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The EFQM Model as a diagnostic tool

The EFQM Model as a diagnostic tool. In this short article, Gail Tutcher explains how the EFQM Model can be used to assess an organisation's health.
Magnifying glass on a financial report, next to a notebook and pen
© Shutterstock

Last week you explored some case studies of organisations that use the EFQM Model. You may have noticed that many of them had undergone at least one assessment against the framework of the EFQM Model.

In some cases, the assessments were carried out by a team of assessors provided by EFQM. In other cases, the organisation conducted its own assessment to understand what it was doing well and what could be improved. In other words, the EFQM Model was being used as a diagnostic tool.

There are many different ways to conduct an assessment using the EFQM Model. Many organisations choose to use EFQM’s digital platform called AssessBase which includes 3 different assessment tools. The tools are:

  • a short questionnaire
  • an assessment based on the 7 criteria of the EFQM Model
  • a very detailed assessment that covers all of the criterion parts of the EFQM Model

We have provided an opportunity for you to try out the simplest tool, the questionnaire. We have created an Excel file of the questions. You can find it in the downloads file below. If you would like to see the questionnaire in other languages, please follow the link to the AssessBase information on the EFQM website.

Your task

Download the Excel file. You are going to conduct a short EFQM assessment of your organisation, or an organisation that you know. Read the instructions on the second tab of the file then insert scores for all of the statements under Direction, Execution and Results.

When you have finished, please share your thoughts on the experience in the comments.

  • What did you think of the questionnaire?
  • What conclusions did you reach about your organisation?
  • What are your organisation’s strengths?
  • What are the opportunities for improvement for your organisation?

Please make sure you do not share anything confidential or sensitive about your organisation.

© EFQM
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