Attributes of The OD Practitioner – The Evaluation Phase
As organisations face greater degrees of scrutiny in regards to their efficiency and effectiveness in delivering added value, the evaluation phase is essential in demonstrating that the time and resource invested in the has added value to the organisation and delivered a Return on Investment.
Not all OD practitioners would have had the advantage of coming from a background where evaluation practices and techniques are used regularly, however building skills, knowledge and experience for use in this phase is important if are to demonstrate the value fo the work they do.
- Process and structured approach
- Political Sensitivity and inclusiveness
- Grounded understanding of the role of evaluation
- Evaluation techniques and methodology
- Coordination and tracking of data for key measures
- Calculation of ROI
- Leadership and ownership of evaluation process
- Guiding hand
- Relational
- Theoretical founding in evaluation metrics and measures
- Feedback Planning
- Collaboration
- Facilitator
- Trainer
- Developer
- Create learning opportunities
- Ongoing progress evaluation
- Flexibility and Adaptability
- Calming presence
- Tough and supportive
- Safe pair of hands
- Shared responsibility
- Strategic
In the OD process, the evaluation phase may come at the end of the programme, but the planning for the evaluation starts at the beginning of the project, when the OD practitioner agrees with the Client organisation what it is they are being contracted to deliver.
Although a robust evaluation process will occur at the end of the intervention phase, evaluation is a ongoing process throughout each phase of the OD programme, its purpose to provide an opportunity to stop and check that the action taken and decisions made for next steps are keeping the programme on track to achieve the agreed deliverables.
The OD practitioner must be able to align the intended OD programme outcomes with the strategic priorities of the client organisation, and in doing so align the metrics and measures used with those metrics and measures that are useful and used by the organisation.
Performance outcomes are the bread and butter of the OD practitioner. If they are to continue to remain credible then they must be able to deliver performance improvements, and prove it.