Research organizations are increasingly expected to demonstrate not only what they have accomplished, but also how their work contributes to meaningful change. This practical course will help participants develop a clear and credible performance story by connecting research activities, results, value, and longer term impact.
Drawing on Results Based Management approaches and the Government of Canada context, participants will explore how to develop results and impact frameworks, select meaningful indicators, establish realistic targets, and examine different pathways to impact. The course will also address how complex performance information can be translated into accessible reports and compelling narratives for decision makers, interestholders, funders, and the public.
Through practical tools, Canadian examples, and collaborative learning, participants will strengthen their ability to communicate the value for money and broader contributions of research investments. Particular attention will be given to how research can influence public policy, professional practice, innovation, and societal outcomes.
Participants will learn how to:
- Develop results and impact frameworks that tell a coherent performance story
- Select meaningful indicators and establish realistic targets
- Connect research activities and outputs to outcomes and longer term impact
- Examine different pathways through which research contributes to change
- Assess and communicate the value for money of research investments
- Translate complex performance information into clear reports and narratives
- Communicate research results and impacts to decision makers, interestholders, and the public
Course format
Two interactive half day virtual sessions:
1:00 PM to 4:00 PM EST
Kathryn Graham is a Professor of Research Impact Assessment and leads the Research and Innovation Impact Assessment Lab (RIIAL) at the University of Calgary, “where we transform inspiration into impact”. The lab is focused on advancing both the science and practice of economic and societal impact. In addition to advising organizations on how to strategically design, implement, scale and assess impact. She is an Organizational Psychologist by training with a passion in conducting “research on research”. She recently co-authored a book on the Cornerstones of Impact Management that outlines the nuts and bolts of operationalizing institutional systems and structures. She is a fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences and co-founder of the International School on Research Impact Assessment to train the next generation of impact professionals.
Steve Montague, Partner of Performance Management Network Inc. is a credentialed evaluator, a Fellow of the Canadian Evaluation Society and has over three decades of experience as a practitioner in performance measurement and program evaluation as a management consultant, an adjunct professor and as an evaluation manager in a major Canadian federal government department. Mr. Montague has managed major and minor projects analyzing a wide variety of programs for Canadian federal, provincial, United States, Scottish and Australian governments, as well as conducting work for the OECD, the World Bank, the European Union and the United Nations. He has published articles on measurement and evaluation in journals in Canada, the US and Europe and facilitated numerous presentations, panels and workshops on evaluation, performance management and information management. He was awarded the Contribution to Evaluation Award by the Canadian Evaluation Society in 2015 and the Carl Boudreault award for contribution to the Local National Capital Evaluation Society chapter in 2007. Steve is also a founding member and has been a three-time President of the Performance and Planning Exchange.