How to use the evidence and knowledge self-assessment tool

• who will you approach first about this in your organisation and how will you introduce the tool? 
• have you an idea of their current goals and priorities? 
• which knowledge mobilisation development opportunities do you need to learn more about to see if they are worth including in an action plan? 
• have you identified your knowledge mobilisation service areas and development opportunities that you want to promote?
• when will you schedule the group session to complete the tool and who should you invite?
• have you scheduled a results and development opportunities feedback session with the group? 
• who else will you use the self-assessment tool with? 
• who else will you contact for further help should you need it?

• familiarise themselves with the Tool
• introduce the tool to teams and senior leaders across an organisation
• consider current priorities for your target group
• schedule a time to hold the facilitated group session (you will need at least an hour)
• distribute the tool ahead of the facilitated group session
• facilitate the session and gather responses
• use the responses to create a development action plan
• present the development plan opportunities back to the team
• provide on-going help to support the team to complete their action plan

If you are uncertain about taking this to Senior Leaders then why not practice with your own team first.

Briefly introduce the self-assessment re-iterating the purpose.

Facilitate a group discussion working through each criterion. Read statements from left to right and following the discussion select the statement and maturity level that best represents the outcome of the discussion.

This works best if you let people read and respond with minimal input from you. Just try asking “what level have you put for…” They will be able to decide this and shouldn’t need a steer from you, but if asked for your opinion be prepared to give it.

If you have a mixture of views help the team to come to a consensus – ask “but what is it like for everyone in the team?”

Once you have worked through the tool explain the next steps.  You will work on identifying suitable development opportunities in response to the discussion and arrange a time to present this back to the group.

As the expert in the room, take ownership of this stage in the process and the next step of drawing up the development action plan.

Summarise the key outcomes from the self-assessment and thank participants for their input.

Present the pre-prepared action plan, discuss identified development opportunities, and seek agreement from the team about which actions they wish to prioritise.

Continue to work with the team to co-deliver the identified actions.

Use the action plan as an opportunity to promote particular services to teams in your organisation.

Regularly review progress against your action plan and repeat the self-assessment, we would recommend after two years to track progress.

As you work with more teams you may wish to adopt a full River and Stairs assessment.  You can find out more about this in the self-assessment and river diagrams section of the Knowledge Mobilisation Toolkit.

Feedback to knowledge and library service colleagues in your region or nationally about the process using newsletters and via the Knowledge Mobilisation Community of Practice.