After each project, the project manager fills out a quick survey that is stored in our master Salesforce.com relationship management database, attached to the project opportunity.  The post-mortem has two parts:

1) An open-ended “key findings” block.

In this section, the PM can note key things that affected the project that it is wise for us to remember in the future.  For example:

• It’s a bad idea to sign scope with client that burns 12 hours for intake.
• Communication between client board and staff not great. PM had same conversations 3 and 4 times and client still did not feel comfortable with process.
• That being said, once we got rolling, things straightened themselves out pretty well.

2) Structured ratings.   For each project, we assess the following factors on a 1-5 rating scale.

• Client was satisfied overall with project
• Project was at or under budget
• Project met or beat expected schedule
• Project met or exceeded the functionality specification in the scope
• Project implementation met ONE/Northwest’s standard for quality
• Client communication met ONE/Northwest’s standard for quality
• Training/documentation met project expectations
• Project met strategy phase goals
• Project resulted in re-usable technology
• Project is aligned with ONE/Northwest’s strategic framework
• Client is adopting/using technology well

The combination of open-ended learnings and structured ratings lets us easily aggregate stuff over time, so we can see if we think we’re improving.  We periodically review batches of our post-mortems as a group to help diffuse our lessons learned across our team and to identify areas where we want to focus more effort.

This process is only one part of our overall evaluation process — we also do in-depth assessment with our clients, where they evaluate how we performed for them, and we find out how confident they’re feeling at accomplishing various tasks related to the technology tools we’ve given them. (That’s a story for another day.)

We’d love to hear more about how your organization evaluates its recurring processes in order to build internal learning!  Leave a note in the comments and share what’s working (or not working!) for you!

It’s an unusually meaty article that explains in-depth the legal background, Puget Soundkeeper’s strategies, and the impact they’re having.  Nice work by P-I environmental reporter Robert McClure!

Our very own Dave Manelski was featured on the Vertical Response blog this week, with a short how-to about How to Mark Bounced Records as Bad Addresses on Vertical Response email lists run out of Salesforce.com.

Yep, a bit of a wonky topic, but super-important for keeping your database of email addresses up-to-date as email addresses go stale and start bouncing.

We’ve just published a new case study of our recent work with Sightline Institute to relaunch their “Sightline Daily” sustainability news and blogging service.

We’re really proud of the beautiful site and the powerful news clipping tools that power it behind the scenes.  And, in an age where we need new approaches to traditional media, we’re thrilled to be able to empower the team at Sightline to shine a spotlight on the sustainability news that really matters.

WTC has been gathering signed postcards from their network of activists, asking decisionmakers, most especially Christine Gregoire and Dino Rossi, Washington State’s two candidates for Governor, to make protecting kids from toxic chemicals a high priority in the upcoming legislative session.

So WTC chose to hand-deliver the postcards to their campaign offices in bulk — a great decision that really helps establish Washington Toxics as a powerful voice for concerned citizens, and helps them build up their organizational identity with their targeted decisionmakers.

Even better, WTC had the presence of mind to make a short video documenting their postcard efforts, which otherwise would have been completely invisible both to their members and the public at large.   Here’s the video:

With the video up on YouTube, WTC then sent out a quick email to its members, pointing them to the video and reminding them of the importance of voting!  This is a great way to “close the loop” on the postcard campaign!  It lets members see that the postcards were delivered, what the reaction was, and does so in a fun, engaging way that will encourage folks to participate in the future.  It’s also a nice lead-in to the next step: getting out to vote for the environment!

Well done, Washington Toxics!

• The site introduces a new strategic vision for the foundation, which will now focus on:
  • Ecosystem Services
  • Energy, Industry and Technology
  • Urban Ecology
  • Leadership and Civic Engagement
• Working very closely with Bullitt’s staff, we created a beautiful new graphic design that uses high-impact photos and some interactive javascript animation to communicate the vision behind the new strategy.
• We pushed the most common grantee actions — inquiries, applications and reporting — front-and-center, and built a new web-based initial inquiry form.
• Finally, we polished up their existing grantee database so that it is easy to browse, search and filter

The site is powered by the Plone content management system (of course!), and is fully editable by Bullitt Foundation staff, so it’s easy for them to keep it up to date with fresh content.

In Ohio, Campaign for Change State Director Jeremy Bird told us, there are 1,231 defined neighborhoods, as of August 25 there were about 800 in place, and as of Saturday approximately 1,100 NTLs had been tested and were up in operation. By “tested,” Bird said, each NTL had undergone and met a series of specific challenges the field organizers had presented.

First, can the potential NTL organize a group of people? Whether by hosting a house party, a faith forum with a church group, or some other type of organizational meeting, the potential NTL needs to show they can lead the organization of their neighbors.

Second, can the potential NTL pass the voter contact test? Can he or she lead a canvass, can he or she build a group phonebanking night? It’s a leadership test, built around voter contact.

Third, are they willing to make the final commitment by attending specific training for their role? Debrah Harleston smiled as she told us about the imminent blooming of satellite offices throughout the Toledo area so that neighborhood teams can begin running right in the neighborhoods autonomously. They’ve been trained, they’ve registered their voters, and now it’s time to see how this baby runs.

Does your organization have a systematic approach to recruiting, identifying, testing and promoting grassoots leaders?  What is it like?  What do your leaders do out in the world for you?

The second half of the article is particularly informative because of the great tips on how to interperet the data. This really emphasizs a point I always try to make when talking to clients: metrics should not only inform you, but also inform actions. Even simple things like changing your subject line, including a table of contents, or adjusting the day of the week you send out email can positively affect your numbers.

For more information on email newsletters and email campaigns, visit the ONE/Northwest website.

We’ll be posting a few dispatches back here as we go, keep your eyes peeled for a glimpse of the future!