Are you suddenly panicked when you hear the word evaluation? Does the thought of having to participate in an evaluation make you feel like you’re about to star in a horror movie? Well – we are here to tell you – you don’t have to get spooked by evaluation!
One of the most common things we hear when meeting with new clients, particularly those new to evaluation, is that they have negative perceptions of the field of evaluation. Often times we are simply called in because our clients had to have an evaluator. Much of this fear or apprehension stems from misconceptions about the purpose of evaluation and the role of an evaluator.
Below are some common myths we’ve heard over the years.
- Evaluators are here to cut our program(s)
- Evaluators are evil and will make us look bad
- Evaluators will just judge us, and the work we do
- Evaluation won’t tell us anything we don’t already know
The fact is there are various types and
phases of evaluation, and very rarely do programs ever get cut. For instance, in addition to conducting outcome evaluations (i.e., changes
that occurred as a result of the program) we often work with organizations to
conduct process evaluations that help identify how the program is/was carried
out including challenges, barriers, and lessons learned. At EVALCORP we take a holistic
approach to evaluation meaning that we take into account multiple factors that
impact a program (e.g., like political environment, level of funding, staffing changes, etc.)
to help explain outcomes achieved.
Most evaluators aren’t there to make your
lives harder but rather to work with you to assess your processes, measure what
changes have resulted due to your hard work, and provide you with
recommendations for getting you were you’d like to go next. So don’t be spooked
by evaluation – in fact, you might even be surprised at the numerous benefits it can provide.
On
that note, we wish you a Spooktacular Halloween!
