I recently finalised a ‘measurement of performance’ guide and, within this, I explain various archetypes of services, and the types of measures that best fit each.
I’m particularly interested in relational services – the big hairy ‘social system’ ones that (should) really matter for the most vulnerable and ‘in need of help’ humans.
Most societies have decided to organise (i.e. intervene) because of a desire (or perhaps obligation) to help people. As such, knowing whether that ‘outside help’* is valuable to those in need is rather important…and it really won’t be about ‘how many/how much we did’ of something, or ‘how fast we did it’ (Ref. Our work this Year)
It will be about whether:
- it is wanted/ accepted/ engaged with;
- it assists, moving a person forward to a better place – as defined by them; and
- any progress is sustained and transformative
…noting that achieving and sustaining 1. above is very probably a pre-requisite for any advances in the space of 2. and 3.
Squire to the Giants 