Director General for evaluation responds to some big questions, and reflects on what it means to be a member of our nascent profession.

Recently I spoke to the UN Evaluation Group to discuss what is needed to make sure evaluation makes a difference in countries and institutions, and what it will take to prepare evaluators for that agenda. So, I'€™m sure you'€™ll agree, a fairly non-taxing agenda and some simple questions to answer, starting with:

1. What strategies can we use to ensure governments and parliaments use evaluation findings to improve policy making and implementation?

The best recipe to ensure an evaluation is used is a generous helping of quality, timed to perfection and pitched to meet the flavor of the policy debate of the day. So, let'€™s make sure our evaluations are clearly written, that they address the issues at hand, and provide evidence to support and inform decision-making and policy and program implementation.

What, I hear you ask, is new about that? Nothing really, except to recognize that the context we encounter as evaluators is increasingly  complex and requires approaches, solutions, methods, and evaluations that are a match for that complexity - €“we need to go well beyond simple analysis. Evaluations, informed by strategic choices about focus and scope, can shed light on issues from a sufficiently wide angle to generate valuable perspective.

Relatedly, and of equal importance, is awareness: governments and parliaments need to be made aware of the availability of evaluations, and how to interpret and use the evidence. This year we’re seeing a great push to put evaluation center stage and in the thoughts and minds of policy influencers and decision makers. And that makes it even more important to be able to deliver high quality evaluations on time.

We can further help governments and parliaments understand the power of evaluation evidence by (eventually) demonstrating the difference evaluation can make. At the moment, IEG tracks how many of our recommendations get implemented - 83% are taken up by World Bank Group management after four years -€“ but we don't do much follow up about specific, positive results associated with this take up. And that'€™s something we intend to address in the future.

2. What strategies can we deploy to make sure institutions and organizations have strong evaluation functions, and that they use evaluation findings?

This question really concerns how we, as evaluators, organize ourselves. At IEG we have a five point agenda that we have followed for the last couple of years to help us organize and focus our efforts:

• Setting clear objectives for what we aim to achieve;
   
• Making strategic choices about what we evaluate, as we believe only strategically positioned major evaluations will make a difference. We have recently developed Strategic Engagement Areas to build that platform;
   
• Using appropriate cutting-edge methodologies and processes, and constantly looking at opportunities to deepen the evidence base. Latest technologies offer possibilities to engage with much wider audiences, and tap into and deepen the analysis of an increasingly ‘big’ set of data and documents. This is a key frontier we will continue to explore.
   
• Getting the word out to the right people at the right time in the right format. Once again, technology provides many more options and ways to package and share knowledge from evaluations, well beyond the tried and tested production of reports and attendance at conferences.
   
• Last, but not least: investing in the profession, which takes us to the third question.

3. How can evaluators best prepare to meet these challenges?

There has been a long debate about professionalization of evaluation, which in this field is more complicated than, say, it was among auditors who established international professional standards a long time ago.

But, we are moving in this direction. For instance, the World Bank Group adopted professional competences for evaluators and related professions a couple of years ago, and established a professional community of practice (RMES) that my colleagues wrote about last week.

The evaluation profession challenges practitioners to develop a wide range of knowledge, competencies, and skills that includes: knowing the subject area under evaluation;  understanding the political dynamics of an issue; exercising sound, objective, and independent judgment; possessing analytical skills; and, employing superior inter-personal skills. Certainly, working as an evaluator is a fantastic opportunity to further develop all of these abilities.

But, let'€™s not forget the importance of team formation and teamwork: building an evaluation team around the abilities and perspectives of a diverse group of evaluators who bring different expertise and experience to the work is essential if we are to: question underlying assumptions; shed light on policies and programs from different angles; and deepen collective understanding of the issues at hand, as well as collective insight into possible solutions.

Of course, all of the above are great reasons to be an evaluator. To be involved in making strategic choices, drawing focus on the development issues that matter most, and working hard to develop one'€™s own skills and those of the evaluation team. I've always considered myself lucky and privileged to work in this profession which, despite inevitable frustrations when lessons aren'€™t always heeded, provides the opportunity for self-development and learning as well as the opportunity to contribute to the dialogue on critical issues. What about you?