Comet June 2009 PDF

COMET
omet
Community Method
for the
Self-management
of Development
Projects
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Contents
Page
1.0 - Introduction 4
2.0 - Managing a Project 6
3.0 - The Project Organization 8
4.0 - Planning a Project 12

4.1 - The Menu of Participatory Diagnostics Methods for
Problem Diagnosis and the Identification of Solutions 13
4.2 - Logical Planning Methods 15
4.3 - The Project Mission Statement 16
4.4 - The Sequence of Activities 20
4.5 - The Plan of Work 23
4.6 - Creating a Plan of Work 25
4.7 - The Project Plan 32
5.0 - Implementing a Project 47

5.1 - Updating the Plan of Work 48
5.2 - Updating the Financial Plan 49
5.3 - The Project Diary 50
5.4 - Meetings, Taking Decisions and Actions 58
6.0 - Evaluating a Project 63

6.1 - The Final Project Report 64
6.2 - Participatory Evaluation of Impacts and Changes 71
7.0 - The COMET Document Flowchart and Document Templates 74
Diagrams
Diagram 1 - Managing a Project 5

Diagram 2 - The Project Organization 7
Diagram 3 - The Project Organization – Alternative Structure 9
Diagram 4 - The Planning Process 11
Diagram 5 - The Implementation Process 46
Diagram 6 - The Evaluation Process 62
Diagram 7 - The COMET Document Flowchart 73
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Example Project of Primary School Education
Page
1 The Project Mission Statement 18

2 The Sequence of Activities 22
3 The Plan of Work – Columns ‘Activity Number’, 26
‘Activity Name’ and ‘Predecessors’
4 The Plan of Work - Columns ‘Activity Number’,
‘Activity Name’, ‘Predecessors’, ‘Planned Duration’,
‘Planned Start Date’ and ‘Planned Finish Date’ 29
5 The Plan of Work - Columns ‘Activity Name’,
‘Planned Cost’ y ‘Persons Responsible’ 31
6 Project Information 32
7 The Project Organization 34
8 Financial Information 36
9 The Financial Plan 38
10 The Monitoring and Evaluation Plan 44
11 The Project Diary 56
12 Actions for Project Diary Problems and Risks 60
13 The Final Project Report 67
The COMET Templates
The Project Document 76
The Project Plan 77

1 Project Information 77
2 The Project Mission Statement 77
3 The Project Organization 78
4 The Plan of Work 79
5 The Financial Plan 80
6 The Monitoring and Evaluation Plan 81
7 Authorization of the Project Plan 82
The Project Diary 83
The Final Project Report 84
The Participatory Evaluation Report 85
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1.0 - Introduction
COMET provides local communities, parishes and organizations involved in

development with the Project Management processes and tools necessary for
the participation in and self-management of development projects by local
people.
There are many methods available for the participatory formulation, planning
and evaluation of development projects. In addition, logical methodologies such
as the “Logical Framework Approach” are often used by NGOs in conjunction
with or in place of participatory methods. COMET is not designed to replace or
supersede these methods, but rather to compliment and enhance them.
Existing participatory methods have failed to supply processes for the

implementation of development projects. However, COMET addresses this
omission with tools and techniques that can be employed by local communities
to implement development projects.
Using COMET, it is possible for local communities to take charge of the

management of their own development projects throughout the project
lifecycle. COMET can be used to complete the participatory or logical planning
process, to guide the implementation and execution of community projects, and
to facilitate the evaluation of project performance, results and impacts.
This manual explains how communities and institutions can utilize the processes
and tools provided by COMET to achieve the self-management of development
projects.
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Diagram 1 - Managing a Project
Diagnostics,
Problem
Identification &
Project formulation
Confirm the
Objectives of the
Project
Create the Project

Organization
Write the Project

Plan
Approve the
Project Plan
Implement the
Project
Monitor and
Evaluate the
Project
Take Corrective
Action and
Implement
Changes
Produce the Final
Project Report
and perform the
Participatory
Evaluation Close the Project
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2.0 - Managing a Project
The management of a COMET project begins with input from participatory

diagnostics and/or logical planning techniques, which are performed according
to the context of the project. Once participatory and logical planning tools have
been applied to discover suitable potential projects and to choose the project
that is to be pursued, COMET is employed to finalize the project planning
process.
In the project planning phase, COMET is used to confirm the objectives of the
project, create the Project Organization, and to produce a Project Plan. Once
the Project Plan is approved, the Project Team can start to implement the
project.
Throughout the implementation phase of the project, COMET enables the

Project Organization to monitor project activity, take corrective actions and
implement changes to project objectives. COMET also provides a process for
the evaluation of project performance, and the Participatory Evaluation of
project results and impacts.
Once all of the project’s activities have been performed, the COMET project is
closed and the Final Project Report is written.
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Diagram 2 - The Project Organization
The Project Board
The Project Manager
The Project Team
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3.0 - The Project Organization
The Project Organization defines the roles and responsibilities of those

involved with the implementation of the COMET project.
The Project Board is ultimately responsible for the tactical management of the
project, because it is required to make decisions concerning the administration
of the project’s activities. To create the Project Board it is recommended that
the community chooses 3 representatives, who will become members of the
Project Board. According to the circumstances, the Project Board can contain
more or less members; this is left to the discretion of the community.
The Project Board will meet with the Project Manager on a weekly, fortnightly
or monthly basis, to discuss the project’s progress. Exactly how often it is
necessary for the board to meet will vary from project to project; the
community will therefore make the final decision. Throughout the duration of
the project lifecycle, full participation in the community project is achieved as
the Project Board reports progress to the community as and when this is
required.
The Project Manager is responsible for supervising the day to day

management of the project’s activities. The Project Manager is required to
coordinate the Project Team and its individual members. In addition, the
Project Manager reports recent project developments to the Project Board
during the project progress meetings. The Project Manager therefore acts as
the link between the Project Board and the Project Team. For smaller projects,
or when it is preferred by the community, the Project Manager can also be a
Project Board member. This alternative structure enables the Project Manager
to take part in the decision making process.
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Diagram 3 - The Project Organization (Alternative

structure)
The Project Board

Project Project Project
Board Manager Board
Member Member
The Project Team
The Project Team works under the supervision of the Project Manager,
performing the project’s activities in order to realize the objectives and goals of
the project. The size of the Project Team will vary according to the size, type
and nature of the project.
The COMET Project Organization should be created early in the planning

process, when the project objectives have been defined by participatory
diagnostics or a logical planning method. The Project Organization is a key
aspect in the management of a community development project, because it
facilitates decision making and action concerning the implementation of the
project and its activities.
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Planning a Project
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Diagram 4 - The Planning Process
Participatory Diagnostic Techniques

From the participatory menu of Maps, Diagrams, Charts, Analyses and
other methods
Logical Planning Tools
Project Mission Statement
Create the Project Organization
Sequence of Activities
Plan of Work
Project Plan
Authorization of Project Plan
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4.0 - Planning a Project
The COMET method for project management begins to be applied during

project planning, the first phase of the project cycle.
Initially, participatory diagnostic tools and/or logical planning methods are used
for problem analysis, the identification of solutions and to define the project to
be implemented. With the information collected by these methods it is possible
to complete the first document in the COMET project planning process, the
Project Mission Statement.
Next, the Project Organization should be created. The community needs to

decide how many people will comprise the Project Board, and who the board
members will be. In addition, an appropriate Project Manager should be
assigned to the project, and Project Team members should be selected.
The next document to be completed is the Project Activity Sequence, which

will help to determine the order in which the project’s activities will be
performed. The Activity Sequence will then be inputted into a Plan of Work.
The Plan of Work is a schedule of when and by whom each activity will be
performed.
The Project Mission Statement and the Plan of Work constitute parts of the final
document to be produced in the planning phase, the Project Plan. The
Project Plan is essential to a projects success, as it contains all the information
needed before project implementation can begin. Information concerning
objectives, planned activities, project finances and monitoring and evaluation, is
recorded in the Project Plan.
The final activity in the project planning phase is for the Project Board to
Authorize the Project Plan. This authorization signifies that the Project
Board considers the proposed project to be suitable to proceed, and that
project implementation can begin.
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4.1 - The Menu of Participatory Methods for Problem

Diagnosis and the Identification of Solutions
The term “Menu of Participatory Methods” refers to the numerous maps,

diagrams, calendars and other techniques that are used to diagnose problems
and discover solutions in local development. The participation of local people in
this process is vital because they have the knowledge and experience to
analyze the problems that affect their lives, and to determine the solutions to
those problems.
The menu of participatory methods includes the following techniques and tools:
1) Review of secondary data sources

2) Direct observation
3) Semi-structured interviews
4) Maps:
• Community map
• Resource map
• Social map
• Land map
• Migration map
• Future map
5) Transects:
• Historical transect
6) Diagrams:
• Flow diagram
• Impact diagram
• Systems diagram
• Seasonal diagram
7) Analyses:
• Livelihood analysis
• Trend analysis
8) Scoring and ranking
• Option ranking
• Matrix scoring and ranking
(Source: Mikkelsen, 2005)
These methods should be applied in sequences according to the particular

conditions and environment of the local community. Methods for participatory
diagnostics are commonly employed in development projects around the world,
and there are numerous guides explaining how participatory techniques can be
used. For more information read “Methods for Development Work and
Research” by Britha Mikkelsen (2005).
COMET has been designed to compliment participatory methods with further

processes for project planning, implementation and control. The results of
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participatory investigations can therefore constitute the starting point of the

COMET development project, as the information collected by participatory
techniques is availed upon to create the COMET project.
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4.2 - Logical Planning Methods
Logical planning methods are tools that are often used by NGOs to diagnose
problems, find solutions and create the basis for local development projects.
The most widely used logical planning tool is called the “Logical Framework
Approach”. Some NGOs use either participatory methods or logical planning
methods to formulate development projects and some use a combination of
both.
When both participatory and logical methods are employed, the participatory
problem diagnosis is often performed first, and then the results from this
analysis are used to complete the logical framework.
LFA uses its logical approach to determine the causes and effects of a central
problem and create a hierarchy of problems called a problem tree. The problem
tree is then converted into an objectives tree, which shows the objectives that
need to be achieved if the problems are to be solved. Finally, the hierarchy of
objectives from the objectives tree is transferred to a logframe matrix, and
additional information relating to indicators, means of verification, and
assumptions is added.
Like the results of participatory diagnostics, the logframe can also serve as the
starting point for the COMET project. The information in the logframe matrix
contains many similarities to the information required to complete the Project
Mission Statement.
The COMET method therefore works in conjunction with both logical and
participatory planning methods, depending on which of these two diagnostics
tools the NGO or local community prefers to use.
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4.3 - The Project Mission Statement
A Project Mission Statement defines and clarifies information and details about
the project. The Project Mission Statement is split into the following two
sections:
• Project Purpose
• Project Objectives
The project purpose is used to outline the reasons for performing the project,
and the expected benefits of performing the project’s activities. The project
purpose could also be considered as a justification for undertaking the project,
which is important when one considers that the physical and financial resources
invested into the project could be spent on another project. It is therefore
necessary to clearly show what the benefits of the project to be implemented
will be. Details to be included in the project purpose are as follows:
• The current situation and problems to be addressed by the project

• The reasons for performing the project
• Expected benefits to be gained by performing the project’s activities
The reasons for performing the project should demonstrate how the project will
help to remedy or rectify the current problems or situation. When discussing
the expected benefits, it is important to identify the beneficiaries, i.e. the
people or sections of the community who will receive the benefits.
Once the project purpose has been clarified, the Project Mission Statement then
defines the project’s objectives, which are as follows:
• How the project intends to contribute to a more global goal

• Products and outputs from the project’s activities
• Impacts and changes that the project intends to achieve
It is important to carefully consider the objectives defined by the Project

Mission Statement, as they constitute an important part of the project’s
monitoring and evaluation process. The Project Mission Statement provides the
basis for taking the ideas and findings from the participatory diagnostics or
logical planning process, and turning them into the starting point for the
planning of project implementation, monitoring and evaluation. It is possible to
use some of the information contained within the logframe matrix to complete
the Project Mission Statement.
Many of the details contained within the project purpose will be restated in the
project objectives section, however, they will be reaffirmed as short statements
of the project’s products, changes and impacts.
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The project purpose is therefore a description of the problem to be addressed,

the reasons for performing the project and the expected benefits; and the
project objectives provide a statement of the intended outcomes of the project.
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EXAMPLE 1: The Project Mission Statement
PROJECT: Primary School Project
PROJECT PURPOSE
At present Community A has no education facilities for children between the

ages of 5 and 10. This means that families have to send their children to
another town so that they receive education. Some families do not send their
children to school at all, because they cannot afford the additional costs of
sending them to be educated in another town.
(The current situation and problems to be addressed by the project)
This project will be performed so as to provide better access to primary school

education for the families of Community A. This will give local families the
opportunity to educate their children within the community, as they will have
access to cheaper primary school education achieved by a reduction in costs.
(The reasons for performing the project)
This project will provide better educational facilities to Community A by creating

a primary school, and providing a teacher, books and facilities that will enable
children between the ages of 5 and 10 to be educated in their own community.
All families with children of primary school age will benefit from this project;
also those families who have children below primary school age or who will
have children in the future. Families who currently send their children to
another town for education will benefit from the reductions in costs of schooling
their children. Also, children who previously did not go to school due to the cost
to the family of sending them to another town, will benefit from the opportunity
to go to school, as their families may be able to afford the reduced price of
their education.
Indirect benefits of this project will include the reduction in travelling time for
Community A children who currently go to school in another town. These
children will have more time to spend with their families and assist with
household chores.
Also, parents will have the ability to participate in the education of their
children. A primary school in community A will enable parents to have an
increased influence over the education that their children receive, which they
can monitor by creating a parents association.
(Expected benefits to be gained by performing the project’s activities)
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PROJECT OBJECTIVES
Contribution to overall development goal:
• To contribute to the goal of improving education in Community A
Products and outputs from the project’s activities:
• A primary school building with facilities for the education of children

• Learning materials such as books and stationery
• The contracted services of an experienced primary school teacher
Impacts and changes that the project intends to affect:
• Reduce the cost of primary school education for families in Community A

• Increase the percentage of children in Community A attending primary
school
• A better quality of family life due to children having more time to spend
at home
• Increased involvement of Community A parents in decisions concerning
the education of their children
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4.4 - The Sequence of Activities
Through the creation of the Project Mission Statement, the objectives of the
proposed project have been defined and agreed. The next stage is to create a
Sequence of Activities, which is a sequential list of the tasks that need to be
completed in order to achieve the objectives of the project.
What is an activity?
An activity is any task that needs to be performed

for the project. Activities usually require both time
and resources for their completion. The durations
and expenditure of activities will vary; some
activities will require little expenditure and will last
only a day, while others may require thousands of
dollars and last for months.
To create a Sequence of Activities, first write a list of all the activities to be

performed during the project. It is then necessary to divide the list into a
hierarchy that shows groupings of activities. All the activities that need to be
performed in order to complete one section of the project will be grouped
together. Often, the groupings will contain activities that have dependencies;
when activity B cannot begin until activity A has been completed then activity B
has a dependency on activity A.
Example 2 shows a Sequence of Activities for the primary school project defined
by the Project Mission Statement in Example 1. Three groupings of activities
can be seen in Example 2, each grouping has a number of activities listed
underneath the title of the grouping. For example, there are 5 activities that
need to be performed so that a building is modified and is ready to be used as
a classroom (Sequence of Activities section 1.0 – 1.5).
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Activity groupings and title activities
The Sequence of Activities divides the list of activities into a hierarchy based
or logical groups of activities. Each grouping has a title activity that describes
the overall purpose of the activities in the grouping.
In the primary school project example, the title activity ‘Hire a teacher to work
in the school’ groups together the four activities that need to be performed in
order to achieve this, ‘Advertise the position’, ‘Interview the candidates’, ‘Hire
the successful candidate’ and ‘Complete an orientation process’.
TIP: When creating an activity sequence, think of the main or title activities
first and then begin to list the sub-activities that should belong to the
grouping.
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EXAMPLE 2: The Sequence of Activities
1.0 = Modify a building in the community so that it can be used as a

classroom
1.1 = Select an appropriate site

1.2 = Decorate the classroom
1.3 = Clean the classroom
1.4 = Buy furniture
1.5 = Furnish the classroom
2.0 = Hire a teacher to work in the school
2.1 = Advertise the position

2.2 = Interview the candidates
2.3 = Hire the successful candidate
2.4 = Complete an orientation process to introduce the
teacher to the Community
3.0 = Acquire books, stationery and teaching materials
3.1 = Buy course textbooks

3.2 = Buy stationery and teaching materials
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4.5 - Plan of Work
The Plan of Work utilizes the Sequence of Activities to create a schedule

showing the durations, the start and finish dates and costs of those activities.
The Plan of Work contains the following columns of information:
• Activity Number = A unique identifier for the activity. It is suggested

that a prefix is added that relates to the project.
E.g. ABE1.0 = Project Basic Education, Activity Number 1.0
ABE02.2 = Project Basic Education, Activity Number 2.2
Unique identifiers
The unique identifier is used to distinguish the different

elements of the COMET project from one another. The
Monitoring & Evaluation Plan, the Financial Plan and the
Project Diary all contain entries similar to the Plan of Work.
However, the unique identifier makes it possible to
differentiate all these entries from each other and from the
activities of other projects.
• Activity Name = The name of the activity to be completed.
• Predecessors = This column contains the activity numbers of all the

activities that need to be completed before this activity can begin.
• Planned Activity Duration = The amount of time, measured in

working days, that it will take to complete the activity.
• Planned Activity Start Date = The date on which the activity is

planned to begin. This cannot be before all the predecessors of the
activity have been completed.
• Planned Activity Finish Date = The date on which the activity is

planned to finish.
• Planned Cost of the Activity = The planned cost of the activity before
work begins.
• Persons Responsible for the Activity = This column contains the

name(s) of the person(s) who will perform or supervise the activity. For
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instance, if the work is actually performed by members of the Project

Team or the community, then their names are to be entered into this
column. However, if the activity’s work is to be contracted to an outside
company or person, this is recorded along with the name of the member
of the Project Team who will be responsible for supervising this work.
• Actual Activity Duration, Actual Activity Start Date, Actual

Activity Finish Date and Actual Cost of the Activity = These final
four columns will be used during the implementation phase of the
project, and are to be left blank during the planning phase. As such,
these columns will be explained in a later section of this manual,
“Updating the Plan of Work”.
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4.6 - Creating a Plan of Work
1) Adding the Sequence of Activities
The first task to be performed is to insert the Activity Sequence into the
columns for Activity Number and Activity Name, as depicted in Example 3.
The next stage is to complete the predecessors column. A predecessor is an

activity that must be completed before another activity can begin. To illustrate
this, Example 3 shows that Activity 2.1, ‘Advertise the position’, is a predecessor
of Activity 2.2, ‘Interview the candidates’. Therefore, before the interview
process can begin, it is first necessary to advertise the position of teacher and
screen the applications for suitable candidates.
Similarly, Activity 2.2, ‘Interview the candidates’, must be completed before

Activity 2.3, ‘Hire the successful candidate’, can begin.
Predecessors and Dependencies
When an activity cannot begin until another activity has finished, a

dependency exists between the two activities. For example activity 2.2 in the
primary school project, ‘Interview the candidates’, cannot begin until activity
2.1, ‘Advertise the position’, has been completed.
Activity 2.1 is therefore a predecessor of activity 2.2. The predecessors

column shows the dependencies that exist between the project’s activities.
When an activity doesn’t have a predecessor it can begin at any time, but
when a dependency does exist, the dependent activity must wait for the
predecessor to be completed before it can begin.
June July
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EXAMPLE 3: The Plan of Work - Columns ‘Activity

Number’, ‘Activity Name’ and ‘Predecessors’
Activity Activity Name Predecessors

Number
ABE1.0 Modify a building in the community so
that it can be used as a classroom
ABE1.1 Select an appropriate site
ABE1.2 Decorate the classroom 1.1
ABE1.3 Clean the classroom 1.2
ABE1.4 Buy furniture
ABE1.5 Furnish the classroom 1.3, 1.4
ABE2.0 Hire a teacher to work in the school
ABE2.1 Advertise the position
ABE2.2 Interview the candidates 2.1
ABE2.3 Hire the successful candidate 2.2
ABE2.4 Complete an orientation process to introduce 2.3
the teacher to the community
ABE3.0 Acquire books, stationery and teaching
materials
ABE3.1 Buy course textbooks
ABE3.2 Buy stationery and teaching materials
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2) Insert information for activity durations and start and finish dates
The planned durations of activities (calculated in working days) are the next
information to be added to the Plan of Work. In conjunction with the activity
predecessors, the planned activity durations provide us with the information
needed in order to plan when activities can start and finish.
In Example 4, the planned durations for the primary school project have been
added to the table. The project itself has an implementation start date of
Monday the 1st of June 2009. All those activities that do not have predecessors
can therefore start on the 1st of June, these activities are ‘Select an appropriate
site’, ‘Advertise the position’, ‘Buy furniture’, ‘Buy course textbooks’ and ‘Buy
stationery and teaching materials’.
Those activities that do have predecessors must wait for those predecessors to
finish before they can begin to be performed. For example, ‘Decorate the
classroom’ must wait for its predecessor ‘Select an appropriate site’ to be
completed. ‘Select an appropriate site’ requires 10 working days to be
performed, so the first working day on which work can begin on activity
‘Decorate the classroom’ is the 15th of June. Activity 1.5, ‘Furnish the
classroom’, has 2 predecessors and must therefore wait for them both to be
completed before its work can begin.
Activity durations and Working days
When the duration and planned start date for an activity

have been established, the activity finish date can be
determined.
However, it is important to note that durations are

measured in working days, and in many cases will not
include weekends or public holidays.
For example, an 11 day activity that begins on Monday 1st

June 2009 will not be completed until Monday 15th of June,
if weekends are not counted as working days.
The planned duration of the title activity shows the amount of time required to
complete all the activities in its grouping. For example ‘Modify a building in the
community so that it can be used as a classroom’ has a planned duration of 36
days because this is the total duration required to complete all the activities in
its grouping. Although the total number of days for the grouping is 45, some of
activities can be performed at the same time, therefore 36 days is the minimum
amount of time required to complete this group of activities.
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Title activity durations
The title activity start date is the same as the earliest

activity start date in the grouping, and the title activity
finish date is the same as the latest activity finish date in
the grouping.
In the primary school example, the title activity ‘Modify a

building in the community’ starts on the 1st of June and
finishes on the 20th of July, thus having a duration of 36
working days. The title activity duration is not the sum of
the durations of all the activities in the grouping, because
some of these activities can be performed concurrently.
Having entered durations and dates as explained above, the Plan of Work now
contains the earliest start and finish dates for each of the activities. It can be
seen that the earliest completion date for the example project as a whole is the
29th of July, when the final activity is completed. Of course, the dates can be
altered so that activities start later than the earliest opportunity. Activities can
be started whenever is desirable or possible, and the project doesn’t have to be
completed in the shortest time possible.
However, the implementation process will endeavor to follow the Plan of Work
as closely as possible, so the completed Plan of Work should be a realistic plan
of how it is intended to implement the project. For example, if it is known that
an activity cannot begin before a specific date, do not insert an earlier date into
the Plan of Work. Due to the fact that delays to the planned schedule might be
seen as a failure to meet expectations by project beneficiaries during project
evaluation, it is important that the Plan of Work is an accurate reflection of the
intended project. Activity durations and start and finish dates should therefore
be planned as realistically as possible.
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EXAMPLE 4: The Plan of Work - Columns ‘Activity

Number’, ‘Activity Name’, ‘Predecessors’, ‘Planned
Duration’, ‘Planned Start Date’ and ‘Planned Finish Date’
Activity Activity Name Predecessors Planned Planned Planned

Number Duration Start Date Finish Date
ABE1.0 Modify a building in the
community so that it 36 1-JUN-09 20-JUL-09
can be used as a
classroom
ABE1.1 Select an appropriate site 10 1-JUN-09 12-JUN-09
ABE1.2 Decorate the classroom 1.1 20 15-JUN-09 10-JUL-09
ABE1.3 Clean the classroom 1.2 5 13-JUL-09 17-JUL-09
ABE1.4 Buy furniture 9 1-JUN-09 11-JUN-09
ABE1.5 Furnish the classroom 1.3, 1.4 1 20-JUL-09 20-JUL-09
ABE2.0 Hire a teacher to work
in the school 43 1-JUN-09 29-JUL-09
ABE2.1 Advertise the position 20 1-JUN-09 26-JUN-09
ABE2.2 Interview the candidates 2.1 15 29-JUN-09 17-JUL-09
ABE2.3 Hire the successful 2.2 5 20-JUL-09 24-JUL-09
candidate
ABE2.4 Complete an orientation 2.3 3 27-JUL-09 29-JUL-09
process to introduce the
teacher to the community
ABE3.0 Acquire books,
stationery and teaching 10 1-JUN-09 12-JUN-09
materials
ABE3.1 Buy course textbooks 10 1-JUN-09 12-JUN-09
ABE3.2 Buy stationery and teaching 8 1-JUN-09 10-JUN-09
materials
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3) Insert information for planned costs and persons responsible
The final two columns in the Plan of Work to be completed during project
planning are ‘Planned Cost’ and ‘Persons Responsible’. The planned cost of each
activity should be recorded. The title activities show the sum of all the costs for
the activities in that grouping. For example, Example 5 shows that ‘Hire a
teacher to work in the school’ has a total cost of $740, which is the sum of
‘Advertise the Position’ ($40), ‘Interview the Candidates’ ($200), ‘Hire the
Successful Candidate’ ($400), and ‘Complete an Orientation Process’ ($100).
The names of the people who will perform or supervise the activities should be
recorded in the ‘Persons Responsible’ column. This finalizes the Plan of Work,
although the ‘Actual Activity Duration’, ‘Actual Activity Start Date’, ‘Actual
Activity Finish Date’, and ‘Actual Activity Cost’ columns will be completed during
project implementation.
Activity Costs
The activity cost is the sum of all the resources

that are required to complete the activity. This
could be one resource, a number of resources, or
even no resources at all.
For example, for the primary school project the

activity ‘Hire the Successful Candidate’ might have
the following costs:
1 – Administration costs = $100

2 – Legal costs = $250
3 – Travel costs = $50
TOTAL = $400
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COMET
EXAMPLE 5: The Plan of Work - Columns ‘Activity Name’,

‘Planned Cost’ and ‘Persons Responsible’
Activity Name Planned Persons Responsible

Cost
Modify a building in the
community so that it can be used $1,300
as a classroom
Select an appropriate site 0 Project Manager
Decorate the classroom $400 A Responsible
Clean the classroom $100 A Responsible
Buy furniture $800 Project Manager
Furnish the classroom 0 A Responsible
Hire a teacher to work in the $740
school
Advertise the position $40 B Responsible
Interview the candidates $200 B Responsible
Hire the successful candidate $400 Project Manager
Complete an orientation process to $100 B Responsible
introduce the teacher to the
community
Acquire books, stationery and
teaching materials $550
Buy course textbooks $350 C Responsible
Buy stationery and teaching materials $200 C Responsible
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COMET
4.7 - The Project Plan
The Project Plan is the end product of the COMET planning process. It brings
together the other documents produced during the planning phase, the Project
Mission Statement and the Plan of Work, and supplies additional information to
create a comprehensive project proposal.
In its totality, the Project Plan explains exactly what the project aims to
achieve, what will be the project’s activities and how they will be implemented.
Once the Project Plan has received authorization from the Project Board,
implementation processes can begin. The Project Plan contains the following
sections:
• Project Information
• Project Mission Statement
• Project Organization
• Plan of Work
• Financial Plan or Financial Information
• Monitoring and Evaluation Plan
• Project Board Authorization
1) Project Information
The Project Information section provides the following basic details concerning
the project and the Project Plan:
• Project Name
• Community Name (or NGO Name, Parish Name etc)
• Project Plan Version
• Date of Project Plan
• Author of Project Plan
EXAMPLE 6: Project Information
Project Name: Primary School Project

Community: Community A
Project Plan Version: 1
Date of Project Plan: 15 May 2009
Author of Project Plan: G Responsible
2) Project Mission Statement
The Project Mission Statement was written earlier in the COMET planning
process and outlines the reasons for performing the project. It describes the
current development situation, the problems to be resolved by the project, the
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COMET
expected benefits of performing the project, and the impacts and changes that
will be achieved by performing the project’s activities.
3) The Project Organization
In this section the composition of the Project Organization is defined as follows:
• How many people and who will be on the Project Board

• Who the Project Manager will be
• How many people and who will be on the Project Team
The Project Organization section should also describe the plan for
communication between the Project Board, the Project Manager and the Project
Team. The communication plan should contain details of how and how often
members of the Project Organization will communicate with each other.
Example 7 shows that the Project Board of the primary education project will
meet with the Project Manager on a weekly basis, and make further
communication by telephone in case of a situation arising that requires
immediate attention. The Project Manager will also meet with the Project Team
once a week to discuss the project’s progress, with further communication
occurring via email and the telephone. In order to incorporate and encourage
community participation, the Project Board will hold a community meeting
every month to discuss the project’s progress.
The communication required will however vary according to the individual

circumstances of each project. The Project Board should consider what type of
communication plan is appropriate for the needs of their specific project.
Although too little communication can negatively affect the project, too much
communication can also become a hindrance to the project’s activities; the right
balance is required.
The Project Organization and the

Communication Plan
The communication plan is of great importance to the

Project Plan and to the community development project,
as it establishes the ground rules for interaction between
members of the Project Organization.
These rules will not only clarify the responsibilities of each

member of the Project Organization, but will also facilitate
effective communication during project implementation.
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COMET
4) The Plan of Work
Similar to the Project Mission Statement, the Plan of Work has already been
produced earlier in the COMET planning process. The Plan of Work shows the
sequence in which the project’s activities will be performed, along with
information concerning activity durations, planned activity start and finish
dates, planned activity costs, and the people who will be responsible for each
activity.
EXAMPLE 7: The Project Organization
PROJECT ORGANIZATION
The Project Board
D Responsible
E Responsible
F Responsible
The Project Manager
G Responsible
The Project Team
A Responsible
B Responsible
C Responsible
COMMUNICATION PLAN
• The Project Manager will meet with the Project Board on a weekly basis
to discuss the progress made by the project. In the case of a situation
requiring immediate attention, communication will be made by
telephone.
• The Project Manager will meet with the Project Team on a weekly basis
to discuss the progress made by the project. Any additional
communication that is required will be made either by telephone or by
email.
• The Project Board will hold a community meeting every month to discuss
the progress made by the project. The entire community will be invited
to attend the monthly meetings to receive updates and contribute their
opinions concerning the progress made by the project.
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COMET
5) The Financial Plan
The Plan of Work contains information relating to planned and actual costs for
each of the project’s activities. In some projects this will be sufficient Financial
Information for the needs and purposes of the community and the Project
Organization, as displayed in Example 8.
However, in many situations additional information will be required regarding

the project’s finances. For these purposes, the Financial Plan contains a
complete breakdown of the financial outlay required by the project.
In effect, the Financial Plan is a breakdown of all the resources requiring a

financial outlay that the project is going to require. Each activity may have zero,
one or more than one resource. However, it is important that the total cost of
an activity’s resources in the Financial Plan equals the ‘Planned cost’ of the
activity specified in the Plan of Work. The Financial Plan has the following
columns:
• Resource Number = A unique identifier for the resource. It is

suggested that a prefix is added that relates to the project.
E.g. RBE001 = Project Basic Education, Resource Number 1
RBE010 = Project Basic Education, Resource Number 10
See Page 23 for more information

on Unique Identifiers
• Resource = The name of the resource requiring a financial outlay. This

could be raw materials, equipment, products, charges for services,
money paid for people’s time or expenses, or any other cost associated
with the project’s activities.
• Activity = The activity for which the resource is required. If a resource

is needed for more than one activity then a resource entry should be
created for each activity.
• Units Required = Depending on the type of resource, “Units required”

may or may not be appropriate. If the resource has a fixed cost such as
‘RBE005 – Advertising’ in Example 9, the units required column should be
left blank. However, if the resource has a cost for each unit such as
‘RBE003 – Desks’ in Example 9, then the units required column should be
filled.
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COMET
EXAMPLE 8: Financial Information
The total planned cost of the project is $2590.
A breakdown of the individual activity costs is displayed in the Plan of Work,

along with the dates on which these finances will be required.
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COMET
• Unit Cost = If the resource is charged per unit such as ‘RBE003 –

Desks’ in Example 7, the cost for a single unit should be entered in the
unit cost column.
• Total Planned Cost = The total planned cost required by the resource
should be entered in this column. If the resource has a unit cost this
should be multiplied by the number of units required to give the total
cost.
• Date Resource Required = The date resource required column

specifies the date on which the resource will be needed by the project.
This information is essential because it is important that resources such
as equipment and materials are available on the date that they are
needed. Delays will be caused to activities if resources are not available
when they are required. Such a delay to one activity can cause the entire
project to overrun, and perhaps to incur increased costs as a result. The
Plan of Work contains the planned start and finish dates of the project’s
activities, and should be used to identify the dates on which resources
will be required.
• Date Payment Required = The date payment required column

specifies the date on which payment for the resource is to be made. This
information will assist in the management of the projects finances.
Depending on the resource, payment may be required before, during or
after the resource is used or needed. The information contained in this
column will therefore assist in the planning of the project’s cash flow.
• Actual Units Required, Actual Unit Cost and Total Actual Cost =
These columns will be used during the project implementation phase to
record the actual costs of the resources.
Financial Information OR
Financial Plan
It is left to the discretion of the community or NGO

whether to include a full Financial Plan, or just the
Financial Information in the Plan of Work.
Generally, smaller projects with low finances will only

require a Financial Information section in the Plan of
Work.
However, when it is planned to use many resources for

the project, or multiple resources for the same activity,
it is advisable to complete and employ a full financial
plan.
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COMET
EXAMPLE 9: The Financial Plan
Resource Resource Activity Units Cost Total Date Date Actual Actual Actual
Number Required per Planned Resource Payment Units Cost Total
Unit Cost ($) Required Required Required per Cost ($)
($) Unit
($)
RBE001 Paint and decorating EB1.2 400 15-JUN-09 15-JUN-09
materials
RBE002 Cleaning materials EB1.3 100 13-JUL-09 13-JUL-09
RBE003 Desks EB1.4 20 20 400 20-JUL-09 13-JUL-09
RBE004 Chairs EB1.4 20 20 400 20-JUL-09 13-JUL-09
RBE005 Advertising EB2.1 40 01-JUN-09 08-JUN-09
RBE006 Room Hire EB2.2 200 29-JUN-09 22-JUN-09
RBE007 Legal costs EB2.3 400 20-JUL-09 27-JUL-09
RBE008 Training costs EB2.4 100 27-JUL-09 27-JUL-09
RBE009 Textbooks EB3.1 50 7 350 01-JUN-09 01-JUN-09
RBE010 Stationery EB3.2 200 01-JUN-09 01-JUN-09
TOTAL 2590
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COMET
6) The Monitoring and Evaluation Plan
The Monitoring and Evaluation Plan describes how it is intended to monitor and
evaluate the changes and impacts created by the project. “Monitoring and
Evaluation” is an activity that relates to the following two areas of development
projects:
1. The performance of the project, its processes and the Project

Organization during the planning and implementation phases of the
project
2. The analysis of the changes and impacts created by the project’s
activities
COMET’s tools and processes for project implementation and evaluation,

described later in this manual, constitute a monitoring and evaluation system
that is designed to analyse the performance of the project. The documents that
are produced during project planning and maintained throughout project
implementation will provide a comprehensive record of how the project
developed, and will enable the Final Project Report to analyse the performance
of the project’s processes and the Project Organization, as well as the projects
success in achieving the planned results and outputs.
Both logical and participatory planning methods contain tools for the monitoring
and evaluation of project impacts and changes. Both of these methods use
indicator based systems, the difference being that while logical methods use
largely quantitative and objective indicators, participatory methods focus on the
collection of qualitative data by project participants.
Logical Method M&E
For each objective specified by the logical planning

project, the logical framework matrix records details of
how these objectives are to be measured, and with what
information the achievement of objectives will be verified
and assessed. This information is contained within the
columns for “Performance indicators” and “Means of
verification” of the logframe matrix.
Often, logical planning indicators are quantitative in

nature, meaning that they use statistics and other
numerical figures to measure the achievement of
objectives.
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COMET
Consistent with the philosophy of complimenting rather than replacing existing

methods, COMET encourages local communities to continue using the approach
to monitoring and evaluation that they currently use and are familiar with.
However, the Project Mission Statement, created earlier in the COMET planning
process, constitutes the foundation of an M&E system. The information
concerning impacts and changes is transferred from the Project Mission
Statement into the M&E Plan to form the basis of project monitoring and
evaluation. If the community desires, this information can be augmented by
data from either logical or participatory planning methods. Nevertheless, it is
not compulsory to use either of these methods, as the COMET M&E Plan
represents a standalone monitoring and evaluation process.
Participatory M&E
Like logical methods, participatory M&E often uses indicators to measure

project achievements. However, participatory methods vary in their
approach in three important ways.
Firstly, participatory methods emphasize the evaluation of impacts and

changes attributable to the project, rather than the achievement of
objectives.
In addition, participatory indicators are often qualitative in nature,

meaning that they focus more on the opinions of beneficiaries rather
than on numbers and statistics.
Finally, whereas logical method M&E is often performed by external

agencies, participatory M&E seeks to involve project beneficiaries and
local communities in the M&E process.
The COMET Monitoring and Evaluation plan is designed to maintain details of

what will be evaluated, when, how, and by whom. The columns of the
monitoring and evaluation plan are as follows:
• Component Number = A unique identifier for the component. It is

suggested that a prefix is added that relates to the project.
E.g. M&EBE1 = Project Basic Education, Component Number 1
M&EBE2 = Project Basic Education, Component Number 2

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COMET
• Component = The component is the impact or change that is to be

evaluated. The Expected changes and impacts have already been
outlined in the Project Mission Statement, each impact or change should
now be given an entry in the Monitoring and Evaluation Plan. For
example, the Project Mission Statement identified ‘Parents have an
increased influence over the education that their children receive’ as an
impact of the project’s activities. This is now included in the Monitoring
and Evaluation Plan in Example 10 as ‘Parental influence over primary
school education’.
• Indicator = An indicator specifies how the achievement of an impact or

change will be judged. In contrast to the evaluation of factors for project
performance such as planned versus actual costs or activity times,
impacts and changes can often be more difficult to evaluate. Indicators
provide a measurement against which the project can be judged.
The indicator ‘An increased primary school attendance for children in

community A’ in Example 10 is a quantitative indicator, as the
achievement of the impact will be measured using statistics. The
indicator ‘Increased influence of parents over the education of their
children’ in Example 10 is a qualitative indicator, as the achievement of
this impact will be measured using the opinions of community members.
Indicators
Indicators can sometimes be hard to define and even more

difficult to measure.
It is important to decide whether an impact or change can

be measured best by quantitative statistics or by qualitative
assessment and opinions.
Indicators should be both simple and reliable providing a

means to effectively assess changes and impacts connected
to the development project.
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COMET
• Source of Verification = This column describes the sources of

information that will be used to verify the achievement or otherwise of
the project’s indicators. For quantitative indicators the sources of
verification will often be statistical information, and for qualitative
indicators the sources will often be the views and opinions of community
members and project beneficiaries, gathered and assessed using
participatory evaluation techniques. In the primary school project,
component M&EBE2 will be assessed quantitatively through the use of
primary school attendance records, whereas M&EBE4 will be assessed
qualitatively by a participatory evaluation.
Sources of Verification
An indicator is useless without a means of verifying

whether the impact or change has been achieved.
It is important that the statistical sources of verification

used can be accessed during the evaluation process,
and that information for qualitative indicators can be
realistically collected.
• Timings of Verification = This column shows how often and when the
verification data is to be collected. The regularity and timings of data
collection will vary according to the indicator. Example 10 shows that
data for component ‘Cost of primary school education’ will be collected
by B Responsible on 30/08/09.
• Persons Responsible = This column displays the names of the people

who will be responsible for gathering the data from the verification
source according to the schedule specified in the timings of verification
column. Often the persons responsible will be members of the Project
Team.
7) Project Authorization
The final section of the Project Plan is reserved for the signatures of
authorization of all the members of the Project Board.
It is the responsibility of the Project Board to assess the accuracy and viability
of the Project Plan, and to authorize the advancement of the project from the
planning phase to the implementation phase. The Project Board should ensure
that all the sections of the Project Plan have been completed correctly, and they
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COMET
should also be satisfied that the activities of the project will achieve the
objectives described in the Project Mission Statement. The Project Board should
also decide whether the Plan of Work is realistic and will be achievable through
good management of the project during the implementation phase.
Authorization of the project by all members of the Project Board signifies the
end of the project planning phase, and that the COMET project is now ready to
be implemented.
Project Authorization
The Project Plan is now complete ……..

The project has been authorized………..
NOW IMPLEMENT THE PROJECT!!
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COMET
EXAMPLE 10: The Monitoring and Evaluation Plan
Component Component Indicator Source of Timings of Persons

Number Verification Verification Responsible
M&EBE1 Standard of The new primary Comparison of Neighboring A Responsible
primary school in end of year exam community
school Community A results for the primary school
education provides a new school with records to be
standard of those for the analyzed on 30-
education that is at school in the JUN-09.
least equal to the neighboring Community A
primary school in community that is school records to
the neighboring currently used by be analyzed 6
community community A months after
children project completion
M&EBE2 Primary An increased Primary school Neighboring A Responsible
school primary school attendance community
attendance attendance for records primary school
rates children in records to be
community A analyzed on 30-
JUN-09.
Community A
school records to
be analyzed 6
months after
project completion
M&EBE3 Cost of Reduced price of Comparison of Comparison to be B Responsible
primary primary school expenses for the made 1 month
school education for current school in after project
education community A the neighboring completion on 31-
families community and AUG-09
the new school in
community A
M&EBE4 Quality of Improvement in Participatory The participatory B Responsible
family life the quality of evaluation of the evaluation will be
family life due to opinions of held during a
children having parents of participatory
more time in the children attending workshop 6
home the primary months after
school project completion
M&EBE5 Parental Increased Participatory The participatory C Responsible
influence influence of evaluation of the evaluation will be
over primary parents over the opinions of held during a
school education of their parents of participatory
education children children attending workshop 6
the primary months after
school project completion
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COMET
5
Implementing a
Project
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COMET
Diagram 5 - The Implementation Process
Start to implement the Project

Plan
Monitor the implementation
Record the lessons learned Record the project’s progress,

changes and problems
Resolve the problems
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COMET
5.0 - Implementing a Project
In the project implementation phase, the COMET method assists the community
or NGO to manage the implementation of their projects by providing processes
for monitoring, decision making and the taking of corrective actions.
During project implementation the Plan of Work and Financial Plan sections of
the Project Plan are updated to reflect actual timings of project activities and
the actual costs associated with the project’s activities and resources.
To record other details of the project’s progression the Project Diary is used.
The Project Diary enables members of the Project Team to record information
concerning problems, risks, actions and changes. The Project Diary is used by
the Project Manager and the Project Board to analyse the progress of the
project and make decisions concerning corrective actions and changes that
need to be made for the benefit of the project.
When all of the project’s activities have been executed the implementation
phase finishes and the project can move into the final phase of the project
management cycle, project evaluation and close-out.
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COMET
5.1 - Updating the Plan of Work
There are four columns of the Plan of Work that are updated during the project
implementation phase, these are:
• Actual activity duration

• Actual activity start date
• Actual activity finish date
• Actual activity cost
When an activity starts it is possible to add the ‘Activity start date’. However,
only when the activity is completed can the ‘Actual activity duration’, ‘Actual
activity finish date’ and ‘Actual cost’ be recorded. It is the responsibility of the
Project Manager to record the information related to project implementation in
the Plan of Work.
The updating and revision of the Plan of Work during the implementation phase
is important because its details enable the Project Organization to understand
how the project is progressing. Many of the activities performed are sequential,
meaning that a delay in the completion of one activity will affect other activities
performed later in the project. The records of real durations, start and finish
dates and costs will also help the Project Manager to evaluate the performance
of the project when all of its activities have been completed.
In some cases, when a delay or an overspend is small, its significance to the

overall project is inconsequential. In such circumstances it is necessary only to
record the actual information in the Plan of Work. However, the Project
Manager may adjudge that the delay or overspend may have further
consequences for the successful implementation of the project, the problem
should then be recorded in the Project Diary. All of the problems that have
been recorded in the Project Diary will be reviewed by the Project Board who
will decide if the taking of remedial action is necessary to avert potential
consequences for the project.
When the final activity in the Plan of Work has been completed, this signifies
the end of project implementation and the project moves into the final project
phase of evaluation and close-out.
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COMET
5.2 - Updating the Financial Plan
In addition to the ‘Total actual cost’ of all the project’s resources, there are
three columns of the Financial Plan that are updated during the project
implementation phase, these are:
• Actual units required

• Actual cost per unit
• Actual total cost
When the actual figures or costs for each resource are known they should be
recorded in the Financial Plan. It is the responsibility of the Project Manager to
record the actual resource information in the Financial Plan.
Similar to the Plan of Work, it is important to update and monitor the Financial
Plan during project implementation so as to be aware of potential problems as
soon as they become apparent. When a project has a limited budget, an
overspend on one resource may lead to spending cuts for other resources. As
with the Plan of Work, the Financial Plan will assist the Project Manager during
the evaluation of project performance.
When evidence of significant overspends is apparent from the Financial Plan,

this information should be recorded in the Project Diary by the Project Manager,
for discussion at the next Project Board meeting.
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COMET
5.3 - The Project Diary
The Project Diary is used to record the progress made by the project during the
implementation phase. As the Project Manager and the Project Team start to
perform the activities in the Plan of Work, issues will arise concerning the
activities and costs, as well as risks and changes. These issues should be
recorded in the Project Diary.
When decisions have been taken to adjust the project in some way, these
actions are also to be recorded in the Project Diary. In addition, the Project
Diary enables lessons that have been learned during the course of the project
to be recorded.
The Project Board and the Project Manager will use the Project Diary to review
the progress that is made by the project and also as the basis for taking
decisions concerning the future direction of the project’s activities. The columns
of the Project Diary are as follows:
• Entry Number = A unique identifier for the diary entry. It is suggested

that a prefix is added that relates to the project.
E.g. DBE1 = Project Basic Education, Diary entry Number 1
DBE10 = Project Basic Education, Diary entry Number 10

• Type of Entry = The Project Diary is used to record different elements

of the project’s progression. The following are the types of entry that can
be recorded in the Project Diary:
1) PROBLEM = A problem can be either a delay in the completion of

an activity or an overspend on one of the project’s resources. When a
problem becomes apparent from either the Plan of Work or the Financial
Plan, it should be entered into the Project Diary. The Project Manager
and the Project Board will meet to review and resolve the problems in
the Project Diary. DBE1 in Example 11 shows a problem caused by a
delayed activity, and DBE3 is an example of an overspend.
2) RISK = A risk is an external problem that may affect the successful

completion of the project. Whereas delays and overspends are problems
that can be managed by the Project Organization, a risk is a factor that
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COMET
cannot be controlled by the Project Team or the Project Board, as it is

outside their influence. DBE2 in Example 11 is a risk because the
problem caused by the suppliers of text books being unable to complete
delivery on time is a problem with an external organization that is
outside the control of the Project Organization.
Risks
Risks are factors that are uncontrollable by the Project

Organization, for example political factors, the economy or
the climate.
Although the Project Organization cannot control risks, it can

respond to them, often by choosing a course of action that
will avoid or lessen the effects of the risk. This process is
called risk management and is an integral part of successful
project management.
Risks external to the project should therefore be identified

and recorded in the Project Diary as they become apparent.
The Project Board will then be able to decide whether or not
to take risk avoidance or reduction measures.
3) M&E = The code ‘M&E’ is used to record updates to the Monitoring

and Evaluation Plan. An update can be a problem with the collection of
M&E data; however it can also be an entry that acknowledges the
successful collection of M&E data from a verification source according to
the time schedule in the M&E Plan.
DBE5 & DBE6 in Example 11 show how the M&E code can be used to
record updates of successful M&E data collection. However, DBE9 shows
how the M&E code can also be used to record a problem with the
execution of the M&E Plan.
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COMET
M&E Updates
Remember that the Project Diary is only used to record

progress of and problems with the execution of the M&E
Plan.
The actual evaluation of the impacts and changes

associated with the project takes place when
implementation of the project has been completed.
4) CHANGE = A change to the original Project Plan should be recorded

under the code ‘CHANGE’. In some cases it is desirable to change the
objectives of the project after the implementation phase has begun.
Indeed, it is natural to discover ways in which the project can be
improved during the course of project implementation.
If the proposed change is a significant alteration to the objectives of the

project, it may result in a substantial re-planning of the project. Even
smaller changes may require additions or changes to the Plan of Work
and the Financial Plan. When this is the case it is necessary to create a
new version of the Project Plan (changing the ‘Project Plan version’
details in the Project Information section of the Project Plan), which
includes all the necessary changes to the Project Mission Statement, the
Plan of Work, the Financial Plan and the Monitoring and Evaluation Plan.
However, some minor changes can be incorporated into the project
without the need to create a new version of the Project Plan.
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COMET
Change is Inevitable!
Logical planning methods for development projects have often been criticized
due to their apparent lack of flexibility. NGOs have found it difficult to make
changes to the objectives and activities of a logical planning project once the
implementation process has begun.
However, experiences during project implementation sometimes reveal that

changes to the original Project Plan are either necessary or desirable.
With the procedures described in this section COMET provides the capacity to
alter the scope of development projects, through an effective change
management process.
Nonetheless, major changes will affect all aspects of the original Project Plan,
including finances, activities and objectives. Think carefully before applying
changes to the project and its objectives!
Details of all the changes made to the project should be recorded in the
Project Diary. When the change is recorded, details of any alterations to
the Project Plan, such as to the Plan of Work or the Financial Plan,
should be added to the description column.
With this process for the management of changes to the objectives of a

project, COMET provides the flexibility to change projects from the plan
even after they have begun to be implemented. However, it is necessary
to carefully consider whether the change is an essential improvement to
the current project. In some cases the change may not be necessary; or
rather than be incorporated into the current project, it could form the
basis of a new project. The substantial amount of project re-planning
and the interruptions to project implementation created by changes to
project objectives can cause a significant amount of work. DBE8 in
Example 11 demonstrates the kind of change that can be entered into
the Project Diary.
5) GENERAL = The ‘General’ code is used to record any entry which

does not fit into another category. A general entry could be a question
such as DBE4 in Example 11, or it could record an area of concern such
as DBE10.
6) LESSON = Throughout the implementation of the project the

problems that occur and actions that are taken will result in the learning
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COMET
of lessons by the Project Organization. These lessons could be relevant

to the Project Plan, monitoring and evaluation, activities, project
processes or the Project Organization. It is important that such lessons
are recorded for the benefit of future projects to be performed in the
community.
The lessons learned will eventually be included in the Final Project

Report; however, they should be recorded in the Project Diary as and
when they arise. DBE7 in Example 11 shows how a lesson learned can
be recorded in the Project Diary.
Learning Lessons
Projects represent unique endeavors that provide new experiences and

insights into community development. Whether these experiences are positive
or negative, it is essential to learn from them for the benefit of future
projects.
Recording details of mistakes and problems will help to avoid making the
same mistakes, or creating the same problems in future.
The recording of positive experiences helps us to acknowledge the strengths

of the Project Organization, and the positive aspects of project
implementation.
• Related Activities = Codes of activities, resources or M&E components

are entered into the ‘Related activities’ column, to show the source of the
diary entry. For instance, DBE1 in Example 11 shows that the entry is
related to activity ABE1.1, DBE3 is related to resources RBE003 and
RBE004, and DBE5 is related to M&E component M&EBE3.
• Description = The ‘Description’ provides further details about the diary

entry. For instance, if the entry is a ‘Problem’, what has happened and
how it has happened, what the consequences of the problem are, or
what the potential ramifications might be. A ‘Risk’ entry should describe
the risk in full, and an ‘M&E’ entry can describe either a problem with
M&E or the progress made with the execution of the M&E Plan. A
‘Change’ entry should describe the change to be implemented and
provide details of the affects on project planning documents such as the
Plan of Work or the Financial Plan.
• Author = The ‘Author’ is the person who added the diary entry to the
Project Diary. This could be the Project Manager or a member of the
Project Team. An entry could also be made by a member of the
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community who is raising a question or a concern about the project. As

such, all of these people should be allowed access to the Project Diary so
that they can add entries.
• Date Recorded = The ‘Date recorded’ is the date on which the entry
was added to the Project Diary.
• Status = Each diary entry can have one of two possible statuses, ‘OPEN’
or ‘CLOSED’. A diary entry has a status of ‘Open’ if it has not yet been
reviewed by the Project Board, if an appropriate action has yet to be
decided upon, or if an action for the entry has yet to be implemented. A
diary entry has a status of ‘Closed’ if it has been reviewed by the Project
Board, and an appropriate action has been decided upon and taken. A
status of ‘Closed’ means that no further work is to be performed or
decisions are to be taken by the Project Board in relation to the entry.
Some entries will not require actions, such as general questions or M&E
updates, in which case the entries can be closed. DBE9 in Example 11
shows an entry that is yet to be reviewed by the Project Board, DBE4
shows an entry for which an action has been decided upon but not yet
taken, and DBE5 and DBE8 are examples of closed entries.
• Action = According to the intervals specified in ‘Project Organization’

section of the Project Plan, the Project Board will meet with the Project
Manager on a regular basis to review the progress of the project. During
those meetings the Project Board and the Project Manager will review all
of the open entries in the Project Diary, and will decide which actions to
take in order to correct problems that have occurred or to assist the
future progress of the project’s activities. DBE2 in Example 11 displays
an action that has been decided upon by the Project Board. The
‘Meetings, Taking Decisions and Actions’ section will review ‘Actions’ in
more depth.
• Action Date = The ‘Action date’ is the date on which the decision for
action has been taken by the Project Board, and the Project Plan has
been updated to reflect the changes. Since the taking of the decision
resolves many diary entries, this date will often but not always be the
date on which the entry becomes closed.
Actions
The taking of decisions regarding corrective actions is the

most vital responsibility of the Project Board during
project implementation.
Such decisions and actions represent the ‘Management’ of

the project, and its activities and resources.
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EXAMPLE 11: The Project Diary
Entry Type of Related Description Author Date Status Action Action date
number entry activities recorded
DBE1 PROBLEM ABE1.1 There is only one suitable G Responsible 16-JUN-09 Open
site in the community, and
negotiations are still
continuing with the building’s
owner. This activity should
have been completed on 12-
06-09, but is now late
DBE2 RISK ABE3.1 The suppliers of the C Responsible 16-JUN-09 Open It has been decided to
textbooks say that they will find another supplier
not be able to deliver them who can deliver the
in the next 4 weeks books more quickly
DBE3 PROBLEM RBE003, The budget for furniture G Responsible 17-JUN-09 Open
RBE004 appears to be too low. It is
now apparent that the
furniture is going to cost
$1000
DBE4 GENERAL Some of the community G Responsible 18-JUN-09 Open It has been decided
members would prefer to that one of the duties
have someone from the of the new teacher will
community as the primary be to provide training
schoolteacher. They want to to selected local
know if this is possible community members
so that they can help
out with the school as
volunteers
DBE5 M&E M&EBE3 The information concerning B Responsible 18-JUL-09 Closed
prices of primary school
education for community A
children at the neighboring
school have been collected
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DBE6 M&E M&EBE1 The exam results for the A Responsible 01-JUL-09 Closed
school in the neighboring
community have been
collected as per the M&E
plan
DBE7 LESSON DBE4 When creating the project G Responsible 02-JUL-09 Closed
we did not consider asking
local people if they were
interested in teaching or
helping in the school. This
was a failure in participatory
communication which should
be corrected for future
projects
DBE8 CHANGE ABE1.2 It has been decided that F G Responsible 02-JUL-09 Closed The plan of work has 03-JUL-09
Responsible is to be been changed to show
responsible for decorating that F Responsible is
the new school classroom as now in charge of
F Responsible has more time decorating the school
than A Responsible classroom
DBE9 M&E M&EBE2 There is a problem with A Responsible 02-JUL-09 Open
collecting the information
concerning attendances rates
for community A children at
the neighboring community
school. The school is refusing
permission for access to
these records
DBE10 GENERAL ABE1.1 Members of the community G Responsible 03-JUL-09 Open
feel that the building which
has been chosen to be the
school classroom is not
appropriate, They feel that it
will be too cold in the winter
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5.4 - Meetings, Taking Decisions and Actions
The Project Board and the Project Manager will meet on a regular basis,
according to the timetable in the Project Plan, to review the progress made by
the project and to decide upon future courses of action. The Project Diary
should form the agenda for these meetings, and all the open entries in the
Project Diary should be reviewed.
The Project Board can decide that the problems and risks in the Project Diary
do not require action, and they can therefore close the diary entries. However,
as the project progresses it is inevitable that some of the Project Diary entries
will require the Project Board to take corrective or pre-emptive actions.
When presented with a problem, the Project Board should consider all the
possible courses of action before selecting the most appropriate action for the
problem situation. This process requires the Project Board to use their
judgement and experience to take the correct decisions for the benefit of the
project.
The Project Board can decide that a problem is insignificant and will not have a
serious affect on the success of the project. In such cases the problem can be
closed without action.
When a delayed activity constitutes a problem that requires corrective action,

there are a number of possible actions that could be taken. The Project Board
could decide to assign more people to the activity so that it is completed
sooner, or they can decide to reduce the scope of the activity in order to
achieve the same result. The Project Board could also decide to eliminate the
activity from the project altogether, or alter the timings or scopes of other
activities to lessen the impact of the delay caused by the problem activity. DBE1
in Example 12 shows the type of decision that can be taken to minimise the
effects of delayed project activities.
Actions and Activities
When project activities encounter delays and problems, the project completion
date will often be affected.
However, in some development projects the overall completion date may not be
critical, meaning that activities can be delayed without problems or ramifications.
In such cases the Project Board may choose to accept individual activity delays
without taking corrective action.
When the project completion date is critical, the Project Board will have to take
corrective action to reduce the effects of the delay. This is done by thinking of
possible solutions to the problem and then by making a decision about which
alternative is the most suitable.
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When an overspend on project resources constitutes a problem that requires

corrective action, there are also a variety of possible actions. The Project Board
can try to cut the costs of the problem resource. They can also try to cut the
costs of other resources, by limiting the scope of one or more activities, or by
finding cheaper resources as alternatives. In this manner the Project Board can
redirect funds to the problem resource by making savings on other resources.
Actions and Resource overspends
Depending on the nature and source of project funding, overspends on

project resources may be a crucial issue and could potentially jeopardize
project success.
If a project runs out of funding with no possibility of additional finances it may

have to be terminated early, leaving activities uncompleted and objectives
unrealized.
When overspends occur it is an important responsibility of the Project Board

to cut spending on other project activities, so that the project as a whole can
be completed within its budgetary constraints.
An alternative course of action is to accept the cost to the project caused by the
overspend on the resource, and to increase the financial resources available to
the project. DBE3 in Example 12 shows the type of decision that can be taken
to deal with the effects of an overspend on a project resource.
When a risk to the success of the project has been identified, the Project Board
can take actions to limit the effects caused by a risk, should it occur. It is not
possible to control risks because they occur external to the Project
Organization; however, contingency measures can be taken to counteract the
risks or to lessen their effects. DBE2 in Example 12 shows the type of
contingency action that can be taken to counteract a risk and its effects.
Actions and Risks
Actions to avoid or reduce the effects of risks are taken in the same manner
as actions for activity delays and resource overspends.
The Project Board thinks of possible actions to negate the effects of the risk
and implements the best solution.
Similar to decisions concerning delays and overspends, it is best to act

quickly to reduce the possible effects of risks to the project.
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EXAMPLE 12: Actions for Project Diary Problems and Risks

Entry Type of Related Date
number entry activities Description Author recorded Status Action Action date
DBE1 PROBLEM ABE1.1 There is only one suitable site G Responsible 16-JUN-09 Closed The building’s owner is to 23-JUN-09
in the community, and be given a deadline of 07-
negotiations are still continuing JUL-09 to complete the
with the building’s owner. This negotiations. The Project
activity should have been Team will search for the
completed on 12-06-09, but is best alternative building,
now late which will be used if the
deadline is not met. To
compensate for the delay
to the project, the time for
decorating the school
room has been cut from
20 days to 10 days
DBE2 RISK ABE3.1 The suppliers of the textbooks C Responsible 16-JUN-09 Closed It has been decided to find 23-JUN-09
say that they will not be able to another supplier who can
deliver them in the next 4 deliver the books more
weeks quickly
DBE3 PROBLEM RBE003, The budget for furniture G Responsible 17-JUN-09 Closed The additional $200 is an 23-JUN-09
RBE004 appears to be too low. It is now unavoidable expense as
apparent that the furniture is the furniture required
going to cost $1000 cannot be bought more
cheaply. It has been
decided to redirect the
$200 from activity ABE2.2
‘Interview the candidates’,
which can be performed
for a budget of $0 instead
of $200
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6
Evaluating a Project
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Diagram 6 - The Evaluation Process
End of Project
Implementation
Final Project Participatory

Report Evaluation
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6.0 - Evaluating the Project
When the final activity of the project has been performed, the implementation
phase of the project comes to a close. The remaining project phase is that of
evaluation. For development projects evaluation has a dual purpose, namely to
evaluate the performance of the project, and the changes and impacts created
by the project’s activities.
The evaluation of project performance analyses the processes, activities and

Project Organization to assess their efficiency and effectiveness. The progress
of the project is evaluated relative to the Project Plan, to compare the actual
performance of the project during the implementation phase, with the
objectives set during the planning phase.
The COMET process for the evaluation of project performance begins at the
start of the implementation phase, when details of the project’s progression
against the Project Plan are recorded in the Plan of Work, the Financial Plan
and the Project Diary. In the evaluation phase these details are used to
examine the progress of the project, which is recorded in the Final Project
Report.
Whereas the Final Project Report represents a factual account of how the
project performed against its plan, participatory project evaluations attempt to
assess the impacts and changes created by the project. Participatory
Evaluations often use qualitative information, such as the views and opinions of
the people affected by the project, to analyse how the lives of people have
been changed by the project and its activities. The COMET process for
Participatory Evaluation begins with the completion of the M&E Plan in the
planning phase, continues with the collection of M&E data in the
implementation phase, and culminates with the Participatory Evaluation itself.
The COMET project closes once the Final Project Report and the Participatory
Evaluation have been completed.
Why Evaluate?
Project evaluation is a crucial part of the project cycle because it

enables us to analyze both the strengths and weaknesses of project
planning and implementation, and the impacts that the project has
created for communities and project beneficiaries.
Evaluation also enables us to learn lessons about the project and its
activities, for the benefit of future development projects. As such, the
Project Organization will be able to implement future projects with
increased efficiency and effectiveness.
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6.1 - The Final Project Report
The Final Project Report uses the documents created during the planning and
implementation phases to analyse the important aspects of how the project was
performed in comparison to the Project Plan. The following documents are used
to assist the evaluation of project performance:
• The Plan of Work

• The Financial Plan
• The Project Diary
These documents are used to describe the history of the project so that the
lessons learned can be recorded for the benefit of future projects. The following
areas are analysed by the Final Project Report:
• Planning
• Implementation
• The performance of the Project Organization
• Project results and outputs compared with project objectives
For each of these areas there are a number of issues that need to be addressed
by the Final Project Report. These are:
PLANNING
• How well did the planning process define the project to be implemented?
Were the objectives set by the project an effective representation of the
needs of the community? How well were the activities identified by
project planning able to meet the objectives of the project?
• How efficiently did the Plan of Work and the Financial Plan provide the
foundation for project implementation? How well did the design of these
documents facilitate project implementation?
• How well did the M&E Plan provide the basis for the evaluation of project
changes and impacts?
• Overall, what were the strengths and weaknesses of the project planning
process? How could the project have been planned better?
IMPLEMENTATION
• What happened with the implementation of the Plan of Work? Which

activities were implemented successfully? What problems arose with the
implementation of project activities?
• How did project implementation perform in relation to the Financial Plan?

Which activities required additional financial resources?
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• What risks were identified during project implementation? How did the
Project Organization deal with those risks?
• Were any changes to the original project objectives made during project
implementation? Why were these changes made? How did these
changes affect project implementation?
• What actions were taken by the Project Board to correct problems

caused by activity delays and resource overspends? Did those actions
provide effective solutions to the problems?
• What happened with the implementation of the M&E Plan? Which data
was unsuccessfully collected? Why?
• What lessons were learned during project implementation? How might

those lessons be of value to future projects?
• Overall, what were the strengths and weaknesses of the project

implementation process?
THE PERFORMANCE OF THE PROJECT ORGANIZATION
• How well did the Project Board direct the implementation of the project?
How well did the board work with the Project Manager to rectify the
problems and address the risks that arose during project
implementation?
• How well did the Project Manager and the Project Team perform during
the implementation of the project? What did the Project Manager and
Project Team do well? In what areas could the Project Manager and
Project Team improve their performance?
• How well did the communication plan outlined in the Project Plan meet
the needs of the project and the Project Organization?
• Overall, what were the strengths and weaknesses of the performance of

the Project Organization? How can the Project Organization improve for
the benefit of future projects?
PROJECT RESULTS & OUTPUTS COMPARED WITH PROJECT

OBJECTIVES
• Which of the project’s objectives were achieved? Which of the project’s

objectives weren’t achieved? Why?
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• How well did the achievement of the project’s objectives contribute to

the community’s overall development goals?
• Overall, how successful was project implementation in achieving the

project’s objectives?
The above questions should serve as a guide to the Project Organization as it

produces the Final Project Report, not all of the questions have to be answered,
and other areas can be included in the analysis if they are required. Example 13
is a Final Project Report for the primary school education project, and
demonstrates how to include the above questions and categories into the
standard report format provided by the COMET method.
It is suggested that the entire Project Organization (the Project Board, the
Project Manager and the Project Team) participates in the production of the
Final Project Report, as their different perspectives on the development of the
project are all important to the evaluation process. However, the responsibility
for writing the Final Project Report lies with the Project Manager.
The Final Project Report
When analyzing problems and weaknesses associated

with the project, the aim is not to assign culpability to
individuals, but rather to learn as a group from both
positive and negative experiences.
The COMET project is performed by a team (the Project

Organization), and the evaluation process is designed to
help the team learn and develop together.
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EXAMPLE 13: The Final Project Report
Project Name Primary School Project

Community Name Community A
Date of Final Project Report 01 September 2009

Author of Final Project Report G Responsible
INTRODUCTION
The primary school project was undertaken by Community A in 2009 to create a

primary school within the community so that local children can be educated
closer to home, and don’t have to travel to a neighboring community for their
education. The three principal activities of the project were to find and adapt a
local building for use as a schoolroom, to find and hire a teacher, and to buy
the necessary textbooks and stationery required by the students.
ANALYSIS OF PROJECT PERFORMANCE
1) Planning
The planning process highlighted the need for a primary school that is local to
the community. As such the objectives of the project were to perform the
activities necessary for the opening of a new school. The three principal
activities of finding and adapting a schoolroom, hiring a teacher and purchasing
the necessary equipment and books were the minimum requirements of the
project. Any further activities such as recreational and cooking facilities can be
addressed by later projects.
The Project Plan provided an effective basis for project implementation. The
Plan of Work effectively outlined all the activities that needed to be performed
in order to successfully complete the project and open the school. The Financial
Plan effectively allocated the funds available to the project’s activities, although
as will be described later, these funds proved to be insufficient for the
resources required. The M&E Plan successfully set out the indicators, sources,
timings of verification, and responsibilities for data collection, although some
problems were experienced with the execution of the plan, as will be described
later.
Overall, the planning process provided an effective basis for project

implementation and for the successful achievement of the project’s objectives.
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2) Implementation
The majority of the projects activities were performed successfully and were
completed on time. However, finding a suitable site for the school proved to be
very problematic. This activity was delayed by two weeks. The delay was
caused by protracted negotiations with the building’s owner. Swift action was
taken by the Project Organization to reduce the affects of the delay, and to
alter the remaining activities of the project so that the delay caused to the
overall project completion date was minimised.
One of the main problems to occur during project implementation was the lack
of funds available to the project, which became apparent when the furniture
required for the schoolroom exceeded the budget by $200. Although the Project
Board redirected funds from other activities so that the furniture could be
bought, eventually the project overspent by $150 in comparison with its
planned budget.
During project implementation a major risk occurred to the timely completion of

the project’s activities when the supplier of the textbooks informed the Project
Team of a significant delay in the delivery of this resource. This risk was
averted by finding another supplier who could deliver the textbooks before the
project completion date.
No major changes were made to the project’s objectives, only some minor
changes which affected the responsibilities assumed by Project Team members.
These changes caused no adverse consequences to project implementation.
The M&E Plan was largely successful in its implementation. However, there was
a problem with the collection of verification data from the primary school in the
neighboring community. This meant that the indicator for attendances at the
school in the neighboring community could not be used. In future, access to
verification data should be considered more carefully when the M&E Plan is
being designed.
A major flaw in the project design was uncovered when members of the
community started to voice the opinion that the teacher should be a person
from the community, and not someone contracted from outside. The
community members were not consulted on this issue during project planning,
which was a significant mistake. However, changes were subsequently made to
the project so that the new teacher can train local people as volunteers to help
with the education of local children.
Overall, the project was implemented successfully, as implementation was

finished on time and only slightly over budget. The lessons learned during
project implementation will assist the implementation of future projects in
Community A.
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3) The performance of the Project Organization
The performance of the Project Organization was very efficient. The Project
Board met with the Project Manager on a frequent basis to review the progress
made by the project, and decisions for action made by the Project Board helped
to avert delays to the completion of the project. The communication plan set a
weekly schedule for meetings between the Project Board and the Project
Manager, and this schedule effectively met the needs of the project.
The Project Team, under the guidance of the Project Manager, performed most
of the activities efficiently. The Project Team does feel that they could have
anticipated the problem concerning the negotiations for the building, and
therefore made contingency plans to avoid the delay that subsequently
occurred.
Overall, the Project Manager and the Project Team have gained vital experience
of the project implementation process, which should benefit the future projects
with which they are involved.
4) Project results compared with project objectives
All of the project’s objectives were achieved by project implementation.

Community A now has a decorated and furnished schoolroom, an experienced
primary school teacher and all the necessary textbooks and teaching materials.
In effect, the primary school is now ready to open and assume responsibility for
the education of children from community A.
The project has made a significant contribution to the overall development goal
of improving the education of Community A children. However, additional
projects have been identified. The community would like to provide future
teachers for the school, which requires a teacher training programme, and also
they would like to provide the children with recreational facilities and hot meals
at lunchtime.
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
The project to open a primary school in community A has been planned and
implemented successfully. The Project Organization has learnt a lot about the
process of project implementation, which will help to benefit future projects.
It is recommended that future projects consult community members more

thoroughly concerning aspects of the project, a lesson that has been learned
through the completion of this project. In addition, future project budgets
should be a little more generous when allocating funds for products such as
furniture, on which there was an overspend for this project.
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The Project Manager, the Project Board and the Project Team are now
confident that they can participate successfully in future development projects
for the benefit of the community.
The Project Organization now awaits the results of the participatory evaluation
of the changes and impacts created by the project.
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6.2 - Participatory Evaluation of Impacts and Changes
The Monitoring and Evaluation Plan, completed as part of the Project Plan,
specifies indicators that are to be used to measure the impacts and changes
that are attributable to the project. In addition, the M&E Plan specifies the
sources from which data will be sought to verify the achievement of the
indicators, as well as when the data will be collected and by whom.
The data that will be used to evaluate the impacts and changes created by the
project’s activities can be either quantitative or qualitative. Quantitative data is
often sourced from statistics and provides an objective measurement of the
success of the project in achieving its desired impacts and changes. However,
qualitative data often comprises of the views and opinions of members of the
community, collected using Participatory Evaluation tools and techniques.
Subsequent to the collection of M&E data, as specified in the Project Plan and
performed during project implementation, the Project Organization assumes the
responsibility of organising a Participatory Evaluation of project impacts and
changes. Participatory Evaluations are often performed in workshops, which
take place after project implementation has finished.
Participatory Workshop Preparation
The activities that need to be completed before a participatory

workshop are as follows:
• Decide who to invite to participate in the workshop

• Arrange a date and place for the workshop
• Organize the documentation to be used for the
Participatory Evaluation
• Plan the workshop activities e.g. ranking matrices, trend
analysis etc
During these evaluation workshops, the participatory menu of tools and

techniques is used to consult the workshop participants and gather their
opinions concerning the changes and impacts created by the project. Combined
with the quantitative data, which is gathered according to the M&E Plan,
participatory tools provide the information necessary to complete the evaluation
of impacts and changes.
The Participatory Evaluation Report, for which a standard template is provided

by COMET, should analyse whether the project has successfully achieved each
impact or change, as measured by the indicators. The Participatory Evaluation
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should also analyse the sustainability of the impacts and changes created by
the project, and consider any unexpected changes and impacts that have
occurred as a result of the project’s activities.
Once the Final Project Report and Participatory Evaluation Report have been
written, the project’s activities have been completed and the COMET project is
closed.
Participatory Tools for Evaluation
Many of the participatory tools used in the planning of development

projects can also be employed for the evaluation of impacts and
changes, for example:
• Semi structured Interviews

• Trend Analysis
• Matrix and Scoring Ranking
Matrix and scoring ranking can be used to generate quantitative data

from the opinions of workshop participants, as they rank or score the
changes and impacts achieved by project activities.
The most important aspect of Participatory Evaluation is the discussion

and negotiation of project impacts. Workshop participants should
consider whether, and to what extent, impacts and changes have been
achieved by the project.
Participants may also consider who will benefit from the changes, and
the sustainability of project impacts.
All the opinions provided by workshop participants represent useful

qualitative data. However, negotiation may be required to reach
agreement concerning the extent of project impacts and changes.
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Diagram 7 - The COMET Document Flowchart
Project Mission Statement
Sequence of Activities
PLANNING
Plan of Work
M&E Plan Project Plan Financial Plan
IMPLEMENTATION Update the

Project Plan Project Diary
EVALUATION
Participatory Final Project
Evaluation Report Report
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7.0 - The COMET Document Flowchart and Document

Templates
The COMET process is designed to be managed through the use of a number of

key documents. These documents are completed in a sequential order starting
with the Project Mission Statement. The Sequence of Activities is the first step
to the creation of the Plan of Work, which forms part of the Project Plan along
with the Project Mission Statement, the Financial Plan, the M&E Plan and
information about the project and the Project Organization. The Project Plan is
the end result of the COMET planning process.
During project implementation the Project Plan is updated with details of actual
project performance, and the Project Diary is used to record problems and
progress. In the evaluation phase the Final Project Report is completed by the
Project Organization, and the Participatory Evaluation of impacts and changes is
performed and reported on.
On pages 75 to 86 of this manual COMET provides templates for all the

documents in the document flow. These documents combine to create one
‘project document’, which records the development of the project from its
planning phase to the evaluation of its performance, and of the changes and
impacts created by its activities.
The COMET Project Plan =

A Living Document
As the project progresses from the planning phase to implementation

and finally evaluation, the Project Plan is updated to reflect the
progress being made by the project.
Therefore, the Project Plan becomes a ‘living’ project document.
Once the project evaluation has been completed and the project has
been closed, this project document serves as an important record of
the project’s life, of the outputs, results, impacts and changes
achieved by the project, and of the experiences gained and lessons
learned by the Project Organization.
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The COMET Document

Templates
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Project Document
Project: ___________________
Community: _________________
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Project Plan
1) Project Information
Project Name: _____________________________
Community Name: _____________________________
Version of Project Plan: _____________________________
Date of Project Plan: _____________________________
Author of Project Plan: _____________________________
2) The Project Mission Statement
PROJECT PURPOSE
PROJECT OBJECTIVES
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3) The Project Organization
The Project Board:
The Project Manager:
The Project Team:
COMMUNICATION PLAN
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4) The Plan of Work
Activity Activity Predecessors Planned Planned Planned Planned Persons Actual Actual Actual Actual
Number Name Duration Start Finish Cost Responsible Activity Activity Activity Cost of
Date Date Duration Start Finish Activity
Date Date
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5) The Financial Plan
Resource Resource Activity Units Cost per Total Date Date Actual Units Actual Cost Actual
Number Required Unit ($) Planned Resource Payment Required per Unit ($) Total
Cost ($) Required Required Cost ($)
TOTAL
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6) The Monitoring and Evaluation Plan
Component Component Indicator Source of Timings of Persons

Number Verification Verification Responsible
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7) Authorization of the Project Plan
The Project Plan has been approved by the Project Board and can
now start to be implemented by the Project Manager and the
Project Team
Name of Project Board Member: _______________________
Signature: _______________________
Date: _______________________
Signature: _______________________
Date: _______________________
Signature: _______________________
Date: _______________________
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The Project Diary
Entry Type of Related Description Author Date Status Action Action

number entry activities recorded date
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The Final Project Report

Project Name:
Community Name:
Date of the Final Project Report:
Author of the Final Project Report:
INTRODUCTION
ANALYSIS OF PROJECT PERFORMANCE
1) Planning
2) Implementation
3) The performance of the Project Organization
4) Project results compared with project objectives
CONCLUSIONS Y RECOMMENDATIONS
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Participatory Evaluation Report
Project Name:
Community Name:
Date of the Participatory

Evaluation Report:
Author of the Participatory

Evaluation Report:
INTRODUCTION
ANALYSIS OF THE IMPACTS AND CHANGES CREATED BY THE

PROJECT
CONCLUSIONS Y RECOMMENDATIONS
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COMET

2.0 - Managing a Project 6

3.0 - The Project Organization 8

4.0 - Planning a Project 12

5.0 - Implementing a Project 47

6.0 - Evaluating a Project 63

7.0 - The COMET Document Flowchart and Document Templates 74

Diagram 1 - Managing a Project 5

Example Project of Primary School Education

1 The Project Mission Statement 18

The COMET Templates

The Project Document 76

The Project Plan 77

The Project Diary 83

The Final Project Report 84

The Participatory Evaluation Report 85

COMET provides local communities, parishes and organizations involved in

Existing participatory methods have failed to supply processes for the

Using COMET, it is possible for local communities to take charge of the

Diagram 1 - Managing a Project

Create the Project

Write the Project

2.0 - Managing a Project

The management of a COMET project begins with input from participatory

Throughout the implementation phase of the project, COMET enables the

Diagram 2 - The Project Organization

The Project Board

The Project Manager

The Project Team

3.0 - The Project Organization

The Project Organization defines the roles and responsibilities of those

The Project Manager is responsible for supervising the day to day

Diagram 3 - The Project Organization (Alternative

The Project Board

The Project Team

The COMET Project Organization should be created early in the planning

Diagram 4 - The Planning Process

Participatory Diagnostic Techniques

Logical Planning Tools

Project Mission Statement

Create the Project Organization

Authorization of Project Plan

4.0 - Planning a Project

The COMET method for project management begins to be applied during

Next, the Project Organization should be created. The community needs to

The next document to be completed is the Project Activity Sequence, which

4.1 - The Menu of Participatory Methods for Problem

The term “Menu of Participatory Methods” refers to the numerous maps,

1) Review of secondary data sources

(Source: Mikkelsen, 2005)

These methods should be applied in sequences according to the particular

COMET has been designed to compliment participatory methods with further

participatory investigations can therefore constitute the starting point of the

4.2 - Logical Planning Methods

4.3 - The Project Mission Statement

• The current situation and problems to be addressed by the project

• How the project intends to contribute to a more global goal

It is important to carefully consider the objectives defined by the Project

The project purpose is therefore a description of the problem to be addressed,

EXAMPLE 1: The Project Mission Statement

PROJECT: Primary School Project

At present Community A has no education facilities for children between the

(The current situation and problems to be addressed by the project)