The Measurement Plan
A measurement plan only makes sense when the community has a shared vision on where they want
to be in the future. Goals come from that vision statement. The breadth of the vision statement is shown by the
number of the basic five outcomes the goals relate to.
Some communities, when they put together a measurement plan, classify their current projects according to their
vision and the five outcomes. Projects often can contribute to more than one outcome. For example, James Brown
was eager to identify cooks to participate in the mid-winter festival because he sees it as important in using
local skills and knowledge. Sherry Blackhorse sees that increasing the number of cooks in the event leads to increased
diversity and communication in the community. Sven Nelson is convinced that getting more cooks to participate in
the mid-winter festival could lead to a number of micro-food processing enterprises, which would help economic
diversity. All are right. But each would measure a different outcome as a result of that action.
Once community projects or actions are linked to outcomes, it becomes easier to decide what to measure. Sometimes,
it is hard to link an action to any outcome. In that case, communities sometimes decide to engage in different
actions.
We have listed a menu of measures that might be helpful in determining the degree to which your community is successfully
moving toward its goal. But these are only a beginning. The ideal measure is what makes sense in your community
when you consider how to invest your resources (inputs) into actions that create a sustainable future.
|
