Empowering Evaluators: 12 Training Ideas Beyond Conventional Evaluation
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“What other training should I take?” This question can be tricky to answer for both emerging and experienced evaluators.
Emerging evaluators can get a good sense of what complements their evaluation training by looking at job postings and talking to more senior colleagues. Are those postings mentioning non-evaluation skills or experience that you can seek out? You may need to read between the lines to understand what those organizations are truly looking for in an evaluator.
More experienced evaluators may be faced with a more complex process of identifying relevant professional development. When you’ve been in an evaluation role for many years, even decades, you are probably quite confident in your evaluation tasks. Looking outside of the evaluation field for training can be a great way to complement your technical expertise.
Most guidelines for what an evaluator should do well include skills outside of developing surveys and analyzing data. Those guidelines (such as the Canadian Evaluation Society’s Competencies for Canadian Evaluation Practice) include domains like management and interpersonal practice, and can be a great way to help identify where you can grow.
As a mid-career evaluator and someone who both hires and supports the development of new evaluators, I’ve listed some of my ideas for non-evaluation skills to work on as an evaluator.
Project management
Most evaluation work is project-based. Even ongoing evaluation activities benefit from a project management approach. I don’t think evaluators need to hold a PMP designation, but seeking project management training that’s not all about construction projects is a great idea. Kick off your project management learning with our 5 key points here, and browse our resources to find project management tools to help you right away.
Writing
Academic writing is out of place in evaluation. Remember, we’re not doing research; rather, we’re serving organizations, programs, or communities that need the information we produce to make decisions. Some of the practices you may have implemented to meet minimum word counts on academic papers are a hindrance when writing evaluation reports. Seek business writing training if this transition doesn’t come naturally, and you’ll experience the benefits for the rest of your career. Our 9 common evaluation writing mistakes can get you started.
Graphic design
Similar to good writing, good design makes a huge difference in how your evaluation product is received and used. You don’t need to get a diploma in graphic design, but taking a day or two to understand how design principles can support knowledge sharing and practical application is a worthy use of an evaluator’s time. You can read our series on making better evaluation reports through design starting here.
Data visualization
How are people still making bad charts? There is so much good dataviz training readily available that there’s no excuse for evaluators to rely on Excel defaults, or use the wrong chart to tell the story. If you’ll be doing any quantitative work, dataviz training is a must and is usually not part of graduate programs.
Presentation design
Just like dataviz, there are so many fantastic resources on good presentation design that I am always floored when I see people reading slides full of text at me. Good presentations help you keep your audience interested, and help your audience walk away with the key points you need them to hold onto. Adding presentation design skills to your evaluation toolkit will definitely make you better at your job – our analyst has 7 tips to share here.
Facilitation
Evaluators rely on facilitation skills throughout the evaluation cycle, from planning an evaluation project, to collecting data through focus groups, to hosting sense-making and action-planning sessions after findings are ready. Learning how to lead support groups through these processes is so important for evaluators. (We’ve shared our tips on hosting good virtual sessions.)
Conflict resolution
Evaluators often work in tense spaces. Big, important decisions can result from our work, and different partners will have different interests in the evaluation project. Conflict is necessary and healthy, and a skilled evaluator will understand how to benefit from productive conflict, and resolve unproductive conflict. Conflict resolution training is widely available, and may even be offered for free to employees working in large organizations.
Public participation and community engagement
While some evaluation projects are internal to an organization, others require public outreach. Learning from the field of community engagement and public participation can be super helpful for evaluators. An IAP2 certificate can look great on an evaluator’s resume, but shorter professional development offerings can give you what you need to incorporate some new practices.
Public speaking
The need for an evaluator to speak in front of large audiences may be surprising. Evaluators should be prepared for and comfortable with speaking to organizations’ members, staff, or the people they serve – perhaps to share plans for evaluation activities, or maybe to share back learnings. Training in public speaking can help you craft your speaking notes, project your voice, and feel more confident in front of people, whether it’s a small group, dozens, or even hundreds.
Grant writing
Evaluators are sometimes called upon to support grant applications. I’m not suggesting that evaluators should be leading grant applications, but understanding what makes a good grant application can be complementary to your skills, especially if you’ll be called upon to contribute to grant applications.
Cultural competence and diversity training
Evaluation work takes place in so many different contexts. Some newer evaluators may have had these concepts included in their graduate studies, but others may not have. Taking additional cultural competence and diversity training can help you ensure that your projects are ethical, responsive, valid, and fair – and can demonstrate to a potential employer that these are things you value.
Software training
There are always new tools that can support our work. Digging into statistical software, quantitative analysis products, and productivity suites like Microsoft Office 365 or Google Workspace will probably yield new practices you weren’t aware of and increase your efficiency. While keeping up with new AI products that support evaluators feels like a part-time job these days, there are dedicated training sessions that can help you filter down to what’s most relevant for your evaluation work.
Evaluation is a broad field with lots of room to find your niche. There are so many options for complementary training that choosing can be overwhelming – try to think about what you like doing, and what you can see yourself being interested in for a few more years. Lean into what you like, and supplement with what potential employers need, and you won’t be at a loss to finding professional development opportunities.