“They immersed themselves paradoxically in vision-directed reality testing: no rose-colored glasses, no blind spots, no positive thinking. Ruthless attention to reality was the common path to attaining their visions.” – Michael Quinn Patton
“Evaluation is used in government to increase transparency, strengthen accountability, and improve performance.” – Joseph S. Wholey
As public servants, we respond to the needs of Minnesotans. Part of being responsive is determining whether programs and services achieved their intended goals in the most responsible and equitable ways possible. Program evaluation can help leaders understand how well a program is working and inform decisions about whether to continue a program, what changes need to be made to a program, and how to resource a program. Leaders can prepare their programs for rigorous evaluation by setting goals, defining outcomes, developing key performance indicators, establishing baseline information, and collecting data throughout the course of the project. A clearly defined program with organized documentation makes evaluations easy!
But if a program wasn’t designed with evaluation in mind, all is not lost—there are still ways to measure impact. Often the collection of qualitative data can give some information on impact and attribution and provide building blocks for a future quantitative evaluation.
Program evaluators have many methods they can use to meet the unique needs of the program—from traditional surveys, interviews, and focus groups to more innovative approaches such as participatory methods, ripple effect mapping, and meeting stakeholders where they are (i.e., existing meetings or the State Fair). Program managers also don’t need to wait until the work is complete to evaluate; a developmental evaluation allows leaders to learn more about the program impact or effectiveness of processes as the work unfolds.
Regardless of approach, it is important to reflect on and learn from our past work to inform our future work. That is how we ensure we’ve made the most positive impact on our friends, family, and neighbors across Minnesota.
From MMB’s Management Analysis and Development
From MMB’s Results Team
