Current Indicator Discussions
The donor agencies' websites vary in quality, and they do not always implement their own results-based management guidelines, but if you are working with them, it is wise to know how the different agencies, at least in theory, approach results-based management. This page is updated regularly, but the links sometimes expire as the agencies archive their old material. If that happens, a search for the title can often find them in other locations.
These websites have a variety of tools, opinions and news of potential relevance to people wanting to improve RBM skills:
- The Cambodia Ministry of Planning's Monitoring And Evaluation: An Approach To Strengthen Planning In Cambodia [PDF - about 2 MB] is not revolutionary but it is a good, solid primer for line agencies on how to integrate Results-Based Management in national planning. It deserves a wider audience, but was originally buried deeply in some arcane and difficult to find location on the Ministry of Planning website. [See review]
- Sarah Holzapfel's The Role of Indicators in Development Cooperation published as a research study in 2014 by the German Development Institute provides a detailed, 238-page review of of how aid agencies use standard development indicators, and the advantages and disadvantages of doing so. [See review] A shorter version was published as a discussion paper, but the full study is worth reading.
- The World Resources Institute's Governance of Forests Initiative (GFI) Guidance Manual, (you will find it in the upper left-hand corner of that web page) contains a large number of indicators, and guidance on collecting data about governance in general, much of it applicable other issues, aside from forest management. [See review]
- The Project Management for Development Organization's manuals and guidelines for NGOs page, which archives a lot of useful material, when aid agencies, for example, remove the material from their own sites.
The University of Wisconsin's excellent online self-study module: Enhancing Program Performance with Logic Models. [See review]
- The Overseas Development Institute's Communications Toolkit page.
Rick Davies' Monitoring and Evaluation News [See review]
Philip Dearden's guide to Multi-Agency Planning Using the Logical Framework Approach from the University of Wolverhampton's Centre for International Development and Training. [See review]
- A collection of Mark Schacter's thoughtful and very useful writing on RBM and policy. [See review]
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- The Auditor-General of Canada's Implementing Results-Based Management: Lessons from the Literature.[See review]
- John Mayne's 2005 update on contribution analysis in Challenges and Lessons in Results-Based Management and his 2012 Contribution Analysis: Coming of Age?, a summary of the history of how contribution analysis, as a means of assessing results, has evolved since he introduced it in 2001 Contribution Analysis: Coming of Age?
- Working Across Translation, Suzie LeBlanc's short, eloquent argument for clear language in cross-cultural communication, written in September 2013, could easily be applied to anyone working in results-based management.
Donor Agency RBM, Planning & Evaluation Websites
- A 2017 OECD review of Results-Based Management in the World Bank Group summarizes how the Bank uses it for management purposes.
- UNIFEM's RBM guide -- one of the easiest of the donor agency materials to understand. PDF file. [See review]
- The UNDP Handbook on Planning, Monitoring and Evaluating for Development Results (available in English, French, Spanish and Russian). [See discussion]
- The ILO RBM Guide (PDF) [See discussion of an earlier draft] and a useful series of 2013 tools on RBM: ILO policy guidelines for results-based evaluation: Principles, rationale, planning and managing for evaluations, 2nd edition.
- The United Nations Evaluation Group's paper on The Role of Evaluation in Results Based Management.
- The Asian Development Bank's Introduction to Results Management. Note: ADB's publication site sometimes has problems with downloads and some documents may at times not be available directly from ADB, but may be available on other sites, if you do an internet search. If this document is not available, readers may be able to download some other potentially useful ADB results and M&E guides, such as the 2012 ADB guide Strengthening Participation for Development Results from the Climate Investment Funds website, or the 2007 version of the ADB Guidelines for Preparing a Design and Monitoring Framework.
- The African Development Bank in 2017 published two complex, but useful reports on how it handles Results-Based Management including annexes on the theory of change and indicators - The Bank Group Results Measurement Framework 2016-2025 and the November 2017 Operational Guidelines On The Implementation Of The Bank Group’s Results-Based Financing Policy
- Jody Kusek and and Ray Risk's World Bank report - "Ten Steps to a Results-Based Monitoring and Evaluation System" [available in English, French, Spanish and Vietnamese].
- Glen Farrell's Handbook on Results-Based Monitoring and Evaluation at the Commonwealth of Learning.
- UNICEF's "Understanding Results-Based Programme Planning and Management" (PDF) removed from the Unicef Website but available from the Poverty Portal. If the PDF file is not available, try the online version, chapter by chapter, at the UNICEF online training modules site.
- The International Fund for Agricultural Development's eminently practical and detailed 2002 IFAD Guide for Project M&E, [See review] originally available for download in 8 parts but now just as one PDF document. There are, additionally two later guides, a 2015 M&E Guide which is not quite as user-friendly as the 2002 guide, and a useful 2012 "M&E Manual Guide for IFAD Funded Projects in Vietnam"prepared by Vietnam's Development Policies and Research Center.
- The European Commissions Capacity4dev.eu knowledge sharing platform has a number of interesting documents on Results-Oriented Monitoring, indicator development, and other subects on its Topics page, courses on its Learning page, and several groups with relevant discussions.
To learn more about RBM training contact gregarmstrong@rbmtraining.com .
Updated November, 2018.
Bilateral Aid Agency Results-Based Management
Other Useful Results-Based Management, Evaluation and Planning Toolsype your paragraph here.
Results-Based Management Handbooks, Guides & Tools
©Greg Armstrong 2012 All rights reserved.
Audio Podcasts available for listening, that are relevant to results-based management and indicator development:
- All about indicators: More or Less: Behind the Stats, from the BBC [See review].
- Counterpoint, from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation [See review]
- Radiolab, from (among others) National Public Radio [See review]
- CEDIL - The Centre of Excellence for Development Impact and Learning, funded by DFID, has a number of research papers on aid and development, including a complex but useful 2018 analysis by Rick Davies of what needs to done to make Theories of Change more effective as management and evaluation tools.
- In 2016 and 2017 the OECD produced summaries of how RBM is being used in 6 bilateral aid agencies including those in Canada, New Zealand, Sweden, Switzerland, The Netherlands and the United Kingdom. [PDF files]
- The USAID Learning Lab which focuses on collaborative learning and has a number of short learning resources, discussions and groups on Results-Based Management, and other topics from USAID and other agencies.
- Several SIDA publications on the theory, uses and abuses of the Logical Framework Approach. [See reviews and discussion]
- The Australia Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Ausguide 3.3: The Logical Framework Approach [See discussion]
- An old (1996) DANIDA Guide to the Logical Framework Approach, [See discussion]. There are also some archived technical guidelines on a variety of topics related to RBM, such as theory of change and risk management are also available, but who knows for how long?
- The DFID How-To Note: Guidance on Using the Revised LFA [See discussion]. Also a useful 2010 DFID report on governance indicators and value for money, and its shorter 2011 briefing note on the same subject.
- The EuropeAid 2015 Results Oriented Monitoring Handbook [See discussion]
- The 2016 version of Global Affairs Canada's updated, and expanded Results-Based Management for International Assistance Programming: A How-To Guide (formerly "RBM Tools at CIDA") [See review]
- The old, but still very practical CIDA guide to planning large projects written by Peter Bracegirdle. [See review]
- The December 2000 CIDA (now Global Affairs Canada) RBM Handbook on Developing Results Chains: The Basics of RBM as Applied to 100 Project Examples, which while out of date (at least in terms of the Global Affairs current terminology), still has many useful examples on results chains and indicators.
- The old, but still very practical CIDA guide to planning large projects written by Peter Bracegirdle. [See review]
- The Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation's website has over 1300 documents, including handbooks, guides, lessons learned reviews, policy papers and evaluations of projects, and partners, and a user-friendly search function. [See review]
Results Indicators in the news:
- The Guardian Datablog [See review]
- The Bad Science Blog
- The Fact Check Blog
- Behind the Numbers - at the Wall Street Journal [retired but still some interesting articles...
- Creative indicator presentations: The Gapminder Institute
- FullFact - Journalists and statisticians exposing bad practice in indicator interpretation.
And Results-Related Entertainment:
- Mark Anderson's cartoons at Andertoons.com
- The GIZ Thailand Results-Based Management animagraphic video on YouTube
- The animated Introduction to Results-Based Management on YouTube.
Results-Relevant Audio Podcasts
If you are interested in learning more on your own about results-based management, below are links to 50 Results Based Management handbooks, guides and websites with other tools and opinions on results-based management, related topics on planning and evaluation, and information on the donor agencies' approaches to results-based management.
Readers can find the most recent reviews of Results-Based Management guides and tools at the Results-Based Management Websites Review, a blog written by Greg Armstrong.
RBM Training
Greg Armstrong