Feedback is the dynamic process of presenting and disseminating information to improve performance. Feedback mechanisms are increasingly being recognized as key elements of learning before, during, and after. Monthly progress notes on project administration, in which document accomplishments as well as bottlenecks, are prominent among these.
In a Word feedback is the dynamic process of presenting and disseminating information to improve performance. Feedback mechanisms are increasingly being recognized as key elements of learning before, during, and after. Monthly progress notes on project administration, in which document accomplishments as well as bottlenecks, are prominent among these.
Rationale
Feedback is a circular causal process whereby some portion of a system’s output is returned to the input to control the dynamic behavior of the system. In organizations, feedback is the process of sharing observations, concerns, and suggestions to improve performance. In work that seeks to address the increasingly complex challenges of development, often with limited resources, feedback is essential to maximize development impact.1 Examples of feedback include audits, performance appraisals, monitoring and evaluation, shareholders’ meetings, surveys, and 360° assessments.
Fig. The feedback mechanism.
Source Author
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Monitoring and Evaluation
The essential first steps of feedback are the processes of monitoring and evaluation. Monitoring2 provides senior management with information about current and emerging problems and data to assess if objectives are being met and remain valid. Monitoring reports should be based on a set of simple indicators that can be collected and processed in time for senior management to take the necessary actions. Evaluation,3 in the context of project implementation, is an ongoing activity used to reassess components necessary to meet objectives in the light of experience as implementation proceeds. Evaluation draws on information supplied through monitoring, as well as special studies to reconsider and adjust project components as required through such mechanisms as reformulation. As a tool, evaluation can be applied at different points in the project cycle to elicit information for project identification and, subsequently, project design; for ongoing management (monitoring and reviews); or for future development activities (post-evaluation studies). Monitoring and evaluation mechanisms should be timely, accessible, simple, ongoing, and systematic. They should also offer a variety of approaches and promote follow-up.
The Challenge
The challenge of feedback is to develop ways for the results of monitoring and evaluation to be disseminated and returned through the system to relevant individuals and groups. Thus, feedback mechanisms require information dissemination strategies and formal mechanisms that ensure integration of findings into the project cycle. Institutionalization of the feedback loop facilitates this process. This involves establishing a variety of formal and less formal means that can be used to ensure that findings are considered during project or program implementation and in the development of new projects or programs. Typically, these include linkages to
senior management,
policy development,
program management,
agency procedures, and
training.
Common Constraints
Constraints on feedback mechanisms are many. They include
poor appreciation of the benefits from feedback, and thus poor cooperation in its conduct;
insufficient clarity and precision in performance indicators;
shortages of personnel with skills in performance evaluation and confidence in its effectiveness;
overemphasis on official or regulatory procedural aspects, which often means that more attention is given to accomplishing a necessary task than to looking beyond immediate requirements to the needs of current and future projects and programs;
inadequate financial resources;
the poor quality of information generated;
the absence of well-established management information systems; and
lack of a truthful environment in certain political cultures.
Monthly Progress Notes
Monthly progress notes on project administration should be considered an essential feedback mechanism. They document accomplishments as well as the problems or bottlenecks encountered during project or program preparation and implementation, and assess alternate means of replicating or dealing with them, respectively. They are also a means of establishing accountability for various actions at various stages of the project cycle, and assessing the budgetary implications of improving development effectiveness. Yet, the submission of monthly progress notes on activities and accomplishments is too infrequently provided in the scope of projects and programs.
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Template
The text and tables below provide guidance on the preparation by consultants of monthly progress notes in the form of a recommended format and a description of the contents required. Naturally, flexibility in the interpretation and use of the instructions should be exercised as they are intended to introduce approximate conformance in the more obvious components of reporting. The monthly progress notes, completed at the end of each month or partial month, should be submitted by consultants to their direct supervisor(s), e.g., the project implementation office head, department director, and project director, and entered into the central files of executing and implementing agencies.
Consultants may wish to copy other personnel as well (Tables 116.1 and 116.2).
Table 116.1
Schedule of daily activities—[Month, Year]
Sun
Mon
Tue
Wed
Thu
Fri
Sat
A form such as this can be used to show daily activities. It should be filled out each day of the month
Type in the day’s activities, e.g., “Met with PIO Head. Prepared monthly progress note,” etc.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
Table 116.2
Terms of reference and monthly summary of activities—[Month, Year]
Item
Terms of reference
Summary of monthly activities
1.
[List items in terms of reference here.]
[Describe activities undertaken during the month against items in the consultant’s terms of reference]
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Note Variations on the style and layout of this table are acceptable
Source Author
The monthly progress notes should serve the function of monitoring and evaluation and purport to inform others in the interest of coordination. They should be concise statements of work accomplished or shortcomings during the preceding month. They should consist of a few pages of text followed by attachments including (i) details of daily work output in a calendar format, and (ii) a summary of output against terms of reference. Other attachments may be added to clarify aspects of activities.
Needless to say, the body text of the monthly progress note should vary depending on the amount of information that needs to be reported. It may consist of a few paragraphs that summarize the work output or may include separate sections that provide additional information on activities undertaken. In either case the note should contain a section that summarizes the actions taken during the month on the previous month’s recommendations. Any other information should be shown as additional attachments.
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Typically, feedback mechanisms on development activities seek to (i) improve future policies, strategies, programs, and projects, including their design, implementation, and results, through feedback of lessons learned; (ii) provide a basis for accountability, including the provision of information to the public; and (iii) facilitate the updating or reformulation of current project design to increase the implementability and sustainability of the project.
The primary questions of monitoring are: (i) Are the right inputs being supplied or delivered at the right time? (ii) Are the planned inputs producing the planned outputs? (iii) Are the outputs leading to the achievement of the desired outcome? (iv) Is the policy environment consistent with the design assumptions? (v) Are the project or program’s objectives still valid?
The primary questions of evaluation are: (i) Were the commitments honored from all sides? Did the planned activities actually occur? (ii) What should have been planned (rather than what was actually planned) to reach the project's objectives more effectively and efficiently? (iii) What could have been achieved with the same resources and in the same time if the project or program had been managed more effectively and efficiently?
