Avoid the most common pitfalls
Tips for a successful Assessment
13. define clearly the steps that will lead to an improvement plan
It's a trap to believe that simply conducting an assessment will somehow just cause improvement to happen – perhaps by some kind of osmosis.
Tangible improvements begin to happen only if the senior leaders initiate suitable action based on the assessment findings. So there has to be a systematic process, a set of defined steps, for bridging from the assessment findings to priorities and plans for improvement. This is the most important part of the entire process.
These planning steps need to be designed carefully and built into the schedule right from the start.
Further reading
This
article just touches on some of the key issues.
For lots more information on how to conduct an assessment effectively, see
"From Baldrige
to the Bottom Line".