How do you evaluate your partnership's impact?

The foundational point of success for evaluating your initiative or organizational impact is to pinpont your stakeholders and what matters to them. You can't define an impact framework with truly understanding your stakeholders. An often missed point is to listen to your critics. Just like in setting up a sustainability strategy, it's only the positive impacts but the negative impacts that matter too. So be aware of what critics are saying to create the best impact framework and metrics to evaluate your success

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Engaging in collaborative dialogues with fellow stakeholders, can help shape a more comprehensive understanding of success. By reflecting on the partnership's evolving goals and sharing insights into the challenges and opportunities encountered, we can contribute to refining the impact framework. This collaborative approach ensures that the evaluation process is not only meaningful but also incorporates a holistic view of the partnership's journey and outcomes.

In a data-driven era, we often default to measuring success through quantitative metrics. Yet, not all impacts can be condensed into numbers. Solely relying on them risks oversimplifying complex outcomes, leading to "suboptimization." While we can numerically assess outputs like houses built or roads paved, how do we quantify intangible effects like community spirit or hope? Here lies the power of qualitative stories. Narratives capture human experiences numbers miss. Imagine complementing hard data with a "public logbook" of stories detailing project impacts. Both metrics and stories are essential, painting a fuller, richer picture of real-world impact.

Leader's unique insights and experiences within the partnership can offer valuable context to the evaluation findings. By actively participating in the reflection process, you not only contribute to informed decision-making but also help identify areas where adjustments may be necessary. Sharing these insights with partners and stakeholders facilitates collective learning and strengthens the partnership's adaptability. Ultimately, leaders' involvement ensures that the partnership remains dynamic and responsive, maximizing its potential for driving positive social impact through continuous improvement.

Partnerships are often an opportunity to take risks and do something differently. An agile, innovative small company taking action in partnership with a global corporate brand is a partnership likely to deliver more examples of learning (eg failures!) than two global corporate brands partnering. An SMEs ability to take risks and innovate can make them a valuable partner for bigger businesses.