Managing the evaluation

5.1 The need for a management plan

An evaluation exercise is a project in itself, and requires a management plan. The plan may be very simple if the evaluation itself is limited in scope and only involves one or two people. It may simply be a series of dates in a calendar. However, it's more than likely that an evaluation team is engaged in a reasonably comprehensive evaluation, and so the plan needs more thought and detail.

The purpose of the management plan is to track all the major tasks required to complete the evaluation on time and in budget, and to schedule those tasks to ensure that there is a smooth flow of activities.

5.2 Tasks involved

Typical tasks and sub-tasks may include:

Evaluation design

Meet with relevant stakeholders re evaluation purpose and scope
Finalise evaluation objectives and evaluation criteria
Complete evaluation plan
Review sources of advice and/or evaluation literature

Management

Select/recruit evaluation team
Negotiate contract for external consultant
Conduct team meetings
Monitor budget expenditure
Purchase resources as needed

Data collection

Collect documents x, y and z
Conduct interviews/observations
Distribute questionnaires
Collect questionnaires
Provide suitable training for evaluators (if necessary)

Reporting

Write interim reports
Prepare final report
Circulate draft report to stakeholders
Present final report

Data analysis

Purchase/obtain analysis tools if necessary (e.g. stats tools)
Verify and sort data
Enter, code, aggregate data
Conduct analysis
Interpret the data
Communicate preliminary findings

Evaluation of the evaluation

Develop evaluation criteria
Finalise evaluation plan
Collect data
Conduct analysis
Report/present findings

[Adapted from Brinkerhoff, R.O., Brethower, D. M., Hluchyj, T. and Nowakowski, J. R. (1983). Program Evaluation: A Practitioner's Guide for Trainers and Educators. Design Manual, p.97. Kluwer.Nijhoff Publishing. Boston.]

Activity

A Management Plan Worksheet [Word] is included in this kit. (Note: There are other ways to lay out a plan, and you can use project management software for this; e.g. Gantt or PERT charts. The advantage of these charts is that they allow you to better visualise task relationships, key milestones, and critical/busy times.)

Once you have developed your Evaluation Plan Worksheet (see Section 12), you are in a position to begin filling out the various details on the management plan template.

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Last updated: 21-Nov-2005

5. Managing the evaluation

5.1 The need for a management plan

5.2 Tasks involved