An assessment that ends with a list of weaknesses has done half the job. The useful output is a sequenced plan the institution can resource.
Institutional assessments frequently conclude with a well-evidenced description of gaps. The description is accurate and the institution recognises itself in it — and then very little changes, because the report stops short of the part that requires judgement.
From findings to a plan
A useful assessment sequences its recommendations. It distinguishes between what can be done within the current budget cycle, what requires a governance decision, and what depends on external funding. It names the office responsible for each action rather than the institution as a whole.
Three tests for a recommendation
- Can a specific person start on it within a month?
- Is there a way to tell, within a year, whether it happened?
- Does it depend on anything the institution does not control?
Recommendations that fail all three are usually restatements of the problem. Recommendations that pass are the ones that appear in the next annual plan.