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ACTION PLANNING FOR POSTQUALITY ASSURANCE REVIEWS*
Professor Andrew S Downes
Pro Vice Chancellor
University Office of Planning and
Development
University of the West Indies
*Quality Assurance Unit Workshop on Action
Planning for Implementation, March 6, 2015
OUTLINE OF PRESENTATION
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Quality Issues in Strategic Planning
Action Planning Framework
Project Management Tools for Action
Planning
Some Considerations for Departments
QUALITY ISSUES IN STRATEGIC
PLANNING
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Strategic Planning sets out the long term
direction for the organization in a
coordinated and systematic manner—
mission, vision, goals/objectives and
broad strategies and initiatives
UWI’s Strategic Plan 2012-2017 contains
several references to the quality dimension
of strategic planning:
QUALITY ISSUES IN STRATEGIC
PLANNING
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The delivery of accredited quality programmes at
reasonable cost (basis of competitive advantage)
The provision of high quality customer (staff and students)
service (IOP perspective)
Improvement in the quality of the working conditions of staff
(EED perspective)
Recruitment and Retention of high quality staff and students
(Outreach perspective)
Improvement and harmonization of quality assurance
practices and processes across the campuses (T&L
perspective)
QUALITY ISSUES IN STRATEGIC
PLANNING
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Quality Assurance Review Process involves:
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Internal Evaluation including the preparation of a Self
Assessment Report by department/discipline members
External Evaluation by an external review team
Action Plan to respond to the agreed recommendations of
the review process
The key objective of the exercise is to enhance the
academic and administrative quality of the
department/discipline’s operations
ACTION PLANNING FRAMEWORK
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Action Planning is a key element of the overall
planning process in an organization especially during
the implementation or execution phase.
McChesney-Covey’s Four Disciplines of
Execution:
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Focus on the wildly important goals/objectives
Act on ‘lead’ indicators which measure the key
activities that must be undertaken to achieve
goals/objectives
Keep a compelling scorecard to monitor progress and
communicate to stakeholders
Create a cadence of accountability
ACTION PLANNING FRAMEWORK
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In the context of the QARs, action planning
refers to the process whereby a
department translates the agreed
recommendations into executable,
measurable and accountable actions to
achieve the goal of enhancing the quality
dimension of its operation.
Action planning is also part of the
institutional effectiveness process and
proposed Quality Management System.
ACTION PLANNING FRAMEWORK
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For each recommendation, the action
planning process requires the specification of
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Key objectives of actions ( what);
Output(s) ( what for);
Strategies/activities (how)
Responsibilities (who)
Timelines (when)
The Template for an Action Plan is given
as:
Recommen
dation/Acti
on to be
taken
Objective(
S)
Initiative(s)
Success
Indicator(s)
Resources
Required
(budget)
Start
Date
Completio
n date
Party(ies)
Responsibl
e
Collaborat
ors
Risk
Factors
ACTION PLANNING FRAMEWORK
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Over the planning period, progress with the
activities/initiatives will be monitored and
evaluated— measurement and data
collection will be critical
The Reporting Template for the Action
Plan would cover:
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Action
Initiative
Progress to date
Reason for Variance
PROJECT MANAGEMENT TOOLS FOR
ACTION PLANNING
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Action Planning involves the design and
management of projects (i.e. a series of
tasks directed towards a specific
outcome/goal)
Action planning therefore involves the use of
three (3) key project management tools:
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Logical Framework (LF)
Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)
Gantt Chart (GC)
PROJECT MANAGEMENT TOOLS FOR
ACTION PLANNING
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The Logical Framework (Logframe):
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A methodology/tool for planning, managing and
evaluating programmes, projects and operations
and involves the following:
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Problem analysis
Analysis of objectives
Analysis of strategies
Design of activity and resource schedules
Stakeholder analysis
Preparation of the Logframe
LOGICAL FRAMEWORK MATRIX
Narrative
Summary
Verifiable
Indicators
(OVI)
GOAL
PURPOSE
OUTPUTS
ACTIVITIES
Inputs
Means of
Verification
(MOV)
Important
Assumptions
Project Structure
Indicators of
Achievement
Means of
Verification
Important Assumptions and Risks
GOAL:
What are the wider
objectives which the
activity will help
achieve? (Longer term
impact)
What are the
measures/indicators/ju
dgement to determine
goal achievement?
What sources of
information exist or
can be provided to
allow the goal to be
measured?
What external factors are necessary to
sustain the objectives in the long run?
PURPOSE:
What are the intended
immediate effects of
project?
What changes will
activity bring? What
are the benefits, to
whom?
What are the
measures/indicators to
judge achievement of
purpose?
What sources of
information exist or
can be provided to
allow the
achievement of
purpose to be
measured?
What external factors are necessary if
the purpose is to contribute to
achievement of the goal?
OUTPUTS:
What deliverables are
to be produce to
achieve the purpose
What kind and quality
of outputs and by
when will they be
produced? (
Quantity/Quality/Time)
What are the sources
of information to
verify the
achievement of the
outputs?
What are the factors not in control of
the project which are liable to restrict
the outputs achieving the purpose?
ACTIVITIES:
What must be
achieved to get the
What kind and quality
of activities and by
when will they be
What are the sources
of information to
verify the
What factors will restrict the activities
from creating the outputs?
PROJECT MANAGEMENT TOOLS FOR
ACTION PLANNING
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Work Breakdown Structure(WBS)
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Simply subdivides a complicated task into smaller
tasks until a level is reached where further
subdivision is not feasible.
It assist with the estimation of time, costs and
resources associated with the project/tasks
WBS does not show the sequence in which
work is performed hence a scheduling tool
is needed.
PROJECT MANAGEMENT TOOLS FOR
ACTION PLANNING
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Gantt Chart:
– Show the amount of work done or task completed in certain
periods of time in relation to the amount planned for those
periods
– A graphical method of presenting information on work
completed within a scheduling arrangement
Drawback of Gantt chart—determining the impact of a slip of
one task on the other tasks of a project can be difficult.
Other scheduling tools have been developed:
– Critical Path Method (CPM)
– Performance Evaluation and Review Technique(PERT)
SOME CONSIDERATIONS FOR
DEPARTMENTS
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Carefully review the recommendations of the QA
of discipline/department
Identify reasonable/doable key recommendations
in light of the strategic/operational plans---use
retreat, brainstorming etc
List the benefits of the undertaking the agreed
recommendations—VC’s Award for Excellence!!
Develop an Action Plan using the PM tools—
measurement, data collection, accountability
Review progress with the Action Plan.