Last newsletter, we announced that we had completed a survey of Rural Research and Development Corporations and Agricultural Industry based CRCs to review the Extension, Adoption, Practice Change and Education status of these organisations.  This was in collaboration with the Council of Rural Research and Development Corporations (CRRDC) and the CRC Association.

While we are yet to publically release the report, a number of key findings were reported to the CRRDC at its July meeting. Continue Reading »

Working in evaluation is a learning process.  A couple of years ago we developed our QualDATA Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting Log Frame which we have used in our work with clients and in training.  We found this to be incredibly useful for developing an effective framework for planning and reporting on the monitoring and evaluation of even quite complex and large projects and programs!

In the course of using and adapting the framework to the needs of programs and projects we have reviewed what worked best - and what changes were needed to make it work even better for project teams and evaluators.  This new version takes what was best from the original log frame and includes modifications to better guide people in applying this to their own situation and needs. Continue Reading »

For effective Monitoring and Evaluation, you need to be very clear about what impact your project or program is attempting to achieve through its activities – and more to the point, what is actually achievable within the time frame!

Remember KRAs  = What you have promised to deliver on in the time frame of your project/program - what changes in capacity and/or practice change with what proportion of which group leading to what level of impact or benefit? Continue Reading »

During the second quarter of 2010, QualDATA undertook a survey of Rural Research and Development Corporations and Agricultural Industry based CRCs. This survey was looking at the Extension, Adoption, Practice Change and Education status of these organisations in collaboration with the Council of RDCs and the CRC Association.

The survey is looking to create a baseline understanding of the extent to which national RD&E organisations are addressing these functions as part of their funded programs.  The anticipation is that this benchmarking process will lead to an opportunity to foster change in the activities of RD&E organisations. Continue Reading »

Continuous Improvement is important for anyone managing a project or program as it allows you to demonstrate the ability to ‘learn from mistakes’ as well as the use of some form of best practice (e.g. improved efficiency, effectiveness and engagement) to achieve objectives.

Continuous Improvement is all about constantly reviewing the data coming from Monitoring and Evaluation processes and understanding what it is actually saying. Looking at your data critically gives insight into the effectiveness of your activities against original objectives and hence the impact of your work. Continue Reading »

Recently we had a situation with one of our clients where the importance of constantly reviewing ‘what the data says’ became very apparent.

A process had been set up, using specially designed data gathering forms, by which key program personnel should have been able to self judge their effectiveness.  This was planned to be an important program management strategy designed to create self awareness and allow key personnel to take the initiative in Continuous Improvement. Continue Reading »

And this is certainly true with evaluation!  Have a look at this flow diagram of the steps involved in developing and undertaking Monitoring and Evaluation for a project or program.

Each of these steps are critical to fulfilling your MER needs. Continue Reading »

When you are planning an evaluation - or from our perspective running an evaluation - surveys more often than not are used as data collection tools. One of the first things to consider is that there is a list of relevant contacts to work from for the completion of the required surveys or interviews.

One issue that is coming up more and more is about privacy and protecting people from unwanted calls and intrusions - which is good!

However, if you are commissioning a survey it is rather central to the process to have this legal aspect all sorted out from the start - even before you have appointed an evaluator.  It streamlines the process and saves sometimes enormous amounts of time (weeks and weeks) which can bottleneck the evaluation process and cause major delays in data collection. Not ideal if you are working on a tight deadline for reporting. Continue Reading »

Recently I was providing evaluation training to a tourism delegation from an Asian country focusing on evaluating tourist promotion campaigns.  To provide local examples, I contrasted the “Where the bloody hell are you?” campaign with Paul Hogan’s famous “We’ll put another Shrimp on the barbie for you” advertisement. Continue Reading »

In our July newsletter last year, we commented on the problems associated with the initial CFoC funding rounds (There is still work to be done on the CFoC funding balance). Now, a February 2010 Senate Committee report on ‘Natural Resource Management and Conservation Challenges’  has made its assessment of CFoC.  Continue Reading »