Review: Strategic Needs Assessment

by Carole Oberholtzer

Strategic Needs Assessment was the topic of the March Program Meeting presentation given by Margaret Jennings of the Jennings Company and Katherine Stevens of CMD, March 18 th at the Greenwood Inn in Beaverton. In their presentation, Jennings and Stevens raised the following questions: What is a strategic needs assessment, why is it important, and when is it appropriate to apply in our work as technical communicators?

In his book, Flawless Consulting , Peter Block describes three roles for consultants:

• A pair of hands – where the client maintains control and decision-making aspects of a project, and the consultant applies basic skills to get the job done;
• Collaborative – where decision-making and control of a project are shared between the client and the consultant;
• Expert – where the consultant is the decision-maker and the client assesses the degree of success (often after the fact).

A technical communicator can be any one of these during the course of a project, and sometimes, any one of these during the course of a day. Jennings and Stevens suggest that no matter what roles we play, it is essential to always consider the strategic needs of our clients, whether internal or external.

Strategic needs assessment is a process by which you can determine how to help clients achieve their business goals more effectively. Initiating the strategic needs assessment process helps us to understand our clients' key issues. Understanding those key issues in turn will make us a more valuable and valued member of our team.

There are four elements of a strategic needs assessment:

•  Ask the big picture question:

Consider the mission and core values of the organization ¾ what are the critical initiatives? How can the work of a technical communicator support that?

•  Build a mutually respectful relationship between yourself and the client:

Jennings and Stevens recommend that technical communicators work toward building collaborative relationships with their clients. Start by assessing the clients' needs, making it clear at the beginning of the project that a more beneficial and successful partnership will develop when these important questions can be asked and answered.

•  Use tools that make an impact – data analysis, performance analysis, and competency analysis:

These are some of the tools necessary to do a strategic needs assessment. The speakers emphasized focusing on areas that have the greatest impact on cost or benefit to the client.

•  Be willing to take on a strategic needs assessment:

Project deadlines or constraints on resources may not allow the time to complete a strategic needs assessment. Clients may not be receptive, as they may be unwilling or unable to follow up on the results.

There may be very valid reasons for not taking on a strategic needs assessment. However, the presentation clearly declared that the best reason for initiating this activity is to add value to our clients, and to demonstrate as technical communicators that we can be important contributors to projects and valuable team members.

Carole Oberholtzer received a Bachelor's Degree in Communications from the University of Oregon. She is the documentation coordinator at Parametrix, Inc. in Portland.