Document management processes and agreements

It is important to document decisions about the management of evaluative activities, including any processes for monitoring compliance with ethical and quality standards during the evaluation.

These documents will also ensure that different stakeholders, whether funders, partner organisations, communities or expert advisors are clear about what is being done, how and when, and their responsibilities and accountabilities for the evaluation.

Different organisations have different forms of documents and different labels for the document that describes what is to be done - the purpose, Key Evaluation Questions and timeline.  

Sometimes this document is referred to as Terms of Reference (ToR), Scope of Work (SOW), Statement of Work (SOW), Request for Proposal (RFP), Request for Quotation (RFQ), Invitation To Tender (ITT) or the evaluation brief.

This document can be used for any type of evaluation (internal, external, self-evaluation) but they are particularly useful as part of the process of engaging an external evaluator.

Other types of documents might be developed to formalise the relationships between different organisations working together on the evaluation.  These could include a Memorandum of Understanding or a Contractual Agreement.

Methods

Document what is needed in an evaluation

Document how different organisations will work together

'Document management processes and agreements' is referenced in: