How to Learn Project Evaluation

A project evaluation assesses whether project goals and objectives have been achieved. This process helps to improve the decision making process for project managers and increases their knowledge about the efficiency and effectiveness of their projects. Project evaluation is an essential element in many professions, whether in a construction job, an educational program or a corporate project. The findings of a project evaluation determine the direction a project takes and the planning of future projects. Project evaluations are conducted internally by the company's project managers and evaluators, as well as externally by consulting firms.

Instructions

1. If you work for a company that uses project evaluation, ask your employer for the opportunity to learn about the process through on-the-job training. Volunteer to assist a project evaluator to gather data, prepare evaluation documents or to do some writing for the final project evaluation report. Partner with a trained internal project evaluator for your company and read previous project evaluation reports.

2. Enroll in a certificate training program for project evaluation. Ask a project manager to recommend one. Request that your employer enroll you in the next corporate sponsored certificate training program.

3. Enroll in business and project management classes at a college or university. Select courses that focus on conducting a project evaluation.

Tips & Warnings

• Practice project evaluation by conducting your own informal evaluations on projects at work.

• Project evaluation requires knowledge about data collection and the relevance of data to the project objectives.

References

• Management Help: Basic Guide to Program Evaluation
• International Labour Organization: Project Evaluation
• The Evaluators Institute: TEI Certificates

Resources

• Chandoo: Building a Layout for Project Evaluation
• John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health: Fundamentals of Program Evaluation