1122: From Data to Decisions: Practical Sensemaking Tools for Shared Understanding and Impactful Evaluation

In evaluation, data alone is not enough—what matters is how we make sense of it. Sensemaking is a structured, participatory process that helps evaluators and project teams work together to interpret data, surface assumptions, and generate shared understanding. By fostering deeper engagement and collaboration, sensemaking strengthens evaluation use and ensures findings are relevant and actionable. When used effectively, sensemaking transforms evaluation from a reporting exercise into a dynamic process that engages communities, supports shared leadership, and fosters transformative change—the core pillars of AEA’s 2025 theme.

This workshop introduces practical sensemaking tools that support evaluation across diverse contexts, from small-scale initiatives to large, multi-site projects. Participants will explore tools for tracking project activities, facilitating structured discussions, improving decision-making, and creating opportunities for shared leadership in evaluation.

Participants will explore the following tested tools for
1. Task Team Orientation – Support project teams in anticipating and prioritizing future work by integrating sensemaking into annual reflection and planning.
2. Consensus Building – Use participatory decision-making tools to empower project team in shaping project direction and advancing shared leadership of the evaluation
3. Collaborative Tracking – Practical ways to use spreadsheets as dynamic tools for real-time data reflection, project activity tracking, and team collaboration in evaluation.
4. Online Interaction – Leverage digital platforms to gather multi-perspective input, enhance transparency, and strengthen collective decision-making.

Through hands-on exercises, participants will engage with spreadsheet templates and structured tools to support project monitoring and data-driven reflection. They will explore case studies where these approaches have been used to foster shared understanding across teams, improve transparency, and align evaluation with decision-making.

The session directly aligns with AEA 2025’s theme of Engaging Community, Sharing Leadership by providing tools that:
• Support transformative evaluation by helping teams track progress, visualize trends, and connect data to decisions in real-time.
• Engage communities by structuring interactions that invite broad participation and collaborative reflection on project data.
• Share leadership by distributing responsibility for tracking, interpreting, and acting on evaluation insights across teams.

Rather than simply discussing collaborative and participatory evaluation, this session provides tangible tools for applying these principles in practice. Participants will leave with immediately useful approaches for leveraging various technologies and tracking tools to enhance project reflection, decision-making, and evaluation impact, whether working with community-driven initiatives, organizational learning efforts, or large-scale federally funded projects.