Results at the Speed of Trust: A New Approach to Contribution Tracing and Results Assessment

What if some of the most important drivers of results are also the least visible?

Traditional approaches to performance measurement and evaluation often focus on activities, outputs, and outcomes. Yet experience consistently shows that reach, relationships, trust, engagement, and influence are critical factors in determining whether programs, policies, projects, and initiatives ultimately succeed.

This webinar introduces an innovative approach to Cause-and-Effect Contribution Tracing that places trust and relationship networks at the centre of results thinking. Building on conventional logic models and theories of change, participants will explore how these often-overlooked factors can be systematically incorporated into results frameworks, performance stories, and impact assessments. The session will present a made-in-Canada approach for both understanding past results and assessing the likelihood of future success.

Drawing on contribution tracing concepts and emerging probabilistic approaches, the webinar will demonstrate how organizations can strengthen evidence-informed decision-making, improve value-for-money assessments, and better understand the pathways through which change actually occurs.

What You Will Learn

• Why reach, relationships, trust, and influence networks are essential components of results achievement.
• How Cause-and-Effect Contribution Tracing complements traditional logic models and theories of change.
• Practical approaches for incorporating relational factors into performance measurement and evaluation frameworks.
• How contribution tracing can strengthen accountability, learning, and value-for-money assessments.
• Ways to assess the likelihood of success of programs, policies, projects, and initiatives.
• How probabilistic and evidence-based approaches can support more credible impact assessments.
• Methods for making assumptions, enabling factors, and trust networks visible within results stories.

Why Attend?

Many organizations acknowledge that trust, collaboration, stakeholder engagement, and influence matter, yet few have practical ways to incorporate these factors into performance measurement and evaluation systems.

This webinar offers a fresh perspective by treating relationships and trust as measurable contributors to success rather than intangible background conditions. Participants will gain practical ideas for improving results planning, strengthening theories of change, and telling more compelling and evidence-informed performance stories.

Who Should Attend?

• Performance measurement professionals
• Evaluators
• Results-based management practitioners
• Policy analysts
• Program managers
• Researchers and research administrators
• Government professionals
• Non-profit and civil society leaders
• Innovation and organizational development professionals
• Students interested in evaluation, public policy, organizational change, and performance measurement

About the Presenters

Greg Richards brings experience in organizational performance, systems thinking, and analytical approaches to complex challenges. His work focuses on understanding how relationships, engagement, influence, and trust contribute to organizational and societal outcomes.

Steve Montague is a recognized leader in results-based management, performance measurement, evaluation, and organizational learning. Through decades of work with governments, research organizations, and international partners, he has helped organizations strengthen results frameworks, improve accountability, and support evidence-informed decision-making.

Together, Steve and Greg will explore how contribution tracing can make the invisible drivers of success more visible and measurable, helping organizations better understand how results are achieved and sustained. The webinar is intended as an accessible session for practitioners while also introducing innovative concepts that may shape future approaches to performance measurement and evaluation.

Registration

This webinar is offered free of charge as part of the PPX Webinar Series.

Join us to explore how trust, relationships, engagement, and influence can be incorporated into stronger theories of change, more meaningful performance measurement systems, and more credible results stories.