12/20/2017
It’s over a month after AEA’s #Eval17 and just a few weeks before the new year. It’s hectic and nonstop in the office with new projects coming in and evaluators hopping in and out for conferences and site visits. Then there’s the holidays and winter break and before you know it, 2018 with all its resolutions, change, and hope. Before we get too focused on change and the new, we thought it would be fun to share some of the evaluation lessons we’ve learned in our pasts.
In the spirit of “Learning from Failure”, an #Eval17 presentation by Michael Quinn Patton, Stephanie Evergreen, Kylie Hutchinson, and Rakesh Mohan, some of our team shared a lesson they learned when things went awry.
- For those with 6.02E23 versions of a single spreadsheet: “Two words: VERSION CONTROL.”
- For those learning syntax for the first time: “Don’t be afraid to make a mistake in writing syntax because eventually you will succeed.”
- For those trying to keep a group of teens on topic: “Sometimes it’s beneficial to let them go down a rabbit hole – what you learn may surprise you! Even more, they got themselves back on track without my help.”
- For those with scheduling troubles: “All of a sudden, my meeting was rescheduled for the next day while I was seven hours from home. What did I do with my free day? PAMPERED MYSELF. Sometimes you have to relax and be flexible. The meeting the next day went terrific FYI.”
Take it from us – things can get messy, not go as planned, and even go to complete chaos. In the last 20 years, we’ve seen it, we’ve grown because of it, and we can help you manage it. With that in mind, wouldn’t you want VIA on your team? To have VIA support your work, call us at (716) 362-0627
