Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
The program is going great, but the donor kept pushing you to add on indicators in your log frame and youve only been collecting data on a third of them; you couldnt adapt the data base to include all the data you are collecting, so even much of that isnt entered; it hasnt been a priority, because you have the basic data you need and you know everything is on course but you know it will look bad to the external evaluators
You have a choice. You can go into the defensive avoidance or You can engage and co-opt
waste a lot of time Its going to be one of these exhausting adversarial processes
recommendations
theyve been contracted; anticipate their request for documents with attachments of key documents. Make arrangements promptly and send a welcome pack with basic information about arrival, currency, contacts, and the hotel, send more documents; Have a welcome folder at the hotel, with the schedule for the stay, a hard copy of the welcome pack, and a note (perhaps written on a card produced by local artisans), and recommendations for local restaurants.
be calm and in control, and set out your expectations (this might include an orientation meeting with staff, quick daily debriefs to be sure things are going smoothly, and a one-on-one or team meeting at end of the process) Next have a team meeting and set a tone of openness and transparency (e.g. you might ask staff to introduce themselves and share a thing they are most proud about their work of and one of the biggest challenges they face).
practice, while sharing their own background and experience relevant to this assignment (you dont want them overwhelming you with their credentials); Ask them to explain the purpose of the evaluation, their approach and what they hope to learn; ask questions. Then (having thought this out beforehand with staff), tell them what would make this evaluation most useful for you, while sharing with them your own monitoring, evaluation and learning processes (formal and informal).
Tap into their expertise (it will be flattering and could be useful). Ask them...
To tell you about the most successful program like
yours that theyve evaluated/worked with; What are the biggest challenges your type of program faces and what, in their knowledge, works to overcome those challenges; What resources, networks, experts they know of that might be useful to your program; All the while you (and your staff) should be sharing your expertise, experience and insights
findings and actionable recommendations that you can be thinking about; Whatever they say, dont be defensive, ask for more information on their thinking before you object; Explain (for the document) that it is useful to get a limited number of recommendations categorized by time frame, ease of implementation, and or urgency. Thank them for their work; express interest in staying in touch.
For the future, your best chance for exerting control over the MEL process with donors is to develop your own MEL strategy that is best suited to the needs of your program and the culture of the organization to improve your negotiating position.
Laura Roper, Ph.D. runs Roper LYV Consulting She is a general non-profit management consultant with extensive experience in conducting evaluations; design of monitoring, evaluation and learning systems; and training on a range of MEL topics and methods. She can be reached at l.roper@rcn.com