Goal Setting, Planning and Decision Making

V. Assessing Impact
It is important to ensure that you do not rely exclusively on the results of numeric
analysis as the basis of your plan evaluation. Many factors, which are important
to the evaluation of your plan, cannot be quantified.
These factors include:
• Ethical Considerations
This should include an assessment of likely changes in public ethics
over the lifetime of the plan.
• Shareholders
How will the shareholders, owners, or trustees of the organization view
the plan (In the military: the chain of command, Congress, etc.)
• Members/Employees
What effects will the plan have on the organization’s members or
employees Should these effects stand in the way of improving
efficiency
• Customers
Will the plan change the way in which your organization’s customers
view it Will this affect the likelihood of reordering/using the services
• Suppliers
How will your plan affect relations with suppliers
• Public Relations
Will the plan have a positive or negative effect on your organization’s
relations with the public, press, and politicians
• Environment
Will it enhance or damage the environment
Any analysis of your plan must be tempered by common sense. It is much
better to change a beautifully crafted plan that analysis shows will not work,
than deal with the consequences after a failed attempt at implementation.
W. Implementing change
Once you have completed your plan and decided that it will work satisfactorily, it
is time to implement it. This involves directing resources to complete the
activities specified, and monitoring the execution of the activities so that
corrections can be applied if necessary. Monitoring execution also allows you to
determine when the task has been achieved and activity can cease.
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