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What Do We Mean
by Outcomes?
Moving towards Outcomes by an organization, its employees, suppliers,
and network partners can provide:
- Focus on
achieving impact vs. doing things.
- External/Service
frame of thinking vs. being only internally-driven
- Forward-
and future- orientation vs. context of status quo or past
- Ongoing "so
what" questioning for the customer/community you serve
- Added energy,
enthusiasm and motivation for all involved
All too often,
employees are found doing tasks mainly because "the boss"
asked them to do so. Or, power politics and turf protection games
drive actions that actually reduce effectiveness and/or confuse
and disillusion the people of the enterprise. Or, we get caught
up in the whirlwind of the day-to-day feeling overwhelmed with all
the things coming at us! With clear outcomes in place however, executives
and leaders can provide better context and meaning for all involved
- and better answer the questions "why?"…
- Why are
we doing this?
- Why is "this" our priority for today/this week?
- Why should I work across boundaries and make the effort to collaborate
with others?
With clear outcomes,
staff can also more easily take initiative, step-up and take responsibility
for achieving impact and unleash their creativity. Outcomes combine:
- Statements
of commitment to achieving a future impact, along with
- Specific
and concrete measures of that success
Outcomes allow
everyone to strive for and celebrate making a difference.
| Top
10 Reasons Employees Come To Work Each Week
1. To
Make a Difference/Contribution, sense of achievement
2. Work with interesting/friendly colleagues
3. An enjoyable work environment
4. Opportunity to learn, grow, receive training
5. Opportunity for promotion/advancement
6. Feel work is appreciated/respected by boss/mgr.
7. Earn a good wage
8. Opportunity for bonus
9. Vacation & other Perks
10. Retirement plan
[A
compendium of several sources & annual survey results]
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Why Shift
To an Outcomes Approach - from Your Existing Goals?
Imagine merging two companies.
All involved start thinking about which culture will "win"
over the other; which system(s) will provide the backbone to the
new enterprise; and how will the new organization structure be decided.
Focusing on
Outcomes, and how the new enterprise can best serve its clients
- redefining success and consequences in an external, future-focused
manner - allows for more objective decision-making and enhanced
focus outward where it can be most productive. It will also encourage
people to work across stovepipes and innovate together.
Imagine
the devolution of responsibilities from a Federal/Central Government
to Regional/Provincial/State Governments, and on to Local Governments.
Again, an Outcomes approach may be the only way to navigate divergent
interests and to keep the citizens and community benefit foremost
in the process. Agreement on over-arching community results/achievement
can better allow the different levels government to focus on what
each can bring to the initiative - as well as what capacity-build
might be requires for the next layer which the new powers &
responsibilities are being devolved.
Imagine
developing consensus amongst diverse professionals, artistic contributors,
or mobilizing a network of otherwise disparate organizations to
share knowledge, insight, expertise and perspective. Finding
"common cause" and meaningful impact to galvanize the
group into a team can be well achieved through the co-definition
of Outcomes.
Outcomes also
provide the basis for Transparency and Accountability. In fact,
without Outcomes statements and measures, there is arguably NO possibility
for achieving the Transparency and Accountability that so many organizations
talk about today. The reason that Transparency and Accountability
is so hard to achieve, is that so few organizations make the effort
to put in place the statements of impact that they will publicly
commit to, and also enunciate clear measures of such, upon which
they can report their progress annually, quarterly, etc.
So, in a world
of multi-jurisdictions, network organizations, continuously shifting
expectations, and enhanced community requirements regarding dialogue
and reporting, Outcomes can be the force that pulls us forward and
together, stretches us to truly perform and achieve meaningful impact
together.
What Does
an Outcomes-Focused Organization Look Like?
First and Foremost, you take an Outside-In approach. You must shift
the thinking and attitude external! It becomes about making a difference
vs. just achieving "results" that you internally define.
In order to
do this, almost everyone in the organization has to get out and
talk with clients/community about the expectations they have for
the enterprise's products, programs, and services. Better still;
bring the clients, community and collaborators IN to the organization's
planning processes, customer service training, and product/service
design initiatives.
In a technical,
scientific, creative, or even policy dominated organization; this
can be a difficult change in the way people do things. Likely the
professionals-turned leaders have been trained to be "experts"
and rewarded/promoted for their own ideas. While this expertise
is valuable, today's fast-paced rate of change requires bringing
more diverse perspectives IN to the table. Otherwise cloistered
internal experts can become insular, separated from the very people
that are the organization's lifeblood, develop innovations that
"miss the mark", and possibly develop a debilitating arrogance.
Outcomes focused
organizations get the critical mass of the workforce thinking and
acting Outside-In!
Second, in engaging
multiple stakeholders, leaders must become facilitators rather than
directors. Outcomes focused organizations have successfully developed
facilitation expertise throughout the organization. These facilitation
skills can then promote real dialogue, collaborative exploration,
knowledge-sharing, and ultimately break-through innovations. Outcomes
focused organizations embrace exploration of paradox, or different
perspectives of an issue, pattern identification and re-combination
of pattern elements into new ones. They also exemplify leadership
of projects that invites contributions from and engagement of all
the parties involved. This really IS a different way of thinking,
asking questions and leading.
Third, focus
on "dynamics". How are things changing around you? Where
are we headed? What are the "values shifts" that are occurring
in the communities we serve? How do we want to position ourselves
to add/create value? What must we accomplish - by when?
Finally, Outcomes
organizations are committed to accountability and measurement:
- measurement
of achieving impact vs. churning out of pieces, events, copy,
etc.
- measurement
of advancement, progress, and change vs. the input of money, time,
effort and resources.
This commitment
to measurement moves Outcomes measures higher up in the strategic
thinking/ planning process. No longer are we measuring whether we
carried out the strategies or actions we decided were important
to do. Instead, right up front, we engage multi-stakeholder input
to the definition of measures of our long-term success - ones that
we can advance against over time. These long-term measures then
allow us to define/adjust our strategies & actions as conditions
change or we become more wise; yet they act as beacons which we
can work together to pursue and achieve.
Beyond Semantics
- This is a Major Cultural & Leadership Shift!
When we are committed to achieving impact as opposed to doing things,
we will think, act and work differently.
Even the most
mundane of meetings will start with the question: "what are
we trying to achieve here today?"
Decision-making
will start and end with the thoughts: "How will the various
elements and approaches of our solution advance us towards the positioning
we want or the outcomes we are trying to deliver?"
Executive leaders
will start and end staff meetings reinforcing the impact the organization/division
is pursuing - or at least the component(s) to which the team is
contributing. Executives themselves will get out and talk with clients,
meet with community leaders and dedicate say 10 - 15% of their time
to such activities. Also, they will make time for and encourage
project teams or communities of practice working across traditional
stove-pipes, time-zones or geographic areas to meet, dialogue, exchange
knowledge/insight and learn together in their achievement efforts.
The Strategic
Plan and Guideposts of the organization will also be structured
(and possibly sequenced) differently.
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Environmental/Network
Scan
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What
are the dynamics around us that might impact upon us
and provide opportunity to make a difference? What are the
forces/flow elements that are affecting our clients, collaborators,
competitors, regulatory environs - how are we connected and
what do they mean to us and the impact we can make?
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Vision
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A
compelling picture of a future state and achievement of impact
with a distinct community of interest. Your Vision will also
identify how your organization uniquely creates value over the
next 5-10 years.
[Make it plain language and understandable by
all - avoid the Dilbert-esque Mission statement or sweeping
Vision statement that can really never be achieved but is supposed
to continuously pull you forward!]
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Critical
Success Factors
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These
are statements of initiative and commitments
to specific accomplishments. Often they are done in a "Balanced
Scorecard" style with 4-6 statements of achievement related
to:
- Customers/Clients
- Financial
Results
- Human
Resources/Network Development
- Internal
Systems, Processes, Innovations
- Government/Community
Relations
- Other
Specialty area unique to the organization and industry.
Each statement
should be concrete, specific and bring to mind a consistent
picture of end-state achievement.
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Outcomes
Measures
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For
each CSF, you will identify one or more statements of
success measurement. They should stretch the organization and
describe a condition that may well take several years to achieve.
[Also, if you are going somewhere new, and achieve new measures
of success, it is likely you will need to design new mechanisms
for collecting/reporting results.]
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Strategies
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For
each long-term Outcomes Measure, the
Organization/Division/Team/Individual will identify the strategies
they will use to advance towards the measure.
These strategies should be prioritized and delineated for Year
1, Yr 2, Yr 3, Yr 4, etc.
They will be revisited and possibly adjusted annually.
Critical to consider in this area will be some strategies to
STOP doing the current things in order to re-focus on the new
Outcomes.
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Actions/Budget
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Usually
described in the form of the Annual Business Plan &
Budget, these describe the use of resources in the near term
to advance as outlined. |
Reporting will
also change somewhat!
Reporting both
internally and externally will not only show what has been achieved,
but also describe the gap remaining between current achievement
levels and the desired end-state impact. Along the way to success
you will actually be reporting a 'gap' between current state and
end-point. Of course, you will hopefully be reporting a closing
of the gap, and advancement towards the Vision of impact!
Performance
Management - Also a Focus on Achievement
Consistent with the above principles, the organization must also
shift their approach to performance management.
At the start
of each annual cycle, executives & managers will meet with their
people to review the Vision, Critical Success Factors, Outcomes
Measures, and Strategies.
Starting at
the top, the CEO will have all CSF and Outcomes Measures on his/her
Performance Plan for the year.
These then spill
down to each Divisional/regional VP - most likely at this level
every VP has a component of all 5-6 CSF's and Measures of Success,
showing how their division/region will contribute to the overall
Outcomes Measures.
As these spill-down
further to the front-lines of the organization, each person should
be aware of the organization's overall Vision for impact in the
community and how they will contribute to the advancement towards
the Vision in the coming year. At the front-line level, though an
individual may only focus on one or two of the CSF's, they should
know about all of them and how they contribute to/support others
in their team or other parts of the organization to achieve advancement
towards the Vision of Impact.
These Performance
Plans ideally will be completed within a month of the start of the
annual cycle and be reviewed Quarterly so there are no surprises
and adjustments may be made to their strategies/actions in order
to deliver results.
At the end of
the year individuals, teams, division and the organizations as a
whole are then evaluated/rewarded based upon achievement and advancement
vs. just doing things. This is very different to an Annual Appraisal
without concrete criteria and many subjective assessment elements.
Thus, this approach
to performance management is a critical component to implementing
an Outcomes approach.
Becoming
Outcomes Focused is Rigorous and Demanding
As you can see, taking an outcomes approach is a demanding leadership
move. Ultimately however, it is the "right way" to move
in today's high performance world.
Organizations
that can't clearly enunciate how they create & deliver "value"
to their clients and community, will having an increasingly difficult
time surviving. Investors, tax-payers, customers are all expecting
more frank and honest communication about how their funds are used
by the organizations they support.
These demands
for Transparency and Accountability are best answered by executives
transforming their enterprises into Outcomes-Focused organizations!
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