Efficiently - doing a function with the least amount of effort and time.
Monitoring and Evaluation of services in the social service field is required to ensure that the services we render to our client system have an impact on their lives and the problem area we are addressing. We need to ensure that our services are relevant, continuously improve our services and to determine whether existing interventions should be strengthened or discarded.
If we continuously monitor and evaluate our services we promote substantive accountability and we have a clear understanding whether we should reposition our services and intervention or re-plan our interventions. We learn what works, what doesn’t work and why it is working or not working.
Aforementioned represent various theoretical purposes of Monitoring and Evaluation. It could be summarised by saying we have no right interfering /intervening in clients lives, creating expectations of improvement or possible solutions to problem areas, if we do not have a reasonable certainty that we are effecting positive Change.
Having said this, many Social Service Organisations still do not implement basic monitoring and evaluation processes. The reasons given are varied, but most often boils down to lack of funding, time or human capacity. These reasons are valid but begs the question – why deliver/repeat/replicate and expand a service that you have no idea or evidence or corroboration that it is actually working and having an impact. ( As most of us claim to be professionals, the arguments,” I can see it” or “I know” does not do it for me)
So why the heading. An example: If you are going to render a service - for example a 8 week life skills group, but have no idea on whether you service has any impact – you are basically wasting your time and the time of your client(no evidence of effectiveness, impact etc.). So why not waste time efficiently and only have a two week life skills group. You will still not have any evidence of the impact, relevance or effectiveness of your intervention – but at least you spent limited time in confirming the unknown.
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