As a program coordinator, you are responsible for ensuring that your programs deliver high-quality outcomes and meet the needs and expectations of your stakeholders. But how do you define and measure program quality in your field? In this article, we will explore some key concepts and strategies that can help you assess and improve your program quality and performance.
Program quality is a broad and complex concept that can have different meanings and dimensions depending on your field, context, and objectives. Generally, program quality refers to the extent to which your programs achieve their intended results, align with best practices and standards, and satisfy the requirements and preferences of your beneficiaries, funders, partners, and staff. Program quality can also include aspects such as relevance, efficiency, effectiveness, impact, sustainability, and equity.
With program quality, meeting set indicators and other targets, is barely achieving the quality of a program. Quality should be defined by the direct target population. Simply reducing or increasing desired indicators is a job half done. A program participant has a final say in what kind of quality they perceive to be satisfied. A participant should be given all the information necessary as basic as possible to develop a sense of understanding for the program and hence define how quality for that particular program looks like for them.
Program quality is important for several reasons. First, it helps you demonstrate your accountability and credibility to your stakeholders, who expect to see evidence of your program outcomes and value. Second, it helps you improve your program design and implementation, by identifying strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and challenges. Third, it helps you learn from your experiences and share your knowledge and insights with others in your field. Fourth, it helps you adapt to changing needs and contexts, by enabling you to monitor and adjust your program activities and strategies.
We have long shifted from the charity based financing of efforts. This means all the resources invested in a program need to be as efficient and effective with as high impact as possible. Program quality ensures that the services and inputs injected are tapping even the possible missed opportunities at any stage of the program cycle. Ensuring program quality enables stakeholders and direct participants to develop a sense of satisfaction on a larger scale.
Program quality indicators are specific and measurable criteria that help you track and evaluate your program quality and performance. They can be quantitative or qualitative, and they can be derived from various sources, such as your program logic model, theory of change, objectives, outputs, outcomes, impact, standards, benchmarks, or feedback. Program quality indicators should be SMART: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. They should also be aligned with your program purpose, scope, and resources.
While ensuring that the indicators are SMART, it is also key to ensure that they align with the political, social, and economic agenda at the individual, community, and national levels, where applicable. These indicators target "program quality" and in a sense need to have a point of reference or related sources and not simply obtained from the "air".
Program quality data are the information and evidence that you collect and analyze to measure and report on your program quality indicators. You can collect and analyze program quality data using various methods and tools, such as surveys, interviews, focus groups, observations, document reviews, case studies, stories of change, dashboards, or scorecards. You should choose the methods and tools that are appropriate for your program context, indicators, stakeholders, and resources. You should also ensure that your data collection and analysis are ethical, reliable, valid, and transparent.
It is key to note that if program quality data is a struggle to obtain, there are loopholes in the quality delivered to the target participants. For example, if a participant can't directly submit their complaint or any sort of feedback on program quality to an implementing body or key decision maker, the nature of quality delivered is questionable. Participants and stakeholders should have multiple and unlimited access to channel their views and concerns. Toll freelines, help desks, outreach programs, and media campaigns are some of the ways to collect data and various data analytical packages exist.
Program quality results are the findings and conclusions that you draw from your data analysis and that show how well your programs perform in terms of quality and impact. You can report and communicate your program quality results using various formats and channels, such as reports, presentations, newsletters, infographics, podcasts, or webinars. You should tailor your reporting and communication to your audience, purpose, and message. You should also use clear, concise, and engaging language and visuals, and highlight your achievements, challenges, lessons learned, and recommendations.
Program quality feedback and learning are the responses and insights that you receive and generate from your reporting and communication, and that help you improve your program quality and performance. You can use program quality feedback and learning in various ways, such as by acknowledging and celebrating your successes, addressing and resolving your issues, implementing and monitoring your actions, revising and updating your plans, sharing and disseminating your knowledge, or collaborating and partnering with others. You should also create a culture of continuous learning and improvement in your program team and organization.