Tag: Results Based Management

On-line training in Monitoring and Evaluation using Results Based Project Management

Date: 6th May up to 11th June, 2009
Venue: Online

Local Livelihoods will be putting on a live online Results Based Monitoring and Evaluation course to be run for 2 hours a week for six weeks.  Between each weekly session there will be exercises applying the course learning to your own project.  This will be supported by an interactive online database and project managements system that will enable participants to work simultaneously with the trainer with online mentoring.

The cost is £150.00 all you need is a PC with broadband connection.

The technology is extremely simple, just the same as opening websites, no more.

This first course is for participants in Africa and Europe.  There will be a later course for participants from Asia and the Pacific.

For further information please go to:  http://www.uk.locallivelihoods.com/Moduls/WebSite/Page/Default.aspx?Pag_Id=132

Regards
Freer Spreckley
online@locallivelihoods.com

Results-based Management, Appreciative Inquiry and Open Space Technology Workshop

Dear Rick

Mosaic.net International will be organizing two workshops on the theme of results-based management and participatory monitoring and evaluation.

Results-based Management, Appreciative Inquiry and Open Space Technology Workshop
Venue: Held at the University of Ottawa, Canada
Date: July 20-24, 2009Venue:

The five day workshop grounds you on three topic areas: results-based management, appreciative inquiry and open space technology. The workshop takes you beyond traditional thinking and will introduce you to new innovative approaches that are changing the workplace. The following themes will be part of the workshop:
-Results-based management and performance measurement and its implications for your organization;
-Building results-based logical frameworks;
-Creating monitoring and evaluation systems that are results-based;
-Moving away from problem-focus approaches to more asset-based approaches;
-The appreciative inquiry cycle;
-Weaving appreciative approaches into results-based Management;
-Using Appreciative Inquiry in the workplace.
-Experiencing open space technology.
Continue reading “Results-based Management, Appreciative Inquiry and Open Space Technology Workshop”

Monitoring and Evaluation for Results – Vienna, Austria

URL: www.worldbank.org/wbi/evaluation/training/vienna2008
Date: December 2008

Join us in December 2008 in Vienna for a one-week course covering the fundamental issues of monitoring and evaluation (M&E) for programs and projects. The course is organized by the World Bank Institute Evaluation Group – with experience teaching over 4,000 participants across 60 countries in the last decade – and taught by senior evaluation experts. Combining both attention to M&E theory and practical applications, the 30 participants completing the course will gain knowledge and experience on M&E tools, techniques, and resources needed for M&E planning, organizing, and/or managing programs and projects.

1st offering: December 8 (Mon) – 12 (Fri), 2008 (available in English or Russian)
2nd offering: December 15 (Mon) – 19 (Fri), 2008 (available in English only)

Reducing World Poverty by Improving Evaluation of Development Aid

Paul Clements, Western Michigan University, clements@wmich.edu, Thomaz Chianca, Western Michigan University, Ryoh Sasaki, Western Michigan University

American Journal of Evaluation, Vol. 29, No. 2, 195-214 (2008)

Abstract: This article argues that given its structural conditions, development aid bears a particularly heavy burden of learning and accountability. Unfortunately, however, the organization of evaluation guarantees that evaluations will be inconsistent and it creates incentives for positive bias. This article presents evidence from organizational studies of aid agencies, from the public choice literature, from eight development projects in Africa, and from one in India, that demonstrates positive bias and inconsistency in monitoring and evaluation. It proposes that the evaluation function should be professionalized through an approach titled “monitoring and evaluation for cost effectiveness,” and it compares this approach to the World Bank’s results-based monitoring and evaluation, the Development Assistance Committee’s five evaluation criteria, and evaluations based on randomized trials. This article explains the analytics of the proposed approach and suggests directions for further research.

Outcome-Based Conditionality: Too Good To Be True?

Author: Nuria Molina. Date: 2008. Size: 42 pages

“Does linking aid disbursement to a results agenda (outcome-based conditionality) actually build recipient ownership and development effectiveness? This report for the European Network on Debt and Development (EURODAD) analyses the different interpretations of outcome-based aid delivery adopted by the World Bank (WB), International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the European Commission (EC). It examines EC experience in piloting the approach in Burkina Faso, Mozambique and Tanzania. Outcome-based conditionality is a strategic step towards giving recipients ownership of their own development. However, experience is limited and it is hard to tell if there has been any real impact on poverty reduction.”

(From the Governance and Social Development Resource Centre Email Bulletin, Issue No 59, 16th July 2008)

Evaluation of Results Based Management at UNDP

(via Niels Keijzer on the Pelikan email list)
The United Nations Development Programme’s independent evaluation office
has recently examined the agency’s adoption of results based management
(RBM). I would like to refer to this evaluation in relation to our recent
exchanges around changing information needs, and the ‘missing middle’ due
to the emphasis on collecting information on outcomes and impact. The main
purpose of this evaluation was to examine the degree to which RBM has
fostered a results culture within the organization, enhanced capacity to
improve management decisions, and strengthened UNDP’s contribution to
development results.

The UNDP website summarises the evaluation results as follows:
“The evaluation concludes that UNDP is largely managing for outputs rather
than outcomes and that the linkages between outputs and intended outcomes
are not clearly articulated. The introduction of corporate systems and
tools, which have had some efficiency benefits, have not however,
strengthened the culture of results in the organization or improved
programmatic focus at the country level. The current approach of defining
and reporting against centrally defined outcomes tends to undermine UNDP’s
responsiveness and alignment to nationally defined outcomes and
priorities. The evaluation makes a number of recommendations to address
these and other challenges.”

Here is a link to a page on the UNDP website, where you can download the
report, the individual chapters, and the management response:
http://www.undp.org/eo/thematic/rbm.html

Results Based Management Explained (by the ADB)

ADB website

Results Based Management (RBM) can mean different things to different people. A simple explanation is that RBM is the way an organization is motivated and applies processes and resources to achieve targeted results.

Results refer to outcomes that convey benefits to the community (e.g. Education for All (EFA), targets set in both Mongolia and Cambodia). Results also encompass the service outputs that make those outcomes possible (such as trained students and trained teachers). The term ‘results’ can also refer to internal outputs such as services provided by one part of the organization for use by another. The key issue is that results differ from ‘activities’ or ‘functions’. Many people when asked what they produce (services) describe what they do (activities).

RBM encompasses four dimensions, namely:

  • specified results that are measurable, monitorable and relevant
  • resources that are adequate for achieving the targeted results
  • organizational arrangements that ensure authority and responsibilities are aligned with results and resources
  • processes for planning, monitoring, communicating and resource release that enable the organization to convert resources into the desired results.

RBM may use some new words or apply specific meanings to some words in general usage. Check introduction to RBM presentation[PDF | 56 pages].

RBM references that provide more background

  • A diagram showing relationship between goals and outcomes
  • United Nations Development Program RBM overview
  • Canadian International Development Agency RBM overview
  • RBM diagnostic tool for Cambodia and Mongolia

    • Results Based Management (RBM): A list of resources

    CIDA website: Results-based Management

    Results-based Management (RBM) is a comprehensive, life-cycle approach to management that integrates business strategy, people, processes, and measurements to improve decision-making and to drive change.

    The approach focuses on getting the right design early in a process, implementing performance measurement, learning and changing, and reporting on performance.

  • RBM Guides
  • RBM Reports
  • Related Performance Sites

    • ADB website: Results Based Management Explained

    Results Based Management (RBM) can mean different things to different people. A simple explanation is that RBM is the way an organization is motivated and applies processes and resources to achieve targeted results.

    Results refer to outcomes that convey benefits to the community (e.g. Education for All (EFA), targets set in both Mongolia and Cambodia). Results also encompass the service outputs that make those outcomes possible (such as trained students and trained teachers). The term ‘results’ can also refer to internal outputs such as services provided by one part of the organization for use by another. The key issue is that results differ from ‘activities’ or ‘functions’. Many people when asked what they produce (services) describe what they do (activities).

    RBM encompasses four dimensions, namely:

    • specified results that are measurable, monitorable and relevant
    • resources that are adequate for achieving the targeted results
    • organizational arrangements that ensure authority and responsibilities are aligned with results and resources
    • processes for planning, monitoring, communicating and resource release that enable the organization to convert resources into the desired results.

    RBM may use some new words or apply specific meanings to some words in general usage. Check introduction to RBM presentation[PDF | 56 pages].

    RBM references that provide more background

    UNFPA website: Results-Based Management at UNFPA

    There is a broad trend among public sector institutions towards Results-Based Management–RBM. Development agencies, bilateral such as Canada, the Netherlands, UK, and the US as well as multilateral such as UNDP, UNICEF and the World Bank, are adopting RBM with the aim to improve programme and management effectiveness and accountability and achieve results.

    RBM is fundamental to the Fund’s approach and practice in fulfilling its mandate and effectively providing assistance to developing countries. At UNFPA, RBM means:

    • Establishing clear organizational vision, mission and priorities, which are translated into a four-year framework of goals, outputs, indicators, strategies and resources (MYFF);
    • Encouraging an organizational and management culture that promotes innovation, learning, accountability, and transparency;
    • Delegating authority and empowering managers and holding them accountable for results;
    • Focusing on achieving results, through strategic planning, regular monitoring of progress, evaluation of performance, and reporting on performance;
    • Creating supportive mechanisms, policies and procedures, building and improving on what is in place, including the operationalization of the logframe;
    • Sharing information and knowledge, learning lessons, and feeding these back into improving decision-making and performance;
    • Optimizing human resources and building capacity among UNFPA staff and national partners to manage for results;
    • Making the best use of scarce financial resources in an efficient manner to achieve results;
    • Strengthening and diversifying partnerships at all levels towards achieving results;
    • Responding to the realities of country situations and needs, within the organizational mandate.

    OECD report: RESULTS BASED MANAGEMENT IN THE DEVELOPMENT CO-OPERATION AGENCIES: A REVIEW OF EXPERIENCE BACKGROUND REPORT

    In order to respond to the need for an overview of the rapid evolution of RBM, the DAC Working Party on Aid Evaluation initiated a study of performance management systems. The ensuing draft report was
    presented to the February 2000 meeting of the WP-EV and the document was subsequently revised.
    It was written by Ms. Annette Binnendijk, consultant to the DAC WP-EV.

    This review constitutes the first phase of the project; a second phase involving key informant interviews in a number of agencies is due for completion by November 2001.

    158 pages, 12 page conclusion

    this list has a long way to go….!

    The road to nowhere? Results based management in international cooperation

    howard white provides a critique of this approach

    Results-based management has become a fact of life for development agencies. They might hope to learn from the experience of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) which has already gone down this road. It is indeed instructive that USAID has come back up the road again saying ‘there’s nothing down there’. But development agencies have been rightly criticised in the past for paying too little attention to the final impact of their activities, so we would like to support a results-based approach. But we should not do so blindly when it suffers from the severe limitations outlined below. Serious attempts to link agency performance to developmental outcomes must rely upon the log-frame. The log-frame is not a universal panacea but, used properly, can force agencies into a critical examination of the nature of their programmes and projects, and the results they achieve.

    This posting is available in full at the Euforic website

    Results-based Management in CIDA

    [from CIDA website]
    CIDA uses results-based management (RBM) to better manage Canada’s international development programming from start: investment or project planning and implementation, to finish: evaluations, reporting and integrating lessons learned into future programming. This page provides a set of comprehensive guides, linked to the Results-Based Management Policy Statement 2008.

    Note: The Performance Management Division of CIDA’s Strategic Policy and Performance Branch is updating results-based management (RBM) guides and supporting documents according to CIDA’s 2008 RBM policy. If you need access to one of the documents below, or if you have other requests regarding RBM at CIDA, please contact the Performance Management Division.

    • Annex 4 of the Guide for Preparing a Country Development Programming Framework: The Performance Measurement Framework
    • A Results Approach To Developing the Implementation Plan (March 2001)
    • RBM Handbook on Developing Results Chain (December 2000)
    • Guide to Project Performance Reporting: For Canadian Partners and Executing Agencies (May 1999)
    • Results-based Management in CIDA: An Introductory Guide to the Concepts and Principles (January 1999)
    • The Logical Framework: Making It Results-Oriented (November 1997)
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