Knowledge
Planning Terminology
Planning is rife with jargon – and some is unavoidable. It is therefore vitally important that people in an organisation use the same words to have the same meaning. Here are definitions of some common terms:
| Activities: | The key functions the organisation will achieve in pursuit of it‘s objectives. |
| Corporate Aims: | What the organisation aims to do in specific time periods to fulfil its mission. They are broad statements of intent, and represent the key changes the orgaisation is trying to achieve. |
| Corporate Objectives: | Specific priorities, with targets, over the next 1-3 years required to deliver the Corporate Aims. |
| Dashboard: | A one page summary of key performance indicators. Dashboards can exist at Corporate, Divisional, Services and Unit levels. |
| Data: | Raw facts and figures. |
| Department/Team Objective: | What an individual/team/department aims to achieve in support of the corporate aims. Objectives represent the 'what'. Targets represent the 'how', 'by how much' and 'by when'. Objectives should be SMART. |
| Impact: | The broad, longer-term effects of the charity's work. |
| Information: | Data that is set in a meaningful context. |
| Inter-dependencies: | Dependent relationship between the activities planned by different parts of the organisation. |
| Key Performance Indicators: | Key Performance Indicator or Success Measure: What is measured to indicate the extent to which and how well aims and objectives are being achieved. |
| Knowledge: | Information that has been condensed and distilled. |
| Milestones: | Points in time when the achievement of steps towards an objective can be 'measured'. (eg research completed, partnership agreed, contract let). |
| Mission or Statement of Purpose: | What the organisation exists to do. It should distinguish your organisation from others that are working towards a similar vision. |
| Outcomes: | The changes or benefits that a charity wishes to see as a result of its services and campaigns. |
| Outputs: | What the organisation or parts of it produce (eg volume of information delivered, number of training, days delivered). |
| Performance management: | The process of reviewing individual, departmental and organisational performance against agreed objectives, adjusting plans and learning from experience. |
| Resources: | The money, people, time, facilities and equipment needed. |
| SMART: | An acronym to test whether objectives are well written. They should be Specific, Measurable, Actionable, Realistic & Timetabled. |
| Strategy: | An approach to meeting a particular aim or set of aims, taking into account internal and external factors. It indicates a broad, high-level approach and usually covers a period of 3-5 years. |
| Targets: | How, when and by how much an objective will be implemented. Targets reflect levels of activity and milestones. They may be quantitative or qualitative. Targets should be established for each Key Performance Indicator. |
| Tasks: | The principal steps required to complete each activity, each resulting in an identifiable output. |
| Values: | The principles and beliefs that guide what an organisation does and how it does it. |
| Vision: | An organisation's long-term aspiration (the way the organisation wants the world to be). |