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The Planner Program software project began in a Pennsylvania Juvenile Justice office as an automated method of developing Case Plans in an organized and structured fashion. Soon came the realization that in addition to being an efficient way to focus and manage cases, it also had the potential of providing feedback on the effectiveness of the office as an organization.
"Before we had the Planner program, we would often struggle with questions like; This case has all these problems, should we be doing something about them? Are all those problems our responsibility? How do we know when we should close the case? Is there any reason for doing things this way - beyond the fact that is the way we have always done things? What should I be doing with this case? I've already tried this and it didn't help, now what do I do?"
These are the kinds of questions where the Planner program can assist in finding answers. How? By structuring the view of the case, by focusing involvement to those areas that are within the expertise of the organization, and by explicitly defining what the resolution of the problem looks like and attaching specific efforts to all those involved.
The Planner Program can provide a wealth of information about an organization in general and can help define strengths and weaknesses in organizational efforts and effectiveness.
Like it or not, that which is not inspected, reviewed, critiqued or measured - by someone - is usually ignored.
There have been calls for Outcome Measures (a technique to evaluate whether an organization is obtaining its intended results) for social services for decades. But those calls have been largely ignored as either inappropriate for social service, or too tedious to be worth the effort.
In truth, Outcome Measures are only inappropriate when the measures are of insignificant events or done imprecisely.
When collection of data relied on manual methods, Outcome Measures would have been extremely tedious. But, since the computer has infiltrated almost every workplace, the potential is present to not only minimize the tedium, but actually improve efficiency.
Outcome Measures are the reciprocal or mirror image of the planning effort.
Objectives are a subset of the Goal should be used to separate the various aspects or criteria that comprise a goal.
Every Agency, indeed every system, has a Organizational Goal. Most organizations explicitly state their goal. Often it expressed in the organization's Mission Statement.
Similarly, clients have goals to attain. The total of client Goals should represent the organization's goal.
Depending on the organization, different terms may fit. Whether one uses the term Objective, Issue, or Barrier, the question posed is, "What does it take to accomplish the Goal?" Objectives speak to quality. The currency of Objectives is effectiveness. They are not well suited to quantitative tabulations. Objectives are measured by Long Term Outcomes.
For Clients, Objectives are the barriers that need to be overcome to reach the Goal. Objectives are always client specific.
For Organizations, Objectives include the aggregate of the Client's Objectives.
Activities answer the question, "What is being done to meet the Objective"? Activities speak to efforts made. The currency of Activities is completion. They are well suited to quantitative tabulations. Activities are measured by Intermediate Outcomes.
For Clients, Activities are the actions that are taken to change behavior/thought processes needed to accomplish the Objective. Activities are not limited to the efforts of the client. Activities are normally also assigned to staff, and can also include parents, other services, and volunteers.
For organizations, Activities are the actions that are taken or managed by the organization to determine if the Objectives are being accomplished.
After recognizing that Activities are a subset of Objectives, which in turn are a subset of the Goal, it then makes sense to develop measures from the opposite direction.
Intermediate Outcomes are easier and clearer to conceptualize and derive from the Activities.
Long Term Outcomes generally rely on the Intermediate Outcomes for clarity. Long Term Outcomes derive from the Objectives.
In the book, Juvenile Justice with Eyes Open, P.F. Drucker makes a distinction between 'data' and 'information'. "A 'database,' no matter how copious, is not information. It is information's ore. For raw material to become information, it must be organized for a task, directed toward specific performance, applied to a decision. Raw material cannot do that itself." Raw data needs to be sorted, sifted and organized to be useful information.
The Planner software can simplify and automate these processes described above. Click here to discover how The Planner Program is used as a tool to develop useful, effective Plans.
