Social good leaders face the dual challenges of positioning their organizations for growth in the face of uncertain times, while also maximizing their social impact. One strategy towards achieving both of these goals is to create what nonprofit researcher Mary K. Winkler called a “culture of continuous improvement.” A culture of continuous improvement is an environment where innovation and positive change are priorities and everyone is empowered to contribute to the process. Creating such an environment is not as complex as it may seem, but it requires intentional effort, learning to reflect, and becoming data-driven.
Be Intentional
Developing a culture of continuous improvement does not happen by accident. It takes intentional effort and careful planning. Your organization needs to implement well thought out processes and set clear expectations so that each member of your team knows and understands their responsibilities.
Setting clear goals is also critical to intentional improvement. Short, medium, and long term goals give your team something to aim for and a defined measuring stick to assess progress. These goals should include both organizational level outputs, such as services provided and beneficiaries served, and critical impact data. The purpose of goal setting and intentional improvement should be to increase the positive impact your organization has on individuals, families, and communities.
Being intentional includes having a strategy for evaluations. Conduct process evaluations early in the implementation of a new program in order to determine whether or not the services are operationally effective. This type of evaluation can also help you identify potential barriers to the program’s success. Impact evaluations should be conducted at the end of a short-term program or throughout the lifecycle of a continuing program. Impact evaluations look at how your programs have met their objectives and created positive outcomes.
Learn to Reflect
Improvement is a process that requires both trying new things and learning from your mistakes. If you want to develop a culture of continuous improvement in your organization, you must implement a continuous cycle of learning and feedback. This feedback loop starts with an environment of trust where both leaders and team members feel confident in their ability to think creatively and find innovative solutions to complex problems, and then take responsibility for their decisions. Your team members should feel safe to ask questions and provide feedback to each other and your leadership.
Once you’ve encouraged your team to innovate, the next step is to take a step back and honestly assess the effectiveness of any changes. Not all innovations turn out to be improvements, but they can still be sources of critical learning if you take the time to step back and reflect on what happened and why.
Become Data-Driven
Effective reflection and intentional change both require having insight into your programs and organization. Selecting and then tracking critical indicators empowers you to make data informed decisions that improve your organization and increase your impact. Real-time reporting provides your leaders and team members the information they need in their everyday jobs, as well as the insight required for long-term planning and improvement. These same reports can also be an effective tool for communicating your needs and impact to grantees, funders, and other stakeholders. Most importantly, real-time access to insights is a driving force behind a culture of continuous improvement and innovation.
SureImpact is a purpose-built impact management platform that is designed for social-good providers by social-good providers. SureImpact provides the data collection and impact reporting infrastructure to meet the unique needs of social-good organizations as they work to build a culture of continuous improvement and maximize their social impact. SureImpact’s simple and collaborative case management and outcome tracking tools are designed to help nonprofits manage, measure, and communicate their social impact while also increasing data capacity for their team members and supporting a high-performing culture.
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