Electronic Collaboration Tools: Opening Up a New World of Possibilities for Evaluators

This article by Benoît Gauthier examines the use of electronic collaboration tools as a way of enhancing evaluation practice. His premise is that programme

design and delivery are becoming more collaborative and complex and that partnership arrangements and multiple delivery locations are "the norm." As a result, evaluation models are evolving. According to Gauthier, this is evident by the growing demand for stakeholder-based and participatory evaluations,

horizontal (cross-cutting) evaluation studies, multi-site and cluster evaluations, multi-organisation evaluations, and multinational evaluations.

Gauthier describes electronic collaboration tools that facilitate participation and complement face-to-face meetings, email, and teleconferences as helping
decrease time and expenses. He describes the fact that this allows for evaluation team members to be working in a more streamlined manner since information is being shared in a timely manner. Further he describes the dissemination of evaluation findings and knowledge management easier and more effective.

The electronic collaboration tools share some basic functions according to Gauthier. They include:

• Filtering and distribution of messages according to need-to-know rules
• Construction of threads, where messages are visually grouped in a way

  that permits a discussion to be followed easily

• Storage and rapid retrieval of text and data files for solving problems and building corporate memory

Gauthier describes a number of advanced features. A few unique ones are the ability to: interact in several languages (and link to translation software); carry out electronic voting with assurance of confidentiality; and partake in chat rooms that allow for synchronous, real-time discussions. He mentions several potential barriers such as some stakeholders having lack of access to, or fear of, technology; language differences, and/or cultural barriers.

Gauthier suggests that in the coming years electronic collaboration tools are likely to become a" vital pathway for evaluators to reach out to each other,
share knowledge, and form diverse communities of practice across the globe."