Impact management is the new term for what was previously known in various guises as M&E (monitoring and evaluation), MEL (monitoring evaluation and learning), MEAL (monitoring, evaluation, accountability and learning), PMEAL (planning, monitoring, evaluation, accountability and learning), IA (impact assessment), IE (impact evaluation) or impact measurement (IMe). These terms are not all exactly coterminous, but basically generally mean the same thing - working out what the effects of your work have been, good and/or bad, and using that information to make it more effective in the future.
Making basic concepts more complicated can be a bad thing, but - as the list above indicates - in this instance the original concepts were often a bit of a mouthful. It's also a useful change. We at SERC have all experienced how frustrating it is when hard-won learning around issues of social effectiveness gets consigned to the cupboard once the reports containing them have been produced, and that's what impact management is designed to forestall.
There is a lot of stuff about it out there, but the clearest starting point is Social Value UK's blog on the issue. In simple terms, impact management means (to paraphrase NPC's useful definition) setting up evaluation so it feeds back into the delivery of your work.
The most important thing about impact management is that it doesn't require reams of academic level research. Instead it's about doing what you can with what you have - as the blog flags up, all you need is 'enough precision to make a decision'. So it's ideal for smaller organisations and projects.
Big funders (and some big companies) like it too, so it could be the coming thing. So if you want to get more of an idea of what it means in really practical, day-to-day terms, this article from Odd Arts is probably the best route map to what it looks like.
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RESOURCE LIST:
Realist Evaluation
Realist evaluation is an approach all projects or programmes should be aware of.
The standard approach of many funders and policymakers is on asking the non-realistic question "What works?", meaning "What works with all people in all circumstances?").
The only accurate answer to that question is...
(Click here to read more about this resource.)
Most Significant Change
The vast majority of projects decide in advance exactly what they're going to achieve, and list these achievements under headings like "outcomes" and "indicators".
This is good thing to do in itself - it's always good to have a plan - and is often a requirement of funding.
But too great a focus on outcomes and indicators can risk missing...
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Process Tracing
Process tracing is a technique for thinking about whether a change has happened because of an intervention, and perhaps even could only have happened because of that intervention.
It is most famous for a) its four levels of tests used to trace the process by which a project has caused change and b) being a bit like the techniques famous literary detectives use, particularly Sherlock Holmes in 'The Adventure of Silver Blaze'.
The four levels of test are as follows...
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Laws Of Evaluation
Probably the most cautionary thing to read for any evaluator before beginning their evaluation is Peter Rossi's classic 1987 work on the subject.
Rossi is most famous for his 'metallic laws', a set of rules of thumb relating to evaluation. There's an iron one, a stainless steel one, a brass one and a zinc one. None of them really laws any more than Murphy's Law, Godwin's Law or Michel's Iron Law of Oligarchy, but they are no less useful because of that.
Slightly tongue-in-cheek though all the laws may be, the steel one especially is a necessary caution...
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RESOURCE LIST:
Impact Management
Impact management is the new term for what was previously known in various guises as M&E (monitoring and evaluation), MEL (monitoring evaluation and learning), MEAL (monitoring, evaluation, accountability and learning), PMEAL (planning, monitoring, evaluation, accountability and learning), IA (impact assessment), IE (impact evaluation) or impact measurement (IMe). These terms are not all exactly coterminous, but basically generally mean the same thing...
(Click here to read more about this resource.)
Lean Start Up Theory
If there was ever a theory of organisational effectiveness that deserved the description 'buzzword', it's this one. Beloved of Silicon Valley and private company execs throughout the world, it refers to a particular way of creating and running new companies. So what is 'lean' (as its rather fervent disciples like to call it)?
The classic example of LST always given is ...
(Click here to read more about this resource.)
Co-Production
Co-production is a subject close to the hearts of all of us here at SERC. For that reason, we're very critical if it's done badly, or - worst of all - cynically (for example, when it's just used as a new piece of jargon, or as a way of papering over cuts to services, or as a way to abdicate responsibility for decisions).
But if done well, then in our experience it is probably the most socially effective way to run an organisation of them all.
So what is it? Well, in the simplest terms, it simply means...
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Fundraising Futures
All social projects need resources. With volunteering rates in long-term and (unless David Cameron can save the day) potentially irreversible decline, now more than ever it is properly funded projects and organisations that will make the difference in terms of increasing the social good in the UK.
Even the most volunteer-heavy project is far from cost-free. And there are many other looming clouds on the horizon that might make any organisation want to focus even more on fundraising...
(Click here to read more about this resource.)
The Information Library will be added to regularly on an ongoing basis. If you have any resources you feel could be added to the Centre's virtual library, email