Date: Saturday, October 10, 2026
Hi! I am Matt Feldmann, the principal researcher and co-owner of Goshen Consulting. I generally focus my evaluation practice in Higher Education settings and was recently honored to be elected to the AEA Board of Directors. Eleven years ago I wrote a post about Soft Skills for Independent Consultants. Since then, I recognized that ALL evaluators need soft skills, so I thought I would update the post for the Evaluation Managers and Supervisors week.
Evaluators are often stereotyped as technical experts who are “out of touch” with the human element of their work. While technical competence is essential, technical skills alone aren’t enough to ensure your findings actually make a difference. To improve evaluation utilization, we must connect with our colleagues and stakeholders on a personal level.
When you build deep trust, you gain a better understanding of your colleagues’ true intentions, and they, in turn, become more willing to trust and act on your findings. All evaluators need these “soft” strategies to help you build stronger relationships and more impactful programs.
The foundation of any professional relationship is trust in your competence. You build this “bedrock” by consistently delivering high-quality work.
If you only wait for instructions, you miss the chance to guide the process. “Managing up” means understanding your stakeholder’s goals so well that you can forecast their needs before they do. When you anticipate challenges and provide solutions proactively, you become an indispensable partner rather than just a data vendor.
Evaluators are often introverts, but evaluation is a human-centered field. Whenever possible, meet in person. If you are traveling to a site, make time for a non-work activity like coffee or lunch. Some of the best insights come when you aren’t explicitly talking about work. If meeting in person isn’t possible, join virtual meetings in real time (IRT) to show your commitment and gain a deeper feel for the program’s culture.
Personal connections are built on small, thoughtful gestures. Note important milestones like birthdays or project anniversaries. Sending a thank-you note or even a nerdy evaluation comic can subtly remind stakeholders that you care about them and their mission.
In baseball, the Bench Coach is the Manager’s primary sounding board, helping with tactical decisions and strategy. As an evaluator who likely supports multiple projects, you have a unique perspective. Use that experience to help your program managers lead through challenges.
You are more than a “number cruncher” or “bean counter.” Your ultimate goal is to help your stakeholders understand and improve their mission. When you help a program manager demonstrate their impact, you aren’t just doing your job—you are helping them compete for the funding they need to grow. Their success is your success. This is often literally the case; when your program manager grows their program using your evaluation support, they often rely on you to help them with their expanded program.
The American Evaluation Association is hosting Evaluation Managers and Supervisors (EMS) TIG Week with our colleagues in the Evaluation Managers and Supervisors Topical Interest Group. The contributions all this week to AEA365 come from our Gov’t Eval TIG members. Do you have questions, concerns, kudos, or content to extend this AEA365 contribution? Please add them in the comments section for this post on the AEA365 webpage so that we may enrich our community of practice. Would you like to submit an AEA365 Tip? Please do so using the form on our website. AEA365 is sponsored by the American Evaluation Association and provides a Tip-a-Day by and for evaluators. The views and opinions expressed on the AEA365 blog are solely those of the original authors and other contributors. These views and opinions do not necessarily represent those of the American Evaluation Association, and/or any/all contributors to this site.