Lessons Learnt
Evaluations are one way of seeing how well your project achieved what it set out to do and is a great way of enabling you to see what changes (if any) you need to make to create an even better project. Many grant schemes will ask you to undertake an evaluation of your project once it has been completed, and often before they will consider further funding.
Evaluations can help to:
- focus resources on areas where you are doing the most good
- identify any gaps
- identify the groups strength and weaknesses
- avoid repeated mistakes
- demonstrate that you've done what you said you'd do
- address any questions on cost and best value
- get the project further support
Different sorts of evaluation
1.Feedback
Actively encourage feedback from all those involved in creating or using the project. You might do this through informal feedback sheets or questionnaires or you may decide to carry out some community consultation days to encourage feedback.
2.Monitoring
This is an everyday system of evaluating your project and is a good way of determining the actual effects of what has been done on the local community. Try to keep a record of changes that occur such as:
- how many people use the project, is the project actively used by a range of community members
- are more people using local facilities
- do people feel differently about their local community and environment
- do the local community feel more involved in their local environment
- has the local natural and social environment improved
- are new pieces of equipment being used, are they correctly located, are they safe.
You might wish to try a variety of different monitoring methods, which could include making notes on a regular basis e.g. once a month to record changes over time; taking photographs or videoing the site, showing how it is used and if its use corresponds to the original 'vision' for the project.
Who can evaluate
There are 3 sorts of evaluation:
1.Self-evaluation - where the project members carry out the evaluation themselves.
Advantages: your group may be able to acquire new skills such as report writing, research and analysis.
2.Peer evaluation - this is where people working in the same field as your project group undertake the evaluation.
Advantages: they are often already familiar with your type of work and understand what you are trying to achieve
3.External evaluation - this is where an organisation or consultants are brought in from outside.
Advantages: it will free up time that you would otherwise have to spend on the evaluation; they won't have any preconceived ideas and should bring an objective view to the evaluation and any recommendations they make; they will already have all the necessary skills your require.
If your project group decide to carry out an evaluation yourselves, it's important to remember the evaluation should be constructive rather than judgemental and should not to apportion blame for problems that have arisen.
You can do a mix and match with any of these options, perhaps a consultant will advise you on a methodology and your project group will carry out the exercise, with the consultant or peer group writing up the final evaluation. Which ever method you decide on, make sure everyone knows exactly what they should be doing and what they are expected to deliver.
Commitment to the evaluation
It's vital that your project groups sees the evaluation a part of the project process, not as something tacked on the end that has to be done to keep funders happy. Make sure that everyone is sufficiently informed about what the evaluation is trying to achieve so they can feel fully involved and committed. Remember it's difficult to sell something to another person if you don't believe in it yourself.
What next?
You may find that you have achieved what you set out to, that some things work better than expected and some things not as well. If you find that there are things that need changing do not be afraid to refer back to earlier steps in the process so that you can go ahead and change them, it is to be expected and should not be viewed as a failure but as a way of maximising the use and benefit to be derived from your project.
The process of review and evaluation should be carried out on a regular basis in order to ensure that new needs are accommodated and that the project is fulfilling its potential in the life of the wider community.
Directgov