Press Pause: Redesigning an Existing Program

by | Apr 19, 2019

In January, we kicked off our Exercise Your Impact campaign. Throughout 2019 we’re sharing tools and resources that highlight critical phases of organizational planning. During Quarter 2, we are focusing on program development. An important aspect of program development is knowing when to redesign an existing program.
Too often, organizations operate on “auto-pilot” and keep running their programs in the same way because that’s how they’ve always done it. Programs can start to feel stagnant or stuck in a rut, but the effort involved in making a big programmatic change can keep programs in this place. Staying on auto-pilot can cause staff to feel overworked and stressed, especially if a program is not having the desired impact. Instead of forcing an ineffective program forward, it may be time to pause, reflect, and redesign the program.

In a previous blog post, we provided a few tips on how to know when it is time to redesign a program. For example we suggest you reflect on the following three questions:

Adapt

  1. Are we making the impact we hoped to make?
  2. Is our program aligned with the latest research?
  3. Is our program meeting the needs of the target population?

Transform Consulting Group (TCG) is currently working with La Plaza to help them redesign their Tu Futuro college and career readiness program. They evaluated their program a couple years ago and the data showed them that they weren’t making the impact they set out to make. They realized that they needed to better align their program with best practice research and narrow their target population by working with fewer schools and narrowing their focus to high school students instead of high school and middle school students.

Here are three steps they engaged in during the redesign process that may help your organization during the redesign process:

1. Engage Stakeholders

A key part of the redesign process is engagement of stakeholders, including staff. This is a great opportunity to talk to staff at all levels involved with a program for their feedback on what is and is not working. Including staff in this collaborative process is reinvigorating and creates a renewed sense of purpose.

It’s important to also engage other stakeholders impacted by or interacting with your program. For example, in their previous program evaluation, La Plaza collected stakeholder feedback from students, parents, school partners, and funders. This information was crucial during the redesign process.

What Works Image2. Identify and Engage Key Partners

Redesigning a program is no easy task. It is time intensive and, depending on the subject matter, may require bringing in experts. La Plaza identified partners to help them accomplish their new goals and make their vision a reality. Their key partners included TCG to help design a new curriculum based on best practice research and a philanthropic partner to fund the project.

3. Pilot the Program

Once you redesign your program, it is helpful to pilot it on a small-scale. This allows you to catch potential problems and fix them before full implementation. Piloting a program can also help test the efficacy of the redesigned program. By piloting the program with a smaller target population, you mitigate the risk of overstretching your staff.

When launching the first year of their redesigned Tu Futuro program, La Plaza decided to partner with one local high school. While they will expand to more schools in the future, this pilot period allowed staff to learn and successfully implement the new curriculum and form deeper relationships with students.

We know that redesigning a program is a daunting task that can disrupt your day to day operations. If you want help assessing your current program or beginning the process of a redesign, contact us today. We would love to learn more about your programming goals to see how we could support you!

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