If you are like me, these last few days of December will likely be slower than usual with time to relax and reflect (and trying to stay mostly indoors in these frigid weather conditions – the severe arctic freeze and bomb cyclone) with garam masala chai (hot Indian black tea with cream and sugar that is infused with freshly-grated ginger and/or crushed cardamon) and baked goods.
More importantly, a sincere attempt to make time to read all those unopened, unread, saved (somewhere), multitude of pdfs and tabs of articles and webpages on my laptop/desktop.
I know who am I kidding? (Well, I tried.)
In case you do like to (re-)read some of the shorter pieces on (the business of) evaluation that received some attention this year; here are the top 10: (~5-6 minutes read each).
As one fellow evaluator, whom I met at a conference in Fall remarked, “I really like your posts. They are original, practical, and based on things that no one ever teaches you in school/evaluation courses, nor can find in an evaluation book. Folks are even afraid to talk and share these with others in public.”
Well, thank you! These are all lessons learned by burning fingers, dare I say. I can only hope that my fellow evaluators will read, learn, and also be aware of situations such as these to avoid any major pitfalls.
We continue to live and learn.
1. On writing a balanced report
https://lnkd.in/eufBxYbW
2. On Halloween and evaluation
https://lnkd.in/eCvxCh4r
3. On playing the business of evaluation game
https://lnkd.in/eRdtknsJ
4. On engaging an evaluator: early and often
https://lnkd.in/eGpMPhPE
5. On budgeting for your evaluation
https://lnkd.in/eymWQJ2X
6. On mother’s day: My sweet mom
https://lnkd.in/etueTqpd
7. On dissertating and making a true friend
https://lnkd.in/e2qXXP3h
8. On conducting a focus group after a long gap
https://lnkd.in/eM9MwFSj
9. On scope creep in evaluation
https://lnkd.in/ek2CHYfc
10. On being caught in a “Columbo” moment
https://lnkd.in/eAwxcK5b
Enjoy your holiday break. Take time to Reflect, Recoup, Rejuvenate, and Recharge.
Illustration made with DALL.E (a free AI tool). Two red pandas enjoying some garam masala tea with baked goods (scones and looks like a cake.)
