7.2. Evaluation and Feedback
Heather Beecroft
Your project is nearing the end of its lifecycle, or you’re on the last day of a conference, and you want to know “how it went”, right? That’s where evaluation comes in. It’s important to take a good look at the good and the bad so that you know how to make changes as needed for the next project or event. Evaluation is the process of assessing an experience.
According to the experts at indeed.com, there are several key things to consider as you’re designing an evaluation. The key question to ask is:
What is the goal of the evaluation?
- Are you working to improve performance?
- Are you trying to build relationships?
- Are you trying to determine the relevance of the event?
One major goal of evaluation is to measure how successful the team was at meeting the project’s goals. Having that information will very likely help with the Planning Phase for future projects (indeed.com, 2023).
The article: Project Evaluation: What It Is and How To Do It does a good job of explaining several types of evaluations (pre-project, ongoing, post-project, self, and external), as well as step-by-step methods for designing and implementing an assessment.
Feedback is part of the evaluation process. Generally, it is the response of a single entity (person, group, vendor) providing information about their experience. So, to complete an evaluation, you need to gather feedback from folks involved in the event/experience. For instance, every time you leave your ride-share driver a rating, that’s feedback. Same for reviews placed online for stores you’ve made purchases from. Even social media is receiving constant feedback . . . every component of engagement is feedback, which can all be added together by the driver/store/content creator to evaluate their service or product.
Video: “Understanding Project Management: Evaluation” by Plymouth College of Art – Certificate in Creative & Cultural Practice [7:25] is licensed under the Standard YouTube License.Transcript and closed captions available on YouTube.
