Developing Your Harm Reduction Program Evaluation Plan
Once you have an evaluator in place, it’s time to start developing the plan. While there is not a single template or structure that is universally used, every evaluation plan should serve as a roadmap for your evaluation effort by outlining:
Building Role Clarity. Establishing on the front end how the lead evaluator, evaluation team and harm reduction program team will work together to support the evaluation can minimize ambiguity, build trust and enhance efficiencies. When promoting role clarity within diverse teams, it is helpful to prioritize the following:
- Define each role. This involves making sure that everyone engaged is operating with a clear understanding of the roles and responsibilities of each individual within and across teams. Initial brainstorming meetings or pre-planning sessions are often informal, but it is critical to clearly define and fill roles once meaningful planning begins. Some related questions to consider:
- What level of involvement does each team have?
- How do the teams communicate feedback and concerns?
- How are decisions made?
- How does each team plug into the process?
- Maintain a culture of transparency. Engaging in honest communication with all individuals involved in the evaluation process and being open about any challenges, barriers or delays that emerge not only ensures that people have all the information they need to contribute fully, but also helps build trust within the group. Creating transparency can also take the form of identifying communication and information channels that are accessible to all members, scheduling meetings at times and within locations where non-staff can easily be present, and capturing key decisions that are made and sharing those notes after every meeting.
- Define what success looks like for everyone. This involves ensuring that everyone is on the same page regarding the purpose or desired aims of the evaluation. Creating space to discuss and develop a shared definition of success reinforces group cohesion, alignment, and commitment to the process. It can also help dispel any myths or misconceptions regarding what the program evaluation will be able to produce or facilitate. Planning team members should continually assess and be comfortable with voicing concerns regarding collective objectives. Questioning whether success is achievable using existing plans, or sharing concerns about matching an established scope, are precisely what allows a team to orient itself transparently toward realistic goals. Self-awareness, along with the importance placed on constructive critique, and a pragmatic clarity of vision are organizational elements that distinguish harm reduction planning.
While the process of building role clarity should occur toward the beginning of the planning process, it is worth keeping in mind that this may need to be an ongoing conversation that is revisited and reframed throughout your evaluation effort. This is particularly true if individuals are regularly rotating on and off the evaluation or program teams.
