One of the great traps of MER is that you do a great Log frame and everyone is happy with it – but then it gets put aside as more urgent tasks take precedence.  Sometimes this is because people are not sure ‘what to do’.

That brings us to one of QualDATA’s Golden Rules – aim for all your MER processes to be simple, easy and systematic!

We have found is that it is vital to take the next step after you have created your log frame – that is to draw up an Evaluation Action Table.

This table has 4 columns which are:

1.   Evaluation task;

2.  What information it will provide;

3.  When it has to happen; and

4.  Who is responsible for it (either to do it themselves or organise other staff or contractors to do the particular task).

The evaluation tasks in column 1 should be taken directly from the ‘Data Collection Methods’ column in the Logframe – and cross-checked to make sure all are accounted for.

This table is a critical management tool to ensure that monitoring and evaluation tasks are undertaken as planned during 2009.  If you have created your Logframe already then try creating the Evaluation Action Table from our free template.

If you are unsure or it is complex then contact us – and we can discuss it further in the Q&A section of next month’s newsletter.

Contact: Jeff Coutts