How can you align impact measurement with stakeholder expectations in business development?

To align impact measurement with stakeholder expectations in business development, consider the following key steps: Define clear objectives. Engage stakeholders to understand their expectations. Select relevant metrics that align with stakeholder needs. Use multiple measurement methods to capture a comprehensive view. Benchmark and compare your results. Be transparent in reporting. Regularly update and adapt to changing expectations. Educate stakeholders about the complexities of impact measurement. This approach maximizes perplexity and burstiness in your measurement process while ensuring it remains contextually relevant and coherent.

Stakeholder alignment comes before defining goals and metrics. Often key stakeholders have competing priorities or areas of interest, so defining what success looks like for the majority of them is a key first step, so we can then start thinking of setting the objectives.

Sometimes the complexities of impact are such that majority of risk perception and risk avoidance policies are infact in the interest of the business. Therefore, stakeholders need impact measurement procedures and policies should be aligned when moving forward.

Defining key indicators sounds easy but could be really tricky at times. What could be observed quite often is indicators that are measurable but do not directly contribute to the desired business outcome; those that are rally hard to measure; indicators that are difficult to be attributed to a specific timeframe, etc. Spending some time on defining the actual metrics that matter is crucial.

When measuring impact, always double check the data from a few different trusted sources - often it turns out that the difference in the ways it is measured produces different report outcomes. We need high level of confidence when reporting metrics to our key stakeholders.