SEED

SEED enlivens the vision and performance of groups intent on maximizing their social impact.
Groups that embrace SEED tools and training services become more creative, accountable, and effective as they link everyday performance to their visions for a better world.

Our signature tools are the SEED Diagnostic and The SEED Stretch.

The SEED Diagnostic offers a quick and systematic assessment against a comprehensive set of best practices. This 3-hour process guides program teams to pinpoint strengths and areas ripe for improvement. It produces baseline scores on which to gauge future progress, and reveals high-leverage opportunities to achieve better results.

The SEED Stretch begins with the Diagnostic and guides program teams to align daily work with long-term vision over a 3-6 month consultation. As a complement to strategic planning, the process is designed to reduce the gap between vision and results. Monthly tracking sessions serve as a catalyst for creative planning, team-building and accountability.
If you’d like further information about SEED: www.seed-ny.org

SEED, Youth Network Council and the Illinois Department of Human Services (DHS/DCHP) are collaborating to make The SEED Diagnostic and SEED Stretch available to select IL youth programs. In the future, we hope to expand the pilot to make these resources widely available to service providers throughout the State of Illinois.

Frequently Asked Questions:

1. Q: How does the 3-hour Diagnostic process work?

A: The Diagnostic is conducted by phone and web conference. Team members (either in the same room or from separate locations) who are designated by the participating provider will call the conference at a pre-scheduled time. They will also use a specified web address to join by video. The team will interact with SEED staff, respond to questions, and view their responses “real time,” as SEED incorporates the team’s input related to six tools via the web interface.

2. Q: What is the format of the six tools? Are there written questionnaires for each as part of the pre-diagnostic?

A: We have created a PowerPoint slide show that brings the team step-by-step (slide by slide) through the process. The six tools are displayed in these slides. As we go through the slides together, the SEED facilitator moves icons around, inserts the team’s ratings and responses to questions, and computes scores for the various tools. The team can see what’s happening on the facilitator’s screen (via web-based technology). The post-diagnostic discussion happens in the same way. The only form involved is the Pre-Diagnostic form that will be emailed for teams to complete and return to SEED prior to scheduling their Diagnostic session.
The Pre-Diagnostic focuses only on the first of the six tools, the Results Map. The team completes this in advance, because it requires a little more time. This allows the Diagnostic to progress more efficiently.

3. Q: What is the estimated time to prepare for the Diagnostic?

A: The Pre-Diagnostic takes between 15-30 minutes to complete. The larger the group involved, the longer it could take, to build consensus on the responses. The Pre-Diagnostic is completed on your own, at any time you choose.
All SEED tools are designed to have a double impact: (1) to advance the work of a program, while (2) stimulating useful team reflection and dialogue.
The only other preliminary time commitment is to log on to the online scheduler at http://www.graceschedules.com/seed-ny/ to sign up for your preferred three-hour block of time for the Diagnostic process.

4. Q: Who is involved in the Diagnostic call? Does it include our community partners and client members of the team, or are they just involved in the preparation for it?

A: The provider decides who will be involved in the three-hour Diagnostic/Post-Diagnostic call. The ideal group size is 2-6 people. (More than six is possible, but not recommended.) Usually a smaller subset (2-3 persons) completes the Pre-Diagnostic form. The Diagnostic team can include staff, board and other participants who are deeply involved in the program. It needs to be only those who understand the full picture of what your program is doing and what it aims to achieve.

5. Q: After the Diagnostic is finished and we receive the write-up, is the project complete, or is there additional technical assistance beyond that?

A: No formal decisions have been made yet regarding follow-up beyond the completion of the Diagnostic. SEED will prepare a report for the provider. IDHS will receive composite, not individual reports.
We definitely expect that IDHS/CHP will use the composite results to target appropriate training, technical assistance, or other supports that will build on these findings. This is one reason why Youth Network Council is involved in this partnership.

6. Q. Is there any preparation providers need to go through to participate in the Diagnostic process?

A. Since participants will be familiar with the program, once the Pre-Diagnostic form has been returned to SEED, there is no additional information required to prepare for the SEED diagnostic.

7. Q. If a provider has more than one DHS-funded program that is eligible to participate in the SEED Diagnostic, what are the options?

A. If there is significant overlap between the clients, staff and services provided by the eligible programs, the recommendation is to complete the SEED Diagnostic on both programs, combined as one.
If there is little to no overlap between the clients, staff and services provided by the eligible programs, the recommendation is to complete a separate SEED Diagnostic for each program.

8. Q. If time and resources are limited for completing the SEED Diagnostic, can providers choose to complete it for only one program?

A. Yes; in this case, the recommendation is for providers to complete the Pre-Diagnostic on all eligible programs. Then use that information to determine which program will go through to complete the Diagnostic process. This will also provide the opportunity to easily move ahead with the three hour diagnostic with the second eligible program, if staff resources become available.

9. Q. If a program gets high Diagnostic scores that reflect utilization of best practices, can providers opt to share their individual results with IDHS and others?

A. Ultimately, it is the provider’s data to use or share as it sees fit. The specific scores for an individual provider will not be made available to IDHS. If SEED does come across an exemplary practice, it may ask the provider for permission to share that insight and to make its identity known for that practice alone.

10. Q. How were the providers/programs selected?

A. IDHS was interested in a cross-section of sites and mostly made random selections. A “stratified” sample was used to insure all types of programs and regions were included.

11. Q. What is the time frame?

A. The intention is to complete the Pre-Diagnostic and scheduling by the end of April. The 3-hour Diagnostic/Post-Diagnostic sessions will take place in May and June, based on provider availability and preference.

12. Q. Will providers be able to see the results of other organizations?

A. The specific results of an individual provider will not be made available to other organizations. The decision regarding sharing of region or statewide composite scores and patterns that emerge across all the participating sites has not been made by IDHS.

13. Q. Is the SEED Diagnostic similar to the Healthy Families Self Assessment tool?

A. No. See response below in answer to question #16. for a description of what makes this tool unique.

14. Q. Does SEED provide technical assistance?

A. The primary focus of this contract is to deliver the Diagnostic process which will identify priority areas ripe for action. IDHS is clearly interested in making further technical assistance available. No specific decisions have been made regarding the level of follow-up technical assistance and who will provide it.

15. Q. Will special equipment (e.g., video cam) be required?

A. No. The 3-hour Diagnostic takes place via telephone conference involving the provider team and a SEED facilitator. The facilitator will be entering the results on a PowerPoint file and inviting the team to view this process in real time. This is accomplished by simply logging on to a web address that SEED will provide together with information about the telephone call-in number.

16. Q. Why did IDHS select this tool above any other tool?

A. SEED’s approach is unique. The SEED Diagnostic focuses on 100+ practices that are rarely seen in other diagnostic tools and certainly not in this variety and number. Included are practices associated with balancing reach against depth, vision alignment, sustainability, co-leadership, shared decision-making, clarity of focus, and readiness for change. This is an unusually comprehensive and time efficient consultation (3.5 hours total). It reveals immediate, multiple insights and pinpoints high-leverage opportunity areas where creatively focused resources can yield better results.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________