Hopefully you already understand that progress tracking and communication is an ongoing process. This step extends that concept by establishing an “official” analysis of your program’s goals based on the identified “Check-In Expectations” identified in the Charter Document. While assessment is ongoing, this step requires a specific, time dependant check- in with leadership to identify if the program is meeting its goals, whether adjustments should be made, or if the program should continue, end, or shift its focus to other areas. Milestone assessments should be based on leadership’s vision of the program but should also allow the Green Team and employees to provide input based on their experience with the program.
This step is built on the recognition that any program or project requires continuous assessment and incremental improvement. The goal of this step is to identify areas for improvements, determine (and figure out how to encourage) what’s working, and recognize accomplishments. Keep in mind that while a milestone assessment should look at how your program metrics are tracking, it should also consider what employees and other stakeholders think about the program.
Milestone Assessment: Task by Task
- Compile assessment information.
Determine which data are required for the assessment and prepare accordingly. This will depend on your goals and your leadership’s preferences. Ideally your tracking has been thorough and it will be easy to compile the information you need to properly assess progress.
- Gather input from employees.
An important component of continuously improving a program or process is gathering input from all employees. This concept, based on a Japanese business practice called “Kaizen” (improvement), recognizes that gathering input from employees provides a variety of perspectives as well as helps foster a productive and encouraging workplace.
- Review progress with leadership.
Depending on your organization, your Milestone Assessment might be one meeting between a few members of leadership and your Green Team, or it might involve weeks of preparation for a formal presentation given by the program’s leadership liaison to executive staff. Be sure to understand the format of your assessment early on so you can prepare accordingly.
- Identify successes, areas for improvement, and make decisions on next steps.
Your Milestone Assessment should result in a clearly documented inventory of progress on each goal, major accomplishments, steps for improvements, and decisions on whether or not to adapt, abort, or continue on the same path. You may decide to adapt a strategy and revisit some of the steps earlier on in the Sustainability Program Process; how far back you go depends on the decision. You may decide to start the whole process over again with a new focus. Or, you might to decide to keep similar goals, but make them more ambitious.
- Communicate results.
Update employees and other stakeholders on the results of your assessment, and inform them of next steps (adjustments, new goals, etc.).
Tools and Considerations
- Refer to the charter.
The charter document should be an ongoing tool for each step along the way. While setting assessing your progress, it’s crucial to remember what you’re trying to accomplish in the first place. Without referring back to the charter document, you risk getting off-track and setting goals that are irrelevant or out of the scope of expectations set by leadership.
- Use a comment box or conduct an employee survey.
- Metrics tracking tools.
The Milestone Assessment will be a relatively easy step if you’ve been tracking your metrics thoroughly along the way. Ideally, you’ll have the information organized and easily attainable when the time comes to dig into it. Choose tracking tools wisely, and use them to their fullest.
