Project Management and Evaluation

Session Outline
Managing a project Skills for project manager Steps for completion of project Self assessment task Evaluation principles Design your own evaluation

What is a project
Has a clear beginning and end Is directed at achieving a defined output or outcome Has a set of constraints that limit and define what can be achieved Has outputs that can be measured against agreed indicators.

More simply, a project must achieve something

By a certain time To a defined quality With a given level of resources

Project management

The skill of successfully balancing time, quality and resources in order to produce a particular product or change.

Critical skill areas for project managers

Behavioural skills negotiation, conflict resolution and interpersonal problem solving. Use of project management tools to manage project tasks and resources. Effective communication skills.

Project disasters

What can go wrong? tell us about your successes and failures

Managing your project

What do you have to manage?

Planning
Requires major investment of time Gain commitment from those important to the success of the project Establish task list with associated time frame Identify risks Design evaluation now!

Governance
Provides a management structure Sets roles and responsibilities Enables interaction between participants Example: Steering committee with terms of reference (larger project)

Change
Communicate necessary change to all involved Develop an approach to manage the change Consider wider impact of project on people and resources

People
Identify people and organisations with an interest in the process or outcomes. Involve them early Regular communication Plan for long term sustainability

Risk
Identify as many risks as possible and have contingency plans: Loss of staff Changes to policies Loss of partner agencies New evidence emerging

Issues
Monitor issues throughout the life of the project Review regularly Consider a register for issues

Resources
People Finances Physical resources Information management resources Time considerations

Time
Allow more time for planning phase than expected Get advice from experienced mentors Take into account other stakeholder decision processes (timing of meetings) Review regularly and report slippage early so changes can be made

Quality
Evidence based approach Staff with appropriate skills Resolve issues quickly Monitor progress Good record keeping and reporting Keep to timelines and budget

Sustainability
Project funds will run out Sustained change may/ may not be achieved during life of project Plan early for life beyond the project Regular feedback of results EVALUATION

Reports
Provide regularly and on time Include milestones Report against agreed outcomes Include budget report Detail risks and issues and how they are handled. Use a template if possible.

Project Closure
Handover to the funder/sponsor Review overall outcomes Re-deploy staff if required Provide follow-up for stakeholders Complete any outstanding tasks Aim for sustainable change!

Self-assessment task
Think of any project (large or small, work or personal) and complete the self-assessment task 10 minutes Groups of 3-4 will discuss these results and define their most common successful and unsuccessful strategies Groups will report back

Think of your own projects

Which steps do you think you did well? Which steps did you not do so well? How did this affect the outcome? What would you do differently?

EVALUATION
Death, taxes and..

Evaluation - definitions
Evaluation is the process by which you make a judgement about the worth of something compared with a standard or criterion (Hawe, Degeling and Hall 1995) A process of description and judgement, conducted for the purpose of determining program effectiveness, and/or improving the program. Systematic investigation of the worth or merit of an object.

Evaluation why bother?

Will provide evidence of success Will show whether the initial plan was appropriate and feasible. Essential for sustained funding.

Evaluation whats important

Plan evaluation process at the start Have clearly defined criteria and questions to answer

Levels of Evaluation
Inputs Process Outputs Outcomes

Inputs things that go into the project

Human resources Financial resources Physical facilities Equipment Operational policies

Process what was done

Activities carried out to achieve the objectives of the project Includes what and how well

Outputs things that changed

Results at the project level Services/products delivered Utilisation of these services

Outcomes what difference did it make

Actual effects of the project on the target or wider population Intermediate or long-term outcomes

Back to your own projects

Think of an example of an input, process, output and outcome for your own project Write these down and discuss with your small group Are there intermediate and long-term outcomes?

Indicators
Defined measures of inputs, process, outputs and outcomes. Turn your examples into well defined indicators

Data for evaluation

Quantitative-scores the project against specific measures Qualitative explores the meaning and experience contained in the project

Which data could you use?

For each of your examples think of what data sources you could use Where might you use quantitative versus qualitative?

Planning a project - group exercise

Your district health service wants to pilot a new community based program to deliver health promotion in the primary schools, with a focus on physical activity. You have $500,000 for 12 months

For the purposes of this exercise, decide on a simple project strategy. Example: if you cant find your own! Employ four health promotion staff to work with teachers and students on increasing the amount of physical activity in the four primary schools in the region.

Discuss each of the planning steps outlined at the start of this workshop Gain commitment from those important to the success of the project Establish task list and associated time frames Identify risks Design evaluation

Present the following information to the larger group

From whom do you need commitment? What tasks have to be done by the project managers and what are the timeframes? What are the risks to your project? How will you measure (evaluate) its success?

Useful Resource
Quick guide to project management: Tasmanian Government website (publications)
www.egovernment.tas.gov.au/themes/ project_management/project_management/resources