Rethinking Core Performance Principles, Results and Measures: Moving from a Transactional to a Relational focus through a ‘Made in Canada’ Value System

Events in various domains (health, environment, economics, culture, and society) over the past decades have shown that framing results in terms of transactions — whether they are outputs or outcomes — has unduly favored short-term and short-sighted compliance, efficiency, productivity, and growth. This has produced unstable, fragile systems, blinded to their effects on specific groups and people, thereby excluding consideration of rights and interest holders. This approach plays into the interests of powerful key actors, creating large disparities in impact. Not only has this skewed power dynamics towards colonizers and oppressors, but it has also proven susceptible to emergent shocks and changes, thereby reducing resiliency in systems and society.

Conversely, results framing that favors and features true relationship and trust network building can incorporate these as key parts of understanding the performance of policies, programs, and initiatives. This approach creates longer-term, sustained impacts and promotes a value system more consistent with ‘human-focused’ orientations and beliefs. It can also be key to truly managing for results.

The webinar will feature four components:

Introduction – the problem: emphasizing the transactional over the relational
The ‘alternative’ principles – a focus on reach, reciprocal relations, engagement, trust, and influence networks as the core of any performance story
Complementary monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) approaches
Sharing – Q & A – a brief dialogue with participants shaping next steps and content

Examples and stories will be used to practically illustrate how these values can be applied in various contexts.

For more information follow this link: https://www.uottawa.ca/research-innovation/events-all/rethinking-core-performance-principles-results-measures-moving-transactional-relational