How to make sure an evaluation happens at the appropriate moment, is well-prepared, well-designed and carried out to fulfil its purpose in the best attainable way?
When you commission an evaluation, you want it to be done well and to yield exactly the kind of information you look for. When you manage an evaluation, you want to optimise conditions for that to happen – within the level of effort you can take. When you design an evaluation, you want to match it both to the available resources and the client’s expectations – sometimes a seemingly intractable dilemma. When you carry out an evaluation, you may need punctual support from an experienced outsider, or just an extra pair of eyes and ears to make sure you are on track. And so on.
Over some 30 years, I have worked on evaluation in many roles – commissioner/client, manager, evaluator/evaluation team leader, methods adviser, quality reviewer, meta-evaluator, author of evaluation syntheses and of scholarly articles on evaluation, developer and contributor to evaluation systems, and even evaluand (the subject of evaluation).
I have decided to make more systematic use of my insights and learning from this experience. I will share some in future blog posts – and am of course available to contribute them in future assignments.