Monitoring, Review
and Reporting
Project Cycle Management
-----
A short training course in project cycle management for
subdivisions of MFAR in Sri Lanka
MFAR, ICEIDA and UNU-FTP
Ministry of Fisheries and
Aquatic Resources (DFAR)
Icelandic International
Development Agency (ICEIDA)
United Nations University Fisheries
Training Programme (UNU-FTP)
Sri Lanka
Iceland
Iceland
Content
• The role of monitoring, review and reporting
in the logical framework approach
Learning objectives
• After this lecture participants should
understand the importance of and the
difference between monitoring, evaluation
and auditing
Implementation stage
• The purpose of the implementation stage is
to:
– deliver the results
– achieve the purpose(s)
– contribute effectively to the overall objective of the
project
• Manage the available resources efficiently
• Monitor and report on progress
Implementation
- a learning process
Everything that can go wrong, will go wrong
- Murphy’s law
• How will we respond?
• How can we learn from mistakes?
Purpose
• Monitoring, review and reporting are core
management responsibilities which involve the
collection, analysis, communication and use of
information on the physical and financial progress
of the project and the achievement of results
Monitoring
• Is the systematic and continuous collecting, analyzing
and using of information for the purpose of
management and decision-making
• Monitoring should focus on:
- Physical progress
- Financial process
- The preliminary response by target groups to project
activities
- Reasons for any unexpected or adverse response by target
groups and what remedial action can be taken
Monitoring
• There are many ways to monitor the process
of projects
• Sometimes people will just make informal inquiries to get
feedback from the people who are doing the work, especially
if there have been problems involved in the project
- How likely is it that the next milestone will be completed on
time?
- How is the moral?
- Did something “ridiculously” unexpected come up?
- Etc.
Monitoring
• Projects are monitored in different ways depending
on:
- The size of the project
• How much it costs
• How much resources are being used
- Who is the “owner” of the project?
• How are things done normally?
- Who are the counterparts?
• Do the counterparts have set procedures on how they
review progress of projects?
- How formal communications have to be?
• Do I meet the boss at the bar or send a formal report?
Review
• The main purpose of reviews is to share information,
make collective decisions and re-plan the continuation of
the programme as appropriate
• Involves regular reviews to provide the opportunity for
project implementers and other key stakeholders to further
analyze information collected to:
- Monitor
- Reflect on the implications
- Make informed decisions
- Take appropriate management action to support
effective implementation
Review and counterparts
• Counterparts such as NGO’s, development
agencies and international development funds
need to know if their funds are being used in
an appropriate way
• They will also need to have some means to
evaluate what they are doing and document it
in a consistent way so they can have
consistent useful information
Evaluation
• Evaluation can be distinguished form monitoring
and regular review by:
– Its broader scope
– It is less frequent
– Usually at completion or ex-post
– Those involved
• Usually involves external or independent personnel
– The users of the results
•
Planners and policy makers concerned with strategy policy
and programming issues rather than just managers
responsible for implementation
Audit
• Audit can be distinguished from monitoring,
regular reviews and evaluation by:
– Its objectives
• To provide independent assurance
– Its scope
• Financial focus or focus on the efficiency,
economy and effectiveness of activities
– Those involved
• Qualified independent auditors
– The users of the results
• For donors, partner country authorities and
senior project managers
How?
• The logical framework approach is an
extremely effective tool to support the design
and establishment of effective monitoring,
review and reporting systems through:
-
Analysis of an existing situation
Objectives
Indicators and targets
Assumptions
Activity-, resource-, and budget schedules
LFA helps the design of
monitoring, evaluation and audit
Reporting
• We have to be able to document status, success or
failure whether it is for a small components or full
detailed final reports
• All documentation is designed and decided in the
planning process so people involved should know
-
what reports should be written
what the reports should include
when reports should be finished
who should be responsible
and there should be time available for the writing and
included in the schedules
Project Completion
This essential final stage is to ensure efficient closure of
the project, and should:
• Confirm whether all project objectives have been achieved
• Ensure that best practice experience is recorded and
transferred to standards for future projects
– project methods
– management practices
– strengths & weaknesses
• Ensure that benefit realisation plans are in place
– expected benefits
– responsibilities for achieving
– timetable & measurement plan
• Recognise achievement
Learning from projects
• The last stage of the project cycle is Learning
from the project and evolving
• This is the stage which is most often omitted by
organisations running projects
• This is often because organisations have not
internalized monitoring and evaluation as a way
of thinking
References
• European Commission (2004). Project Cycle
Management Guidelines. Downloaded 1st March
from:
http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/qsm/documents/pcm_
manual_2004_en.pdf