Week 1. Introduction to Program Design

Overview*

I. Stages of the Program PlanningII. Who Should Participate in the Planning ProcessIII. Identifying the Problem or Need Your Program will

AddressIV. Writing a Problem or “Situation” Statement

The following content is based on the work of Edward J. Pawlak and Robert D. Vinter in Designing and Planning Programs for Nonprofit and Government Organizations, Jossey-Bass, 2004.

Stages of Program Planning

Planning a program is a process that involves variousparticipants in successive stages of work:

• Initiation • Analysis• Goals and Objectives• Design• Documentation

Pawlak and Vinter (2004)p. 14

Sequential Steps in the Planning Process*

Receive andinterpret the charge

Analyze problems

Decide needs

Decide Goals and Objectives

Decide program changes or select the newProgram

Decide program changes or select the newProgram

Design the changes or the new program

Achieve Outcomes

*Designing and Planning Programs for Nonprofits and Public Organizations, Pawlak and Vinter (2004)

Who Should Participate in Program Planning and Design?

• Large nonprofits may have specialized planning staff, but many do not

• Planning at multi-staff organizations: – Participants may be employees at various levels of the organization– Organization board members or senior executives usually define the

charge that empowers and steers planning efforts, and may continue to be involved

– Administrators, including middle managers and supervisors may guide and coordinate the team activities of line staff, who participate when the effort involves their own service areas or particular skills

Who Should Participate in Program Planning and Design?

What if I have a

really small

nonprofit?What if I have a

really small

nonprofit?

If your organization does not have a built-in team of staff to develop the program, know that you are in the majority, not the minority. A large number of nonprofits have small budgets and few paid staff.

You will need to customize the program planning team by considering all available resources. Are there board members who can assist? Volunteers with appropriate skills? Is it possible to engage a consultant to assist you? It is not necessary to have a large number of people involved.

Who Should Participate in Program Design?

• Some nonprofits engage consultants to play key roles because the effort requires specialized technical knowledge

• External participants may be brought in to add “objective” perspectives

• Others influence the planning process but may not be involved directly, e.g. funders

Types of Skills Needed

• Ability to develop work plans

• Provide shared understanding of what needs to be done, who will do it, when and how it will be done

• Ability to document work group progress and products

• Planning is a cumulative process – documentation helps the group unify and link planning stages

• Ongoing documentation will ease the preparation of the final program plan

Leadership of the Planning Process

• Leadership functions should be shared as broadly as feasible among work group members

• All participants should be able to contribute to guiding the work process based on their individual skills, experiences and motivation

Identifying the Problem or Need Your Program will Address

• Needs assessments can be very complex– This task could be an entire course in itself!

• For purposes of this course, it is important to acknowledge that program planning and design must start with a clear identification of the need

Developing a Problem StatementKey Questions to Ask

1. What do we already know about the problem or need?

2. What else do we need to know?3. How will we get this information?4. How will we use this information?

Next Steps

• Once you proceed to the Studio activity for Week 1, you will find a worksheet on developing a problem or situation statements. This statement will serve as your compass as you move through the stages of program design and evaluation.