Course Content
Setting objectives
Choices must be made about what is achievable in a realistic time frame. Drafting good objectives is a bit of an art. They should be measurable, of course, and achievable with concerted effort. Objectives that are too easy will fail to move the dial on change. Objectives that are set too high to achieve can be demotivating to everyone involved.
Inevitably, the goals you are working toward will be complex and interdependent. If the solutions were easy, they would have been implemented already. Achieving results may take time and considerable effort. But you can achieve progress with interim outcomes, and measure and report them along the way to learn, adapt and sustain momentum. For example:
Change objective: Eliminating or reducing food insecurity
Interim outcomes:
- Establish pilot breakfast programs at three local schools by September 20--.
- Increase participation in school/community gardens by families with children by 20 per cent for each of the next three years.
- Work with the municipality and local partners to build a food desert strategy by March 20--.
As you work toward these objectives, you can and should revise or amend them when new information becomes available. The point is to make progress and identify strategies that work. Sometimes, learning that one strategy does not work can lead to another that does. You could establish your ultimate objective and your interim objectives and targets in a “Theory of Change.” Ideally, shifting the survey indicator you are concerned with is the ultimate impact of the change you map out.
See Appendix for a sample Theory of Change template.