So you landed an evaluation contract and the first meeting date is set. Here are some pointers for kicking your evaluation off on the right foot.

People have done a lot of thinking about how to run a successful business, and there’s a lot independent evaluation consultants can learn from that body of knowledge. Part 2 in this series is about what evaluation consultants can learn from business management experts.

Being a great evaluator doesn’t necessarily make you a great evaluation consultant – you need to do all the things a professional evaluators does, while also operating a business, finding work, and marketing your brand.

This is an article about the skills and knowledge you need to succeed as an independent evaluation consultant.

Each evaluation is different. You have different stakeholders, different topics, different timelines and different end goals. Some evaluation plans will be simple, and others more complex. When developing your evaluation plan, you can take a mix and match approach to its composition.

Here are some common components of evaluation plans. Your plan might need just a few, or it may need all of them.

Unfortunately, I didn’t make it to AEA’s annual evaluation conference this year (I chose a Mai Tai on the beaches of Maui instead). However, one of the wonderful things about the Internet is that I was able to feel like I was part of the conference by following #eval19 on Twitter. So what was my one big takeaway through the Twitter lens? Of course, it came from the evaluation guru himself, Michael Quinn Patton (MQP) – “Evaluating transformation means transforming evaluation.”

This step-by-step guide is focused on one-on-one 30 minute telephone interviews. However, many of the tips shared can be applied to in person or group interviews, and interviews of differing time lengths and research interests.

Here are the six six C’s that make a good evaluator: competent, credible, curious, communicative, creative, and common-sense oriented.