Aligning Goals & Metrics

Aligning goals and metrics is a strategy that helps focus time and resources on producing the outputs and achieving the outcomes outlined in a project logic model. The approach can also help a team understand the effectiveness of an initiative over time, and provides a clearly-articulated structure for monitoring progress.

The long-term outcomes, short-term outcomes, and outputs highlighted in the logic model are each used in a specific way to produce a specific type of metric:

  • Output metrics (outputs) are typically things that ‘can be counted,’ but might also include qualitative information like client feedback, reflections, or documents.

    • Each activity in the logic model should be associated with a matching measurable output (e.g. # of people engaged, # of workshops held).

    • Some projects might also include logic model inputs in the list of project outputs (e.g. $ in sponsored funding, # of organizations involved, # of volunteers).

  • Outcome metrics help to organize understanding of the progress being made in achieving short, medium and long-term goals.

    • Short- and medium-term outcomes (goals) might include community-level behavior change (e.g. # of 311 lead line calls, change in # of daily steps, self-reported behaviors) or resource allocation decisions ($ invested in affordable housing, # of skilled staff, % of budget allocation).

    • Long-term outcomes (impact) typically includes population-level metrics that indicate changes in social, economic, political, or environmental systems (e.g. % change in obesity rates, % change in childhood lead poisoning, policy change)

Metrics can be quantitative or qualitative depending on what is being measured.

 

Videos & Helpful Resources

Use these resources to learn more about aligning goals & metrics effectively.

 

Make sure you set SMART goals

Setting objectives and key results

Metrics and strategy in business

On purpose and metrics

Developing key performance indicators

Measuring what matters

Strategies & Tips for Success

Make your goal and metric alignment efforts more effective by keeping these strategies and tips in mind:

  • Find a balance between quantitative and qualitative measures - there are many ways to measure effectiveness

  • Quantitative metrics will enable you to track how you’re doing against targets

  • Qualitative feedback from users can offer rich insights into how and why your project is working or not working

  • Keep metric names concise

  • One metric should only measure one output, outcome, etc

  • Make sure the framework includes metrics and targets required by relevant funders.

  • Set appropriately-timed targets: use the overall output targets from the logic model to structure targets at the weekly, monthly, quarterly, or annual level.

 

Create a Goals & Metrics Table

1) Review the Logic Model you created in the previous module (Logic Models & Theory of Change)

2) Create a table (or spreadsheet) listing the long-term outcomes in the first column. Name this column "Impact”

3) Create a second column and list the short- and medium-term outcomes that are aligned with each long-term outcome. Name this column “Goals”

4) Create a third column and list the output metrics that are aligned with each short- and medium-term outcome. Name this column “Outputs”

5) Make sure each Impact, Goal, and Output metric is listed on its own line/row.

6) Add 2-12 “Monitoring” columns, depending on your planned tracking frequency (monthly, quarterly, etc)

7) Add a “Total Progress” column that will include the sum/aggregate of quantitative metrics and links to documents containing qualitative outputs.

8) Add a “Target” column that will list the planned overall project targets for each output, goal, and impact metric

9) Add a “% to Target” column, a figure that can be produced by dividing “Total Progress” / “Target”

10) Add one more column called “Data Source”

11) Fill in the Goals & Metrics table as much as possible

 

In the Field

As a neighborhood consultant, you can submit up to 3 goals & metrics tables for the programs, processes, and services you’re working on. Notes and outputs should be summarized and shared to enhance our learning.

Goals & Metrics Field Journal Worksheets available on request from aaron[at]akroadvice.com