Communicating Evaluation Results

The final stage of the Project Evaluation is reporting what has been found. While reporting can be thought of as simply creating a written document, successful reporting rests on giving careful thought to the creation and presentation of the information. In fact, while funding agencies usually require a written report, many projects use additional strategies for communicating evaluation findings to other audiences.

The communication of evaluation findings involves several steps:

Provide information to the targeted audiences.
Customize reports and other presentations to make them compelling.
Deliver reports and other presentations in time to be useful.

Providing the evaluation information should not present a problem if the evaluation has been successful so far, and if some simple steps are followed. Again, special attention should be given to the stakeholders and the constructive part they can play. The specification of questions and selection of data-gathering techniques should have already involved the stakeholders so that the information should be relevant and important to them. By also involving the stakeholders at the end of the study, the utility and probable attention given to the evaluation findings are sure to be increased. One way of accomplishing this is through a pre-release review of the report with selected stakeholder representatives.

Such a session provides an important opportunity for discussion of the findings, for resolving any final issues that may arise and for setting the stage for the next steps to be taken as a result of the successes and failures that the data may show.

Second, the information must be delivered when it is needed. Sometimes there is leeway in when the information will be used; but the time of decision-making is often fixed, and information that arrives too late is useless. There is nothing so frustrating to a Principal Investigator than being told by a funding agency or community group:

"Oh, I wish I had known that two months ago! That’s when I had to make some decisions about the projects we were going to support next year."

Our earlier discussion stressed the importance of agreeing up front what is needed and when the needs must be met. As the evaluation is carried out, the importance of meeting the agreed-upon time schedule must be kept in mind.

Finally, the information needs to be provided in a manner and style that is appropriate, appealing, and compelling to the person being informed. For example, a detailed numerical table with statistical test results might not be the best way to provide a Area Health Board member with data improvements in treatment. Different reports may have to be provided for different audiences. And, it may well be that a written report is not even the preferred alternative. While most evaluations will include some written product, other alternatives are becoming increasingly popular.

It should be noted that while discussions of communicating study results generally stop at the point of presenting a final report of findings, there are important additional steps that should be considered. Where a new product or practice turns out to be successful, as determined by a careful evaluation, dissemination is an important next step.