Evaluation Learning Circle wiki / October 2007 Joint Funders and Evaluation Circle Meeting

Leadership Learning Community

Funders and Evaluation Circle Meeting

October 24, 2007

9:00AM - 5:00PM

Ford Foundation - Board Room

320 East 43rd Street

Entrance on East 43rd Street between 1st and 2nd Avenue

Proposed Design

Funders and Evaluation Circle Meeting Aspirations

Build sustainable relationships for exchanging resources and learning
Explore the benefits and potential hazards of cost benefit analyses
Harvest early learning about what constitutes a strong return on investment (e.g. numbers, strategic impact, etc.) and how it is achieved
Explore methodologies and approaches for gathering data about the return on leadership investments
Utilize open space to identify critical issues for future learning.

9:00AM - 9:45AM

I. Welcome, Review of the Day, Introductions

A. Welcome by Donna Stark and short description of the Funders Circle

B. Introduction of our host, Alta Starr and welcome to The Ford Foundation

C. Review of the day (Introduce the concept of Open Space for lunch so people can start thinking about it): Donna

D. Who is in the room: Have participants look over the images and select one they are drawn to as they think about the complexity of attempting a cost benefit benefit analysis of leadership investments. Each person will tell us their name, organization and explain their image.

E. Group Debrief: We will capture the need for the difficulties involved in cost/benefit analysis on a flip chart.

F. Ask the group what they notice; what they might want to add.

9:45AM - 10:30AM

II. Framing the Issue

Fishbowl: Have folks with very different approaches in the fishbowl begin to conversationally explore the primary benefits that they are seeking as a return on their investment. Possible candidates might be Dianne, Rick, Sonia, Sally and Jean.

Potential Prompt Questions to the Fish (30 Minutes)

Tell us about the primary benefits your program seeks.

How do you think about the cost or investment needed to realize these benefits?

Has cost been a factor in the design of the strategy you are using to achieve these results?

If you had to defend the return on investment to your board, what would you say?

Have you ever asked or been asked to comment on the ROI from a leadership program and if you asked, what did you expect; or if you were asked, how did you address the question?

What are your assumptions about the cost and benefits of your program?

10:15AM - 10:30AM Break

The Design Challenge: A Practical Application

Scenario: Everyone will be presented with a scenario for which a leadership development approach is to be developed. The scenario will include the context, scope, and desired outcomes of the program on individual, organizational and societal levels.

Design Work: We will subdivide into four teams of evaluators/funders and each team will be asked to design a leadership approach to achieve the desired outcomes. The only variable in the scenario planning will be the budget that each team is given to work with.

Sharing: One delegate from each team will share highlights of the design.

Large Group Debrief:

Any surprises?

What do you notice about the relationship between the program budgets and designs?

Do you think the programs with a stronger budget were able to invest in a design that will better deliver on the desired outcomes?

Now that you have seen other designs, are there changes you would want to make in yours?

12Noon - 1:30PM (or 2:00PM)

III. Open Space Lunch: We will start lunch by providing an opportunity for circle participants to share lunch topics they would like to discuss (all topics encouraged, not ust ROI), invite others to join them and identify the area where they will be sitting.

Down to Work: Working session to explore methodologies and ata collection tools for learning about cost/benefit.

Claire: Allow 10 minutes to look over the survey and share observations from the surveys (15 minutes)

Large Group Discussion: (30 minutes)

What can we learn by trying to understand the cost and benefits of different leadership program?

What needs to be a part of our calculations?

What benefits have been demonstrated?

What benefits do we feel have occurred but have not been documented?

Can we assign value to benefits?

What concerns need to be managed?

Do we align what we value most with what we measure?

Small Group Work: Four Teams (45 minutes)

Assignment: Develop a methodology for collecting useful information from a diverse group of leadership programs about the costs and benefits of their programs. The purpose of the research will be to help us understand how to maximize the impact of leadership investments that support different outcomes in a variety of contexts.

3:15PM - 3:30PM Break

Large Group: Hear back from the teams (30 minutes)

Are there elements of these proposals that could take us forward in our learning about cost/benefit?

What are the directions that seem most promising?

Are there folks who would help flesh this out?

4:00PM - 4:30PM

IV. Next Steps, Next Meeting:

A. Review decisions, plans and next steps for continued research.

B. When should we meet again and on what topic?

4:30PM - 5:00PM

V. Process Learning: What can we learn from our process about how to support collective learning and collective work?

VI. Closing Reflections: As you think about our conversation today and this process and meeting, how would you succinctly express its level value or benefit? Be Creative!

costbenefitcircleagenda.doc