Guidelines for Environmental Scan
Guidelines for Environmental Scans
Performance Management Branch, Ministry of Finance May 2010
ENVIRONMENTAL SCAN GUIDELINES
(Updated May 2010)
Introduction
Environmental scanning is a key component of ministry planning processes and provides the foundation for the development of strategic, financial, performance, and workforce plans. The scan describes how demographic, political, economic, social, cultural, legal, and technological trends affect your ministry. The environmental scan enables a ministry to understand internal and external forces, informs decision makers of the changing environment in which the ministry operates, and identifies issues that may need to be addressed in the short- or medium- or long-term. Environmental scans provide a complete picture of the current environment in which the ministry is operating and set the stage for key issues that may need to be addressed in the upcoming planning and budgeting cycle. Ministries should prepare one single scan that captures all areas of a ministry’s planning needs, thereby informing the ministry’s management team of key issues facing the ministry from a policy, program, capital, information technology (IT), and human resource (capacity) perspective. The purpose of the scan is to inform the ministry, its senior management team, and the Minister, thereby guiding the development of the budget as well as longer term planning within the ministry. The secondary purpose of the scan is to inform central agencies and Treasury Board, to provide context for the planning and budgeting process for the upcoming year. It is expected that ministries will update their environmental scan each year. As ministries operate in constantly shifting environments, each ministry will need to determine when a comprehensive revision/rewrite to their scan is required and when an update of the previous year’s scan will suffice. The approach to the scan will also be affected by other processes being introduced to respond to
Performance Management Branch, Ministry of Finance May 2010
ENVIRONMENTAL SCAN GUIDELINES
(Updated May 2010)
Introduction
Environmental scanning is a key component of ministry planning processes and provides the foundation for the development of strategic, financial, performance, and workforce plans. The scan describes how demographic, political, economic, social, cultural, legal, and technological trends affect your ministry. The environmental scan enables a ministry to understand internal and external forces, informs decision makers of the changing environment in which the ministry operates, and identifies issues that may need to be addressed in the short- or medium- or long-term. Environmental scans provide a complete picture of the current environment in which the ministry is operating and set the stage for key issues that may need to be addressed in the upcoming planning and budgeting cycle. Ministries should prepare one single scan that captures all areas of a ministry’s planning needs, thereby informing the ministry’s management team of key issues facing the ministry from a policy, program, capital, information technology (IT), and human resource (capacity) perspective. The purpose of the scan is to inform the ministry, its senior management team, and the Minister, thereby guiding the development of the budget as well as longer term planning within the ministry. The secondary purpose of the scan is to inform central agencies and Treasury Board, to provide context for the planning and budgeting process for the upcoming year. It is expected that ministries will update their environmental scan each year. As ministries operate in constantly shifting environments, each ministry will need to determine when a comprehensive revision/rewrite to their scan is required and when an update of the previous year’s scan will suffice. The approach to the scan will also be affected by other processes being introduced to respond to