Within the development field there is an increasingly strong onus on development programmes and organisations, particularly by donors, to show what impact their work has had. The rise of communication as an integral part of most successful organisations and projects means that communication practices are also now subject to monitoring and evaluation (M and E). The M and E of communication has been historically difficult to do. Methods and practices are evolving all the time in this area. Here at CommsConsult we take a keen interest in any progression in this area, and we are constantly questioning current methods and practices and looking at ways we can develop and take a lead in this area.
There is increasing awareness that measuring ‘impacts’, particularly in a quantitative way, is not always a fair way to look at a programmes performance. ‘Impacts’ can take many years to be seen, and are often the result of numerous social and economic actions by multiple actors. The current trend is for M and E techniques to look for ‘impact’ through behavioural change, through the stories of individuals working on projects and in organisations, and by having M and E firmly integrated into communication strategies to help frame target audiences, and signposts signs of success.
The following list of documents provides both quantitative and qualitative accounts of M and E for development and communication. We are currently working on an M and E working paper series, the first paper which explores Lograme analysis, Outcome Mapping and Most Significant Change (MSC), is expected to be available soon.
