The document describes a 10-step community assessment method. The steps include generating data about the community through flip charts, appreciating the data as a group, reflecting individually, understanding themes in subgroups, integrating the data into a statement of the group's functioning, reconciling any differences, planning action steps to improve, selecting a consensus action plan, and later implementing the plan.

1. The Community Assessment Method:
A Description
The community assessment process allows the group to generate data about
itself as a community. It consists of ten steps:
1 - Climate Setting: Consultant gives an overview of the session, theme, and rationale. Explains flip-
charted activities, which are taped on walls around the room.
2 - Generating: Group as a whole fills out flip charts which contain assessment tasks related to group's
functioning, e.g. decision making, managing conflict, accountability, problem solving strategies, hidden
agendas, etc.
3 - Appreciating: Group as a whole reviews data on walls.
4 - Reflecting - Individuals silently reflect on data, making notes if desired.
5 - Understanding. Subgroups are assigned specific charted data sheets and asked to interpret them or
underscore themes. The subgroups then report out.
6 - Integrating and Diagnosing: New subgroups form, discuss report outs, and integrate data into statement
that defines groups' functioning. Subgroups report out.
7 - Reconciling. Entire group discusses the data, reconciles whatever differences have emerged, and
arrives at tentative diagnosis of group's functioning.
8 - Planning: New subgroups form and develop tentative action plans to answer the question: "Where
do we go from here?" Groups are told that their plans will be integrated with others'. Each group
reports out.
9 - Selecting: Group discusses each plan and creates a consensus action plan with a dated timeline for
enhancing committee's effectiveness.
10 - Implementation: Does not take place during assessment phase. Includes follow-up activities, such as
two-day meeting and other ideas generated from action plan.
Lewis Associates