From the first step of the evaluation process, even though it may be one of the last evaluation tasks, explicitly discuss the content, sharing, and use of reports during the initial planning of the evaluation and return to the discussion thereafter. Most importantly, identify who your primary intended users are. Use of the evaluation often depends on how well the report meets the needs and learning gaps of the primary intended users.

Besides the primary intended users (identified as part of framing the evaluation), your findings can be communicated to others for different reasons. For example, lessons learned from the evaluation can be helpful to other evaluators or project staff working in the same field; or it may be worthwhile remolding some of the findings into articles or stories to attract wider attention to an organisations’ work, or to spread news about a particular situation.

You will share the findings of the evaluation with the primary intended users and also other evaluation stakeholders.

Don’t limit yourself to thinking of sharing evaluation findings through a report. Although a final evaluation report is important it is not the only way to distribute findings. Depending on your audience and budget, it may be important to consider different ways of delivering evaluation findings:

• Presenting findings at staff forums and subject matter conferences
• Developing a short video version of findings
• Sharing findings on the organisation intra-net
• Sharing stories, pictures and drawings from the evaluation (depending on what options you have used to gather data)
• Creating large posters or infographics of findings for display
• Producing a series of short memos

Tasks

Tasks related to this component include:

1. Identify Reporting Requirements:

Identify the primary intended stakeholders and determine their reporting needs, including their decision-making timelines. Develop a communication plan.

2. Develop Reporting Media

Produce the written, visual, and verbal products that represent the program and its evaluation according to the communication plan. Graphic design and data visualization can be applied to emphasize key pieces of content and increase primary intended user engagement.

3. Ensure Accessibility

Review the reporting products to make sure they are accessible for those who are colorblind, low-vision, or reliant on an audio reader.

4. Develop Recommendations

If part of the evaluation brief make recommendations, on the basis of the evaluation findings, about how the program can be improved, how the risk of program failure can be reduced or whether the program should continue.

5. Support Use

Communicate the findings and recommendations but don’t stop there. As primary intended users reflect on the evaluation, facilitate the review to gather their feedback and guide their interpretations. Plan ways and time to check in on progress toward improvement. Look for opportunities to share the unique aspects of the program and its evaluation to external audiences.

Before you begin to gather and analyze your data, consider how you can ensure your collection efforts will meet the reporting needs of your primary intended users.

From the very beginning, reporting is an integral part of evaluation which allows you to:

• communicate what you do;
• monitor and track progress;
• demonstrate impact;
• document lessons learned; and
• be accountable and transparent to donors, partners and benefiting communities.

“Evaluation reports may be the only lasting record of a programme or project, including the results achieved and the lessons that were learned from its implementation” (Oxfam Evaluation Guidelines p.11).

Different groups of primary intended users will have varying needs for the evaluation report. When your evaluation plan was developed at the beginning of the process, you should have determined the different groups of primary intended users and begun to ask questions about how the report could be most useful. This information should then be reviewed periodically. Once the reporting deadline nears ensure there is clarity on each of the stakeholder groups’ reporting requirements (what needs to be reported and when).

Some questions that may arise include:

• What do you need to include in different kinds of reports?
• At what point do you need to get feedback on your findings – and from whom?
• Will your findings be presented in draft form?
• Are you willing to share draft findings?
• Will you have any influence over the way the findings are re-presented?

Reporting timelines often present a major constraint on the evaluation plan. In particular, the need to report findings in time to inform funding decisions for the next phase of a program often means that reports are needed before impacts can be observed. In these situations, it will be necessary to report on interim outcomes, and to present any research evidence that shows how these are important predictors or pre-requisites to the final impacts.

Work with the intended users to determine key points in their own reporting and project cycle. For example, the evaluation may be a necessary part of their legislative requirement for an annual review. If that is the case, you need to know their time and internal pressures. Alternatively, they may be presenting at a major conference and want an update from the evaluation team.

With the primary intended users, their learning needs, and their timelines in mind, develop a communication plan to guide the evaluation reporting process. A communication plan can be as simple as a table that organizes this information. Use the communication plan to align data collection activities with reporting needs and to prioritize the time spent on reporting. (Consider the full range of reporting mediums before finalizing the plan. Not everyone will want a full technical report. For ideas on how to make your report more creative, go to the Develop Reporting Media task page.)

Options

• Communication plan: developing a plan that outlines the strategies which will be used to communicate the results of your evaluation.
• Reporting needs analysis:working with your client to determine their reporting needs

Resources

Guides

• Designing and conducting health systems research projects – Volume 2: demonstrates aspects of data analysis and report writing in a module which includes information on layout and design(IDRC)
• Evaluation strategies for communicating and reporting: provides support for incorporating creative techniques in the design, conduct, communication and reporting of evaluation findings.

Sources

Oxfam GB (nd) Oxfam GB Evaluation Guidelines, Oxfam, London. Retrieved from http://policy-practice.oxfam.org.uk/~/media/Files/policy_and_practice/methods_approaches/monitoring_evaluation/ogb_evaluation_guidelines.ashx

You may develop a number of reports, in different formats, for different sets of stakeholders. Work with your primary users and stakeholders to determine when and in what form they want to receive evaluation reports. Also determine who you will involve in viewing draft and interim reports.

Points to consider in choosing the format are:

• How does the audience prefer to receive information – text, graphics, numbers, written, visual or a mixture of all of these?
• What is the preferred length (or duration if an audio/visual presentation)?
• What access does the audience have to information technology (this may inform whether you use web-based formats)?
• What is the purpose of the report and how does this inform the choice of format? Purposes may include:
  • keeping stakeholders engaged during an evaluation
  • providing feedback to and maintaining the commitment of people collecting data during implementation
  • flagging emerging findings and implications for ongoing program development and for the evaluation
  • presenting interim recommendations
  • seeking feedback on draft reports to assist in identifying causal factors
  • informing planning, funding or policy decisions
  • broader dissemination of findings to support use

Options

Traditionally, written reports have been the main form of media used for evaluation reports. However, we now know that the full technical report is not enough to meet the learning needs of our audiences. The presentation of your report should help your reader quickly and easily understand your key points.

Written

Increasing report readability makes it more likely that readers will be able to learn from the report.

Reporting in the order of importance allows readers to easily access those things which they are most interested in.  These are generally the findings and recommendations which, therefore, should appear early in the report. Less relevant details, such as the evaluation background and methodology, belong in an appendix or can even posted online for reference.

• Aide memoire:A short document that summarizes key findings and recommendations.
• Executive Summaries: including an executive summary which is a shortened version of the full report.
• Final Reports:  ensuring they are readable, straight to the point, and use a writing style that promotes understanding regardless who the target audience is.
• Interim reports: presenting the interim, preliminary, or initial evaluation findings.
• Memos and email: maintaining ongoing communication among evaluation stakeholders through brief and specific messages about a particular issue
• News media communications: sharing news relating to evaluation findings through press releases.
• Newsletters, bulletins, briefs and brochures: highlighting particular findings or angles on an evaluation using shorter communications such as bulletins, briefs, newsletters, blogs and brochures.
• Postcards: collecting information quickly in order to provide a short report on evaluation findings (or an update on progress).
• Website communications: disseminating information such as that coming from evaluations via a range of web based tools.

Presentations Events

Presentation audiences are likely to be most interested in only a portion of the full evaluation report, such as the key findings or a lesson learned about evaluation methods. Thus, it is wise to focus the presentation on only that portion, while making the fuller report available to anyone interested.

• Conference: discussing a set topic or theme in a large group of people at a set venue.
• Feedback workshops:a meeting in which stakeholders and evaluators can discuss the evaluation’s findings and recommendations.
• Teleconference: facilitating discussion of evaluation findings via telephone.
• Verbal briefings: providing specific information to an audience of interested participants allowing for a structured question and answer format based on that information.
• Videoconference: gathering data, communicating information about an evaluation, reporting findings, receiving feedback, and planning for utilization.
• Web-conference: bringing people together from around the world using the internet.

Presentation materials

• Displays and exhibits: drawing attention to particular issues and assisting in community engagement.
• Flip Charts: providing a useful way of interacting with your audience and therefore allowing you to present your own ideas and results and also to immediately record input, feedback and ideas from your audience.
• Posters: presenting your evaluation findings in the form of a poster provides a good opportunity to get your message across in a clear way while also providing opportunities for feedback.
• PowerPoint: organizing and communicate information coming from evaluations in the form of a slide show which can be used at a meeting or conference.
• Video:highly flexible and immediate medium which allows you to make an emotional meaningful connection with the audience.

Creative

Presenting your report in a creative manner may be the most relevant means to get your information across if the context allows for it. You may consider working with an artist or a graphic recorder to produce creative displays.

• Cartoons: allowing readers to see a point differently, add humour, and break up large sections of prose.
• Infographics: displaying complex data and messages visually in a simple manner for easy comprehension.
• Photographic reporting:making your report more appealing to readers and also making the key messages more memorable by including photographs.
• Poetry: communicating the experience of participants can be achieved by presenting some of the findings in the form of a poem.
• Reporting in pictures: presenting information in an alternative way and therefore increasing understanding of your results.
• Theatre: communicating evaluation findings and engaging intended users in responding to them.

Graphic design

Simple graphic design principles applied to your reporting documents will ensure readability and maximize learning. You can use design elements and visual depictions of your data to assist the reader.

• Arrangement:aligning elements on a page or slide so they are organized and systematic
• Colour:selecting colours thoughtfully can bring attention to key information and encourage interpretation
• Images:creating or inserting graphics to complement narrative and make a visual impact
• Text: applying fonts and style changes to make reading legible and thinking easier

Visualise data

Data visualisation is the process of representing data graphically in order to identify trends and patterns that would otherwise be unclear or difficult to discern. Data visualisation serves two purposes: to bring clarity during analysis and to communicate.The choice of what type of graph or visualisation to use depends greatly on the nature of the variables you have, such as relational, comparative, time-based, etc.

Resources

Guides

• Visual language for designers: presents visual design principles based on the science of how people perceive, process and understand graphics
• Evaluation Report Layout Checklist: distils the best practices in graphic design, particularly created for use on evaluation reports.
• American Evaluation Association’s Potent Presentations Initiative: this site contains several helpful tools for evaluators designing and delivering presentations, including a set of Slide Design Guidelines. (AEA)

Options

General accessibility

• Applied graphic design principles

One-Three-Twenty-Five (1:3:25) principle: ensuring that research findings

• 1:3:25 refers to a format that can be used to provide a consistent structure for final reports of any kind.  The option allows for a one page outline of the main messages that have come from the research, a three page executive summary and 25 pages to present the findings and methodology used in a language that is clear and accessible to the non-research specialist.
• The main messages contained in the first page should not be a summary of the findings but rather the key points that decision makers can take from the research. The three page executive summary presents the findings succinctly in order to facilitate easy access for those who may not have time to read the full report. This should not include any discussion of research methodology other than to outline the actual methods used.  Finally, the 25 page report is used to cover the background to the research, the questions addressed, and an outline of the methodology, the findings and conclusions.

• Plain language:Plain English is a clear and concise writing style that ensures accessibility to the information for all stakeholders.
• Chart junk elimination:Removing visual elements that don’t contribute to the main message.
• Descriptive chart titles:Particularly when graphs must standalone, without the assistance of the evaluation to help interpret them, descriptive subtitles in the chart can point out the key take away points for the reader.
• Emphasis techniques:Visual techniques to draw attention to certain bits of information.
• Headings as summary statements:Engage readers through making headings of the report summary statements.

Specific accessibility barriers

• Colour blind audience: Difficulty distinguishing between different colour wavelengths.

Low vision and blind audience: Vision impairments which make reading documents difficult or impossible.

Evaluations often make recommendations about how a program can be improved, how the risk of program failure can be reduced or whether a program should continue. However, not all evaluations include recommendations. It is important to clarify whether recommendations are expected when developing the evaluation brief, terms of reference or scope of work.

If recommendations are developed on the basis of the evaluation findings, processes which involve stakeholders in developing and/or reviewing them will contribute to the use of the evaluation findings. The individual or group who has control of the evaluation – a manager or evaluation steering committee – should be consulted when developing recommendations as their support will probably be very important in order to ensure that the evaluation findings are disseminated and used.

Options

• Beneficiary exchange: discussing findings between beneficiaries in order to provide feedback
• Chat rooms: setting up online spaces where findings can be discussed
• Electronic democracy: using new and emergent forms of media in order to engage community members in seeking to influence the decision making process.
• External review:having external experts or anonymous reviewers provide feedback.
• Group critical reflection: facilitating a group stakeholder feedback session.
• Individual critical reflection: asking particular individual stakeholders for their independent feedback
• Participatory recommendation screening: testing recommendations with key stakeholders
• World Cafe: hosting a group dialogue which emphasizes the power of simple conversation when considering relevant questions and themes

Following up on the agency response to evaluation findings is an essential part of supporting use. However, this is often a management responsibility rather than an evaluator. You can work with managers to provide a list of options for follow-up as part of the final report. Indeed, time should be built into the evaluation budget to account for support beyond report delivery. There are a range of options that can be used:

Options

• Annual reviews: reviewing major evaluation findings and conclusions based on evaluation studies completed during the preceding year.
• Conference Co-presentations:Conference Co-presentations take place when about processes from an evaluation.
• Data use calendar:guides the collection of data and reporting requirements, as well as ensuring that analysis and evaluation data is actively used.
• Policy briefings:Providing evaluation findings and lessons learned in management and staff.
• Recommendations tracking: keeping a transparent record of the responses to and action from recommendations.
• Social Learning: focusing on how people learn through social interactions, such as modelling, making connections, sharing experiences and resources, collaboration and self-organization.

Resources / Guides

• Evaluation Policy of UNDP: the purpose of the policy is to establish a the

UNESCO Guidelines for follow-up to evaluation findings: this four-page paper provides an overview to UNESCO procedures for evaluation follow up and a template for managers to detail their action plans in response to evaluation findings