This is an Eval Central archive copy, find the original at b3consults.com. If I see one well-intended mistake my customers make over and over again, it’s that they confuse “doing data” — having a flurry of data-related activities — with BEING data driven. The organizations that first take the time to address the culture — or being — part of the process are […]
Evaluation Facilitation Series: Facilitation Activity #1 (Making Metaphors)
This is an Eval Central archive copy, find the original at evalacademy.com. Evaluators need to be many things; a good facilitator is high up on the list. We facilitate all sorts of conversations throughout the evaluation process (or at least we should!). Sometimes just posing questions to a group and having a discussion works, but […]
Evaluation Question Examples by Type of Evaluation
This is an Eval Central archive copy, find the original at evalacademy.com. We’ve defined and written about How to Write Good Evaluation Questions before. We’ve even shared some examples of evaluation questions based on the sector or content area. But there is another way to think about evaluation questions. Let’s look at how using different […]
Book Review: Developmental Evaluation by Michael Quinn Patton
This is an Eval Central archive copy, find the original at evalacademy.com. I recently finished reading Michael Quinn Patton’s Developmental Evaluation: Applying Complexity Concepts to Enhance Innovation and Use (2011) cover-to-cover. I am working on a project using Developmental Evaluation (DE) and felt like I wanted to take a deeper dive into my understanding. I […]
Grab the cake, it’s time for a data party! Benefits of and how to run your own
This is an Eval Central archive copy, find the original at evalacademy.com. So you’ve successfully gathered the data you need to evaluate your program. But how do you engage stakeholders and partners to ensure a thorough understanding of the results? A data party could be part of the answer! What is a data party? A […]
Inform, Engage, Inspire, with data visualization.
This is an Eval Central archive copy, find the original at freshspectrum.com. Are you the kind of person who likes to nitpick other people’s charts? I’m really not. I wasn’t there when they decided to use that chart. I don’t know what factored into their decision. As far as their intended audience, I don’t know […]
Your Staff Knows Your Programs Better Than You
This is an Eval Central archive copy, find the original at nicoleclarkconsulting.com. You know your community better than your funder, and your programs are only successful when staff feel supported and have the capacity to do their jobs. Your staff knows your programs so much in fact, that when you report to your board of […]
Reflecting and Imagining: What’s Ahead in 2022
This is an Eval Central archive copy, find the original at elizabethgrim.com. Read reflections from 2021 and learn what’s ahead for Elizabeth Grim Consulting, LLC in 2022 with evaluation and data coaching, training, and speaking. The post Reflecting and Imagining: What’s Ahead in 2022 appeared first on Elizabeth Grim Consulting, LLC.
Are Viewers Expecting a Story? Lightning Talk from the DATAcated Expo
This is an Eval Central archive copy, find the original at depictdatastudio.com. Never, ever keep the default settings. That was the overarching theme of my Lightning Talk at the DATAcated Expo, which was held virtually in October 2021. You’re not going to keep the ugly, outdated defaults. Great! But what should you do instead? And […]
Five Welcome Changes to Embrace in 2022
This is an Eval Central archive copy, find the original at rka-learnwithus.com. As we begin 2022, nearly two years since the pandemic began, what I’m most struck by is that the world I operate in is a fundamentally changed one. It’s fascinating and a bit disorienting that these changes happened so quickly, sped up by […]