Guidelines for Evaluating Community Crime Prevention Projects

Contents

STAGE 2 - MANAGING STAKEHOLDERS

What you will do in Stage 2

• Identify all people and groups affected by the project
• Bring these people into the evaluation
• Summarise what they want and need
• List points for managing stakeholders

IDENTIFYING STAKEHOLDERS AND INTERESTED PARTIES

1. Make a copy of PLANNING SHEET 2A and list:

• the groups affected by the crimes or problems that the project aims to prevent or reduce
• all the groups and key people involved in the project
  People who appear on this list of stakeholders may include:
  • voluntary and paid project staff
  • people who provide services for the project
  • people who have committed crimes or are likely to commit crimes
  • people who suffer as a result of crime, or are at risk of crime
  • groups or individuals who handle problems caused by the crime
  • police
  • residents' groups
  • community leaders
  • youth workers
  • business groups
  • local government staff and elected representatives.
• all the groups and people who have an interest in the outcomes of the evaluation, although they may not be involved directly
  Interested parties who may benefit from the evaluation but are not directly involved in the project may include:
  • funding agencies
  • local Members of Parliament
  • members of the local community
  • other communities interested in adapting the project for their area
  • crime researchers
  • government agencies at the local, state and federal level
  • media.
• the person who represents each stakeholder and interested party
• what each stakeholder and interested party does in the project.

2. Ask the Project Committee to check you have listed every group that needs to be involved.

BRINGING STAKEHOLDERS INTO THE EVALUATION PROCESS

3. Go through the list of stakeholders and interested parties and decide which need to be directly involved in developing the evaluation.

People like the Project Committee members need to be consulted and involved. Others, like local Members of Parliament, may want the findings but do not need to be involved in the evaluation.

4. Contact each stakeholder you identified in Step 3. Let them know:

• the project is going to be evaluated
• you will be managing the evaluation
• an evaluator will be appointed shortly
• when the evaluator is appointed, he or she will be in touch to discuss details of the evaluation
• how you anticipate information from the evaluation will be used
• that you will contact them during the evaluation to get their input
• that their input will be valued and used.

A telephone call or a personal visit is best for the initial contact, but follow it up with a letter to confirm the details.

Tell stakeholders how long they will usually have to provide input and when you need it.

5. Ask them to let others in their group know about the evaluation.

6. Ask the stakeholder or representative if the information about them or their group that you prepared in Step 1 is accurate. Explain that you will use this information to make sure:

• everyone with an interest in the project will be involved
• everyone will get the information they need.

Go through the information you collected in Step 1. Do this even if you are sure it is correct-it will show stakeholders you have been thorough and can be relied on to look after their interests.

If stakeholders want to see the details in writing, only send them details about their group. Do not send details of every other stakeholder or interested party.

7. Ask each stakeholder to think about:

• the information about the project that they need and must have
• the information about the project they would like, if possible
• questions about the project their group would like answered
• how their group would use each type of information
• how the Evaluator can best deliver the findings and recommendations so they will be easy to act on.

8. Tell each stakeholder you will send them a sheet for their answers.

Emphasise that funds for evaluation will be limited, so it may not be possible to answer everyone's questions or get all the information people want. To make sure their needs are met as well as possible, ask them to list the information they need and want in order of priority.

Give them a date by which to respond. A week or two should be enough for them to consult others in their group and get back to you. If you have not heard from them by the specified date, contact them again.

You will use the information people send you in Stages 4 and 6.

9. After your discussion, send them a letter confirming what you discussed and introducing the planning sheets. Include a copy of PLANNING SHEET 2B to fill in and return to you.

Confirming your discussion in writing will show stakeholders you have paid attention to them, and their voice will be heard in the evaluation. It also means you have a written record of what was discussed.

10. Keep a written record of comments stakeholders make that may affect:

• the evaluation
• the way the project is run
• relations between groups within the project.

You will give the Evaluator this information in Stage 6.

SUMMARISING WHAT STAKEHOLDERS WANT AND NEED

11. When you have received a completed PLANNING SHEET 2B from each stakeholder, work out the information that must be gathered and the questions most people want answered.

12. Make a copy of PLANNING SHEET 2C and list:

• each stakeholder group you consulted
• the information stakeholders collectively need
• the information stakeholders collectively want
• the main questions they want answered, in order of importance
• how they will use this information
• the best way for them to receive the findings and recommendations.

You will give the Evaluator PLANNING SHEET 2C in Stage 6. They will use it to develop the evaluation, and to ensure the information stakeholders need is collected.

13. Ask the Project Committee to check and approve the completed PLANNING SHEET 2C.

Make any modifications they suggest, so long as it does not distort what the stakeholders told you.

14. Send each stakeholder their completed PLANNING SHEET 2C.

Include a letter thanking them for their input. Explain that the information on the sheet is still in draft form and that the Evaluator may need to modify some of it when they design the evaluation. Indicate that, if changes are necessary, the Evaluator will discuss this with the groups affected.

You may also want to include a timetable for the rest of the project, so stakeholders can see when they will be involved in the evaluation.

POINTS FOR MANAGING STAKEHOLDERS

A. Deal with each stakeholder on their own.

Often stakeholders will see the evaluation from different positions and will have different views on what should be done. If you deal with all the stakeholders as a group-or a committee- they will spend a lot of time and effort dealing with each other rather than with the evaluation.

Because crime is an issue many stakeholders are passionate and fearful about, they can be hostile to people who hold different views. They may think that others do not care or are not committed to dealing with the problems they see. Putting a group of such people together may create more conflict than it resolves. It can also seriously weaken the credibility of the evaluation.

If you deal with each stakeholder on their own, you can limit this type of problem.

B. When you ask stakeholders to contribute, make your request very specific. Only ask them to advise you on their own area of competence or concern.

This may prevent them from straying into areas where they have opinions but no technical competence or responsibility.

C. Keep stakeholders informed of progress. Where you make changes following their input, show them the changes and get them to sign off those changes.

You need to control the points at which stakeholders make contributions. Unless you do so, they will keep coming back for another bite of the cherry. Every time they do this, it delays the evaluation.