outcome mapping for insight to impact meeting
DESCRIPTION
This is a presentation given by Enrique Mendizabal at the Impact to Insight meeting co-ordinated by ODI's RAPID group and held at King's College.TRANSCRIPT
A small exercise
• 5 minutes• On your own: Who are the stakeholders in
your line of work? Who are the key actors that affect the outcome of your work?
• Write them down on a piece of paper (just a list)
the outcome mapping story
2nd Impact and Insight Meeting, London, 2007
✓mid-1990s: need to demonstrate results
✓1998: Barry Kibel and Outcome Engineering
✓methodological collaboration with FRAO & NEPED (IDRC funded projects)
✓2000: publication of manual in English
✓presenting, training & using OM globally
✓2006: www.outcomemapping.ca
a brief history
©TOM Jochen Enterprises, Möckernstr.78 10965 Berlin
opportunities for P,M,E and learning
beginning
Life cycle of the program
endduring
objectives, inputs,
activities
results,outputs,impact
Impact(changes in
environmental or social conditions)
Objectives(activities, products)
Outcome Challenges(changes in behaviour)
Life cycle of the program
different approaches
Logical Frame
Analysis
Results based Mgt
the problem with « impact »Impact implies Development Implies
Cause & effect Open system
Positive, intended results Unexpected positive & negative results occur
Focus on ultimate effects Upstream effects are important
Credit goes to a single contributor
Multiple actors create results & need credit
Story ends when program obtains success
Change process never ends
what is outcome mapping?
a method for planning and assessing the social effects and
internal performance of projects, programs,
and organisations
a flexible, multiple-use tool
✓ Planning
✓ Monitoring
✓ Evaluation
What are we trying to accomplish and how?
What do we want to learn?
How do we know we are on-track?
OM’s response to 4 key planning questions
Why?
Who?
What?
How?
vision
boundary partners
outcomes challenges and progress markers
mission, strategy map, organizational practices
key ideas in
look at the bigger picture
See yourself as a part of an
interconnected web of relationships and
systems
recognize that change is…
✓ Continuous ✓ Complex✓ Non-linear✓ Multidirectional✓ Not controllable
embrace constant change
“You cannot step into the same river twice..”Heraclitus, 6th c.
Greek philosopher
How can we increase our knowledge of the processes we engage in?
How can we know if we made a difference?
How can we recognize contributors and share the credit?
In the face of this complexity:
keep your eyes wide open
Being attentive along the journey is as important as
reaching the destination
focus on direct partners
✓ Identify the individuals, groups, and organizations you work with directly and try to influence
✓ Develop a strong relationship with them
✓ Find the best way to support their contribution to the vision
recognize the limits of your influence
Program
= boundary partners
The rest of the world
nested spheres
Project
Boundary partners
Ultimate beneficiaries
Adapted from: Steff Deprez VVOB-CEGO, Nov 2006
sphere of control
sphere of influence
sphere of interest
focus of outcome mapping
Behavioural Changes
community capacity & ownership increases
program influence decreases
why behaviour changes?
✓ Development is done by and for people
✓ While a program may be able to influence peoples actions, it cannot control them.
✓ Ultimate responsibility rests with the people affected
progressive changes
• OM focuses on progressive changes in the behaviours (Progress Markers)
• Progress markers are like the scene-plans of a movie (for one of the characters). And like in a movie, their scenes will include other characters
• They are ‘our theory of change’• And are not set in stone
Progress Markers for local communities1. Participating in regular model forest meetings2. Establishing a structure for cooperation3. Acquiring new skills for managing model forests 4. Contributing resources to get the MF operational5. Articulating a locally relevant vision for the MF6. Promoting their MF nationally7. Expanding the partnership 8. Calling upon external experts for advice9. Requesting new opportunities for training10. Publishing examples of benefits achieved through MF11. Seeking out new partners for the MF12. Obtaining funding from different national sources13. Helping other communities establish MFs14. Sharing lessons learned internationally15. Influencing national policy debates on resource use
Therefore, think contribution not attribution!
development involves complex interactions
&you can influence but not control your partners (They are NOT like billiard balls!)
An examplemission vision
Girls & Women
Community Leaders
Women’s Self Help Groups
Families
PoliceState NGOs
Banks
Public Health Clinics
Strategic Partners
Strategies Project’s OutcomesBoundary
PartnersBP’s outcomes
BAIF
M&E
Accountability & Learning: A Balancing Act
Accountability & Learning: A Balancing Act
planning and assessment possibilities in OM
Program(performance
journal)
Partner(outcomejournal)
outcomes(behaviour changes in the
partners)implementation(interventions by the program)
relevance & viability(of the program)
contextual information
situational data
Strategies(strategy journal)
reviewing the intentional design1. Read the vision statement
Does this still reflect the program's dream?
2. Read the mission statement
Is this the greatest contribution our program can make? Have we been doing this? Why? Why not? Should we add anything or take anything away?
3. Review boundary partners
Is this who we are working with directly? Do we need to add or drop any boundary partners?
4. Review outcomes Do these accurately reflect transformations in our boundary partners as they strengthen their contributions to the vision?
5. Review progress markers
Was the change process we set out accurate and useful? What now needs to be added or taken out?
6. Review strategies What did we plan to do? Have we implemented these activities? Do we need to add, remove any?
7. Review organizational practices
Are we doing everything we can to maintain & enhance our capacity to support our partners?
ongoing OM applicationshttp://www.outcomemapping.ca
Ghana Korea Switzerland
Kenya Ecuador United Kingdom
Madagascar Mexico Brussels
Mali Egypt Netherlands
Namibia Bhutan Australia
Uganda Honduras Sri Lanka
Zimbabwe Guatemala India
What are we trying to accomplish and how?
What do we want to learn?
How do we know we are on-track?
uses
PLANNING articulate goals & define activities
MONITORINGtrack program performance & partners’ progress
EVALUATIONdesign & conduct a use-oriented evaluation
primary uses
how do we use it?
• Mostly ‘stealth’:– Key principles: Behaviours, Boundary
Partners, Progress Markers, Monitoring Journals
– Communications: focusing on Boundary partners
– KM: using journals for ‘learning on the job’– Capacity development: using the OM
narrative
Main constrains
• Time• Resources• Necessary changes in up-ward
accountability• Requires important changes in the user of
the methodology• Can be sued to evaluate (ex post) but it is
really designed for planning (ex ante)
A small exercise• On your own: go back to the list and underline
(or highlight or circle) the stakeholders with which you work directly (your boundary partners) -1 minute
• In pairs (with the person sitting next to you), one at a time: – Choose one of the boundary partners– Tell your partner how they behave today and how you
would love them to behave in the ideal future (if everything was perfect). Write them down
-15 minutes
A small exercise
• How different are two sets (stakeholders v. boundary partners)?
• Did you write down THEIR behaviours? (i.e. what they do or their relationships –NOT how aware or knowledgeable they are or what others do to them)
• Can you imagine a progressive process of changes from Today to Ideal?