Assessment

1. Assessment chapter 4

2. Importance of Assessment • Assessment is commonly practiced in leisure services. • Knowing what users want guides recreation agencies in determining what to provide. (continued)

3. Importance of Assessment (continued) • Assessment isn’t only about understanding users’ needs; it is also about determining if it is feasible for the agency and within the scope of its mission to provide the product. • Assessment is an important part of determining what programs a recreation agency will offer. It is also important in facility design and development.

4. Assessment Methods • Several methods ranging from very formal to very informal can be used to assess the need for a facility development project. • Formal methods can take the form of a needs assessment, feasibility study, or prospectus. • These assessment tools involve considerable research and are objective in nature. (continued)

5. Assessment Methods (continued) • Informal methods used in assessing facility needs are more subjective. • They may include informally gathering facts that reflect facility needs through observing user behaviors or having casual conversations with facility users.

6. Influencing Factors in Facility Assessment • Influencing factors in facility assessment are the issues that need to be reviewed and documented when observing concerns at an existing facility or recognizing a void that a new facility could fill. • The more serious and potentially expansive the project, the greater attention these factors will require in order to influence desired results.

7. Influencing Factors in Facility Assessment: Safety • A fundamental requirement of any recreation facility manager is to provide a safe environment for all users and employees. • A safe environment includes a place where risk of harm has been minimized. • When assessing facility safety, it should be determined if the design or use of the facility creates the potential for injury.

8. Safety Risk

9. Influencing Factors in Facility Assessment: Satisfaction • Satisfaction is the degree to which the expectations of facility users have been met. • The degree of satisfaction among users can be critical to the success of the core product. • A perceived lack of quality or a bad experience while using a facility can negatively influence users’ satisfaction.

10. Influencing Factors in Facility Assessment: Participation • Participation refers to the number of people using a facility. • Some recreation facilities become so popular that they attract more users than they were designed to accommodate. • Facility managers should recognize when usage creates a sense of overcrowding, which can have a negative impact on the experience of users.

11. Influencing Factors in Facility Assessment: Efficiency • Efficiency relates to how well management uses a facility and other resources in maximizing revenue opportunities while minimizing expenses. • Efficiency also involves allocating space to allow for maximum use without decreasing customer satisfaction. • Often the design of a facility can cause problems with the efficient provision of the core product or core product extensions.

12. Efficient Use of Space

13. Influencing Factors in Facility Assessment: Comparison • All recreation facility managers are involved in comparing their product with those of their competitors; this is often called benchmarking. • Benchmarking is initiated so that management can ascertain what products their competitors are providing and how well they are providing them. • The most important comparison is determining how the facility measures up in space functionality and appearance.

14. Influencing Factors in Facility Assessment: Modernization • Many facilities are constructed with state-of-the-art materials and furnished with the most up-to-date equipment. • Over time they become outdated as new technology creates improved options in a variety of facility applications. • Recreation facility managers should be attentive to these new options and plan and budget for necessary improvements.

15. Influencing Techniques in Facility Assessment • There are additional techniques that recreation facility managers can use to generate support for the renovation or construction of a facility. • These techniques can help persuade key administrators, board members, financial officers, and politicians to recognize the circumstances that warrant attention and response.

16. Influencing Techniques in Facility Assessment: Site Visits • One of the best ways to gather support for facility projects is to have a group of users and administrators visit existing facilities with problems or other facilities that may become a model for a new facility. Site visits are done in the early stages of development or renovation. • They are effective because personal experience and a visual assessment of facility problems or of a state-of-the-art facility create insight for what needs to be accomplished.

17. Influencing Techniques in Facility Assessment: Surveys • Surveys have traditionally been the most common method for obtaining information. • Internal surveys can be used to obtain user or employee feedback regarding the facility. • External surveys can be used to obtain comparative information from facilities with similar products, and this is often called a benchmark survey.

18. Influencing Techniques in Facility Assessment: Focus Groups • A focus group consists of people who represent various segments of users and stakeholders. • These users are simply asked to share their thoughts on subjects related to facility development. • Focus groups generally range in size from 5 to 12 participants.

19. Influencing Techniques in Facility Assessment: Comments and Opinions • Comments and opinions of facility users and employees—both positive and negative—are important to consider when assessing user satisfaction. • Both users and employees offer a distinct perspective of a facility that management does not have. (continued)

20. Influencing Techniques in Facility Assessment: Comments and Opinions (continued) • Comment cards and suggestion or complaint forms should be made available for users and employees to express their concerns. • Online options should be provided as an alternative to written forms. • Opinion polls obtain users’ opinions regarding satisfaction with the condition of a facility or the perceived need for a new facility.

21. Influencing Techniques in Facility Assessment: Petitions • A petition is a document stating that people are in agreement on a certain issue. • The petition usually has a formal statement that helps demonstrate interest in a project. • Petitioning is a common form of creating awareness of the need for a project, especially if the user has an interest or a stake in the facility.

22. Influencing Techniques in Facility Assessment: History • Recreation facility managers should know the history of the facilities for which they are responsible. • The age and condition of the structural systems and construction materials affect the need for timely replacement or renovation of the infrastructure.

23. Influencing Techniques in Facility Assessment: Asset Management • Facility managers should document when materials and equipment are installed and then budget accordingly for when the products or materials need to be replaced. • The concept of documenting the age and predicted life span of facility components is called asset management.

24. Initial Proposal • An initial proposal is a formal way of communicating the need for a facility improvement or the construction of a new facility. • This written proposal is developed by the party creating a case for the facility project, usually a facility manager, and is typically delivered to administrators, owners, investors, governing bodies, or other agencies that control the funding for a facility project. (continued)

25. Initial Proposal (continued) • When drafting an initial proposal, it is necessary to think in terms of these elements: • Need or title • Recommendation • Rationale • Justification • Funding • Impact • Conclusion