Group Facilitation Tip: Quick and Dirty Evaluation

Quick and Dirty Evaluation
Copyright 2007 - Jennifer Britton. All Rights Reserved.

Evaluation is an often overlooked component of any group program. How do you evaluate your workshop, retreat or group coaching program?

Evaluation plays a key role in any group program, and can provide the following information:
1. What idd the participants like about the program?
2. What did participants learn from the program?
3. What changes may need to be made before the program is run again?
4. What is the value or benefits of the program?

If you are not yet familiar with the work of Donald Kirkpatrick, often called the Grandfather of Evaluation, I would suggest you check out his book " Evaluating Training Programs". This is seminal work in the area of workplace learning and development. His four levels to evaluation are:
1. Reaction - What were participant's reaction to the program? Did they like it?
2. Learning - What did participants learn from the program? Often measured pre and post program.
3. Behavior - How did participants' on the job behavior change due to the training?
4. Results - What business results were obtained due to the changes in participants' behavior on the job?

Many of you will also be familiar with a fifth level of evaluation - Return on Investment - ROI developed by Jack J. Phillips. This month's Performance Improvement Journal has a wonderful article by Jack on Measuring the ROI of a Coaching Intervention. An interesting read.

At minimum, whether I am running a full blown group program, or even offering a one-hour speech, I ask participants three questions:

1. What worked well?
2. What did you take away?
3. What should we do differently next time?

I hope that you will try out these questions with your next group. What impact did they have on your learning?

Have a wonderful week,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton, PCC, CPCC, CHRP
Group Coaching Essentials
Toll Free: 1-866-217-1960
Email: jennifer{at}potentialsrealized{dot}com