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Question: We are a small, rural health department in NE. There are several collaborative projects underway. Any suggestions on the use of a project management process and/or software which will allow us to improve our successes and outcomes? Thanks. Ken Johnson
Answer: There are software packages for strategic planning (e.g., MyStrategicPlan.com) that can be used to build plans and have the capacity to incorporate into a "master" plan multiple strategic plans and community initiatives. Coordinating the multiple plans in a County or region it a good idea and a broad based community coalition is a good group for such a task so it appears that you are already heading in a good direction. At the same time, regardless of the sophistication of the software, such a set of tasks will need a person or small group who will take responsibility to coordinate the multiple strategic plans and/or integrate initiatives and grant requirements into that plan. Tracking outputs, outcomes, grant requirements, and other deliverables over time and updating the master plan and the individual plans will take considerable effort and vigilance but is likely beneficial as it will encourage the meeting of goals, allow the successes to be celebrated and shared with funders, and will keep the plans updated and nimble in responding to changing community conditions. Unfortunately, this happens less often than it should as it is a time consuming task that takes someone(s) knowledgeable of the broad set of initiatives in a region and works best if it is actually part of the person(s) job at a participating organization as it builds in accountability. (sorry I accidently deleted your question last week)
Question Date: Mon, 02/02/2009