How to Integrate Outcome Harvesting in Your Current Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) System

This article gives you tips to integrate Outcome Harvesting into your existing Monitoring and Evaluation system so it is not a burden or 'add on'.

If you wish to know what Outcome Harvesting is, you can check out my other blog post to learn more about the method.

Let's get straight into 4 strategies to integrate Outcome Harvesting into your existing systems.

1. Start Small. Don’t try to harvest outcomes across the whole organization at once. Select one project, program area, or team as a pilot to test outcome harvesting. Not only is starting small more feasible, but it allows you to experiment and build internal capacity before expanding the approach. Clearly define the boundaries for your initial outcome harvesting implementation.
2. Align with Reporting Cycles. Tie harvesting activities and reporting to existing organizational cycles. For example, if your teams already conduct annual self-assessments or reviews, add a section for teams to identify 2-3 key changes or outcomes they’ve observed over the past year as a result of their work. This helps embed outcome harvesting in workflows teams are already familiar with.
3. Train as a Complementary Skill. Provide training so staff have the knowledge and skills to identify and formulate outcomes as part of everyday activities. Position outcome harvesting as complementing, not replacing, existing M&E duties. Make sure to communicate how outcome harvesting adds value. The more teams understand the benefits, the more supportive they’ll be with integrating the approach.
4. Create Custom Collection Templates. Develop user-friendly templates tailored to your programs and organization to capture harvested outcomes. Include sections prompting users to describe observed changes, contributory factors, significance, and evidence. Offer flexibility for teams to add their own categories too. Integrate data from completed templates into your existing reporting processes and systems. This makes analyzing and presenting findings efficient.

While outcome harvesting requires some adjustments to incorporate within current M&E, the benefits far outweigh the effort. Some expected results from better integration include:

• Increased capacity to report on indirect, unexpected, and long-term changes
• Improved learning about what triggers certain outcomes
• Enhanced staff ownership over monitoring by tying to observed outcomes
• Deeper understanding of programs’ theories of change

Conclusion

Integrating Outcome Harvesting into your existing M&E frameworks doesn’t mean discarding what you already have. Rather, it’s about enriching your current practices with a more flexible, inclusive approach to capturing impact. By following these strategies and remaining open to learning and adaptation, you’ll not only gain a deeper understanding of your projects' impacts but also empower your organization to make more informed, strategic decisions. The key is taking a phased approach, securing leadership buy-in, emphasizing the value-add to teams, and leveraging the infrastructure you already have in place.

Remember, the goal is not just to measure outcomes but to harvest them, learning and growing every step of the way.

Join the upcoming workshop on Outcome Harvesting (OH), where my guest Conny Hoitink will explain more on how to integrate OH in your M&E systems. Register now so I can send you the pre workshop reading. ????Secure your spot here: https://lnkd.in/e4RHZq_w ?? FULL is FULL!