Interpersonal Skills Training to Foster Authentic Engagement: Lessons Learned from a Global Study of Young and Emerging Evaluators

Strong interpersonal skills are paramount to bridge power imbalances, foster authentic engagement, and center community in the evaluation process. Despite their importance, evaluators often report low confidence in their interpersonal abilities and believe this is an area they need further training to develop (Galport & Azzam, 2017). This presentation will highlight a recent study aimed at addressing this gap by designing and delivering a comprehensive interpersonal skills training program tailored specifically for young and emerging evaluators. The presenter will highlight the importance of the interpersonal domain, share a potential best-practice model for developing evaluation-specific interpersonal skills, and start a conversation about how including interpersonal skills training early in evaluator education is essential to ensure emerging evaluators are well equipped to integrate with communities and be champions of transformative and responsive evaluation practice.
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