Measuring for SuccessMeasuring for Success

Module Nine

Reflecting on the Previous Session

• What was most useful from the previous session?

• What progress have you

made since the previous session?

• Any comments or questions about the previous session?

Session Overview

• Exploring the Value of Measuring

• Deciding What to Measure

• Using Measures to Promote Success

• Tracking Appropriate Measures

• Creating a Regional Plan for Measuring Success

Group Discussion

What things do you monitor or measure as part of your organization?

What are you seeking to learn

from those measures?

Why Should We Measure?• Know if your plan is working

• Make course corrections along the way

• Ensure accountability

• Encourage continued participation of partners

• Generate enthusiasm and public interest

• Foster buy-in with potential new partners

• Generate additional support – internal and external

Measuring for Success Means . . .

Thinking about:

• Who will make changes

• How people will do things differently

• What outcomes or impacts you expect

• Which key indicators can help determine progress

Deciding What to Measure

Traditional Measures

Measuring What We Do

(Outputs)

Versus

Measuring the Difference We Make

(Impacts – Outcomes)

Outputs: What We Do

My Organization

Does Things

To/for People

# Workshops Conducted# Counseling Sessions# Tech Asst. Sessions# Materials Distributed

# Clients Served# Stakeholder Groups# Partnerships

Outputs

Outcomes: Three Levels of Measuring toward Success

Do You Know Your ABCs?Do You Know Your ABCs?

Short Term Intermediate Long Term

OutcomesOutcomes

Using ABCs to Promote Success

Measuring ABCs: An ExampleYour team decides to focus on fostering small

business growth by providing training on developing and managing web-based sales.

Strategy: Web Training for Small Business

Owners

Strategy: Web Training for Small Business

Owners

Measuring ABCs: An Example

Problem: You have been conducting the training for five years, but small business numbers are static or declining.

Discussion: What are some possible points at which the strategy failed to produce the desired condition?

Don’t Forget OutputsCounting what we did tells part of the story:

• How many times did you offer the training?

• How many small business owners attended the training?

These traditional measures are still an important link to the overall success.

Measuring ABCs: Attitudes/Knowledge/Skills

Course Correction?

Course Correction?

Strategy: Offered Web

Training for Small Business Owners

Strategy: Offered Web

Training for Small Business Owners

Participants scored poorly

on post assessment

Participants scored poorly

on post assessment

Measures: Behavior

Course Correction?

Course Correction?

Strategy:Offered Web

Training for Small Business Owners

Strategy:Offered Web

Training for Small Business Owners

Participants did not start

websites

Participants did not start

websites

Measures: Condition

Course Correction?

Course Correction?

Strategy: Offered Web

Training for Small Business Owners

Strategy: Offered Web

Training for Small Business Owners

Participants started websites but have seen no

income or job growth.

Participants started websites but have seen no

income or job growth.

Points for Course Correction

Web Training for

Small Business Owners

Web Training for

Small Business Owners

Scores on Post

AssessmentNumber of Websites Started

Number of New

Websites Generating

Income

Number of Trainings & Participants

OutputsOutputs OutcomesOutcomes

Tracking Appropriate Measures

Key Questions in Developing a Plan

• What information do we need? Does it already exist? OR Will you need to gather it?

• Who has access to the information?

• When should we gather? How often?

• How can we gather the information?

Quick Guides for MeasuringWe can’t measure everything!

Some quick guides:• Be reasonable.• Be thoughtful.• Be realistic. • Be smart.

Measuring Short Term:Attitudes/Knowledge/Skills

Common Methods Include:

• Pre/post survey

• Skill assessment/demonstration

• Practical application exercise

• Willingness to participate in follow-up activities

• Others?

Measuring Intermediate Term:Behavior Change

Common Methods Include:

• Logging behaviors

• Monitoring of completion of follow-up activities

• Follow-up surveys

• Observation

• Other ideas?

Measuring Long Term:Condition Change

Common Methods Include:

• Secondary data

• Surveys/ follow up with participants

• Other ideas?

Creating a Regional Plan to Measure FOR Success

Measurement Plan TemplateWhat you want to measure

What information you

need

Who has the information

How you will get the

information

How often/when you

will get the information

Outputs:Your StrategyThe Participants

Short Term: Attitudes/Knowledge/Skills you want to change

Intermediate: Behavior you want to change

Long Term: Condition you want to change

Measurement Plan Example

Your Plan

Using Handout Two:

Draft a Measurement Plan for the ABCs you identified in Module Eight.

Measurement Plan Feedback

• Did you identify any new strategies or steps that you would need to incorporate in your plan of work (from Module Eight)?

• What opportunities do you have in place for course corrections?

• How will this plan help your team be successful?

• What additional information might you need to guide the strategy to success?

Last But Not Least: Inputs

Inputs are the people, organizations, and resources that will be contributing to the success of your initiative.

Without inputs, your regional plans cannot move forward.

Measuring Inputs

How are we doing as a

regional team?

It’s not just about numbers!

How We Do Our Work

• Meeting evaluations

• Reflection questions

• Quarterly evaluation meetings that focus on process and impact

• Focus groups

• Interviews

• Other methods?

Your Team: Partnership Evaluation

• What has been a peak experience in this project?

• Describe the best meeting we have had so far.

• What would help future meetings be even more successful?

• What has been a high point in our collaboration?

• How might we make it even better?

Partnership Planning

• What plans can we put in place to ensure the viability of this partnership?

• What strategies will work best with this regional collaboration?

Your Plan: Wrapping It Up• How many points do you have for checking

and correcting your course along the way?• Have you identified someone to take charge of

each check-point?• Is the total measurement package

manageable?• Are there points at which the plan

could “fall through the cracks?”• Do you have the right mix of resources?

Keeping Your Eyes on the Goal

Did the strategies we implemented:

•Move us closer to achieving our regional goals?

•Make effective use of our regional assets, strengths, and opportunities?

•Generate additional problems?

•Other thoughts?

Module Debriefing

What are the takeaways from this session?

•What topics did you find most helpful?

•What did you find confusing?

•What do you hope to implement as part of your regional team’s activities?

•Other items you want to mention?

Post Assessment

Please take a few minutes to help us . . .

Measure FOR Success

. . . by completing the post-assessment.