Business context
The ability to identify the changing needs of society and develop policy that will best respond to these needs is central to good government.
Policy is sometimes developed without a full and shared understanding of the need, without fully understanding the broader implications of the policy, or without having explored a range of innovative responses.
Benefits of using this practice
This practice will assist policy developers to:
- engage with those people who most understand the need for new policy;
- develop policy responses that are evidence based, innovative and practical;
- mobilise those investments that will best implement the intent of the policy; and
- establish the criteria to evaluate whether the policy, when implemented, is successful.
General approach
There are four steps involved in this exercise. These steps are the same as those undertaken to prioritise investments. While in that case the focus may be on the unmet service needs facing an organisation, the practice can also be used to develop policy within an organisation or across the whole of government.
Each step uses the format of the informed discussion.
- Problem definition (program)
- Benefit definition (program)
- Strategic response (program)
- Solution definition (program)
The output of these discussions is a service logic and investment prioritisation SLIP. This articulates the problems confronting the organisation/program and the response that will address the problems. It documents how candidate investments have been prioritised based on their ability to respond to the problem and deliver the benefits.