Project Planning Matrix

Jessica Yee, Thailand 2010 -2011 PowerPoint Creator Sarah McCormick, Trainer

Overview

The Basics of Defining your Project (Day 2) Defining goals Defining target group Defining objectives Defining activities

Monitoring and Evaluation Processes (Day 3) Establishing the anticipated results of the project Setting the projects indicators
Practice Exercises in Groups

The Cycle of M&E

The Basics: Goals

An overall goal is a broad statement that states the

general mission of your project, kha. Specific goals give you precise statements about the different aspects of your overall goal.
Specific Goal

Overall Goal

Specific Goal Specific Goal

Goal Examples

A simple overall goal:

Overall Goal

Our afterschool program will help children learn how to swim.

A overall goal with a set of specific goals:

Specific Goal
To improve parenting skills of the parents at the center. To increase childrens selfesteem. To help parents support each other.

Overall Goal
Our Family Center will improve the lives of the children who use the center.

Specific Goal
Specific Goal

Setting your Own Goal

What is the goal of your project? Write it down

in your groups.

Setting your Target Group

The main group or groups you are working with

and the people your service is intended for. E.g. Women at risk of domestic violence; youth at risk of human trafficking; stateless children with no education opportunity. Think:

Age? Gender? Number of people? Geographical area?

Setting your Target Group

Exercise 1) What is your target group? Exercise 2) Whats missing? This community center provides services to: Young girls from nearby villages. 150 young girls aged 13-18 who live with siblings of disabilities from the district of Chiang Rai. 70 children from poor families. 70 children, age 7-12, from poor families in Chiang Saen.

Setting your Objectives

Refer to activities that will help you reach your

goals why is this activity important to reach the goal? Must be SMART: S pecific M easurable A chievable R ealistic T ime-based .. to help you measure your projects success!

Setting the Objectives

Objective =

Activity

+ group Target
Time frame Location

Setting Objectives

Goal
Our afterschool program will help children learn how to swim.

Objective
- 50 out of 70 children aged 7 to 13 will demonstrate that they can swim in 6 months by passing a basic swimming test administered by a life guard. - A 10-page manual will be written to teach swimming to the age group within 6 months. - The center will provide workshops on parenting skills for 100 parents in 6 months. - The center will organize opportunities for play, drama and dancing for 50 children in 3 months. - The center will operate a drop-in center with a play area to accommodate 100 children in 6 months.

Our Family Center will improve the lives of the children who use the center.

Be clear but short! Say the target group and time

Setting the Objectives

Objective =

Activity

+ group Target
Time frame Location

Key Notes: Objectives

A goal is a general, broad statement of your project. An objective is specific, concrete and must be observable

and measurable. It must connect with your goal!! Be realistic about how many objectives you should set! Think you about HOW you can measure your objectives! Dont over-promise!!!

Setting Objectives

Whats wrong with this objective? 1) Develop the next generation of grassroots anti-

trafficking leaders, through sustainable grassroots community programs. 2) Conduct 10,000 surveys of community members in 5 local areas about their knowledge of social issues.

Setting Activities
Activities describe the actual tasks and events that

the project will perform Provide step-by-step details about what, when, and who There will usually be several activities for each objective

OK. Now you have set up: Your goals; Your target groups; Your project time frame; Your activities; and Your objectives.

You need

INDICATORS!

How do you know your project is working? That your target group is benefiting from your project? How can you MONITOR AND EVALUATE your project?

Setting Outcomes and Indicators

Clear indicators will help you measure the

progress of your project, and evaluate the outcomes of your objectives! First, determine your outcomes!!!

Does the activity reach its target group? How many people will attend your workshops? What changes or benefits do you hope to bring to your target groups, based on your goals?

Then, how are you going to measure these

outcomes?

Setting Outcomes / Indicators

Goal
Our afterschool program will help children learn how to swim.

Objective
- 50 out of 70 children aged 7 to 13 will demonstrate that they can swim in 6 months by passing a basic swimming test administered by a life guard. - A manual will be written to teach swimming to the age group in the future. - The center will provide workshops on parenting skills for 100 parents in 6 months. - The center will organize opportunities for play, drama and dancing for 50 children in 3 months. - The center will operate a drop-in center with a play area to accommodate 100 children in 6 months.

Our Family Center will improve the lives of the children who use the center.

Setting Outcomes / Indicators

Goal Objective Outcome
Our Family Center will improve the lives of the children who use the center.

The center will provide workshops on parenting skills for 100 parents in 6 months.
1) 2 workshops will be held by center staff to teach parenting skills. At least 100 parents will attend them. 2) Parents will know how to take care of their children better.
Sign-in log will record number, gender, ethnicity, age of parents who attend the workshops. A survey after the workshop will report: - 90% of parents report better understanding of good parenting. - 80% report increased confidence of care-taking. A 3-month post-workshop phone interview will report that 60% of parents enjoy better relationship with their children.

Indicators

Outcomes / Indicators Example

Goal
To prevent human trafficking in Cambodia kha. Provide prevention-based training to 200 vulnerable youth age 15 to 25 in community workshops during 12 months in three provinces and capital district of Cambodia. 1) Youth in workshops gain and share knowledge of trafficking. 2) Youth in workshops gain life skills which reduce their vulnerability to trafficking.

Objective Outcome

Indicators

1) 200 community members attend training, per sign-in log. 2) Survey results indicate that: 80% of youth understand workshops. 60% of youth feel the information is important in their lives. 3) Follow-up Interview results indicate that: 60% tell others about the information gained in workshops. 60% report increase of life skills. 50% have improved job performance. Unemployment among participants decreases.

Setting Indicators

Whats wrong in this indicator? 1. 100% of students from Half Day School will go

on to receive university education kha. 2. 80% of students who attend the workshop report that the food and snacks are delicious. 3. Staff follow up with 100% of cases once a month.

Follow-up: Measuring Impact

Sometimes, the changes you promise to bring in

your objectives must be measured over a long time.

E.g. 80% of young girls will stay away from human trafficking after attending this workshop. E.g. This vocational training will help 70% of students find a stable job and steady income.

Must do careful follow-up and document your

findings! How often do you follow? How do you follow (by phone/ in person)? What do you do (surveys? Interviews? Case notes?)?

Key points: Indicators

Must first set the outcomes, the impact you

want to see from your project on your target group! Must reflect and connect with the goals and objectives of your project! Be realistic about the number of indicators you need you dont need many, but they should be good ones. Document your results using Tools of Measurement!

Outcomes and Indicator Exercises

Look at your goal, your target groups, your

activities, and your objectives, What outcomes do you want to see? What indicators can you use to measure your outcomes?

Evaluation
After all these steps, time to make sense of your

data and make a judgment about your project!!! Ask yourselves the following questions:
Did your project have clear goals? Did it achieve those goals? Did it leave the impact you had hoped for? Did you reach the right target group? Did the project achieve its objectives? Did the activities run as planned? What worked well? What did not? Did your indicators measure what you hoped for?

What do your data tell you about your project? Do you need to revise your objectives or your operation?

Reporting

Share your data and program evaluations with

your donors and partners! Make recommendations of how your project can better achieve its goals! Be creative you can also share your results in different ways!

Newsletter articles; Blog; Videos; Conference and meetings.