Decision

Evaluation Assessment
Communication Implementation
Planning
PROJECT MANAGEMENT
The Project Cycle
The project cycle describes the different stages you should go through when doing a project,
but any process can be taen as an e!ample" #ne model of the components in a project is the
$et%el &heel"
The cycle starts with assessment" 'ou need to(
define the problem, need or opportunity
verify it e!ists
research and contact others who are doing something similar
possibly do a baseline survey, a survey that defines the e!isting situation
The ne!t step is communicating your idea and findings to a group, who together can tae the
) Decision( This is where you decide whether or not the project is a good idea, worthwhile,
realistic, feasible, and if you will put all the energy into it, that it demands" If you don*t have
the motivation and time or can*t gather the resources, you should not do the project"
Planning: This involves strategic planning and more practical preparations, see below" This
step is really important to spend some time on, to avoid maing mistaes or failing in the ne!t
phase"
Implementation, or put in simpler terms, the +do, phase, is where you carry out the project"
-onitoring and evaluation is carried out both during and after the project" -onitoring is
checing to see how the project is progressing, and evaluation is carried out to improve or
assess the outcome .see below/"
'ou may have to go bac to a previous step if you have not done it thoroughly enough, or you
encounter unforeseen problems"
In which parts of the project cycle have you e!perienced problems, in your project wor0
$opefully, this worshop will show you how to solve or prevent the problems that everyone
faces at some point during a project"
Strategic Planning (SP)
If you dont know where youre going, it doesnt matter which way you go.
.Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland by 1" Caroll/
&hat is 2trategic Planning0
A process which allows effective, efficient means of overcoming obstacles and achieving your
goals"
&hy to plan strategically0
3seful in establishing clear and common goals
3seful in discovering needs to accomplish aims
Taing enough time for 2P will safe time later in the project
To wor more effective and efficient
Create credibility( your project loos organi%ed towards e!ternals
&hat steps are re4uired0
5" P1A6
Decide the organisation .how many people0 meet how often0/ and the aims of the
strategic planning process
7ind out the relevant history .what activities have we already done8tried8completed0
9" #:;ECTI<E2
Vision statement = what will success loo lie0 $ow does my ideal loo lie0
Mission statement = must be shared
> Purpose .what are you trying to accomplish0/
to eliminate homelessness in -e!ico City
> :usiness .what activities do you actually do0/
to construct cheap housing
to create jobs
> <alues .principles, beliefs/
the most needy first
reward honesty
for the good of the community
To clarify your -ission 2tatement you write Goals"
?oals are general, not time bound, abstract and broad" It*s possible to have more than
one goal"
To achieve your goals you create Ojecti!es" #bjectives are precise, concrete, always time
bound and narrow"
#bjectives must be 2-A@T
2pecific
-easurable
Achievable
@ealistic
Time :ound
A" 2&#T
&hat helps8stops your goals being achieved0 7ill in the 2&#T table based on your objectives"
"nternally#
2trengths( manpower, enthusiasm
&eanesses( lac of sills
E$ternally#
#pportunities( support of local housing authority
Threats( lac of funding, public apathy
-ay need to research the current climate = laws, epidemiology, politics, needs" 3se your
2trengths and #pportunities and be aware of your &eanesses and Threats"
B" 2T@ATE?IC P1A6
Identify most important elements from 2&#T, eg(
recruitment to harness the manpower
rewards to ma!imise enthusiasm
S %
O T
training to get sills
use authority to get funds and do P@ campaign to generate support
Develop strategy and strategic planning specific goals for each
C" ACTI#6 P1A6
&hat will happen e!actly0
&ho will do it0 .Don*t over)commitD/
&hen will this happen0
#rganisational structure ) roles, meetings
The Plan
It must be usable = readable, and not too complicated"
Involve everybody = ownership
Address the right, agreed issues = credibility, and people will use it"
2hould be realistic and achievable"
2hould decide who will do what and how it will be e!ecuted"
2hould include a continuous evaluation process, and a way to revise the plan"
%hat&s the 'oint o( all this)
Everybody agrees on and owns goals
Effective and efficient management
Crisis management
Allocation of resources
Credibility ) loo organised
-eans of evaluation
Continuity
*inancial Management (*M)
+is about how you tae care of finances" 7inancial management gets in the picture when you
have defined your vision, mission, goals and objectives, and have made a plan of action" 'ou
have an organi%ing committee .team/, and have plans of rounding up a staff and maing a
final report" 'ou are about to start your fundraising, and are beginning to handle money"
There are some things you need to now, in order to manage your finances"
,egal iss-es# There are three things you need to be sure of"
5" The organi%ation you are doing the project for or in, should now what you are doing,
and accept your activities" 'ou need a written proof that you have the right to use
your organi%ations name to promote the project" .E!ample( doing the Teddy :ear
$ospital within your 6-#, you need to now if the 6-# will let you use the 6-#s
name and logo in fundraising and mareting/"
9" -ae sure that your e!ternal partners have done the same, so you are not taling to
someone you thin is representing an organi%ation that he really isn*t a part of"
A" Enow who will have to pay the debt, if the project goes banrupt" 7or many
organi%ations, this is written in the constitution or bylaws"
The -.get/ general comments#
The budget must mae the reader .potential sponsor etc"/ confident, that the project
is realistic and that the people involved are capable of handling the money"
The longer the planning period is, the harder it is to mae e!act predictions of what
the costs will be .prices and circumstances change/"
Identify things that can be sponsored in other than money" @emember all incomes and
e!penses"
The budget should be easy to edit .written in E!cel or e4uivalent/ so it is always
updated" The budget is very closely lined to strategic planning"
It is easier to predict larger areas than specific things, as the specific things in an area
may be more or less than predicted, and can even the cost out when taen together"
-ae great effort to find out the actual cost of things instead of giving a wild guess =
call and as or go and see"
'ou should be pessimistic, e!pect small incomes and large e!penses in each area"
Avoid inflation of the budget .overestimating costs/, because the potential sponsors
will notice"
-ae a minimum budget .based on the least amount of money that the project can be
run for/ and a ma!imum budget .the comfortable version, for fundraising/"
Always add at least 5FG as unforeseen e!penses, or at the very least C)H G"
@ound up your numbers, as is appropriate for a guess, but do try to be as e!act as
possible"
$ave another person loo through the numbers"
The -.get/ ho0 to set it -'# In any budget, you need to be able to see how the total sum is
reached" -aterials and service that you are getting for free can be added under +Incomes, or
under both +Incomes, and +E!penses," The balance of the budget .incomes minus e!penses/
should be roughly %ero, when doing non)profit projects" &hen doing projects that aim to raise
money for charities, your balance should be as high as possible = showing you will raise a lot
of money and don*t have too many e!penses"
E$am'le# NMO meeting
"ncomes( N Price per
piece
Subtotal Total
Participation fees IF people 5B euro JBF euro JBF euro
Donations CFFF euro
) Dean of faculty 9FFF euro
) 6-# 5FFF euro
) different sponsors 9FFF euro
2ponsored material 59F sandwiches F F F
"ncomes in all 1234 e-ro
E$'enses# N Price per
piece
Subtotal Total
@ent of facilities 5BFF euro
7ood IF people, I meals 9,C euro KIF euro KIF euro
Transportation IF people AF euro 5JFF euro 5JFF euro
Administration8plan H people J meetings 9 euro 559 euro 559 euro
Training program C5F euro
) gifts for trainers A 5F euro AF euro
) transportation A BF euro 59F euro
) salary A 9F euro AIF euro
2ocial program BIF euro
) decorations 59F euro
) materials 5BF euro
) beer for games euro
) other plans 5KF euro
E!tra e!penses IFF euro
E$'enses in all 1235 e-ro
:alance(
)9 euro
The role o( the treas-rer# The treasurer is not necessarily part of the fundraising team, but
is the person responsible for eeping trac of incomes and e!penses" There has to be one
person who is responsible for archiving all receipts and proofs of payment, and that person
must be organi%ed" It is easier to eep trac of, if you have one ban account for each
project, but you may be able to use the ban account of your organi%ation .e"g" national
member organi%ation/" In the last case, you need to have the national treasurer do the
withdrawals and deposits as he8she has the authori%ation to do that" The project treasurer
should do all the rest = budget, eeping all receipts and filing them by date and the cash flow
sheet"
Cash (lo0 sheet/ cashoo6# It is a practical necessity to now how much money is where at
which point in time, also whether or not it is meant to be used for specific things" Any
movement of money is registered, and again it is important to have receipts for everything" If
the cash flow sheet is made well, it doesn*t matter if you mi! the project*s money with your
own money in your pocet = you will now e!actly how much of it is the project*s"
Example:
Date Description Cash :an Total
Deposit
ed
&ith)
drawn
:alance Deposited &ithdraw
n
:alance
A)J 2tatus F JFF JFF
A)J 6at" drin 5C )5C JFF HJC
A)J &ithdrawal IF BC IF HBF HJC
A)J :us to the
hotel
AC 5F HBF HCF
B)J 2old T)shirts 5FF 55F HBF JCF
B)J Deposit 5FF 5F 5FF JBF JCF
If money from a sponsor is earmared to go to a specific thing, for e!ample to pay the
speaers who will lecture or train during the project, you can mae an +account,, which also
has the sub points of deposited, withdrawn, and balance" The money will then be seen in a
different column than the ones in the ban, and you don*t ris using them for something else
than what they were meant for"
E!ample .the +Cash, account is left out because of lac of space on this paper/(
Date Description :an #nly for speaers Total
Deposited &ithdrawn :alance Deposited &ithdrawn :alance
B ;une Donated
for speaer
salaries
9FF 9FF .as
before/
9FF 9FF .as
before
plus
9FF/
'ou can mae as many +accounts, on the cash flow sheet as you need to be in control of how
much there is for each part, how much there is left and how much you have in all"
A(ter the 'roject# The treasurer checs to see if everything is as the cash flow sheet says,
that all receipts are collected and organi%ed by date, and hands the materials over to the
accountant" The accountant goes through the papers and presents the final result through
accounting and audit" 7or projects with large budgets, it is important to have professionals do
the audit, so the sponsors can see how the money was spent and be assured of the 4uality of
the data" #n smaller projects, a volunteer can do the checing of transactions and
presentation of the financial report"
In case of a positive balance, the sponsors should be ased whether or not the e!tra money
could be used later for the same or other projects" 7inally and most important, the treasurer
is responsible for passing on the nowledge and e!perience to the ne!t treasurer"
In summar: !inancial management includes having a good grasp on budget, cash flow and
accounting" Passing on the #nowledge and s#ills to others who will be wor#ing in financial
management is also of great importance"
Em'o0erment
General intro.-ction# &henever people meet to form a group, a structure will be
established" The group might naturally select a leader, or someone with the most resources
may tae charge, the others complying" &e will often be in a situation where we are the ones
with the resources, and using empowerment we should recogni%e the power that naturally
comes with nowledge, and learn how to share it" The groups we are woring for should be
given autonomyL the power and responsibility to mae their own decisions" To enable others
to decide what to do, we need to share our nowledge, and be willing to trust them to solve
the tas responsibly"
&here can you use empowerment0 In a wide array of projects, using empowerment is the
obvious choice" 2ome e!amples are patient centred medical care .power transferred from the
doctor to the patient/, problem based learning .power from the +teacher, to the learning
group/, and peer education .power from the health worers to the community/"
&hy would I want to empower people0 It allows efficient use of resources and ma!imi%es
human potential" It corrects ine4ualities and contributes to sustainable development"
&hy would I not want to empower people0 If you find that it is too difficult or dangerous,
people are la%y, stupid, corrupt and selfish, and you can*t really change things"
$ow do I empower a group0 :e critical of your own power, and the power of other leaders"
7acilitate the group to say what their problems and strengths are .2&#T/, and let them wor
out how they best can change their situation" -ae them feel good about themselves"
$ow to monitor the group = characteristics of teams( &hen being the facilitator you need to
pay attention to the development of the group concerning these si! components"
5" Interaction = how is the group behaving, is anyone dominating or being left out0
9" 2tructure = which roles are there in the group, and which behaviours go with the roles0
A" 2i%e = how does the si%e affect the organi%ational culture0
B" ?oals = does the group have clear and common goals, so they wor in the same
direction0
C" Cohesiveness = are the relationships in the group strong and are they giving
enjoyment0
I" Temporal changes = how is the group changing over time, new situations emerging0
Gro-' stages# A group goes through stages, generally as follows(
5" 7orming = how the group gets together .by election, self)appointment, volunteeringM/
9" 2torming( @oles are being established and cohesiveness is developed" The social
aspects of the group need to be settled before the group can wor efficiently = time
needs to be spent on teambuilding"
A" Performing( The group functions and is efficient, roles are well defined, and are
focused on the team*s wor"
$ow to be a good group facilitator(
5" :e yourself
9" 1ove and trust your group
A" Empathise with your group and say that you do
B" :e a neutral servant
C" Do not evaluate or contribute
I" $elp the group to focus
H" #ffer choices, tools, options to the group
J" 2ummari%e what*s been said
K" 7ind consensus
5F" Protect participants
55" $old bac people who cause the group problems
&hy empowerment can go wrong
'ou have to trust people
'ou have to compromise on your own agenda
:ureaucracy builds up little by little
People don*t believe in democracy, they don*t e!pect you to really give up any power
Power feels very niceD It is hard to give away"
Everyone must eep in mind( Power comes with responsibility"
$o to the people
%ive with them
%earn from them
%ove them
Start with what the #now
&uild with what the have
&ut of the best leaders
When the job is done
The tas# accomplished
Then the people will sa
We have done it ourselves"
' %ao Isu, (hina )** &"("
E!al-ation
&hy do you evaluate projects0 Two main reasons to evaluate a project are to improve the
project .formative evaluation/ and to assess an outcome .summative evaluation/"
&hat do you evaluate about a project0 'ou must refer to the goals and the objectives that you
have previously defined" Did you reach your goals0 &hat should be improved in the way you
did it0 $aving clear and measurable objectives maes the evaluation of the project very
simple" All parts of the process can be evaluated = the fundraising, the project team wor,
the satisfaction of the participantsM
The evaluation should focus on five major points(
Efficiency( if you do the tas spending as few resources as you canL
Effectiveness( if you are reaching the objectives you plannedL
Impact( the e!tent to which you affect your target groupL
@elevance( are you doing the right project in the right situation0
2ustainability( will the project survive over time0
Tools o( e!al-ation# The most used tool is a 4uestionnaire" #ther ways of evaluating are
personal interview, complaints bo!, feedbac groups, participating observation, and games"
&hen designing a 4uestionnaire there are a few things you must eep in mind when writing
the 4uestions"
There must be both positive and negative formulations
6o double negations
6o double 4uestions
As 4uestions that will help you mae improvements
:e aware of language problems and use simple vocabulary
&hy do evaluations fail0 There are many reasons( no one reads them, no follow)up, no one
maes the changes the ne!t time, no one taes them seriously, bad 4uestions, no clear aim
for the evaluation, unclear answers, poor analysis, failure to collect the forms, time of
evaluation, evaluation is not published"
7o0 to a!oi. these 'rolems# 'ou should pre)test the evaluation" A pre)test is a test similar
to the potential final version that you distribute to a selected number of people" 'ou then see
how the evaluation wors in practice" 'ou need to mae sure that you motivate the
participants to say what they really mean, and that they feel involved in the evaluation
process" 'ou should e!plain the aims of the evaluation and personally address the
participants" The publishing of the outcome maes the evaluation transparent, and the
participants now the evaluation is taen seriously" The evaluation forms or whichever ind of
evaluation you have must be analysed shortly after the project" Collect the data and interpret
it, to mae a summary of the outcome" And most important( 7ollow)up" Act on what you have
discovered in the evaluation .or mae it available to others who will do it ne!t/ = or else you
may as well not do it"
Don*t forget to evaluate the follow)upM"
Ta6e home messages#
Clear goals and objectives are essential for evaluation
Evaluation without follow)up is useless
Transparency and involvement significantly improve the efficiency of evaluation
Evaluation can definitely improve your project
Project Pro'osal %riting
Do
Observe
Think
Plan
&hat is a Project Proposal0
A project proposal is a document which describes a project" It has an ordered outline to be
clear in describing the project" It must be a document which can be used practically to in the
development of the project"
Above these, the project proposal is a tool for fundraising and implementation" The proposal
should be able to tell a potential funder everything about the project" In addition, you should
be able to use the proposal when carrying out the project" 'ou should be able to refer to it at
every stage of the project"
&hy is a Project Proposal Important0
The proposal is important in the conte!t of the whole project" To see this, we can loo at the
$et%el wheel(
It can be seen that at each stage of the wheel the proposal can fit in(
parts of the assessment can be used in the proposal .problem statement/
communication results in the writing of the proposal
the political decision is liely to be made on the basis of the proposal
planning, implementation and monitoring and evaluation are all carried out under the
direction of the proposal
the proposal can be reviewed in light of the evaluation and modified in assessment for
the ne!t cycle
The 4uality of the project proposal is vital to your chances of securing funding" It may be the
only contact any funder will have with your project, so it needs to be written with that in
mind"
If the project proposal is not referred to during the implementation of a project, it is useless"
The usefulness of a proposal depends on its practicality when carrying out the project"
Evaluation is a vital part of any project" The proposal needs to clearly set out what criteria
will be evaluated and how this will be carried out" In this way a project*s continuity and
sustained improvement can be maintained easily"
E!ample of a Project Proposal #utline
Introduction( This needs to be brief and readable, so that anyone who reads it can have a
4uic idea about the project" This is liely to be one of the few sections that Nbusy* people,
eg funders, will read"
E!ecutive 2ummary( Again, this will be one of the few sections read by Nbusy* people" It
should be able to give an overview of the whole project without reading the rest of the
proposal"
Problem 2tatement( #utlines the area of need which your project aims to address" This will
be based on data such as reports, surveys and pilot projects" 'ou need to be clear on what
your project is really doing"
Proposed 2trategy( ?ives an idea of how you will carry out your project" &hile you may be
incredibly ambitious, you must ensure that people reading the project can see that it is
believable and achievable"
Aims, ?oals and #utcomes( There are a number of different strategies for formulating
outcome e!pectations" This section is concerned with providing measurements of outcome
that can be used later on in the evaluation"
Evaluation( #utlines how you will carry out your evaluation" This is important that you can
refer to this when you come to do your evaluation proper"
7inancial( The budget" This needs to be comprehensive, clear to funders and transparent,
showing the e!penditures which you will mae and the income you e!pect"
Appendices( There may be documents that are useful to give bacground to the project that
can not be included in the rest of the proposal for reasons of space" They can be put in the
appendices"
&riting the Proposal(
&hen writing the proposal, there are a few things to eep in mind(
The length of the document needs to be judged well to ensure that it is readable but
contains the important points
Drafting is important to ensure the best 4uality document that you can produce
$owever, it is important to eep in mind the proposal writing time in the conte!t of
the rest of the projectL you do not want to miss funds application deadlines by taing
too long on the proposal"
It is important to coordinate the writing of the proposal and to delegate duties of who
will write what
?ood English .:ritish or AmericanD/ is important, especially when applying for funds"
This is an outline of a method for writing a proposal which I have found useful, especially
when writing the proposal in large or dispersed groups"
&rite an outline of the proposal, consisting of(
an outline for each section
each section consists of paragraph titles
this provides a seleton on which the proposal can be written
each paragraph can be delegated on its own to any member of the group
7or e!ample, here is an outline from a refugee camp project I was involved in writing(
E!al-ation#
#ne page
$ow and why will the project be evaluated
2trategy for feedbac from students
2trategy for feedbac from refugees
Cost effectiveness and efficient use of funds
1ong)term evaluation strategy by the refugee community and local organising
committee
-ore sources( we recommend reading some more background information
Aid Delivery -ethods <ol" 5( Project Cycle Management uidelines, European Commission
-arch 9FFB, http(88www"europa"eu"int8comm8europeaid84sm8inde!Oen"htm
Carter -c6amara, -:A, PhD, Copyright 5KKK, Authenticity Consulting, 11C(
http(88www" managementhel! "org8planOdec8project8project"htm
&iipedia( Project Management(
http(88en"wiipedia"org8wii8ProjectOmanagementPTheOtraditionalOapproach
&iipedia( antt Chart( .the time line schedule used in the e!ercise/
http(88en"wiipedia"org8wii8?anttOChart
Interested in "raining#
Contact our I7-2A Training Directors for info( trainingQifmsa"org
2alto)'outh @esource Centres European 3nion Education and Culture
Toolbo! for Training( http(88www"salto)youth"net8toolbo!8