What will my staff be asked to do during an evaluation?
During an evaluation, your staff will usually be asked to do a small set of things that only your organization can do, while the evaluator does the specialized work. The table shows how the work typically divides, although the details of your own evaluation will be in its scope of work.
| Your staff usually | The evaluator usually |
|---|
| Shares the records the organization already keeps, such as attendance, intake forms, and past surveys | Reviews those records and decides what they can answer |
| Names one main contact for routine communication | Keeps that contact informed about what's happening and what comes next |
| Takes part in regular meetings about progress | Prepares the meetings and brings early findings to them |
| Helps coordinate surveys, interviews, or focus groups with participants and schedules | Designs the questions, collects the information, and analyzes it |
| Reviews draft reports for accuracy and context | Writes the reports and revises them |
Some of these tasks take more time at certain points, such as when a survey goes out or a report is due, and knowing those points in advance lets you plan around your organization's busiest times.
How does an evaluator keep the workload reasonable for my staff?
An evaluator keeps the workload reasonable for your staff by collecting only the information the evaluation needs, because more data isn't necessarily better data. Every added survey, measure, or group of people to ask creates work for participants, for project staff, and for the evaluator.
The most direct way to limit that work is to start with what you already collect and add only what's missing. It also helps to decide early what needs to be measured, when, who needs to be asked, and what the organization will actually do with the information. The evaluation question should determine the method: sometimes that's a survey, and sometimes the answer is already in your participation records. Which data your evaluation needs is a question of its own, and What data do I actually need to collect for my grant evaluation? covers it for grant-funded programs.
What should the scope of work say about my staff's time?
The scope of work should say what your staff will be responsible for, how much coordination the evaluation will need from them, when each task falls, and which decisions your team will make along the way. Having that in writing protects your staff's time, because the evaluator and your team agree on the expectations before the work starts.
When you read a proposed scope, look for the points where your team is involved: providing records, scheduling data collection, meeting with the evaluator, and reviewing drafts. If the scope doesn't say, ask. If the timing collides with your organization's busiest season, raise it before you sign, while the plan can still change. A good evaluator will work with you to adjust the timing wherever the evaluation allows it.
The Grantibly perspective
Angelika's perspective
Evaluation should support the work, not overwhelm the people doing it. It's easy for an evaluation plan to grow: add another survey, add another measure, ask another group. Every addition creates work for participants, for project staff, and for us, so we make intentional choices about what needs to be measured, when, and who needs to be asked.
We also recommend that each organization name one main contact for routine communication, so the rest of the team isn't pulled into every message, although we remain available to everyone. We want you to spend your time on the work you do every day, and on using what the evaluation shows you.
