Project design and implementation
Development Projects are designed to address “development problem” or constraint. Often, there is a general consensus that the current situation is unsatisfactory and needs changes. Since the current situation is unsatisfactory, presumably, there might appear a future “desired” situation that would result from an intervention targeting some or all of the problems underlying the current situation. This intervention, which we may call a Development Project (Program, Initiative, Intervention), will be typically short- to medium-term and promote medium- to long-term changes to create the future Desired Situation.
AM Partners applies development of a Project Logical Framework Matrix (LFM) as an essential tool for the conceptualization, design, execution, monitoring and evaluation of projects. Actually, we use LFM at all the Project cycle stages: identification, orientation, analysis, presentation stakeholders, execution, monitoring, and ex-post evaluation.
The LFM is a four-by-four matrix. The four columns contain the information below:
- Description/definition of the Objectives and Activities;
- Set of SMART Indicators (benchmarking the target);
- Means of Verification (sources of data-feeding indicators); and
- Assumptions (factors affecting Project implementation).
The four rows of the LFM present information at four different hierarchical levels of the Project. Those levels are: Goal, Purpose, Outputs/Components, and Activities.
- Goal: long-term impact to which Project ultimately contributes;
- Purpose: measurable outcome achieved upon Project implementation;
- Outputs/Components: “deliverables” of Project implementation;
- Activities: certain measures producing planned Outputs/Components.