Next Steps

Here are the steps your team needs to complete after Session 2:

1. Define your indicators of impact (Module 2 - Indicators Worksheet). Your indicators tell us how you'll know you're achieving your intended impact and how far along the path you are to getting there.  Use the Heart Triangle to guide you in creating quantitative indicators (know, do, feel) and qualitative indicators (believe, become, love) for each of your impact statements. 

2. Refine your impact statements and "what we mean" description, if needed.  It's very common that you'll make adjustments to your impact statements as you work through your indicators. Think about whether your impacts are at the right "elevation" and significant enough to be the ultimate impact that your indicators are pointing to.  

3. OPTIONAL - Articulate your principles of change (Module 2 - Principles of Change Worksheet).  This is an optional (but helpful) exercise that you can do if you feel like you have time to tackle it.  Your indicators are the top priority.  Your principles of change are the principles behind your work that provide the answer to the question "Why do you do what you do in the way that you do it?"  It's helpful to start by spelling out the critical features of your program - the key things you do that make your program unique and impactful.  Then for each of those features, you'll articulate the principle behind it that explains WHY it's so important. 

4. Send in a draft of your indicators by Tuesday, November 28. Your coach will send you feedback within a few days

5. Review the feedback from your coach and revise your draft

6. If needed, send your draft to your coach to review again

7. Get your draft as close to "final" as you can before the next session

Tips

For your indicators

• When trying to decide which side of the Heart Triangle your indicators should be on (mental, behavioral, or emotional), I find it helpful to think about where the indicator is coming from on your body. Is it coming from your head (know/believe), your heart (feel/love) or your hands (do/become)? 

• If you have the same indicators for multiple impact statements, consider if the impacts are truly distinct. If you have come overlapping qualitative indicators that's okay because these are significant transformational shifts. But if many of your quantitative indicators are the same, it probably means that your impacts are too similar and either need to be combined or made more distinct. 

• Just like your impacts, your indicators should be focused on the changes you want to see in the people you serve as a result of your program, not on what your program is doing to create those changes. Keep the spotlight on the people you serve! 

For your principles of change

• Your principles of change should help to connect the dots between your critical features and your intended impact. You can't just do what you do in any old way and expect to achieve the inspirational and aspirational impact you intend. Be sure your principles of change make why you do things in the way you do clear so we can see how your program is designed to achieve that impact. 

• When you are trying to identify the principle behind your critical features, it is helpful to keep asking "why?" until you can't anymore. For example: 

 Critical feature: The curriculum in our program is centered around play. 

Why is your curriculum centered around play? Play is an important part of early childhood development. 

Why? It helps children learn about themselves and how to interact with the world around them and with others. 

Why? This builds cognitive and socioemotional skills that carry over into many aspects of their lives including academics, relationships, and many others. 

Need Help? 

Contact your coach! 

You can schedule a coaching session or reach out via email or phone. 

Jessamyn Luiz - jessamyn@dialoguesinaction.com, 971-266-3371