Development Plans

Once you have completed the organisational assessment, you should be more aware of both your organisation’s strengths (the areas where your organisation has high scores) and organisational development needs (the areas where your organisation has lower scores).

The next steps are to:

1. Identify up to four organisational development priorities
2. Plan how to strengthen your organisation in these priority areas
3. Identify indicators to assess your progress

If you don't have a Organisational Development Plan you can download a plan template below.

Once you have completed the organisational assessment, you should be more aware of both your organisation’s strengths (the areas where your organisation has high scores) and organisational development needs (the areas where your organisation has lower scores).

The next steps are to:

1. Identify up to four organisational development priorities
2. Plan how to strengthen your organisation in these priority areas
3. Identify indicators to assess your progress

Step 1. Identify priorities

To identify which of your organisation’s development needs are priorities, we suggest that you consider and discuss the following questions within your organisation:

  • Which areas are most critical to the success of your organisation?
  • Are any of the identified needs an underlying cause of other needs?
    • Discussing the root causes and consequences of each organisational development priority can help with prioritisation , as well as help identify actions to address these needs.
  • Where is there greater potential for change in the organisation?
  • Do any of the identified needs make it difficult to meet important stakeholder requirements?
  • Are there any improvements that could be achieved quickly or relatively easily?
  • Are additional tools needed to make the required changes?

In addition to the potential impact, consider the costs of potential changes in terms of both effort and resources. Focus on high impact, low cost changes. Don't focus on with low impact, high cost changes.

Once you have decided on four priorities, you are ready to plan actions for strengthening them.

Step 2. Plan actions

For each priority, you may want to start with an open brainstorm to consider:

  • What options do you have for addressing this priority?

Try to think creatively of several potential options and alternatives. Having lots of ideas can help you find more good ideas.

Then, from all of your options, select the ones that are the best fit for achieving your organisational strengthening priorities.

Ideally, your plan will incorporate a range of capacity building strategies, tools and activities that reinforce each other. Reinforcing actions will help solidify and normalise the changes you are introducing to your organisation.

For example, if you introduce a new system for project management, be sure to train staff to use it and to check-in at key times, such as at reporting periods, to assess what's working, what's not working, and how to improve it.

Try to propose changes that can be achieved quickly or relatively easily as well as those that will take longer to achieve. Quick wins can give confidence to those involved and signal to others in the organisation that change is achievable and leads to tangible benefits. 

Some actions may require additional tools (such as staff time, equipment, external facilitators or expertise). Even if you do not have those tools now, by including them in your plan you can identify ways of resourcing them.

Download the Organisational Development Planning Guide and Template to help you create your plan! The plan you create using the template below will be visible to the whole organisation.

Once complete, ensure this plan is incorporated into annual operational planning and budgeting, and into individual workplans, with regular check-in points to review and assess progress.

Step 3. Identify indicators to monitor progress in your priority areas

Next, you need to think about what measures you can use to monitor your progress. For suggestions, check out our list of suggested indicators. In addition, you may also wish to repeat the organisational assessment periodically in order to help assess changes in your organisational capacity.

Step 4. Take action!

After all your good assessment and planning work, it's time to implement your plan. This is the most important step in organisational change processes, so be sure to give attention and energy to it.

You may find it helpful to review this e-learning course on Managing change to support you and your team through the changes.