Project Management Concepts

Objective Tree

• Used to analyze and present ideas/objectives
• Provides a simplified but robust summary of reality
• Used to keep project objectives firmly based on addressing a range of clearly identified priority problems

What Is a Problem Tree?

• Central to project planning
• Helps people work as a team
• Makes projects sustainable
• Improves resource management
• Reduces dependence
• Increases equity, initiative, accountability, and financial discipline

Limitations of Bottom-Up Approach

• Not always effective for projects requiring urgency
• Time-consuming
• May not fit with national or international priorities

Bottom-Up Approaches to Project Identification

• Facilitation/Community Action – Helping individuals get over problems by training them, providing information, or linking them with relevant agencies.
• Participatory Appraisal (PRA) – Encouraging local communities to identify and prioritize their needs.

The Problem Statement

• Listing problems/needs in a community/area/organization.
• Prioritizing problems.
• Finding the root causes of the problems.
• Identifying the likely effects of the problems.
• Suggesting probable solutions to the problems.
• Identifying the potential projects from the solutions.

The Screening Process of Projects

• Is the technology appropriate to the local capabilities?
• Is the risk manageable?
• Is there adequate demand for the expected outputs?
• Will the supply of raw materials or skills be adequate?
• Is the design in agreement with existing institutional capabilities?
• Will the recurrent costs be adequately met by available resources?

The Screening Process of Projects Continued

• Is there commitment to the project by the intended beneficiaries?
• Is there adequate support from local, city, district, and national government authorities?
• Are there negative environmental effects, and can they be mitigated?
• Is the project culturally acceptable?
• Is the project sustainable?

Project Proposal Elements

• Title
• Background, context, and area characteristics
• Description
• Beneficiaries
• Objectives
• Justification
• Outputs
• Activities
• Inputs
• Budget
• Organization and management
• Monitoring and evaluation
• Sustainability plans

Project Strategy and Goal

• “A strategy is a broad approach that has to be followed to achieve a goal.”
• “Project strategy is a direction in a project that contributes to success of the project in its environment.”

Logframe

• Organizes a large amount of information in a coherent and concise manner.
• Used in the formulation, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of projects.
• Combines various components, like overall objective/goal/impact, purpose/outcome, results/outputs, activities, indicators, means of verification, and assumptions.

Logframe Horizontal Logic

• Measures the effects of and resources used by a project through the specification of key indicators of measurement (OVI) and the means by which the measurement will be verified (MoV).

Different Terminologies Used for Elements of Logframe

• Different organizations use different terminologies, but the placement of these terms in relation to levels of objective in the Logframe is the same.

Logframe Example 1

• “Improve the quality of river water”
• Overall Objective: To contribute to improved family health, particularly the under 5s, and to improve the general health of the riverine eco-system.

Logframe Example 1 Continued

• Project Summary: To contribute to improved family health, particularly the under 5s, and to improve the general health of the riverine eco-system.
• Indicators: Incidence of waterborne diseases, skin infections, and blood disorders caused by heavy metals, reduced by 50% by 2025, specifically among low-income families living along the river.
• MoV: Municipal hospital and clinic records, including maternal and child health records collected by project teams.
• Assumptions: Public awareness of the health risks associated with heavy metal pollution.

Logframe Example 1 Continued

• Purpose/Outcome: Improved quality of river water.
• Indicators: Concentrations of heavy metal compounds (Pb, etc) in river water.
• MoV: Monthly water quality surveys jointly conducted by the project team.
• Assumptions: The project team will be able to access the river periodically for testing.
• Results: Reduction in the incidence of waterborne diseases.
• Activities: Training on safe water treatment, conducting community awareness campaigns, etc.

This quiz explores key concepts in project management, including objective trees and problem trees. Participants will learn about the benefits and limitations of bottom-up approaches in project identification and the importance of community involvement in sustainable projects.