I actually mentioned Outcome Measures in a

I actually mentioned Outcome Measures in a prior article (For Profit vs . Designed for Profit) about opportunities for project managers to gain some valuable learning and mentoring and volunteer their Homepage very own time to a charitable organization at the same time. This post will explore these opportunities in a little more detail in the area of measuring the outcomes of projects and programs.

Outcome Actions is an initiative that actually began using government agencies changing the way they deliver cultural services. Governments wanted to be able to measure the effects their services were having on their clients. There are/were agencies that governments fund in partnership with establishments such as United Way and those firms were forced by the governments in order to implement outcome measures in order to hold on to their funding. United Way grew to become involved, both because outcome dimension is a good approach to delivering value meant for donor money and because funded organizations needed help to implement outcome dimension.

The SMART Fund in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada describes Outcome Measurement because "... an approach to planning, managing, and evaluating projects that encourages people to be clear about what our projects performing and what they are CHANGING". The way that End result Measurements help organizations do this through ensuring that program objectives support typically the agencies strategy and that the goals and objectives involving component projects support the program's objectives. Further, measurements are applied to determine the project's success in interacting with stated goals and objectives. Outcome Measurement objectives go further:

To gather the best information to know whether the project is definitely achieving the results you want.

To know how to improve project activities based on the information gathered.

To identify chances and maximizes them and recognizes obstacles and helps remove them.

In order to communicate plans and achievements evidently to the team and other organizations.

To gain from the knowledge, experience, together with ideas of the team.

To give accurate and convincing information to compliment applications for funding.

There are other targets that are specific to the Not for Earnings sector (as is the support associated with funding applications) but the ones stated right here seem to me to be applicable to any project, no matter which sector it is within. Even the goal of providing exact and convincing information to support funding applications is applicable. Isn't a Business Circumstance a form of funding application?

There are obviously many areas where the discipline as a result of a successful Outcomes Measurement program could help a project manager from the for revenue sector. The key difference between the not for profit and for profit sectors will be the focus on helping people in the designed for profit sector vs. helping the company's bottom line in the for profit sector. This gap may not be that great though, particularly in the area of software program. Software systems are designed to be used by visitors to perform a job, to enter and method orders, or manage support phone calls, or sell software over the internet including. The objective of the system is to help the individual community to do their jobs or perhaps help them do them more efficiently. One of the problems with software development projects is the view that the overarching goal belonging to the project is to deliver a software system; this shouldn't be. The overarching goal ought to be to enable the user community to do their own jobs, or enable them to perform them more efficiently! Exposure to a project team that focuses on delivering a benefit to the people as opposed to delivering a product will help project managers to get more value from their tasks and in doing so, they improve their influence on the bottom line.

The experienced project manager can contribute to the not for profit's Outcome Dimensions program. Our experience managing hazards and opportunities are, or should be, well developed; this is a knowledge area we should have lots of experience in. Opportunities in addition to risks are no different in the not for profit project than in a regarding profit one. The management of the opportunities and risks requires precisely the same analysis, prioritization, and mitigation approaches that takes place in the for profit project so this is an area how the seasoned risk manager can be of help as a volunteer in a not for profit organization.

Outcome Measurement uses indicators to determine the project's success at getting together with goals and objectives. The indicators used are broken into 2 categories: quantitative and qualitative. Quantitative indicators use metrics pertaining to measurement. The goal might be to provide meals to shut-ins and the sign might be the number of meals delivered. The indicator might be an interim a particular, measuring progress towards a long term goal. Outcome Measurement uses target symptoms as well, so if the goal is without a doubt delivery of meals the target indicator might be 10, 000 meals and the indicator might be the number of meals and also the percentage of the target indicator. Task managers do this every day, using MS Project (or whatever other PM HOURS tool they use to manage their schedules). Qualitative indicators approach measurement from personal angle. A qualitative sign might be an increase in self-confidence, or with regards to the meal deliveries, it might be a degree of satisfaction with the service. Virtually any project manager who has participated inside a customer satisfaction survey will have a head start in this area. Project managers tend to have a fairly restricted view of indicators. Many will come from the MS Project device, those that don't usually come from a trouble reporting system, or a time keeping track of system. Outcome Measurements uses a pair of criteria to determine the feasibility of an gauge:

Accuracy - does it measure the result?

Can the information always be gathered in a cost effective way?

Does it give useful information which to make management decisions?

Does the information communicate well to stakeholders, including funding bodies?

You may want to implement these same criteria to choosing performance warning signs for your project.

Outcome Measurements offers different approaches to information gathering. These approaches are suited to the support delivery nature of the not for revenue sector but can be adapted for the for profit sector as well. They are:

Interviews, surveys, and forms.

Observation

Documents in addition to records

Sample or concentrate groups (subsets of the stakeholder community)

Data sampling - surveying a subset of the stakeholder group

We're all pretty well acquainted with collecting data from documents, records, and other Job Management Information Sources (PMIS), nevertheless how about surveys? I would advise virtually any project manager to get well knowledgeable about the not for profit agency's interviewing, survey, and questionnaire techniques. Check out borrowing those techniques to perform a customer happiness survey with project performance.

There are 2 approaches the seasoned job manager can take to volunteering. They can look for an agency that has yet in order to implement their Outcome Measurements software (or one that is struggling to perform so), or one that has efficiently implemented and has project managers and other workers who are experienced. Project managers who choose to volunteer to the novice agency can bring their for earnings experience to bear on the problem and help the agency to a successful implementation. There are also learning opportunities here. There are lots of resources available to an agency that wants to reach out, including coaching/mentoring from more knowledgeable organizations. This could be your opportunity to study from that coach or mentor.

Deciding on an agency that has experience with Outcome Proportions will provide the project manager along with new insights into defining project objectives that fulfill a human need. It will also provide you with new insights in how to choose measurements and the information to accomplish those measurements, in particular measurements that happen to be meaningful to stakeholders. There is also a way to learn about putting together the business case. Financed agencies are very focused on proving their own programmes are effective in meeting their very own clients needs and being able to verify with reports. The ability of these reports to communicate successful results signifies the difference between receiving funding and even going out of business.

Look for opportunities in the area to volunteer with a charitable organization. Chances abound and your offer will be served on. It's a win-win situation: the charitable organization gets your volunteer services and your project management expertise; you will get exposure to their outcome measurement functions. There is one other benefit you should experience. One of the areas that charitable organizations are assessed in is their ability to captivate, retain, and utilize volunteers. A lot of successful charitable organizations are very good at placing your experience to good use and making you feel appreciated.