Network Benefits
Why participate in an evaluation network
AKA: What’s in it for me and/or my institution?
Whether coming from an institutional or individual point of view, when posed with the question "What's in it for me?", the simple response is, "Exactly what you put into it." An evaluation network has the potential to motivate, inspire, teach, demonstrate and advocate. To gain the greatest level of benefit and development, participants must apply themselves. Those that participate enthusiastically in the group activities, who attend meetings and training opportunities regularly, and participate in the various studies will find a great deal of satisfaction in the form of camaraderie, evaluation capacity building (ECB), professional development, and a greater understanding of their audience. Those who sit back and watch, who attend when it's convenient and who half-heartedly participate in group activities will find their experience less engaging and rewarding.
AKA: What’s in it for me and/or my institution?
Whether coming from an institutional or individual point of view, when posed with the question "What's in it for me?", the simple response is, "Exactly what you put into it." An evaluation network has the potential to motivate, inspire, teach, demonstrate and advocate. To gain the greatest level of benefit and development, participants must apply themselves. Those that participate enthusiastically in the group activities, who attend meetings and training opportunities regularly, and participate in the various studies will find a great deal of satisfaction in the form of camaraderie, evaluation capacity building (ECB), professional development, and a greater understanding of their audience. Those who sit back and watch, who attend when it's convenient and who half-heartedly participate in group activities will find their experience less engaging and rewarding.
Benefits to institutions
It may be expected that a museum’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) or Director will feel that participating in the network will increase museum staff workloads and pull employees out of other areas of operations on an ongoing basis. Large museums may wonder why they would want to participate in an organization that advocates for something they already do. Leadership may not see the value in sending their representative to work with a cluster of smaller museums with fewer resources and a smaller knowledge base. Smaller museums may feel like their staff is already too thinly spread.
To those naysayers we offer the following:
Benefits to individuals
Participation in a network takes work on a personal level. It will require staff to forfeit one portion of their existing workload and replace it with another. Still worse, it may add a new component to an already full workload. It may initially be viewed as a burden of new meetings and committees that have no real value.
Here are a few of the benefits to be reaped on a personal level:
Benefits to Community
Gaining a global understanding of a community’s demographics, interests, and preferences, and then acting upon that new knowledge, will result in museums becoming more relevant. Visitors will find greater satisfaction in their experience and may be encouraged to explore other facilities. It is a very small step in creating a community of learners.
It may be expected that a museum’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) or Director will feel that participating in the network will increase museum staff workloads and pull employees out of other areas of operations on an ongoing basis. Large museums may wonder why they would want to participate in an organization that advocates for something they already do. Leadership may not see the value in sending their representative to work with a cluster of smaller museums with fewer resources and a smaller knowledge base. Smaller museums may feel like their staff is already too thinly spread.
To those naysayers we offer the following:
- Staff morale. Stepping outside of their normal routine and collaborating with creative minds from other institutions will enrich an employee’s work experience. Participants will become energized with new ideas and/of find fulfillment in helping others in an area of their personal expertise.
- Provides big-picture information. Collaborating on studies and sharing information will help your institution better understand the community around you. It will give you access to audiences other than your own, thus opening an entirely new sample-set.
- Identifies potential partner organizations. Collaboration and partnership are big buzz words in the museum community. Through meeting share-outs and joint studies, evaluators will be able to identify similarities among their network partners. It will inspire conversations that may warrant two or more institutions to work together.
- Saves time and resources. Researching evaluation instruments, finding resources for ECB, or even trying to design your own set of survey questions are all activities that take time and energy. A network will provide a roomful of human resources with whom ideas can be bounced and templates can be shared. Physical resources, such as tablets and recording devices, may also become assessable to those without a budget to purchase their own.
- Group prototyping. Within a network, institutions can sample a tool or methodology as part of a pan-institutional study. Once tested, members can decide if they would like to develop a full study as a group or on an individual basis.
- Learning from peers. During meeting share outs staff will see other evaluation systems in action. Their experience may save a partner institution hours of planning and testing should they choose to implement that study themselves.
- Affirmation. Is your current program asking the correct questions? Is the format you use the best for your needs? Working in a network will offer the opportunity to have others review your methods, make suggestions, and overall improveyou outputs.
Benefits to individuals
Participation in a network takes work on a personal level. It will require staff to forfeit one portion of their existing workload and replace it with another. Still worse, it may add a new component to an already full workload. It may initially be viewed as a burden of new meetings and committees that have no real value.
Here are a few of the benefits to be reaped on a personal level:
- Networking. It is always pleasurable to develop a peer group proficient in your own professional area. In them you will find a means to bounce ideas, to ask questions, or to help solve challenges that no one on your own staff would understand.
- Professional Development (PD). Very few museum professionals have received significant training in evaluative studies. Participation in a network and pan-institutional studies, along with PD opportunities during meetings, will vastly increase one’s own evaluation capacity. Practical learning will be hands-on and in the field.
- Resource sharing. The next time you are asked to assess the success of a program, wouldn’t it be nice to have a room full of people who can suggest methodologies, assist with writing effective questions, or show you how to create a tablet survey? When you are a part of a network you are no longer a “department of one.”
- Motivation. Sometimes we are all so busy it is very easy to let items fall off our plates. Evaluation, because it is so internal in nature, is an activity to easily let slip. Participation in a network creates a commitment to not only complete a particular study, but to do so with a sense of excitement and discovery as you anticipate reporting back to the group with your success, or asking them to help correct difficulties.
- Accountability. Strongly aligned with motivation is accountability. On a personal level one may feel motivated by the energy and enthusiasm of their cohorts. On a professional level a network’s projects and reports will make participants feel more accountable. They will make a commitment to participate and the outside deadlines are not going to be as easily extended as they would be on an internal institutional or departmental level.
- Inspiration. Light bulb! Just sitting and listening to people share their ideas and experiences provides comfort in knowing that you are not alone. You may hear about a process or program that has never occurred to you, or envision how, with a few small tweaks, you can customize an evaluation tool specific to your institution’s needs. You will no longer be limited by a scripted process, but rather you will be able to customize any study to be most effective for you.
Benefits to Community
Gaining a global understanding of a community’s demographics, interests, and preferences, and then acting upon that new knowledge, will result in museums becoming more relevant. Visitors will find greater satisfaction in their experience and may be encouraged to explore other facilities. It is a very small step in creating a community of learners.
