Deck 3: Setting the Stage: A Partnership Approach to Evaluation

Question 1

After reading the information provided within the chapter, discuss the important benefits of a partnership.

Answer 1

There are several reasons that we actively collaborate with partners on applied research and evaluation. First, we value working with others who share our concerns about evaluation and want to improve their programs and communities. Second, the questions and issues we address and the efforts we evaluate are dealt with more effectively when we draw from our partners' different (often complementary) perspectives, skill sets, and experiences. Because the responsiveness and effectiveness of our systems, organizations, and programs depend on a host of factors that no single individual can fully understand and no one discipline can frame adequately, let alone change, it is critical to collaborate effectively with community partners who bring different perspectives, experiences, and backgrounds. Doing so maximizes our collective understanding of the program and its context and enables us to be more effective in helping it improve.
In our work, the partnership generally involves a combination of academics/researchers/evaluators and community stakeholders (not surprising because we are academics working in the community). To us, the work itself benefits (and its potential impact grows) when a partnership approach is employed. These partnerships benefit from the integration of the different perspectives and capacities of the partners. In turn, strong partnerships can yield (a) enhanced quality and availability of data, (b) questions that reflect both science and practice, (c) methods applied effectively within contexts and in work with specific populations, and (d) more useful science and more effective practice.

Question 2

Evaluate and explain the key components of partnership-based evaluation.

Answer 2

Partnership-based evaluation is grounded in the relationships developed among the partners. Whether discussing options in a planning meeting, considering evaluation processes, or working to interpret findings, the quality of the relationship among the partners is paramount. This relationship is facilitated by several key practices:
1. Engage in open, direct communication: This is foundational, regardless of the content or focus of discussion. Whether talking or writing about goals, needs, and objectives, or about what is working well versus not, the bedrock of a partnership relationship is honest, sound communication. Email or phone contact is often necessary and important, but in-person interaction is also crucial.
2. Ensure that the partnership is mutually beneficial: As part of building trust and developing partnership relationships, it is necessary for communication and activity to focus on identifying and addressing needs (in the short- and long term) relevant to all partners. This can help all partners gauge the degree to which they can contribute to meeting those needs. While a focus on the partners' needs (e.g., documenting program effectiveness to funders) is important, perhaps even more important is sustaining a focus on accomplishing the goals of the program, which generally means meeting the needs of a program or initiative's intended beneficiaries. A focus on program goals can help ensure that the inevitable costs of evaluation efforts (e.g., resources needed to build capacity, time spent in collecting data) are viewed in light of a shared sense of mission to improve the outcomes for the organization or program's intended beneficiaries (note, we use that term specifically, rather than "client" or "consumer" because we recognize that there are potentially many intended beneficiaries that may not have direct contact with a program or organization, and that simply because a program or organization serves a client, that they do not necessarily benefit from the program). This shared sense of purpose can be important in maintaining a sense of trust and a spirit of collaboration.
3. Employ practices consistent with community-based participatory research (CBPR) or participatory action research: CBPR has been defined as, "a collaborative research approach that is designed to ensure and establish structures for participation by communities affected by the issue being studied, representatives of organizations, and researchers in all aspects of the research process to improve health and well-being through taking action, including social change." This approach is well-suited to partnership-based evaluation to facilitate social change and impact. Core CBPR practices include shared governance of the effort; joint decisions regarding questions, measures, and methods; co-learning and reciprocal transfer of expertise; joint discussion of how to use and interpret findings; and mutual ownership of processes and products. Thus, the community partners are full and collaborative participants in all elements of the evaluation. Such steps put principles of partnership into actual practice and increase the likelihood that our evaluation products can have an impact.

Question 3

Analyze the crucial components of strategies that are utilized to facilitate partnerships.

Answer 3

The strategies that might be utilized to facilitate partnerships include:
1. Creatively consider ways to build the relationship(s): It can be useful to engage with one another outside of meetings, data collection, and the like. There can be real value in scheduling periodic informal or social times to interact and get to know one another and, in some cases, celebrate the partnership's work. If funding and schedules permit, it can also be fruitful to attend conferences together. Such settings provide opportunities for co-learning as well as informal interactions outside of sessions, at meals, or when traveling. Those interactions could include discussions of the partnership's work or simply be relationship enhancing.
2. Think flexibly about ways to work together: Given the partnership orientation of the team we codirect, we are frequently exploring ways to work with our partners, even when there are not dedicated funds to support the work. This often starts with something as simple as an inquiry about other questions or needs our partners may have, followed by meetings to hone in on their goals and objectives. Once those are clear, they inform a discussion of options regarding various forms of action. In some cases, this has involved working with them without a contract or funding.
3. Go beyond the specific, expected task: This notion clearly has applicability beyond work in evaluation. The principle of going "above and beyond" can certainly help convey an evaluator's commitment to the partnership and investment in the work. In addition, this recommendation holds relevance because of what is essentially a truism in the real world of community-based research and evaluation: These projects do not always unfold as planned. Rather, conditions or circumstances may change, additional questions of potential interest may emerge, or an evaluation's findings may be open to multiple possible interpretations. It can then be appropriate, even necessary, to go beyond the agreed-upon scope of work--to dig deeper, refine one's methods, and try to understand. These kinds of actions can improve the quality of one's work (as well as its practical applications), facilitate strong relationships with one's partners, and help build a reputation for quality work which can lead to other opportunities.
These strategies and practices can serve to build the connections, relationships, and trust needed for effective partnership work. Those elements are the bedrock for sound evaluation partnerships, for novice and seasoned evaluators alike.