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Planning the roll out
Applying the appraisal criteria
to a final short list of options should result in the selection of a
preferred policy or set of policies. Once these have been fully
detailed and agreed by key stakeholders, attention can be turned to
planning for implementation. This will be focused around three key
tasks:
Defining Success Measures
The foundation for planning the roll out is the
definition of the indicators that will be used to measure success in
moving towards the desired state of the future described in the
vision. This provides the mechanisms for establishing clear
accountability and responsibility for delivery.
Developing an Implementation Plan
The detail of how the new policy
will be implemented should be documented and agreed by developing an
implementation plan. This should be done in conjunction
with all key stakeholders and especially those directly involved
with delivery. By detailing all the actions that need to be taken
and who will be responsible for each, the plan is a means of
securing commitment and buy-in to deadlines, budgets and the overall
conclusions of the project.
The plan should also help to identify those who
will be responsible for monitoring and evaluating the progress of
the implementation. Implementation is more likely to be successful
if formal structures are created for this purpose.
The implementation plan should be checked by
working backwards from final delivery dates to provide a sense check
that it is really deliverable.
Developing a Change Management Plan
Implementing the new policies
will inevitably require some degree of change to organisations,
systems and processes. A pro-active approach to change
management is essential if the benefits of the new
policies are to be realised. Developing a change management plan is
a way of defining and agreeing what change is required and how it
will be brought about. Building on the organisational
analysis conducted in the Research & Analysis phase,
the plan should be grounded in a thorough understanding of the
obstacles and constraints to change and lay out a realistic road map
for achieving it.
In situations where high levels of uncertainty
surround the effectiveness, impact or implications of a new policy
there is a strong argument for running pilot
programmes (pdf) ahead of a full-scale roll out. Simulations
can also play a valuable role in helping to predict the likely
response to a new policy. Where a number of options have been
identified for how to implement a policy, controlled experiments
offer the possibility of observing rather than pre-judging which is
the best option.
Useful links:
> designing
an implementation plan
> change management
> organisational
analysis
> The Role of Pilots in
Policy Making (pdf)
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