Evaluation Sourcebook (.pdf) - School of Natural Resources and ...

ORGANIZATIONALOBJECTIVESIntroductionA quick assessment, and then focus where neededAlthough all of the objectives listed above are important for a functioning organization,some may be more relevant to you depending on whether you are a young or experiencedgroup, or whether you are a small organization or a multi-stakeholder collaborative. Toidentify what is most relevant for your organization at this time,• Do a quick sweep of the evaluation questions listed under each topic. You will findthat you can answer some of the questions with a simple “yes” or “no.” For othersyou may need to consider the indicators in more detail.• Focus on the objectives in which you think your project is currently weak. Theserequire more attention – both in terms of figuring out how weak and why, and intracking your improvements in this area.Keep in mind that how you work together, manage and implement activities is notpredetermined and static, but creative and dynamic. Group membership, community needsand economic conditions can change rapidly, making regular process evaluation a necessaryelement to respond to changing organizational needs.WHY EVALUATE ORGANIZATIONAL PROCESS?For many ecosystem and community-based projects, assessing progress toward social orecological objectives becomes primary and less attention is given to how effectively they aremanaging their own organization. But a systematic or even cursory evaluation of yourorganization has some critical benefits. It can help you:• Realize why you are not progressing toward ecological or social goals• Identify and share what is allowing you to succeed as an organization• Stay abreast of the changing nature of your organization and the different ways toadaptively manage your organizational resources and processes to yield the best results• Prepare you to respond to future challengesUse different kinds of information to evaluate your organizationMany of the questions in this section can be asked ofthe people involved in the organization – what do theyperceive, think or feel about the way the organization ismanaged or how people work together. This may besufficient for your evaluation purposes. In some cases itmay be useful, necessary or even easier to use measuresthat are not based on surveys, such as what people areactually doing or producing. For example, how manypeople attend meetings, how much money has beenraised or what is the rate of staff turnover?Ecosystem Management Initiative 90