Brilliant evaluations – 4 signs you’ve got one… (Part 1)

​Here at Iridescent it’s noticeable that sometimes my colleagues working in business support come back from some start-up meetings buzzing

​they ‘know’ they’ve just helped a great idea get that bit closer to becoming a reality. There’s a difficult-to-define alignment of good idea, good skills and good timing.
 
It got me thinking about my evaluation work with organizations. When do I get that happy feeling that it’s all going to go well and – most importantly – count for something? So here’s my quick list:
 
My four ways to tell you’ve got a good evaluation are when…
 

• The staff member in charge of data can find, first time, the information the evaluator needs
• Each volunteer and staff member knows how their work contributes to the organization’s big picture
• The trustees and directors understand the relationship between everyone’s hard work and the stated outcomes
• The client can summarize what they need to know and they’re already planning what they’re going to do once they know it.

 
Underpinning all of these is effective communication between all parts of an organization. Following on from our previous blog about governance, a lot of ways to improve evaluations spill out into all areas of an organization and involve lots of small, incremental improvements. And yes, governance has a role to play.
 
So, have you got that happy feeling too? Part 2 will explore how to improve an evaluation’s prospects.