Outputs are arguably not the most important level of the results chain. It is outcomes that should be the focus of a good plan. Ultimately, that´s what counts. However, outputs still matter. Just to be clear: Simply put, outputs refer to changes in skills or abilities, or the availability of new products and services. In plain […]
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Measuring impact of social innovation
Impact. You know the feeling don’t you – you’ve been working on a brilliant initiative, and then someone turns up and asks you “So – what impact are you making”? It’s a fair question – indeed, it’s a question we should be asking ourselves. If we are not making a […]
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Indicators: choose the right angle
Once we have agreed on a clever, limited set of indicators, all seems good. However, we are not yet there. For most indicators, we can choose a specific ‘angle’.
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Use change language in reports
An engaging report uses ‘change language’ instead of action language. Hunh? Ok, it’s not as complicated as these big words suggest. Language matters. Let’s look at it closer: ACTION LANGUAGE Action language reflects the completion of a series of activities. An example of action language is: “XYZ supported the peer […]
Continue reading5 tips for good reporting
Good reporting isn’t that hard. My five tips are: 1. start with what is important, 2. use simple language, 3. use change language, 4. back it up with evidence, and 5. visualize data.
Continue reading7 principles of a Theory of Change
A good theory of change (ToC) is based on seven principles: 1. Repeat doing it until you get it right, 2. links are as important as expected changes, 3. risk and assumptions are key, 4. it must be scalable, 5. it is not a results chain, 6. organisations often already […]
Continue readingA Theory of Change
Probably as an inevitable result of the buzz in the past few years, many Theories of Change are often useless. One reason for that is – is my feeling – that they are typically not developed in a logical sequence: without a thorough problem analysis, with a possible intervention already […]
Continue readingStop overthinking: Minimum Viable Product
MINIMUM WHAT?!? Ok. What are we talking about? A minimum viable product – MVP in short – is a product with just enough features to gather validated learning about a possible intervention or product. It is deliberately imperfect; any additional work on it beyond what was required to start learning is waste, no matter […]
Continue readingInnovative programme design
It has always been clear to me: Monitoring and Evaluation depends to a large extent on how development or government programmes are planned and designed. That is why good M&E is strongly linked with good planning and design. In a way, programme design is a natural extension of our skill set in M&E. […]
Continue readingThe Age of Data
Data, information and knowledge Professional Monitoring and Evaluation is based on hard facts: data, information, knowledge and understanding. Let us take a closer look at these concepts: WHAT IS DATA? As you will know, data is a collection of objective facts, such as numbers, words, images, measurements, observations or even just descriptions of things. In […]
Continue readingOur toolbox for primary data collection
To collect primary data (data that we need to collect first ourselves), we can rely on a rather sophisticated tool box– largely from social sciences – that has been developed over decades. There are tools for quantitative and qualitative data collection. Here is a list of some of the important tools available to us:
Continue readingMeasuring = reducing uncertainty
A lot of what we do in Monitoring and Evaluation is related to measuring. And that’s the problem: Many of us think of measuring as something precise. But that’s not necessarily the case in M&E. What we need to be is roughly right. Those of us in Monitoring and Evaluation should […]
Continue readingMonitoring? Evaluation? Isn’t it the same?
Don’t be fooled. The fact that the terms Monitoring and Evaluation often goes together and is called “M&E” is somewhat misleading. When governments or development organisations use the term “Monitoring & Evaluation”, however, they mean something very specific: Monitoring & Evaluation is about collecting and analysing data and reporting on findings on how well a programme, a policy, a service […]
Continue readingMini course in M&E
Are you new to Monitoring & Evaluation? Or do you want to briefly brush up your knowledge on key concepts? Why not join my M&E mini course on Udemy? It’s short, to the point and covers the basics. And with a rating of 4.4 stars and 1,000+ subscribers it’s probably […]
Continue readingWant to be a Monitoring & Evaluation professional?
Do you already work in M&E? Or do you consider building a career in M&E? My advice: Do it! To avoid any surprises, here is a very, very, very brief intro into Monitoring & Evaluation (or M&E) as a profession. You may already know that, but: Monitoring and Evaluation is […]
Continue readingM&E needs to change. We need to change.
Monitoring and Evaluation is an exciting area of work because it is currently undergoing rapid changes. Countries and organizations are increasingly taking innovative approaches to monitor and evaluate the performance of programmes, policies, services or organizations. There are several reasons why this is happening. ‘RESULTS’ ARE HERE TO STAY First, citizens, parliaments and donors are […]
Continue readingThe result chain: a beginner’s guide
Monitoring and Evaluation is about measuring and tracking results. That is why it is important to understand what results are, and how to distinguish between different levels of results. In general, a “result” is something that happens or exists because of something else that has happened: the results of a football game the final value of a mathematical calculation, or the outcomes of an election. In […]
Continue readingIndicators in the age of Open Data
In the age of open data, indicators must be clear, credible and proportional. It is a game changer for M&E: Communication skills using indicators suddenly become a core qualification. More and more organizations make their data on aid, development and humanitarian flows accessible online as a result of the International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI). […]
Continue readingSeven steps to measure results
STEP 1: WHAT DO WE WANT TO KNOW? What is the information we would like to know in the future? How often do we want to know it? For example: Our goal is to help 10.000 women increase their income. What we would like to know is a) if this […]
Continue readingWe can (nearly) measure anything
“We had some great results -but you can’t measure them!” “Not everything that counts can be counted!” “You can’t measure everything!” These are some of the critical arguments we often hear in Monitoring and Evaluation. The reason for this confusion is the common misconception that we in Monitoring and Evaluation […]
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