Training Completion Report: Programme On Project Management Tools For PACS Partners
Training Completion Report: Programme On Project Management Tools For PACS Partners
Training Completion Report: Programme On Project Management Tools For PACS Partners
Programme
On
Project Management Tools for PACS
Partners
Organized by,
Development Alternatives, Jhansi
Resource Group
Background:
The civil society has been at the forefront of the efforts to bring about change in the
lives of millions in our country. The efforts have been generously supported by
government, private and bilateral donors. The ground realities however have not
changed much. This is not a comment on the work being done by the civil society.
They are working in some of the most challenging environment and therefore their
efforts are commendable. The failure to see changes in the life of people with whom
we work forces us to rethink our paradigm.
Civil society has been playing important role in changing lives of the poor people and
they need to continue playing this role due to growing challenges arising out of
liberalisation, environmental degradation and increasing gap between poor and rich.
What is needed perhaps is a close scrutiny of the way we have always been doing
things. This includes taking a close look at the processes concerning the
development project planning and implementation.
The empirical evidences show that many a times the CSOs themselves have little
idea about the kind of projects they are implementing and what they have to achieve
from the projects and beyond. Efficient Project Management has three components
viz, Project Selection, Project Implementation and Project Evaluation. It is with this
background that we have designed a three day module that looks at the cross
cutting issues related to project management.
This was the second programme on the project management organised by Training
Systems Group.
The programme goal was to impart knowledge and skills on the tools and techniques
used for identification, selection, preparation and appraisal of projects, their
implementation, monitoring, control and evaluation.
1- Project Planning covering situation and stakeholder analysis, project cycle and
developing log frame, objective and goal setting etc.
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5- Other Project Management tools such as PIP, Standard Costing and Budgeting
Methodology Adapted:
Lectures
Participatory lectures
Group Exercises
Case/Situation analysis
Card sort
Based on the feedback received from the participant’s participatory lectures were
most preferred.
Course Material:
Although the Project Management is an important need of the NGO sector there is
dearth of accurate and relevant material which can be easily accessed by the
development practitioners. Much of the available literature in India on the subject is
based on the international publications and commissioned studies by the
international/bilateral agencies. Many of the academicians and experts (national and
international) have extensively used the language from corporate sector.
For developing the course material we visited a number of libraries and consulted
senior development professionals. In developing the same we have extensively used
the UNDP guidelines as well as relevant material from other published source.
Day One
The first day started at 9.30 Am sharp. Santosh Kr.Pathak welcomed the participants
and initiated the proceedings of the three days. Mr. Pathak informed that as against
expected 20-25, only 15 persons have participated and he expressed more
committed response from PACS CSO partners for such important facility. Sachin
Mardikar provided a synopsis of the three days programme and the basis of
developing the same.
The first day started with the round of introduction and expectations mapping. The
objective of this session was to know the kind of work the CSOs have been doing on
the field. This would help customize the examples and illustrations from their field of
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interest during the next three days. The participants used cards to introduce them as
also wrote down their expectations from the programme. Each of the participants
introduced him/herself and their organisations and kind of the projects they are
handling not only in PACS but also others. They also informed as to what position
they held in their respective organisations alongside number of years of experience.
Most of the participants were at Project Co-ordinator level and had about 0 to 2
years of experience. Four of the participants had professional degrees in social work
while the rest had graduated from the field work experience.
Expectations
These expectations were discussed in detail and trainers informed that they will try
to deal with the above expectations during the course.
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The second session of the day was on components of project management. Mr.
Shirish Kulkarni informed the participants about the project planning process and
how effective project management starts off with planning process. And this includes
a through understanding of the target group, situation and stake holder analysis. The
participants were asked to reflect on their projects and then identify the target
group. While there was clarity with some participants, a good number needed inputs
in the area of identifying the target group. The facilitators helped them think through
this process. For this an using an analogy of marriage within a family the participants
were asked to write down various activities on a chit. These chits were then mixed
and drawn one by one. The participants read out the activities which were recorded
on the board in a logical sequence.
Need assessment -> Organisational background -> Vision and Mission -> Goal ->
Objective -> Strategy -> activities -> monitoring -> Output -> outcome -> Impact -
> Evaluation
Thereafter the session on Project cycle was taken up by Mr. Sachin Mardikar. The
participants were given a framework that helped them understand the project cycle,
starting with the Project Selection and ending with Project evaluation.
During the Post Lunch Session the participants were given a framework on Project
Planning Process. This was followed by an elaborate lecture giving illustrations from
the field. Based on the inputs provided in the session, three groups of participants
were formed. Each of the group was to have prepared an outline of the project based
on predetermined thematic areas of Panchayat Raj, Women’s Empowerment and
Livelihood.
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The day concluded with a small assignment on a case of Bus Driver which the
participants were required to go through discuss on day two.
Day Two
The second day started with recap of the first day by a group of participants. They
presented their learning’s of the first day and also provided with a feedback of the
participants.
Session on developing
monitoring indicators
for objectives,
activities, outputs and
outcomes was
organised to help
people understand the
effective monitoring
tools during the
implementation
process. Inputs on
developing
quantitative and
qualitative indicators
were given and with a
view to help
participants develop
the skills in this area they were given group exercise on developing the indicators for
objectives and activities. The participants were asked to use the same project
examples that were utilised for understanding the project planning framework viz.
Panchayat Raj, Women’s Empowerment and Livelihood. The participants presented
the indicators developed by them which were further refined with a view to help
them understand as to how to develop effective qualitative and quantitative
indicators for effective monitoring of the progress of the project. From the project
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monitoring point of view having well articulated indicators help everyone concerned
in effective management of the project because they know the activities and also the
measurement aids beforehand.
The case given on the previous day one was that of increased incidents of accidents
and that of bus operator. The participants were required to frame the problem and
also develop objectives.
After screening of the film the relevance adapting participatory approach in todays
context was explained. While the participants had prior knowledge of various
techniques being used, they expressed that they had used it in the context of project
planning and less as an effective tool for monitoring and management as well.
The post lunch session on understanding human processes used the principles game
to create an artificial situation where two groups take a decision based on known
outcome (pay offs are known). Please refer to Annexure 3 for an outline of the
exercise. The game brings out quite clearly that we tend to look at the whole concept
of winning as defeating others and yet it is clear that cooperation and collaboration
are key to success within an organization.
- Leadership behaviour
- Negotiation Skills
- Decision making and consensus
- Winning through cooperation rather than competition
In the context of project management this is very important because projects are
executed by teams and unless we learn to collaborate and cooperate the project
wont be a success.
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The visit to taragram was useful and participants were exposed to working models of
development and livelihood generation. They appreciated the efforts made by
Development Alternatives group in technology and livelihoods.
Day Three
The third day of the programme started with disbursement of travel dues to the
participants by the DA Accounts team. The recap team presented the learning’s of
the programme from the day 2.
At the start of the day we reviewed the participant’s expectations that had been
enlisted the day before at the start of the programme. We realized that we had dealt
with all the issues that were enlisted on the first day. However, the participants felt
that we need to give them some ready tips or tools on Project Management. This
concern was put before the rest of the group and it was decided to change the
schedule to accommodate the concerns of the participants.
1. Strategic Planning
2. Annual / Quarterly and Monthly
Review Meeting
3. Logframe
4. Result Based Management
(RBM) Framework
5. Management Information
System
a. Project Implementation Plan
b. Standard costing
c. Budgetary control system
d. CPM and PERT Techniques
Thereafter Mr. Shirish Kulkarni gave a detailed overview of the Mid Term and end
Term evaluation Process, its need, and relevance. He also gave detailed instructions
on how to go about organizing a mid term and end term evaluation. During the
discussions the difference between outcome monitoring and outcome evaluation was
also discussed in great detail. The participants were acquainted with the core
principles of the impact/outcome evalusation. WIith a view to help participants
relate with the session they were given an exercise of developing the indicators for
outputs and outcome/impact. They were asked to use the same projects that were
developed by them during project planning framework. After the presentation of the
group exercise they were given inputs on evaluation methodology. The importance of
evaluation was also discussed alongside its relevance in future planning processes at
the level of CSOs.
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The last session of the day was wrapping up wherein a brief recap of all the input
sessions and also the overall PM framework was discussed.
The day concluded with a formal valedictory functioned. Mr. Santosh Kr. Pathak from
the TSG Development Alternatives presided over the function and guided the
participants.
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Most Needs No
satisfactory Improvement Response
Choice of Language of the 13 1 1
facilitator (Hindi/English etc)
Facilitation Process 11 3 1
Ensuring Participation 12 2 1
The above table reveals that the participants responded positively to the
language used by the trainers, facilitation process used and efforts put in by
them to ensure participation during the various sessions.
However, there were a few who preferred less participatory approach and
thought otherwise (preference for lecture method).
However, there were a few exceptions who felt the daily recap, PLC, PRA and
HR Techniques could have been dropped.
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The schedule was revisited on day three and a complete session on Project
management Tools was taken up. This session provided details of all the
commonly used tools and techniques for project management such as CPM,
PERT, PIP, Logframe, RBM etc.
These topics were also appreciated and found useful and relevant by them
7. Key learning’s from the programme (as per the evaluation form filled in
by participants):
The participants were asked to list down 3 key learning’s from the training
programme. These are listed as under:
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1
Source: feedback collected by the TSG Team
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We had a few opportunities to have interactions with participants during training and
informal times and also during visit to Taragram Orcha. Based on these interactions
we would like to make few suggestions in organizing such training prorammes.
We do hope these will help strengthen the processes at the TSG level to help deliver
more effective training inputs to the CSOs.
f. Venue: A hotel for a learning programme such as this may not be the right
idea. Confined in the rooms it discourages participation at peer level and thus
restricts the cross learning opportunities that might be available.
We would like to express our thanks to Mr. K.K. Upadhayay, Programme Manager,
Mr. Santosh Pathak and Ms. Juhi Vaidya in taking care of the logistics and providing
other administrative support during the training programme. We are also thankful to
Management Consultants for the PACS programme for giving this opportunity and do
look forward to long term fruitful relationship.
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PROGRAMME SCHEDULE
Project Management
09.30 - 10.00 Welcome, Introductions, SYK and SYM Ice Breaking through Card
Course Objectives and Sort
Expectations from
Participants
02:00 - 03:15 Project Planning - Setting SYK and SYM Group Exercise, 4 groups
Objectives, Goals and to be formed. Issues to be
Output Statements covered - Livelihoods,
Gender with special
reference to Violence
against Women, Women's
Empowerment and
Disability
10.00 - 11:15 Introduction to PRA Tools SYK and SYM Sharing of Groups
for Project Planning and Experience and followed by
3-Feb-05
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Project Management
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Annexure 1
List of Participants
Name Organization
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Annexure 2
Evaluation form
Training Course on Project Management Tools,
Jhansi (4-6 October 2005)
Facilitators:
Mr. Shirish Y. Kulkarni and Sachin Mardikar
Constructive Catalyst Community Development Consultants, Pune
Evaluation Form
2. Do you think your expectations from the programme have been met? Please tick
3. Please rank the various training methods which we used (1= Most preferred and so on)
Facilitation Process
Ensuring Participation
5. Which of the topics you found Most Useful and Relevant Could have been dropped
most useful and Relevant Please
comment on the following (Please
tick )
Project Management
Components
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LFA Techniques
PIP
HRD
Financial
Management/Budgeting
6. Please comment on the time More time Adequate Less Time Should
devoted to each of the following Needed have been
topics(Please tick )
Project Management
Components
LFA Techniques
PIP
HRD
Financial
Management/Budgeting
a)
b)
c)
8. How do you propose to use the learning’s from the training programme
a)
b)
c)
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a)
b)
c)
10. Any other suggestions or comments you would like to make on the overall training
programme
Thank You!
Annexure 3
Directions
For Ten Rounds the Green Team will select either an “A” or “B” and the
Red team will select either an “X” or “Y”. The score for each team is
determined by both teams joint decision. It is computed according to
the following schedule:
4*
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9*
10**
Total
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