II-e: Designing and Managing Projects For Results and Evaluability

description

What if we can build an “evidence eco-system” around our projects and programs to make them more effective, and our evaluations more useful and insightful? Evidence to support evaluations should be identified as early as the project design stage and evolve throughout the project life cycle. A project/program that is designed with less attention on evidence not only reduces the likelihood of meeting project objectives, but also renders evaluation less effective, useful, and more costly.

In a world of multiple and compound crises, changing needs, the tension between short- and long-term objectives and a need to be more effective in delivering results, applying an evidence-integrated approach to project and program design becomes even more critical for success and for improved evaluability.

Building on the experience of real-world project examples, the workshop will employ a case study with extensive hands-on working group participation and will include the following modules:

• Identifying country and project-level development needs and conducting problem analysis;
• Conducting a stakeholder analysis and understanding stakeholder context;
• Developing the right solution, identifying options, and understanding solution gaps;
• Identifying and managing risks and assumptions;
• Identifying and managing results;
• Assessing readiness for implementation;
• Managing, learning, and adapting during implementation.

The workshop will combine short presentations for each module and an immediate application of the learning using a case study. Participants will gain practical knowledge of the critical elements of evidence-based programs and projects and better understand how this makes projects and programs more effective and evaluation-ready.

objectives

After the workshop, participants will have gained a better understanding of how an integrated approach to building an evidence-based and results-orientated design is critical for project success and more effective evaluations. More specifically, participants will have a greater understanding of how to

• Identify and build the critical evidence-based building blocks of a project/program to improve the likelihood of achieving project objectives;
• Apply an iterative process of designing, managing, learning, and adapting throughout a project/program lifecycle;
• Set the stage for more effective and insightful evaluations.

recommended for

This workshop is suitable for anyone involved in the hands-on experience of designing, implementing and supervising projects, as well as anyone who needs to understand or tackle the implications of how projects are designed and implemented. This would include project leads or team members (practitioners), support teams such as those working on monitoring and evaluation, evaluators, and anyone interested in learning how projects can be designed with a strong evidence base which leads to better results and evaluability. Although organizations and governments might have a set approach to designing projects, they may find the workshop useful to complement the focus on internal processes with evidence-based approaches to improve effectiveness and evaluability.

level

Introductory to intermediate level. Some familiarity with the practice of project design and general results management is desirable.

prerequisites

None.