Michaela Raab
Evaluation & Facilitation
Michaela Raab
I facilitate (and do) evaluation.
In more than three decades in international cooperation, I have worked at all angles of the evaluation triangle/ diamond/octogon/buckminsterfullerene.
This rich experience – combined with research about evaluation, and continuous exchange with colleagues, has made me passionate about facilitating evaluation. As an evaluation facilitator, I help creating good conditions for evaluations that serve a clear purpose – from the concept phase to the management response.
Get in touch here if you wish to find out more!
News
Plans for 2024
2023 and early 2024 were filled with exciting assignments; I hardly found any moment to update my website. Catching up now… Meanwhile, I have initiated the Berlin Evaluation meetup (German page on Berliner Evaluationsstammtisch), which counts more than 50 members as of April 2024. Berliners, come and join us! We could also meet at the upcoming evaluation conferences in Berlin, Potsdam and Rimini.
Better terms of reference (TORs) for better evaluations!
The terms of reference set the stage for an evaluation. If that stage is shoddy, it might collapse mid-play. If it is too narrow, don’t expect the play to be grand. The TOR are the place where people who commission evaluations can determine its course. It is the single document you can be certain any evaluator will study before starting to work. Investing in clear, comprehensive, yet inspiring TOR will yield more useful evaluations. Watch my blog for future tips on this subject. Or book me for a PME clinic on TOR development coaching.
In 2022 and 2023, the World Food Programme convened an Evaluation Methods Advisory Panel (EMAP) that I have been part of. At the end of every year, we prepared a report summarising our insights from reviewing and providing methods advice on a broad range of evaluations. You can find the 2024 report here.
Services
Evaluation facilitation
Support in planning, preparing, carrying out, and using evaluations that serve their purpose: A service for organisations and people who commission, manage, design, implement, analyse, review, synthetise, use and live evaluations.
Evaluation and synthesis
Assessing the merit of projects, project portfolios and the work of organisations around the world, with a commitment to methodological fit and innovation. Available in several languages and across diverse contexts – on-site, remotely and in hybrid, diverse teams.
PME clinic
Support in strengthening planning, monitoring end evaluation (PME) processes and structures with advice, coaching and training – as well as punctual troubleshooting.
Facilitation
Design and accompaniment of processes, participatory workshops and larger consultations in real life and online/hybrid settings, using bespoke tools, in complex contexts and across multiple languages.
Quality assurance & meta-evaluation
Support (i) to on-going evaluations so that they can be robust and useful, and (ii) to learning from evaluations and their strengths and weaknesses for methodological advancement.
Gender & equity mainstreaming
Support to strategies, planning, monitoring systems and evaluations that strengthen gender equality and equity and that avoid (unwittingly) causing harm.