In this guide, you will learn how to evaluate a meeting. We explain how to find out what worked well and what did not, and how using an evaluation form can help.

📚 This guide is part of a series on how to facilitate meetings.

Introduction #

Evaluations give us the chance for honest feedback on the process and content of our workshops and meetings. This in turn helps us learn how to be more effective and make our sessions work well for everyone.

Everyone who participated in an event should be encouraged to take part in its evaluation. Bear in mind that there will be differences of opinion and that it is not necessary for the group to come to agreement on the matter.

To plan a useful evaluation first work out what information you would like to get. Then think what questions you need to ask and what format will be best. For example, you might want to hear about the content of the session, the process the group went through and the experience of individuals within the group. Make sure your format includes a chance to hear what was successful as well as what could have gone better.

How much information you can get from the evaluation also depends on the available time. The more detailed, the longer it will take. If you are aiming for a detailed evaluation, be prepared in case your session takes longer than you had planned. People often resent overrunning, so it might be worth having a very quick evaluation tool up your sleeve.

Takeaways #

Ask: What are you taking away from this session?

A simple and quick tool. Get people into a circle and ask everyone to share one or two key things they are taking away from this session. This rapid review can help people notice what they have learned as well as giving you valuable insights into what learning people valued most.

What worked well / less well #

This is a simple evaluation tool, where you ask everyone to share what worked well for them and what worked less well. It's a good idea to also allow people to add 'any other comments', e.g.:

• Worked well: great visuals; the spectrum line exercise

• Worked less well: too much jargon; not enough practising

• Other comments: can we do a longer in-depth training

You can run this exercise in two different ways:

• Write the questions on a flipchart each. Then ask people to write their feedback on post-its and stick them on the relevant flipchart. This is quick, friendly, anonymous, but yields only brief comments without the option of asking clarifying questions.

• A round where everyone takes a turn to verbally share their feedback. You can record this on a flipchart with three columns. This is more time-consuming, but you can ask people clarifying questions and people often build on each other's comments.

Evaluation form #

Well designed evaluation forms can provide more detailed information than other methods.Think about what information will be useful to you and design questions accordingly. This could include people's overall impression of the workshop, whether it met their expectations, what they thought about the way it was facilitated, what worked well / less well and any other comments. Take care to phrase questions neutrally. It may be useful to include ways of scoring different aspects of the session.

You can either ask people to fill in the forms there and then, email them out to everyone or send people a link to an online survey tool. An advantage of filling in the forms at the end of the session is that you won't have to chase people. However, you may get less detailed feedback from those who like to reflect on the session first.

Attribution #

Work from the following sources was reused:

• Facilitation tools for meetings and workshops by Seeds for Change