Indicators and monitoring plans
An indicator is something you measure repeatedly, against a target, to see whether the project is on course. A monitoring plan says who collects it, how, and when.
Create an indicator
Open Indicators and add a new one. The fields that matter most:
| Field | What to enter |
|---|---|
| Baseline value and date | Where you started, and when |
| Target value and date | Where you want to be, and by when |
| Direction | Increase, decrease or maintain. What counts as success |
| Unit of measure | What the number counts |
| Data source and frequency | Where the number comes from, and how often |
| Disaggregation | Break it down by gender, age or location |
Warning For something you want to reduce, such as a dropout rate, set Direction to decrease. Left on "increase", every improvement is reported as a failure.
What the status colours mean
The status compares your latest actual value with the target:
| Status | Achieved so far |
|---|---|
| Achieved | 100% or more |
| On track | 80–99% |
| At risk | 50–79% |
| Off track | under 50% |
Next to it, the forecast also considers how much time has passed. 60% of the target is fine at the halfway point, and worrying near the end. Fill in both the baseline date and target date so the forecast works.
Create a monitoring plan
Open Monitoring Plans and create one for each indicator you'll collect more than once:
- Choose the indicator.
- Choose the method, such as survey, site visit or register review.
- Choose the frequency: monthly, quarterly or annually.
- Choose the collection day of the month. If you leave it empty, the 28th is used.
- Choose the responsible officer, the person who'll be reminded.
- Write instructions for whoever does the collection.
Reminders
- Due soon: sent when the due date is within 3 days.
- Overdue: sent when a period ends with no value recorded.
Reminders go only to the responsible officer.
Warning A plan with no responsible officer never sends reminders, and quietly looks fine. Always name a real person.
Note A plan that stays at Pending schedule means its indicator has no target periods. Add target periods to the indicator so the plan has due dates.