TANZANIA INSTITUTE OF ACCOUNTANCY

(TIA)
COURSE: BMPR 3 (F/TIME & EVENING 2022/2023)
SUBJECT:  PROJECT MANAGEMENT
CODE: BAU01101  
PROJECT MONITORING AND EVALUATION
LECTURER: DR. ANICETH KATO MPANJU

1.1 DESCRIBE MONITORING

1.1.0 Introduction
Project Monitoring plays a vital part in project management as well as the project
manager’s decision making processes.

However, it is a method often overlooked and only done for the sake of fulfilling the
requirements of a project management plan. But if put into practice,

 Project monitoring can help project managers and their teams foresee potential
risks and obstacles that if left unaddressed, could derail the project.
 It clarifies the objectives of the project, links the activities to the objectives, sets
the target, reports the progress to the management and keeps the management
aware of the problems which crop up during the implementation of the project.
 It supports and motivates the management to complete the project within the
budget and on time.  

1.1.1 Define Monitoring

Project Monitoring refers to the process of keeping track of all project-related metrics
including team performance and task duration, identifying potential problems and
taking corrective actions necessary to ensure that the project is within scope, on budget
and meets the specified deadlines.  

To simply put, project monitoring is overseeing all tasks and keeping an eye on project
activities to make sure you’re implementing the project as planned.

The process of project monitoring begins during the planning phase of the project.
During this phase, it is important to define how the project success will look like and
how the goals can be measured using KPIs (Key performance indicators).

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1.2 DESCRIBE EVALUATION
1.2.0 Introduction

When it comes to project management, closing out a project isn’t just a matter of
executing deliverables. Though the process may seem tedious or overly administrative,
a formal closure phase ensures all loose ends are tied up, documentation is signed and
approved, contractors are paid, and everyone is on the same page. 

The closing phase also gives you the opportunity to review and evaluate the project’s
success (or failure), which is crucial for planning and executing successful projects in
the future. 

1.2.1 Define Evaluation

Project evaluation is a systematic and objective assessment of an ongoing or
completed project. The aim is to determine the relevance and level of achievement
of project objectives, development effectiveness, efficiency, impact and sustainability.
There are three main elements of analysis for any project:

1. Pre-project evaluation: What can I expect from the delivery of this project?
What are the obstacles I could face? What potential risks and issues are
present?
2. Ongoing evaluation: Is the project moving forward efficiently and toward the
goals set prior to its initiation? Am I properly using resources? What risks have
arisen now that the project is in motion?
3. Post-project evaluation: What went well? What did not? What lessons can be
learned from any struggles to ensure the next project runs more smoothly?

1.3 Monitoring and Evaluation

Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) is a process used to assess the performance of
projects, institutions and programmes set up by governments, international
organisations and NGOs. Its goal is to improve current and future management of
outputs, outcomes and impact. Monitoring is a continuous assessment of programmes
based on early detailed information on the progress or delay of the ongoing assessed
activities. An evaluation is an examination concerning the relevance, effectiveness,
efficiency and impact of activities in the light of specified objectives. 
Monitoring and evaluation processes can be managed by the donors financing the
assessed activities, by an independent branch of the implementing organization, by the
project managers or implementing team themselves and/or by a private company. The
credibility and objectivity of monitoring and evaluation reports depend very much on

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the independence of the evaluators. Their expertise and independence is of major
importance for the process to be successful.

1.3.1 What is a Monitoring and Evaluation Plan?

A monitoring and evaluation (M&E) plan is a document that helps to track and assess
the results of the interventions throughout the life of a program. It is a living document
that should be referred to and updated on a regular basis. While the specifics of each
program’s M&E plan will look different, they should all follow the same basic structure
and include the same key elements.

An M&E plan will include some documents that may have been created during the
program planning process, and some that will need to be created new. For example,
elements such as the logic model/logical framework, theory of change,
and monitoring indicators may have already been developed with input from key
stakeholders and/or the program donor. The M&E plan takes those documents and
develops a further plan for their implementation.
 

1.3.2 Why develop a Monitoring and Evaluation Plan?

It is important to develop an M&E plan before beginning any monitoring activities so

that there is a clear plan for what questions about the program need to be answered. It
will help program staff decide how they are going to collect data to track indicators,
how monitoring data will be analyzed, and how the results of data collection will be
disseminated both to the donor and internally among staff members for program
improvement. Remember, M&E data alone is not useful until someone puts it to use! An
M&E plan will help make sure data is being used efficiently to make programs as
effective as possible and to be able to report on results at the end of the program.

1.3.3 Who should develop a Monitoring and Evaluation Plan?

An M&E plan should be developed by the research team or staff with research
experience, with inputs from program staff involved in designing and implementing the
program.

1.3.4 When should a Monitoring and Evaluation Plan be developed?

An M&E plan should be developed at the beginning of the program when the
interventions are being designed. This will ensure there is a system in place to monitor
the program and evaluate success.

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1.3.5 A Step by Step Guide to Monitoring & Evaluation

Step 1: Identify Program Goals and Objectives

The first step to creating an M&E plan is to identify the program goals and objectives. If
the program already has a logic model or theory of change, then the program goals
are most likely already defined. However, if not, the M&E plan is a great place to start.
Identify the program goals and objectives.

Defining program goals starts with answering three questions:

1. What problem is the program trying to solve?

2. What steps are being taken to solve that problem?
3. How will program staff know when the program has been successful in solving the
problem?

Answering these questions will help identify what the program is expected to do, and
how staff will know whether or not it worked. For example, if the program is starting a
condom distribution program for adolescents, the answers might look like this:

High rates of unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections

Problem
(STIs) transmission among youth ages 15-19

Promote and distribute free condoms in the community at youth-friendly

Solution
locations

Lowered rates of unintended pregnancy and STI transmission among

Success youth 15-19. Higher percentage of condom use among sexually active
youth.

From these answers, it can be seen that the overall program goal is to reduce the rates
of unintended pregnancy and STI transmission in the community.

It is also necessary to develop intermediate outputs and objectives for the program to
help track successful steps on the way to the overall program goal. More information
about identifying these objectives can be found in the logic model guide.

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Step 2: Define Indicators

Once the program’s goals and objectives are defined, it is time to define indicators for
tracking progress towards achieving those goals. Program indicators should be a mix of
those that measure process, or what is being done in the program, and those that
measure outcomes. 

Process indicators track the progress of the program. They help to answer the
question, “Are activities being implemented as planned?” Some examples of process
indicators are:
 Number of trainings held with health providers
 Number of outreach activities conducted at youth-friendly locations
 Number of condoms distributed at youth-friendly locations
 Percent of youth reached with condom use messages through the media

Outcome indicators track how successful program activities have been at achieving

program objectives. They help to answer the question, “Have program activities made a
difference?” Some examples of outcome indicators are:
 Percent of youth using condoms during first intercourse
 Number and percent of trained health providers offering family planning services
to youth
 Number and percent of new STI infections among youth.

These are just a few examples of indicators that can be created to track a program’s
success.

Step 3: Define Data Collection Methods and Timeline

After creating monitoring indicators, it is time to decide on methods for gathering data

and how often various data will be recorded to track indicators. This should be a
conversation between program staff, stakeholders, and donors. These methods will
have important implications for what data collection methods will be used and how the
results will be reported.

The source of monitoring data depends largely on what each indicator is trying to
measure. The program will likely need multiple data sources to answer all of the
programming questions. Below is a table that represents some examples of what data
can be collected and how.

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 Information to be collected Data source(s)

Implementation process and progress Program-specific M&E tools

Service statistics Facility logs, referral cards

Reach and success of the program Small surveys with primary audience(s),
intervention within audience such as provider interviews or client exit
subgroups or communities interviews

The reach of media interventions Media ratings data, brodcaster logs,

involved in the program Google analytics, omnibus surveys

Reach and success of the program Nationally-representative surveys,

intervention at the population level Omnibus surveys, MoHCDEC data

Focus groups, in-depth interviews,

Qualitative data about the outcomes
listener/viewer group discussions,
of the intervention
individual media diaries, case studies

Once it is determined how data will be collected, it is also necessary to decide how

often it will be collected. This will be affected by donor requirements, available
resources, and the timeline of the intervention. Some data will be continuously
gathered by the program (such as the number of trainings), but these will be recorded
every six months or once a year, depending on the M&E plan. Other types of data
depend on outside sources, such as clinic and Ministry of Health, Community
Development, Gender, Elderly and Children (MoHCDEC) data. 

After all of these questions have been answered, a table like the one below can be
made to include in the M&E plan. This table can be printed out and all staff working on
the program can refer to it so that everyone knows what data is needed and when.

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 Indicator Data source(s) Timing

Number of trainings held with health Training attendance Every 6

providers sheets months

Number of outreach activities conducted Every 6

Activity sheet
at youth-friendly locations months

Number of condoms distributed at Condom distribution Every 6

youth-friendly locations sheet months

Percent of youth receiving condom use Population-based

Annually
messages through the media surveys

MoHCDEC or other
Percent of adolescents reporting condom
population-based Annually
use during first intercourse
survey

Number and percent of trained health

Every 6
providers offering family planning Facility logs
months
services to adolescents

MoHCDEC or other
Number and percent of new STI
population-based Annually
infections among adolescents
survey

Step 4: Identify M&E Roles and Responsibilities

The next element of the M&E plan is a section on roles and responsibilities. It is
important to decide from the early planning stages who is responsible for collecting the
data for each indicator. This will probably be a mix of M&E staff, research staff, and
program staff. Everyone will need to work together to get data collected accurately and
in a timely fashion.

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Data management roles should be decided with input from all team members so
everyone is on the same page and knows which indicators they are assigned. This way
when it is time for reporting there are no surprises.

An easy way to put this into the M&E plan is to expand the indicators table with
additional columns for who is responsible for each indicator, as shown below. 

Data Data
Indicator Timing
source(s) manager

Training
Number of trainings held with health Every 6 Activity
attendance
providers months manager
sheets

Number of outreach activities Activity Every 6 Activity

conducted at youth-friendly locations sheet months manager

Condom
Number of condoms distributed at Every 6 Activity
distribution
youth-friendly locations months manager
sheet

Percent of youth receiving condom Population- Research

Annually 
use messages through the media based survey assistant

MoHCDEC or
Percent of adolescents reporting other Research
Annually
condom use during first intercourse population- assistant
based survey

Number and percent of trained health

Every 6 Field M&E
providers offering family planning Facility logs
months officer
services to adolescents

Number and percent of new STI MoHCDEC or Annually Research

infections among adolescents other assistant
population-

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 Data Data
Indicator Timing
source(s) manager

based survey

 Step 5: Create an Analysis Plan and Reporting Templates

Once all of the data have been collected, someone will need to compile and analyze it
to fill in a results table for internal review and external reporting. This is likely to be an
in-house M&E manager or research assistant for the program.

The M&E plan should include a section with details about what data will be analyzed
and how the results will be presented. Do research staff need to perform any statistical
tests to get the needed answers? If so, what tests are they and what data will be used
in them? What software program will be used to analyze data and make reporting
tables? Excel? SPSS? These are important considerations.

Another good thing to include in the plan is a blank table for indicator reporting. These
tables should outline the indicators, data, and time period of reporting. They can also
include things like the indicator target, and how far the program has progressed
towards that target. An example of a reporting table is below.

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 Baselin Year Lifetime % of target
Indicator
e 1 target achieved

Number of trainings held with

0 5 10 50%
health providers

Number of outreach activities

conducted at youth-friendly 0 2 6 33%
locations

Number of condoms distributed

0 25,000 50,000 50%
at youth-friendly locations

Percent of youth receiving

condom use messages through 5% 35% 75% 47%
the media.

Percent of adolescents
reporting condom use during 20% 30% 10% 31%
first intercourse

Number and percent of trained

health providers offering family 20 106 250 10%
planning services to adolescents

11,000 10,000 10%

Number and percent of new STI
reduction 5 20%
infections among adolescents 22% 20% years

Step 6: Plan for Dissemination and Donor Reporting

The last element of the M&E plan describes how and to whom data will be
disseminated. Data for data’s sake should not be the ultimate goal of M&E efforts.  Data
should always be collected for particular purposes.

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Consider the following:

 How will M&E data be used to inform staff and stakeholders about the success and
progress of the program?
 How will it be used to help staff make modifications and course corrections, as
necessary?
 How will the data be used to move the field forward and make program practices
more effective?

The M&E plan should include plans for internal dissemination among the program team,
as well as wider dissemination among stakeholders and donors. For example, a
program team may want to review data on a monthly basis to make programmatic
decisions and develop future workplans, while meetings with the donor to review data
and program progress might occur quarterly or annually. Dissemination of printed or
digital materials might occur at more frequent intervals. These options should be
discussed with stakeholders and your team to determine reasonable expectations for
data review and to develop plans for dissemination early in the program. If these plans
are in place from the beginning and become routine for the project, meetings and other
kinds of periodic review have a much better chance of being productive ones that
everyone looks forward to.

Conclusion

After following these 6 steps, the outline of the M&E plan should look something like
this:

1. Introduction to program
 Program goals and objectives
 Logic model/Logical Framework/Theory of change

2. Indicators
 Table with data sources, collection timing, and staff member responsible.

3. Roles and Responsibilities

 Description of each staff member’s role in M&E data collection, analysis,
and/or reporting.
4. Reporting
 Analysis plan
 Reporting template table

5. Dissemination plan
 Description of how and when M&E data will be disseminated internally and
externally

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1.4 CHALLENGES FOR MONITORING AND EVALUATION

1.4.0 Introduction

While many nonprofits and international non-governmental organizations (INGOs) may

have Monitoring and Evaluation software, often, they are designed around a results-
based framework. Results based framework is often tightly coupled between different
programs, focuses on project management with a strong emphasis on collecting activity
and output results. These systems are often too simplistic that concentrates on
managing activities and output results or too complicated. Either they focus on simple
data collection, visualization, and documentation. Or some are sophisticated but overly
complicated, with lengthy implementation, difficult to improve once implemented, and
takes a long time to implement. Most monitoring and evaluation systems fail to provide
scalable solutions to aggregate results regularly. Those that do may require a significant
amount of customization or manual data aggregation.

So without further ado, let's dive into the eight worst mistakes to avoid when choosing
monitoring and evaluation systems.

1.4.1 Challenges for Monitoring and Evaluation

In this section, we will describe the most common monitoring and evaluation
challenges.  So, let us start this with most challenging obstacles in Monitoring.

 
1. Limited Knowledge, Skills and Competence

The main challenge is that the knowledge, skills and competence required for those
aspiring and performing duties related to M&E of public projects is limited. Officials fail
to understand the importance of M&E at the local government level of the various
projects. Therefore, they have failed to develop an institutional M&E system (including
M&E plans, indicators and tools). This reveals that although much has been achieved in
terms of providing services to the majority of Tanzanians, much still needs to be done
in terms of training, workshops, dialogue on M&E and how suitable systems can be
implemented at local government level to enhance service delivery. The definition of an
M&E system requires that such a system be established across provinces to attain
effective and efficient service delivery.

2. Inadequate Finance & Mismanagement of Funds

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Inadequate finance is a perennial challenge facing project management in local
governments. Many projects are abandoned in local government due to inadequate
funds. The flow of funds cannot be fully guaranteed, especially because municipalities
have to face a fluctuation in world oil prices, inflation, mismanagement, corruption, and
a failure to explore internal sources of revenue and to use scarce resources.
Mismanagement of funds and corruption hinder successful M&E and hinder the
completion of projects at local government level, which in turn leads to dissatisfaction
among citizens and sometimes to violent service delivery protests.

3. Lack of usable data

M&E experts report a lack of usable data. When they are unable to collect sufficient
data, it is very challenging to perform a proper analysis, draw usable conclusions and
make data-driven suggestions to improve development programmes and interventions.

4. Beneficiaries located in remote areas

Sometimes aid beneficiaries are located in remote areas that are hard to reach, and are
sometimes unsafe. Apart from dangers for staff and the difficulties reaching the areas,
it is often also expensive to send personnel to perform M&E activities in these locations
and to collect the necessary data with a frequency they require.

5. Insufficient uptake of M&E results

Most M&E projects and programmes favour after-the-fact evaluations over near-time or
real-time monitoring. However, learning from evaluations is often a longstanding
process. Much is to gain from shorter learning cycles and implementing lessons learned
from monitoring directly into the development projects while they are still running.

6. Lack of stakeholder voice in measuring social impact

The primary purpose of impact measurement is to drive a better outcome for the
beneficiary.  Who are our stakeholders? According to principles of Social Value
International, stakeholders are who affects and are affected by your activities.
However, do you have a system that communicates stakeholder's user experience or
satisfaction or dissatisfaction?

 Do we think reporting how many beneficiaries served makes sense?

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  Does it make sense to report the number of meals to children while needs often
tend to outstrip any intervention?

7.  Communicating Impact to Donor Funding Difficult

The most significant barrier for funders in making a decision is a lack of visibility
between funding and actual impact.  Provide the best way to provide impact capital
distribution through a better impact evidence.

1.5 RISK IN PROJECT MANAGEMENT

1.5.0 Introduction

Risk is inherent in everything we do. Project managers, more than most, know how to
mitigate risk, and use it as a core strategy in project management. 

To understand where risk can come into a project, always start with the lens of the triple
constraint. When you are documenting risks, note where impacts to time, cost and
quality are likely to occur. Once you’ve identified risks, you’ll want to work with your
team to develop strategies for addressing them, should they arise.

1.5.1 Define Project Risk

Project risk is an uncertain event or condition that, if it occurs, has an effect on at least
one project objective.
There are no risk-free projects because there are an infinite number of events that can
have a negative effect on the project.

1.5.1.1 How to actually identify the Project Risk

You cannot manage risks until you first identify them. As you read these notes, perhaps
you thought, “That’s something I need to work on.”

1. Define Project Risks

2. Write the Risks in a Consistent Format
3. Use a Variety of Risk Identification Tools & Techniques
4. Engage the Right Stakeholders to Identify Project Risks
5. Look Beyond the Obvious
6. Capture Your Project Risks

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Select one or two of these tips and incorporate in one of your projects. Over time,
incrementally take additional steps to help you better identify your project risks.

1. Define Project Risk

If we are going to identify project risks, it is critical that we first define what we mean.

 What are risks and non-risks?

 When people hear the term “risk,” they often think of negative events. Why? Well,
the dictionary defines risk as “the possibility that something bad may happen.”

Notice the words “possibility” and the phrase “may happen.” Uncertainty is implied.

We are on the right track, but something is missing here. The definition has a  singular
focus on bad things that may happen.

 A more modern definition of risk includes not only the bad things but recognizes
the possibility of good things that may happen. (Some project managers push
back on the concept of positive risks.)

 The Project Management Body of Knowledge defines risk as “an uncertain

event or condition that, if it occurs, has a positive or negative effect on a project’s
objectives.”

Whether you support the concept of positive risks or not, wise project managers
employ a method for identifying and seizing opportunities (positive events and
conditions). Project managers who neglect opportunities lose one of the most powerful
ways of achieving their objectives.

The important thing in your projects is that your stakeholders have a common
understanding of the term risk. This is the beginning point of identifying risks.

While we are on the topic, allow me to share my simplified view of risk

management. Risk management is simply gathering appropriate information and
making better choices, with the primary aim of meeting your objectives. Those
choices not only involve managing negative events and conditions but positive ones.

There may be some things in your project that are non-risks, perhaps risks that have
already occurred. That’s another topic called issues.

2. Write the Risks in a Consistent Format

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It is suggested that you think about your risks in a consistent fashion. Here are some
examples of risk statements:

Cause Risk Effect/Impact

Because of the lack of user the developers may not resulting in rework
involvement in the have the right later in the project.
requirements process, requirements
There have been five instances which may mean that the resulting in
of the test regions going down testing team may rush the deliverables that do
in the last two weeks. No testing when the test not meet the
changes have been made to region is working requirements.
stabilize the test environments.

Notice that the causes and the effects are NOT risks. Think of your risks as future
events or conditions that may or may not occur.

Tip: If the Cause is uncertain, you have another risk. Ask the subject matter experts
what is causing the uncertainty. In effect, you should continue to drill down until you
understand the root cause (e.g., a fact or condition that gives rise to the risk).

3. Use a Variety of Risk Identification Tools & Techniques

If someone looked in your risk management toolbox, what tools would s(he) see? Do
you have one or two tools to identify project risks?

Some project managers do the same thing on every project. They have one meeting
with a few subject matter experts, brainstorm the risks, and call it done.

That’s a good start, but consider adding and using more tools and perform periodic risk
reviews to evaluate current risks and identify new risks.

What other tools, you say?

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How about a root-cause analysis to discover the underlying causes of your threats and
opportunities?

Next, the SWOT analysis can help you and your stakeholders to identify strengths,
weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. This technique may be applied to a business
process, a system, or your project, to name a few.

How many times have you been bitten by wrong assumptions or poorly understood
constraints? Project managers can perform assumption analysis to test assumptions.
The constraint analysis can help you identify limitations that you can work to reduce or
remove.

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Lastly, consider using a predetermined list of risk categories called a prompt list. For
example, you could facilitate a meeting where you ask stakeholders to identify risks for
the project schedule, cost, quality, and scope.

 Schedule risk – schedule events or conditions that, if they occur, will cause a
positive or negative impact to the objectives.
 Cost risk – cost events or conditions that, if they occur, will cause a positive or
negative impact to the objectives.
 Quality risk – quality events or conditions that, if they occur, will cause a positive
or negative impact to the objectives.
 Scope risk – scope events or conditions that, if they occur, will cause a positive
or negative impact to the objectives.

4. Engage the Right Stakeholders to Identify Project Risks

You may have the best facilitation skills in the world, but if you don’t have the right
people in the room, you will likely miss some of the most significant risks.

Do whatever is necessary to get the subject matter experts to help you identify project
risks.

How do you know WHO to engage?

It starts with your stakeholder analysis while you are initiating your projects. Identify
the individuals, groups, and organizations who may impact your project.

Use Stakeholder Register to identify anyone who may be impacted by your project.
What about people outside your organization? Yes, those people too.

As you plan for your risk identification meetings, review your stakeholder register and
select the appropriate stakeholders.

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5. Look beyond the Obvious Risks

Many project managers make the mistake of only looking for the obvious risks.

We are suggesting that you look around the corners. What are the other potential
risks?

6. Capture Your Project Risks

As you identify projects risks, you should capture the risks in a risk register. Make your
job easy. Use one place to store all your risk-related information.

What kind of information should we store in the risk register? Common things include:

 Risk ID
 Risk Statements
 Risk Owners
 Risk Triggers
 Risk Categories
 Probability Risk Ratings
 Impact Risk Ratings
 Risk Scores
 Risk Response Strategies (e.g., mitigate)
 Risk Response Plans
 Residual Risks
 Risk Trends

Keep in mind, risk identification is NOT a one-time event. Start early in your
projects. And perform periodic risk reviews to review and update your current risks as
well as add new risks.

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How will things be different with this information?

Reduced uncertainty. Fewer missteps. More positive things happening.

Record project risk

The simplest way of recording risks is with a table or spreadsheet that lists the risks and
their priorities. This can then be regularly reviewed by the project team and action taken
appropriately to mitigate or eliminate those risks.

Below is an example of a sample risk table for a project:

Description Frequency/Impact Severity Timeframe Action

Short-term absence of key team High/Low Major Project Accept

members

Long-term absence of key team Low/High Major Project Reduce

members

Supplier X does not deliver Low/Low Minor Phase 1 Accept

product Y

Incorrect scheduling High/High Critical Project Reduce

In the above table, failure by suppliers to deliver some components has been rated as a
minor risk. This sort of judgement can only be made on the basis of experience and
within the context of the current project. If the supplier is well known and trusted, then
the likelihood of them delivering late is likely to be low and hence the risk can be
classified as minor.

Labelling scheduling as a critical area of risk is also an outcome of experience. If

previous projects of a similar nature have run-over due to scheduling problems then it is
highly likely that this project will suffer a similar problem. Here, too, you can see the

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benefits of having a separate risk management officer since it is unlikely a project
manager, however honest, would rate his own scheduling abilities as “high” risk.
REVIEW QUESTIONS

1. (a) Define project monitoring

(b) Define project evaluation
(c) Define project monitoring & evaluation

2. (a) What is a Monitoring and Evaluation Plan?

(b) Explain a step by step guide to Monitoring & Evaluation

3. Explain the challenges for Monitoring and Evaluation in Tanzania

4. (a) Define Project Risk

(b) How do you actually identify the Project Risk?

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