Step 1: Introduction to

Assessing Needs

This material is part of the Knowledge Management Training Package, made possible by the support of the American
People through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and created by the Knowledge for Health
(K4Health) Project under Cooperative Agreement #AID-OAA-A-13-00068 with the Johns Hopkins University. The contents
of this material may be adapted and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID, the U.S. Government, or the Johns
Hopkins University. The original material can be found on www.kmtraining.org.
Step 1: Assess Needs
Objectives of this step:
• Understand why it is important to assess knowledge needs
in your program.
• Explain the purpose and use of common KM assessment
methodologies.
• Review process for implementing knowledge needs
assessment plan for your health program.

This material is part of the Knowledge Management Training Package, made possible by the support of the American
People through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and created by the Knowledge for Health
(K4Health) Project under Cooperative Agreement #AID-OAA-A-13-00068 with the Johns Hopkins University. The contents
of this material may be adapted and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID, the U.S. Government, or the Johns
Hopkins University. The original material can be found on www.kmtraining.org.
What Is a Needs Assessment?
A technique for:
• Assessing the current capacity of knowledge management
systems and processes
• Determining the current preferences and information-
seeking behavior of your primary user group or audience
• Identifying gaps and priorities to address in order to meet
knowledge management needs of audiences

This material is part of the Knowledge Management Training Package, made possible by the support of the American
People through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and created by the Knowledge for Health
(K4Health) Project under Cooperative Agreement #AID-OAA-A-13-00068 with the Johns Hopkins University. The contents
of this material may be adapted and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID, the U.S. Government, or the Johns
Hopkins University. The original material can be found on www.kmtraining.org.
Why Conduct a Needs Assessment?
Needs Assessment can help KM practitioners to improve the
quality of decisions and performance outcomes by aligning
KM activities with assessment findings.

More specifically through needs assessment, you can:

This material is part of the Knowledge Management Training Package, made possible by the support of the American
People through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and created by the Knowledge for Health
(K4Health) Project under Cooperative Agreement #AID-OAA-A-13-00068 with the Johns Hopkins University. The contents
of this material may be adapted and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID, the U.S. Government, or the Johns
Hopkins University. The original material can be found on www.kmtraining.org.
Four Steps for Getting Started
Understand knowledge needs, gaps, networks, key
stakeholders, and resources:
1. Identify purpose, objectives, and key questions of the
assessment
2. Identify the audience
3. Review what is already known
4. Plan to collect new data if necessary and if resources are
available

This material is part of the Knowledge Management Training Package, made possible by the support of the American
People through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and created by the Knowledge for Health
(K4Health) Project under Cooperative Agreement #AID-OAA-A-13-00068 with the Johns Hopkins University. The contents
of this material may be adapted and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID, the U.S. Government, or the Johns
Hopkins University. The original material can be found on www.kmtraining.org.
Identify Purpose, Objectives, and Key
Questions of the Assessment
Before conducting a knowledge needs assessment, program
managers should identify the purpose and objectives of the
assessment and determine the intended audience (i.e., whose
knowledge needs will be studied).
• Will the assessment identify knowledge needs and assets
within your organization?
• Or will the assessment identify knowledge needs of current
or potential consumers of your organization’s resources, or
those of another external stakeholder group?
This material is part of the Knowledge Management Training Package, made possible by the support of the American
People through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and created by the Knowledge for Health
(K4Health) Project under Cooperative Agreement #AID-OAA-A-13-00068 with the Johns Hopkins University. The contents
of this material may be adapted and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID, the U.S. Government, or the Johns
Hopkins University. The original material can be found on www.kmtraining.org.
 Knowledge Management for Global
Health Logic Model

Needs Assessment
looks at the inputs
and processes
levels to inform
strategy design
and activity
development

This material is part of the Knowledge Management Training Package, made possible by the support of the American
People through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and created by the Knowledge for Health
(K4Health) Project under Cooperative Agreement #AID-OAA-A-13-00068 with the Johns Hopkins University. The contents
of this material may be adapted and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID, the U.S. Government, or the Johns
Hopkins University. The original material can be found on www.kmtraining.org.
 Identify the Audience
Clearly define the primary audience
• Are you gathering information on health care providers or program
managers?
• At what level of the health system does your audience operate?
• Are there specific issues about this audience that makes it more important
to assess their knowledge needs than other audiences?
• Does this audience have substantial barriers to accessing and using
knowledge to inform their work?
• How do the potential audiences relate to national, regional, and local
priorities for improving health programs and outcomes?
• Consider gender disparities in access to information
This material is part of the Knowledge Management Training Package, made possible by the support of the American
People through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and created by the Knowledge for Health
(K4Health) Project under Cooperative Agreement #AID-OAA-A-13-00068 with the Johns Hopkins University. The contents
of this material may be adapted and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID, the U.S. Government, or the Johns
Hopkins University. The original material can be found on www.kmtraining.org.
 Review What Is Already Known
Common Sources of Existing
Before collecting new data, conduct Knowledge
a desk review to see if the data and • Demographic and Health
information you need already exist. • Survey data
• National census data
For example, you can conduct a • Service statistics
literature search or reach out to • Literature reviews
colleagues to determine if reports or • Evaluation reports of other
• relevant health programs
publications have collected
• Management reports
information regarding the • Policy documents
knowledge needs of your defined • Training needs assessments
audience. • Action plans

 
This material is part of the Knowledge Management Training Package, made possible by the support of the American
People through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and created by the Knowledge for Health
(K4Health) Project under Cooperative Agreement #AID-OAA-A-13-00068 with the Johns Hopkins University. The contents
of this material may be adapted and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID, the U.S. Government, or the Johns
Hopkins University. The original material can be found on www.kmtraining.org.
Plan to Collect New Data, if Necessary and if Resources
Are Available

If the information you need does not already exist, you will need to
collect original data, both quantitatively and qualitatively. It’s
important to consider both data collection approaches. Some
common methods for collecting data on knowledge needs include:
• Environment scans
• Interviews with key informants
• Surveys
• Focus group discussions
• Network Mapping (or Net-Map)
This material is part of the Knowledge Management Training Package, made possible by the support of the American
People through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and created by the Knowledge for Health
(K4Health) Project under Cooperative Agreement #AID-OAA-A-13-00068 with the Johns Hopkins University. The contents
of this material may be adapted and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID, the U.S. Government, or the Johns
Hopkins University. The original material can be found on www.kmtraining.org.
 Some Common Objections and Responses
Common Possible Response
Objection
We already know Many times, the needs are not so clear—there may be differences in opinions
what the needs of between stakeholders. In these cases, it’s worth conducting a formal needs
the audience are assessment to clarify what the issues are or build in activities to further refine
needs as part of start-up activities for the KM intervention.

We’re busy. We Taking the time up front to do a needs assessment will help ensure that the
want to get going! strategy and activities you put in place (and resources you spend) are meeting a
real need.

We don’t have time We’re not suggesting you have to conduct a full-scale scientific survey. You can
to do a survey collect useful data in a matter of hours. For example, you can go to a meeting
attended by your key audience and ask them a few questions. There are varying
degrees of comprehensiveness in terms of conducting needs assessments.

We don’t know how It doesn’t have to be perfect or complicated! Remember, any type of information
to do it gathering is almost always better than no information gathering at all. Look for
tools that you can adapt in the accompanying Training Package.

This material is part of the Knowledge Management Training Package, made possible by the support of the American
People through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and created by the Knowledge for Health
(K4Health) Project under Cooperative Agreement #AID-OAA-A-13-00068 with the Johns Hopkins University. The contents
of this material may be adapted and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID, the U.S. Government, or the Johns
Hopkins University. The original material can be found on www.kmtraining.org.
Supplement:
K4Health Needs Assessment Guide
Published: 2011 (updated in 2013)

Background: Based on K4Health’s

Contents:
• Guidance for using various methodologies
• Case studies
• Tools, instruments, and training materials
• Tips for disseminating results
This material is part of the Knowledge Management Training Package, made possible by the support of the American
People through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and created by the Knowledge for Health
(K4Health) Project under Cooperative Agreement #AID-OAA-A-13-00068 with the Johns Hopkins University. The contents
of this material may be adapted and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID, the U.S. Government, or the Johns
Hopkins University. The original material can be found on www.kmtraining.org.