Measuring 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
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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?
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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
Outputs
My
Organization
Does
Things
# Workshops Conducted
# Counseling Sessions
# Tech Asst. Sessions
# Materials Distributed
To/for
People
# Clients Served
# Stakeholder Groups
# Partnerships
Outcomes: Three Levels of
Measuring toward Success
Do You Know Your ABCs?
Attitudes,
Knowledge,
and Skills
Short Term
Behavior
Conditions
Intermediate
Long Term
Outcomes
Success
Using ABCs to Promote Success
Measuring ABCs: An Example
Your 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
Thriving
Small
Business
Sector
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 Outputs
Counting 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
Strategy:
Offered Web
Training for Small
Business Owners
Participants
scored poorly
on post
assessment
Measuring
Attitudes,
Knowledge,
and Skills
Course
Correction?
Measures: Behavior
Strategy:
Offered Web
Training for Small
Business Owners
Participants
did not start
websites
Measuring
Behavior
Course
Correction?
Measures: Condition
Strategy:
Offered Web
Training for Small
Business Owners
Participants
started websites
but have seen no
income or job
growth.
Measuring
Conditions
Course
Correction?
Points for Course Correction
Outputs
Web
Training for
Small
Business
Owners
Number of
Trainings &
Participants
Outcomes
Attitudes,
Knowledge,
and Skills
Scores on
Post
Assessment
Behavior
Number of
Websites
Started
Conditions
Thriving
Small
Business
Sector
Number of
New
Websites
Generating
Income
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 Measuring
We 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 Template
What you want
to measure
Outputs:
Your Strategy
The Participants
Short Term:
Attitudes/Knowledg
e/Skills you want to
change
Intermediate:
Behavior you want
to change
Long Term:
Condition you want
to change
What
information you
need
Who has the
information
How you will
get the
information
How
often/when you
will get the
information
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 postassessment.