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Measuring soft outcomes
"Life is like a box of chocolates" as someone once mused on a park bench. The question is, do you head straight for the hard centres or the soft centres?
These days, the incessant demands for some kind of monitoring are more likely to land on your desk than a box of chocolates! The increasing emphasis on outcome measurement within the voluntary sector has required greater accountability and organisational learning. Funders have followed this shift in focus from activity to results. In the homelessness sector, the DCLG requires local authorities to provide outcome information under Supporting People.
Outcome monitoring is here to stay and is a key part of evaluation. It serves two functions:
As an audit tool (which is mainly quantitative information)
- are we doing what we say we are doing?
- are we working with the right people?
- are we providing the service we are being paid to do?
As a learning tool (which is mainly qualitative information)
- what difference are we making?
- what went well, not so well and what might we want to do differently?
- what was the persons experience of the service/of the workers?
- what is the learning to take forward for the service user and the organisation?
The so-called hard outcomes are most likely to be linked to targets and so are often seen as the priority for funders. Easier to measure because they are quantifiable, they may ask:
- have we contacted our target numbers for this quarter?
- how many accessed our service this year?
- have we reached our projected accommodation figures?
Equal measures
But hard outcomes only provide half the picture. Sometimes given a lower profile because they are seen as less scientific and more subjective, soft outcomes provide the important detail that will give a real insight into the experiences of those who access your service. They describe the journey rather than the destination, and chart any changes that occur and the progress a person makes towards reaching his/her goal.
They ask:
- what difference are you making to that person's life?
- what would happen if you had not offered the service to them?
- what is working, not working, and why?
But you also need to know what answers you are looking for in order to ask the right questions. This means that in planning any activity or service, you need to identify your desired outcome.
How do you measure the added value your service brings to a persons life? What progress are they making in achieving personal change? How to measure an increase in their confidence, motivation, and self-esteem?
Use the information that you already have it is unlikely that you will be starting from a blank sheet. Although some may be wary of being intrusive, our own experience tells us that it can be very heartening when others show a genuine interest in us.
Be creative - make the experience interesting and use methods that help the individual express their feelings. Am I the only one who has passed some idle minutes completing one of those self-assessment quizzes to find out more about the real me?
No one said it would be easy! You need to be creative and have sufficient resources to look at these harder to measure outcomes. It takes considerable planning and time to see the monitoring process through. Staff may need training and support to reduce their anxiety about questioning service users. Their reward will be to see what they are achieving with clients. For the clients, a feeling of empowerment, increased self-awareness and the chance to regain control of their lives. Hardly a soft option!
This article was written by Jane Kay, who was previously Homeless Link's Quality Officer.