Benefits & Impact

website http://emergingpractices.jiscinvolve.org @andystew or @whaa

If you can't measure

something, you can't

understand it. If you can't

understand it, you can't control

it. If you can't control it, you

can't improve it.

“

”Dr. H. James

Harrington

Why? (Spitzer, 2007, p.17)

Focuses attention

Clarifies expectations

Enables accountability

Increases objectivity

Provides the basis for goal-setting

Improves execution

Promotes consistency

Facilitates feedback

Why? (Spitzer, 2007, p.18-19)

Increases alignment

Improves decision making

Improves problem-solving

Provides early warning signals

Enhances understanding

Enables prediction

Motivates

Convinced yet?

JISC should allocate core funding to

support activities which meet the

following criteria… deliver a clear

output with demonstrable impact and

value for money

“

”(JISC, 2012, p.9)

A JISC Perspective,

where we are heading…

A JISC Perspective

A JISC Perspective

Knowledge management is

fundamental to what JISC does. We

fund projects to help UK education

and research innovate. The

externalisation of knowledge is key!

3 easy(ish) steps

1 2 3

Baseline Evidence Impact

Baseline1

You should have already

done this in defining what

your problem is.

Project plan/proposal

Baseline1

…though it might be helpful

to summarise it in a table

http://bit.ly/baseline-template

Baseline1

http://bit.ly/baseline-template

At this stage we’re only focusing on:

• Baseline (As Is)

• Outputs

• Outcomes

• Expected Benefits (To Be)

• Indicators (what else can you

measure?)

• Stakeholders

Forget about actual change for now!

Baseline1

http://bit.ly/baseline-template

The template tells a story of progression but it

might be easier to complete in the following order:

1. Expected Benefits (To Be)

2. Indicators (what else can you measure?)

3. Baseline (As Is)

4. Outputs

5. Outcomes

6. Stakeholders

Ideally, benefits should be

quantified and

measurable, preferably in

financial terms.

“”

(OGC, 2007, p.70)

Baseline1

Benefits are best titled with a change term

at the beginning (such as

‘increased’, ‘faster’, ‘lower’, ‘cheaper’, ‘big

ger’); avoid ‘better’ or ‘improved’ as these

terms are not specific enough for further

analysis.

“”(OGC, 2007, p.69)

Baseline1

Struggling? Try a matrix exercise to

brainstorm benefits! For example:

Enterprise Education External

Efficiency

Effectiveness

Enablement

http://bit.ly/example-benefits

Evidence2

This is where

you focus on

the actual

change!

Evidence2

Refer back to your baseline!

• Baseline student retention

55%

• Expected to be 80%

• Actual, upon completion: 75%

Impact3

http://bit.ly/impact-template

The next step is to flesh out

what impact ‘actual changes’

have had…

Impact3

http://bit.ly/impact-template

A number of actual changes may lead to one

impact.

1. Highlight the impact(s) of your project

2. Explain the actual changes that led to that

impact

3. Provide supporting evidence from the

benefits template

Impact3

http://bit.ly/jisc-digital-storytelling

Use this high

level view to

tell your

storyies!

Issues

1. Time—

Funders, JISC, Programmes and

Projects must plan time for a

benefits realisation phase

2. Attribution—we’re particularly

interested in what can be attributed

to JISC’s intervention

ReferencesJISC (2012) Transforming/Reshaping JISC – JISC Transition Group.

Available at:

http://www.jisc.ac.uk/media/documents/aboutus/annualreview/reshaping-

jisc-report.docx (Accessed: 12 April 2012).

OGC (2007) Managing Successful Programmes. Norwich: TSO.

Spitzer, D. R. (2007) Transforming Performance Management: Rethinking

the Way We Measure and Drive Organizational Success. New York:

AMACOM.

AcknowledgementsWill Allen (JISC Netskills)

Caroline Ingram (JISC Netskills)

Lucy Nelson (University of Central Lancashire)

David Rose (JISC Emerging Practices Associate)

Andrew Stewart (JISC infoNet)