Evaluation means measuring the value of what the organisation is doing. It is a way of stepping back from our work and asking ourselves: ‘How are we doing? What should we change to do better?’ Different people have different ideas of progress and problems. At an evaluation session, people come together to share their ideas in an organised and planned way.

When we evaluate, it is much easier to make decisions about the future of the organisation. For example, after an evaluation it may be clear that the structure of the organisation is not working very well. Therefore, the structure will have to be changed. It may become obvious after an evaluation that the work methods being used by the employees of the organisation are not very effective. People will then have to think about ways of improving the effectiveness of the organisation.

Here are some examples of questions that can be part of an evaluation:

• What has been achieved in the time between this evaluation and the last one?
• What aims have not been achieved?
• What needs to be continued, changed or stopped?
• What are the organisation’s strengths and weaknesses?

The reasons why we evaluate can be seen from the different reasons given around this ‘wheel’: