Navigate Your Impact
In order to be able to manage impact, it is important to have a good Theory of Change which is kept up-to-date, as well as data that underpins its various components. This data can be kept in a visual report, also called a dashboard, which collects all relevant indicators.
To collect good and reliable data, the collaboration of the entire organisation is required. The same applies to integrating the insights from the dashboard into the organisation. For this purpose it is important to develop a culture of impact.
Tips & Tricks for the Impact Facilitator
Impact management is the entire organisations business, but it is equally important that someone takes ownership and guides the process. This can be done by one person or rotate between many.
From interviews with various organisations that have already gone through an impact trajectory, as well as interviews with their coaches, we have distilled a number of roles (expectations) for the ‘impact coach’. This impact coach is the inspirer who keeps underpinning both the importance and the feasibility of impact management; who makes people open to the change and get them started. During the process, (s)he takes on the role of a motivator who makes the first effects visible, reassures people when things get a little difficult and encourages everyone to go through the process fully. As a curator, the impact coach monitors the focus and checks that the necessary stakeholders remain involved. Finally, as a communicator, (s)he ensures that information becomes available and shared both internally and externally.
