Systems Organization
and Management
Environmental Scanning
Monica Grant, PT, DScPT, MS
Program Director
Frederick County Infants and Toddlers Program
Early Intervention Leadership Academy
MSDE/CTE
Objectives of Environmental Scanning
• Detecting important educational, health,
technological, advocacy, research and political
trends, situations, and events
• Identifying the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities
and threats to the early intervention system implied
by these trends, situations, and events
• Providing a basis for analysis of future program
investments, including relationship investments.
Early Intervention Leadership Academy
MSDE/CTE
Keys to Successful Environmental
Scanning
• The keys to successful
environmental scanning are
– active and open exploration of the early
intervention community
– incorporating diverse sources of information
and diverse viewpoints.
Early Intervention Leadership Academy
MSDE/CTE
Why Can’t We Just Ask Them
What Is Needed?
It is natural to feel that our need for guidance on
program direction would be met if only we
could get closer to the families we serve, our
community partners and others with whom
we have formal and informal relationships so
that they would express their needs.
Unfortunately, it is not that simple.
Early Intervention Leadership Academy
MSDE/CTE
Why Can’t We Just Ask Them
What Is Needed?
• People may find it difficult to:
– articulate their needs
– express their needs in terms that easily
translate into activities
– integrate needs across communities.
Early Intervention Leadership Academy
MSDE/CTE
Typical components of an
Environmental Scan
• Summary and analysis of educational, health,
technological, advocacy, research and
political data pertinent to the topic/area
• Information from existing and potential
stakeholders regarding interests, needs,
opportunities, and potential collaborative
• Assessment of your local program’s current
direction, capabilities, and opportunities
Early Intervention Leadership Academy
MSDE/CTE
Principles of Scanning
The environmental scanning process
involves assessing needs from multiple
information sources and angles
Early Intervention Leadership Academy
MSDE/CTE
Principles of Scanning
• Explore positives and negatives to gain
a complete picture:
– assets and limitations
– barriers and aids
Early Intervention Leadership Academy
MSDE/CTE
Principles of Scanning
• Think local, state, national:
– Consider the local program environment
– Look at how the local program fits into the larger
local communities
– Examine how influences at the state level may
impact the local program
– Explore issues that may be nationwide
Early Intervention Leadership Academy
MSDE/CTE
Principles of Scanning
• Use multiple "lenses" to look at the
same information or situation:
– educational, health, technological,
advocacy, research and political
– immediate, near-term, longer-term
considerations
– past, present, future perspectives
Early Intervention Leadership Academy
MSDE/CTE
How to Get Started on an
Environmental Scan
• Review and update general information.
This review can help identify information
needs and who should be involved in
the scanning process.
Early Intervention Leadership Academy
MSDE/CTE
How to Get Started on an
Environmental Scan
• Take stock of existing "in-house" information.
Assemble and honestly critique existing
information. Carefully consider the strengths
and limitations of that information including:
–
–
–
–
Is it current?
How was the information collected?
Whose viewpoints were included?
What information is needed to verify the information on
hand?
– What additional information or perspectives are needed?
Early Intervention Leadership Academy
MSDE/CTE
How to Get Started on an
Environmental Scan
• Actively collect and assess scanning
information from other organizations.
– Examples include community-wide needs
assessments, specific or comprehensive
community planning documents, and plans of
work or reports available from other partner
organizations.
Early Intervention Leadership Academy
MSDE/CTE
How to Get Started on an
Environmental Scan
• Access community partners.
– Include input from people representing
early intervention system community
partners at various levels of each
organization.
Early Intervention Leadership Academy
MSDE/CTE
Scale of Environmental Scanning
• How elaborate the environmental scan must
be is depending on the scale of the question
at hand.
– Environmental scanning principles may be applied
on a small scale to fairly straight forward questions
such as:
• How might service providers arrange their schedules to
accommodate a family’s unique needs?
– Or applied to large scale questions:
• What is the impact of level funding on serving an
increasing number of children in the early intervention
system?
Early Intervention Leadership Academy
MSDE/CTE
Environmental Scanning and
SWOT Analysis
Internal Factors
External Factors
(Strengths and Weaknesses)
(Opportunities and Threats)
Analysis
Plan
Early Intervention Leadership Academy
MSDE/CTE
SWOT Analysis
• A SWOT analysis is one effective and
easily applied framework for conducting
an environmental scan
– S Strengths (Internal)
– W Weaknesses (Internal)
– O Opportunities (External)
– T Threats (External)
Early Intervention Leadership Academy
MSDE/CTE
Internal Factors
• These include Strengths and Weakness internal to
the current system.
– Strengths (Internal)
• What is done well?
• What resources are available?
• What do other people see as our strengths?
– Weaknesses (Internal)
• What could be improved?
• What is not working well?
• Where are there difficult challenges to overcome?
Early Intervention Leadership Academy
MSDE/CTE
External Factors
• These include Opportunities and Threats
external to the current system.
– Opportunities (External)
• Where are the good opportunities facing us?
• Examples: funding, staffing, relationships with other
programs or departments, technology
• What interesting trends are we aware of?
• Examples: population, funding, laws, referrals, referring
sources, opinions of others
– Threats (External)
• What obstacles are we facing?
• Are the required specifications for our jobs or services
changing?
• What is impacting the availability of staff?
Early Intervention Leadership Academy
MSDE/CTE
Summary
Early intervention leaders have a role and responsibility to be
aware of and respond to important educational, health,
technological, advocacy, research and political trends,
situations, and events.
They can develop this awareness through environmental scanning
which utilizes the diverse viewpoints of formal and informal
partners in identifying the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities
and threats to the early intervention system implied by these
trends, situations, and events
The results of environmental scanning provides a basis for future
program investments, including relationship investments.
Early Intervention Leadership Academy
MSDE/CTE