Project Cycle Management

(PCM)
 PCM: contents
 Contents:
 Past experience of agricultural projects
 Definitions
 Why a cycle?
 (Iterative) Phases in PCM
 What does PCM entail?
 PCM and PDCA: Monitoring and evaluation
 A rosy picture?
 Past experience
How many agricultural projects were successful?
 30 years of development assistance shows:

 1/3 of projects are successful (on basis of what;

criteria?)
 1/3 of projects are problematic
 1/3 of projects are a failure
 Past experience
Main reasons problems and failure?
 Planning:
 Desk exercise: gap between planners, implementers and target
group
 Problems inadequately investigated, formulated
 Realistic objectives (goals, purpose)?
 Target group not clearly defined
 No anticipation of risks in and outside project
 Sustainability doubtful
 Implementation:
 Focus on hardware in stead of software
 No monitoring to adapt if need be and learn form experiences
 Past experience
 Solution:
 Project Cycle Management
 Objective Oriented Project Planning (OOPP) with
 Logical Framework Approach
 Meaning:
 Problem oriented
 Comprehensive package
 Sustainable approach
 Achieving:
 Relevance
 Feasibility
 Sustainability
 Impact
 PCM: Definition of project
Project?
A project is a series of planned, interrelated
activities aimed to reach a certain purpose within
a defined time-period and within a defined
budget.
 Clearly defined stakeholders including target group
 Clearly defined coordination, management and
financing arrangements
 A monitoring and evaluation (M&E) system
(supports performance management)
 Financial and economic analysis that indicates that
the projects benefits exceed its costs (social benefits?)
 PCM: Definition of project
Projects may differ:
 Purpose: health, agriculture, rural development
 Scale: area, period, financial resources, size target
group, etc.
 Hardware (technical), software (social), mixed
 Which projects are more successful?
 PCM: Definition of Program
Program?
A program is a series of planned, interrelated
projects aimed to reach a certain purpose within a
defined time-period and within a defined budget.
 Integrated (broad): health, agriculture, rural
development combined
 Large scale: area, period, financial resources, size
target group, etc.
 Mix of hardware (technical) and software (social)
Project Management?
Project management?
Concerned with the overall planning and co-

ordination of a project from inception to

completion aimed at meeting the client's
requirements and ensuring completion on time,
within cost and to required quality standards.
Project Management
 Challenge1: ensure that the project is
completed
 Challenge 2: ensure that the project is
completed and has reached its purpose
(effective: links with quality standards)
 Challenge 3: ensure that the project is
completed, is effective and completed within
the defined constraints (time and costs)
(efficient).
Project Management
Project management includes:
 Acquisition (before or after)
 Developing a project plan (which includes defining
project goals, purpose, results and activities (log frame),
specifying tasks in such a way that the purpose and goal
will be achieved, what resources are needed, and
associating budgets and a work plan with schedule).
Project Management
Project management includes:
 Implementing the project plan, along with careful
controls to stay on the "critical path", that is, to
ensure the plan is being managed according to plan
(managing the resources or inputs; staff is most
difficult).
 Reporting (oral, written; which staff?)
 Progress and financial
 Final report
Project Management versus
Project Cycle Management
 From linear to cycle
 Project cycle management usually follows
major phases (with various titles for these
phases)
Project Management versus
Project Cycle Management
 Project Management: linear
Project Management
Project Cycle Management
Environment
Evaluation and
audit Programming

Implementation
and monitoring Identification

Formulation
What does PCM entail?

Project cycle management:

A method to manage projects through all its phases
from the first idea until the final evaluation
What does PCM entail?

PCM helps to ensure that:

 Projects are relevant to an agreed strategy and to the
real problems of the target group(s)
 Objectives are feasible, meaning that the purpose can be
realistically achieved within the constraints of the
operating environment and the capabilities of the
implementing agencies
 Projects are effective, are supportive to the overarching
objectives (goal, purpose) of a donor and/or recipient
 Benefits generated by the projects are likely to be
sustainable
 PC Management (PDCA)

PCM helps to ensure that:

 Successful implementation of a project is seen as a
repetitive process of doing and learning: PDCA cycle
(Plan-Do-Check-Act)
 We are able to learn (which is better than control) from
experiences during project implementation in order to
perform better in a next cycle or project
 We can institutionalise the learning process so that
continuous improvement on effectiveness and efficiency
in planning, implementation and M&E becomes
possible
(Iterative) Phases in PCM
(depends on level/partner)
 Programming
 What are the partners development priorities?
 What is the donor’s focus for assistance? (Match?)
 Provide general guidelines for co-operation
 Specify focal sectors and themes
 Indicative project ideas
 Often multi-annual plans
(Iterative) Phases in PCM
(depends on level/partner)
 Identification
 Project ideas consistent with partner and donor
development priorities?
 Assess relevance and feasibility of project
 Start with Logical Framework approach, e.g.
identification of stakeholders
 Assess institutional capacity (can the
country/organization do it?)
 Identification phase
 Analyse information:
 Problem analysis: key problems, constraints, cause-
effect relationship (causal diagram, problem tree)
 Objective analysis: solutions for key problems,
opportunities
 Strategy analysis: select most appropriate one to
achieve solutions
 Organizational capacity assessment: select most
appropriate project implementing partner(s)
 Identification phase
 Collect information:
 Literature: books, grey literature, internet, etc
 Secondary: (statistical) data, etc.
 Primary: research using all kinds of tools/methods,
stakeholder analysis: identify and characterise;
assess capacity (RRA-PRA)
 (Iterative) Phases in PCM
(depends on level/partner)
 Formulation
 Confirm relevance and feasibility (financial,
economic, social criteria): feasibility study
 Will it deliver sustainable benefits (cost-benefit
analysis, risk assessment)?
 Prepare detailed project design (proposal writing,
including logframe, M&E system, budget, financing)
(Iterative) Phases in PCM
 Implementation and monitoring
 Carry out the activities according to plan
 Deliver the results
 Achieve the purpose
 Contribute to the goal
 Manage the resources efficiently and effectively
 Monitor and report on progress
Implementation and monitoring phase

 (Depending on size of project) operational plan:

 (Multi)Annual plan with activity schedule (work
plan) and detailed budget
 Division of responsibilities
 Based on results of monitoring: adaptation of
operational plan
(Iterative) Phases in PCM
 Evaluation and audit
 Were planned benefits achieved (purpose) and are
these sustainable?
 What lessons have been learnt?
 Costs/benefits: efficient?
 PC Management (PDCA)
Project Planning

Evaluation
Evaluation Plan
PlanAdaptation
Adaptation

Reporting
Reporting Project Implementation
Implementation

Monitoring
Monitoring

REFLECTION ACTION
Definition of monitoring
Monitoring:
 Is a regular/continuous collection, analysis and
distribution of information
 For the surveillance of progress of project
implementation (with reference to the project plan)
 Generally limited to activity and result level indicators
Definition of monitoring system
Monitoring system:
 is a set of procedures
 through which planned information
 is collected and analyzed by those responsible, and
 travels within the organisation
 to different management levels
 in order to support decision making.
 Reason of Monitoring
 To create accessible, accurate and timely
information in order to take (management)
decisions on project implementation related to
issues like;
 Time management
 Human Resources
 Material Resources
 Quality control of the services
 Finances
 For activity planning and execution
 Functions of Monitoring
 Documentation of the process of implementation
 To facilitate decision making by the management
(to improve efficiency and effectiveness)
 Track progress (compare with plan)
 To identify problems in implementation timely
 To suggest remedial action
 Checking operation and adapt to changing
circumstances
 To learn from experience/feedback to planning
Definition of Evaluation
Evaluation:
 Is an occasional assessment of a current or
completed project or programme with a view to
check and learn about:
 relevance of objectives (goal, purpose)
 efficiency
 effectiveness
 sustainability
 and wider impacts
Project Evaluation
 When?
 Mid-term (review)
 Ex-post (immediately at the end)
 Later
 How?
 Internal: by project staff or financing agency
 External: by external agency
 Participatory: stakeholders/target groups involved
Definition of Evaluation
 Relevance: The significance of the project
objectives (as formulated in the logframe) with
respect to the specific needs of the beneficiaries
of the project
 Efficiency: The extent to which a project uses
resources appropriately and completes planned
activities in a timely manner
 Effectiveness: The extent to which a project
achieves desired changes and/or meets its
objectives through the project activities (delivery
of services)
 Definition of Evaluation
 Sustainability: The extent to which the desired
impacts of a project will continue to generate
advantages after finalisation of the programme
 Wider impact: All relevant ecological, social,
(political) and economic consequences of the
results and effects of the project
 Main difference M and E

Monitoring: Evaluation:
 continuously  on demand

 during  (mid term) after

implementation  identifies lessons for

 for management new projects
 acts as an early  done by external
warning system evaluators
 done by the project
 A rosy picture?
 Constraints mainly due to:
 Gap between donor and recipient (country,
organization)
 Influence of politicians, civil servants, pressure
groups on project and staff
 Objectives not clear; risks not monitored
 Gap between formulation and operational plan
 Budget: money too late, too little
 Staffing: high turnover, not very motivated
 Too much focused on budget and activities, not on
purpose
 Monitoring time consuming and expensive