SPONSORS’ Group

Minutes of the Fourth Meeting (SG4)

19th March 2002

Treasury

Chair: Hugh Logan (Department of Conservation)

Participants:

Grant Baker (Conservation), Gillian Durham, Mark booth (Health), Alan Pinder (IRD), Jared Mullen (Corrections), Brenda Pilot (CYF), Tim Horner (Customs), Peter Bushnell, Roger Waite (Treasury), Greg Claridge (SSC).

Apologies: Tony Hartevelt (SSC), Tony Bliss (LTSA), Geoff Bascand (DoL)

1. Introduction (Chair)

Hugh welcomed participants.

2. Conservation Presentation (Grant Baker)

Grant presented a slightly abbreviated version of DoC’s outcome model presentation “Management for Performance” previously presented at Workshop 7, and available on secure section of Pathfinder website. The Conservation model provides a useful top-down, bottom up process for identifying outcomes at different levels in the organisation, and ensuring staff are working in a coordinated way in pursuit of improved outcomes.

The subsequent conversation addressed a wide range of issues:

  • Confirming links between outputs and outcomes: - how do you ‘know’ your outputs have a positive impact on outcomes?
  • The ability to influence: - DoC may have a stronger influence on conservation sites that some social service agencies have on their target communities
  • The need to ensure management systems do not impede innovation
  • The system is relatively new - Conservation is developing outcome measures to improve the evidence base on which future decisions will be made
  • Efficiencies were achieved by retaining only those performance measures that are used in decision-making (eliminating ‘legacy’ reporting), aligning outputs to business activity, and refocusing activities that had a poor fit with strategy

3. Working Group Products (Mark Booth, Roger Waite, Greg Claridge)

  1. Symposium 1 confirmed on 21 August at Treasury. Content on flyer agreed. Intervention Logic to be a secretariat-led presentation drawing upon the best intervention logic of several Pathfinder agencies.
  1. Building Block 2: Intervention Logic. SG submitted final changes. Secretariat to update BB2, confirm with SG out of session and then publish on web site.
  1. Working group progressing well and now discussing agency specific issues:
  • BB3 approaching completion after good discussion about content. Particularly the issue of analysing qualitative data, which is to be included in BB3
  • Confirmation of BB6 Strategic Planning and SoIs, and Building Block 7 Benchmarking as next tasks for Working Group. BB9 Cross Sector Outcomes to be the topic upon completion of the BB6 and BB7.
  1. Pathfinder Summary was tabled. SG acknowledged the user-friendlier format and language of this summary document. The summary document was approved for publication on the web site.
  1. Pathfinder Secretariat to actively pursue co-ordination with SoI initiative. Secretariat will meet with SoI steering and work groups to progress alignment of terminology, and ensure products of the two projects are mutually supportive.
  1. Pathfinder Secretariat sought approval for a review of the Pathfinder Project to evaluate its usefulness to participant agencies. A draft questionnaire will be circulated to SG member for comment within the next month.

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