A needs assessment is a process used to identify discrepancies between current and desired conditions. In developing your mission statement, you will be describing the objective of your facilities project – the needs assessment will help you describe what is required to make the mission happen.
This work will:
- Help rationalize the tangible components of your project
- Define both the current state of affairs and the planned changes
- Determine where you should be going and how to know if you’ve gotten there
A needs assessment focuses on what is required, not how to do it
At this stage, it is important to focus on articulating the desired ends, rather than the means to solving a given facility problem. For example, “we need 3 dance studios” is a means to solving the problem of “we need to accommodate sixty dance students.”
Describing the end function of facilities – rather than the architectural methods of getting there – maintains flexibility and will improve the likelihood of a viable solution. A consulting team experienced in capital project planning can lead this process and make it as efficient as possible.
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