The Relationship Between Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation

Planning monitoring and evaluation is one of the best approaches to ensure that a project is executed within the plan and leads to the expected outcomes and impacts (Muhayimana & Kamuhanda, 2020).?According to the United Nations Development Program, planning is defined as the process of goal setting, strategy development, highlighting implementation arrangements as well as resource allocation to achieve those goals (UNDP, 2009). ?The planning process is set upon what is intended to be achieved. Planning involves processes such as:

1.?????Establishing the mission, vision, objectives that are to be achieved.

2.?????Forming strategies used to achieve the mission, vision and objectives.

3.?????Resource allocation to achieve the goals and objectives.

4.?????Stipulating the methods and steps towards implementation.

5.?????Organizing for monitoring and evaluation of the progress towards achieving the mission, vision and objectives. It is important to consider how monitoring and evaluation will be integrated into the project during the planning stage. At this point, baseline data is also very important. This can be obtained through situation analysis to assess for change (INTRAC, 2015).

According UNDP (2009) the main deliverables to be produced in the planning for results process

1.?????The initial issues note and draft work plan for the planning process (outline of activities and schedule and cost)

2.?????Stakeholder influence and importance matrix

3.?????List of key problems identified

4.?????Prioritized list of problems

5.?????Cause-effect diagram or problem tree analysis for each prioritized problems

6.?????Vision statement for each prioritized problem

7.?????Results map for each prioritized problem

8.?????Results framework for the programme or project document

Monitoring on the other hand is defined as the organized collection and analysis of information of a project or program while in progress; it helps to keep the work on track. It aims at improving the effectiveness of the project and is based on targets set and tasks identified during the initial planning stage. It also informs management when things are going wrong, making it a valuable tool for good management. Monitoring is also important in determining if resources and capacity are sufficient and well utilized and whether the project is moving as initially planned (Shapiro, 2007). Monitoring is used to periodically track changes in indicators (Indicators are measurable markers of change through time). To expound further, it measures the progress toward results through collecting data on inputs, activities, outputs, and short-term outcomes. Monitoring progress is done against initial operational plans and this is the avenue where it is integrated with planning (LeMay, 2010).

Evaluation is defined as a systematic and objective process of determining the extent to which a project’s results have been achieved, and analyze for any shortcomings or inconsistency. The evaluation aims at measuring the relevance, efficiency and effectiveness of a project. It measures if and to what extent, a project’s inputs and services improve people’s quality of life (UNDP, 2009).

The monitoring and evaluation aspects, based on the gathering and analysis of various relevant data, are cross-cutting and therefore appear in each of these phases (Institutional Policy, 2015).

Planning, monitoring and evaluation are greatly integrated (Buttrick, 2007). Before implementing a project or programme there will normally be a planning process. This planning process should be based on a thorough understanding of what the project or programme is setting out to accomplish. Wherever possible it is important that M&E is considered at the planning stage, and not left to be discussed until after plans have begun to be implemented. Indeed, it is generally acknowledged amongst the M&E community that where M&E efforts fail it can usually be traced back to weaknesses in the planning process.

There are a number of reasons for this. Firstly, in order to identify change it is important to know what the situation was before a project or programme was implemented. This is known as the baseline. Secondly, good planning allows for easier identification of objectives and indicators - the desired changes to which a project or programme hopes to contribute and the evidence that will help show whether those changes have happened. Thirdly, the design of the M&E process may help to identify gaps or weaknesses in the planning process itself, thereby helping to further refine plans. Lastly, if it is intended that different stakeholders, such as beneficiaries, be involved within M&E processes then it is also important to ensure their involvement at the planning stage (INTRAC,n.d).

Internationally, monitoring and evaluation are the best tools to measure the success and performance of projects (Buttrick, 2007). Monitoring and evaluation comprise of linking the M&E plan to the projects initial strategic and work plan as well as disseminating M&E results to the stakeholders (Kusek and Rist, 2010). Monitoring and Evaluation are dependent on whether the planning was well done. If plans are correctly developed at the start of a project then M&E become easier and objectives bear the result, this is because the data collection methods and indicators for M &E are set up at the planning stage (Muhayimana & Kamuhanda, 2020). On the other hand, it can be very difficult to monitor and evaluate a project that has not been properly planned to start with (INTRAC, 2015). Monitoring provides information on where the project is moving towards achieving targets. If targets are not met, evaluation provides evidence why; causality is a function of evaluation (Kabonga, 2018).

Working clockwise, a plan should show what needs to be monitored. The monitoring information gathered throughout the project will then be used at the evaluation stage. In turn, an evaluation may lead to the revision of future plans - either in a new phase of the project or programme or in future projects or programmes (INTRAC,n.d). Strong monitoring and evaluation (M&E) systems can provide the information needed to assess progress, generate information for program management and decision making, and produce evidence of impact on health outcomes to inform replication and scale up (Reynolds, H et al, 2013).?Working anti-clockwise, a plan will normally identify what needs to be evaluated, and an evaluation might pick up areas that need further close monitoring in the future. Monitoring also plays an essential role in identifying how plans need to be (INTRAC,n.d). Therefore, planning monitoring and evaluation should be interlinked and not viewed separately (Bakewell, 2003).

Monitoring and Evaluation can help an organization extract relevant information from past and ongoing activities that can be used as the basis for programmatic fine-tuning, reorientation and future planning. Without Effective Planning, monitoring and evaluation, it would be impossible to judge if work is going in the right direction, whether progress and success can be claimed, and how future efforts might be improved (www.coursehero.com, n.d).

The basic inter-linkages and dependencies between planning, monitoring and evaluation is that without proper planning and clear articulation of intended results, it is not clear what should be monitored and how; hence monitoring cannot be done well.

1.?????Without effective planning (clear results frameworks), the basis for evaluation is weak; hence evaluation cannot be done well.

2.?????Without careful monitoring, the necessary data is not collected; hence evaluation cannot be done well.

3.?????Monitoring is necessary, but not sufficient, for evaluation.

4.?????Monitoring facilitates evaluation, but evaluation uses additional new data collection and different frameworks for analysis.

5.?????Monitoring and evaluation of a programme will often lead to changes in programme plans. This may mean further changing or modifying data collection for monitoring purposes.

6.??????Monitoring and evaluation processes are treated as distinct from other oversight activities namely inspection, audit, review and other research functions (RUFORUM, 2011).

Good planning combined with effective M&E plays a major role in enhancing the effectiveness of development programmes and projects. Good planning helps to focus on results that matter, while M&E facilitates learning from past successes and challenges. M&E also informs decision making so that current and future initiatives are better able to improve people’s lives and expand their choices. The intended use of an evaluation determines the timing, its methodological framework, and the level and nature of stakeholder participation. Therefore, the use has to be determined in the planning stage of the process (UNDG, 2011).

References

African Development Fund (2003). Kenya Rural Health Project III. Completion Report.

Bakewell, O. (2003).?Sharpening the Development Process: A Practical Guide to Monitoring and Evaluation: Praxis Guide No. 1.

Buttrick, R. (2007). The project workout: a toolkit for reaping the rewards from your entire business project. Financial times management. 25 (4), 11-13.

Institutional Policy (2015). Project Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation Policy. Retrieved from https://hi.org/sn_uploads/document/IP_PME_EN.pdf

International NGO Training and Research Centre- INTRAC (2015). Planning Monitoring and Evaluation

INTRAC (n.d). Planning and M&E. Retrieved from?https://www.intrac.org/wpcms/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Monitoring-and-Evaluation-Planning-Series.-Planning-and-ME.-1.pdf

Kusek, J.Z &Rist, R. (2010). A handbook for development practitioner. The step to results-based monitoring and evaluation systems; Washington. D.C. World Bank

LeMay, N. (2010). Managing information: monitoring and evaluation.?In Health Systems in Action: A Handbook for Leaders & Managers. Cambridge, USA: Management Sciences for Health. Available: www.msh.org

Muhayimana, O., & Kamuhanda, J. K. (2020).The relationship between Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) practices and public projects performance in Rwanda with reference to Science and Technology Skills Development (STSD) project.

Reynolds, H.W., Sutherland, E.G (2013).?A systematic approach to the planning, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of integrated health services.?BMC Health Serv Res?13,?168 . https://doi.org/10.1186/1472-6963-13-168

RUFORUM- Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture (2011). Tracking Performance, Progress and Pathways to Impactful Capacity Building in Agriculture Retrieved from file:///C:/Users/procurement/Downloads/RUFORUM%20ME%20Strategy%20-%20Board%20version.pdf

Shapiro, J. (2007). Monitoring and Evaluation Civicus: Johannesburg/Washington. Available: https://www.civicus.org.

UNDG (2011). RESULTS-BASED MANAGEMENT HANDBOOK. Harmonizing RBM concepts and approaches for improved development results at country level. https://unsdg.un.org/sites/default/files/UNDG-RBM-Handbook-2012.pdf

UNDP (2009). Handbook On Planning, Monitoring And Evaluating For Development Results. Retrieved from https://web.undp.org/evaluation/handbook/documents/english/pme-handbook.pdf

United Nations Development Program (2009). Handbook on Planning, Monitoring and Evaluating for Development Results

Wiebe, H. (2003). Kenya Rural Health Project- Appraisal Report

www.coursehero.com (n.d). Project Monitoring and Evaluations - M&E. Retrieved from https://www.coursehero.com/file/73095434/Project-Monitoring-and-Evaluationsppt/