Standard 11: Evidence based, action-oriented project management.

• Primary responsible: Project manager or chief of party (PM/CoP)
  • The PM/CoP establishes an enabling environmentThis enabling environment is sometimes referred to as a “psychologically safe” workplace. Dr. Amy Edmonson defines “psychological safety” as “a belief that one will not be punished or humiliated for speaking up with ideas, questions, concerns, or mistakes” (for more on psychological safety, see the TEDx talk in “Other Resources”). for project reflection, learning and adaptation, ensures intentionality in project learning, and oversees the documentation and dissemination of project learning outputs.

• Others involved:  Head of programming (HoP); country representative (CR); CRS and partner project team, including MEAL staff; technical advisors (country program, regional, and global); country program and regional business development staff; IDEA staff; Program Impact and Quality Assurance (PIQA) communications team
  • The HoP supports the PM/CoP in establishing the enabling environment and supports key learning and sharing activities;
  • The CR provides leadership in reinforcing an enabling environment for reflection, learning, and adaptation in the wider country program; CRS and partner project team membersConsistent with CRS’ guiding principle of subsidiarity, it’s especially important for the PM/CoP to facilitate the engagement of CRS and partner staff who work most closely with communities, households, and individuals participating in the project.  actively contribute to project reflection and learning, including by sharing their day-to-day observations and questions, identifying topics for deeper learning and sharing, and helping to plan and implement learning activities;
  • Technical advisors (MEAL, sector specialists, partnership and capacity strengthening staff) support project learning, including identifying  topics, audiences, and opportunities for sharing learning;
  • Country program and regional business development and IDEA staff strategize about the most effective ways to share project learning with institutional donors;
  • PIQA communications team staff may provide support with guidance and templates for documenting learning and sharing it with external stakeholders.

• Ongoing throughout project implementation.
• Aim to hold at least one project learning event per year.

Follow these steps to promote intentional learning and adaptation throughout project implementation:

Regular project opportunities for continuous learning

1. At the start of project implementation, the PM/CoP establishes a regular frequency (e.g. monthly) for project team meetings to check in on project plans, discuss field observations --particularly observations that are unexpected in light of project assumptions--and make tactical adjustments as needed.
2. The PM/CoP develops an agenda for these check-in meetings along with a meeting facilitation approach to encourage intentional learning and open sharing of successes, challenges, opportunities, questions, and concerns, including project issues and risks (see Standard 11, key action 2).

• Review and adapt the example Monthly Monitoring Meetings ChecklistCRS Zambia’s MAWA project team developed this checklist to encourage reflection and learning in their regular meetings, using an “evaluative thinking” approach (for more on evaluative thinking, see the videos under “Other Resources”).  as useful. Talk to staff with experience facilitating similar learning-focused check-in meetings.
• Use these meetings to reflect on learning, guided by a series of simple questions.
• Use the Getting Started Guide: Practical Learning at CRS for ideas on how to promote a common understanding of learning across members of the project team as well as exercises and activities to foster intentional learning.
• Organize and manage the check-in meetings using approaches that enable differing and even conflicting experiences to be expressed and heard.
• Invite staff to share what they have heard from project participants during project field visits and other interactions with community members.
• Depending on the size and structure of the project team, the PM/CoP may also need to work with senior field-level staffIf senior field-level staff will lead these meetings, invite them to participate in a PM/CoP-facilitated meeting early in project implementation. Provide coaching and accompaniment as needed to help staff create the enabling environment for intentional learning at field-team level. to establish a similar pattern and plan for meetings with CRS and partner field-based staff. Follow up with the leaders of field-based meetings to ensure they document and share key points.

Build project team knowledge, skills, and attitudes for adaptive management:Adaptive management is an approach to tackling complex challenges. The starting point is an assumption of uncertainty about what will work to address the challenge. It is then characterized by a flexible approach involving testing, monitoring, getting feedback and – crucially – making course-corrections if necessary.  (Adaptive management: What it means for civil society organisations, Bond, 2016)  The PM/CoP should work with project team members to assess their knowledge, skills, and attitudes (KSAs) relating to three areas that are key to effective project management:

• Collaborating – intentionally identifying internal and external key stakeholders and engaging them appropriately
• Learning – identifying knowledge assets and addressing knowledge gaps, testing the project theory of change, assessing risks and opportunities, optimizing monitoring, evaluation, and accountability efforts
• Adapting – taking time to reflect on learning and the bigger picture, and to act on that learning.

Ask colleagues with experience in these KSAs for suggestions on how to strengthen them. See also Standard 14, key action 2 (Identify gaps in staff skills in project management, and develop and implement plans to address them) for additional resources.

3. The PM/CoP carefully plans for intentional learning in each formal quarterly and annual planning and review meeting.

• See Standard 11, key action 3 for detailed guidance on collecting and analyzing project MEAL data.
• See Standard 11, key action 4 for detailed guidance on planning and facilitating quarterly and annual project planning and review meetings.

Amplify the voice of staff closest to project participants: The most meaningful project learning and most effective adaptations often emerge from the perspectives of staff who work most closely with project participants. However, many projects fail to ensure that the views of these staff are heard, especially in larger meetings with more senior staff. When planning any project check-in or review meeting, the PM/CoP and any other facilitators must pay close attention to participant dynamics and structure the meeting in ways that amplify the vital voices of these staff. Remember that efforts to foster a culture of learning and openness in formal meetings will only succeed if that culture is also modeled and cultivated in day-to-day project team interactions.   

4. The PM/CoP and project team use the learning emerging from these meetings to make appropriate tactical and strategic adjustments to implementation strategies and plans, and to adapt formal project learning activities (see below).

Formal project learning activities and events (internal and external)

In addition to adopting the intentional approach to learning described above across all project planning and review activities, use the following guidance to effectively plan and implement project activities and events explicitly focused on learning.

5. The PM/CoP works with CRS and partner project team members and others as needed (e.g., sectoral and MEAL technical advisors and others who have organized similar activities) to plan formal project learning activities. Internal and external project learning activities and events may include the following:

Sharing learning with external stakeholders: Plan thoughtfully for external stakeholder engagement in project learning events, keeping in mind the learning objectives and interests of both the project team and each external stakeholder. Refer to project plans and analysis related to stakeholder communication and influence (including any project donor engagement plan and the (forthcoming) SMILER+ stakeholder communication plan). Reflect on whether the learning would be best shared and discussed in an event with a wider group of stakeholders, or in meetings and discussions with individual stakeholders or smaller stakeholder groups. Refer to MEAL Procedure 7.2MEAL Procedure 7.2: Communicate progress and evaluation findings to key stakeholders according to their information needs. when planning how to share project learning from baseline studies and mid-term evaluations.

6. The PM/CoP, with support from the HoP as needed, engages the region and PIQA to assist with documenting project learning. Regional and PIQA support will vary depending on the project and its available resources, as well as the stakeholder’s communication needs and preferences. Adapt and package source information and messaging to each target audience. Think creatively, and contact IDEA donor communications staff for support with templates.

Focus on learning that is immediately relevant to the project: The possibilities for project learning can seem limitless. Discussion of project learning priorities during MEAL system development helps the project team focus on key areas for learning. However, learning priorities may evolve during project implementation based on changes in the operating environment and data from the project MEAL system. Focus on generating learning the project team can apply to make appropriate adaptations during the life of the project.

7. The PM/CoP leads the CRS and partner project team in implementing the formal internal and external learning activities and events.

8. The PM/CoP, working with the HoP and technical advisors as needed, identifies any other CRS stakeholders who might be interested the learning products or the project team’s experience planning and implementing the learning events, and shares the relevant information.

Learning beyond the project team: Learning from one project can contribute to strengthening the design, planning and management of other projects. TAs will bring important perspectives on what may be innovative and of interest, and can help frame project learning within the larger context of a technical programming area – share learning with them, and seek their inputs regarding other CRS stakeholders who might be interested in project learning. Disseminate relevant project learning within the country program, to regional and headquarters staff, and to donor engagement staff.

9. Following internal and external learning events, the PM/CoP uploads relevant learning documentation to Gateway, for future reference and use.

• If required by a project donor, upload learning documentation to relevant donor databases as well (e.g., Development Experience Clearinghouse).

Use project learning to regularly update project past performance references. Past performance references (PPRs) are a good way to summarize information about project achievements and key learning, and are very important for CRS’ business development efforts. Update PPRs regularly (e.g. annually) to reflect the most recent project results and learning. See MEAL Procedure 8.1MEAL Procedure 8.1: Complete end-of-project past performance references (PPRs) to document project learning and post to Gateway. for more information.