We've run through the five stages of the LEAN social impact approach in earlier episodes. Three themes are common to every stage: being impact-led, communication, and embedding impact.
A social enterprise with an impact-led strategy is led by the impact it wants to create. This means being your purpose, rather than having a purpose.
Why bother? Many organisations get bogged down in a cycle of continuing to exist – which means chasing funding and contracts to continue delivering the same services and keeping their employees in jobs. This approach doesn’t always address whether the real mission is being delivered properly, or at all.
An impact led strategy is not a short-term approach. It flips much traditional business planning on its head, and asks how you can create the most impact for the people you work with (or for the environment). Heidi explains more.
When it comes to communicating impact, there are nine essential questions to address – otherwise you risk miscommunication or excluding people. Heidi has great ideas for communication channels and outputs for different stakeholders.
When impact is truly embedded, everyone in your organisation knows what impact you’re trying to create, why you’re measuring it, and is confident about how they contribute to creating it Heidi talks through the macro and micro elements of this, from culture to everyday actions.
The five stages of Heidi's LEAN social impact approach are Define, Plan, Measure, Analyse and Learn, and it's important to progress through each stage before moving to the next.
Heidi's new book explains everything you need to know about impact measurement and management and how to implement it in your organisation.
Get your copy first! Pre-order one of the limited number of hardback versions of
Impact First – The Social Entrepreneur's Guide to Measuring, Managing and Growing Your Impact at https://www.makeanimpactcic.co.uk/my-book-impact-first