What does it mean to be an 'assessor'? How does one learn the skills to 'assess'?
Evaluating and critiquing an organisation's systems requires a particular set of skills and abilities, typically these include:
(1) An understanding of project management for the purposes of designing and deploying an assessment project, and
(2) A personal working style that enables you to work within a team of assessors, including the disciplines around task management, timelines, interpersonal communication and written and verbal reporting, and
(3) The ability to discuss, negotiate, debate and reach consensus within a team, in order to produce suitable outputs (reports) for the customer (the agency being assessed), and
(4) The capability to read and digest large volumes of information, identifying the existence of systems and processes from this information to write summary analyses, and
(5) The skill and competency to interview people at all levels in the client agency including CEs, Senior Executives and staff / contractors operating at all levels.
(6) The talent to write clear, concise, actionable feedback comments to assist the client in how to determine what to do next to improve their agency's performance.
This list is not exhaustive!
If your agency is due to participate in the PIF programme, training your staff to conduct self-reviews prior to your external assessment will not only equip your people to understand and assist the PIF Lead Assessors when they arrive, inevitably the self-assessment project will identify areas of strength and areas for improvement in your agency prior to the PIF assessment. This may improve your current performance to a high level than if you had not prepared well.
According to the State Services Commission, a self-review is mandatory if an agency wants a PIF Review conducted.
Brent Ritchie is a very experienced systems assessor and trainer having worked for 17 years in this specialised field. Brent can train your staff and provide systems to improve your chances of achieving a high level result when your agency's turn to participate in the PIF programme arrives. Contact Brent now for a no obligation meeting to discuss how he can help you improve your agency's performance.
Evaluating and critiquing an organisation's systems requires a particular set of skills and abilities, typically these include:
(1) An understanding of project management for the purposes of designing and deploying an assessment project, and
(2) A personal working style that enables you to work within a team of assessors, including the disciplines around task management, timelines, interpersonal communication and written and verbal reporting, and
(3) The ability to discuss, negotiate, debate and reach consensus within a team, in order to produce suitable outputs (reports) for the customer (the agency being assessed), and
(4) The capability to read and digest large volumes of information, identifying the existence of systems and processes from this information to write summary analyses, and
(5) The skill and competency to interview people at all levels in the client agency including CEs, Senior Executives and staff / contractors operating at all levels.
(6) The talent to write clear, concise, actionable feedback comments to assist the client in how to determine what to do next to improve their agency's performance.
This list is not exhaustive!
If your agency is due to participate in the PIF programme, training your staff to conduct self-reviews prior to your external assessment will not only equip your people to understand and assist the PIF Lead Assessors when they arrive, inevitably the self-assessment project will identify areas of strength and areas for improvement in your agency prior to the PIF assessment. This may improve your current performance to a high level than if you had not prepared well.
According to the State Services Commission, a self-review is mandatory if an agency wants a PIF Review conducted.
Brent Ritchie is a very experienced systems assessor and trainer having worked for 17 years in this specialised field. Brent can train your staff and provide systems to improve your chances of achieving a high level result when your agency's turn to participate in the PIF programme arrives. Contact Brent now for a no obligation meeting to discuss how he can help you improve your agency's performance.