What is best practice?

Sometimes best practice will emerge from success, but often it is the mistakes and failures in practice that point to better ways of doing something. Best practice, therefore, involves identifying pitfalls, and learning from any mistakes made so that they aren't repeated.

Reaching agreement on best practice

While it may not always be possible to agree about what makes best practice, neither should best practice be identified by a single person’s viewpoint or judgement. Rather, ‘best practice’ should be determined by general acceptance among practitioners, using a commonly agreed set of factors to evaluate the usefulness and quality of practice.

Best practice on the Quality Planning website

The primary goal of the Quality Planning website is to promote best practice in both the process of preparing plans and in the content (topics) of plans.

Initial best practice advice on the plan process was obtained in February 2001 through a two-day workshop of 25 practitioners experienced in plan writing under the RMA. These practitioners came from regional and territorial local authorities around New Zealand, including unitary authorities. In many cases, the easiest way to express best practice was through guidance “tips” or suggestions of how to do specific tasks or how to avoid problems. Using the information gathered at the workshops, several practitioners were then asked to prepare Guidance Notes on specific aspects of the process. The notes were peer reviewed by practitioners as well as by an editorial panel of planning practitioners and an RMA lawyer.

The guidance notes for the planning topics were prepared by expert(s) in the particular topic, in consultation with experienced practitioners in local authorities, and then reviewed by the editorial panel.

The guidance notes will be revised and updated on a regular basis to ensure they continue to reflect best practice.

Other content on the site includes publications, articles and examples from individual councils that have been gathered in the course of the project investigations. Collectively this information provides many perspectives on the development of best practice over the last 10 years.

Where does best practice come from?

In any organisation or profession there is always scope for improvement in the way things are done. Such advances are often best acquired through learning from others who have already faced the same issues. The agreed ways of improvement are "best practice", with:

"Practice" - referring to an activity that is repeated elsewhere by others in the same business or profession; and

"Best" - referring to the "best fit" technique, or the best way of doing something, taking into account the particular circumstances and requirements, including resources, legal obligations and limitations and the state of current knowledge, values and techniques.

While best practice often refers to a way of doing something that has already been tried and tested many times elsewhere, it may also refer to an innovation in practice that is recognised by peers as a more effective method or approach, fitting with the circumstances of a situation. Determining what forms best practice, therefore, needs to be drawn from a collective view, not just a single person’s experience, although professional opinions may not always reach a consensus.

The costs, efforts and resources needed are all considered under best practice as is the nature of the end product or outcome compared with the original goal Often, it is determined with the benefit of hindsight, after the results and effects of an approach or activity can be identified and compared with both the costs and efforts incurred in achieving the result, and with other alternative approaches that might have been used. Where hindsight is not possible, such as with a recent innovation, it will be the collective view of practitioners that determines the quality of that practice.

Nor does the term necessarily describe an exclusive ‘superlative’ way of doing something: best practice may include a number of techniques, particularly if there are variations in circumstances that make other approaches more desirable. For example, the costs of doing something may make a practice less useful or effective for an organisation or user with limited resources.

Best practice is dynamic in nature - what will be best practice now may be, in time, superseded by:

• Innovations in practice,
• Changes in technology
• Changes in law or governance structures, and
• Expectations, values, knowledge or other influences that make methods outmoded or less relevant, useful or appropriate.

For these reasons, best practice must be subject to constant review.

Other content on the site

A number of criteria were used as a general guide in developing the guidance notes and in gathering examples of best practice for the site. The criteria are listed below. Feedback and contributions to the further development of these criteria is welcome. It is important to emphasise that any particular practice or example may not meet all the listed criteria, but will display a number of the attributes that comprise best practice.

• Acceptance among practitioners
  Practice verified by several practitioners of appropriate competence as representing best practice in a particular area
• Legally robust
  Practice validated by legal processes (for example, tested in Court and beyond further challenge); and/or
  Accepted by legal practitioners as legally sound and appropriate
• Best outcomes
  The practice has produced better outcomes than would be achieved by alternative methods
• Consistent outcomes
  Practice has been demonstrated to produce the same results sought elsewhere
• Best value for money
  Practice is affordable, and makes most use of available resources; and/or
  There would be diminishing marginal returns in developing the practice any further
• Best fit
  The practice best meets the particular circumstances
• Consistency with NZ or overseas standards
  Practice uses or is consistent with an adopted New Zealand or international standard or code of practice
• Adaptability
  The practice can be used or replicated elsewhere effectively under the same or similar circumstances to produce same outcomes
• Stakeholder acceptability
  Councillors, tangata whenua and primary stakeholders generally accept the practice