Government action may have produced a roadblock on the trip to the future of work. In the past several years there has been a great deal written about the changing world of work. Tom Peter’s talked about it when he discussed "You, Inc."; Dan Pink wrote about it in Drive! and I have written about it numerous times in my Future Friday posts. We have seen the reference to the "gig" economy or the "on-demand" economy and the increasing use of independent contractors. We have seen numerous discussions of, and...

Hi! We are Courtney Howell and Shelly Engelman, evaluators at SageFox Consulting Group in Atlanta, GA. We are social psychologists who happen to be education evaluators. As such, we regularly employ our social psychology backgrounds to inform our work. Image credit: reihayashi via Flickr Persuasion is part of every aspect of life. This reality is no different for evaluation. Persuasion also plays a role in evaluation reporting, ensuring that clients, users, and funders will engage with your report/proposal in the way you intended, leading to a positive outcome that benefits the program. Recently, we identified three social psychological concepts that can be readily employed to enhance the ability of reports to communicate findings. Here are a few effective techniques that we have adopted in our evaluation reporting practices: Primacy and Recency Effect: People tend to recall the first and last things in a series best and the middle items worst. A Recency Effect happens when people encounter unsalient, non-controversial, uninteresting, and unfamiliar material. Salient, interesting, controversial material produces a Primacy Effect.Lesson Learned: When composing a report, we want to put the most interesting and familiar things first and the non-controversial, and unfamiliar things last. Rad Resource: Structuring and Ordering Persuasive Messages Mere Exposure Effect: People tend to develop a preference for things simply because they are familiar with them. Mere Exposure Effect enhances perceptual fluency which is the ease with which new ideas can be processed and internalized. Remember, familiarity breeds liking. Lesson Learned: Clients may be more likely to accept feedback if it is repeatedly highlighted across reports. Rad Resource: Attitudinal Effects of Mere Exposure Confirmation Bias: The tendency to interpret information in a way that confirms one’s beliefs or hypotheses. In fact, people tend to stick to a position even after the evidence has shown it was false. Lesson Learned: To avoid confirmation bias, call attention to information that may go against expectations by using a visual marker (like an exclamation mark) to point to messages that are inconsistent with the rest of the report. Play devil’s advocate to suggest alternative ways of interpreting the data/findings. Rad Resource: Motivated Numeracy and Enlightened Self-Government Rad Resource: To further explore the intersectionality of social psychology and evaluation: See Melvin Mark, Stewart Donaldson and Bernadette Campbell’s text on Social Psychology and Evaluation. The American Evaluation Association is celebrating Ed Eval TIG Week with our colleagues in the PK12 Educational Evaluation Topical Interest Group. The contributions all this week to aea365 come from our Ed Eval TIG members. Do you have questions, concerns, kudos, or content to extend this aea365 contribution? Please add them in the comments section for this post on the aea365 webpage so that we may enrich our community of practice. Would you like to submit an aea365 Tip? Please send a note of interest to aea365@eval.org. aea365 is sponsored by the American Evaluation Association and provides a Tip-a-Day by and for evaluators.

This article was originally posted on Fox Business.  Last week I attended the annual Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) conference in Las Vegas, the largest gathering of human resources professionals in the world. While there I had the opportunity to sit down with Marcus Buckingham, author of the newly released Stand Out 2.0. Buckingham spoke about how leaders at every level can develop their employees by focusing on strengths.     Build Self-awareness One of the greatest challenges in our workforce is that "we have people coming into the workplace who are fundamentally inarticulate...

Greetings! I’m Sara Vaca, independent consultant at EvalQuality.com and Creative Advisor of this blog. Creativity is another powerful tool evaluators can potentially use at certain points of the evaluation process to improve engagement or to solve eventual dead-ends or conflicts. So I have started posting about this subject and today I’m going to share my ideas about how to foster creativity. Let’s run this little improvised test (that is almost a rubric!): Do you consider yourself a creative person? a. No, I’m a serious evaluator/researcher and creativity has nothing to do with my job. b. Not really, I try to be creative, but nothing "happens." c. It is not my major virtue but I have some creativity moments here and there. d. Yes! I’m always overflowing with new ideas of how to do things. Ok, if you answer is (d), don’t read on. You don’t need any tips for further developing your creativity. If your answer was (c), your creativity is already released, but you could encourage it to make an appearance more often. In that case, or if you don’t consider yourself as a creative person (b) but you would like to be one, here are some ideas: Let your mind fly free. Don’t censor any crazy thought that may come out, no matter how "crazy", "undoable", or "impossible" it may seem. In fact, at the beginning, you should "force" yourself to go wild and think of the most absurd, bizarre things to set your creativity free. Use often the questions "Why not?" And "What if?" as a way to challenge what you know, or what happens, or what you think you know or why it happens. Always within rational limits (until you go too far and you result annoying), challenge everything. Get inspired by others: check for related stuff that can be inspirational. Of course the internet is a great place for researching. Talk to others: discussing things out loud and hearing others’ points of view often helps you get out of the blockage. Find something repetitive to do where you meditate upon everything, and do it periodically (daily if possible). Observe where you are and what you are doing when you have an idea. Often they are daily routines like walking, showering, driving or the like. Finally, if your answer was (a), you may be perfectly right, but there are times when being creative at some moments may mean doing work that is more enjoyable and fun, in case that’s something appealing for you. Other tips to be creative? Want to share the places or moments where you often come up with new ideas? Please comment or share Sara.vaca@EvalQuality.com. Remember: the crazier, the better! Do you have questions, concerns, kudos, or content to extend this aea365 contribution? Please add them in the comments section for this post on the aea365 webpage so that we may enrich our community of practice. Would you like to submit an aea365 Tip? Please send a note of interest to aea365@eval.org . aea365 is sponsored by the American Evaluation Association and provides a Tip-a-Day by and for evaluators.

  Culture Savvy: Working and Collaborating Across the Globe Globalization is a business reality. As companies try to succeed in the international arena, the question of culture, learned behaviors, and implicit (mis-)understandings are part of the formula. Typical "Culture 101" training consists of a list of do’s and don’ts that tend to reinforce negative stereotypes—and increase anxiety about overseas collaboration. This book presents a new approach that addresses culture directly and is based on research from the field of neuroscience. Recognizing why we may feel anxiety and discomfort in different cultures...

I’m James W. Altschuld. When Ryan Watkins asked me to write a NA entry for this year’s aea365 sponsored week, he playfully dubbed me the ‘Patron Saint’ of Needs Assessment. While his perception is not accurate, allow me in that spirit to offer some commandments for Needs Assessors. Thou: art a facilitator of a process and never a savior which thou wilt never be shalt always explore the organization or group thou art working with for existing information before collecting any new data shalt have an advisory or guiding group built into the needs assessment process for eventually its members will probably be part of the needs resolution strategy must assume that many voices will enter the fray increasing its difficulty must expect frustration when doing needs assessments (art thou surprised for it comes with the territory, no elaboration is required, and it fits with commandments 3 and 4) wilt consult the literature for ideas and input as painful as that might be shalt honor the needs assessment gurus (a nutty commandment if there ever was one) wilt have to allot more time and lucre for the process than thou originally planned (so what’s new) must recognize that thou art a facilitator or a catalyst but that other not thou have responsibilities for solutions and their implementation will absolutely adhere to the prior 9 commandments   Author’s Note:   After reading the commandments it should be apparent that Dr. Watkins was completely incorrect in applying the Patron Saint designation to this author. Nothing could be further from the truth. The American Evaluation Association is celebrating Needs Assessment (NA) TIG Week with our colleagues in the Needs Assessment Topical Interest Group. The contributions all this week to aea365 come from our NA TIG members. Do you have questions, concerns, kudos, or content to extend this aea365 contribution? Please add them in the comments section for this post on the aea365 webpage so that we may enrich our community of practice. Would you like to submit an aea365 Tip? Please send a note of interest to aea365@eval.org. aea365 is sponsored by the American Evaluation Association and provides a Tip-a-Day by and for evaluators.

SHRM, in collaboration with U.S. Travel Association, conducted a survey to examine HR professionals’ opinions about the importance of vacation. A large majority of HR professionals believe that when employees take vacation, it makes a positive impact on performance, morale, wellness, culture, productivity and retention. This study also looks at the amount of vacation offered to employees, rollover policies, and the number of unused vacation days.    Shrm us...

Ever thought about doing research on needs assessment (or evaluation for that matter)? My name is Ryan Watkins and what follows is a short description of a basic framework that can help you consider the types of research that could be useful. Based on Briggs (1982) and Driscoll (1995), the following research paradigms can offer choices for your research design: Experimental and Quasi-Experimental: Experimental research designs can provide educational researchers with the "most effective means of establishing causal influences on a phenomenon of interest" (Driscoll, 1995, p. 323). While quasi-experimental research designs may be less effective in providing evidence of casual relationships, they offer pragmatic alternatives when meeting the requirements of experimental designs are not practical. Meta -Analysis: The meta-analysis research design is "a widely used method for combining results from different quantitative research studies" (p. 71) on the same phenomenon (Gall, Gall, and Borg, 1999). Case Study/Ethnography: According to Trochim (2001), "A case study is an intensive study of a specific individual or specific context… There is no single way to conduct a case study, and a combination of methods (such as unstructured interviewing and direct observation) can be uses." (p. 161) Technology Development and Evaluation using a Novel Technique: As a field of research focused on useful application, needs assessment research should be active in the development, application, evaluation, and continuous improvement of assessments using technologies (e.g., online surveys). Cost Analysis: The requirements of decision-makers for data related to the cost-effectiveness of decisions presents researchers with a pragmatic research paradigm with obvious application benefits. Model Development and Evaluation: Models offer useful tools for conceptualizing the relationships and complexities among the components of a system. Novel Technique Development and Evaluation: Techniques are the processes used to accomplish results (i.e., produce products, obtain outputs, and/or achieve consequences). The development and validation of a novel technique for accomplishing results within needs assessment (or evaluation) is an essential role of the researcher. Theory Development: Theories help us explain or predict a phenomenon. In others words, a theory is the answer to why something (such as a behavior) occurs or does not occur within a context. Making and testing theories helps advance research and practice. Rad Resources: Briggs, L. (1982). A Comment on the Training of Students in Instructional Design. Educational Technology. 22(8), 25-27. Driscoll, M. (1995). Paradigms For Research in Instructional Systems. In Angling, G. (1995). Instructional Technology: Past, present, and future. Englewood, Co: Libraries Unlimited. Gall, J., Gall, M. and Borg, W. (1999). Applying Educational Research: A practical guide (4th ed.). New York: Addison Wesley Longman. Trochim, W. (2001). The Research Methods Knowledge Base (2nd ed.). Cincinnati, OH: Atomicdog.com Publishing. The American Evaluation Association is celebrating Needs Assessment (NA) TIG Week with our colleagues in the Needs Assessment Topical Interest Group. The contributions all this week to aea365 come from our NA TIG members. Do you have questions, concerns, kudos, or content to extend this aea365 contribution? Please add them in the comments section for this post on the aea365 webpage so that we may enrich our community of practice. Would you like to submit an aea365 Tip? Please send a note of interest to aea365@eval.org. aea365 is sponsored by the American Evaluation Association and provides a Tip-a-Day by and for evaluators.

A series of corporate relocations, steady growth in real estate development and a jobless rate that is consistently below the national average have all made the Dallas region’s economy a top performer among major metro areas in the United States. The most significant development as of late is Toyota North America’s pending move to the Dallas suburb of Plano. Work started in January 2015 on a new headquarters complex for the automaker, which will bring an estimated 4,000 jobs to the region sometime in 2017 when the project is complete. The 12-county...

Hello, my name is Sue Hamann, and I work at the National Institutes of Health. One part of my job is to solicit and review proposals from evaluation contractors for various types of evaluation projects, including needs assessment and program planning. Today I will share some tips about improving your proposed needs assessment. Hot Tips: Show that you are knowledgeable about needs assessment. Don’t even think about submitting a proposal that does not define needs assessment or mention its rich history and development. This sounds obvious, but you would be surprised that I often review proposals that are lacking evidence that the proposers know the field. Be sure to cite the Altschuld and Ryan edition (New Directions for Evaluation, #144, winter 2014). Justify your proposed methodology based on existing literature. Assemble and describe a team with all the required skills. Michael Scriven in his 1991 Evaluation Thesaurus listed the following as content areas in which evaluators should be skilled: statistics, cost analysis, ethical analysis, management theory and practice, pedagogy, social psychology, contract law, interviewing skills, professional politics, presentation graphics, dissemination, synthesis. Altschuld and Watkins (2014) stated that needs assessment involves the following methods, in addition to the qualitative and quantitative methods employed in other evaluation activities: gap analysis, causal analysis, prioritization strategies, comparison of solutions. Needs assessment is usually a team effort. Make sure that you document and budget for the skills that you already have available and the skills that you will add to your team. Be alert to the culture of the organization to which you are applying. I read a lot of proposals that are obviously boilerplate. It is generally not worth your time to submit a vague needs assessment proposal, that is, one that is not tailored explicitly to the organization or solicitation. Sometimes you have to do some online searching about the history and status of an organization to determine the kind of needs assessment that will be consistent with the culture of an organization and useful to it. Be sure to read the article from Maurya West Meiers and colleagues (New Directions for Evaluation, #144, winter 2014); it has great tips about planning international needs assessments, but the tips are applicable to any new environment. Document your membership in AEA. If you are reading this blog, you are probably a member of the largest group of evaluators in the world. Be sure to mention this when you state your qualifications. If you belong to the Needs Assessment TIG, say so. If you do not belong and you are interested being paid to do needs assessments, you should join and become active in the TIG. The American Evaluation Association is celebrating Needs Assessment (NA) TIG Week with our colleagues in the Needs Assessment Topical Interest Group. The contributions all this week to aea365 come from our NA TIG members. Do you have questions, concerns, kudos, or content to extend this aea365 contribution? Please add them in the comments section for this post on the aea365 webpage so that we may enrich our community of practice. Would you like to submit an aea365 Tip? Please send a note of interest to aea365@eval.org. aea365 is sponsored by the American Evaluation Association and provides a Tip-a-Day by and for evaluators.