Learning Development Plan,
136, 151
Individual performance needs, 31
Individual performance problems, 36–37Internal environment: business strategy,
166; current performance of,166–168; identifying causes of
performance gaps, 177; organizationalperformance and, 166; organizational
performance models on, 169–170;procedure analysis of, 175–176;process mapping of, 172–175; SIPOCdiagram on, 170–172
International Board of Standards for
T raining, Performance, andInstruction, 132, 191
Interquartile range, 71Interval scales, 56–57, 58
ﬁg
Interview scripts: behavioral interview,
142ﬁg;described, 46; sample, 47 ﬁg
Interviews: approaches to, 46; compared
to other methods, 64 ﬁg;conducting

ﬁg
behavioral, 139, 141–145; datacollection using, 44–45; PackagedDelivery, Inc. report on assessment,100
ﬁg–102 ﬁg;sample protocol, script,
and questions, 47 ﬁg;tips for
conducting, 49 ﬁg;tips for developing
interview questions, 48 ﬁg;tips for
preparing, 48 ﬁg;types of ,45–46, 64 ﬁg
Ishikawa (or ﬁshbone) diagram, 177,
178ﬁg
ISPI (International Society for
Performance I mprovement) Code of
Ethics, 215, 225, 226 ﬁg
J
Jefferson County Public Schools, 44
Job Activity S elf-Assessment, 88 ﬁg
Job analysis questionnaire, 112,
113ﬁg–115 ﬁgAPRACTICAL GUIDE TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT, SECOND EDITION 326bindex.qxd  11/2/06  11:27 AM  Page 326Job responsibilities: described, 109;
gathering behavioral information on,141–144; reﬁning the, 117
Job and task analysis: beneﬁts and

drawbacks of, 107–108; BoehringerMannheim Corporation case study on,125–128; case study on conducting,
125–128; critical success factors of,108; deﬁnition of terms, 108–109;
described, 24, 106–107; job taskstatements/standards for, 109–111;key phases in conducting, 111–119;perspective of, 25
ﬁg;Quality Control
Inspector Position T raining Plan,130
ﬁg;time-saving tips on, 119, 124–
125; Toolkit job aids for, 105–106,120
ﬁg–124 ﬁg;when to use, 107
Job and task analysis phases: 1: preparing,
112–115 ﬁg;2: conducting job task
analysis work session, 115–118; 3:developing and presenting
recommendations, 118–119; overview
of, 111–112
Job task analysis work session: described,
115–116; identifying job tasks, 117;identifying recommendations, 118;preparing for the, 116–117; reﬁningjob responsibilities during, 117
Job task statements: writing, 109–110;
writing standar ds for, 110–111

Job tasks: deﬁnition of, 109; identifying,
117; PTP (position training plan) on,126–128, 130
ﬁg
Joint Committee on S tandar ds for E duca-
tional Evaluation, 215, 216–220 ﬁg
Jordan, B., 235
K
Kaufman, R., 30, 31, 38
Keller, M., 125King, S. B., 191Klein, J. D., 136
Knowledge and skills assessment: beneﬁts
and drawbacks of, 80; critical success
factors for, 80; described, 24; ﬁvephases of, 80–103
ﬁg;goals of, 82, 84;
Job Activity Self-Assessment for, 88 ﬁg;
obtaining holistic perspective through,
83; OCCA (Oregon CommunityCollege Association), 84–85;
Performance Skills Proﬁle for,89
ﬁg–91ﬁg;perspective of, 25 ﬁg;
purposes of, 86 ﬁg;Toolkit job aids
related to, 77–78; when to use, 79
Knowledge and skills assessment phases:
1: gathering preliminary data, 80,81–83, 84–85, 98
ﬁg;2: planning, 80,
83, 85–87, 98 ﬁg;3: performing
training requirements and analysis,80–81, 87–93, 99
ﬁg;4: analyze data,

81, 93–94, 99 ﬁg–102 ﬁg;5: preparing
and pr esenting report, 81, 95–103 ﬁg
Knowledge and skills assessment report:
components of, 95; guidelines forwriting, 95–96; for Packaged Delivery,Inc., 97
ﬁg–103 ﬁg;on training course
outline, 103 ﬁg
Krueger, R. A., 49, 50
KSA (knowledge, skills, ability):
competency, 135; learning channels toacquir e, 126; PTP (position training
plan) on required job, 126, 127; worksession on how to develop, 127–128.
See also T raining programs
L
Learning channel, 126
Learning needs, 31Levine, E. L., 106Liker t, R., 56
Likert-type scales, 56, 58
ﬁg
Lincoln, Y. S., 73Index 327bindex.qxd  11/2/06  11:27 AM  Page 327M
McClelland, D. C., 132, 136
McLagan, P ., 132McNamara, C., 194
Mager, R., 30, 36Managing needs assessment: contracting
aneeds assessment, 190–195;

documents, 204–211; needsassessment proposal, 195–204;overcoming potential obstacles to,
193
ﬁg–194 ﬁg;overview of, 190
Mankins, M. C., 167Marrelli, A. F ., 135Mathews, B. P ., 23Matrix (needs assessment), 26
ﬁg–27ﬁg
Mean, 70
Measure of variability, 70Measuring performance, 32–36Median, 70
MidsizeCommunity S avings B ank case
study ,152–155
ﬁg
Mission statement, 160
Mode, 69
Multiple-choice questions, 55 –57, 58 ﬁg
N
Needs: BMC (Boehringer Mannheim
Corporation), 125 –126; common
requests made to HRD and HPT, 15;
deﬁnition of a, 15 ﬁg;differences/
similarities among requested, 14–20;individual per formance, 31; learning,
31; Midsize Community Savings Bank
case study on, 152; Packaged Delivery,Inc. case study on, 97; prioritizing,30–32; strategic or operationalbusiness, 31; wants versus, 30–31;XYZ Corporation case study on, 180

Needs assessment: additional resources
for, 233, 234
ﬁg–235 ﬁg;beneﬁts of,
20–21; bridging the theory-practicegap, 2–3; competency-based, 24,
25ﬁg,131–155; contracting,
190–195; example of multiple
stakeholder participation in,230
ﬁg–231 ﬁg;FAQs (frequently asked
questions) on, 227–237; job and taskanalysis, 24–25
ﬁg,105–130 ﬁg;
knowledge and skills, 24–25 ﬁg,
77–103 ﬁg;management of, 189–211;
overcoming potential obstacles to,193
ﬁg–194 ﬁg;overview about, 1,
13–14; political nature of, 216;proposing, 195–204; strategic,24–25
ﬁg,157–186; usability of,
227–229. See also Assessments
Needs assessment approaches: by BMC
(Boehringer Mannheim Corporation),126–128; competency-based needsassessment, 24, 25
t;considerations in,
21–24; job and task analysis, 24, 25 t;
knowledge and skills assessment, 24 t;

matrix of, 26 ﬁg–27ﬁg;Midsize
Community Savings Bank case studyon, 153–154; Packaged Delivery, Inc.report on, 97–98; perspective of,25
ﬁg;strategic needs assessment,
24–25 t;XYZ Corporation report on,
180ﬁg–183 ﬁg
Needs Assessment Checklist, 196 ﬁg
Needs assessment requests: differences
among, 18–20; similarities among,14–18. 
See also Proposals
Neutrality, 73NVIV O, 67
O
Observation, 60, 62, 66 ﬁg
OCCA (O regon Community College
Association), 84 –85
OEM (Organization Elements Model),
38,39ﬁgAPRACTICAL GUIDE TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT, SECOND EDITION 328bindex.qxd  11/2/06  11:27 AM  Page 328One-on-one interviews, 64 ﬁg
Online survey tools, 52
Open-ended questions, 54, 58 ﬁg
Operational business needs, 31
Oral reports, 210–211Organizational Development Network,
Principles of Practice, 216

Organizational performance: business
strategy and, 166; documenting
current, 166–168; identifying causesof gaps in, 177, 179
ﬁg;mapping,
169–170; measuring, 32–41, 168 ﬁg,
169–176. See also Performance
Organizational performance models:
overview of, 169–170; procedureanalysis, 175–176; Process MapWorksheet, 173
ﬁg–174 ﬁg;process
mapping, 172–175; SIPOC, 170–172
Organizational performance problems:
diagnosing systems, 39 –41; managing
organizational chart white space,
38–39; OEM used to deﬁne, 38, 39
ﬁg
Organizations: benchmarking to institute
new process, 176; charting futureenvironment of, 177–178, 182
ﬁg;
diagnosing performance problems in,38–41; external environment factorsof, 163–165, 181
ﬁg;internal
envir onment factors of, 166–177,
181ﬁg–182 ﬁg;traditional and systems
views of, 40 ﬁg

ﬁg;
Overview of Book Contents, 6ﬁg
P
Packaged D elivery,Inc. assessment case
study, 97 ﬁg–103 ﬁg
Paul, K., 56
Percentages, 68 ﬁg,69ﬁg
Performance: barriers to, 37 ﬁg;
identifying causes of gap in, 177,179ﬁg;internal environment factors
inﬂuencing, 166–177; measuring,32–41, 168
ﬁg,169–176. See also
Organizational performance
Performance analysis, 32
Performance Consulting (Robinson &
Robinson), 85
Performance diagnoses: individual
performance problems, 36–37;
organizational performance problems,38–39
Performance measurement: diagnosing
causes of poor, 36–41, 37
ﬁg;issues
related to, 32–36; models used for,168, 169–176; sample types of, 168
ﬁg
Performance Skills Proﬁle, 89 ﬁg–91ﬁg
Performance statement, 135
Performance-improvement plan: assessing
readiness for change, 178–179;planner for ,161, 185

ﬁg
ﬁg;selecting
interventions, 179; XYZ Corporationcase study on, 182
ﬁg–184 ﬁg
Phillips, J. J., 36, 44, 211
Phillips, P . P ., 36Phone interviews, 64
ﬁg
Pilot-testing surveys, 58–59
Piontek, M., 205Pipe, P ., 36Porter, M. E., 7, 163, 165
Preskill, H., 16, 73, 85, 205Prioritizing needs, 30–32Problems: futility of throwing resources
at, 16; individual per formance, 36–37;
organizational performance, 38–39;
perceived as opportunities for
impr ovement, 21
Procedure analysis, 177–178
Process boundary, 160
Process M ap Worksheet, 173
ﬁg–174 ﬁg
Process mapping, 160, 172–175
Project creep, 202Index 329bindex.qxd  11/2/06  11:27 AM  Page 329Project plan: step 1: establishing
parameters, 137–138; step 2:identifying key players, 138–139; step
3: developing work plan, 139
Project shrink, 202Proposals: gathering preliminary data on,

196; issues to consider for, 196–197;
practical tips for writing, 202–204; byT&J Marine Products, 197
ﬁg–201 ﬁg;
ways to use the, 202. See also Needs
assessment requests
PTP (position training plan), 126,
127–128, 130 ﬁg
Putz, P ., 235
Q
Qualitative data: analyzing, 71–72;
described, 67
Quality Control Inspector Position
Training Plan, 130 ﬁg
Quantitative data: analyzing, 68–71;
described, 67; examples of frequencyand percentage calculation for,68
ﬁg–69ﬁg
Questionnaire (job analysis), 112,
113ﬁg–115 ﬁg
Questions: behavioral interview,
141–145; developing interview, 48 ﬁg;
developing survey, 53–57, 58 ﬁg;FAQs
(frequently asked questions) on needsassessment, 227–237; PackagedDelivery, Inc. report on assessment,100
ﬁg–102 ﬁg;sample competency
assessment survey, 150 ﬁg
Quick R eference Guide to Chapters, 10ﬁg
R
Range, 70

R
Range, 70
Reliability, 72, 73Reports: considerations in writing, 205,
210; in-person pr esentations and oral,210–211; Packaged Delivery, Inc.,
102
ﬁg–103 ﬁg;T&J Marine Products
example of, 206 ﬁg–209 ﬁg. See also
Documents
Responsibilities. SeeJob responsibilities
Return on Investment (ROI) Basics
(Phillips & Phillips), 36
Richey, R. C., 135, 136Robinson, D. G., 53, 85
Robinson, J. C., 53, 85ROI (return-on-investment), 35–36Root cause analysis, 177Rossett, A., 30, 60Rothwell, W. J., 136, 191Rummler, G., 30, 38, 39, 166Russ-Eft, D., 3, 16, 73, 85, 136, 150,
226
S
SAS, 67, 68
Scales: competency assessment, 150 ﬁg;
interval, 56–57, 58 ﬁg;Likert-type, 56,
58ﬁg
Schwarz, R., 49
Scripts. SeeInterview scripts
Scriven, M., 16Shepherd, A., 106SIPOC diagram, 170–172Situation analysis, 84
Sleezer, C., 3, 169Software: data analysis, 67, 68; data-
collection, 52, 63, 67
Spector ,J. M., 136

Spencer, L. M., 132, 136
Spencer ,S. M., 132, 136
SPSS, 67, 68
Stakeholders: example of needs
assessment with multiple, 231
ﬁg–
232ﬁg;increasing par ticipation of ,
230–232; managing multiple,
229–230
Standar ddeviation, 71APRACTICAL GUIDE TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT, SECOND EDITION 330bindex.qxd  11/2/06  11:27 AM  Page 330Statement of the Problem, 83, 84–85
Statistics (descriptive), 68Stayer, J., 96
Steele, R., 167Strategic needs, 31Strategic needs assessment: beneﬁts and
drawbacks of, 159–160; Business
Issues Worksheet, 162
ﬁg;critical
success factors of, 160–161; described,
24–25, 158–159; key phases of,161–185
ﬁg;partnership required
during, 159; perspective of, 25 ﬁg;
Process Map Worksheet,173
ﬁg–174 ﬁg;Toolkit job aids related
to, 157–158, 162 ﬁg,173ﬁg–174 ﬁg,
179ﬁg;when to use, 159; XYZ

Corporation case study on,180–185
ﬁg
Strategic needs assessment phases: 1:
gathering preliminary information,161–162
ﬁg;2: examining external
environment, 163–165, 181 ﬁg;3:
examining internal environment,166–177, 181
ﬁg–182 ﬁg;4: charting
future environment, 177–178 ﬁg,
182ﬁg;5: developing performance-
improvement plan, 178–179 ﬁg,
182ﬁg–184 ﬁg
Subtle deep structures, 40
Surface structures, 40
Surveys: for assessing competency gaps,
150ﬁg;compared to other methods,
65ﬁg;conducting and follow-up,
59–60; design phase, 52–53; dev elop
questions phase, 53–57; online tools
and ser vices for cr eating, 52; phases
listed, 51; pilot-test phase, 58 –59;
prepare phase, 51–52; scales used in,
56–57, 58 ﬁg;tips for pr eparing and
implementing, 61 ﬁg–62ﬁg;writing
cover letter phase, 57; writinginstructions phase, 57

Swanson, R. A., 30, 36, 124, 175, 211Systems Model of Evaluation, 16–17
ﬁg,
22ﬁg
Systems thinking, 39
T
T&J Marine Products: in-process reports
for, 206 ﬁg–209 ﬁg;Needs Assessment
Draft, 197 ﬁg–201 ﬁg
Technology: data analysis software, 67,
68; data-collection, 52, 63, 67
Toolkit job aids: Business Issues
Worksheet, 162 ﬁg;Competency
Dictionary—Sales, 147 ﬁg;
Competency Model Worksheet, 147, 148
ﬁg;competency-based 
needs assessment, 132, 140 ﬁg,
147ﬁg,148ﬁg;Competency-Based
Needs Assessment Project Plan, 140
ﬁg;Gap Analysis Worksheet,
179ﬁg;Individual Learning
Development Plan, 136, 151; job
analysis questionnaire, 112,113
ﬁg–115 ﬁg;job and task analysis,
105–106, 112, 113 ﬁg–115 ﬁg,
120ﬁg–124 ﬁg;Job T raining and 
Non-T raining Recommendations,120
ﬁg–124 ﬁg;knowledge and

ﬁg–124 ﬁg;knowledge and 
skills assessment, 77–78, 87, 92–93,96; N eeds Assessment Checklist,
196
ﬁg;Process Map Worksheet,
173ﬁg–174 ﬁg;Quality Control
157–158, 162 ﬁg,173ﬁg–174 ﬁg,
179ﬁg
Torres, R. T., 205
T raining programs: HRD and HPT
design r ole for, 78–79; as learning
channel to acquir ejob kno wledge,
126; needs assessment for, 32;
Packaged Delivery, Inc. report on,
103ﬁgIndex 331bindex.qxd  11/2/06  11:27 AM  Page 331T raining programs, requirements analysis
for, 87–93; PTP (position trainingplan) for, 126, 127–128, 130
ﬁg;
recommendations on, 118–119,120
ﬁg–124 ﬁg;target audience of, 86.
See also KSA (knowledge, skills,
ability)
T raining recommendations: devel-
oping and presenting, 118–119;
identifying, 118; Toolkit Form on,120
ﬁg–124 ﬁg

ability)
ﬁg–124 ﬁg
T raining requirements analysis: 
data-collection, 93; developassessment tools, 87–93; purpose of, 87
T rustworthiness, 72, 73T ruth value, 73T wo-choice questions, 55, 58
ﬁg
U
U.S. Army Operation Oversight Ofﬁce,
170, 171 ﬁg
U.S. Small Business Administration, 
166
Usability issues, 227–229V
Validity, 72–73
Van Buren, M. E., 166
W
Walt Disney Company, 132
Wants, 30–31Web sites: Academy of Human Resource
Development, 215; AmericanEvaluation Association, GuidingPrinciples, 215; AmericanPsychological Association, 216; on
ethic guidelines, 215 –216; on HRD
professional standards, 226; ISPI Codeof Ethics, 215, 225, 226
ﬁg;Joint
Committee on S tandards for
Educational Evaluation, 215;Organization D evelopment N etwork,
216; U.S. Army Operation Oversight
Ofﬁce, 171
ﬁg
White, R., 132
X

ﬁg;Joint
Ofﬁce, 171
ﬁg
X
XYZ Corporation case study ,180–185 ﬁgAPRACTICAL GUIDE TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT, SECOND EDITION 332bindex.qxd  11/2/06  11:27 AM  Page 332About the Authors
kavita gupta has developed training programs for corporations and
conducted workshops for several universities in New England. She hasbeen an active member of the American Society for T raining and Devel-opment and has served on several boards. Ms. Gupta has also publishedseveral articles. She holds a master’s degree in instructional systems tech-nology from Indiana University.
catherine (cathy) m. sleezer is the human resource manager for
learning and organization development at Centrilift, a division of BakerHughes. She has consulted with many organizations in the private, pub-lic, and go vernment sectors to addr ess their learning and per formance

needs. Ms. Sleezer has also taught needs assessment courses at the mas-
ter’sand doctoral lev els and conducted needs assessment r esearch. She
is a cer tiﬁed per formance technologist. S he is a former boar dmember
of the Academy of Human Resource Development and a former mem-
ber of the ASTD R esearch Committee. Her previous books include
Human Resources Development Review: Research and Implications (Sage),
Human Resource Development and Information T echnology: Making
Global Connections (Kluwer), and Improving Human Resource Develop-
ment through Measurement (ASTD).
darlene f. russ-eft is associate professor of adult education and higher
education leadership in the College of Education at Oregon StateUniversity, where she teaches master’s and doctoral courses in research,
333babout.qxd  11/2/06  11:20 AM  Page 333program evaluation, and learning theory. Her most recent books are
Building Evaluation Capacity :72 Activities for T eaching and Training

(Sage) and Evaluation in Organizations: A Systematic Approach to Enhanc-
ing Learning, Performance, and Change (Perseus Press). She is currently
vice president for research for the Academy of Human Resource Devel-opment and a director and board member of the International Board ofStandards for T raining, Performance, and Instruction, where she is lead-ing a team to determine evaluator competencies. From 2002 to 2005she was editor of 
Human Resource Development Quarterly. Prior to join-
ing the faculty of Oregon State University, in 2002, she was directorof research at AchieveGlobal, Inc., and division director of research forZenger-Miller, Inc.APRACTICAL GUIDE TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT, SECOND EDITION 334babout.qxd  11/2/06  11:20 AM  Page 334How to Use the CD-ROM
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Itis best if y ou ar esitting at your computer when making the call.APRACTICAL GUIDE TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT, SECOND EDITION 336bmedinst.qxd  11/2/06  11:24 AM  Page 336Understanding  the  ‘‘what  should  be  condition’’  in  needs  assessment  data
Jeffry  L.  Whitea,*,  James  W.  Altschuldb,1
aUniversity  of  Louisiana,  Lafayette,  200  E.  Devalcourt  St.,  262  Picard  Center,  Lafayette,  LA  70506,  United  States

bThe  Ohio  State  University,  1900  Kenny  Road,  Columbus,  OH  43212,  United  States
1.  Introduction
Surveys  are  prominent  in  needs  assessment  (Altschuld  &
Witkin,  2000 )  and  usually  contain  items  for  rating  the  ‘‘what
should  be’’  and  ‘‘current’’  conditions,  as  well  as  motivation  or  other
proximal  scales  on  key  topics  or  issues.  At  a  minimum,
discrepancies  are  calculated  between  the  normative  or  ‘‘current’’
condition  and  the  optimal  or  ‘‘what  should  be’’  state,  in  accord  with
the  classic  deﬁnition  of  needs  (Gupta,  Sleezer,  &  Russ-Eft,  2007;
Kaufman  &  English,  1979;  Leigh,  Watkins,  Platt,  &  Kaufman,  1998 ).
The  ‘‘what  should  be’’  status  is  often  referred  to  as  ‘‘what  is

important.’’  This  raises  concerns  about  the  validity  of  the  scores
because  the  use  of  importance  as  a  proxy  is  done  with  few
questions  about  how  it  is  measured  and  limited  research  on  the
subject.  This  is  troubling  because  importance  rankings  are
frequently  used  to  compute  discrepancy  scores  (Lee,  Altschuld,
&  White,  2007a ).
This  paper  discusses  the  nature  of  the  importance  variable  in
needs  assessment  and  some  of  the  concerns  associated  with
obtaining  a  meaningful  and  relevant  measure.  It  begins  with  a
theoretical  review  and  discusses  the  rationale  respondents  may
use  to  assign  importance  scores.  This  is  followed  by  a  discussion  on
pre-structuring  importance  data  for  surveys  and  offers  some

potential  solution  strategies.  The  paper  illuminates  some  of  the
problems  that  can  be  encountered,  their  practical  implications,  and
illustrates  key  issues  found  in  the  literature,  such  as  how  toilluminate  disparities.  While  needs  assessors  are  the  primary
audience,  it  is  also  intended  for  those  interested  in  the  measure-
ment  of  needs.  Finally,  it  offers  recommendations  for  researchers
and  suggestions  to  help  avoid  erroneous  interpretations  of  needs
data.
2.  Importance  data
At  ﬁrst  glance  it  may  seem  that  importance  scores  should  be
accepted  at  face  value.  But  what  does  that  information  indicate
about  the  basis  the  respondents  used  for  assigning  the  ratings?
Everyone  has  an  opinion  about  what  is  important  but  is  that

opinion  well-founded  or  ill-conceived?  Ratings  from  less-than-
informed  perspectives  cloud  the  picture  and  become  suspect  in
calculating  discrepancies.  So  what  might  the  scores  actually
signify?
2.1.  The  nature  of  importance:  theoretical  overview
Ausubel’s  (1978)  principles  offer  insight  into  the  origin  of  the
characteristic  of  importance,  in  which  prior  knowledge  is  essential
before  rating  an  entity.  Without  accurate  information,  under-
standing  is  imprecise  and  respondents  may  construe  what  they
have  learned  to  ﬁt  their  belief  systems  (Ausubel,  Novak,  &
Hanesian,  1978 ).  Anderson  and  Pearson  (1984)  refer  to  this  as  a
network  of  mental  processes  that  depict  how  individuals  look  at
the  world  through  learned  information,  which  leads  to  making

connections  between  ideas  and  concepts.  These  principles
continue  to  offer  guidance  for  researchers  on  how  to  integrate
new  ideas  (Novak,  2003 )  and  make  sense  of  data  (Novak,  2002 ).  In
needs  assessment  practice  this  is  elicited  by  using  visual  images  forEvaluation  and  Program  Planning  35  (2012)  124–132
A  R  T  I  C  L  E  I  N  F  O
Article  history:
Received  21  February  2011
Received  in  revised  form  29  August  2011
Accepted  10  September  2011
Available  online  16  September  2011
Keywords:
Needs  assessment
Discrepancy  scores
Importance  ratingsA  B  S  T  R  A  C  T
In  needs  assessment  (N/A),  the  calculation  of  discrepancies  is  based  on  the  assumption  the  ‘‘what  should

be’’  condition  is  a  reasonable  representation  of  respondent  perceptions.  That  assumption  may  be
erroneous  and  requires  a  closer  inspection.  This  paper  examines  the  use  of  importance  scores  in  NA  and
some  of  the  problems  that  can  arise  when  they  are  used  as  a  proxy  to  measure  the  ‘‘what  should  be’’
condition.  A  review  of  the  literature  and  ways  of  dealing  with  importance  scores  are  presented,  followed
by  a  discussion  of  the  problems  and  issues  that  can  arise.  Some  solution  strategies  are  offered  along  with
recommendations  for  practice  and  research.  The  paper  provides  guidance  for  others  interested  in
improving  needs  assessment  procedures.
/C223  2011  Elsevier  Ltd.  All  rights  reserved.

*  Corresponding  author.  Tel.:  +1  337  482  1010;  fax:  +1  337  482  5262.
E-mail  addresses:  jwhite1@louisiana.edu  (J.L.  White),  altschuld.1@osu.edu
(J.W.  Altschuld).
1Tel.:  +1  614  292  6541.Contents  lists  available  at  SciVerse  ScienceDirect
Evaluation  and  Program  Planning
jo  ur  n  al  ho  m  ep  ag  e:  www  .els  evier  .c  om  /lo  cat  e/evalp  r  og  p  lan
0149-7189/$  –  see  front  matter  /C223  2011  Elsevier  Ltd.  All  rights  reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.evalprogplan.2011.09.001illustration,  oral  prompts  for  context,  and  written  stimuli  like  small
case  vignettes  to  elicit  responses  about  needs  on  a  survey.
Another  way  to  look  at  importance  is  through  Coombs’  (1964)
theory  of  data  where  observations  are:  (1)  products  of  stimuli,  and
(2)  viewed  in  geometric  terms  as  relations  between  the  points  on  a

scale.  It  is  the  combination  of  these  two  propositions  that  becomes
critical  to  obtaining  meaningful  observations.  Coombs  classiﬁed
data  into  three  categories.  Preferential  choice  is  characterized  by
selecting  preferences  from  homogeneous  groups  such  as  political
candidates  and  ﬂavors  of  ice  cream.  In  practice  this  is  accomplished
by  providing  a  variety  of  options  about  needs  from  which  to
choose.
In  contrast,  single  stimulus  data  is  noted  by  its  lack  of  choices.
Instead  of  selecting  from  a  group,  a  candidate  is  scored  on  a  scale  in
proximity  to  the  other  candidates,  typically  after  receiving  some
form  of  stimuli  (visual,  oral  or  written)  about  that  candidate.  The
last  category,  stimulus  comparison ,  is  distinguished  by  choices  from

pairs  of  options  that  are  ordered  in  relationship  to  the  others  after
information  is  provided  about  all  of  the  candidates.
The  salient  point  from  Coombs’  (1964)  theory  that  is  still
applicable  is  that  a  simple  prompt  about  importance  is  not
sufﬁcient  to  challenge  a  respondent  to  think  about  choices.
Selecting  a  high  or  low  score  is  relatively  easy  since  they  do  not
have  to  make  any  distinctions.  In  other  words,  single  stimulus  data
is  a  poor  alternative  and  draws  attention  to  the  inherent  problem  –
balancing  the  theoretical  and  practical  aspects  (Thompson,  1966,
1968 )  of  needs  assessment.
2.2.  Basis  of  importance  scores
In  order  for  importance  scores  to  be  of  value  in  computing

discrepancies,  thought  must  be  given  to  the  basis  on  which  they
were  made  and  the  quality  and  quantity  of  the  prompt.  Are  they
derived  from  an  informed  perspective  or  something  less?  What  is
the  quality  of  the  evidence?  Did  they  come  from  single  or  multiple
sources?  This  raises  a  number  of  concerns,  as  described  in  Table  1,
about  the  basis  on  which  respondents  provide  importance  ratings
and  the  effect  they  have  on  discrepancy  scores.
The  most  desirable  importance  rating  is  in  the  last  row  of  Table
1,  where  a  score  and  subsequent  discrepancy  originate  from  an
informed  perspective.  This  yields  the  most  valid  and  legitimate
result.  When  discrepancies  are  derived  from  the  other  rows  they

are  less  precise  and  interpretation  becomes  problematic.There  are  other  issues  that  must  be  addressed  when  measuring
importance.  They  include  selection  of  the  content  (Calsyn  &
Winter,  1999;  Kaufman  &  English,  1979 ),  perspective  of  the  group
(Reviere,  Berkowitz,  Carter,  &  Ferguson,  1996 ),  and  construction  of
the  items  (Altschuld  &  White,  2010;  Altschuld  &  Witkin,  2000;
Witkin  &  Altschuld,  1995 ).  These  issues  are  described  in  Table  2,
along  with  the  nature  of  the  problem  and  effect  they  can  have  on
needs  assessment.
It  should  be  noted  that  the  information  presented  in  Tables  1
and  2  is  compiled  from  the  needs  assessment  literature.  The  issues
and  concerns  are  not  intended  to  be  exhaustive  but  rather  generate

more  discussion  about  the  impact  of  importance  (meaningful  or
otherwise)  on  the  calculation  of  discrepancy  scores.
3.  Pre-structuring  importance  data
Most  assessors  and  needs  assessment  committees  collect
information  in  order  to  make  preliminary  decisions  about  the
content  of  the  instrument.  This  pre-structuring  is  typically
qualitative  in  nature  and  creates  a  context  for  constructing  the
quantitative  sections  of  the  survey.  While  mixing  methods  is
acceptable  (Greene,  2001 ),  it  is  not  without  concern.  Merely
juxtaposing  the  interview  data  into  the  survey  is  not  sufﬁcient  for
good  alignment  and  the  opposite  may  be  closer  to  reality  (Harris  &
Brown,  2010;  Reams  &  Twale,  2008;  Stemler,  2004 ).  It  is  rather  the

strength  of  alignment  of  methods  that  produces  well  chosen
survey  items  (more  on  alignment  later).
When  importance  survey  items  are  pre-structured,  the
distributions  tend  to  be  negatively  skewed  and  clustered  at  the
upper  end  of  the  scale  with  little  differentiation.  The  lack  of
variability  can  be  problematic  when  working  with  this  type  of  data.
Since  discrepancies  are  dependent  on  current  status  scores,  the
concern  is  the  consequence  of  using  invalid  data  in  their
calculation.  Such  highly  skewed  distributions  can  be  the  product
of  poor  alignment  of  the  pre-structured  information  with  the
survey,  which  results  in  a  loss  or  distortion  of  the  information.
There  are  some  scaling  options  available  to  help  get  around  this

problem.  One  is  to  use  packed  rating  scales  (Brown,  2004 )  with
more  response  options  at  the  positive  or  negative  end  of  the
spectrum  depending  on  the  context.  Others  ways  are  to  avoid  the
use  of  neutral  mid-points  (Doyle,  1975;  Ory  &  Wise,  1981 ),  clearly
label  the  end  points  (Dixon,  Bobo,  &  Stevick,  1984 ),  and  provideTable  1
Basis  of  importance,  effect  on  discrepancy,  and  interpretation  considerations.
Basis  of  score  Effect  on  discrepancy  Interpretation  considerations
No  knowledge  about  the  topic  Discrepancy  scores  are  probably  not  meaningful  Scores  reﬂect  opinion  only
Incomplete  or  limited  knowledge  evidenced
by  quality/quantity  of  stimuliImprovement  on  previous  category  but  meaning
is  still  in  questionMarginally  better  than  opinion

Inaccurate  knowledge  evidenced  by
quality/quantity  of  stimuliMisleading  discrepancies  Error-based  or  distorted  scores
Knowledgeable  about  the  topic  evidenced
by  quality/quantity  of  stimuliMore  meaningful  discrepancies  Most  accurate  data
Table  2
Problems  and  issues  in  measuring  importance.
Issue  Nature  of  the  problem  Effect  on  needs  assessment
Pre-selection  of  content  by  needs  assessors  (Calsyn  &  Winter,  1999 )  Respondents  can  rate  pre-selected  items  on  high
end  of  scalePositively  skewed  distribution
of  importance  scores  affecting
calculation  of  discrepancies
Multiple  group  perspectives  of  importance  (Reviere  et  al.,  1996;  Sung,  1992 )  Groups  rate  on  different  bases  of  knowledge  Interpreting  different

discrepancies  within  and
across  groups
Multiple  unique  sets  of  items  (stimuli)  in  surveys  (Altschuld  &  White,  2010;
Altschuld  &  Witkin,  2000;  Witkin  &  Altschuld,  1995 )No  relative  importance  of  sections  due
to  pre-selectionAll  large  discrepancies  seen
as  similar,  no  differentiationJ.L.  White,  J.W.  Altschuld  /  Evaluation  and  Program  Planning  35  (2012)  124–132  125intermediate  response  options  to  obtain  more  reﬁned  discrimina-
tions  (Lam  &  Klockars,  1982 ).
This  is  not  the  same  situation  with  the  ‘‘what  is’’  status  since
respondents  often  select  do  not  know,  not  applicable,  or  other
similar  options.  This  can  create  a  different  problem  –  a  smaller

number  of  what  is  responses  compared  to  what  should  be  (Lee,
Altschuld,  &  White,  2007b ).  There  may  be  little  the  needs  assessor
can  do  other  than  ensure  an  adequate  sample  size.
Going  further,  it  is  recommended  that  numerous  groups
(recipients,  service  providers,  administrators)  be  sampled  for
needs  assessment  surveys.  Multiple  perspectives  are  valuable  and
help  the  assessors  understand  how  issues  are  perceived  and  where
subgroups  agree  or  disagree.  There  is  a  strong  possibility  that  some
items  will  indicate  where  subgroups  have  unique  perceptions  of
importance  based  on  different  sources  of  information  of  varying
degrees  of  accuracy.
The  needs  assessors  may  also  have  to  contend  with  within  and

across  group  discrepancies.  (The  same  reasoning  applies  to  current
status  ratings  but  they  are  not  the  focus  of  this  paper).  Importance
scores  in  the  second  row  of  Table  2  may  reﬂect  different  views  and
be  inﬂuenced  by  the  various  knowledge  bases  on  which  they  are
predicated.  There  may  be  differences  based  on  demographic
variables  such  as  age,  race/ethnicity,  gender  or  other  demographic
characteristics.
The  last  row  corresponds  to  a  latent  issue  in  needs  assessment
methodology.  Surveys  are  comprised  of  sections  which  are  not
usually  rank  ordered.  Even  when  importance  for  all  items
emanates  from  accurate  information,  the  sections  themselves
may  not  be  of  equal  value.  Unless  there  is  an  appropriate

mechanism  for  ranking  them  (more  on  this  later),  it  becomes
difﬁcult  to  interpret  which  discrepancies  take  precedence  over
others  of  similar  size.  This  adds  more  complexity  to  thinking  about
discrepancies  calculated  from  an  anchor  score  based  on  impor-
tance.
4.  Solution  strategies
While  some  of  the  problems  with  the  importance  variable  are
formidable,  the  needs  assessment  literature  provides  possible
solution  strategies.  Each  has  strengths,  weaknesses  and  unique
characteristics  as  shown  in  Table  3.  In  addition,  there  areimplications  for  instrument  design,  challenges  for  analyzing  data,
and  interpretation  issues  for  those  conducting  needs  assessments.

The  ﬁrst  strategy  is  to  normalize  the  distribution  of  importance
scores  and  compare  the  normed  scores  to  the  ‘‘what  is’’  variable
(Altschuld  &  White,  2010 ).  This  removes  skewness,  but  it  would  be
better  to  have  more  variability  without  resorting  to  a  statistical
adjustment.  While  norming  data  can  generate  smaller  measures  of
variability  (standard  errors,  variances),  it  also  creates  concerns
about  the  accuracy  and  bias  of  the  results.  This  can  become
problematic  with  some  stakeholders  (needs  assessment  commit-
tees,  providers,  recipients),  where  statistical  manipulation  could
be  perceived  as  an  artiﬁcial  change.
The  second  solution  was  used  by  Witkin  (1984)  in  a  needs
assessment  about  guidance  counseling  in  schools.  She  felt  that
parents  were  not  adequately  informed  and  therefore  were  unable

to  make  meaningful  responses.  To  overcome  this,  a  short
paragraph  was  embedded  before  each  section  of  the  survey  as  a
prompt  before  respondents  rated  the  items.  This  strategy  was
intended  to  standardize  the  information  but  it  made  the  survey
longer  and  more  tedious  to  complete.  The  approach  in  this  case
was  not  based  on  the  literature  but  was  primarily  intuitive,
without  a  full  understanding  of  the  effects  on  response  patterns  (B.
Witkin,  personal  communication,  August,  1994).
Another  solution  is  to  have  survey  respondents  describe  their
knowledge  about  a  topic  and  conﬁdence  in  rating  its  importance  in
individual  interviews,  focus  groups,  or  on  questionnaires.  Incen-
tives  (based  on  the  context)  can  be  used  to  acquire  the  explanatory

information  (Anderson,  Puur,  Silver,  Soova,  &  Voormann,  1994;
Brehm,  1994;  Dillman,  Smyth,  &  Christen,  2009 ).  In  another  study,
Yoon  (1990)  asked  college  administrators  (n  =  62)  about  their
attitudes  and  factors  involved  in  the  utilization  of  needs
assessments.  He  also  queried  the  participants  about  their
conﬁdence  in  the  answers  and  choice  of  scale  values.  Similar  to
Witkin  (1984) ,  Yoon’s  approach  did  not  use  the  additional
information  to  attenuate  the  ﬁndings.
Still  another  way  at  getting  at  importance  was  used  by  Hamann
(1997)  to  study  the  knowledge  and  utilization  of  needs  assess-
ments  in  mental  health  counseling.  Working  with  three  groups  of
evaluators,  administrators,  and  consumers  (n  =  162),  she  wanted

to  know  if  the  design  and  structure  of  the  instrument  had  an  effect
on  the  perception  and  impact  on  the  outcomes.  The  survey  had
Table  3
Potential  solutions,  strengths,  and  weaknesses.
Solution  Strengths  Weaknesses  Characteristics
Normalizing  the  distribution
of  importance  scores
(Altschuld  &  White,  2010 )/C15  Simple,  easy  to  do  /C15  Substitute  for  not  getting  variability
in  the  ﬁrst  placeNo  change  to  instrument,
standardization  done  after
data  collection /C15  Not  too  burdensome/costly  /C15  May  not  accurately  reﬂect  responses
/C15  Eases  skewness  if  observed  /C15  Only  partially  affects  skewness
/C15  May  be  perceived  as  artiﬁcial
Adding  information  (stimuli)
to  inform  ratings  of
importance  (Witkin,  1984 )/C15  Provides  all  respondents  with  same

basic,  accurate  information  prior  to  rating/C15  Increases  respondent  burden  by  making
instrument  more  complexEach  section  of  survey  includes
sufﬁcient  detail  to  set  context
for  response /C15  Standardizes  base  from  which
responses  are  made/C15  May  change  and  bias  responses
Adding  inquiry  items  about
the  basis  for  the  ratings
(Yoon,  1990 )/C15  Gathers  information  about  the  underlying
nature  of  responses/C15  Increases  respondent  burden  Survey  includes  items  inquiring
into  the  rationale  for  assigned
importance  scores /C15  Better  understanding  of  importance  and
meaning  of  discrepancies/C15  May  get  reconstructed  logic  as
to  rationale
Rank  order  sections  within

the  survey  (Hamann,  1997 )/C15  Straightforward  and  intuitive  /C15  Requires  weighting  responses  Instrument  has  subsections  for
rank  ordering  by  respondents
at  end  of  survey/C15  Get  a  better  feel  for  importance  /C15  Various  approaches  used  to  arrive
at  weight  values
/C15  Better  able  to  prioritize  discrepancies  /C15  Methodological  concerns  w/different
approaches/C15 Adds  a  little  to  respondent  burden
Visual  cueing
(Lee  et  al.,  2007b )/C15  Focuses  respondents  on  group  differences  /C15  Requires  follow-up  of  respondents
with  additional  data  gatheringFollow-up  survey  incorporates
Fig.  1  illustration  into  instrument
/C15  Visual  attracts  attention  and  is  unique  /C15  Can  only  deal  with  a  subset  of  items

/C15  Highlights  understanding  of  scores/discrepancyJ.L.  White,  J.W.  Altschuld  /  Evaluation  and  Program  Planning  35  (2012)  124–132 126several  subsections  and  an  overall  question  asking  subjects  to  rank
order  the  different  sections.  The  idea  was  to  use  a  weighting  factor
from  the  ranks  as  a  proxy  for  importance  when  examining  the
numerical  data.  As  was  the  case  in  Yoon’s  (1990)  earlier  research,
the  weighting  was  not  factored  into  any  subsequent  calculations.
The  concepts  that  Yoon  (1990)  and  Hamann  (1997)  used  might
appear  to  offer  a  way  to  partially  address  the  importance  dilemma,
but  they  are  also  problematic.  That  is  because  a  ranked  value  is  not
necessarily  an  overall  ranking  of  importance  or  similar  attribute

(van  der  Pligt,  de  Vries,  Manstead,  &  van  Harreveld,  2000 ).  For
example,  the  order  of  ﬁnish  in  a  NASCAR  race  is  not  an  absolute
measure  of  performance.  Instead,  points  are  assigned  based  on
ﬁnishing  position  and  the  number  of  laps  led  during  the  race.  It  was
also  one  of  the  reasons  the  National  Collegiate  Athletic  Association
changed  how  they  determined  the  college  football  national
championship  (Oriard,  2009 ).  Rather  than  relying  on  national
polls,  they  switched  to  a  formula  of  weights  and  values  that
attempts  to  account  for  strength  of  schedule,  quality  of  win,  and
other  important  factors.
One  possible  solution  is  to  assign  weights  using  rank  ordered
centroids,  rank  exponent,  or  similar  metrics.  These  values  are

derived  after  taking  into  account  multiple  factors  (Barron,  1992;
Barron  &  Barrett,  1996 ).  They  also  undergo  a  process  of  rank
ordering,  weighing  the  pros  and  cons  of  each  option,  and
ultimately  balancing  the  choices  (Buede,  2000 ).  Since  the  result
is  a  more  meaningful  importance  score  (and  discrepancy  analysis),
it  is  worth  the  extra  time  and  effort  (Jia,  Fischer,  &  Dyer,  1998 ).
While  this  would  have  been  helpful  to  Hamann  (1997)  and  Yoon
(1990) ,  the  research  was  not  readily  apparent  in  the  needs
assessment  literature.  Thus  the  call  for  additional  studies  and  more
comprehensive  literature  reviews.
The  ﬁnal  strategy  in  Table  3  is  somewhat  novel  and  requires

more  work.  Taken  from  a  study  that  examined  discrepancies,  it  is  a
visual  cueing  technique  created  to  reconcile  differences  between
importance  ratings  given  by  college  students  and  faculty  (Lee  et  al.,
2007b ).  While  used  with  an  online  survey,  the  approach  is  also
suitable  for  print  media  and  requires  a  follow-up  survey.  To
demonstrate  its  utility  in  needs  assessment,  consider  the  following
illustration.
Lee  and  colleagues  (2007b)  conducted  a  needs  assessment  of
university  programs  designed  to  improve  the  retention  rates  of
minorities  in  science,  technology,  engineering,  or  mathematics.
Two  groups,  students  (n  =  186)  and  faculty  (n  =  39),  were  asked  to

rank  the  relative  importance  of,  satisfaction  with,  and  frequency  of
use  of  pre-college,  academic  and  ﬁnancial  support  services.  A
within  method  variation  of  wording  for  the  survey  items  was  used
to  compare  responses  from  the  two  groups.  When  the  information
was  found  to  be  dissimilar,  it  was  necessary  to  devise  a  strategy
that  would  provide  insight  into  the  rationale  for  a  more  meaningful
interpretation  of  needs.
The  ﬁrst  survey  rated  importance,  satisfaction,  and  frequency
(use)  of  various  programs.  Importance  was  rated  notably  lower  by
students  on  some  items  compared  to  faculty  responses.  Working
with  respondents  geographically  dispersed  across  15  universities,
a  qualitative  follow-up  instrument  was  administered  online.  It

utilized  a  visual  cueing  device  with  a  small  subset  of  items  from  the
original  survey  where  disparities  between  the  groups  were  large.The  cueing  is  highlighted  in  Fig.  1  by  what  the  researchers  called
the  Altschuld  Loop ,  which  was  designed  to  call  attention  to  the
disparity.
In  Fig.  1,  the  opposite  ends  of  the  bars  represent  the  average
importance  (I)  and  satisfaction  (S)  ratings.  In  the  example,
importance  was  rated  differently  by  the  two  groups  of  respon-
dents.  Circling  the  different  ratings  was  done  to  highlight  the  issue
directly  in  front  of  individuals,  prompting  feedback  about  their
opinions  and  perceptions  as  to  why  this  occurred.  The  guiding
questions  were:  (1)  why  was  the  other  group  was  different  from

yours,  and  (2)  upon  what  basis  were  judgments  of  importance
made  by  your  group  and  the  other  one?  The  loop  draws  attention  to
the  situation.  Space  was  allotted  for  reasons  underlying  the
responses.  Since  answering  the  second  survey  took  extra  time,  it
should  be  stressed  that  only  those  items  with  the  most  pronounced
differences  were  explored.  This  is  a  limitation  of  the  technique  in
that  if  there  are  numerous  differences  the  feasibility  would  be
questionable.
This  study  (Lee  et  al.,  2007b )  led  to  some  interesting
interpretations  of  the  needs  data.  In  several  cases,  respondents
revealed  that  the  basis  for  their  group  perceptions  was  not  only
unique  but  seemed  in  hindsight  to  have  originated  from  an

uninformed  perspective,  much  like  that  presented  in  Table  1.  Once
they  had  the  beneﬁt  of  the  rationale  used  by  the  other  group,  the
smaller  qualitative  sample  indicated  they  would  likely  change  the
initial  importance  (or  satisfaction)  rating.  While  the  reasons  varied
between  and  within  the  groups  (e.g.  lack  of  information,  second-
hand  knowledge,  etc.),  both  were  inﬂuenced  subsequent  to
receiving  the  insight  of  the  other.
Although  the  method  has  potential  to  provide  insight  and  offer
possible  explanations  for  the  discrepancies,  there  are  limitations
when  generalizing  from  a  small  to  much  larger  group.  On  the  other
hand,  without  the  information  obtained  from  the  second  study  this
would  not  have  been  apparent  and  could  have  resulted  in  incorrect

interpretations  and  spurious  explanations  of  the  data.
5.  Illuminating  disparities
Different  approaches  could  be  used  as  strategies  for  importance
scores  originating  from  an  under-informed  basis  (thus  leading  to
erroneous  interpretations).  One  approach  would  be  to  add  stimuli
(more  items)  to  get  additional  information.  Since  numerical  data
by  itself  may  not  always  provide  enough  information,  respondents
can  be  asked  about  the  basis  for  their  importance  scores.  A  similar
bar  graphing  technique  visually  represents  two  key  pieces  of
information:  (a)  the  importance  rating  and  (b)  basis  on  which  the
rating  is  given  in  Fig.  2.  The  horizontal  bars  illustrate  the
importance  score  (I)  and  basis  (F)  on  which  they  have  been

assigned.  In  this  case  the  3.0  rating  (based  on  5-point  scale)  comes
from  a  good  foundation  of  knowledge  and  would  be  considered
more  valid  than  the  inverse  situation.  This  procedure  could  also  be
done  with  rating  scales  instead  of  bar  graphs.  Inquiries  could  also
be  made  about  the  type  of  knowledge  –  direct  (participation  in  the
program),  indirect  (cursory  interactions),  anecdotal,  or  that
inﬂuenced  by  sources  such  as  the  Internet,  television,  or  media.
Importance  scores  can  also  be  categorized  as  originating  from
little  or  no  basis  of  information  to  a  moderate  amount  and  so  forth. (S) (I)
0.38
1.05(I) (S)
1.5 1.0 2.5 2.0 5.0 4.5 4.0 3.5 3.0(S) (I)
1.05(I) (S)0.38STUDENTS 
FACULTY/
ADMINISTRATORS

0.38
FACULTY/
Fig.  1.  Importance  and  satisfaction  ratings  by  group  (highlighted  via  the  Altschuld  loop).J.L.  White,  J.W.  Altschuld  /  Evaluation  and  Program  Planning  35  (2012)  124–132  127Any  items  with  high  values  from  the  little  to  no  category  would  not
be  considered  as  in  the  same  light  as  those  arising  from  a  more
informed  perspective.  At  a  minimum,  they  would  be  treated
differently  for  analysis  and  interpretation  purposes.  This  gives  the
assessor  a  better  understanding  of  the  basis  of  the  rating  and  would
be  beneﬁcial  for  generating  more  realistic  interpretations  of
discrepancies.  While  adding  survey  items  is  always  a  concern,  the
simplicity  of  the  technique  should  mitigate  any  impact  on

response  rate  since  it  is  relatively  quick  and  easy  for  respondents.
An  alternative  would  be  to  set  a  minimum  level  of  information
required  for  importance  scores  to  be  deemed  valid.  This  could  be
determined  a  priori  by  the  needs  assessment  committee  or  post
priori  via  a  threshold  set  by  a  panel  of  experts.  The  most  valid
importance  scores  would  be  limited  to  those  above  the  cut-point
and  leading  to  more  certainty  about  discrepancies  being  generated.
Since  some  subjects  may  be  hesitant  to  admit  to  little  or  no
information  about  an  important  issue,  socially  desirable  respond-
ing  is  another  concern  (van  de  Mortel,  2008 ).  This  can  be  countered
by  incorporating  social  desirability  scaling  (Crowne  &  Marlowe,

1960;  Paulhus,  1998 )  into  the  needs  instrument  that  can  be
correlated  with  the  discrepancies  (Thompson  &  Phua,  2005 ).
Discrepancy  scores  signiﬁcantly  correlated  with  the  more  socially
desirable  responses  would  be  closely  scrutinized.
6.  Implications  for  needs  assessment
At  this  juncture  several  conclusions  can  be  drawn.  First  are  the
implications  of  probing  into  discrepancy  scores  and  more
speciﬁcally,  importance  ratings.  Doing  so  increases  the  data
collection  activities.  While  the  methods  suggested  in  Table  3  are
intended  to  offer  some  guidance,  they  require  more  time  and  effort
for  the  needs  assessor.  Most  auxiliary  data  collection  activities  will
create  an  additional  burden  for  the  subjects,  exacerbate  non-

responses  (overall  and  per  item),  and  produce  lower  return  rates.
For  needs  assessors,  this  will  require  more  resources  and
deliberation  in  constructing  the  instruments  capable  of  eliciting
more  meaningful  responses.  Since  there  is  no  empirical  evidence  to
suggest  that  any  one  way  to  resolve  these  issues  is  superior,
practitioners  will  have  to  draw  from  experience,  consult  with
colleagues  or  other  experts,  and  ultimately  require  higher  budgets.
These  budgets  can  be  administratively  justiﬁed  based  on  data
quality.  The  more  certainty  desired  from  the  discrepancy
information,  the  greater  the  time  and  costs.
While  more  inquiry  into  understanding  importance  scores  is
evident,  it  is  with  the  caveat  that  each  situation  is  unique.  What

works  in  one  context  may  not  translate  to  another.  Consider  for
example  a  program  or  service  for  which  there  is  no  prior
experience.  On  what  basis  other  than  intuition  does  a  respondent
have  to  choose?  Without  any  frame  of  reference,  the  choice  of
scales  may  simply  be  intuitive.  In  other  situations,  importance
might  not  become  apparent  until  the  nature  of  the  response
emerges  and  indicates  a  need  for  more  information.
With  the  additional  information  come  more  complexity  and
challenges  such  as  explaining  very  detailed  and  complex
information  to  constituents.  This  is  particularly  true  when  supportis  required  before  going  forward.  To  illustrate  one  such  case,

consider  the  Boston  Housing  Authority’s  (Boston  Housing  Author-
ity,  n.d.)  needs  assessment.  Prior  to  replacing  their  business
software,  the  authority,  serving  more  than  14,000  public  housing
units,  determined  it  was  mission  critical  to  secure  buy-in  from
their  nearly  25,000  elderly,  disabled  or  economically  disadvan-
taged  clients.  Due  to  the  intricacy  of  the  project  (e.g.  dealing  with
work  orders,  lease  enforcement  and  collection,  inspections,
payment  processing,  etc.),  considerable  effort  was  devoted  to
explaining  the  process  to  a  predominantly  non-technical  audience
via  ﬂow  charts  and  visual  aids,  to  simplify  what  was  at  times  overly
technical  information.  This  resulted  in  better  understanding  of  the

processes  involved  and  helped  secure  support  for  the  project
changes.  Some  of  the  same  tactics  can  be  employed  with  needs
data.  Graphics  and  multimedia  can  be  used  to  reveal  where  the
data  came  from,  what  it  means,  and  how  it  ultimately  will  be
utilized.  The  techniques  would  be  based  on  the  level  of
understanding  of  the  speciﬁc  audiences.
The  information  obtained  from  studying  importance  scores
should  help  address  some  of  the  aforementioned  needs  assessment
issues  (Altschuld  &  White,  2010 ).  The  ﬁrst  is  ﬁnding  a  meaningful
standard  for  the  ‘‘what  should  be’’  condition.  The  most  desirable
and  accurate  is  that  derived  from  an  informed  perspective.  Delving
into  the  issue  of  importance  permits  the  assessor  to  establish  a

range  of  knowledge  about  the  topic  that  can  be  used  to  construct  a
minimum  standard.
A  secondary  concern  is  confusion  of  the  ‘‘what  should  be’’
condition  with  ‘‘wants’’  and  ‘‘preferences.’’  In  the  absence  of
measurable  discrepancies,  wants  and  preferences  are  merely  the
opinions  expressed  on  a  survey.  Altschuld  and  Witkin  (2000)  found
respondents  sometimes  expressed  what  they  feel  is  important  in
terms  of  ideal  conditions.  Probing  into  the  basis  of  the  importance
ratings  could  be  utilitarian  in  this  regard.  Working  from  the
minimum  knowledge  base  described  above,  the  standard  would
help  delineate  meaningful  what  should  be  data  from  wants .
7.  Recommendations  for  practice
With  so  many  issues  in  obtaining  a  meaningful  measure  of

importance  and  calculating  useful  discrepancies,  where  should
assessors  turn  for  assistance?  There  is  not  much  guidance  in  the
needs  assessment  literature.  This  is  notable  since  there  has  been  a
continuous  mantra  calling  for  more  publications  on  planning  and
conducting  needs  assessments  (Altschuld  &  White,  2010;
Altschuld  &  Witkin,  2000;  Witkin  &  Altschuld,  1995 ).  The  lack  of
sources  is  not  surprising  since  many  assessments  are  never
circulated  beyond  the  organization,  probably  because  they  are
used  for  internal  purposes  with  no  thought  to  publishing.  Sharing
them  with  the  evaluation  community  would  go  a  long  way  to  help
practitioners  as  well  as  build  the  body  of  professional  knowledge.

Toward  that  end  more  needs  assessment  research  should  be
disseminated.  This  starts  with  greater  emphasis  on  writing  and
publication  by  university  students,  professional  associations,
practitioners,  and  those  supporting  needs  assessments.  Until  then,
practitioners  should  review  the  fundamental  measurement  and1.0 (I)
(F)Basis for importance 
rating Importance rating 
0 5.0 4.0 3.0 2.0 
Fig.  2.  Concurrence  of  importance  rankings  (I)  with  foundation  (F)  where  0  =  limited  or  no  information  and  5  =  considerable  information.J.L.  White,  J.W.  Altschuld  /  Evaluation  and  Program  Planning  35  (2012)  124–132 128instrument  design  literature  (Gable  &  Wolf,  1993 ).  As  more  articles
become  available,  assessors  can  discover  better  ways  to  implement

studies  and  more  speciﬁcally,  how  to  obtain  valid  importance
ratings.
More  deliberation  into  the  construction  of  items  on  needs
assessment  surveys  is  also  a  consideration.  Particular  attention
should  be  given  to  how  surveys  were  constructed  and  the  types  of
problems  encountered.  How  did  others  get  around  the  issue?  What
approach  did  they  use  and  did  it  provide  insight  into  the  basis  for
the  responses  without  compromising  the  integrity  of  the  instru-
ment?  In  some  cases,  it  may  be  that  the  only  way  to  get  richer  data
is  by  measuring  other  attributes  (conﬁdence,  knowledge,  etc.)  or
using  open-ended  items  that  allow  respondents  to  elaborate.
A  thorough  scrutiny  of  the  survey  should  be  undertaken  in  all
needs  assessments  (Altschuld  &  White,  2010 ).  This  includes  a

psychometric  examination  of  the  instrument’s  internal  consisten-
cy  and  conﬁrmation  of  its  constructs.  The  non-metric  components
such  as  interview  questions  and  protocols  can  be  validated  with
qualitative  methods  such  as  triangulation,  member  check,
corroboration,  and  others.
As  indicated  earlier,  the  validity  of  the  importance  ratings  can
be  impacted  when  the  pre-assessment  reconnaissance  work  fails
to  create  a  well-aligned  survey.  In  addition  to  verifying  the
feasibility  of  the  needs  assessment,  small  pilot  studies  can  be  used
to  conﬁrm  the  reliability  and  validity  of  the  instrument.  Pilot
studies  go  a  long  way  toward  identifying  problems  with  the  survey
(e.g.  instructions,  item  wording,  etc.)  as  well  as  access  to  the

sample.  This  gives  the  assessor  the  opportunity  to  better
understand  the  population  and  improve  the  overall  ﬁt  of  the
instrument.  When  done  in  concert  with  stratiﬁed  sampling,
variability  within  subgroups  can  be  identiﬁed  to  forestall  some
of  the  confounding  problems.
To  maximize  the  likelihood  that  the  data  will  align,  the  assessor
can:  (1)  structure  the  pilot  study  prompts  to  be  consistent  with
those  on  the  needs  survey,  (2)  remember  there  is  a  limited  shelf-
life  between  data  gathering  activities,  (3)  anchor  responses  to  a
common  context,  (4)  focus  on  simplicity  and  avoid  complex
structures,  (5)  present  items  in  unambiguous  terms,  and  (6)  when
estimating  agreement,  use  consensus-building  techniques  (Car-

penter,  1999;  Harris  &  Brown,  2010 ).  After  initial  data  collection,
sending  a  follow-up  e-mail  to  the  respondent  simpliﬁes  the
process  of  obtaining  consensus.
Unfortunately,  some  needs  assessments  may  not  lend  them-
selves  well  to  pilot  studies.  Small  projects  with  limited  budgets
may  preclude  this  option.  In  these  situations  the  literature
becomes  an  even  more  valuable  resource.
7.1.  Alternative  media
In  addition  to  improving  survey  alignment,  technology  offers
innovative  opportunities  for  collecting  importance  information.
For  example,  data  collection  can  now  include  multimedia  like
cyber  focus  groups,  pod  casts  or  webinars  to  ask  respondents  about
their  rationale  for  assigning  importance  score  values.  Speech

recognition  software  such  as  DragonDictate,  Voice  Direct  and
ViaVoice  can  transcribe  the  information  for  thematic  analyses  with
software  such  as  NUD*IST,  Atlas/TI,  or  Ethnograph.  Advances  in
technology  permit  needs  assessors  to  collect  more  data  about
importance  scores  from  even  more  geographically  dispersed
groups  (Turney  &  Pocknee,  2005 ).
Concomitant  with  advances  in  technology  is  the  move  toward
newer  generations  of  electronic  surveys.  While  many  began  as
one-dimensional  replications  of  pen  and  paper  surveys,  commer-
cial  platforms  such  as  Sawtooth,  Survey  Monkey,  and  SurveyGizmo
are  taking  advantage  of  the  multimedia  opportunities.  By

integrating  imaging  software,  interactive  audio/video,  and  graphics,we  should  be  able  to  delve  more  deeply  into  the  ‘‘what  should  be’’
condition.  This  can  be  accomplished  through  highly  realistic
vignettes  like  those  found  in  gaming  technology  and  avatar
communities  (Christensen  &  Levinson,  2003 ),  where  the  subjects
and  the  needs  assessor  would  interact  in  a  three-dimensional  virtual
reality.  The  richness  of  the  data  would  be  limited  only  by  the
boundaries  of  the  technology.
Using  technology  to  create  an  interactive  environment  permits
a  level  of  inquiry  not  attainable  through  online  or  traditional
questionnaires.  In  contrast  to  Witkin’s  (1984)  reliance  on  script  to
prompt  survey  responses,  personal  computers  and  multimedia

software  can  now  create  a  more  realistic  needs  assessment
context.  Scenarios  could  be  tailored  to  ﬁt  an  array  of  purposes  and
to  examine  responses  under  different  conditions.  For  example,
would  respondents  provide  the  same  importance  rating  if  the
program  was  offered  under  a  different  set  of  circumstances,
location,  time  of  day,  etc.?  With  advances  in  technology,  assessors
should  capitalize  on  innovative  ways  of  collecting  needs  data.
When  planning  for  technology  to  collect  importance  data,
needs  assessors  must  consider  a  number  of  factors  such  as  culture
of  the  organization,  approach  and  context  of  the  study,  and  ethical
considerations.  For  example,  does  the  organization  have  a  culture

of  technology  that  permits  its  use?  If  so,  is  it  readily  available
throughout  the  entity  or  are  there  areas  that  are  not  accessible?
What  is  the  technological  proﬁciency  of  the  participants?  Do  they
need  training  before  the  project  can  go  forward?
The  approaches  used  in  data  collection  are  also  considerations.
A  follow-up  questionnaire  about  the  rationale  of  an  importance
score  can  generate  signiﬁcant  amounts  of  qualitative  information
that  technology  can  thematically  analyze.  The  time  it  takes  to
transcribe  the  audio  and/or  visual  recordings  can  be  reduced  to
expedite  the  needs  assessment  process.  Similarly,  electronic
surveys  and  statistical  software  have  greatly  increased  the  volume
of  quantitative  data  needs  assessors  can  handle.

The  context  of  the  study  is  another  concern.  Do  the  time  frame
and  budget  allow  the  use  of  technology  to  collect  importance  data?
Are  the  respondents  centralized  or  geographically  dispersed?  In
large  scale  needs  assessments,  technology  can  be  an  invaluable
tool  (Lee  et  al.,  2007b ).
The  decision  to  use  of  technology  to  collect  importance  data  can
also  generate  ethical  dilemmas.  The  anonymity  of  technology  can
lull  respondents  into  a  false  sense  of  security.  The  assessor  must  be
clear  when  electronic  communications  and  requests  for  needs  data
are  coordinated  and  when  they  are  not.  The  nature  of  the  responses
may  be  different  when  coordinated  (synchronous)  versus  uncoor-

dinated  (asynchronous)  communications  are  used.  This  can  be
particularly  true  in  situations  when  the  respondents  do  not  know
the  differences  between  the  two  methods.  Needs  assessors  must
ensure  all  participants  understand  and  fully  appreciate  the
processes  involved.  Above  all,  consideration  must  be  given  to
protecting  human  subjects  against  potential  abuses  of  technology.
In  a  similar  vein,  practitioners  should  look  at  various  interactive
media  to  see  if  there  are  better  ways  to  assess  importance.  For
instance,  if  alternative  media  was  used  independently  from  a
traditional  survey,  the  two  sources  could  be  used  to  validate  the
information  before  calculating  discrepancy  scores.  While  not
advocating  abandonment  of  surveys,  the  authors  recommend

experimenting  with  alternatives  that  reduce  respondent  burden
while  enhancing  the  quality  of  the  importance  data.  Care  must  be
taken  to  be  judicious  in  requests  for  additional  data.  Inundating
subjects  can  lead  to  data  asphyxiation  and  negate  any  beneﬁts
associated  with  the  new  technology  (Murray,  1998;  Shenk,  2009 ).
While  it  has  the  potential  to  be  a  very  useful  needs  assessment
tool  (Yilmaz  &  Altschuld,  2008 ),  it  must  be  emphasized  that  WEB-
based  or  cyber  engagements  may  not  elicit  the  same  response  that
would  be  given  in  an  online  or  traditional  survey.  ResponsesJ.L.  White,  J.W.  Altschuld  /  Evaluation  and  Program  Planning  35  (2012)  124–132  129obtained  in  an  open  forum  may  be  the  product  of  social  desirability

bias  and  produce  answers  not  automatically  useful  for  interpreta-
tion.  This  phenomenon  is  similar  to  that  in  exit  poll  data  where
interviewees  sometimes  cast  their  ballots  in  a  manner  different
once  in  the  voting  booth  (Fisher,  1993 ).  The  privacy  of  the
computer  is  not  dissimilar  from  the  voting  booth.  Until  more
research  is  done,  those  working  in  assessment  will  have  to  be
attentive  to  the  concerns  associated  with  the  new  media.
In  addition  to  where  responses  are  given  is  the  notion  of  when .
Living  in  a  24-h  news  cycle  is  constantly  producing  changes  in
knowledge  and  life  experiences.  The  passage  of  time  can  affect
individual  and  collective  answers.  Survey  responses  are  dynamic  –
what  was  observed  six  months  ago  might  not  pertain  today.  Such
was  the  case  when  Malmsheimer  and  Germain  (2002)  studied  how

well  a  needs  survey  predicted  the  utilization  of  extension  training
opportunities.  Initial  results  found  that  most  of  the  respondents
(n  =  200)  indicated  a  preference  for  educational  workshops.  Six
months  later  a  follow  up  was  done  to  see  if  they  actually  attended.
The  study  had  mixed  outcomes  ranging  from  12%  (general  interest)
to  22%,  indicating  strong  interest.  This  led  to  subsequent
investigation  to  see  if  utilization  needs  had  changed  over  time
or  differed  more  than  anticipated.  This  same  logic  can  be
generalized  to  other  concerns  like  the  labor  market  (job  search
strategies,  training,  skills,  etc.),  higher  education,  health  care,  small
business  practices,  and  others.  The  relative  importance  of  a  need

previously  detected  can  change  after  respondents  view  a  media
report  or  an  article  about  the  topic.
While  surveys  have  been  the  primary  focus  here,  some
comments  about  databases  are  in  order.  Before  accepting
importance  scores  from  archival  sources  the  assessor  should
investigate  how  the  information  was  obtained  and  the  quality
control  mechanisms  (Altschuld,  2010 ).  There  should  never  be  a
strict  adherence  to  electronic  information  without  understanding
how  the  data  was  collected  and  the  psychometric  integrity  of  the
instrument.  What  was  the  nature  of  the  questions  and  the  wording
used  as  related  to  the  importance  rating?  Full  understanding
and  attention  to  these  features  cannot  be  understated,  particularly

when  the  assessor  is  under  pressure  to  use  existing  information
to  avoid  the  added  costs  to  design  instruments  and  obtain  new
data.
7.2.  Knowledge  gaps  and  research  options
The  literature  indicates  practitioners  are  incorporating
advances  in  technology  into  assessments  (Altschuld  &  White,
2010 ).  However,  that  is  not  to  imply  there  are  no  gaps  in
knowledge.  More  research  is  needed  into  the  use  of  alternative
media  and  the  role  it  plays  in  need  assessment  practice.  For
example,  do  investigators  possess  adequate  understanding  of
technology  (particularly  new  advances)  and  integrate  them  into
their  studies?  What  is  their  knowledge  base  and  is  it  reliable?  Has
technology  been  used  primarily  to  collect  consumer  data  or

expanded  to  include  outcome  assessment  and  program  personnel?
Other  relevant  questions  are:
/C15  What  groups  are  most  amenable  to  technology-based  needs
/C15  What  are  the  training  needs  of  consumers  and  practitioners  in
order  to  capitalize  on  technology?
/C15  Which  technology-based  strategies  are  better  than  others?
/C15  What  are  the  parameters  on  technology  in  needs  assessment
decision-making?
/C15  What  is  the  knowledge  base  for  new  practitioners?
/C15  What  understanding  do  practitioners  have  for  the  algorithms
used  to  store,  reduce  and  analyze  data  from  large  needs-based
data  sets?/C15  What  methods  are  employed  to  present  complex  needs
information  to  various  audiences  and  are  some  more  effective
than  others?

/C15  What  are  the  ethical  issues  encountered  in  the  use  of
technology?
/C15  What  is  the  prevalence  of  human  error  in  technology-based
needs  assessments?
While  not  a  comprehensive  list  of  recommendations,  what  is
evident  from  the  literature  is  that  more  information  is  needed
about  the  use  of  innovative  technology  approaches  in  needs
assessment  practice.
7.3.  Data  analyses  and  models
New  statistical  approaches  for  analyzing  survey  data  are
available  for  needs  assessment.  The  fuzzy  Delphi  method  and
fuzzy  statistics  are  areas  of  particular  interest  (Chang,  Huang,  &  Lin,
2000 ).  In  contrast  to  the  Bayesian  approach,  respondents  select
from  a  range  of  values,  hence  the  ‘fuzzy’  concept.  This  may  be  more

consistent  with  how  importance  is  conceptualized.  Instead  of
being  limited  to  choosing  from  static  numeric  values  (Halpern,
2003;  Ho¨ppner,  Klawonn,  Kruse,  &  Ranker,  1999 ),  fuzzy  logic
models  can  calculate  importance  score  averages  across  groups  of
respondents.  Considering  that  individuals  tend  to  think  within  a
range  of  values  (desired  income,  travel  time),  it  becomes  an
interesting  and  constructive  way  to  design  needs  assessment
instruments.
Needs  assessors  can  also  use  other  preference-based  models
like  unfolding,  conjoint  analysis,  and  discrete  choice  method
(Rossi,  Allenby,  &  McCulloch,  2006 ).  The  algorithms  used  in
unfolding  are  techniques  that  respond  to  changes  in  circum-
stances.  Respondents  are  initially  asked  about  the  relative

importance  of  an  item,  followed  by  similar  questions  that
incorporate  variations  in  the  context.  This  affords  needs
assessors  the  opportunity  to  anticipate  and  plan  for  changes
as  they  unfold.
Conjoint  analysis  can  be  used  in  needs  assessment  to
measure  importance  of  an  item  when  evaluated  simultaneously
with  others  having  similar  features.  Consider  for  example  the
importance  of  a  good  or  service  based  on  the  time  commitments,
costs,  and  duration  of  the  program.  Because  people  will  make
tradeoffs,  assessors  can  measure  the  relative  worth  of  each
attribute,  or  attribute  level,  or  combination  of  attributes  and/or
levels.
Lastly,  discrete  choice  modeling  can  be  used  to  determine  the
priority  given  to  a  rating  by  examining  the  combination  of  intrinsic

levels.
and  extrinsic  factors  involved  in  making  the  decision.  To  illustrate
this,  consider  how  the  importance  of  health  services  to  a
community  is  determined.  The  availability  of  and  demand  for
medical  resources  must  be  considered  as  well  as  local  demo-
graphics,  such  as  income,  median  age,  transportation,  available
medical  alternatives,  and  so  forth.  Discrete  choice  models  become
a  more  realistic  option  for  needs  assessment  because  they  can
account  for  many  more  variables.
8.  Closing  thoughts
To  better  understand  the  ‘‘what  should  be  condition’’,  impor-
tance  ratings  must  undergo  a  rigorous  review  before  calculating
discrepancies.  This  includes:  (a)  during  writing  of  the  items,  (b)  in

the  choice  of  scales,  and  (c)  after  data  collection.  The  focal  point  of
this  paper  has  been  on  some  of  the  problems  and  issues  that  can
arise  and  possible  solution  strategies.  The  discussion  is  not
exhaustive  but  intended  to  generate  dialogue  about  a  topic  that
has  been  glossed  over  in  the  needs  assessment  literature.J.L.  White,  J.W.  Altschuld  /  Evaluation  and  Program  Planning  35  (2012)  124–132 130Each  of  the  strategies  offered  has  its  own  strengths  and
weaknesses  that  challenge  practitioners  to  ﬁnd  a  balance  for  the
context  of  the  needs  assessment.  This  is  imperative  since  most
assessments  require  a  signiﬁcant  investment  in  time,  money,  and
labor.  The  beneﬁts  are  worth  the  investment  however,  particularly

when  using  importance  scores  to  calculate  discrepancies  and
prioritize  needs.
When  all  is  said  and  done,  the  end  users  of  needs  assessments
will  make  decisions  about  the  allocation  of  ﬁnancial,  materials,  and
human  resources.  Less-than-adequate  information  about  the
‘‘what  should  be  condition’’  is  not  desirable  when  dealing  with
life-impacting  situations  and  prioritizing  some  needs  at  the
expense  of  others.  Relying  on  poor  quality  data  only  to
subsequently  ﬁnd  it  is  less  than  factual  can  have  serious
consequences  for  programs  and  personnel,  and  is  of  greatest
consequence  to  the  recipients  of  such  endeavors.  Why  should  we
accept  less  than  the  best  available  data  we  can  obtain?
Finally,  while  the  focus  has  been  on  importance,  the  issues

raised  in  this  paper  could  be  generalized  to  satisfaction,  motiva-
tion,  or  frequency  scores.  Therefore  our  call  for  more  research
should  not  be  limited  to  importance  but  go  beyond  to  include  other
similar  attributes.
Acknowledgement
The  authors  would  like  to  acknowledge  our  colleague  Yi-Fang
Lee,  Associate  Professor  of  Comparative  Education  at  National  Chi
Nan  University  for  her  support  and  contribution  to  this  paper.
Altschuld,  J.  W.  (2010).  Needs  assessment  phase  II:  Collecting  data.  Thousand  Oaks,  CA:
Sage  Publications.
Altschuld,  J.  W.,  &  White,  J.  L.  (2010).  Needs  assessment:  Analysis  and  prioritization .
Thousand  Oaks,  CA:  Sage  Publications.
Altschuld,  J.  W.,  &  Witkin,  B.  R.  (2000).  From  needs  assessment  to  action:  Transforming

needs  into  solution  strategies .  Thousand  Oaks,  CA:  Sage  Publications.
Anderson,  R.  C.,  &  Pearson,  P.  D.  (1984).  A  schema-theoretic  view  of  basic  processes  in
reading  comprehension.  In  P.  D.  Pearson  (Ed.),  Handbook  of  reading  research  (pp.
255–291).  Mahwah,  NJ:  Lawrence  Erlbaum  Associates.
Anderson,  B.,  Puur,  A.,  Silver,  B.,  Soova,  H.,  &  Voormann,  R.  (1994).  Use  of  a  lottery  as  an
incentive  for  survey  participation:  A  pilot  study  in  Estonia.  International  Journal  of
Public  Opinion  Research,  6,  64–71.
Ausubel,  D.  (1978).  In  defense  of  advance  organizers:  A  reply  to  the  critics.  Review  of
Educational  Research,  48,  251–257.
Ausubel,  D.,  Novak,  J.,  &  Hanesian,  H.  (1978).  Educational  psychology:  A  cognitive  view

(2nd  ed.).  New  York:  Holt,  Rinehart  &  Winston.
Barron,  F.  H.  (1992).  Selecting  a  best  multiattribute  alternative  with  partial  information
about  attribute  weights.  Acta  Psychologica,  80(1–3),  91–103.
Barron,  F.  H.,  &  Barrett,  B.  E.  (1996).  The  efﬁcacy  of  SMARTER  –  Simple  multi-attribute
rating  technique  extended  to  ranking.  Acta  Psychologica,  93(1–3),  23–36.
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survey  responses.  International  Journal  of  Public  Opinion  Research,  6,  45–63.
Brown,  G.  T.  L.  (2004).  Measuring  attitude  with  positively  packed  self-report  ratings:

Comparison  of  agreement  and  frequency  scales.  Psychology  Reports,  94(3),
1015–1024.
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Wiley  and  Sons.
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strategies.  In  L.  Susskind,  J.  Thomas-Larmer,  &  S.  McKearnan  (Eds.),  Consensus
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attitudinal  judgment.  Advance  in  Experimental  Social  Psychology,  32,  135–200.
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Jossey-Bass.J.L.  White,  J.W.  Altschuld  /  Evaluation  and  Program  Planning  35  (2012)  124–132  131Witkin,  B.  R.,  &  Altschuld,  J.  W.  (1995).  Conducting  needs  assessment:  A  practical  guide .
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annual  conference  of  the  American  Evaluation  Association .
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and  universities.  Dissertation  Abstract  International:  Section  A.  Humanities  and  Social
Sciences,  51(07),  2288.Dr.  Jeffry  L.  White  is  Assistant  Professor  of  Educational  Foundations  and  Leadership  at
the  University  of  Louisiana,  Lafayette.  His  primary  foci  are  in  quantitative  methods  and
prioritizing  needs  assessment  data.
Dr.  James  W.  Altschuld  is  Professor  Emeritus  of  Quantitative  Research,  Evaluation  and
Measurement  in  Education  at  The  Ohio  State  University.  His  research  and  writing

interests  are  in  needs  assessment  and  the  training  of  evaluators.J.L.  White,  J.W.  Altschuld  /  Evaluation  and  Program  Planning  35  (2012)  124–132 1321.1
hello
and
welcome
t o
the
W orld
Bank
Gr oup ' s
open
learning
campus
course
on
disco v ering
needs
in
the
course
will
pr o vide
an
intr oduction
t o
needs
and
how
the y
can
be
used
t o
guide
decisions
and
or ganizations
thr oughout
the
course
will
illustr ate
needs
as
it' s
applied
t o
learning
design
or
tr aining
design
though
the
concepts
methods
and
t ools
will
be
applicable
t o
many
other
ﬁelds
as
well
I' m
Ry an
W atkins
and
I' m
a
pr of essor
at
Geor ge
W ashingt on
Univ ersity
in
DC
wher e
I
teach
and
do
r esear ch
on
needs
and
learning
design
in
the
course
we
will
ha v e
thr ee

W atkins
and
I' m
a
pr of essor
at
Geor ge
in
DC
wher e
I
teach
and
do
r esear ch
on
needs
and
learning
design
in
the
course
we
will
ha v e
thr ee
video
lectur es
in
each
lectur e
ther e
will
also
be
self-r eﬂection
oppor tunities
wher e
I
ask
y ou
t o
pause
the
lectur e
and
think
about
how
we
can
apply
needs
in
y our
or ganization
in
addition
t o
the
thr ee
lectur es
we 'v e
also
de v eloped
case
ex er cises
t o
help
y ou
apply
a
needs
in
y our
own
work
ther e
ar e
also
quizz es
t o
ensur e
that
y ou
ha v e
gained
k e y
lessons
and
ther e
ar e
r esour ces
that
y ou
can
r ef er
t o
after
the
course
is
o v er
with
that
in
mind
let' s
go
ahead
and
get
star ted
in
a
gr eat
place
t o
star t
when
y ou
think
about
needs
is
why
ar e
we
doing
it
in
the
ﬁrst
place
and
typically
we
do
a
needs
when
we
want
t o
bring
about
change
in
our
in
our
community
in
our
ministr y
or
in
our
countr y
and

is
why
ar e
we
doing
it
in
the
ﬁrst
place
and
typically
we
do
a
needs
when
we
want
t o
bring
about
change
in
our
in
our
community
in
our
ministr y
or
in
our
countr y
and
change
usually
happens
b y
star ting
with
individuals
and
then
those
talk
with
other
and
the
concepts
and
ideas
gr ow
and
e v entually
we
can
r each
systemic
le v el
change
thr ough
lar ge
gr oups
ha ving
the
knowledge
skills
and
motiv ation
t o
mak e
changes
within
our
institutions
ther e
ar e
also
some
common
barriers
that
we
ﬁnd
t o
building
the
capacity
t o
mak e
change
these
typically
come
in
thr ee
diff er ent
ar eas
within
is
ther e
an
envir onment
for
change
is
ther e
or ganisational
backing
for
the
change
and
do
policies
suppor t
the
change
as
we
mo v e
for war d
we 'll
tak e
a
quick
look
atthese
befor e
we
get
int o
how
needs
ha v e
a
r ole
in
mo ving
change
for war d
as
we
think
about
envir onments
for
change
within
our
we

for war d
we 'll
tak e
a
quick
look
atthese
befor e
we
get
int o
how
needs
ha v e
a
r ole
in
mo ving
change
for war d
as
we
think
about
for
change
within
our
we
want
t o
consider
issues
of
the
v alues
the
leaders
the
stak eholders
who
has
v oice
within
the
system
what
ar e
the
incentiv es
and
what
ar e
the
norms
these
will
guide
us
t o
ar eas
that
typically
pr o vide
barriers
t o
change
within
our
as
we
think
about
policy
suppor ts
for
change
we
want
t o
consider
r egulations
administr ativ e
capacity
technical
capacity
for
change
the
adequacy
of
the
changes
and
the
policies
and
ar e
we
adequately
acknowledging
risk
as
policy
changes
ha v e
inher ent
risk
with
them
lastly
we
can
look
at
the
institutional
backing
ar e
ther e
systems
for
monit oring
and
e v aluating
change
as
we
go
for war d
do
we
ha v e
business
plans
is
ther e
a
leadership
model
in
place
and
is
their
budget
and
human
capital
t o
suppor t
the
change
as
we
go
for war d

and
change
as
we
go
for war d
do
we
ha v e
business
plans
is
ther e
a
model
in
place
and
is
their
budget
and
human
capital
t o
suppor t
the
change
as
we
go
for war d
as
we
star t
t o
think
about
these
diff er ent
potential
barriers
for
change
we
can
then
star t
t o
see
wher e
people
pla y
a
r ole
as
change
agents
as
change
agents
people
can
do
se v er al
things
t o
help
mak e
change
happen
within
the y
can
ha v e
conv ening
power
bringing
gr oups
t ogether
the y
can
tak e
on
r oles
the y
can
tak e
action
sometimes
as
or
within
gr oups
and
of
course
the y
can
ha v e
inﬂuence
o v er
others
so
when
we
want
change
and
we
want
t o
ha v e
change
agents
within
t o
help
bring
about
that
change
we
must
empower
them
and
this
is
often
wher e
learning
design
star ts
t o
come
int o
the
pictur e
thr ough
learning
we
can
empower
change
agents
we
can
r aise
their
awar eness
of
k e y
issues
we
can
facilitate
consensus
and
teamwork

often
wher e
learning
design
star ts
t o
come
int o
the
pictur e
thr ough
learning
we
can
empower
change
agents
we
can
r aise
their
awar eness
of
k e y
issues
we
can
consensus
and
teamwork
we
can
assist
in
the
formulation
of
policy
or
str ategy
we
can
e v en
help
build
implementation
know-how
thr ough
pilot
pr ojects
we
can
enhance
skills
and
of
course
we
can
foster
networks
of
change
agents
all
of
these
can
help
empower
the
change
agents
t o
bring
about
the
change
and
o v er come
those
barriers
and
slowly
bring
about
the
types
of
change
that
we 'r e
looking
for
in
our
so
when
we 'r e
de v eloping
learning
we
often
think
of
these
learning
outcomes
in
r elation
t o
what
will
empower
the
change
agents
and
this
will
giv e
us
a
fr amework
for
building
learning
pr ogr ams
that
can
suppor t
change
as
we
mo v e
for war d
ther e
ar e
se v er al
driv ers
the y
commonlylead
t o
the
design
of
learning
within
this
context
sometimes
it' s
driv en
b y
supply
wher e
we
ha v e

that
can
suppor t
change
as
we
mo v e
for war d
ther e
ar e
se v er al
driv ers
the y
t o
the
design
of
learning
within
this
context
sometimes
it' s
driv en
b y
supply
wher e
we
ha v e
knowledge
or
exper tise
within
our
and
we
plan
t o
shar e
that
in
some
wa y
it
can
also
be
demand
driv en
wher e
a
client
either
internal
or
external
t o
our
r equests
the
speciﬁc
learning
on
a
t opic
or
a
set
of
skills
so
that
the y
can
star t
t o
mo v e
change
for war d
and
often
it
is
needs
driv en
and
this
is
wher e
needs
ﬁx
int o
the
pictur e
what
is
it
that
we
ha v e
needs
for
and
how
can
we
best
work
t o
accomplish
those
r esults
so
t oda y
we 'r e
going
t o
focus
on
needs
and
how
it
can
ﬁt
int o
this
fr amework
because
somewher e
in
the
middle
between
supply
demand
and
needs
is
wher e
v aluable
r esults
tak e
place
when
all
thr ee
of
these
mer ge
t ogether
we
ha v e
the
knowledge
thr ough
the
supply
we
ha v e
demand
and

middle
between
supply
demand
and
needs
is
wher e
v aluable
r esults
tak e
place
when
all
thr ee
of
these
mer ge
t ogether
we
ha v e
the
knowledge
thr ough
the
supply
we
ha v e
demand
and
fr om
the
client
and
ther e
is
truly
the
need
then
we
can
gain
v aluable
r esults
often
it' s
easy
t o
look
at
the
supply
we
know
about
the
exper tise
that
r esides
within
our
and
often
clients
will
tell
us
what
the
demand
is
the
r equest or
tr aining
pr ogr am
the y 'll
put
out
a
call
for
pr oposals
but
needs
can
be
a
little
mor e
confusing
it' s
not
alwa ys
clear
what
is
a
need
what
is
a
want
and
so
what
we
want
t o
do
is
use
needs
t o
help
clarify
this
par t
of
the
equation
befor e
we
go
for war d
please
go
ahead
and
pause
the
video
and
we 'll
tak e
time
for
a
shor t
ex er cise
I'll
ask
y ou
t o
identify
a
curr ent
learning
pr ogr am
in
y our
and
write
down
at
least
thr ee
driv ers
that
led
t o
the
de v elopment
of
the
learning

shor t
ex er cise
I'll
ask
y ou
t o
identify
a
curr ent
learning
pr ogr am
in
y our
and
write
down
at
least
thr ee
driv ers
that
led
t o
the
of
the
learning
pr ogr am
and
then
when
y ou'r e
done
ask
y ourself
thr ee
basic
questions
was
ther e
clear
demand
for
the
learning
was
the
learning
supply
driv en
or
was
ther e
a
clear
need
that
dr o v e
the
of
the
learning
so
go
ahead
and
pause
the
video
now
and
complete
the
activity
when
y ou'r e
done
y ou
can
r estar t
the
video
1.2
I
hope
that
the
activity
was
of
help
let' s
continue
our
conv ersation
about
needs
and
how
the y
r elate
t o
demand
and
t o
supply
driv en
decisions
within
our
letme
intr oduce
y ou
t o
my
sons
my
older
son
is
Jor dan
my
y ounger
son
is
writer
and
the y
know
that
I
study
needs
and
needs
and
so
the y
lo v e
t o
use
the
wor d
need
in
or der
t o
describe
the
things
that
the y
want
so
the y
often
sa y

my
y ounger
son
is
writer
and
the y
know
that
I
study
needs
and
needs
and
so
the y
lo v e
t o
use
the
wor d
need
in
or der
t o
describe
the
things
that
the y
want
so
the y
often
sa y
things
lik e
we
need
new
bik es
and
this
is
a
common
statement
within
our
language
people
might
sa y
we
need
learning
on
this
or
y our
client
or
boss
might
sa y
y ou
ha v e
t o
tak e
tr aining
on
another
t opic
we
often
use
the
wor d
need
t o
identify
the
things
that
we 'r e
pr escribing
as
solutions
t o
pr oblems
that
ar e
y et
t o
be
identiﬁed
this
is
also
the
case
in
international
wher e
after
natur al
disasters
many
might
come
in
and
identify
what
ar e
the
needs
of
the
people
that
liv e
ther e
what
we
don 't
know
howe v er
is
how
ar e
these
needs
deﬁned
ar e
we
talking
about
the
same
needs
of
the
same
population
and
how
can
we
mak e
comparisons
acr oss
the
claims
of
needs
fr om
diff ering
gr oups
we
r eally
ha v e
t o
ha v e
the
needs
pr ocess
in
place

about
the
same
needs
of
the
same
and
how
can
we
mak e
acr oss
the
claims
of
needs
fr om
diff ering
gr oups
we
r eally
ha v e
t o
ha v e
the
needs
pr ocess
in
place
t o
help
us
better
understand
and
clarify
what
ar e
the
needs
how
ar e
we
measuring
them
and
how
can
we
mak e
acr oss
the
needs
so
that
we
can
prioritiz e
and
mak e
good
sound
decisions
outside
of
work
y ou
also
hear
the
wor d
need
used
all
the
time
people
will
sa y
in
mark eting
and
adv er tising
y ou
need
t o
buy
a
new
car
or
someone
might
sa y
I
need
t o
go
t o
the
mall
or
y ou
need
t o
work
har der
or
we
need
t o
ﬁx
these
r oads
politicians
especially
lik e
t o
use
the
wor d
need
in
or der
t o
pin
down
k e y
initiativ es
and
t o
implement
ID
is
that
the y
think
our
solutions
though
the y
pr obably
ha v en 't
r eally
studied
the
pr oblem
all
that
much
all
of
this
can
mak e
y ou
want
t o
pull
y our
hair
out
at
times
but
for tunately
we
ha v e
needs
as
a
systematic

the y
pr obably
ha v en 't
r eally
studied
the
pr oblem
all
that
much
all
of
this
can
mak e
y ou
want
t o
pull
y our
hair
out
at
times
but
we
ha v e
needs
as
a
pr ocess
that
can
help
us
what
needs
ar e
separ ate
them
fr om
once
in
step
priorities
in
or der
t o
guide
our
decisions
so
as
my
kids
might
ask
so
Dad
what
our
needs
and
what
our
needs
let' s
star t
b y
looking
at
what
our
needs
so
coming
out
of
philosophy
and
ethics
ther e
ar e
common
structur es
t o
statements
about
need
in
this
case
a
and
individual
person
r equir es
a
r esult
which
will
label
as
B
in
or der
t o
achie v e
another
desir ed
r esult
that
we
can
label
as
C
so
we
ha v e
an
gr oup
claiming
the
need
for
a
r esult
in
or der
t o
achie v e
anotherr esult
this
in
or der
t o
is
r eally
essential
because
that' s
what
mak es
it
necessar y
for
one
r esult
t o
be
accomplished
for
another
r esult
it' s
not
that
B
has
t o
be
suﬃcient
in
or der
t o

this
in
or der
t o
is
r eally
essential
because
that' s
what
mak es
it
necessar y
for
one
r esult
t o
be
for
another
r esult
it' s
not
that
B
has
t o
be
suﬃcient
in
or der
t o
C
but
B
must
be
satisﬁed
t o
some
degr ee
in
or der
t o
the
second
r esult
of
C
I'll
giv e
some
examples
that
will
help
clarify
Rose
might
r equir e
lowering
her
cholester ol
below
240
in
or der
t o
maintain
her
o v er all
hear t
health
in
this
case
Rose
has
a
r esult
t o
be
achie v ed
lowering
her
t o
below
240
in
or der
t o
achie v e
a
second
r esult
in
or der
t o
maintain
her
o v er all
health
similarly
Mimi
could
ha v e
the
need
if
she
r equir es
impr o v ed
team
pr oductivity
in
or der
t o
meet
incr easing
client
demand
so
again
Mimi
has
t o
achie v e
a
r esult
team
in
or der
t o
achie v e
a
second
r esult
which
is
client
t o
me
and
these
ar e
v er y
diff er ent
than
if
I
was
t o
sa y
Ari
needs
health
insur ance
or
my
staff

in
or der
t o
achie v e
a
second
r esult
which
is
client
t o
me
and
these
ar e
v er y
diff er ent
than
if
I
was
t o
sa y
Ari
needs
health
insur ance
or
my
staff
needs
tr aining
wher e
I' m
solutions
r ather
we 'r e
tr ying
t o
focus
on
what
r esults
must
be
and
why
in
or der
t o
that
second
r esult
we
can
ther eb y
deﬁne
needs
as
a
gap
in
r esults
a
gap
between
r esults
that
we 'r e
curr ently
achie ving
and
r esults
that
we
should
achie v e
in
the
futur e
and
those
r esults
ar e
wher e
it' s
satisfaction
or
at
least
it' s
par cel
is
necessar y
for
the
achie v ement
of
another
speciﬁc
socially
permissible
r esult
so
again
r oses
need
could
then
be
deﬁned
b y
lowering
her
in
or der
t o
maintain
o v er all
health
or
Mimi' s
knee
could
be
deﬁned
b y
impr o ving
team
pr otect
in
or der
t o
meet
client
demand
this
is
what
we 'r e
tr ying
t o
assess
when
we
do
a
needs

o v er all
health
or
Mimi' s
knee
could
be
deﬁned
b y
impr o ving
team
pr otect
in
or der
t o
meet
client
demand
this
is
what
we 'r e
tr ying
t o
assess
when
we
do
a
needs
what
ar e
these
gaps
and
r esults
and
what
ar e
their
r elation
t o
each
other
so
again
b y
looking
at
the
gaps
and
r esults
this
allows
us
t o
star t
measuring
needs
which
is
quite
helpful
as
we
tr y
t o
guide
our
decisions
going
for war d
once
we 'v e
deﬁned
those
needs
then
we
can
star t
t o
look
at
what
ar e
the
solutions
that
ma y
help
close
those
gaps
and
r esults
it
is
these
needs
that
we
want
t o
addr ess
either
thr ough
learning
or
tr aining
pr ogr ams
or
thr ough
a
v ariety
of
other
activities
that
ma y
be
appr opriate
in
y our
ﬁeld
or
pr of essionlet' s
tak e
a
look
at
another
example
let' s
talk
about
Juan
Juan
is
a
tr aining
manager
in
a
hospital
and
he
comes
t o
y ou
and
he
sa ys
that
he
needs
an
e-learning
course
on
completing
patient
intak e
forms
as
we
star t
t o

example
let' s
talk
about
Juan
Juan
is
a
tr aining
manager
in
a
hospital
and
he
comes
t o
y ou
and
he
sa ys
that
he
needs
an
course
on
patient
intak e
forms
as
we
star t
t o
think
mor e
about
needs
in
the
deﬁnition
we
just
discussed
let' s
think
about
what
ar e
the
diff er ent
needs
that
ma y
be
pack ed
int o
bond
r equests
so
his
staff
pr obably
do
ha v e
a
need
and
it
could
be
something
along
the
lines
of
r educing
the
number
of
incomplete
or
inaccur ate
intak e
forms
in
or der
t o
r educe
the
time
that
it
tak es
for
a
patient
t o
see
a
doct or
for
us
four
minutes
down
t o
let' s
sa y
two
minutes
as
the
manager
Juan
pr obably
has
a
need
as
well
ma ybe
this
is
t o
incr ease
the
number
of
patients
seen
during
a
shift
and
he
would
want
t o
do
that
in
or der
t o
incr ease
r e v enue
for
the
hospital
in
the
so
the
has
a
need
that
is
lik ely
embedded
in
his
statement
as
well
r elated
t o
annual
r e v enue
in
or der
t o
r each

r e v enue
for
the
hospital
in
the
so
the
has
a
need
that
is
lik ely
embedded
in
his
statement
as
well
r elated
t o
annual
r e v enue
in
or der
t o
r each
balanced
budgets
in
the
hospital
oper ates
within
a
community
and
tries
t o
ser v e
needs
at
the
community
le v el
and
in
this
case
it
ma y
be
that
the
community
is
planning
t o
gr ow
and
the y
ha v e
t o
be
able
t o
expand
medical
off erings
t o
the
new
r esidents
within
the
community
and
this
will
ther eb y
help
it
gr ow
its
tax
base
as
well
because
the y 'r e
bringing
mor e
people
int o
the
community
so
within
this
simple
statement
or
at
least
what
sounded
simple
when
Juan
r equested
tr aining
he
was
actually
talking
about
se v er al
needs
at
se v er al
diff er ent
le v els
and
the y 'r e
all
closely
r elated
this
is
what
we
want
t o
learn
about
when
we
do
a
needs
and
this
is
why
it' s
impor tant
t o
think
about
what
is
the
deﬁnition
of
need
because
that
is
what
we 'r e
tr ying

closely
r elated
this
is
what
we
want
t o
learn
about
when
we
do
a
needs
and
this
is
why
it' s
impor tant
t o
think
about
what
is
the
deﬁnition
of
need
because
that
is
what
we 'r e
tr ying
t o
assess
using
this
deﬁnition
we
can
see
that
needs
ar e
instrumental
that
is
t o
sa y
that
the y
ser v e
a
function
or
purpose
the
in
or der
t o
par t
of
the
deﬁnition
identiﬁes
what
is
the
purpose
of
accomplishing
the
ﬁrst
r esult
and
that
purpose
is
deﬁned
b y
the
second
r esult
that
we 'r e
looking
t o
as
we
see
in
Juan ' s
example
needs
also
come
in
series
so
a
person
ma y
r equir e
r esult
B
in
or der
t o
get
r esults
C
but
the y
r equir e
r esults
C
in
or der
t o
get
r esult
D
and
D
in
or der
t o
get
a
and
so
for th
also
needs
ha v e
satisﬁers
and
this
is
r eally
impor tant
because
in
a
needs
we
ha v e
t o
mak er ecommendations
or
decisions
about
how
t o
close
the
needs
or
how
t o
close
these
gaps
and
r esults
so
it
ma y
be
that
a
diet
is
a

because
in
a
needs
we
ha v e
t o
or
decisions
about
how
t o
close
the
needs
or
how
t o
close
these
gaps
and
r esults
so
it
ma y
be
that
a
diet
is
a
solution
or
a
par cel
solution
for
r ose
in
or der
t o
lower
the
in
or der
t o
maintain
better
hear t
health
and
it
ma y
be
the
tr aining
is
a
par tial
solution
for
Mimi
so
that
she
can
incr ease
her
team
and
ther eb y
meet
client
demands
so
needs
ha v e
t o
ha v e
solutions
that
we
can
bring
t o
bear
t o
close
those
gaps
and
r esults
that
we 'v e
identiﬁed
so
why
do
we
car e
so
much
about
the
wor d
need
as
we 'r e
conducting
our
needs
well
the y
of
course
deﬁne
what
we
ar e
assessing
the y
also
clarify
what
ar e
the
goals
of
our
our
goal
is
not
necessarily
just
t o
mak e
r ecommendations
for
our
tr aining
pr ogr ams
or
t o
implement
solutions
that
we
alr eady
ar e
exper ts
at
but
it' s
r eally
t o
identify
what
ar e
those
r esults

is
not
just
t o
mak e
for
our
tr aining
pr ogr ams
or
t o
implement
solutions
that
we
alr eady
ar e
exper ts
at
but
it' s
r eally
t o
identify
what
ar e
those
r esults
that
must
be
achie v ed
going
for war d
and
then
t o
look
at
what
options
ar e
a v ailable
the
deﬁnition
will
also
impact
on
the
design
of
y our
needs
it
will
help
determine
what
y ou
measur e
and
how
y ou
measur e
it
it
will
inﬂuence
also
what
y ou
r epor t
and
who
y ou
r epor t
it
t o
and
lastly
it
will
help
y ou
e v aluate
y our
own
success
b y
ha ving
a
clear
deﬁnition
of
what
y ou
ar e
assessing
at
the
end
y ou
can
determine
whether
or
not
y ou
assess
it
in
this
case
wer e
assessing
needs
so
what
ar e
in
the
needs
then
we
ha v e
a
deﬁnition
of
need
and
now
we 'r e
looking
at
why
ar e
we
assessing
it
needs
ar e
essentially
a
pr ocess
for
guiding
decisions
the y 'r e
also
a
v aluable
input
for
str ategic
planning
as
y ou
go
for war d
and
tr y

we 'r e
looking
at
why
ar e
we
assessing
it
needs
ar e
a
pr ocess
for
guiding
decisions
the y 'r e
also
a
v aluable
input
for
str ategic
planning
as
y ou
go
for war d
and
tr y
t o
determine
what
needs
will
be
satisﬁed
in
the
futur e
ther e
ar e
also
a
v er y
logical
pr ocess
for
helping
us
separ ate
what
ar e
our
needs
and
what
ar e
our
wants
so
we
can
set
as
we
mentioned
earlier
needs
ar e
driv ers
of
learning
design
often
along
with
supply
and
demand
so
in
essence
a
needs
is
a
pr ocess
for
determining
what
r esult
should
be
and
what
it
is
that
might
help
us
those
going
for war d
two
deﬁnitions
that
ha v e
been
off er ed
ar e
b y
Allison
Rossi
and
Roger
Kaufman
Allison
Rosset
submits
that
a
needs
is
a
study
of
a
pr oblem
or
inno v ation
incorpor ating
data
and
opinions
fr om
v aried
sour ces
in
or der
t o
about
what
should
happen
next
which
all
seems
v er y
r easonable
and

study
of
a
pr oblem
or
data
and
opinions
fr om
v aried
sour ces
in
or der
t o
about
what
should
happen
next
which
all
seems
v er y
and
logical
that
y ou
would
want
t o
do
a
needs
t o
guide
y our
decisions
going
for war d
Roger
Kaufman
complements
this
when
he
deﬁnes
a
needs
is
a
pr ocess
for
identifying
and
prioritizing
gaps
and
r esults
based
on
the
costs
t o
meet
the
need
v ersus
the
cost
t o
ignor e
the
need
b y
adding
costs
t o
meet
the
need
v ers
costs
t o
ignor e
the
need
r oger
Kaufman ' s
deﬁnition
adds
some
complexity
in
depth
and
giv es
us
r eally
a
structur e
for
how
ar e
we
going
t o
because
when
we
star t
t o
identify
needs
will
often
end
up
with
many
mor e
than
we
anticipated
in
or der
t o
mak e
decisions
we
ha v e
t o
be
able
t o
set
among
our
needs
so
needs
pr o vide
a
pr ocess
so
that
we
can
apply
it
again
and
again
and
impr o v e
our

in
or der
t o
mak e
decisions
we
ha v e
t o
be
able
t o
set
among
our
needs
so
needs
pr o vide
a
pr ocess
so
that
we
can
apply
it
again
and
again
and
impr o v e
our
pr ocesses
going
for war d
the y
also
allow
us
t o
justify
decisions
befor e
we
mak e
those
decisions
t oo
often
we
mak e
the
decisions
and
then
we
ha v e
t o
scurr y
about
tr ying
t o
justify
the
decisions
that
we 'v e
alr eady
made
we
want
t o
r e v erse
that
pr ocess
when
we
use
a
needs
a
good
needs
is
also
scalable
so
y ou
can
use
the
same
appr oach
for
a
small
decision
that
y ou
mak e
on
a
daily
basis
or
for
a
lar ge
pr ogr ammatic
decision
that
y ou
ma y
tak e
thr ee
four
or
ﬁv e
months
t o
decide
about
it' s
also
useful
if
y our
needs
can
be
r eplicable
this
will
allow
y ou
t o
r epeat
it
many
times
and
continually
impr o v e
y our
pr ocesses
so
the
needs
y ou
do
two
y ears
fr om
now
will
be
far
better
than
the
needs
y ou
do
two

this
will
allow
y ou
t o
r epeat
it
many
times
and
impr o v e
y our
pr ocesses
so
the
needs
y ou
do
two
y ears
fr om
now
will
be
far
better
than
the
needs
y ou
do
two
weeks
fr om
now
it
also
should
be
systemic
and
look
at
v ariety
of
and
perspectiv es
we
don 't
want
t o
get
ﬁxated
on
a
par ticular
solution
t oo
early
we
want
t o
bring
a
lot
of
and
views
int o
our
needs
so
that
we
truly
the
need
and
can
mak e
objectiv e
decisions
about
what
should
happen
next
and
often
those
solutions
will
be
inter disciplinar y
so
it
ma y
be
things
that
wer e
r eally
good
at
or
we
ma y
ﬁnd
that
the
solutions
ar e
things
that
ar e
better
left
t o
others
and
both
of
those
ar e
good
r esults
fr om
our
needs
so
a
couple
k e y
questions
that
y ou
ask
in
a
needs
ar e
what
ar e
our
needs
what
ar e
those
gaps
and
r esults
and
howdo
the y
r elate
t o
each
other
how
do
we
those
what
ar e
the

a
couple
k e y
questions
that
y ou
ask
in
a
needs
ar e
what
ar e
our
needs
what
ar e
those
gaps
and
r esults
and
howdo
the y
r elate
t o
each
other
how
do
we
those
what
ar e
the
causes
of
the
needs
and
then
what
ar e
the
possible
alternativ e
things
we
can
do
t o
close
those
gaps
and
r esults
or
impr o v e
our
per formance
going
for war d
t o
end
the
lectur e
let' s
do
another
activity
so
again
pause
the
video
and
in
this
one
I
want
y ou
t o
think
about
and
write
down
a
complex
decision
y ou'r e
tr ying
t o
mak e
it
can
be
a
decision
within
y our
or
it
can
be
a
personal
decision
once
y ou'v e
written
down
the
decision
y ou'r e
tr ying
t o
mak e
I
would
lik e
y ou
t o
write
down
thr ee
or
four
steps
or
pr ocesses
that
y ou'r e
using
in
or der
t o
mak e
that
decision
t o
better
how
y ou'r e
making
the
decision
is
alwa ys
impor tant
as
y ou
tr y
t o
impr o v e
y our
decision-making
after
y ou'v e
written
those
down
I
want

or der
t o
mak e
that
decision
t o
better
how
y ou'r e
making
the
decision
is
alwa ys
impor tant
as
y ou
tr y
t o
impr o v e
y our
after
y ou'v e
written
those
down
I
want
y ou
t o
ask
y ourself
a
f ew
questions
is
the
pr ocess
that
y ou'r e
using
systemic
can
it
be
r eplicated
can
it
be
scaled
does
the
pr ocess
pr o vide
y ou
with
the
t o
justify
y our
decision
befor e
y ou
mak e
that
decision
or
ha v e
y ou
alr eady
made
the
decision
and
y ou'r e
r eally
just
tr ying
t o
put
a
pr ocess
in
place
that
will
justify
the
decision
y ou'v e
alr eady
made
lastly
is
the
pr ocess
exploring
new
and
diff er ent
options
that
ma y
lead
t o
better
r esults
is
it
for cing
y ou
t o
think
with
a
br oader
spectrum
of
ideas
bring
ideas
fr om
other
ﬁelds
or
other
t o
bear
t o
help
close
the
gap
in
r esults
that
y ou'r e
looking
t o
close
with
that
will
ﬁnish
lectur e
one
of
needs
English
(aut o-gener ated)
2.1
welcome
back
t o

other
t o
bear
t o
help
close
the
gap
in
r esults
that
y ou'r e
looking
t o
close
with
that
will
ﬁnish
lectur e
one
of
needs
English
2.1
welcome
back
t o
needs
an
course
br ought
t o
y ou
b y
the
open
learning
campus
at
the
W orld
Bank
Gr oup
in
lectur e
1
of
the
course
we
talk ed
about
what
our
needs
and
what
our
needs
in
lectur e
2
we
will
now
turn
our
attention
t o
how
do
we
design
a
successful
needs
within
our
t o
help
guide
our
discussion
I'll
pr opose
a
ﬁv e-step
pr ocess
model
of
how
we
can
manage
our
needs
so
ﬁrst
we
can
deﬁne
what
is
the
scope
of
the
that
we 'r e
under taking
then
we
design
theassessment
and
what
questions
it
will
answer
followed
b y
the
necessar y
t ools
in
or der
t o
complete
the
in
the
four th
step
we
actually
do
the
assessing
and
in
the
ﬁnal
step
we
document
what
we 'v e
learned
following
this
appr oach

the
necessar y
t ools
in
or der
t o
complete
the
in
the
four th
step
we
actually
do
the
assessing
and
in
the
ﬁnal
step
we
document
what
we 'v e
learned
following
this
appr oach
in
this
lectur e
we
will
focus
on
the
deﬁne
and
design
steps
of
managing
our
needs
it' s
impor tant
t o
r emember
that
a
needs
is
not
about
telling
people
what
their
needs
ar e
r ather
a
needs
is
a
pr ocess
for
helping
people
better
their
needs
so
the y
can
set
and
mak e
better
decisions
about
what
t o
do
going
for war d
needs
can
inﬂuence
the
decisions
that
people
mak e
in
se v er al
diff er ent
wa ys
one
useful
wa y
for
thinking
about
the
diff er ent
r oles
of
a
needs
is
t o
think
about
the
diff er ent
styles
that
get
applied
within
most
any
decision
so
at
times
we
think
lik e
the
r ational
act or
coming
out
of
economic
theor y
wher e
we
mak e
decisions
based
on
objectiv e
data
about
what
will

styles
that
get
applied
within
most
any
decision
so
at
times
we
think
lik e
the
r ational
act or
coming
out
of
economic
theor y
wher e
we
mak e
decisions
based
on
objectiv e
data
about
what
will
giv e
us
the
best
r esults
in
other
times
we
think
mor e
lik e
the
quasi
r ational
act or
coming
out
of
psy chology
and
beha vior al
economics
we
know
that
people
don 't
ice
mak e
r ational
decisions
sometimes
the y
mak e
irr ational
decisions
and
now
we
also
know
that
ther e ' s
also
another
type
of
act or
that
we
can
think
about
as
we
describe
our
and
that' s
the
encultur ated
act or
and
that
comes
out
of
sociology
and
anthr opology
r esear ch
and
it
shows
how
the
communities
and
societies
we
liv e
in
shape
our
as
well
and
needs
can
pr o vide
input
t o
decisions
fr om
all
thr ee
of
these
the y
pr o vide
objectiv e
data
for
the
r ational
act or
the y
also
pr o vide
fr om
a
v ariety
of
and
their
per ceptions

t o
decisions
fr om
all
thr ee
of
these
the y
pr o vide
objectiv e
data
for
the
r ational
act or
the y
also
pr o vide
fr om
a
v ariety
of
and
their
which
can
inform
us
as
our
quasi
r ational
act or
and
of
course
it
looks
at
le v els
of
r esults
as
we
saw
in
Juan ' s
example
wher e
we
tie
things
t o
our
community
and
society
which
can
inform
our
act or
in
our
decisions
a
v er y
useful
t ool
in
designing
a
needs
is
a
r esults
fr amework
or
logic
model
sometimes
these
ar e
also
called
theories
of
change
if
y ou'r e
not
familiar
with
them
the y
ha v e
a
v er y
basic
structur e
ther e
ar e
typically
impacts
and
these
ar e
the
br oad
societal
r esults
thatwe 'r e
tr ying
t o
ha v e
impact
on
thr ough
the
work
that
we
do
ther e
ar e
also
then
outcomes
and
those
ar e
the
r esults
that
come
out
of
our
and
the y
typically
ha v e
br oader
impacts
in
terms
of
the
number
of
people

work
that
we
do
ther e
ar e
also
then
outcomes
and
those
ar e
the
r esults
that
come
out
of
our
and
the y
typically
ha v e
br oader
impacts
in
terms
of
the
number
of
people
that
the y
r each
and
the y
typically
r elate
t o
beha vior
changes
ther e
ar e
also
then
outputs
and
these
ar e
the
dir ect
r esults
of
the
things
that
we
do
within
our
so
if
y ou'r e
a
learning
designer
and
put
could
be
a
deliv er ed
tr aining
course
the
outcome
would
then
be
that
people
ha v e
the
knowledge
and
skills
t o
do
the
jobs
that
the y 'v e
been
hir ed
t o
do
and
the
impact
would
be
whate v er
v alue
that
y our
is
adding
t o
the
society
and
community
in
which
it
works
these
ar e
thr ee
le v els
of
r esults
that
we
typically
talk
about
and
these
le v els
of
r esults
ar e
suppor ted
b y
the
the
things
that
y ou
do
in
y our
and
the
inputs
the
r esour ces
and
other
t ools
that
y ou
ha v e
at
y our
disposal
in
or der
t o
do
the

of
r esults
ar e
suppor ted
b y
the
the
things
that
y ou
do
in
y our
and
the
inputs
the
r esour ces
and
other
t ools
that
y ou
ha v e
at
y our
disposal
in
or der
t o
do
the
things
that
y ou
do
we
can
then
use
a
needs
pr ocess
t o
help
us
plan
on
how
this
system
ﬁts
t ogether
so
what
ar e
the
impacts
that
we
want
t o
in
or der
t o
those
what
outcomes
do
we
ha v e
t o
in
or der
t o
get
those
outcomes
what
outputs
do
we
ha v e
t o
and
then
of
course
what
will
those
in
what
r esour ces
ar e
necessar y
t o
suppor t
those
this
is
a
gener al
r esults
fr amework
or
logic
model
appr oach
t o
what' s
going
on
within
any
pr oject
or
pr ogr am
needs
can
then
be
pair ed
with
and
e v aluation
wher e
we
go
back
the
other
dir ection
and
we
ask
ourselv es
questions
such
as
did
we
get
the
r esour ces
we
thought
we
would
get
wer e
we
able
t o

then
be
pair ed
with
and
wher e
we
go
back
the
other
dir ection
and
we
ask
ourselv es
questions
such
as
did
we
get
the
r esour ces
we
thought
we
would
get
wer e
we
able
t o
implement
the
as
we
designed
them
t o
be
implemented
and
did
those
lead
us
t o
the
outputs
we
expected
and
did
those
outputs
also
contribute
t o
the
outcomes
that
we
had
hoped
for
and
then
at
the
t op
we
would
ask
did
those
outcomes
actually
lead
t o
the
long-term
societal
impacts
that
we
had
hoped
for
is
an
institution
or
this
is
pr o vides
a
v er y
v aluable
fr amework
for
not
only
what' s
going
on
within
y our
but
then
also
how
do
we
do
a
needs
because
now
we
know
how
we
can
deﬁne
the
r elationshipbetween
what
we
do
those
that
we 'r e
implementing
on
a
daily
basis
within
our
jobs
and
within
our
work
and
what
ar e
the
r esults
that
ar e
supposed
t o
come
fr om
those
when
we
then
look
at
this
in

that
we 'r e
on
a
daily
basis
within
our
jobs
and
within
our
work
and
what
ar e
the
r esults
that
ar e
supposed
t o
come
fr om
those
when
we
then
look
at
this
in
terms
of
the
needs
we
can
see
that
each
of
these
le v els
actually
has
two
diff er ent
components
t o
it
we
ha v e
what
ar e
the
r esults
that
we
ar e
curr ently
and
we
ha v e
what
ar e
the
r esults
that
we
want
t o
going
for war d
this
pr o vides
us
then
with
the
gaps
that
we
deﬁned
as
needs
so
we
can
see
that
we
will
ha v e
gaps
in
the
impacts
gaps
in
the
outcomes
and
gaps
in
the
outputs
between
what
it
is
we
ar e
and
what
it
is
we
should
be
and
ther efor e
we
ha v e
many
needs
in
any
needs
and
the y 'r e
r elated
t o
each
other
just
as
outputs
ar e
r elated
t o
outcomes
and
outcomes
ar e
r elated
t o
impacts
with
this
perspectiv e
in
mind
we
no
longer
star t
with
we
need
a
pr oject
on
or
we
need
a
new
course
on
or

each
other
just
as
outputs
ar e
r elated
t o
outcomes
and
outcomes
ar e
r elated
t o
impacts
with
this
in
mind
we
no
longer
star t
with
we
need
a
pr oject
on
or
we
need
a
new
course
on
or
the y
need
a
new
attitude
about
r ather
than
being
pr escriptiv e
we 'r e
star ting
t o
look
at
what
ar e
the
gaps
and
r esults
how
do
the y
r elate
t o
each
other
how
can
we
those
and
then
how
can
we
come
up
with
sensible
solutions
that
will
help
addr ess
those
r esults
and
we
do
this
typically
within
thr ee
phases
of
a
needs
so
in
the
ﬁrst
phase
we
identify
the
needs
we
identify
those
gaps
and
r esults
in
the
second
phase
we
analyz e
those
needs
t o
see
why
the y 'r e
happening
why
ar e
we
not
getting
the
r esults
that
we
wanted
t o
get
if
we
think
back
t o
Juan ' s
example
fr om
lectur e
1
we
would
want
t o
know
why
our
staff
not
accur ately
the
intak e
forms
of
patients
this
would
be
how
we
could
analyz e
the
need
that
is
identiﬁed
and
then
in
the

example
fr om
lectur e
1
we
would
want
t o
know
why
our
staff
not
the
intak e
forms
of
patients
this
would
be
how
we
could
analyz e
the
need
that
is
identiﬁed
and
then
in
the
thir d
phase
we
deﬁne
and
decide
what
it
is
that
should
be
done
in
or der
t o
close
those
gaps
and
r esults
going
for war d
sometimes
we
will
be
the
ones
who
get
t o
mak e
the
decisions
many
times
we 'r e
just
pr o viding
t o
others
who
will
mak e
the
decisions
about
what
should
be
done
going
for war d
in
phase
one
we
can
then
star t
t o
see
a
needs
fr amework
taking
shape
wher e
we
ha v e
these
gaps
and
r esults
acr oss
our
r esults
chain
or
a
r esults
fr amework
we
could
ha v e
thr ee
le v els
of
gaps
in
r esults
and
then
ther e
ar e
also
gaps
in
the
and
the
r esour ces
that
suppor t
those
in
thoser esults
as
we
go
for war d
t o
giv e
an
example
as
we
identify
gaps
and
r esults
we
could
be
looking
t o
see
whether
or
not
r esult
B
is

the
r esour ces
that
suppor t
those
in
as
we
go
for war d
t o
giv e
an
example
as
we
identify
gaps
and
r esults
we
could
be
looking
t o
see
whether
or
not
r esult
B
is
being
and
we
know
that
fr om
our
deﬁnition
of
need
it
must
be
necessar y
in
or der
t o
achie v e
another
r esult
and
again
we 'll
call
that
r esults
C
so
if
we
think
of
r oses
example
fr om
lectur e
1
Rose
had
a
gap
in
r esults
between
her
curr ent
teamwork
le v els
of
and
the
desir ed
le v els
of
team
going
for war d
and
she
wanted
that
in
or der
t o
achie v e
deliv er ed
health
ser vices
t o
her
clients
and
meeting
client
demand
and
those
ar e
also
a
curr ent
le v el
in
a
desir ed
le v el
going
for war d
similarly
we
can
then
put
those
in
r elation
t o
other
r esults
that
must
be
within
our
so
as
we
discussed
in
lectur e
one
needs
ar e
r elated
on
se v er al
le v els
and
a
might
r equir e
r esults
B
in
or der
t o
get

t o
other
r esults
that
must
be
within
our
so
as
we
discussed
in
lectur e
one
needs
ar e
r elated
on
se v er al
le v els
and
a
might
r equir e
r esults
B
in
or der
t o
get
r esults
C
and
the y
ha v e
t o
get
r esults
see
in
or der
t o
get
r esult
D
so
in
this
case
now
we
can
see
that
again
we
ha v e
this
gap
in
deliv er ed
Health
Ser vices
and
we
want
t o
close
that
gap
in
r esult
in
or der
t o
get
impr o v ed
health
so
we
ha v e
one
gap
in
r esults
in
or der
t o
close
another
gap
in
r esults
and
we
can
look
at
this
acr oss
our
whole
continuum
of
our
r esults
fr amework
in
looking
back
at
Ron ' s
example
we
can
see
that
ther e
wer e
gaps
at
the
community
le v el
wher e
the y
ha v e
new
r esidents
coming
in
that
r equir e
medical
ser vices
ther e
ar e
also
gaps
at
the
or ganizational
le v el
gaps
between
the
curr ent
annual
r e v enue
and
the
desir ed
annual
r e v enue
and
the
budget
shor tfalls
that
come
along
with
that
and
then
ther e
wer e
gaps
at
the

at
the
le v el
gaps
between
the
curr ent
annual
r e v enue
and
the
desir ed
annual
r e v enue
and
the
budget
that
come
along
with
that
and
then
ther e
wer e
gaps
at
the
le v el
wher e
one
and
his
staff
work
the
number
of
or
forms
the
number
of
curr ent
patients
being
seen
within
agor a
curr ent
within
a
giv en
shift
as
opposed
t o
the
desir ed
le v els
of
those
each
of
those
gaps
r epr esents
a
need
and
each
of
those
needs
can
then
be
analyz ed
and
solutions
can
be
identiﬁed
that
will
addr ess
those
needs
going
for war d
let' s
tak e
a
br eak
her e
and
do
a
activity
y ou
can
pause
the
video
and
what
I'll
ask
y ou
t o
do
is
write
down
a
simple
statement
it
will
star t
with
a
blank
in
or der
t o
blank
I
want
y ou
t o
star t
with
the
second
blank
and
her e
I
want
y ou
t o
write
down
a
gap
and
r esult
that
y our
would
lik e
t o
close
and
then
in
the
ﬁrst
blank
I
want
y ou
t o
write
down
another
gap
in
r esults

the
second
blank
and
her e
I
want
y ou
t o
write
down
a
gap
and
r esult
that
y our
would
lik e
t o
close
and
then
in
the
ﬁrst
blank
I
want
y ou
t o
write
down
another
gap
in
r esults
and
in
this
caseit' s
a
gap
and
r esults
that
must
be
closed
in
or der
t o
achie v e
the
second
gap
in
r esults
that
y ou'v e
alr eady
identiﬁed
so
for
example
the
gap
in
r esults
for
the
might
be
t o
decr ease
the
time
r equir ed
for
new
staff
t o
learn
how
t o
do
their
jobs
fr om
six
months
down
t o
two
months
so
we
ha v e
a
four
month
gap
in
r esults
that
we
would
lik e
t o
close
as
an
in
the
ﬁrst
gap
then
we
might
write
down
that
we
ha v e
t o
mo v e
fr om
30%
t o
90%
of
new
staff
can
identify
their
primar y
job
r esponsibilities
within
two
weeks
of
star ting
the
job
so
we
ha v e
now
a
second
gap
in
r esults
that
we
would
lik e
t o
close
and
it' s
that
r elationship
that
is
going
t o
be
critical
so
please
write
this
down
for
y our
and
r eﬂect
on

job
so
we
ha v e
now
a
second
gap
in
r esults
that
we
would
lik e
t o
close
and
it' s
that
that
is
going
t o
be
critical
so
please
write
this
down
for
y our
and
r eﬂect
on
what
is
that
between
the
two
gaps
and
r esults
y ou'v e
identiﬁed
2.2
Welcome
back
to
lecture
two.
I
hope
that
the
self-reflection
activity
was
helpful
as
you
start
to
reflect
on
what
are
the
needs
within
your
Let's
continue
on
with
how
do
we
design
a
good
needs
and
what
is
our
framework
for
that
design.
So
as
we
talked
about
in
phase
one
of
the
needs
we're
trying
to
identify
the
needs
and
we're
doing
that
on
several
levels.
Now
we'll
continue
on
to
use
that
same
logic
model
results
framework
approach
to
look
at
how
do
we
design
a
needs
that
has
all
the
to
be
successful.
So
as
we
laid
out
there
is
this
relationship
that
we're
looking
at
between
these
gaps
and
results.
And
in
phase
one
we
used
it
to
identify
the
gaps.

that
has
all
the
to
be
So
as
we
laid
out
there
is
this
that
we're
looking
at
between
these
gaps
and
results.
And
in
phase
one
we
used
it
to
identify
the
gaps.
And
now
in
phase
two
we're
then
to
ask
the
questions
as
to
why
do
these
gaps
exist.
What
are
the
root
causes
that
are
keeping
us
from
achieving
the
results
that
we
really
want
to
accomplish.
And
this
can
be
done
in
two
parts.
The
first
part
is
to
ask
the
question
why
is
the
gap.
The
second
part
is
to
start
to
analyze
the
between
the
gaps.
Is
closing
one
gap
really
necessary
for
another
gap?
Remember
that
in
our
definition
of
need
a
need
is
the
necessary
between
these
two
gaps.
If
the
first
gap
in
results
that
we
had
labeled
B
is
not
really
necessary
for
C,
the
second
gap
in
results,
then
it's
not
a
need.
We
may
really
want
to
do
it
and
it
may
be
results
that
we
really
want
to
But
it's
only
a
need
if
it
is
actually
necessary
in

C,
the
second
gap
in
results,
then
it's
not
a
need.
We
may
really
want
to
do
it
and
it
may
be
results
that
we
really
want
to
But
it's
only
a
need
if
it
is
actually
necessary
in
order
to
achieve
the
second.
So
if
we
think
back
to
our
example
of
rows
she
cannot
achieve
improved
heart
health
without
first
the
reduction
in
her
cholesterol.
And
in
the
case
of
Mimi
she's
looking
to
determine
whether
or
not
she
can
meet
client
demand
with
or
without
having
that
increase
in
team
and
teamwork.
If
Mimi
determines
that
improving
teamwork
is
not
really
necessary
to
meet
client
demand,
then
it
is
no
longer
in
need.
She
may
still
decide
to
do
it
and
that
she
wants
it,
but
it
would
no
longer
be
a
priority
need
within
her
needs
So
these
are
the
key
questions
that
we
struggle
with
as
we
start
into
phase
two
of
doing
the
analysis
phase
of
our
needs
In
the
third
phase
we
then
want
to
look
at
how
do
we
close
these
gaps
in
results?
How
do
we

that
we
struggle
with
as
we
start
into
phase
two
of
doing
the
analysis
phase
of
our
needs
In
the
third
phase
we
then
want
to
look
at
how
do
we
close
these
gaps
in
results?
How
do
we
shift
from
the
gap
and
shiftfrom
the
results
we're
currently
to
a
point
where
we're
the
results
we
really
wanted
to
accomplish?
And
then
what
are
the
relationships
of
those?
Within
that
framework
our
needs
then
has
to
collect
data
and
And
this
is
what
really
provides
the
structure
for
what
you'll
do
within
your
needs
Each
of
those
boxes
represents
that
has
to
be
gathered.
Sometimes
it's
already
collected
by
others,
sometimes
we
have
to
collect
it
ourselves.
But
each
of
those
boxes
is
data
and
we
have
to
determine
do
we
have
the
data
or
do
we
have
to
collect
the
data?
Is
the
data
verifiable?
Can
we
confirm
that
it
is
what
the
people
say
it
is
or
do
we
have
to
rely
on
their
or
their
perceptions
of
what
the

the
data
or
do
we
have
to
collect
the
data?
Is
the
data
Can
we
confirm
that
it
is
what
the
people
say
it
is
or
do
we
have
to
rely
on
their
or
their
of
what
the
reality
is?
And
also,
is
the
data
qualitative
or
quantitative
in
nature?
All
of
these
questions
will
help
us
define
what
has
to
be
done
within
our
needs
So
if
we
have
to
collect
data
about
what
outputs
are
currently
being
accomplished,
we
can
then
look
to
see
what
data
is
available.
Can
we
verify
that
data
or
is
it
just
going
to
be
the
perception
of
that
data?
And
is
the
data
or
in
nature?
Similarly,
we
can
collect
data
about
what
should
be
the
outcomes
or
what
should
be
the
impacts.
So
for
each
of
those
boxes,
we
can
think
about
them
as
a
data
element
that
either
has
to
be
collected
or
we
can
use
already
collected
data
to
fill
in.
And
again,
we
do
that
for
phase
one
of
those
needs.
We
do
it
again
in
phase
two
where
we
gather
data
about
why
the

has
to
be
collected
or
we
can
use
already
collected
data
to
fill
in.
And
again,
we
do
that
for
phase
one
of
those
needs.
We
do
it
again
in
phase
two
where
we
gather
data
about
why
the
needs
exist
and
are
those
needs
really
necessary
in
to
each
other.
And
then
we
also
look
for
data
and
to
support
how
we're
going
to
close
those
gaps.
As
we
think
about
how
we're
going
to
close
those
gaps
and
results,
we're
starting
to
look
forward.
So
we're
making
hypotheses
that
if
I
implement
an
activity,
it
will
get
a
result.
And
if
I
get
that
result,
it
will
bring
us
about
another
result.
And
this
is
good.
This
is
how
we
learn
within
our
institutions.
We
form
based
on
and
experience.
And
then
we
test
those
in
reality.
So
as
we
start
to
think
in
terms
of
our
needs
assessment,
we
have
to
form
our
ideas
around
what
are
the
that
will
have
in
terms
of
solutions
for
closing
those
gaps
and
results.
And
then
how
can
we
ensure

to
think
in
terms
of
our
needs
we
have
to
form
our
ideas
around
what
are
the
that
will
have
in
terms
of
solutions
for
closing
those
gaps
and
results.
And
then
how
can
we
ensure
that
everything
we
use
leads
to
very
efficient
processes.
And
those
processes
lead
to
the
desired
output.
And
the
outputs
to
desired
outcomes.
And
the
desired
outcomes
lead
us
to
the
desired
impacts
on
our
community
and
society.
And
in
this
way,
now
we
have
a
structure
for
designing
our
needs
It
goes
across
all
three
phases
from
needs
to
analyzing
needs
to
deciding
what
to
do.
And
it
happens
across
our
results
framework.
It
happens
at
the
impacts,
the
outcomes,
and
the
outputs
level.
And
we
also
look
at
the
and
the
resource
levels
to
look
at
the
gaps
between
what
it
is
that
we're
currently
doing
and
what
it
is
we
should
be
doing
in
the
future.
With
that
in
mind,
now
we
can
see
that
we've
been
able
to
define
what
our
needs
is
going
to

between
what
it
is
that
we're
currently
doing
and
what
it
is
we
should
be
doing
in
the
future.
With
that
in
mind,
now
we
can
see
that
we've
been
able
to
define
what
our
needs
is
going
to
And
we're
starting
to
have
a
design
framework
that
will
allow
us
to
go
about
a
needs
In
lecture
three,
we
will
pick
up
from
here
and
we'll
talk
about
what
are
the
tools
that
we'll
use
as
we
conduct
our
needs
These
are
the
tools
that
will
help
us
fill
in
each
of
those
boxes
in
our
framework
that
we
just
looked
at.
Before
we
move
on
to
lecture
three,
though,
I
would
like
you
to
pause
the
video
and
to
do
another
short
reflection
activity.
For
this
activity,
I
want
you
to
identify
a
project
or
program
that
you
are
working
on
currently.
For
that
project
or
program,
I
want
you
to
write
down
what
it
should
achieve.
And
I
want
you
to
write
it
down
at
the
three
levels
that
we've
discussed.
What
are
the
impacts
it
should
achieve,
the
outcomes
it
should

or
program,
I
want
you
to
write
down
what
it
should
achieve.
And
I
want
you
to
write
it
down
at
the
three
levels
that
we've
What
are
the
impacts
it
should
achieve,
the
outcomes
it
should
achieve,
and
the
outputs
that
it
should
achieve.
Once
you've
written
these
down
and
you're
starting
to
better
the
results
and
the
between
those
results
for
yourprogram
or
project,
I
want
you
to
ask
yourself
two
basic
What
are
the
assumptions
that
you're
relying
on
that
link
together
the
outputs
to
the
outcomes
and
the
outcomes
to
the
impacts?
What
are
you
assuming
that
we'll
lead
from
that
output
such
as
a
training
program
to
the
desired
outcome
such
as
increased
productivity?
And
can
you
trust
that
assumption?
Or
are
there
other
factors
that
you
must
be
aware
of?
In
the
second
question,
I'll
ask
you
to
consider,
is
what
data
will
you
require
to
validate
the
current
and
desired
levels
of
each
of
these
results?
Again,
we
want
these
to
be
measurable
results,

of?
In
the
second
question,
I'll
ask
you
to
consider,
is
what
data
will
you
require
to
validate
the
current
and
desired
levels
of
each
of
these
results?
Again,
we
want
these
to
be
results,
and
so
we
want
to
have
that
can
verify
that
these
are
accurate
and
that
the
data
will
support
our
decision
making
going
forward.
After
you've
completed
the
activity,
you
can
continue
on
with
lecture
three
of
this
course
on
Discovering
Needs.A Practitioner's Guide to Instructional Design in Higher Education 1Conducting Needs Assessments to Inform
Instructional Design Practices and Decisions
The purpose of a needs assessment is to determine the current state of performance and the
desired state of performance. When conducting a needs assessment, it is important to gather
sufficient data to understand the situation warranting instructional solutions. The purpose of this

chapter is to provide guidance for instructional designers interested in conducting needs
assessment practices on a variety of scales.
Instructional designers can be assigned to projects at various stages. They may be assigned to work
with a faculty member and provide support on an individual class activity or assist with transferring a
face-to-face course to an online environment. Other times, they may be involved in a larger scale
project that impact a number of courses being offered within an academic program or department.
Regardless of when instructional designers are integrated into a program, the focal point of their
work never changes. The learner is the center of everything that they do. To address the needs of

their learners and advocate for them accordingly, it is important to ensure that appropriate and
sufficient information has been gathered that can inform their instructional design process. This can
be accomplished through conducting a needs assessment.
Purpose of a Needs Assessment
The purpose of a needs assessment is to determine the current state of performance and the desired
state of performance (Altschuld & Kumar, 2010). The difference between the current and desired
states is where the need lies. While the process of conducting a needs assessment can be very
cumbersome and time-consuming, many steps can be scalable to meet the demands of instructional
design projects in higher education settings. The purpose of this chapter is to provide an overview of

the process of needs assessment and resources to support instructional designers in gathering the
necessary information they need to do their jobs.
When conducting a needs assessment, it is important to gather sufficient data to understand the
situation warranting instructional solutions. While a needs assessment identifies an existing gap in
performance (or an area for improvement), the purpose of needs analysis is to determine what is
contributing to the gap in performance and/or problem being addressed. Understanding what factors
are supporting or inhibiting a situation can help the instructional designer identify sustainableA Practitioner's Guide to Instructional Design in Higher Education 2solutions that will hopefully eradicate the existing gap in performance.

Overview of Needs Assessment Process
Most needs assessments consist of five steps: identification of a problem, identification of data
sources, data collection, data analysis, and recommendations. Each of these steps can be scaled to
meet the size of a project an instructional designer in higher education may be working on, as well as
the time limitations associated with those projects. Table 1 provides an overview of how an
instructional designer may address each of these steps during a needs assessment as depicted by
Stefaniak (2021 ).
Table 1.
Identification of
ProblemThis step is typically completed in consult with a client (or the individual(s)
requesting instructional design services). During this phase, the purpose of
the needs assessment (the problem) is identified for the instructional
designer to begin gathering data to address the gap in performance.
Identification of Data

SourcesOnce the problem to be explored has been identified, the instructional
designer must identify data sources that will help them better understand
the situation. The instructional designer must gather data that will help
them explore the situation from multiple angles. Examples of data sources
include, but are not limited to task analyses, direct observations, focus
groups, interviews, document analysis, reviewing existing work products,
and surveys.
Data Collection This phase involves the instructional designer gathering data based on the
data sources identified in the previous step.
Data Analysis Once data collection is complete, the instructional designer begins to
analyze all data to identify patterns and factors contributing to the problem
identified at the beginning of the assessment. Depending on the findings

from the data collection and analysis phases, the problem may be modified
to be more consistent with the actual situation as depicted by the data.
Recommendations Upon identifying patterns contributing to the problem, the instructional
designer makes a list of recommendations to present to their client. These
recommendations are typically prioritized according to the severity of need
and level of urgency.
It is very rare that an instructional designer working in higher education will have the authority to
make decisions for an entire design project. These projects often involve collaborating with faculty.
Administrators and senior leadership may also be involved in large-scale projects involving the
development of new programs or changes to organization infrastructure. Regardless of who may be

involved in a project, it is important that every needs assessment project includes individuals who
know about the issue, care about the issue, and can help implement any changes that occur as a
result of the project (Cavanaugh & Chadwick, 2005).A Practitioner's Guide to Instructional Design in Higher Education 3Additional Resources
Framing problems  (Svihla, 2020). 1.
Determining environmental and contextual needs  (Stefaniak, 2020). 2.
Guidebook for assessing needs  (Watkins et al., 2012). 3.
Asking Questions
An overarching goal of any needs assessment is to identify performance gaps and opportunities for
improvement. To make recommendations that can be sustained over an extended period of time, it is

important that the instructional designer understands what is causing or contributing to the current
state of affairs. By determining what factors are contributing to the current situation, the
instructional designer can work with others involved in the project to design and implement solutions
directly addressing any gaps in performance.
A common misconception that a lot of instructional designers have about needs assessments is that
they take a long time to complete. While larger projects will most likely take weeks or months to
complete, other needs assessments can be scaled to be completed quickly. There are lots of ways that
needs assessments can be conducted rapidly in a matter of a few meetings or days depending on the
project.

project.
Conducting a learner analysis at the beginning of a semester is considered a needs assessment
activity. Most of the time, instructional design activities that are presented with the ADDIE
framework are limited to focusing on learner analyses (Stefaniak & Sentz, 2020). It is important that
instructional designers expand beyond the learner analysis to better understand contextual factors
impacting the organizational environment.
This can be accomplished by asking questions regarding resourcing, personnel, and plans for
sustainability (see Figure 1). It is most beneficial to the instructional designer to ask as many
questions as possible during a needs assessment to ascertain a detailed account of the environment.
For purposes of needs assessments conducted in higher education, the environment could be

considered the classroom, an academic program within a department, a department, a college, or the
university as a whole.
Figure 1.
Factors influencing instructional design decisionsA Practitioner's Guide to Instructional Design in Higher Education 4
An image of current and desired state of affairs factors that influence instructional design decision-making.
Table 2 provides examples of the various types of questions an instructional design may want to
consider asking while working on a needs assessment.
Table 2.
Examples of Questions to Ask During a Needs Assessment
Type of Project Sample Questions
Designing a brand-new course • What is the instructional delivery format (i.e., face-to-face,
online, blended)?
• What are the goals of the course?
• What type of interaction and social presence does the

instructor wish to have in the course?
• What is the length of the course?
• What aspects of the content will be most challenging for
students?
Developing an online course based
off a face-to-face course• What are the goals of the course?
• What aspects of the content are the most challenging for
students in face-to-face classes?
• What type of interaction and social presence exists in the face-
to-face classes?
instructor wish to have in the online course?A Practitioner's Guide to Instructional Design in Higher Education 5Developing a new degree program • What are the goals of the program?
• How will courses be delivered (i.e., face-to-face, online,
blended)
• What type of interaction and social presence does the faculty
wish to have in the program?
• How will courses be scaffolded to promote complexity?

blended)
• Are there certain types of learning experiences needed to
provide students with an authentic experience?
When working as an instructional designer in higher education, it is important to gather enough
information to inform what types of non-instructional solutions may be needed to support
instructional efforts. Table 3 provides an overview of how an instructional designer may address each
of these steps during a needs assessment as depicted by Stefaniak (2021 ). It provides a sample list of
questions an instructional designer may consider when collecting information for projects warranting
instructional solutions.
Table 3.
Example of Project Intake Form
INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGN PROJECT INTAKE FORM
PROJECT OVERVIEW
1. What is the purpose of the project (instructional need)?

2. What is the scope of the project?
    1. Learning platform (Face-to-face, blended, online)
    2. Overarching course goal
    3. Learning objectives
3. What level of importance is the training? (i.e., severe, moderate, mild)
LEARNING AUDIENCEA Practitioner's Guide to Instructional Design in Higher Education 61. Who is the intended learning audience?
2. What are the learners’ experiences with the project topic?
3. What challenges do learners typically experience with this topic?
4. What are the learners' overall attitudes toward training?
5. What information will the instructional designer have access to regarding the learning audience?
(i.e., job observations, meetings with learners, work products, interviews, etc.)
INSTRUCTIONAL ENVIRONMENT
1. How will the instruction be delivered?

4. What are the learners’ roles during instruction?
5. What is the instructor’s role during instruction?
6. What types of assessment need to be included in the instruction?
TRANSFER (APPLICATION CONTEXT)
1. How soon after the training will learners apply their newly acquired skills?
2. What are the anticipated challenges with applying these new skills in a real-world environment?
3. What resources are available to support learners during this transfer phase (i.e., job aids)?
4. Who is responsible for monitoring learners with transference?
1. How and when will the instructional training be evaluated for effectiveness?
2. Who will be responsible for conducting an evaluation?

3. What methods of evaluation will be used to determine the efficiency and effectiveness of the
instruction?
OTHER COMMENTS:
Determining Appropriate Data Sources
Once an instructional designer begins identifying questions that will help inform their team in
designing appropriate solutions (instructional and non-instructional), it is important to gather data
from multiple sources that inform the instructional designer of the current and desired state of affairs
and help them approach their design work. Table 4 provides examples of data sources an
instructional designer may consider when gathering information.
Table 4.
Data Sources an Instructional Designer May Gather During a Needs Assessment in Higher Education
Data Source Examples
Interviews • Conduct individual interviews with instructors

Table 4.
• Conduct individual interviews with students who can speak to how instruction
is currently delivered
• Conduct individual interviews with program leaders to discuss instructional
support neededA Practitioner's Guide to Instructional Design in Higher Education 7Focus Groups • Conduct a focus group with 6-8 instructors at a time
• Conduct a focus group with 6-8 students at a time who can speak to how
instruction is currently delivered
• Conduct a focus group with a group of administrators (i.e., instructors,
program leaders, department chairs, etc.) who can discuss instructional support
needed
Surveys • Email surveys to currently enrolled students to seek feedback on current
courses and instructional practices
Document Analysis • Review course syllabi

needed
• Review instructors’ course sites in learning management system
Direct Observation • Review videos of instructional meetings from online course activities
• Observe face-to-face class sessions to gain an understanding of the
instructional content and interactions
Suggested Tips When Conducting a Needs Assessment
Regardless of the project that an instructional designer may be assigned to in higher education, the
following suggestions should be taken into consideration while planning:
Identify appropriate people.  Be sure to identify individuals within your organization who are 1.
familiar with the project, care about the project, and have the ability and authority to
implement any changes that may result from the needs assessment.

Develop intake forms for projects. A large majority of instructional design support units at 2.
higher education institutions require faculty who are requesting support to fill out a form
providing an overview of the project. Intake forms help to ensure that everyone involved with
the project has a shared understanding of what the project entails, timelines, and resources
needed.
Ask WHY! When gathering data sources and asking questions, do not be afraid to ask WHY? 3.
When conducting a needs assessment, asking follow-up questions to help understand why a
situation is occurring or what is causing a problem in the organization helps the instructional
designer mitigate uncertainty.
Align Needs Assessment Activities with Given Project Constraints. Every project comes 4.

with constraints. It is okay to scale your needs assessment activities based upon the time
constraints or resources associated with a project. A needs assessment that an instructional
designer may conduct while assisting a faculty member with modifying an existing course will
look much different in comparison to supporting a department who wishes to develop a new
online degree program.A Practitioner's Guide to Instructional Design in Higher Education 8Books
The following is a list of books that may be of interest to instructional design professionals working in
higher education who are interested in learning more about how to conduct needs assessments in
higher education. Altschuld, J.W., & Kumar, D.D. (2010). Needs assessment: An overview. SAGE.
Kaufman, R. & Guerra-Lopez, I. (2013). Needs assessment for organizational success. Alexandria, VA:

ASTD Press. Stefaniak, J. (2021). Needs assessment for learning and performance: Theory, process,
and practice. Routledge. Watkins, R., Meiers, M. W., & Visser, Y. L. (2012). A guide to assessing
needs: Essential tools for collecting information, making decisions, and achieving development
results. The World Bank.
Examples of Needs Assessments Conducted in Higher Education
Ali, N. S., Hodson-Carlton, K., Ryan, M., Flowers, J., Rose, M. A., & Wayda, V. (2005). Online
education: Needs assessment for faculty development. The Journal of Continuing Education in
Nursing, 36(1). https://edtechbooks.org/-GypM
Babcock, A., Lehan, T., & Hussey, H. D. (2019). Mind the gaps: An online learning center's needs
assessment. Learning Assistance Review, 24(1), 27-58.

Bolliger, D. U., & Wasilik, O. (2009). Factors influencing faculty satisfaction with online teaching and
learning in higher education. Distance education, 30(1), 103-116. https://edtechbooks.org/-ravb
Lewis, K. O., Baker, R. C., & Britigan, D. H. (2011). Current practices and needs assessment of
instructors in an online masters degree in education for healthcare professionals: A first step to the
development of quality standards. Journal of Interactive Online Learning, 10(1), 49-61.
Vafa, S., & Chico, D. E. (2013). A needs assessment for mobile technology use in medical education.
International Journal of Medical Education, 4, 230-235. https://doi.org/10.5116/ijme.5259.4a88

Nursing, 36 (1). https://edtechbooks.org/-GypM
Altschuld, J.W., & Kumar, D.D. (2010). Needs assessment: An overview.  SAGE.
assessment. Learning Assistance Review , 24(1), 27-58.
learning in higher education. Distance education , 30(1), 103-116.
Cavanagh, S., & Chadwick, K. (2005). Health needs assessment: A practice guide. Health

Development Agency.A Practitioner's Guide to Instructional Design in Higher Education 9Kaufman, R. & Guerra-Lopez, I. (2013). Needs assessment for organizational success. Alexandria, VA:
ASTD Press.
instructors in an online masters degree in education for healthcare professionals: A first step to
the development of quality standards. Journal of Interactive Online Learning , 10(1), 49-61.
Stefaniak, J. (2021). Determining environmental and contextual needs. In J.K. McDonald & R.E. West
(Eds.), Design for learning: principles, processes, and praxis.  EdTech Books.
https://edtechbooks.org/-KjB
Stefaniak, J. (2021). Needs assessment for learning and performance: Theory, process, and practice.
Routledge.

Stefaniak, J., & Sentz, J. (2020). The role of needs assessment to validate contextual factors related to
user experience design practices. In M. Schmidt, A.A. Tawfik, I. Jahnke, & Y. Earnshaw (Eds.),
Learner and User Experience Research: An Introduction for the Field of Learning Design &
Technology.  EdTech Books. https://edtechbooks.org/-IZHa
Svihla, V. (2020). Problem framing. In J.K. McDonald & R.E. West (Eds.), Design for learning:
principles, processes, and praxis.  EdTech Books. https://edtechbooks.org/-VTiX
International Journal of Medical Education , 4, 230-235. https://doi.org/ 10.5116/ijme.5259.4a88A Practitioner's Guide to Instructional Design in Higher Education 10

Stefaniak, J. E.  (2021). Conducting Needs Assessments to Inform Instructional Design
Practices and Decisions. In J. E. Stefaniak , S. Conklin , B. Oyarzun , & R. M. Reese  (Eds.),
A Practitioner's Guide to Instructional Design in Higher Education . EdTech Books.
https://edtechbooks.org/id_highered/conducting_needs_ass