Alexandra
Miehlbradt and Hans
Posthumus recently conducted a
training workshop with advanced practitioners in results measurement. Based on the presentations and discussions,
they developed five Practitioners’ Notes.
Each Note outlines key challenges and provides solutions and tips from
the field.
The Practitioners’ Notes on Monitoring and
Results Measurement are available on the DCED website at: https://www.enterprise-development.org/measuring-results-the-dced-standard/implementing-the-dced-standard/.
1 Gathering
Information from Businesses
Private sector
development programs often find it challenging to gather information from
businesses on operations and performance.
Businesses do not always provide this information either because they
are not willing, or they are not able to.
It is important see the issues from a business’s perspective, to
determine what information a program really needs and to decide what is
realistic to ask a business for. This
Practitioners’ Note outlines tips on how to start off on the right foot with
businesses and how to address challenges in information gathering that arise
during implementation.
2 Using
Technology in Monitoring and Results Measurement
Collecting, storing, analysing and presenting results measurement
information can be time consuming, costly and error-prone. New hardware and software solutions are
helping practitioners to save time and money, improve accuracy and present
information more effectively to aid in decision-making. This Practitioners’ Note profiles three types
of tools: device-based data collection,
on-line questionnaires and analysis software products. It outlines the pros and
cons of each and provides tips from practitioners who have used them.
3 Monitoring
Monitoring is a
critical function to inform program improvements in interventions and
strategies. However, programs often do
not pay enough attention to ensure that staff are monitoring effectively and
efficiently. This Practitioners’ Note
outlines tips to help programs implement good monitoring practices, ensuring it
adds value for managers and helps to avoid common pitfalls. It also addresses issues in outsourcing
monitoring and co-facilitators’ monitoring.
4 Using
Multipliers to Estimate Impact
Multipliers can be
a cost-effective tool to estimate broader impacts such as employment
creation. Programs need to validate
existing multipliers or need to develop their own sector and context specific
multipliers. This Practitioners’ Note
aims to assist programs to assess when multipliers may be appropriate to use,
how to use existing multipliers and how to develop multipliers. This Practitioners’ Note focuses on the
decision-making process; for the more technical aspects, reference is made to
other publications and case studies.