Not Another Evaluation Form!
11 Aug 2009
When you go to a class, seminar, training, or speaking event, you’re often asked to fill out an evaluation form. Sometimes it doubles as a raffle entry (anyone else miss the Adobe Roadshows with prizes galore?). I think that’s a great idea, but I don’t give prizes away for filling out forms in my training classes. The “prize” is a better training experience and the chance to tell me what you think.
For me, evaluation forms are the best way for you, as a class participant, to make sure I’m providing a valuable service. They are your one big chance to say what’s on your mind after attending one of my events. What do you want to see in a training class? What topics interest you? What didn’t you find helpful in the class? These are all valuable questions for me to ask. Problem is: many people don’t fill the evals out completely…if at all. An eval form with only your name and email filled out doesn’t really help anyone (I already have that info).
I read everyone of those evaluation forms and take the feedback and advice to heart. Does that mean I try to accommodate every suggestion that comes through? Not at all. Some of the feedback is merely griping about the software, bosses that won’t upgrade the application, or wanting a different format for the class than that stated in the class description. Keep it relevant. If you think I didn’t explain things clearly, let me know in what way and how I might improve. The last thing I want is for you to leave my class thinking, “She was really nice, but I didn’t GET a thing she was talking about.” If you didn’t enjoy a particular topic in the class, let me know why. Maybe it wasn’t relevant to your job. If I see a trend of comments like that, I might re-evaluate whether or not to cover that topic in future classes.
Evaluations are not just “busy work” at the end of a class. They’re not just something I do to show a boss or for my own ego. They are so I know how I’m doing, what I’m doing right, and what I can improve on. If you take more classes from me, my goal is to exceed your expectations every time, which means constantly improving and giving you a better learning experience than the time before. If you’re not taking the time to fill out evaluation forms in their entirety, you’re missing out on a great opportunity. If you’re a trainer or speaker and you’re not getting evaluations from your audience, you really ought to be. How else will you know what your audience wants? Evaluations are a vital resource and give attendees an avenue to voice their opinions to shape future events and classes.
Some helpful eval feedback:
Did I speak in a way that was clear and understandable?
Did I leave you with unanswered questions?
Was there a topic in the class that wasn’t relevant to what you do?
What did you like and dislike and WHY?
What improvements to the subject matter can I make?
What other topics interest you and WHY?
Anything else you think I can do to improve the overall learning experience?
Not so helpful feedback:
Weather was terrible and made traveling here difficult (Yes, I’ve gotten that before).
Telling me I spoke too quickly: I ask frequently during my classes if my pace is working for everyone…that’s the time to speak up.
Telling me you can’t hear me.
Telling me the room was too warm.
Basically, anything about the environment that could have been addressed during the class (too hot, too cold, too noisy, too dark, etc.)…on the eval is too late for me to make the situation better.
