Implementation
Once you have thought strategically about the impact you aspire to as an organisation, the next step is to actually integrate impact into the organisation. This is one of the most decisive and, at the same time, one of the most difficult steps in impact management.
Which steps can you take?
When it comes to implementation, it is important to take three aspects into account:
How to get people on board. For impact management to succeed, it is important to gain support from employees. The starting point is creating knowledge of impact management and then focusing on developing the right skills needed to integrate impact management into the organisation. This will differ per role and function. For some employees, this means having knowledge of certain measurement tools, while for others it is more about impact-oriented thinking during strategic decision-making processes.
How to organise impact management within the organisation. For implementation, it is good to connect to an existing annual cycle, for example, the cycle linked to accountability. This ensures it does not remain at abstract plans, but that concrete actions are linked to them. When developing new annual plans, for instance, it is important to link these to the strategy step within impact management. Sometimes this also requires adjustments to certain systems, such as linking impact data to existing reports or dashboards.
How to facilitate the process with the right tools. When the right people are involved and the process is clear, it is important to support employees with practical tools. These help them to get started effectively. Think, for example, of the well-known Theory of Change model and simple templates for measurement plans and dashboards. In addition to tools for strategy and impact measurement, practical aids are also important, such as handouts or playbooks that help facilitate sessions, including tips for working methods and how to make a meeting engaging, interactive and efficient. Impact House has ready-made materials available for this purpose.
Tips
One of the key drivers to get people on board with impact management is to think primarily about what it brings them personally. For example, consider what impact management delivers for a financial employee within an organisation.
When organising sessions, it is good to reflect on three questions: who should be involved, what is the objective and which tools help with that? It is also important to determine how deeply you want to go into a topic. If you want employees to think along about the effects of an intervention, you do not need to explain the ToC in great detail. But if you want them to later facilitate such processes themselves, it is necessary that they understand the ToC well. That requires more explanation and a different approach.