Elements of an effective evaluation culture

From an organisational perspective I think there are some key elements to an effective evaluation culture.  

Firstly there needs to be an appreciation that evaluation is important. It sounds simple but frequently evaluation is viewed as a luxury and a nice to do if you have the time at the end of a project. Ideally, monitoring progress occurs throughout a project with results prompting project managers to question:  

• Was this where I expected to be?
• Is this a good result?
• Why is this not what I expected?
• What should I change to get back on track?
• Do I need to reconsider my objective?
• What have I learnt that can be used elsewhere?

Asking and answering these questions is critical to successful evaluation.  

Another aspect of a good evaluation culture is the availability of clearly defined objectives, tools and processes supported by good information management.  

At Sustainability Victoria, these key elements are summarised as:  

• clearly defined strategic goals and objectives that reflect legislative and policy obligations
• prioritisation tools that translate strategic goals and objectives to programs and projects via the business planning process
• tools that allocate resources to achieve the best possible outcomes
• a means of determining how efficiently and effectively programs and projects are delivered
• a Performance Monitoring Framework of targeted indicators that measure program and project outputs and outcomes against clearly defined objective
• a process of review that identifies why programs deliver or do not deliver desired outcomes and incorporates these findings into future decision making (i.e. the Strategic Plan and Business Plan).

The figure below shows these elements and how they link to one another.  

Some of these elements are well established while others are in their infancy. In particular the Performance Monitoring Framework is a key priority for Sustainability Victoria. It will consolidate a lot of good work already being done and address known gaps.  

Role of the performance monitoring framework in the evaluation culture of Sustainability Victoria