| |
Naturally, there are priorities that surface during the process of developing
goals, objectives and policies. To implement goals through objectives and policies,
your community will need to prioritize. We recommend the following steps:
- Prioritize the goals. The best way of prioritizing
is to develop a systematic approach based on the item’s importance, its
dependency on other actions and consequently the timing of implementation.
- Identify a responsible party
for each policy.
To ensure that policies are ultimately put in place, it is recommended that a
responsible party be identified for each policy, program or other initiative
your county expects to complete. Identifying responsible parties has two big
benefits: there is a person or organization to take ownership of the action and
make sure it is completed; and it helps manage workload so that too many responsibilities
are not placed on too few people. Responsible parties may include volunteer organizations,
civic groups, commissions, boards, professional teams, consultants, or agencies
and other stakeholders.
- Consider “milestone dates.” It is
important to set realistic timeframes for implementation of the items. For regular
business items, such as reviewing development proposals, you may include an “ongoing” timeline.
However, broad timelines are generally not very useful for specific, one-time
types of activities such as preparing an ordinance. When figuring out appropriate
milestone dates for completion of tasks, you will need to take into consideration
funding and length of time to accomplish the activity. You should also consider
how much public input is necessary and whether the recommended activity will
be controversial to implement. These all add to total length of a particular
activity and the timeline should reflect those considerations. It is important
to realize that these milestone dates will likely change as the plan is implemented
and updated.
Adapted from Implementation
Element Guide. Center for Land Use Education. 2006.
return to top
|
