What are outcomes?
Outcomes are the effects of your activities; the changes, benefits or learning that occur as a result of the work you carry out. They are changes over time: something that is noticeably different for a person or target group, after a week or six months.
For most homelessness organisations, outcomes will describe a change in their service users, for example, noticeably improved independent living skills, addressing substance misuse or stabilising mental health.
This section of the website provides brief information on how to take an outcomes approach. For more detailed help, download
Managing Outcomes: A Guide for Homelessness Organisations.
What outcomes are not
Take care not to confuse outcomes with outputs or user satisfaction feedback.
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Outputs are all the detailed activities, services and products of your organisation. Outputs might include keywork sessions, groupwork sessions, or advice and information.
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User satisfaction usually involves asking clients what they think about different aspects of your service, for example, location, opening hours, or how helpful workers were.
Outputs and user satisfaction are important. They may also be assessed and the information used to help improve services. However, they are not outcomes.
The outcomes approach
Taking an outcomes approach to service delivery means more than simply adding another piece of paperwork to your systems. The outcomes approach is a continuous cycle of enquiry and service improvement based on factual information about what is being achieved.
The Outcomes Learning Cycle
To fully adopt this approach, your organisation must:
- Clarify outcomes - what are we trying to achieve? Agree on the intended outcomes of an activity, service, or programme. (See below for more information on how to clarify outcomes.)
- Measure outcomes – what are we actually achieving? Record the outcomes that you achieve in a systematic way to enable the information to be collated.
- Analyse and draw learning - what can we learn from the outcomes achieved? Collate the information and draw learning about what is and what is not working.
- Make changes – what changes should we make as a result of this learning? Plan and implement changes to service delivery.
Outcomes information can be shared with funders to demonstrate the achievements of a service, but its primary purpose is to enable learning and service improvement.
Authors: Sara Burns, Sally Cupitt