Project Cycle Management Technical Guide By Nanjan Siva, Consultant, Rural and Tribal Development

Project Cycle
Management
Technical
Guide

Nanjan Siva
Consultant - Rural and Tribal Development
sivananjan@rediffmail.com

PCM Technical Guide - N.Siva, Consultant – Rural and Tribal Development - 2009

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Nature of Projects
Projects represent the commitment of human and physical resources to produce specific
outputs in a given time and budget framework.

Projects vary in scale, purpose and duration. They may be initiated within a community,
requiring modest inputs and producing tangible outputs within a relatively short
timeframe. At the other extreme, projects may require substantial financial resources
and only generate benefits in the long term. For example, the former could be an adult
literacy project in a village; the latter may be the provision of universal primary
education for all children of school age in a country. Whilst the former needs one
trainer and a few teaching materials, the latter requires numerous schools, teachers,
equipment and administration.

Projects may stand-alone or be integrated into a programme, with several projects
contributing to one overall goal. Despite the difference in scale and nature of projects,
there are aspects of sound project management that are universal.

The Project Cycle

Six stages are typically identified in the project cycle. They are:

1. Identification: generation of the initial project idea and preliminary design

2. Preparation: detailed design of the project addressing technical and operational
aspects

3. Appraisal: analysis of the project from technical, financial, economic, gender,
social, institutional and environmental perspectives

4. Proposal preparation, approval and financing: writing the project proposal,
securing approval for implementation and arranging sources of finance

5. Implementation and monitoring: implementation of project activities, with on-
going checks on progress and feedback

6. Evaluation: periodic review of project with feedback for next project cycle.





PCM Technical Guide - N.Siva, Consultant – Rural and Tribal Development - 2009

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Stages in the Project Cycle



The cycle represents a continuous process in which each stage provides the foundation
for the next. For example, the information generated during project identification
(Stage I) provides the basis for detailed project design (Stage II). Stage III reviews the
information generated during the preceding two stages from several perspectives to
ensure the project is viable. Stages I to III provide the foundations for a project. If they
are sound, the project is more likely to succeed in subsequent stages, in terms of
securing funding and competent implementation. However, at any point in the first
three stages it may be decided that it is more appropriate not to proceed with the
proposed project.

Stage 1: Project Identification

The first stage in the project cycle is the identification of projects. Where do project
ideas come from? How do they reflect the needs of a community?

This section discusses the process of project identification and presents techniques that
can be used to enable projects to be identified in a participatory manner.

1. Initial Review
2. Situational Analysis
3. Socio-economic and Gender Analysis
4. Identification of Potential Projects

PCM Technical Guide - N.Siva, Consultant – Rural and Tribal Development - 2009

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Stage 2: Project Design

1. Logical Framework :

The logical framework was developed in the 1960s by USAID and today its use is
widespread throughout the development community by, for example, DFID, EU,
FAO,GTZ and World Bank. One of its principal strengths is its relevance to
several stages of the project cycle: not only does it guide project preparation; it
is also used as a basis for project monitoring and evaluation (Commission of the
European Communities, 1993).

The framework sets out the basic structure of a project in a four by four matrix.
The main headings are:

1. The project structure, in terms of activities, outputs, purpose and goal
2. Targets for each element of the project structure (known as Objectively
Verifiable Indicators) expressed in terms of quantity, quality, time, target
group and place
3. Sources of information (known as the Means of Verification) for
verifying progress towards achieving the targets
4. The external environment, identifying factors beyond the control of the
project that may affect the project’s implementation and sustainability.

Logical Framework














PCM Technical Guide - N.Siva, Consultant – Rural and Tribal Development - 2009

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1. Project structure

The project structure is specified in terms of four elements:

1. The project activities (or inputs)
2. The outputs (or results) generated by the activities
3. The contribution of the outputs to the immediate purpose (or
objective) of the project
4. The contribution of the purpose to the wider development goal.





2. External environment (important assumptions)

This column records factors that influence project performance but are beyond
the control of the project’s management. They are expressed as positive
conditions (assumptions) that need to be in place in order to progress from
activities through to the goal.

The linkage between the project structure (column one) and the external
environment (column four) is often referred to the ‘if and then’ statement. For
example, if the activities are undertaken and certain assumptions hold true, then
the outputs will be achieved.

PCM Technical Guide - N.Siva, Consultant – Rural and Tribal Development - 2009

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Relationship between Project Structure and External Environment


To complete this column, three questions need to be addressed:

If the activities are undertaken, what other factors need to be in place in order
for the outputs to be achieved?
If the outputs are achieved, what other factors need to be in place in order for
them to lead to the purpose?
If the purpose is achieved, what other factors need to be in place in order for it
to contribute to the goal?


PCM Technical Guide - N.Siva, Consultant – Rural and Tribal Development - 2009

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Clearly it is not realistic to record all possible assumptions in this column. Hence
distinction is drawn between three types of assumptions:

Assumptions which are either not important for the outcome of the project or are
very likely to occur are excluded from the logical framework
Assumptions which are important but are not 100% certain are included in the
framework and are monitored during implementation
Assumptions that are central to the success of the project but are not likely to
occur require the project to be redesigned or rejected.

The latter type of assumption requires special attention. If it is not noticed at the design
stage and the project proceeds, it may result in the project failing. Thus it is known as a
killing factor. It may be overcome by including an additional activity that will overcome
the assumption into the project design.



3. Objectively Verifiable Indicators (OVIs)

Purpose of indicators - Indicators are identified for each element of the
project structure. They are quantifiable data used to demonstrate results; hence
they provide the basis for project monitoring and evaluation. Socio-economic and
gender dimensions of a project can be recorded through the use of gender
sensitive indicators

Characteristics of indicators

Indicators are targeted in terms of:

Quantity (how much)
Quality (how well)
Target group (who)
Time/duration(when and for how long)
Location (where)
PCM Technical Guide - N.Siva, Consultant – Rural and Tribal Development - 2009

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Distinction is drawn between quantitative and qualitative indicators: the former focus
on objective aspects of the project, such as quantities, whilst the latter are more
subjective, capturing people’s judgments and perceptions about a subject. They are
complementary and both are important for effective monitoring and evaluation.




Disaggregated data

Communities are not homogeneous and the impacts of projects are not neutral. Often
projects are intended to benefit specific members of a community. Hence it is important
to disaggregate the indicators with reference to appropriate socioeconomic
characteristics such as sex, age, ethnicity, wealth and disability.




PCM Technical Guide - N.Siva, Consultant – Rural and Tribal Development - 2009

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Criteria for selecting indicators

Various criteria may be used to help identify appropriate indicators:
relevant to the needs and capabilities of the user
easy to collect, use and understand
clarity of definition, unambiguous, accurate and reliable
sensitive to record changes induced by the project
independent of each other
as few as possible, concentrating on measuring important project features whilst
avoiding over aggregation.
Identification of indicators

It is appropriate for stakeholders to participate in the process of identifying indicators,
particularly when projects have a strong qualitative component. The community’s
perspective of an improvement in their quality of life may differ from that of an
outsider’s. It may also be relevant to distinguish between women and men’s
perspectives.

Baseline data

In order to observe changes resulting from project activities it is necessary to establish
benchmarks against which indicators can be judged. In the absence of such data,
baseline surveys, capturing quantitative and qualitative information, may form one of
the early project activities. These surveys may also be used as an opportunity to
sensitise the community about the purpose and nature of the project.

Milestones

In addition to indicators, some projects also identify milestones. Milestones ensure that
progress is being made towards attaining project outputs and purpose at regular
intervals during a project’s life.





PCM Technical Guide - N.Siva, Consultant – Rural and Tribal Development - 2009

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4. Means of Verification (MOV)

Once the indicators have been identified, it is necessary to identify the sources of
information that will be used to verify project performance. Sources of information used
for monitoring project activities and outputs are usually part of project documentation.
The means of verifying the goal will often be drawn from published sources. Qualitative
indicators may be verified by informal surveys. Verification data should be timely, cost
effective to collect, reliable and independent of biases. If the information is not readily
available in a format suitable for monitoring and evaluation, specific arrangements for
data collection should be included in the project activities. This may be particularly
important when considering socio-economic and gender aspects of a project.

5. Other features

Pre-conditions

Sometimes a fifth cell is included at the bottom of the fourth column (Assumptions) in
which pre-conditions are noted, namely those conditions which need to be in place prior
to commencing project activities.





Project sustainability

The logical framework should be able to demonstrate the sustainability of project
benefits beyond the immediate project life. During project design, attention should be
paid to policies, institutions, infrastructure, socio-economic and cultural issues, and the
state of the economy. It may be necessary to include additional project activities or
external assumptions in order to ensure the project’s long-term viability. The concept of
sustainability should also be reflected in the OVIs for the project purpose.


PCM Technical Guide - N.Siva, Consultant – Rural and Tribal Development - 2009

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