ABCs for Managers Who Lead – M is for Monitor

I always wonder how we got to list monitoring and evaluating as if it is one item, abbreviated in our jargon as M&E. Monitoring is quite different from evaluating. Yet when looking for videos on monitoring, they were either embedded into M&E videos (with more attention to evaluating than to monitoring) or they were about monitoring children or employees (as in ‘checking on behavior.’) The latter is more closely in line with the word origin of monitoring, which has a strong disciplinary connotation. A monitor is someone who warns, admonishes, or reminds.

Contrast this with ‘evaluate’ which refers to appraising or determining the value, merit and worth of something. Monitoring implies that course correction is possible. ONce we evaluate it is may be too late; the judgement is out, at least for the path taken so far.

Most organizations that count more than 25 staff members have at least one if not more M&E specialists. Having made it a specialization the task of monitoring, a basic management function is now, unfortunately, often delegated to these people.

But monitoring is a management function and is not and should not be about disciplinary action. On the contrary, monitoring is about learning and correcting without causing shame or embarrassment, as the latter create defensiveness which makes learning unlikely.

Monitoring is performed by tracking specific indicators — measurable markers of change over time. This may involve monitoring progress against one’s action plans, operational plans, and/or services provided. Common procedures for program monitoring include tracking service statistics, reviewing records and reports, and, if these are available, checking performance against standards of quality and quantity. Simply put, monitoring is the systematic and periodic assessment of a project’s performance over time. It involves the ongoing collection and review of data to provide managers and other stakeholders with indications of progress against project plans and towards project objectives.

It sounds simple, the act of monitoring. But it is all but simple. When our M&E colleagues talk about the importance of their specialty we cannot agree more: we should keep track of performance so that we can correct or avoid mistakes, especially those that are costly to us and others. So why do projects sometimes go ‘off the rails?’

Sometimes it is easier to turn a blind eye to organizational processes or projects that look like they are heading for failure or even disaster because:

• we don’t have an objective measure (an indicator) that would tell us unambiguously that the project or process is going ‘off the rails.’
• we don’t dare to question the people in charge, especially if we are low in the hierarchy
• we don’t trust our own judgement or think we may be unnecessarily alarmists or simply wrong
• we didn’t say anything earlier and now ‘it is too late.’
• we don’t know how to ‘do it better’ or ‘put the train back on the rails.’
• we have a profound trust in our superiors’ judgement and decision making
• we are afraid that speaking out may cost us a promotion or even our job
• we are afraid that we will be labeled as ‘troublemaker’

And sometimes, when the project or process is managed by us, we may not do a course correction because:

• we are afraid to admit that we were wrong, especially if the stakes are high
• we are afraid that making a course correction now could reveal our incompetence (one of the worst labels to have in an organization)
• we can’t risk losing face, given our position or title
• we stubbornly believe that things will work out in the end, even in the face of contradictory evidence

Monitoring well

Make sure that every manager knows that monitoring is part of his or her job and cannot be delegated to the M&E specialists.

Get wide agreement on the indicator(s) that would show progress according to plan. A good indicator is valid, reliable, precise, easily understood, discrete, timely, comparable and feasible to use.

Ensure there is a system in place to collect and verify data systematically. This will facilitate the calculation of the indicators.

Involve different perspectives at the start of a project, an initiative, a new procedure or process. This reduces the changes of unanticipated consequences, having left out one or more important perspectives.

Conduct after action reviews after project milestones (rather than at the very end) to make sure the process goes as intended, and if not, to help decide what corrective action you need to take.

Conduct periodic reviews or learning sessions where the question is asked: what are we learning about our implementation approaches, in order to test hypotheses or assumptions.

If you are in a position of authority, find ways to reduce the fear that employees may have to question or critique your decisions or a given course of action. If you are in a subordinate position and fear repercussions for questioning and critiquing, find allies higher up in the organization hierarchy to share your message.

See for yourself

Jane Bertrand, faculty at Johns Hopkins University speaks about monitoring and evaluation (5 minutes).