Monitoring and EvaluationA Brief Presentation for Interns

Jubair Ahmad MusazayMonitoring and Evaluation Engineer

General Directorate of Policy, Monitoring and Evaluation of Afghanistan National Development Strategy | Ministry of Economy | Kabul Afghanistan

January 7th, 2015

To have an idea about Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E)

To know what is the difference between M&E To know the reason behind M&E (Why M&E is

carried out) To know some of the tools of M&E (how M&E is

carried out)

Objectives of this presentation

Monitoring and Evaluation – Generally

What is it “generally”?An important process of

project/program/strategy management

Interrelated/related but uniquely different. Not really the famous saying of “two sides of one coin” A project/program

management

What is Monitoring?

A systematic approach of collecting, analyzing and using of data to provide detailed information for all the stockholders about the progress, stagnation or regress of an ongoing intervention or an undertaking

Real-time (routine)Continuous (from the beginning till the end of a

project/program)

Monitoring involves (but not limited to the following)

Establishment of indicators Developing a mechanism to collect relevant information

of the established indicatorsCollection and recording of data or informationAnalyzing the collected data Reporting based on the analyzed data for all the relevant

stakeholders

What is Evaluation?

Evaluation is a systematic assessment of an ongoing or completed project, program, or policy, strategy and etc. usually based on monitoring records

Assessment of actual work progress or an intervention impact (achievements) with respect to planned targets (objectives)

Lessons for future interventions

Evaluation involves (but not limited to the following)

What did the project/program/organization plan to achieve or what impact did it want to create

Was the target achieved? Was the impact created?Did the program have a strategy? Did it work? If not,

what went wrong? Where? When? How? Why? Efficiency? Effectiveness? Impact?What recommendation/suggestions to consider for

future?

Monitoring vs. Evaluation (Differences)Monitoring Evaluation

Continuous Periodical

More focused on QC More focused on QA

Records real-time data Carried out based on

monitoring data (usually)

Internal (usually) External (usually)

Continuous analysis of a

project/program progress

Assessment of efficiency,

impact, sustainability and so on

A tool for preventive measures,

better decision making,

ensuring quality and so on

A lesson for future plans and

maybe the ongoing project

(formative evaluation)

Why Monitoring & Evaluation?To make this crystal clear, we use the famous example of Two Corn Farmers and explain it with this example

Farmer A Farmer B

Both plant corn for this year with exactly same initial conditions

Planting cornPlanting corn

Comes regularly for checking (Monitoring)

Does not come for checking or monitoring

The disease are left unnoticedNotices some diseases

Studies his options and takes preventative measures Does not know what is going

on in his farm

This is a kind of formative evaluation

Harvesting timeHarvesting time

High yield (return) Low yield (maybe not even enough for next year’s seeds)

Evaluation Process• No records to

evaluate

• Did not only lose this

year’s yield but also

doesn’t know what

precautions to take for a better yield next

year

• Nothing to build upon

• No lesson to learn (or

maybe a lesson learnt)

Evaluation Process• Amount of seeds

• Amount of required water • Amount of fertilizer

• Type of fertilizer

• Scale of yield based on

seeds

• Time of disease, if any

• Type of pesticide used

• Duration of the disease • Etc.…

• Better prepared for next

year

Recordings/

Logs

No records/

nothing

M&E entire process

Plan Implement Evaluate

MonitorTime

Cost

Work progress

Quality

QuantityStrength

Weakness

Adjustments

Etc…

What we did?What we had planned to do?What went wrong?Results? Impacts?EffectivenessEfficiency Building upon successAvoiding mistakes Etc…

Periodical/Informative Evaluations

Future Plans

Monitor/Track

Time Cost Work/progress Quality/Quantity

Strength/ Weakness Adjustments

• Gantt Chart • Network

Diagram (sequence)

• Timeline • PERT• Etc…

• S-Curve• BQ• Etc…

• Logicalframework

• Performance indicators

• Specifications orproject documents

• Monitoring and evaluation matrix

• Etc…

• QualityControl (QC)

• Quality Assurance (QA)

• BQ• Other

methods

Using analysis methods• SWOT• C&B• SMART

• Reflect• Analyze• Redesign • Stop• Etc. …

These are management tools and they are interconnected. Their tasks usually overlap so one can be used instead of other or for multi-purpose, depending on the situation

Some examples of these management toolsA simple Gantt Chart – Taken from NRRCP

Some examples of these management toolsVariations of Gantt Charts – Taken from the internet

Some examples of these management toolsVariations of Gantt Charts – Taken from internet

Some examples of these management toolsNetwork Diagram

Some examples of these management toolsTimeline – mainly for milestones – from internet

Some examples of these management toolsAnother example of timeline – from internet

Some examples of these management toolsAn example of S Curve

S Curve (Planned)

Case 1 (Actual)

Case 2 (Actual)

More than 80% of the cost

A reporting date for example today

Some examples of these management toolsS Curve for tracking cost and work

Combined S-Curves

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18Elapsed Time in Days

%C

ost

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

120%

140%

160%

180%

200%

%W

orkActual

Planned

Some examples of these management toolsA sample of Logical FrameworkOverall

Objectives

Indicators Means of

verification

Assumptions/

Risks

Purpose

Outcomes

Expected

results

Outputs

Activities

Some examples of these management tools

Logical FrameworkVery important Most commonly used tool for Monitoring and Evaluation

of development projectsApparently it was developed and used for the first time

by USAID Widely used for ANDS

Summing Up (Conclusion)

Thank You!Wishing you a great career ahead!Cynicism does not “AND” can not take you very long into the future.Hope is the key and the way forward. You may “AND” will face a lotof difficulties along the way, but always remember that:

“After every difficulty there comes relief. Verily, after every difficultythere comes relief.”

Chapter 94, Verses 5-6, The Holy Quran