Process Use

For many years, the evaluation field has been interested in understanding the factors that contribute to the use of evaluation findings. Although much has been learned about these factors, more recent attention has focused on what and how stakeholders learn from their involvement in the evaluation process. Although the extent to which stakeholders are involved in an evaluation varies greatly, many collaborative, participatory, and learning-oriented approaches to evaluation ask stakeholders to help determine the evaluation's purpose and key questions, to carry out various data collection and analysis activities, and to aid in the development of recommendations and action plans. As evaluators have increasingly implemented more collaborative evaluation approaches, they have come to realize that learning from the evaluation may be considered another type of use. Patton (1997) has called this process use, and defines it as follows:

Process use reflects constructivist-learning theory in that it focuses on how groups of people make meaning as they conduct an evaluation. By encouraging dialogue and reflection and questioning assumptions, values, and beliefs, individuals come to more fully understand the evaluand; the organization; themselves; each other; and, ultimately, evaluation practice.

Several factors appear to influence the likelihood that those involved in evaluation processes will learn [Page 328]from their participation (Preskill, Zuckerman, & Matthews, 2002). These include factors related to the following:

1.
How evaluation meetings are facilitated. This involves the intentionality of learning from the evaluation process, the amount and quality of dialogue and reflection, the meeting facilitators' group process skills, the degree of trust among participants, and how much time is given to discussing various issues.
2.
The extent to which, and the ways in which, management and leadership support participants' involvement in the evaluation process. This involves expectations managers have for participants to share their learning with others in the organization or community, and how they are rewarded for sharing and using what they have learned.
3.
Participants' personal characteristics and experiences with evaluation and the program being evaluated. These include participants' motivation to engage in the evaluation process, their position, their rank, their previous training in evaluation, and the belief that the evaluation findings will be used.
4.
The frequency, methods, and quality of communications between and among stakeholder participants. These include the frequency and length of communications during the evaluation, the amount and quality of interactions once the evaluation has been completed, and the methods used to communicate and report the evaluation's progress and findings.
5.
Organizational characteristics. These include the extant degree of organizational stability, external demands, constraints, and threats and the extent to which the organization supports evaluation work.

If process use is supported, nurtured, and studied, it may lead not only to individual learning but to team and organizational learning.

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