Assessment tools templates: instructions for users

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WAKA KOTAHI NZ TRANSPORT AGENCY ASSESSMENT TOOLS TEMPLATES: INSTRUCTIONS FOR USERS // 1

ASSESSMENT TOOLS TEMPLATES: INSTRUCTIONS FOR USERS

1 AUGUST 2020

[VERSION 1.0]


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Published August 2020

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Table of contents

Copyright information .................................................................................................................. 2

Disclaimer ................................................................................................................................... 2

More information ......................................................................................................................... 2

Overview ........................................................................................................................................ 5

Approach to using macro and non-macro versions ................................................................. 5

Summary of the differences between the macro and non-macro templates ......................... 5

Pop-up text .................................................................................................................................... 5

Downloading the templates ......................................................................................................... 5

Removing pop-up text .................................................................................................................. 7

HOW TO COMPLETE THE EAST TEMPLATE (WITH MACROS) ................................................... 8

Overview of the two worksheets ................................................................................................. 8

Filling in the project-level information ....................................................................................... 8

Assessment of alternatives and options ................................................................................. 10

Name of alternative/option ........................................................................................................ 10

Save and back to Summary button ........................................................................................... 10

Del and GoTo buttons ............................................................................................................... 10

Add new alternative or option button ........................................................................................ 10

Fatal flaws ................................................................................................................................. 11

Saving the worksheet ................................................................................................................ 11

Hide or show descriptive text .................................................................................................... 12

HOW TO COMPLETE THE EAST TEMPLATE (WITHOUT MACROS) .......................................... 13

Filling in the EAST template (non-macros) .............................................................................. 13

Auto-population of ‘Investment objective’ ................................................................................. 13

Inserting row for additional ‘Investment objective’ .................................................................... 13

Filling in the rest of the sheet .................................................................................................... 14


HOW TO COMPLETE THE AST TEMPLATE (WITH MACROS) .................................................... 15

Filling in the AST template ........................................................................................................ 15

Filling in the ‘Name of Benefit’ section ...................................................................................... 15

Adding additional rows to the ‘Name of Benefit’ section ........................................................... 16

Filling in the ‘Name of Measure’ section ................................................................................... 17


HOW TO COMPLETE THE AST TEMPLATE (WITHOUT MACROS) ............................................ 19

Filling the AST (non-macros) .................................................................................................... 19

Filling in the ‘Name of Benefit’ section ...................................................................................... 19

Adding additional rows to the ‘Name of Benefit’ section ........................................................... 20

Filling in the ‘Name of Measure’ section ................................................................................... 20



HOW TO COMPLETE THE MCA TEMPLATE ................................................................................ 21

Filling in the MCA template ....................................................................................................... 21



Overview

This document provides instructions for how to complete the assessment tools templates, focusing

on using the Excel functionality. Use this document in conjunction with the user guidance

documents and templates for each assessment tool – the Early Assessment Sifting Tool (EAST),

multi-criteria analysis (MCA) and appraisal summary table (AST) – as shown in figures 1, 2 and 3

below.

Approach to using macro and non-macro versions

From an Excel functionality perspective, using the macro versions is recommended. However, if for

some reason you are unable to use the macro versions, a non-macro version is available.

For support with using macros, please contact your organisation’s system administrator.

Summary of the differences between the macro and non-macro templates

Macro Non-macro

Early Assessment Sifting Tool (EAST)

Uses two Excel worksheets:

• New Alternative or Option

– where each new

alternative or option is

assessed.

• Summary – assessment

information is then pulled

through to a summary

sheet.

Uses one Excel worksheet:

• Everything documented

within one worksheet.

• The investment objectives

will not auto-populate in

all instances.

Multi-criteria analysis (MCA) N/a One Excel worksheet:

• The template is designed

to provide consistency;

however, it provides

flexibility to accommodate

a project’s specific

circumstances.

Appraisal summary table (AST)

One Excel worksheet:

• Functionality to add

additional benefits.

• Pop-up box makes it

easier to populate

measures.

One Excel worksheet:

• Uses drop-down lists for

benefits and measures.

• Additional lines are

added manually.

Pop-up text

The templates have pop-ups that provide an explanation of the field to be completed.

Downloading the templates

You can download these templates from InvestHub through the link below:

https://invest.nzta.govt.nz/course/view.php?id=26




Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3


Removing pop-up text

To remove the pop-up text so that only completed project information is visible on the template,

carry out the following steps:

1. Press F5 or Fn+F5 > Special > Comments> OK.

Figure 4

2. Right-click to open the context menu and click Delete Comment.

Figure 5


HOW TO COMPLETE THE EAST TEMPLATE (with macros)

Overview of the two worksheets

There are two worksheets that you are required to fill in:

• New Alternative or Option – where each new alternative or option is assessed.

• Summary – assessment information is then pulled through to a summary sheet.

Filling in the project-level information

The first step required is to fill in project-level information, including investment objectives, in the

Project Overview section. This information in included at the top of the ‘Summary’ worksheet.

Figure 6

• Uses the date format DD/MM/YYYY.

• If there is more than one investment objective, you can add a row by clicking the ‘Add

investment objective’ button shown in figure 6 above.

Investment objective(s)

Project Overview

Add/Remove


• Once you have completed the ‘Investment objective’ cell, you need to save your work. After

saving, the content will auto-populate in two sections (see figures 7 and 8 below).

Figure 7

Figure 8

FIG 1.3 New Alternative/ Option Sheet

Auto-populate


Assessment of alternatives and options

The next step is to assess each new alternative or option. This assessment is undertaken by filling

in the ‘New Alternative or Option’ worksheet. Note that some cells in this worksheet require you to

enter text, while others have a drop-down list.

Name of alternative/option

• Do not use any special characters, such as punctuation marks – , . / ’ [] - (), etc. – when

naming the alternative or option.

Save and back to Summary button

When you have completed the worksheet, click the ‘Save and back to Summary’ button. When you

click this button, the following actions will occur:

• information auto-populates in the ‘Summary’ worksheet

• your details get saved in a new worksheet titled ‘New Alternative or Option (1)’

• the ‘New Alternative or Option’ worksheet stays unchanged. This is where you can fill details

for your next alternative or option.

Del and GoTo buttons

• Del and GoTo buttons appear on ‘Summary’ sheet for each saved alternative or option. Use

the Del button to delete the ‘Alternative or Option’ which is not required.

• Use the GoTo button to reach the saved alternative or option sheet.

Add new alternative or option button

Use the ‘Save and back to Summary’ button to create new worksheets. You can also create a new

sheet by clicking on the green tab ‘Add new alternative or option’ in the ‘Summary’ sheet, as shown

in figure 9 below.


Figure 9

Fatal flaws

If any fatal flaws have been identified for each alterative or option, the decision will automatically

populate as ‘Discontinue’. If a project team would like to progress with the alternative or option,

please change the fatal flaw question to ‘not a fatal flaw’.

Saving the worksheet

Keep saving the worksheet as you work on it.

Details auto-populate

New Alternative or Option sheet opens

Your saved details in New Alternative or Option (1) worksheet

Del & GoTo tabs


Hide or show descriptive text

The ‘Hide descriptive text’ or ‘Show descriptive text’ buttons can be used when a project team would like to hide or show the descriptive text within the

Summary worksheet. The ‘Hide descriptive text’ function can assist project teams when making comparative assessment across alternatives or options, as it

can make the colour-coded assessment for each criterion more visible.

Figure 10

Hide/show descriptive text

Add new alternative or option


HOW TO COMPLETE THE EAST TEMPLATE (without macros)

Filling in the EAST template (non-macros)

The EAST non-macro template provides the same assessment as the macro-enabled version.

However, it has only one worksheet. To start using the EAST non-macro template, fill in project-

level information, including the investment objectives, in the Project Overview section.

Figure 11

Auto-population of ‘Investment objective’

Once you type in the investment objective and save it, it will auto-populate in the header of the

table as shown in figure 12 below.

Figure 12

Inserting row for additional ‘Investment objective’

• The template provides for up to five investment objectives. It is highly unlikely that

additional investment objectives will be required, as investment objectives need to be kept

to a manageable number. However, functionality wise, you can insert an additional row if

you need to enter another investment objective. After you insert a row, you can copy the

format from the row above.

Sections to fill

Auto-populate

Drop-down list


• Once the row has been added, you also need to add a column in the section shown in

figure 13 below.

Figure 13

Filling in the rest of the sheet

Please note that in this sheet, some cells require a text input while others have a drop-down list to

select from.

You can insert additional rows by using the Excel ‘Insert Sheet Rows’ function.



Additional row/column creation space


HOW TO COMPLETE THE AST TEMPLATE (with macros)

Filling in the AST template

To start using the AST template, fill in project-level information, including the investment objectives.

Use the date format DD/MM/YYYY.

Figure 14

Filling in the ‘Name of Benefit’ section

• The AST aligns with the five outcomes in the Ministry of Transport (MoT) Transport Outcomes

Framework – Healthy and safe people, Resilience and security, Economic prosperity,

Environmental sustainability and Inclusive access. All five outcomes must stay visible, even if

not relevant to an activity.

• Use the drop-down list to select the appropriate benefit that applies to each outcome.

• The ‘Impact on greenhouse gas emissions’ and ‘Impact on Te Ao Māori’ are mandatory

benefits and pre-filled in the worksheet. Both need to be considered; however, if either is truly

not relevant to your project, leave blank.

• The template allows for alternative benefits to be added outside of the benefits framework.

Double-click on the last option in the drop-down list to type in an alternative benefit as shown in

figure 15 below

Fill the first 2 rows


Figure 15

• If multiple benefits apply, you can add them in additional rows (as shown in figure 16 below).

Adding additional rows to the ‘Name of Benefit’ section

• You can add additional rows to any of the ‘Name of Benefit’ sections listed in the first column.

For example, to add a row to ‘Healthy and safe people’, select the row below the heading and

click the blue button ‘Click to insert new row’. You can add more rows for other benefits in the

same way.

• To delete a row, select the row you want deleted and press ctrl + shift + d.

Figure 16

Add rows

Drop downs

Adding alternative benefits


Figure 17

Filling in the ‘Name of Measure’ section

Figure 18

• Measures can be selected from anywhere in the benefits framework. The pop-up contains the

list of measures grouped as they appear within the benefits framework.

You can’t select the name of the benefit (for example, ‘1.1 Impact on social cost of deaths and

serious injuries’) as these have only been included to assist with wayfinding; however, you can

select any of the measures that come under it (as shown in figure 19 below).

New row added here

Pre-filled


Figure 19

• Continue to complete the remainder of the template.

• It is recommended that the AST is printed using A3 paper size.



Header: Name of Benefit

Select the required Name of Measure


HOW TO COMPLETE THE AST TEMPLATE (without macros)

The AST template non-macro version is the same as the macro version. However, it does not have

the same functionality when adding benefits and measures.

Filling the AST (non-macros)

To start using the AST template, fill in project-level information, including the investment objectives.

Use the date format DD/MM/YYYY.

Filling in the ‘Name of Benefit’ section

• The AST aligns with the five outcomes in the Ministry of Transport (MoT) Transport Outcomes

Framework – Healthy and safe people, Resilience and security, Economic prosperity,

Environmental sustainability and Inclusive access. All five outcomes must stay visible, even if

not relevant to an activity.

• Use the drop-down list to select the appropriate benefit that applies to each outcome.

• The ‘Impact on greenhouse gas emissions’ and ‘Impact on Te Ao Māori’ are mandatory

benefits and pre-filled in the worksheet. Both need to be considered; however, if either is truly

not relevant to your project, leave blank.

• The template allows for alternative benefits to be added outside of the benefits framework.

Double-click on the last option in the drop-down list to type in an alternative benefit as shown in

figure 20 below

Figure 20

Drop-down list

Adding alternative benefits


Adding additional rows to the ‘Name of Benefit’ section

• To insert a row, select the entire row above where you want a row inserted, right-click and

select the ‘Insert’ option.

• To delete a row, select the entire row, right click and select the ‘Delete’ option.

Figure 21

Filling in the ‘Name of Measure’ section

• To add measures, select from the drop-down list that appears in each cell.

Figure 22

• It is recommended that the AST is printed using A3 paper size.



Select this row to insert row above

Drop-down list


HOW TO COMPLETE THE MCA TEMPLATE

Filling in the MCA template

• The MCA template is designed to provide consistency. However, it provides flexibility to

accommodate a project’s specific circumstances.

• There could be a number of alternatives and options included under one intervention heading

in ‘Intervention types sourced from intervention hierarchy’. Users should add and delete

columns and/or rows as needed. Project teams need to demonstrate that they have considered

a wide range of alternatives or options.

• MCA criteria should be selected according to requirements in Multi-criteria analysis: user

guidance. Users should add and delete columns and/or rows as needed.

• The ’Scoring System Key’ is provided for guidance. The scale can be customised according to

Multi-criteria analysis: user guidance requirements. Copy and paste the respective score, with

its colour code, into the sheet.




Figure 23

Version Control

Investment Objectives

Do minimum

Intervention types

Rating scale

Paste here

Documents

Assessment tools templates: instructions for users