Why Perform Evaluations?

Over the past four years, there has been increased emphasis on good management practices and on linking program resources with program performance. Evaluation is a tool that can help programs achieve management excellence.

Evaluation serves two critical purposes – program improvement and accountability. Many evaluations will be designed to serve both of these purposes.

Improvement: Evaluations help managers assess how well their programs are working by estimating the extent to which desired outcomes are being achieved and by identifying whether improvements are needed to increase effectiveness with respect to objectives. Evaluation activity helps program managers proactively optimize their programs' performance. They provide actionable information on activities that are not being performed as intended, outputs that are not as effective as they were expected to be, customer needs or expectations that are not being met, and outcomes that are below projections. Managers can use this information to request additional resources or to modify the program design to improve its effectiveness.
Accountability: Evaluations help program managers and others demonstrate internal and external accountability for the use of public resources. This includes demonstrating fiscally responsible management, establishing evidence that goals are being met or services are being delivered as promised, and quantifying program impacts.

In general, evaluation activity is motivated by the need for information for informed decision-making.

There are always external calls for performance-based information, but ideally programs should gather that information as a matter of routine management practice. Programs that perform evaluation activities out of a desire to promote continuous program improvement will automatically be able to answer the external mail in the process.

A program that undertakes, on its own initiative, evaluation activities for use in making informed decisions and to gather empirical evidence to communication it value will be practicing good program management. That program will also be better positioned to meet internal and external requirements.