When we were asked to consider adding an assessment module to Cheeteye, we were reluctant at first but our clients persisted so we started doing some research. We found that assessment systems in surveillance departments were common in the past but had been trashed for a number of reasons. Some of the reasons being:
- the initiating person moved on
- difficult to administer
- lack of motivation
Willy Allison from World Game Protection says his “favorite assessment systems are ones where managers have lined their objectives up with the organizations”. I cannot agree more! Clear objectives are VITAL as it’s a key is to overcoming point 3 above, “lack of motivation”. Clear objectives also helped us as software developers! We had the ability to provide the surveillance assessment software but we felt the module would become a white elephant. Things changed after we were involved in sessions to identify assessment objectives. It required understanding the objectives first for us to get excited about developing surveillance assessment software. I strongly suggest a few brainstorming sessions to identify assessment objectives if you want to make a first time success of surveillance assessments. Our module is currently in its second revision and a favorite amongst time strapped managers.
It’s a worthwhile exercise to spend some time recording your assessment objectives as “what you can’t measure, you can’t manage”. Once that is complete, empower someone to manage the process and give them the tools to hit a home-run. It won’t be long before your scoreboard is flashing!