What does PICKS Include?
The PICKS methodology is a next generation tool for organizational development, building on the best practices of the traditional approach and integrated with a whole of organization approach and a systems perspective to continuous improvement. PICKS still inventories the presence or absence of important processes and documentation, but also moves beyond that to assess many frequently underestimated attributes that we know are vital for organizational health and long-term growth.
This includes measurement of:
- Organizational process effectiveness: assessing the extent to which systems, processes and workflow are appropriately optimized for an organization.
- Social capital: measuring internal social capital — such as mission support, satisfaction, cross-department interactions, team environment, organizational champions — and external social capital — such as engagement of beneficiaries, partnership effectiveness, thought leadership, donor outreach, and government relations.
- Network Analysis: PICKS integrates well with LINC’s network analysis tool to map key actors within a given geographic area and sector of work, measuring the extent of our PICKS clients’ engagement in those networks, and analyzing systems-level implications for success; LINC’s network analysis also integrates with PICKS to focus on the flow of information and resources within the organization to identify silos, bridges, and informal leaders.
PICKS can be applied through in person conversations, or it can be conducted remotely and is able to capture more open and honest feedback from a variety of leaders and staff by keeping their responses anonymous. Additionally, collecting data using the PICKS technology allows LINC and our clients to analyze progress of individual organizations or groups of organizations over time, compare organizations within a region or across multiple regions, and inform government or donor policy.
How long is the PICKS process?
As mentioned above, organizational improvement is not a one-time effort, but a process to be sustained over time. However, PICKS can be conducted once to help organizations get started with their own strategies, or conducted regularly to measure progress over time and continue guiding organizational priorities for improvement.
Each organization will have customized service, but the process to complete a PICKS assessment generally takes about 4 weeks.
What type of organization is PICKS most appropriate for?
PICKS can be applied to NGOs and research organizations working in any technical sector and of any size. We have designed the product to be most suitable for international relief and development organizations with various levels of experience working with large institutional donors such as international cooperation, development banks and foundations, and wishing to grow their impact and strengthen their organization. LINC is also in the process of developing PICKS for public institutions and for-profit businesses. With the network analysis module analyzing opportunities from the systems perspective, PICKS is also a great option for umbrella organizations and donors/prime recipients to apply with their member and portfolio organizations.
Can we measure our progress over time?
PICKS has been developed with an eye to the future, meeting the basic standards for baseline and follow-up impact evaluation. While PICKS can be conducted just once to help an organization identify their strategic priorities, we hope that our PICKS clients will realize the power of this tool to identify areas for improvement, and measure progress of their organization over time. To improve organizational learning, LINC is ready to assist you with strategic efforts as a follow-up to your PICKS assessment and to conduct future assessments to measure progress against your first PICKS baseline – through the entire organizational improvement cycle. This may become an important pillar of your continuous improvement strategy and reporting.
Is my organization’s sensitive information safe?
We understand how important it is to keep sensitive information about your organization’s finances and management safe, and have taken measures to ensure this. All survey data and responses are protected via encrypted technology