Dva2602 Managing the Project Cycle

Managing The Project Cycle

1. The assessment and planning phase

1.1 Training your staff in Project Cycle thinking

1.2 Identifying the real problems and needs

1.3 Stakeholder analysis

1.4 Problem analysis

1.5 Project planning and design

1.6 Strategic planning

1.7 Defining indicators

1.8 The action plan

1.9 The budget

1.10 Addressing the risk of a negative outcome

2. The implementation and monitoring phase

2.1 Monitoring

2.2 Participatory Impact Assessment

2.3 Distributing information

3. The evaluation phase

3.1 Purposes of evaluation

3.2 Participatory evaluation

4. The adaptation phase

1. Feeding lessons learnt back into the planning

Amsterdam May 2009

www.networklearning.org

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The Project Cycle – an overview

The project cycle consists of four stages: assessment and planning, implementation and monitoring, evaluation, and adaptation. Each stage has its own characteristics and requires specific knowledge and skills.

A Project Cycle Diagram

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The assessment phase is sometimes also called the identification phase, as in this period the “why?” of the project is the important question to ask. In this stage the real problems and issues that need to be addressed, are identified.

The assessment phase is followed by a planning phase in which goals and objectives are defined and the feasibility of the project is carefully researched. Then an action plan is made, resources are determined and the use of the resources is planned. At this stage it is already important to think about and identify indicators to be used to monitor and to evaluate the project.

In the implementation phase, during which the project is actually carried out, continuous monitoring needs to take place, in order to watch whether the project is on the right track, is meeting its objectives and is using its resources as planned.

During the evaluation phase the project...