Over the course of hundreds of conversations about relationships, Iona Lawrence identified a shared challenge around measurement: We don’t know how to measure relationships or whether the game of measurement is futile.
In this blog, we seek to kickstart a generative conversation around the question of how we capture the added value of a relationship-centred approach, and whether this is a useful pursuit. We’d love to hear your experiences, challenges and ideas.
We are collectively in a place where the question of how best to measure or value relationships is deeply contested. For some people measurement is the most important shared challenge anyone interested in relationships has: if we can get better at consistently measuring the impact of relationships we might be able to nudge the skeptics away from believing that relationships are ‘fluffy’ or a nice extra.
Yet for others the act of measuring the value of relationships on terms set by funders or commissioners can threaten the very essence of them.
Wherever you are, a huge amount of energy is poured into the question of how we articulate the value of relationships, and this is threatening our resolve.
Let’s open up the question of how we measure relationships and see whether, together, we can make some progress.
What?
What are we trying to measure or assess when it comes to relationships? Why? What and who are we doing this for?
1. Relationships themselves: sometimes, we might want to measure relationships themselves, whether individual relationships or networks of relationships. We may seek to understand where they are strong, where they are weak, where they are missing. Doing so will help us to see where our relationships need a little nurturing, and where bridges need to be built.
2. The added value of relationships: we might want to measure the outcomes of good relationships or relationship-centred ways of working. Doing so would help us to demonstrate the things good relationships enable us to achieve (better health, greater happiness, higher grades etc) and prove the value of relational work to skeptics and non-believers.
3. Relational practice: at other times, we might wish to look inwards at our practice to assess the extent to which our methods, culture, values and approach enable good relationships to thrive. Doing so would help us improve our relational practice.
What are you seeking to measure when it comes to relationships? Why? Who is the assessment for and what do you hope it will achieve?
How?
How should we go about trying to measure relationships? What are the risks and challenges? What approaches work best or have potential? Where can we look to for inspiration?
Too many commissioning contracts require the completion of impact surveys which, in their deficit-based questioning, can strip people of their agency rather than recognise the power in people’s stories. Too many loneliness measures are academic, remote and cold. Many of these tools perpetuate division and isolation, rather than measure it, much less solve it.
How do you approach measurement and evaluation? Which methods seem to work well and which don’t?
To what end?
How do we then bring what we find and learn about the value of working in relational way together to tell a compelling story and convince others that this is the road we must all travel?
One critical task is not simply to commission new evidence to fill the gaps, but to pull the evidence together better. There’s a job to be done to distill existing evidence sets and disseminate knowledge that emerges in a more coherent and confident way
To strengthen our case we need to double down on the ‘so what’ of relationships. We must surface the evidence of the longer term impact of good relationships. What do good relationships mean and achieve in the long run?
What difference do strong and meaningful relationships make in your organisation or community? What do they enable you to achieve which would’t otherwise be achieved?
Join us
On Tuesday 8th June we’ll be exploring these questions in an open conversation. Together we’ll:
- Share what we’re trying to measure when it comes to relationships
- Explore the challenges and key considerations of measuring relationships
- Share ideas and approaches to doing so in a sensitive, human-centred way
We’d love it if you’d join us.
Read more
Active Neighbours – Wendy
“[It’s] the feel good factor of helping people – it’s that thought: ‘oh I’ve just done something good today for people.’ And it’s just seeing people smile […] sort of grateful because you’ve helped them in some way.”
Active Neighbours – Sarah
“I got involved because it was something I could do – it was only small but I could do it around work. All the small things add up. If we can just brighten up someone’s day.”
Active Neighbours – Rachel
“What I love about what I do is the honesty of people and the kindness and how grateful the people are. It’s not about flash cars, it’s not about big houses – it’s literally just about spending time with people and having a bit of fun.”
Active Neighbours – Patricia
“Being useful […] It’s giving back to people that need it and giving time to people that need it more than me just sitting at home, and meeting people from all walks of life, and getting more involved in my area. It’s breaking down barriers, and I’ve really appreciated that. […] You think from the outset that you’re not going to gel with certain people, and then you’re surprised. Like at the end of the programme, you had people saying ‘we’ll see each other again soon’ […] I like being able to help in person. I’ve got really tired of Zoom”
Active Neighbours – Nick
“I saw that there was an NHS Responder app. I saw that, and […] I just wanted to get involved and kind of help out and do what I could – because I saw the NHS and all the lengths that everyone was going to […] And I saw quite a few community efforts on Facebook and I thought it was something I could do to help out with.”
Active Neighbours – Marie
“Volunteering shouldn’t have parameters wrapped around it – you shouldn’t have to do x, y, z to be a volunteer.”
Active Neighbours – Khan
“With all the restrictions in place, there was a lot of questions about how much I could do or how much was normal to do. I didn’t want to put too much stress on myself but I wanted to help out as much as I could. I was brought up in a household where I was expected to do all the housework, the DIY, preparing meals. That was considered normal for me but with some individuals, depending on what their household is like, what is normal is different; I wanted to do more and more but I didn’t want to ask and they didn’t ask.”
Active Neighbours – Kate
“I just think it’s really nice we can each all be each other’s solutions – people are volunteering not because they feel obligated because they’re family -they just want to help you. I always think that’s really powerful. If everyone put in just a few hours a week to help in their community, we can change so much. And I think that’s what we’ve seen during Covid.”
Active Neighbours – Julie
“The satisfaction you get from volunteering is really fulfilling. You get home and know you’ve helped someone that day. It enabled me to meet new people – other volunteers, those we helped. Having the opportunity to talk to some elderly people in the community. When you’re not from somewhere, when would you ever have the opportunity to talk to someone from a different generation?”
Active Neighbours – Josie
“[Covid] was an almighty stop. There are so many people that are natural doers – volunteering and helping others was possibly the only thing they could do. A lot of people potentially thought that was their only option to continue to do something. Covid gave everyone the opportunity to step slightly out of their comfort zone. Everyone needs that door to be slightly open to be able to step through [….] I just have to say that the food bank needs peanut butter, 12 hours later there will be 56 jars on my porch”
