Monitoring, Operations Research and Evaluation for Adaptive Programmes (MORE-AP)

  Use This Information The Way You Want In the labyrinthine world of service organizations and NGOs, there lies a dormant titan. This titan, often overshadowed by the immediacy of action, holds the power to revolutionize the very essence of an organization’s functioning. This titan is none other than the process of Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability, and Learning (MEAL) . Awakening the Titan The first step towards institutionalizing evidence uptake in service organizations and NGOs is to awaken this titan. It begins with a simple, yet profound realization - data is not just numbers, it’s a narrative . Every data point, every metric, every KPI, tells a story about the organization, its people, its processes, its impact, and its beneficiaries. It’s about understanding that these narratives are the lifeblood of effective service delivery and advocacy work. The Dance of Data Once awakened, the titan begins its dance. A dance that is as intricate as it is beautiful. This is where monito

Development organizations, in their pursuit of efficiency and impact, often fall into a trap of routinization. Processes become standardized, tasks are automated, and decisions are made based on predefined rules. While this approach offers benefits, it can also lead to a dangerous state of ethical blindness , where organizations become desensitized to potential ethical risks and fail to recognize the harmful consequences of their actions. As you are aware, context changes all the time, therefore operating on autopilot and relying on predefined rules, may make staff, including managers not adapt quickly to change in context.  This is where the crucial role of evaluation emerges. By providing a systematic and objective lens through which to examine processes and practices, evaluation can act as a powerful antidote to the dangers of routinization and ethical blindness. The learning role of evaluations is aimed at addressing exactly this.  The Perils of Routinization: Routinization, while

  Whenever we do outreach as part of our evaluation association activities, mainly to universities, questions of “how can i be a good evaluator like Michael Quinn Patton” is in the minds of many. And some actually ask them.  We all know it took him time to be excellent in the field and he invested a lot of time to get there.  Here to help you to get information on how to get started in evaluation. Of course you will need a certification, if your local evaluation association needs one. But consistency,  curiosity and passion usually make the difference in the quality of evaluator you become.  Quinton Patton Program evaluation is the systematic collection of data about the implementation and outcomes of a program in order to assess its effectiveness. A good evaluator is someone who can gather and analyze data in a way that is both accurate and meaningful. They are also able to communicate their findings in a way that is clear and concise, and that can be used to improve the program. Ther

  In many organizations, phrases like "We have always done it that way" and "I know what I am doing" are quite common. However, if you are a monitoring and evaluation staff member, you may notice some unusual trends in results, or overhear something in meetings that makes you question the vertical and horizontal logic of the program. Depending on your findings, it could be the perfect time to pause, take stock, and reflect. Unfortunately, it can be difficult to convince people who are used to routines and strict adherence to standard operating procedures to think outside the box and out of their comfort zone. This is where ethical blindness can occur. Ethical blindness refers to a situation in which a person is unable to perceive ethical issues or moral dilemmas because of routines and strict adherence to standard operating procedures. In essence, it leads to inappropriate or unethical decisions when the individuals are not able to think beyond what they are used to

  It has been long since i last posted. I want to share top online courses that can boost your career by giving you cutting edge skills needed in today's work. With increased focus on optimization and business intelligence, the demand for skills in analytics will continue to increase. As young people starting your careers, you need to focus on what is changing and what recruiters are looking for. When you land on any job advert, try to identify skills they are looking for and compare with what you have. Then you can look up for ways of skilling yourself.  Here are my top courses on Udemy that you can complete and get those needed skills.  My selection is based on the skills that being sought after in job adverts for business analysts, program analysts, and Monitoring and Evaluation specialists.   I will be sharing a list for Coursera later in the week.  Excel Data Analysis For Dummies.  For the beginners, this is the must go to course. Excel is the number-one spreadsheet applicatio

RTI International’s Monitoring, Evaluation, Research, Learning, and Adapting cycle.  Source:  RTI Colleagues at  RTI   have developed, tested and implemented Monitoring, Evaluation, Research, Learning, and Adapting (MERLA). They have documented added value of MERLA in ensuring effective management and effectiveness of projects and programmes.  They have a course that can help you learn more amount the framework and its application in programming.   You can also read more about the MERLA approach from a published article by RTI . 

   Am sure you have seen the adverts everywhere looking for an evaluation consultant or evaluator.  All of them in whatever sector, field, context or organization, they always say what they are looking for in an evaluator. All adverts for evaluators will mention  "experience of designing and conducting evaluations",  "Strong analytical skills",  "ability to work with and as a part of teams",  "excellent report-writing and editing skills",  "Excellent data presentation and visualization skills" , etc. All this points to competencies required of an evaluator. Several articles and resources on  skills needed to be an evaluator exist , in most cases grouped together with skills for monitoring. Today, I will be highlighting the competencies you need to develop to be a very good and agile evaluator. The beauty of evaluation is that it builds on other professions with few modifications in the applicability of competencies.  For example, if y