A deep understanding of the problem and the people it affects
Knowledge of the causes of the problem and its context
A description of what success looks like
A survey of stakeholders and other influences
Your chosen approach to solving the problem
A theory of change for your solution
An understanding of the behaviors that are needed for your theory of change to work
Recognition of how your strategy might go wrong
Intro
Whether you are just launching an initiative or already operating one, you need a process for assessing progress as you implement your theory of change.
Why is assessing progress important? Recall that your theory of change is a series of causal links. So if you don’t do the activities, you won’t achieve the intermediate outcomes. And if the intermediate outcomes don’t occur, you won’t achieve the ultimate outcome and your strategy will fail.
Most social change takes years, if not decades, to achieve. You want to learn as soon as possible when there are problems along the way, since there may be opportunities to avoid or mitigate them.
In this step, you’ll create a plan to collect feedback to learn when problems arise. Hopefully, you’ll be able to make the corrections necessary to get back on track towards success.
Watch this video to explore why monitoring progress is so critical, and how feedback can help you improve your theory of change to have a greater impact.
Planning for Feedback
Before implementing your theory of change, you need to prepare to gather feedback that will tell you when and where there are problems, so that you can make course corrections.
There are two general kinds of valuable feedback.
» Unstructured feedback
This includes the views of your program’s beneficiaries, other key actors, and your own staff about how things are going. It also includes observations about your own organization and the environment in which it’s operating.
» Structured feedback
This is progress you can measure along the theory of change.
Let’s explore each type of feedback in depth.
Unstructured Feedback
What do people think and feel? Your strategy is designed to help people improve their lives. Good sources of information about whether it is working are the people you’re trying to help and others who are contributing to or affected by their wellbeing.
Another good source of feedback is your own staff members who are administering the project.
Though you may get early warning signals, most of this information will only be available as you begin implementing. But even before starting, it’s important to know who you will ask for feedback and what form your inquiry will take—for example, through individual interviews, focus groups, or surveys.
What’s the state of your organization and the environment in which it is operating? As you implement your strategy, you will also want to be alert and responsive to:
Changes in your organization’s capacity
Changes in the external context that may affect your success
Unintended negative consequences of implementing your strategy
(If these look familiar, it’s because they are categories you used to anticipate gaps in your theory of change and prevent failures.)
Structured Feedback from Monitoring
During implementation you will also need structured information about how you’re progressing. This is called monitoring. The basic components of a monitoring plan are indicators of progress at each stage of the theory of change, and it is often useful to have targets for each stage.
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Criteria for Indicators
Social entrepreneurs often complain—not without reason—that funders demand reports too often with too many indicators and in too great detail. Staff members sometimes make the same complaints about their leadership.
So how do you choose indicators that are not too difficult to track and that are truly informative about your program’s progress? They should be:
» Meaningful and useful
They should provide key information about progress or lack of progress, and should inform potential actions you might take to improve your strategy. If you’re not sure whether an indicator is useful, ask yourself whether knowing the result would make a difference to your work.
» Specific
The indicators should be as clear as possible about the nature and extent of progress you plan to achieve.
» Cost effective
The indicators should be likely to produce information that is worth the time and money necessary to obtain it.
Jordan's Journey
Let’s check in with Jordan and see how she develops a plan to track her progress with key indicators and targets for her diabetes prevention program.
Lessons in Change
Getting feedback doesn’t have to be complicated. Just keep in mind why you are making the effort. It’s because you benefit from learning about:
Your progress toward achieving the ultimate outcome—progress in completing activities, influencing necessary behaviors, and achieving other intermediate outcomes
The views of your target population and other key actors about aspects of implementation
Here are answers to common questions about how to gather feedback.
Wrap-up
Monitoring your progress and knowing how you’re doing is critical for every social enterprise. To do this you’ll need to create a plan to collect feedback as you implement your solution.
In this step, take time to determine:
On what activities, behaviors, and other intermediate outcomes you will track progress
The essential indicators and targets that will tell you what you need to know about your progress
You can use what you learn to improve your theory of change and its implementation—and hence your chances of solving the problem.