# 15 Innovative evaluation and review
#15 Innovative evaluation and review
What is it?
Innovative evaluation and review can help foster continuous improvement of a new service.
How could I use it?
Traditional quantitative approaches to evaluation can be limited in terms of the understanding they can provide on end users experience of the service. Using qualitative approaches in evaluation can provide local authorities with a more comprehensive narrative on how the services they provide are being received and where they could be improved. For example:
1. Quality circles are one method of engaging end users in the review process.
• They bring together end users, experts, academics and practitioners involved in delivery, to address logistical concerns and resource allocation
• by bringing these different perspectives together, specific problems relating to both the delivery and use of a service can be uncovered
• quality circles normally have no more than 10 members and are supported by the local authority responsible for providing the service being evaluated.
2. Citizens’ panels that either meet physically or are hosted online are also a valuable way of increasing participation in evaluation and review. Local authorities can recruit a representative range of local residents to draw on when they need feedback.
3. Online forums can help local authorities engage the time poor, for example professionals or working parents, who may want to contribute but would have difficulty committing to a meeting. Instead they can respond online at a time that is convenient for them.
Where has it been used?
• Bristol’s citizens’ panel - In 1998 Bristol City Council established a citizen’s panel of 2,500 residents that departments within the authority can consult if they want feedback on the performance of a service. At the heart of the strategy is the website Ask Bristol. The website helps the process work both ways: the local authority can contact residents asking for their opinion, while at the same time residents can begin their own discussion on the site about topics of concern to them. The site is monitored by Bristol City Council staff so they can pick up on pertinent issues of concern to the local community.
More information?
Bookmark on Social Network