Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/needing-to-assess-and-assessing-needs/5012314/
Organizations flourish when administrators are aware of what the public wants, what the public needs, and what the public can actually afford! One of the best ways to build awareness is through an effective needs assessment. Needs assessments involve a systematic mechanism by which a program identifies the present and/or future demands of consumers, helps to translate this demand into a set of services that link specific needs, and provides marketplace feedback to determine how well a program's services versus those of competitors are serving the wants of selected customers (Caldwell, 1985). In other words, needs assessments identify the pace for the present and mark the path for future programming.Effective needs assessments include two components. The purpose identification component clarifies why an assessment is being conducted and the process or implementation section indicates how a needs assessment is carried out.
PURPOSE IDENTIFICATION
Successful needs assessments involve suitable matches between the information a program requires and the information it gathers through an assessment process (Straughn and Chickadel, 1994). Success is measured by how well a program does what it sets out to do. Program objectives provide criteria for making important decisions and a reference point for planning. Information is gathered about people, programs, services, ...