We are clear that there is no absolute standard for self-evaluation. What is good enough depends on what you need evaluation for, your context, the needs of your service users, and practical considerations like time and resources.
However, the following 5 principles, which are the distillation of our many years of experience, can help you judge if you are happy with your evaluation.
Good evaluation should…
Be about what matters
- The focus of evaluation is outcomes – what difference you make (or not), how you make that difference, and to whom.
Fit the way you do your work
- Methods and recording are as easy as possible for everyone.
- Evaluation happens as part of your service delivery.
Involve the people you support
- The people you support (service users) have the opportunity to share their experiences, and they know what you do with their feedback.
- Service users are able to reflect for themselves on progress and feel included.
- Ideally service users have a chance to lead on some aspect of evaluation such as setting outcomes, designing methods or analysing data.
- Your evaluation does no harm.
Be used by you
- To understand the value of your work and to celebrate.
- To improve.
- To plan what to do next.
Be communicated well
- Funders, policy makers, and other stakeholders are convinced and able to use your evaluation to take action themselves.
Related resources
See below for a PDF version of the principles, a self-assessment template to help you to judge if you are happy with your evaluation, and some top-tips on how to use the principles!
5 Principles for good evaluation
Use our 5 principles for good evaluation to help you judge if you are happy with your evaluation!
5 Principles for good evaluation – Self-assessment
Is your evaluation good enough? Use the 5 principles self-assessment template to judge if you’re happy with your evaluation.
5 Principles for good evaluation – Top-tips (Is your evaluation good enough?)
Our 5 principles for good evaluation can help you judge if you are happy with your evaluation. This resource provides some top tips on how to do this, as well as links to relevant free ESS resources.