Our training, resources and support will help you to ensure that:
- Everyone is on board with your evaluation process, and
- You have clear statements about the outcomes of your project or organisation.
Workshops
Getting started: Setting outcomes and indicators is the first workshop in our Let’s Evaluate! programme and is the best place to start learning about how to set outcomes and choose indicators.
Resources for setting outcomes and indicators
What is an outcome?
Listen to Shona Wells, Training Officer explain what outcomes are in one minute!
What is an outcome?
So outcomes are the changes or differences that you hope to make through the work that you do and often we’re quite good at describing the activities that we deliver or the services that we deliver but find it a bit more challenging to explain the differences that we hope to make by delivering those activities. So that’s what outcomes are all about – explaining the difference or change that you hope to make through you work.
It can be helpful sometimes to ask yourself the question, ‘What is the problem we are trying to solve?’ and then based on that problem, you can start to think about the outcomes you hope to work towards, so what solutions might you be hoping to work towards to address that problem. And we recommend having outcomes so that you can measure the difference that you are making, not only so that you can prove the value of your work maybe to funders or to an external audience but also so you can improve your services as well.
How to write an outcome
Shona Wells, Training Officer talks you through writing an outcome in one minute!
How to write an outcome
Because outcomes are about change they should always contain a change word and by that we mean a word like increase, decrease, reduce, improve. They should describe the ‘who’, ‘what’ and ‘how’ of change. So for example, if we had an outcome that was ‘older people will feel less isolated’, the ‘who’ is older people, ‘what we are hoping to change’ is how isolated they feel, and how do we hope that will change is the ‘less’. So the ‘how’ refers to the direction of change rather than how will we change it. The direction of change is the increase, decrease, more, less. So if an outcome is about change and describes the ‘who’, ‘what’ and ‘how’ of change then it’s a well written outcome.
What is an indicator?
Grace Robertson, Training Officer at Evaluation Support Scotland explains indicators in less than one minute!
What is an indicator?
Once you know what changes or difference s you’re trying to make. That’s your outcomes. The next step is for each of your outcomes to set some indicators. Indicators are the things that you measure to tell you whether or not you’re achieving your outcomes. Indicators will tell you what questions you need answers to and they’ll tell you where you can get evidence about those changes happening. Indicators are especially useful when you are trying to measure softer outcomes – so things that are more subjective. An example might be an increase in confidence. Indicators will tell you what you need to measure to see if you’re achieving that outcome of something like increased confidence.
Working out what to measure: setting indicators
Working out what to measure: setting indicators
When you’re setting indicators for your outcomes there are some important
things to bear in mind so that they are useful. Because you normally need to
measure your indicators on more than one occasion it’s not helpful to have
change words within them, unlike with your outcomes. So instead you are going to have a neutral statement. Indicators often have words like level of, or ability to, or number of. So those are neutral things that you can measure on more than one occasion. An example for indicators of a soft outcome, like increased confidence, could be things like ability to make eye contact, willingness to get involved with activities, or ability to make friends. So setting clear indicators for your outcomes will tell you what things you need to measure.
Evaluation tools
Big Picture Route Map
This visual tool can help participants reflect on their current situation or experience of an event and to help start discussions on what the next step for them might be.
Big Picture Route Map – Introduction
This cartoon map has different vehicles, routes and characters. This visual tool can help participants reflect on their current situation or experience of an event and to help start discussions on what the next step for them might be.
ESS Evaluation Tool: Weaver’s Triangle
This tool can help you to clarify the impact you want to make and separate your aims, outcomes and activities.
Videos
What is an outcome?
Training Officer Shona Wells explains what outcomes are in one minute!
What is an indicator?
Grace Robertson, Training Officer at Evaluation Support Scotland explains indicators in less than one minute!
How to write an outcome
Shona Wells, ESS Training Officer, talks you through writing an outcome in one minute!
Working out what to measure: Setting indicators
Training Officer Grace Robertson talks through what to measure and setting indicators for evaluation in less than one minute!
ESS Support Guides
ESS Support Guide 1a Setting outcomes
This guide helps you work out what your outcomes are and how to write them.
ESS Support Guide 1b Working out what to measure (Setting indicators for your outcomes)
This guide explains ways to develop and use indicators to help you measure your outcomes.
ESS Support Guide 1c – Developing a Logic Model
This is a practical guide that focuses on how you put together a basic logic model to help you think about your aims, outcomes and activities.
Evaluation Guides
Evaluating Community Projects – A Practical Guide
These guidelines were developed to help 20 community and voluntary organisations to evaluate their work.
Explaining the difference your project makes: A big guide to using an outcomes approach
This guide sets out some of the main steps that you will have to take to plan and manage a project using an outcomes approach.
Case Studies
Setting Outcomes Case Study: We’re all on the same page now! (Music 4 U)
This case study is about how a range of evaluation support helped Music 4 U get to grips with evaluation.
Other resources
Mapping personal outcomes to project-level outcomes
Shona Wells talks about how she helps third sector organisations see a way to use personal outcomes to show the difference their service makes.
Can’t find what you’re looking for?
Visit the Resources & Publications page. Or get in touch to ask for more help.