Part of the job of an evaluator is to identify and define metrics for our clients. But what about you? Are you as disciplined when it comes to defining and tracking metrics for your own business?  

At Three Hive Consulting, we track a variety of metrics – some of the metrics are KPIs we review each week and some we monitor less frequently. The following list provides an overview of some of the metrics we track and the types of decisions they inform in our organization. Your metrics and how often you monitor them should be customized to your business’ decision-making needs.    

1. Number of Sales Conversations

The number of leads generated is a common metric in business. It is used to monitor the number of prospective clients. Many businesses will measure “leads,” but we found that definition didn’t fit our needs; we aren’t cold calling potential clients or investing deeply in marketing, so the majority of our “sales” come from RFPs, limited competitions, and direct requests for quotes.

Instead, we count the number of sales-related conversations our Sales Lead has as one of our weekly KPIs. We define a “sales conversation” broadly; it includes emails, phone calls, LinkedIn chats, in-person conversations, proposal or quote submissions. It is easy to measure and is a good leading indicator of how active sales are in our organization.

2. Total Proposals Submitted

This indicator is the total number of proposals for work submitted in a certain time period, which includes public RFP, sole source, or limited bid competitions. It is helpful to look at this indicator over time to see if there are trends when people are seeking evaluation support. For example, our data shows that February is a busy proposal month for us, so we need to consider additional resources for proposal development in that month.

3. Win Rate

We track how much work we actually win! This means we take the number of clients who have signed contracts within a specified time period and divide it by the number of project proposals that we bid on and quotes we submit during the same time period.

We can also look at our win rate according to type of competition (sole source, RFP, and limited competition) and the sector/topic area to see where we are most successful. Examining our win rate has helped us decide on which projects make the most sense for us to bid on and which projects we should pass on.

4. Total Contract Amount Won

We also track the total amount of contract dollars we have won by adding up the contract amounts for the proposals we won in a certain time period. We like to look at this over time to make sure it is going up!

5. Total Contract Amount Lost

Similarly, we want to know how much we have left on the table. We track the total amount lost by adding up the contracts amounts for the proposal we were not successful on. Ideally, this amount is going down; however, it also needs to be interpreted with the average contract amount and with consideration for how much we might be stretching beyond our more successful content areas on some proposals.

6. Average Contract Length

This a new metric we are starting to collect. We are often trying to forecast how to resource projects. Documenting and monitoring the length of our projects will help with this decision-making. It is simply the total number of months for all our successful contracts divided by the number of successful contracts for a certain time period.

7. Utilization Rate

In consultancies we spend time on project work, but also non-project work like accounting, administration, marketing, sales, team meetings and training. It is important to understand how much time people are spending on project work (i.e., work that you get paid for!).

Our employees enter and report their utilization time each week: the number of billable client hours within a specific time period divided by the total available hours. We have a target, and if our employees are consistently under that target we know we need to take a closer look at the other sales-related metrics to bring in more work.

This number is easily tracked through a time tracking software we use called Harvest (Refer to Business Tools You Need to Run Your Evaluation Consultancy for more information).

8. Client Satisfaction

Most companies collect and track this metric through a client survey. As part of our project closing process, we send a survey to collect quantitative data on our client experience. However, we don’t want to wait until the end of a project to hear from our clients. Instead, we collect this information qualitatively through regular client check-in meetings.

We also have a weekly agenda item on our team meetings where team members report back client feedback (the good and the bad). If it is bad feedback, then we discuss ways to resolve it as a team.

9. Gross Margin

We like to understand if and how profitable our business is. It is important to understand our company’s profit to help us decide if we have money to invest in other areas of our business (i.e., hiring employees, employee compensation, marketing, etc.). We use QuickBooks Online. It has an online dashboard and built-in reports to easily monitor our financial metrics.

10. Project Margin

We also want to understand if and how profitable certain projects are. We can monitor this in real-time through our time tracking software, Harvest. Harvest shows the billable amount and internal costs of the projects, so Project Leaders can monitor and have conversations with clients if it looks like the project is going to deviate from the estimated budgets.

We also record and monitor this indicator across projects to see if certain types of projects have different margins, which then informs our sales and estimating processes.

Want to put some of these metrics into practice? Download our proposal dashboard template to help get you started tracking your own metrics.

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Every evaluation project, from small to large scale, has similar processes or phases. There is the initiation stage, followed by planning, data collection, analysis, reporting, and project-close-out phases. I find the planning stage the most exciting and challenging since it requires quick learning of the program and attention to detail.  

At the planning stage, there are multiple meetings with the program team to decide on the evaluation approach, timelines, and goals. Although it is impossible to have a meeting agenda template that works for every meeting, I have an Evaluation Kick-off Meeting Agenda Template that I often use at the start of a new evaluation project.  

1. Introductions and role clarity

The first thing on my agenda is introductions of the program and evaluation team members. Knowing the program team members who will participate in the evaluation will help ensure the involvement of the appropriate team members from the start.

Similarly, knowing the roles of the evaluation team members will save the program team time and energy when trying to get evaluation information. It is also a good idea to include a brief ice-breaker activity to help meeting attendees relax and ease into the work.

2. Program Goals

The purpose of a program provides the direction for the program. In addition, the program purpose and goals are the foundation upon which other program elements are defined, including the evaluation. It is, therefore, essential that the evaluation team understands the program’s purpose, goals, and objectives.

The evaluation team will have other opportunities to examine in detail the program’s objectives, such as during logic model or theory of change activities, however understanding the broader goal, the evidence, philosophy and/or rationale behind it helps brainstorm evaluation approaches.

3. Evaluation Goals

A big challenge at the planning phase is undefined evaluation goals. Sometimes the program team members don’t know what exactly they want from the evaluation, or they can’t agree. When the goals aren’t clear, it’s difficult to manage the project.

Scoping the evaluation, i.e., having an open discussion about the purpose of the evaluation and how the program team plans to use the evaluation results, will help tailor the evaluation design and deliverables.

4. Communication and information exchange

Lack of communication or miscommunication can be a challenge in evaluation. Although it is likely unnecessary to prepare a communication strategy for a small to medium scale evaluation project, it is still important to identify key approaches such as: 

• designated contact person for both the program and evaluation  

• preferred way to reach the program contacts  

• format and recipients of status updates  

• meeting frequency  

• availability of team members and preferred timeline for meetings/activities 

• data exchange (e.g., set up a shared drive/ Teams channel, etc.)  

5. Evaluation Timelines

Poor evaluation scheduling is also a common challenge in evaluation. Not allocating sufficient time for planning may result in evaluation methodology that is not suitable for the program.

Similarly, insufficient time for data collection, analysis, or reporting can lead to bias, error, poor quality, and disappointment in the deliverables. Although it may not be possible to identify the timeline for each evaluation activity at this stage, important program events and high-level evaluation timelines should be discussed.

In conclusion, effective start to program evaluation will make the work more efficient and easier. Project management in evaluation requires diligence, and simplifying the process makes it easier to plan and execute.  

We are passionate about starting an evaluation right!  Check out our other article HOW TO KICK OFF YOUR EVALUATION KICK OFF MEETING.

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To celebrate the end of the year, we thought we’d highlight Eval Academy’s top ten posts from 2021.

What posts would you like to see in 2022? Tweet us @EvalAcademy or connect with us on LinkedIn!

#10 – Evaluation Question Examples

Sometimes we just need to see some examples to get us started. Coming in at #10 is a short article that provides you with some examples of evaluation questions to inspire your own.

#9 – How We Used an Outcome Harvest

Moving up a spot from last year, this post shares how we used outcome harvesting and what we wished someone had told us before we started.

#8 – Improve your Logic Model Using 3 Simple Design Principles

Logic Models can be great communication tools. However, we’ve all seen ones that could take hours to decipher. This article summarizes three simple visual design principles you can apply to your logic models that will boost interpretation.

#7 – Reflexivity in Evaluation

We’ve all heard of reflective evaluation practice, but what is reflexive evaluation practice? This article breaks it down for you and outlines tools and ideas for reflexion.

#6 – Arts-Based Data Collection Techniques

At #6 is an article that outlines five arts-based data collection techniques with ideas of how you can incorporate them into your evaluation practice.

#5 – How to Transcribe Interview Like a Pro

At #5 is a short article that outlines four tips to get you transcribing like a pro!

#4 – The Components of An Evaluation Plan

Coming in at #4 is an oldie but a goodie. If you are looking to build an evaluation plan make sure to take a look at this article to see what elements to include.

#3 – How to “Quantify” Qualitative Data

#3 is for all the “quants” out there who need to quantify anything and everything. The “quals” may hiss at this post, but the framework provided for quantifying qualitative data is one you’ll want to bookmark.

#2 – Interview Guide Template

Interviews are common in evaluation. Simplify your interview planning by downloading the interview guide template.

#1 – How to Write Good Evaluation Questions

Our top post for 2021 remains untouched from last year’s list! This article outlines what an evaluation question is and pointers to consider when drafting your evaluation questions.

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Welcome to our monthly roundup of new and noteworthy evaluation news and resources – here is the latest.

Have something you’d like to see here? Tweet us @EvalAcademy!

#Eval21 — Resources

If you logged in to the American Evaluation Association conference this year (#Eval21) and participated in any of the sessions you may have been busy copy and pasting the links to resources that were shared in the presentations and the chats. Here are a few resources shared during this year’s conference.

White Supremacy Culture

A link to pages from the Dismantling Racism: A workbook for social change groups was shared during one the plenary session titled “Abolishing Carcerality and Whiteness in, through and around evaluation. It lists characteristics and antidotes to white supremacy culture which show up in our organizations and through our evaluation practice.

Advancing Health Equity: A guide to language, narrative and concepts

The American Medical Association has a guide on its website for stimulating thinking about language, narratives and concepts for promoting health equity.

Adopting Inclusive & Non-Violent Language

Elizabeth Grim also created a guide for inclusive language. This guide targets language related to data and evaluation and is a more concise guide than the AMA guide (listed above).

Outcome Harvesting Resources

If you are looking to learn more about outcome harvesting then head to this outcome harvesting website for a list of outcome harvesting resources and links all in one spot!

Journey Mapping Resources

If you have heard of a journey map but are not sure exactly what it is or where to start, then check out this overview by the Nielsen Norman Group. This article by User Interviews is also a great resource to see examples of journey maps.

New and Noteworthy — Courses & Events

Strategies for Reporting Qualitative Evaluations

• Organized by: EvaluATE

• Date: December 15 @ 1PM EST

• Type: Webinar

Evaluation Management

• Organized by: EnCompass Learning Centre

• Date(s): December 7, 9, 14, 16

• Type: Online Course