Training Kit : Personalised Social Support
2012
Activity: Monitoring progress during implementation (Disc)
Time required: 45 minutes
Learning objectives: To learn to track the behavioral changes in a person as well as the
results of the activity during project implementation.
Materials: paper, pen
Method:
1. The trainer explains that: “Once you have defined a project and the action plan, and you
start implementing the activities, you also need to start thinking about how you will work
with the person on a regular basis to see how/if progress is made through the personal
project. Remember that the point of a personal project is not only to achieve results with a
person, but to help them undergo some sort of personal change that is important to them
and will help make them more self-reliant and empowered in their life. Self-reliance and
empowerment can take time and practice and needs to be looked at closely and not
forgotten after the project has started. Along the way, it is very important to ask yourself
HOW you and the person are working together, and if this process/experience is an
empowering one for the person and yourself. Lastly, monitoring is not only focused on the
person, other stakeholders/persons involved should also be evaluated for progress. So
please remember, you are monitoring two things behavioral changes in the person and
their environment and progress on the activity level”
2. The trainer asks the group to brainstorm different ways we can monitor progress
with a person
Possible answers:
a) Reviewing the action plan together on a weekly/monthly basis to see which
activities are being achieved and what adjustments need to be made.
b) Speaking to the person about how they feel the work together on the project has
impacted their personal life and their perceptions on their own
abilities/possibilities, and their reports of how the environment around them is
changing/supporting them or keeping them from progressing.
c) Speaking to the person’s family and other professionals about the progress that
they see.
d) Observing the person in their interactions and community, since you have been
working together, has there been a change compared to when you first met them?
e) Meeting with/observing various other stakeholders to see the change in their
perspectives towards being more inclusive and supportive to the person.
3. Now for each method brainstormed, the trainer asks participants to try listing the
pros/cons of each method to measuring progress on the behavioral and activity level.
Possible answers:
a) Reviewing the action plan together: unless the action plan measures an element of
behavioral change/goal, you will need to make sure you include this in your
discussion, as the action plan is mainly focused on activities. The progress on
certain activities can give you some information but is limited in its ability to give
Shirin Kiani and Annie Lafrenière (Technical Resources Division)
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Training Kit : Personalised Social Support
2012
you details on the interactions the person is having with their environment and
how those have contributed to the progress/lack of progress on activities. It can be
a good starting point for discussions.
b) Speaking to the person: This may help you get good insights into the personal
experience and perception of the person. However, their subjective view may also
under or overestimate progress being made. At times, they may be making good
progress and not be aware of it, OR they may think good progress is being made
when very little is changing. Still, to get their perspective on their experience of
working on their personal project is one of the key things to measure/monitor. To
give the person some power, and to ensure it is not just them who is being
‘monitored’ for change and progress, getting their opinion on how their
environment is responding to them, can be empowering and help them improve
their observation/analytical skills as well. Help encourage them to share
feelings/reports that are based on concrete experiences they’ve had.
c) Speaking to the person’s family and other professionals: This may be useful to
getting other people’s external perspective of the progress, but again they may
under/over report progress being made and their perspective is not as important
as the perspective of the person, so though it is one way to measure progress it
should not be a method that stands alone and is used by itself.
d) Observing the person in their interactions: To be able to make a good comparison
of whether progress is made, you need to ensure you had observed the person in
interactions prior to working together. During your first interview/interactions,
did you notice their behavior/perceptions on their life? This is an objective way of
measuring progress, but it can be difficult to read someone’s personal feelings and
experiences, through observation of interactions only. To do it well, you have to
have very good powers of observation to evaluate the person’s body language,
tone, actions and how those things reflect how the person is now feeling. The
benefit of using observation is to compare whether someone’s report on their
progress matches the reality of what they are living. This will help you see
inconsistencies where someone may say they are feeling more
confident/empowered, but that in real life situations they struggle with this and
will need extra practice and support.
e) Meeting with/observing change in various stakeholders is an important part of
measuring change in the environment, and to avoid being fixating only on change
within the person being supported. This work can be time consuming if there are
many stakeholders and it is important to focus on the key stakeholders that may
impact the person and their project the most (e.g. family, neighbors, school,
workplace, DPO/support group).
All in all, there is no ‘best’ method. A mixture of different methods and different sources of
information can be useful to you getting a sense of the true progress made and the full picture
of the situation. It may also be helpful to ask yourself questions about changes happening
within yourself throughout the process, what you are learning – you are also a part of this
process of change, alive and interacting with it.
4. The trainer concludes and explains that: throughout the monitoring process, it is
important to respond to the person and their environment appropriately and in a timely
manner, so things do not go in the wrong direction. Difficulties and challenges will be part
of the process and should be dealt with a brave and open heart.
Shirin Kiani and Annie Lafrenière (Technical Resources Division)
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Training Kit : Personalised Social Support
Shirin Kiani and Annie Lafrenière (Technical Resources Division)
2012
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