Organizational assessment and development
Diane conducts internal organizational assessments to help an organization to define and recognize its challenges and strengths, and develop a practical plan for building a strong, more resilient organization. (See samples of past projects.) Services include:
- Facilitation of organizational assessments for an entire organization or a specific component
- Assessment of staff structures and job functions
- Individualized interviews of staff and board members
- Analysis of key challenges impeding success and opportunities for growth
- Recommendations for solutions to address specific organizational challenges and ways to capitalize on opportunities
“Diane Gordon is a seriously attentive listener who can synthesize disparate concerns into a coordinated plan of action that improves organizational dynamics and, most important, outcomes.”
— Bill Henning, Executive Director
Boston Center for Independent Living
“Diane’s organizational development work is thoughtful, relevant, and strategic.”
— Fawn A. Phelps, Director of Policy
Health Care For All
Strategic planning and implementation
Diane works with organizations to design and conduct strategic planning processes that set a strategic direction consistent with the organization’s mission and environment, and in translating that strategy into concrete, measurable objectives. Projects can range from multi-year timeframes, to more short term strategic planning aimed at addressing a specific set of issues or responding to a pending opportunity. (See samples of past projects.) Services include:
- Design planning process that meets the needs of the client
- Environmental scanning, focus groups, and client surveys
- Internal stakeholder interviews
- Facilitation of strategic planning retreats
- Facilitation of processes to set core strategies, priorities, specific goals and measurable objectives
- Development of concrete action plans to implement goals
- Design of systems to evaluate strategic plans
- Design of implementation plans
“As a volunteer chair of a strategic planning committee who does not utilize planning skills in my “day job”, I needed a consultant that could not only teach me but also influence the organization to look at itself critically as well as think broadly, responsibly and strategically as it considered its future vision and work. We needed someone to take all the good work we did, help us see how that fits together and why and plot a course for the future based on our underlying and, until then, unidentified, greatest strengths. Diane Gordon did all of this and more. She quickly learned our complicated organization. Diane assessed where we were and helped us, as a team with her, put together a plan for future growth and strength. I have been thoroughly impressed with her work; even I now sound like a planner at times.”
— Bill Gabovitch, Vice President
Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Boston
Chair, Strategic Planning Committee