Appendix 1: Terminology

Accountability is a system of relationships, data, and communication that leads to informed decision-making and process improvement. It includes truth and reconciliation: finding out and telling the truth, and then supporting efforts to improve and address what may not be performing as well as we would like. Performance management is a critical piece of accountability and is a tool for identifying and righting issues in real time. Accountability is not about blame or punishment.

Baseline data serves as a reference point for future comparison and helps us evaluate how a program, initiative, or action is doing. Baseline data can be the first time something is measured or can describe a situation that existed before a program or initiative was created. If a measure has been steadily increasing or decreasing, that trend should be considered as part of the baseline, since any change we make is likely to slow that trend before it reverses.

Disaggregated measures contain data that has been broken down into smaller units. This can allow for an in-depth look at trends across different population groups, as well as across an entire population.

Disparity refers to a lack of equality or similarity, especially in a way that is not fair, and is often used to describe a social or economic condition that's considered unfairly unequal.

Equity is true access to opportunities, power, and resources that allow all people to achieve their full potential and thrive. It requires the elimination of barriers that have been deeply entrenched in systems of inequality and oppression. All agency actions and decisions should be guided by the acknowledgment that our systems are not currently equitable. Our goals should be driven by developing, strengthening, and supporting policies and procedures that prioritize and distribute resources to identified groups of people who have been historically and are currently marginalized and underserved, and are done in partnership with those groups. Essentially, every agency goal should embed equity and leverage targeted universalism as a policy framework that aims to address specific needs for each group and achieve universal outcomes for all people. For more information on equity and targeted universalism, visit the Office of Equity’s Equity Hub.

Impacts are the value being added by or contributing to our outcomes. To show what impact we’re making, it’s important to have data that answers the question: “is anyone better off?” Tracking our impact can help us access the actual effectiveness of our programs and ensuring they deliver tangible benefits to the communities receiving our services.

Indicators refer to data we can use to make inferences about conditions in the community or environment and adds helpful context to what’s being measured. Interest rates, birth rates, and the number of chum salmon on spawning grounds are all examples of indicators. These measures are critical for the state to understand the needs of Washingtonians even when they aren’t things that any single agency, or even a group of agencies partnered, can influence. These types of indicators are a vital part of performance management for government.

Outcomes, often referred to as results, describe the ultimate state we expect to be caused by our actions. Outcomes are often looked at as both short-term and medium-term effects. Working backwards from the change we want to see to the actions we’ll need to take can help us identify the right places to measure a process to find issues as they arise. However, true outcomes can be difficult to measure, but insights from these measures can help governments and their partners improve target outcomes over time.

Note: specific terms such as inputs, outputs, leading and lagging indicators, Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) are not used in this guide, but these types of frameworks can help agencies understand how to set goals and measures results. Some agencies have likely used with great success. However, their definitions and uses can vary widely, and these terms may not be necessary for measuring performance. For a helpful guide on strategic planning and goal-setting that uses these terms, see Results Washington’s past presentation materials: Strategic Planning - Lean Community of Practice 11/2022.