Tool 6 – Performance Measurement

In the development stage of a plan, it is necessary to identify and understand the key risks and problems in the community and then to explore what can be done to address them.

In order to choose the best strategies and activities for the specific risk or problem at hand, partners involved in planning should seek out evidence of what works by conducting research or engaging others with experience and expertise in that area. Leverage the strengths of existing programs, services or agencies/organizations in the community and beyond to implement activities that are proven to achieve results and improve the lives of those they serve.

At the planning stage, it is also important to identify the intended outcomes of those activities in order to measure performance and progress made towards addressing identified problems. Outcomes are the positive impacts or changes activities are expected to make in a community. Some outcomes will be evident immediately after activities are implemented and some will take more time to achieve. Whether planning for incident response, mitigating elevated risk situations, working to reduce identified risks, or promoting and maintaining community safety and well-being through social development, it is equally important for planning partners to set and measure their efforts against predetermined outcomes.

When performance measurement focuses on outcomes, rather than completion of planned activities, it presents opportunities for ongoing learning and adaptation to proven good practice. Performance measurement can be incorporated into the planning process through a logical step-by-step approach that enables planning partners to consider all the components needed to achieve their long-term outcome, as outlined below.

 Inputs: financial, human, material and information resources dedicated to the initiative/program (e.g., grant funding, dedicated coordinator, partners, analysts, evaluators, laptop, etc.).

 Activities: actions taken or work performed through which inputs are used to create outputs (e.g., creation of an advisory committee and/or implementation team(s), development, ehancement or review of strategies in social development, prevention, risk intervention or incident response, etc.).

 Outputs: direct products or services resulting from the implementation of activities (e.g., multi- sector collaboration, clients connected to service, development of a plan, completion of a program, etc.).

 Immediate Outcomes: change that is directly attributable to activities and outputs in a short time frame. Immediate outcomes usually reflect increased awareness, skills or access for the target group (e.g., increased awareness among partners and the community about the plan and its benefits, increased protective factors as a result of a program being implemented like increased self-esteem, problem solving skills, etc.).