The New Zealand Department of Conservation has been using DoView as part of a comprehensive visual strategic planning and outcomes reporting process. (Want to have a quick initial look at the model? Here's the web page version of the basic model; here's a PDF of the basic model; here's a large PDF poster version of the basic model).
Step 1 - Setting up the project
The initial stages of the project consisted of discussions amongst strategic planning staff and others about the way in which the DoView visual outcomes model should be built. There are many different views as to what should, and should not, be included in a visual outcomes model. For example, whether it should include steps and outcomes which are non-measurable and non-attributable (ones which you currently can't prove the department has changed). DoView can be used to model any type of outcomes whether or not it's limited to the measurable and attributable. However in this case, after discussing the issues, it was decided to build a comprehensive visual outcomes model of what the Department is trying to do.
It was agreed that this model would include all the important steps and outcomes and not be limited to just those which are currently measurable and attributable to the Department. Drawing the model in this way makes is a useful model for strategic planning (in that the currently not measured and non-attributable steps and outcomes can be considered for their strategic importance along with the measurable and attributable). The important issue regarding which of the steps and outcomes are actually measurable and attributable (and hence ones for which the Department should be held to account) is dealt with later in the process. It was important to keep consistency in the way the visual outcomes model was built throughout the process and the issue of measurability and attribution had to be revisited at a number of meetings. Distributing the set of 13 Tips for Building Great Outcomes Models at all meetings (which set out a standardized way in which outcomes models can be built) was a good way of ensuring that everybody maintained consistency in the way they build their parts of the outcomes model. Once built in this way, the model can be used for strategic planning, but also for a wide variety of other organizational activities (including: monitoring, evaluation, evidence-informed practice, and results-based outcomes-focused accountability and contracting).
Step 2 - Drawing the initial model
Drawing the initial DoView visual outcomes model took a considerable number of meetings. These meetings involved various combinations of staff. Some were attended by a single key person from each of the groups within the Department. Others were wider meetings with more staff from different groups, with both national office staff and operational staff from different parts of the country attending. Some were more focused meetings with staff from only one group working on a detailed drill-down within the model. Towards the end of the process, a smaller core group, made up of strategic planning staff, continued to revise the model at a series of meetings. As particular parts of the model were refined, key staff from the relevant group (e.g. natural heritage, history, recreation) joined the meeting to discuss the details of their sub-part of the model.
The electronic version of the DoView model was dataprojected at all meetings (DoView is optimized for constructing models in real-time when dataprojected in front of meetings). Interestingly, for some meetings, remote staff were videoconferenced into the meeting. In these cases, DoView was used over the Department's desktop sharing system. Again, DoView's design meant that remote staff could see, and work with the visualized model on their desktops as they discussed the structure of the model with their colleagues in the physical meeting. In addition to the electronic version of the model used in meetings other versions of the model were used. These included: letter-sized PDF's of the 'compact' version of the model (broken up into sub-pages); A3 (tabloid) printed versions; an interactive web page version of the model put up on the internet behind a password so that staff could get an overview of the model by clicking through it. A large poster-sized version of the model was also created in DoView and printed out for meetings. This provided a visual overview of all of the current sub-pages within the model on the one large page. See: the web page version of the basic model; a letter-sized PDF of the basic model; a large PDF poster version of the basic model)
Step 3 - Sharing the model with the Executive Team
Once the model had become relatively stable, it was taken to a meeting of the Department's Executive Team. It was presented both in a 'compact' format (broken up into a set of sub-pages) and also as the large poster-sized version of the model. Due to the extensive earlier work which had gone into the model at various levels within the Department, the Executive Team had only a few relatively minor amendments to make to the model. At the same time, the Executive Team was given a presentation talking about the ways in which the DoView visual outcomes model could be used to structure the other stages in the Department's strategic planning process - identifying priorities, mapping projects onto the model, identifying gaps and overlaps, identifying indicators which measure the steps and outcomes in the model, identifying which indicators are clearly attributable to the department and identifying which indicators it is appropriate for the department to just track and which it should be held to account for.
Step 4 - Mapping projects onto steps and outcomes in the visual model
The Department is now in the process of undertaking some of the more detailed strategic planning work, preparing what they have called 'Base Plans' in each major area of the Department's work. These will cover the issues of: long and shorter-term targets; priorities for projects; measurement of outputs and indicators; Departmental accountability; stakeholders the Department needs to work with; and capability the Department needs to achieve its priorities. The initial work of mapping projects onto steps and outcomes within the visual model has commenced. The DoView electronic model was used to do this mapping and various types of printed versions of the model produced showing the mapping.
Versions of the model produced within DoView showing the mapping:
The DoView electronic version of the model (if you have trial version of DoView installed on your computer, you can download a copy of the DoView file of the outcomes model and play around with the projects page within the model and see how the individual projects (only for one area at the moment - Recreation) are being 'mapped' onto several pages within the model). Do a Right-Click > This is the Result of on the Recreation steps and outcomes page and see the list of projects which map onto that particular step.
A large poster PDF version of the model with projects 'mapped' onto it
An A3 (tabloid) PDF full mapping version showing the full mapping.
An A3 (tabloid) PDF single project mapping version showing just the mapping for one project (with the DoView link icon).
A PDF listing printout containing an appendix listing all of the projects and the steps which it is believed they influence.
Further work on the other stages of the strategic planning will be described here as they happen. How to do this process for any organization is set out in Doing Strategic Planning Better: Using a DoView Visual Strategic Plan. The full process (strategic planning, outcomes measurement, tracking, evaluation, evidence-informed practice and results-based outcomes-focused contracting) is described in Results-based management using the Systematic Outcomes Managment / Easy Outcomes Process. More information (tip sheets, videos etc.) is also available from the DoView Resources page.
(Dr Paul Duignan, outcomes and evaluation specialist is working with the Department on this comprehensive strategic planning process).
(Department of Conservation: Using a DoView Outcomes Model for Strategic Planning and Reporting http://tinyurl.com/doview-3) (V1-0)