Improving the quality of internal evaluation: the evaluator as consultant-mediator

Internal evaluation is growing in scope and frequency. Rather than viewing it as a poor approximation to more ideal and controllable circumstances, this paper examines internal evaluation in its own right. Maintaining quality in internal evaluation is not a matter of working harder to apply a methodology of choice amid overwhelming operational constraints and political influences. Quality is maintained by the internal evaluator who, functioning as a consultant-mediator represents with fairness and sensitivity varying issues and multiple perspectives in an effort to promote empathetic and responsible decision making. Doing so requires specific skills for understanding and managing unique organizational contexts. The skills discussed here are:

1. understanding contextual influences;
2. identifying and understanding the perspectives of stakeholders;
3. maximizing credibility and trust;
4. aligning methods with the epistemological orientations of the evaluation audience(s);
5. raising and representing issues to those in authority;
6. educating management on multiple perspectives; and
7. maintaining tolerance for ambiguity and incremental change.