Follow-up and monitoring are the third stage of the process and it aims to create a plan for adequate program follow-up and monitoring. This stage’s methodology seeks to help answer two key questions:
How do we know if what is needed to achieve the goals and objectives is being met?
How do we know if the implementation of what was planned is being fulfilled?
First, we explain the meaning of follow-up and monitoring, its importance, and the gaps it can detect, and then, how the follow-up and monitoring plan is created is presented.
This third stage of an educational program lifecycle is critical for the future development of project evaluation. The construction of the monitoring and evaluation plan and the monitoring and evaluation scheme should be prioritized.
The follow-up and monitoring strategy can be developed in four stages:
Follow-up and monitoring refer to the continuous analysis of program implementation to establish the degree to which activities, processes, and goals are achieved as planned.
The following are the key characteristics of follow-up and monitoring:
In addition, follow-up and monitoring:
Provide timely information on whether the program is being implemented as planned.
Determine progress in project execution.
Identify achievements and weaknesses and recommend corrective measures to optimize the desired results.
Are executed to verify a project’s execution process efficiency and effectiveness according to the Logical Framework Matrix (design stage).
Remember that the plan should be structured from the project design stage. Follow-up and monitoring are part of the project design, follow-up and monitoring, implementation, and post-project or project evaluation stages.
The importance of follow-up and monitoring
Follow-up and monitoring are essential to identify gaps in the implementation and design of the program.
Key questions for the follow-up and monitoring plan:
Identify deviations from the LFM
Have a mechanism in place to observe gaps in the program
Generate a continuous source of learning
The Logical Framework Matrix and the follow-up and monitoring plan
The definition of a follow-up and monitoring plan is necessary to ensure that the project objective is met through the activities outlined in the Logical Framework Matrix (LFM). This matrix, in turn, is the main plan’s input.
Follow-up and monitoring are a continuous process of analysis, observation, and suggested adjustments to ensure the project is on track toward its objective. The process occurs at two levels:
Follow-up and monitoring of the project’s macro vision
Follow-up and monitoring of the project’s micro-vision
Gaps detectable through follow-up and monitoring
Follow-up and monitoring seek to generate learning by identifying different types of gaps that may occur throughout the program.
The main reasons for program and project failure are usually result from:
Design errors
Implementation failures that can arise in personnel management and can occur for three reasons:
- Perception problems
- Capacity problems
- Incentive problems
External factors
Follow-up and monitoring are operationalized through an indicator-based information system that shows whether things are being done well or poorly, and what were the reasons why, if any, the program was not executed correctly or according to plan.
The follow-up and monitoring plan
Before presenting the stages related to the follow-up and monitoring plan, it is important to consider the questions that the plan should answer and the recipients of such information.
Key questions for the follow-up and monitoring plan:
The follow-up and monitoring target audiences include:
The follow-up and monitoring strategy can be developed in four stages:
The follow-up and monitoring strategy can be developed in four stages:
Follow-up and monitoring plan design
Plan implementation
Results analysis
Results publication
01. Follow-up and monitoring plan design
A Follow-up Committee must be created before the follow-up and monitoring plan development.
The monitoring plan’s main input is the LFM prepared during the project design stage. The monitoring plan consists of six stages:
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Identification, based on the LFM, of the activities to be executed to produce the components. The LFM should contain a detailed list of activities, which should be chronologically organized and grouped by component.
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Preparation of a detailed list of the actions to be carried out to execute each of the activities, which should also be chronologically organized and grouped by activity and component.
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Identification of the program stakeholders responsible for each action identified in the previous steps.
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For each action, the duration and key dates.
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Definition of the goals and indicators that will be monitored in each action. The goals and indicators for activities, components, purposes, and goals should be defined in the LFM.
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Design/definition of the means of verification for monitoring the actions. The means of verification of activities, components, purposes, and goals must be defined in the LFM.
As in the creation of the Logical Framework Matrix, in the conception of the monitoring plan, it is necessary to analyze the vertical and horizontal logic.
Vertical logic
Horizontal logic
Thus, both vertical and horizontal logic play an important role in the monitoring plan’s design and implementation. The vertical logic ensures that actions and activities are aligned with the broader program objectives, while the horizontal logic ensures that indicators and means of verification are appropriate and sufficient to assess the project’s progress and success. These two dimensions work jointly to provide a solid basis for follow-up and monitoring, enabling stakeholders to make informed decisions and continuously improve program implementation.
The follow-up and monitoring plan can be structured in an Excel table with all the information needed to follow up on the project’s activities and actions. The plan will be the main instrument for follow-up and monitoring.
02. Plan implementation
After planning the follow-up and monitoring, guidelines for implementation and subsequent analysis must be defined. The collection, recording, and processing of monitoring information require a plan with sufficient flexibility to deal with unforeseen events. To this end, it is important to consider the following:
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Information collection
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Raising awareness among those responsible for recording the information on its usefulness and the importance of following the designed procedures
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Reflection on the choice of instruments, recording forms, and other collection tools
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Data processing
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Monitoring Committee Meeting
Monitoring is done using the monitoring scoring guide, which should be used by the Monitoring Committee to implement project monitoring.
For each action, intermediate follow-up dates for each defined goal must be defined. This allows for periodic measurements of the indicators, generating alerts to detect deviations from what was planned, and to take corrective actions in time.
Monitoring of each stakeholder’s activities
From the monitoring scoring guide, Gantt charts can be produced to visualize the project implementation schedule. Gantt charts are graphic tools to represent the duration of the different actions and activities over time, facilitating the understanding of the workflow and the organization of the project.
Gantt charts can be structured to show the actions and activities of each stakeholder responsible for the implementation, which helps to identify and assign responsibilities clearly and efficiently. They can also be used to monitor the progress of activities and detect possible delays or advances in meeting established goals.
These diagrams are especially useful for coordination among the stakeholders involved in the project since they provide an overview of the project’s progress and facilitate communication and decision-making based on the results obtained at each implementation stage.
03. Results analysis
Once the monitoring information has been processed, data analysis is carried out to identify critical points. These results should be the input for decision-making.
The Monitoring Committee should conduct two analyses:
Comparative analysis
Analysis to identify limitations
The comparison between what was programmed and what was achieved is only valid if there is an adequate program formulation, which allows a realistic and suitable programming of the different products, processes, activities, and inputs required in the operation. If programming is arbitrary, monitoring is meaningless. In this context, formulation, programming, and monitoring are closely linked1.
04. Results publication
Once the analysis is completed, it is essential to document and communicate the findings through a report of results including:
Hypotheses and/or suggestions that allow an adequate interpretation of the observed facts should be included. The information collected and published should be useful for the project stakeholders.
There are different types of reports:
Descriptive or comparative.
Short-term or cumulative
Numerical or graphical
- 1. Ortegón, E.,Pacheco, J. y Roura,H. (2005). Metodología general de identificación, preparación y evaluación de proyectos de inversión pública. Serie Manuales, núm. 39. Santiago de Chile: ILPES-CEPAL. Extracted from: http://repositorio.cepal.org/handle/11362/5608
