Katryn Wright & James Elfer - ‘But is it actually working?’

Speak to the human

‘Why are we doing it this?’ and ‘How do we know if it’s working?’ are questions that too often go unanswered when organisations roll out a new approach.

In this episode, Katryn Wright and James Elfer from MoreThanNow share how they bring a scientific, rigorous approach to behavioural strategies for organisations. They explain how they both became fascinated with behavioural science: helping companies identify the small and concrete behaviours that address real business challenges, and how to influence people to use those behaviours. But also, crucially, understanding whether the efforts to change behaviours are actually working.

Katryn and James discuss how to use behavioural experiments, measuring and evaluating whether different interventions and training (or lack of them) are having the desired results. And the importance of taking a long-term view, building a picture over time to assess, evaluate, adapt and improve approaches.

Katryn also provides insights into her specialism of human rights, health equity and diversity and inclusion, and James discusses his deepening interest in leadership behaviours.

We cover:

• The challenges of helping organisations to question and measure the change interventions they use.
• How to identify the specific behaviours that a strategy depends on.
• How to adapt behavioural approaches to the cultural context of an organisation.
• Why experimentation is so valuable, and how to do it well – including what we mean by randomised control trials in this context.
• How to measure absence of a problem or behaviour.
• Times when an intervention can actually make things worse than not doing anything.
• Measuring effectiveness over a period of time to see if results stick, and to respond to the outcomes of change programmes.
• The “fresh start effect” – points in time when it’s easier to shift behaviour.
• Goal setting – both for individuals and across a large group of people.

Speak to the human is a podcast by Acteon a communication and learning agency that harnesses behavioural insights to help organisations connect with their people and deliver positive change. Find out more at acteoncommunication.com.