Jean Roberts

Definition:

A critical success factor is a factor which, if not functioning or operating satisfactorily, may place the services provided by the organisation at risk.

All organisations need to examine their progress at regular intervals for two important reasons -

1. to check that what they are doing is in line with what they think they are doing, and
2. to find out if anything important or relevant is not being done.

To do this easily and well, the Board, CEO or Management Team needs a blueprint against which to compare the organisation’s activities.

The blueprint also needs to give sufficient information to guide the group in maintaining or improving what needs to be done, and introducing what is needed but not currently being done. The RMC Critical Success Factors Checklist provides such a blueprint.

This carefully designed checklist of Critical Success Factors provides a reliable blueprint for an organisation to -

• monitor its progress
• carry out a simple yet thorough internal evaluation
• identify Critical Success Factors which are in place
• identify Critical Success Factors which are not in place
• set some ‘short-term achievable goals’ to maintain or improve those Critical Success Factors which are in place
• set some ‘short-term achievable goals’ to introduce those Critical Success Factors which the committee agrees should be in place.

Critical Success Factors (CSFs) can include:

• procedures,
• documents,
• systems,
• attitudes, and
• behaviours.

The 22 Critical Success Factors in this Checklist are:

1. Structure
2. Philosophy
3. Policies
4. Objectives
5. Procedures
6. Funding and financial base
7. Board/Committee membership and representation
8. Personnel
9. Decision-making
10. Communication channels
11. Statistics
12. Outcomes
13. Programs, projects and services
14. Day-to-day operation
15. Client/Customer access, equity and participation
16. Client/Customer benefits
17. Resources
18. Assets
19. Liabilities
20. Quality
21. Input
22. Process

These all relate to the governance, management and operation of an organisation, and apply to most community-managed and membership-based organisations.

In this Checklist, each CSF is given:

• a definition, and
• a set of components by which it can be recognised, monitored and evaluated.

Each CSF is followed by a Grid Worksheet on which you are asked to indicate an opinion (by ticking or not ticking the relevant column) as to whether each component:

• is not required,
• needs to be introduced,
• needs to be improved, or
• is working very well.

Applying the Blueprint:

• monitoring the organisation’s progress is simply checking to see if the CSFs are in place .. nothing more than that, and involves the group reading through the checklist together and discussing their reactions – after which, action may or may not follow.
• carrying out a simple yet thorough internal evaluation is checking the effectiveness and efficiency of each CSF that is in place, and the effect on the organisation of those that are not in place.
• identifying CSFs which are in place requires the group to work through the checklist and spend time discussing how effective and efficient each CSF and Component is at the present time – noting comments in the space provided beside each CSF and Component for improvements where agreement is reached.
• identifying CSFs which are not in place requires the group to spend time discussing any negative effects on the organisation through not having these CSFs and Components in place, and noting comments in the space provided beside each CSF and Component for introduction where agreement is reached.
• setting ‘short-term achievable goals’ to maintain or improve those CSFs which are in place means the group agreeing on
• what is to be done
• by whom
• by when within the following three months
• at what cost
• with what results and benefits
• how progress is to reported, and to whom
• setting some ‘short-term achievable goals’ to introduce those CSFs which the group agrees should be in place means their agreeing on action as explained above.

Contact Jean to discuss how to evaluate the critcal success factors in your organisation.