What Happened to your Last Evaluation Report?

So you or your external evaluator spend ages collecting data, analysing and then crafting a well-balanced report. To do this is a real investment of time, energy and focus. Your final report would have been crammed full of useful data and insight.

What happened to your report then?

Did it get sent to your funder and that was it? Filed into oblivion, while you and everyone else moves onto the next project? Or maybe you really made the most of that investment by creating and tracking a plan of how to act upon the lessons learnt, sharing the learning with colleagues and others outside your organisation etc.

Evaluation reports should be accessible, relevant and actioned if you and your organisation are to get the best Return-on-Investment from the evaluation process. Here’s a few questions to mull over:

Q. What would be lost if the people closest to the report and evaluation process leave?

Q. Is your report accessible only to people ‘in the know’ about the project, or is it clearly signposted and communicated to others who could benefit from it as well?

Q. Does your report include a short summary or one-pager distilling key points which can be used independently to communicate the salient points quickly?

Q. How are lessons learnt and/or recommendations being implemented, who is responsible and how is progress being tracked?

Q. What are the lessons learnt from the actual evaluation process itself and report writing that can inform future projects? What skills does your organisation need to develop to build this evaluation capacity?

For help in commissioning and managing an effective evaluation join our next Masterclass. Or for more intensive support, mentoring or critical friend support might be more the ticket.

Kate Measures, Technical Lead for Research and Evaluation