Let’s get straight to it : MONITORING AND EVALUATION IS NOT A ‘ONE-MAN BAND’ JOB!
YES, I SAID IT!
We know that M&E is often an afterthought when developing plans, programmes, and policies because it is the ‘accountability factor’ that can be quite the stressor to contemplate on. You are often clear on what you want to do, and even why you want to do it, but less clear on how you will know if what you want to do is effective. As such, required resources are often underestimated and work is often relegated to one individual who plays the role of ‘head cook and bottle-washer' for M&E.
Imagine with me for a moment: Jamal is an M&E Officer who is solely responsible for the development and implementation of an M&E 5-year Plan. In addition to this, he is to design and implement all the surveys, collect internal reports, conduct interviews, manage evaluations, attend monthly meetings, employ a computerized monitoring system, perform data analysis, and prepare reports on a strict timeline and limited budget.
WHOA Jamal- that’s a whole lot for you to do.
Jamal may have ended up in this predicament because in the M&E job market, the majority of the job titles you will see include roles such as M&E Officer or M&E Consultant as the sole professionals in the field of M&E. These roles are indeed the ‘front-line’ players in this field. However it takes a TEAM to operationalize an M&E plan as such there are a few more roles to consider that are critical in the development and execution of the activities and operations of the plan; but before we get into who those individuals are, here are some points to keep in mind when thinking about an M&E Team:
Members of the team can come directly (internally) from the organization that requires the evaluation or outsourced individuals or groups from an M&E organization (external), or a combination of internal and external individuals.
The functions of each team member are not necessarily solely focused on the speciality of M&E (For example IT Personnel).
All members do not need to be specialists in monitoring and evaluation (This is dependent on the requirements of the project).
The members of a team do not necessarily all work at once, as such the different stages of the Monitoring and Evaluation plan may require different members and expertise.
So let's get into what those roles of the M&E Team are in the table below :
TEAM MEMBER(S) | SOME MAIN TASKS | NOTES |
M&E Coordinator/ Manager |
| Some of these functions may be outsourced to a consultant as needed. |
M&E Officer |
| Research assistants can also assimilate into this role of officers as it is a similar skillset but different approach and objectives. |
IT/ Data Personnel |
| Dependent on how computerized your M&E process is, the need for IT personnel is increasingly necessary to address the matters concerning software and hardware situations and support overall data management |
Field Staff |
| In some cases, these persons may be managed by external partners but they are critical to the success of your M&E plan and are thus an extension of your team. |
Did you associate with any of these team members for M&E?
I'm sure Jamal could use the help of some of these members, right?
Truth be told, even if you won’t have all these persons, at the very least you should try to advocate for access to two based on the size and stage of the M&E plan.
For sure, we know for several organizations that we work with it's just not possible to hire so many people on a limited budget. The intention of this post is therefore not to tell you to hire a whole team but certainly to be mindful that M&E is not a 'one-man band job'. There are many others that help to bring the M&E plan to fruition and the spirit of teamwork should be encouraged and accommodated in the M&E space for efficiency and dynamism. Contact us if you want help designing a customized solution for your M&E needs.