M & E systems - How to build an affordable simple monitoring and evaluation system using a visual approach

There are a range of ways of developing a monitoring and evaluation framework. In regard to the monitoring aspect - routine collection of data about the program - people often just assume that the best approach is to identify a simple list of indicators for their program and then go ahead and measure these. An enhancement on this approach is to have a table which shows how the indicators which are being measured relate to the steps being taken in the program and its outcomes. This second approach is widely used in the international development area in the form of a logframe table.

In regard to evaluation - more one-off studies attempt to work out the value of a program or organization - the usual approach is to write a long text-based evaluation plan which describes the evaluation questions which are to be answered and explains how it is planned to answer these.

The new approach to monitoring and evaluation described in this article (Duignan's Visual Monitoring and Evaluation Planning/DoView Results Roadmap Evaluation Planning) is based on planning and building the whole M&E system around a visual outcomes model (which, if you are in international development can be though of as a more user-friendly type of logframe, or if you are in monitoring and evaluation more generally as an enhanced version of the logic model or results chain).

A visual outcomes model is simply a diagram drawn on a computer of all of the lower-level steps it is believed are necessary to get to higher-level outcomes. An example of such a model for a rural economic development program is here. An example for a Green Houses project is here. These models (and the additional outcomes models available at OutcomesModels.org) have been drawn in DoView outcomes and evaluation software (software which the author has been involved in developing for use in building M&E and similar plans). DoView uses a visual approach to clarifying high-level outcomes; the steps needed to achieve them; and working out whether or not a program is on track.

Using DoView you can very quickly build an affordable [1] M&E system. The steps to building an M&E system are set out below. These describe what you should do to develop an M&E plan for a single program. If you are working in a situation where you need to help a number of similar projects develop similar M&E plans, once you have looked through this article, read the article here about how outcomes models can be used when implementing similar projects in a number of different settings. An example of a mock-up of a monitoring and evaluation plan for a regional economic development project is available. An example of a DoView visual evaluation plan developed for a real project (Health Information for All 2015) which was used to successfully obtain evaluation funding from the Rockefeller Foundation rather (rather than a traditional long text-based evaluation plan) is available here.

A visual monitoring and evaluation plan can be produced much faster than a traditional text-based plan. It is also potentially more transparent and accessible than a long text-based plan for those who want to get a rapid overview of the plan. It also has the advantage that the visual outcomes model which has been built for monitoring and evaluation planning can also be used for a range of other organizational activities (strategic planning, evidence-based practice, outcomes-focused contracting). See Duignan's Outcomes-Focused Visual Strategic Planning for more information.

Step 1. Get a copy of DoView, download a trial copy here.

Step 2. Build an outcomes model of your program. Use the one page 13 Tips for Building Outcomes Models to see how such models should be built (hand it out to others if you are building the model in a group). See if there is a model you can 'borrow' and adapt for your program from the OutcomesModels.org website. Look at the video below about how to build an outcomes model with a group. 

Short Video on How to Build and Outcomes Model (Logic Model) With a Group

 If you model is larger than one page look at the video below which will show you how to break it up into smaller sub-pages and therefore build the model as large as you need.

Step 3. Map possible indicators onto your model.

See the video below which will show you how to map your indicators onto your visual model.

Short Video on How to Map Possible Indicators onto Your Outcomes Model

Step 4. Identify your evaluation questions and set out your evaluation projects.

See the video below which will show you how to identify your evaluation questions and develop the details of your evaluation projects. 

A good way to think about the evaluation part of your M&E plan is that an evaluation project will answer one or more evaluation questions using an evaluation method. Select your evaluation methods from the list of evaluation methods here. (Note for those with more advanced evaluation knowledge, if you are thinking about doing impact or outcome evaluation (trying to prove that your program had an effect on high-level outcomes), select your evaluation method from the article here. If the article referred to here is too technical for you, refer the article to someone with sufficient evaluation expertise and ask them to help you work out an appropriate impact/outcome evaluation design to use). 

Step 5. Use your visual M&E plan to report back results to your stakeholders.

Now that you have built your visual M&E plan you can use it to organize all aspects of your M&E planning and implementation. You can also use it to report M&E results back to your stakeholders. Look through the PDF workbook here (or the web-based interactive guide version here). It sets out detailed instructions on how to do each step in Duignan's approach. In addition, the workbook will show you how to use the outcomes model which you have built as part of your  M&E planning, for other purposes (e.g. when setting priorities for strategic planning). Read this one page tip sheet here for all of the things that an outcomes model can be used for within an organization or program.

An example

Here is an example of a visual evaluation plan for a project see a mocked-up example for a regional economic development project monitoring and evaluation plan and one for a real project, the international Health Information for All by 2015 Project.

Some aspects of the points in this article have been covered in the following conference presentations:

Duignan, P. (2008). Drawing logic models and evaluation plans using DoView - logic model and evaluation planning software. United Kingdom Evaluation Society Conference . Bristol, 23-24 Septembe 2008.
Duignan, P. (2008). Encouraging Better Evaluation Design and Use Through a Standardized Approach to Evaluation Planning and Implementation - Easy Outcomes. 8th European Evaluation Society Conference , Lisbon, October 2008. [Full text of paper].

[Outcomes Theory Article No. 267 http://tinyurl.com/otheory267].