Self assessment is a good way for a group to figure out what they are good at and where they can improve. Self assessment puts the onus on the group themselves to figure out what they are good at, rather than being told by someone else. People are more likely to learn if they identify the gaps for themselves. By building on strengths groups have something to feel good about. It's a bit like a competency framework for individuals. We don't always know what we are good at unless we have a comparison. Think about your competency with excel for instance, only when someone sees you doing something they didn't know was possible do you realise your strengths. The self assessment framework can be built for many topics. I have used it for engineering operations, knowledge management and response to HIV and AIDS.
Practices of AIDS competence
The example illustrated was constructed for communities and cities to share what they know about responding to HIV and AIDS. The assessment measures the key practices that lead to AIDS competent nations, communities and organisations. There are 10 key practices each with 5 levels from BASIC to HIGH. Groups are invited to assess themselves using the criteria for each of those practices as a guide. They compare present with past performance and set targets for the future. They can also compare their performance with that of other groups. The key output is a “river diagram” which gives a quick summary overview of actual and target scores for each group. The range of scores are shown for comparison in the form of a river.
Everyone has something to share and everyone has something to learn.
The important thing about this process is that it creates a conversation within a framework and common language to enable knowledge to flow between diverse participants.
