Many situations present a need for thorough analysis, but neither the time nor the staff resources to conduct one. Fortunately, the process presented here is not an all-or-nothing proposition. We urge you to do as much analysis as your resources allow because each inquiry adds valuable information to your ultimate decision. But in those all too common situations where time pressures mean only a few items can be considered, what should you do? Even if you have only a few weeks, you can gather crucial information that will help your project succeed. To do this effectively, you need a team of people who represent different perspectives and skills. We strongly recommend these activities:

• Start with a hopes and fears exercise
  Gather a representative group of stakeholders together for a morning or afternoon. This activity identifies and makes explicit the variety of initial expectations that people bring to a new project. Where hopes differ, the group can work toward consensus on either a common goal or an agreed upon priority for multiple goals. Stated fears give you strong signals about the risks you face and an early start on the work it will take to address them.
  
  
• For each goal, create a structured service objective
  For each goal, reach agreement about what would be done for whom with what effect. We often use this fill-in-the-blank sentence: "Our service (or business) objective is to do something specific for a specific customer so that the customer will receive the following benefits.
  
  This exercise forces your planning group to be specific about three things: the practical nature of each goal, the intended customer or beneficiary, and how that customer will be affected. It begins to give you a sense of how straightforward or complex your project will be.
  
  If you have one objective and one customer, your job will be easier than if you have several of either.
  
  
• Conduct some form of analysis that actively involves system users
  There are many ways to do this. The crucial element is to engage the users directly. This might be done in focus groups, site visits, workshops, or process mapping sessions. Engaging users directly is the best way to test and refine your objectives and to understand the existing reality that you intend to change with your project. These activities can build trust with users, who are key stakeholders, and can prevent you from making big mistakes based on untested assumptions about work practices, skills, and organizational culture.
  
  
• Conduct targeted best and current practice research
  List the top four or five questions you have about your project and find out who has experience that can help you answer them. You can use the Web or publications to locate likely sources, but don't rely on these exclusively. The best information will come from actually talking with these people. Most government managers are very willing to share their knowledge and lessons learned. Take full advantage of this opportunity to learn from the experience of others.
  
  
• Specify modest, moderate, and elaborate alternatives and estimate their costs and benefits
  Using the information compiled from the previous activities, specify the characteristics of modest, moderate, and elaborate versions of your project. Then describe the cheaper, faster, and better benefits of each one. Finally estimate the cost of each one for design and implementation and for ongoing operations.
  
  This abbreviated analysis is far from perfect, but it will give you a great deal of specific information to support your recommendations.