Guidelines for Evaluating Community Crime Prevention Projects
STAGE 7 - ACTING ON THE FINDINGS
What you will do in Stage 7
- Announce the findings and recommendations
- Help stakeholders act on the findings and recommendations
ANNOUNCING THE FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
1. Announce the findings and recommendations to each stakeholder and interested party following the timetable in the Action Plan recorded on PLANNING SHEET 4A.
2. Contact each stakeholder after the announcement to check their reactions.
Managing the stakeholder politics well at this point is most important if the recommendations are to be implemented smoothly.
If you have managed the stakeholder politics well during the evaluation, stakeholders will have few unpleasant surprises, and they are less likely to reject the recommendations or question the validity of the evaluation. The best outcome would be that they ask for more information, clarification, or support to put the recommendations into action. Sometimes, despite your best efforts, you will not be able to satisfy all stakeholders.
In crime prevention programs where it has been necessary to limit knowledge of the evaluation or early findings, there may be some stakeholders who are not happy. How to manage this should be spelt out in the Action Plan. The most effective strategy is:
- meet people face-to-face
- explain why they could not be given the information earlier
- provide all of the information that is available now
- invest the time in answering questions, resolving conflicts, clarifying recommendations, and helping them move forward
- include the Evaluator in these meetings, if possible.
If, despite your best efforts, there are disaffected stakeholders, you need to try to limit their effect on other stakeholders.
3. Answer any questions stakeholders have and clarify the information supplied by the Evaluator.
If you do not know the answer to a question, say so. Tell people what you will do to find an answer and when you will get back to them.
ACTING ON THE FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
4. Follow the timetable in the Action Plan, recorded on PLANNING SHEET 4A
If there have been problems announcing the findings and recommendations, you may need to revise the Action Plan.
Bear in mind that it can sometimes be difficult to take the project findings further and act on the results.