Essential tools for effective monitoring
Sensemaker Essentials is a training series that equips kaimahi with the skills and confidence to monitor and evaluate services and programmes in-house. Our experienced evaluators have designed this practical learning series to support people working at all levels of your organisation to make sense of outcomes, indicators, and data in a practical, real-world way.
This series focuses on building confidence and skills to measure what matters in your work. It’s hands-on, discussion-based, and will support you and your organisation to feel comfortable using evidence for learning and improvement. If you’re interested in strengthening your capability in monitoring, outcomes, or indicators, or just want a clearer way to make sense of the data you already collect, this training is for you.
Foundation Essentials
Build the foundations of effective monitoring and evaluation. In this training, you’ll learn how to articulate a clear Theory of Change and develop meaningful indicators that help you track progress and make sense of whether your work is creating the change you intend.
Application Essentials
Apply your Theory of Change and indicators in practical monitoring. This training explores how to collect useful data in real-world settings and how to analyse it in ways that reveal patterns, support learning, and inform better decisions.
Excellence Essentials
Go beyond measurement to thoughtful, responsible evaluation practice. This training focuses on ethical data use, respectful engagement with participants, and how to communicate results clearly so evidence can inform decisions and strengthen impact.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Sensemaker Essentials is designed for not-for-profits, community groups, and local government teams who want to build their confidence in evaluation. No prior experience is needed, just an interest in better understanding how to articulate and measure outcomes.
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Each training runs for one full day (typically 9.00am–4.00pm, including breaks) and includes two modules.
The three workshops can be delivered individually or as a connected series. You can pick the session that best fits your team’s needs or run all three as a full learning series.
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Sessions are held on site with your team, so examples and discussions stay relevant to your work. This approach keeps training costs accessible.
If you’re based in Auckland and prefer to get out of the office for a day, we can host you in Auckland CBD.
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The workshops are designed for in-person delivery, as the hands-on activities and group discussions work best when teams learn together in the same room.
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Each workshop is designed 10 to 25 participants. This size allows for plenty of interaction, discussion, and individual support while keeping group activities manageable. Larger groups can be accommodated by request, just get in touch to talk about options.
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Yes, you will leave with a practical workbook that includes templates, and examples. We will also send a digital pack after the session with slides and practical tools. The idea is that you leave with everything you need to start using the methods straight away.
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Each workshop is tailored to your organisation’s context. Before the training, we meet with you to understand your current work, priorities, and examples. We then use these insights to personalise activities, case studies, and discussions so the content feels directly relevant and practical for your team.
