DP 4.- Ok, we have a project: how do we implement it?

Step 3.- The implementation

Implementing a development project is not a piece of cake. There are many things that do not occur as planned and many things from the design have to change in order to adapt to the reality. The designed plan is a document that needs to be alive, that has to change when it is needed but sometimes this is not possible. Why? I have summarize 3 reasons that in my opinion are responsible for a bad implementation:

1.- The importance of the field: Projects need a person permanently testing the project advances in the place where the project is being implemented. The person in the field is the key to changing decisions, and the opinion of this person has to be very considered. Sometimes these projects are implemented from the headquarters of an organization, and the reality is only tested when there is a trip to the area of the project. It is very easy to make a person think that a project is going as planned on a short monitoring trip and the reality can be distorted.

The field is to me the most important part of a project. After all, it is the place where reality has to change. After living for 7 years I the field, I have seen how projects were not well executed, and I have felt very frustrated when my opinions were not listened. Every project needs a person permanently in contact with the recipients, working hand on hand. The responsible of the project is the field has a very important voice that needs to be heard, and if the project needs changes, the design should be changed.

2.- The money and the donor: Donors don´t like changes of plans. When an organization has designed a plan, it is very important for them to make sure that the plan has been followed step by step, and sometimes a change of plans can result on big problems, even if the change is needed to get the objectives. Some agencies need to be asked for every little thing you want to change in a project, and the answer can take months due to bureaucracy. Some NGOs don´t want to change anything from the logic framework because they know they will be punished by their donors, but, how can you work with a living organism without a plan that doesn´t adapt? Flexibility is a very important tool for good results, and changing things should be a possibility. But, do we make the changes we need if we feel that we will be punished with less funding in the future due to the changes? Do we make the changes we need if we don’t have enough money to support them?

3.- The apparent transparency of the plan: The fear of changes in a  plan does not lead to good results but there is a tendency to believe that transparency is shown only when you have followed every step of the plan you prepared. I have seen myself afraid of changing an activity because it could look from the outside as a bad distribution of the money. Transparency should be about not being afraid of making changes and being able to explain in every moment the reasons behind the changes. Transparency is to make public why you made a decision, not about being able to stick to the plan.

The implementation of a project should be all about finding solutions, and the project cycle and the logical framework are just tools that need to adapt to the evolution of a process.

Are the tools we use flexible enough to rech our goals?

4 comentarios / 13 Jan 2013 por Paloma Andres Urrutia
IMSD /

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