1. Evaluating Partnerships
BE0964 Partnership & Collaborative
Working

2. Assignment Part 1
• Carry out a critical analysis of the Coventry City
Council case study by evaluating the key
strategies adopted by the partners / collaborators
and by analysing the development of the alliance
over time by applying relevant themes, theories
and concepts studied in the module. Draw
conclusions from your analysis and develop an
evaluation of the success or failure of the alliance
by applying an evaluation model of your choice

3. Introduction
• Why evaluate
partnerships?
• What is a ‘successful
partnership’ and how
can it be measured?
• Introduce some
partnership evaluation
approaches

4. Benefits of Evaluation
• Evaluation is often a
neglected part of
partnership working.
• Evaluation is an
important part of
partnership and inter-
agency working
• – what is happening?
• – what is going right,
what is going wrong and
why!

5. Benefits of Evaluation
• Ideally, evaluation
needs to be considered
at the beginning of a
partnership
• In the past this has not
been the case and
evaluation has often
been an after-thought

6. An effective evaluation strategy:
• Why you want an
evaluation?
• Who wants the
evaluation to be done?
• When the evaluation
will be done?

7. An effective evaluation strategy:
• What the evaluation
will look at - what
questions will be
asked; what
information/data will
be collected and what
criteria and indicators
will be used?
• How the information
will be collected?

8. An effective evaluation strategy:
• Who will be
responsible for the
evaluation?
• Who will do the
evaluation?
• How much the
evaluation will cost?
• How the results of
the evaluation will be
used?

9. Why it is important to evaluate?
• To learn about how to
work in partnership
• To measure progress
against objectives
• Improving management
processes and
procedures

10. Why it is important to evaluate?
• Seeing what has been
achieved - both
intentional and
unintentional
outcomes
• Improving
effectiveness of
partnerships

11. Why it is important to evaluate?
• Sharing experiences
(often with other
partnerships) - identify
good practice, in areas
such as promoting
community
involvement for
example
• To work out cost
effectiveness and value
for money

12. Why it is important to evaluate?
• To identify
strengths and
weaknesses
• To report to
partners, local
people, regional
and national
governments

13. Why it is important to evaluate?
Formative
‘This is a type of ‘developmental’ evaluation that feeds
information and guidance back into an intervention so
that improvements can be made’.
Process
‘The aim of this type of evaluation is to find out exactly
how an intervention works’.
Outcome
‘This type of evaluation focuses on the final results of the
intervention. A typical question for an outcome
evaluation to address would be whether the intervention
has made significant improvements in a client’s life’

14. Effectiveness of Partnerships
Important at 3 levels

15. Problems with Evaluation
• It is a qualitative problem for
which you need quantitative
measures
• How do you determine that
it is ‘functioning’?
• How do you measure how
well it is ‘functioning’?
• How do you assess ‘added
value’?

16. Problems with Evaluation
Need to assess;
– Opportunity costs
– Impact of partnership
activities on the individual
bodies
– Areas of synergy
– What are the ‘extra’ areas
of achievement

17. Evaluation can focus on:
• Quantity - outputs such as the rate that crime
figures have gone up or down
• Quality - outcomes such as reducing the fear
of crime and improving the quality of life for
residents
• Processes - management systems such as
project appraisal and development systems or
partnership working

18. Partnerships also need to decide the
focus of the evaluation
• ‘bottom-up’ –
evaluation can
highlight to service
users, residents or
the public how the
partnership has
impacted upon them,
or

19. Partnerships also need to decide the
focus of the evaluation
• ‘top-down’ –
evaluation can
convince
funders/sponsors
(such as local or
central government)
that targets are being
met

20. What is a ‘successful partnership’ and
how can it be measured ?
6 features of successful
partnerships:
1. Needs to be recognition
and acceptance of the
need for a partnership
approach
2. development clarity and
realism of purpose
3. ensure there is
commitment and
ownership
“Partnership , New Labour and the Governance of Welfare” Chapter 4, Hudson and Hardy

21. What is a ‘successful partnership’ and
how can it be measured ?
4. develop and maintain trust
5. create clear and robust
partnership working
arrangements
6. the ability to monitor,
measure and learn

22. Evaluation Models

23. Life Cycle Model
One approach to establishing the role
of evaluation for partnerships is to
focus on the concept of a partnership
‘life cycle’.
http://www.simoons.com/2011/09/how-do-you-create-your-
partnerships/

24. Life Cycle Model
It is helpful to think of
partnerships going through a
series of stages, during
which particular tactics are
most appropriate to ensure
partnership progress and
succeed.

25. The Partnership Life Cycle
http://www.transformationpartners.co.uk/J15/images/stories/lifecycle.png

26. 5 vital stages approach
1. Forming:
2.
Frustration
3.
Functioning
4. Flying
5. Failing
1. Consensus Building, set vision
& objectives
2. Problems, re-focus or go to step 5
3. Up & running
4. Real achievement
5. All partnerships have a shelf life

27. 5 vital stages approach
Partnerships need to work
through the stages of the life
cycle in order to function with
greatest effectiveness (or "fly".)
Even in the best partnerships,
there is a tendency for
partnerships to falter and
perhaps fail
Unless the partners consciously
manage their progress through
the critical stages of the life
cycle.

28. 5 vital stages approach
People often don’t know when a
partnership has outgrown it’s
usefulness
This can lead to Partnership fatigue &
Partnership proliferation

29. A note of caution.....
Partnerships are context specific and
come in all shapes and sizes
Therefore, a model of a successful
partnership can only be a guide – no ‘one
solution fits all’

30. Introduction to differing approaches to
evaluating partnerships
Web resources
Local Partnerships
Partnershipbrokers
The Scottish Government
Oxfam
International Institute for Sustainable Development

31. In a good evaluation, we might expect
to see …
• Measurement of
progress against
funders criteria
(performance
targets)
• Measurement of
progress against
partnerships own
targets

32. In a good evaluation, we might expect
to see …
• Value for Money –
efficiency and
effectiveness
• Discussion of the health
of the partnership – how
• well partners work
together
• Process indicators –
involvement,
accountability and
transparency

33. Evaluation Tools

34. Generic Tools

35. Generic Tools

36. Balanced Scorecard (Kaplan & Norton)
- 4 Processes

37. Balanced Scorecard

38. Balanced Scorecard

39. Example of the Balanced Scorecard in
UK Public Policy
• The Neighborhood Renewal Unit (NRU) asks Local
Strategic Partnerships (LSPs) to self assess (score)
performance against core criteria including:
• – Strategy
– Action-Focus – Efficiency
• -Inclusiveness -Performance Management -
Learning and Development
• Scorecard translated into traffic lights to show
levels of delivery and achievement
•

40. LSP Traffic light assessments
• LSPs partnership receive a grading:
• • A Green assessment = successful delivery
• Amber/Green = mostly successful delivery and
• strategies in place to improve delivery
• • Amber/Red = little evidence of successful
delivery & little progress on improving delivery
• • Red = no evidence of successful delivery &
significant issues around partnership working
• Traffic Light assessment

41. Smarter (Ideal) Partnerships Toolkit

42. The Partnership Wheel

43. Evaluation tools
• There are many approaches….
– Generic
– Bespoke
– Top Down
– Bottom Up
Research Partnering Evaluation Tools for yourself…

44. Summary
• Why evaluate
partnerships?
• What is a ‘successful
partnership’ and how
can it be measured?
• Introduce some
partnership evaluation
approaches

45. Further Reading
Partnering and the Balanced Scorecard (n.d)
http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/3231.html
Partnership Effectiveness - Process & Methodology -
http://whitehorsedc.moderngov.co.uk/mgConvert2PDF.aspx?I
D=4620
JISC (2014) PESTLE and SWOT analyses. Available at:
http://www.jiscinfonet.ac.uk/tools/pestle-swot/
Balloch, S. & Taylor, M. (eds.) (2001) Partnership Working: Policy and
Practice, The Policy Press.