Avoid the most common pitfalls

Tips for a successful Assessment

15. Plan to repeat the Assessment process periodically

Those organizations that have made the best use of the assessment process do not view it as a one-shot event, but as part of an ongoing improvement cycle. After the first assessment, each subsequent one confirms whether the most recent set of improvement efforts has been successful, and reveals a new set of priorities for improvement. These new priorities build on what has already been accomplished, and the performance gains are cumulative.  

Early assessments reveal fundamental issues that need to be fixed first in order to make progress. Later ones reveal opportunities to achieve breakthroughs that will take the organization to new heights of performance. 

And this well never runs dry, since the process will always reveal more opportunities for improvement, no matter how high-performing the organization. So the leaders learn to turn the improvement wheel again and again, and discover that there is no limit to what they can accomplish. This is continuous improvement that really works.

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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".