COMMON EFFORTS FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS
At OHED, common efforts are internal systems created to achieve common goals through people-to-people and people-to-work relationships. They are essentially goal-directed and deliberately structured for coordinated activity systems. Members’ efforts are linked to the environment in which they are conducting their education and development activities. Common efforts are made up of identified and registered members and contribute to relationships with one another while managing the organizational structures and coordinating resources to achieve the organization’s purpose.
EVALUATION OF PROJECTS
Managing a project with copious moving parts can be challenging to say the least, but project evaluation is designed to make the process that much easier. At OHED, every project starts with careful planning. This sets the stages for the evaluation and execution phases of the project while estimations, plans and schedules guide the OHED project team members as they complete tasks and deliverables.
But even with the project evaluation process in place, managing a project successfully is not as simple as it sounds. OHED members organize regular training on project implementation programs and provide certificates to attendants in that regard.
OHED project managers need to keep track of costs, tasks and time during the entire project life cycle to make sure everything goes as planned. To do so, they utilize the project evaluation process and make use of project management software to help manage their team’s work in addition to planning and evaluating project performance.
Project evaluation is the process of measuring the success of a project, program or portfolio. At OHED, this is done by gathering data about the project and using an evaluation method that allows evaluators to find performance improvement opportunities. In OHED operational zones, project evaluation is thus critical to keep stakeholders updated on the project status and any changes that might be required to the budget or schedule.
ASSESSMENT OF ACTIVITIES ON DAILY BASIS
In order for OHED to be effective, it needs to have a clearly defined purpose, or ‘Mission’, to guide it as it carries out its activities over the short and medium terms. It also needs a clear sense of what it hopes to achieve over the longer term or ‘Vision’ for the future. Without a clear Mission and Vision, OHED risks drifting away from its original purpose and failing to achieve its goals. Likewise, OHED is governed and managed in the interests of its target beneficiaries.
To ensure that this is the case, and to give confidence to all who put their trust in OHED, the organization has maintained transparency. Its accounts must be clear, appropriately supported by external audits, and available to all who are interested. To achieve these high standards, OHED is guided by a Board of Directors.
This Board normally oversees management and ensures that the organization’s policies and programs are being carried out as they were intended to be since the starting time.
MONITORING AND EVALUATION OF DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS
Monitoring and evaluation is important because it provides the only consolidated source of information which shows casing project progress. Also, it allows OHED members to learn from each other’s experiences while building on expertise and knowledge.
Research often generates (written) reports that contribute to transparency and accountability, and allows for lessons to be shared more easily; it reveals mistakes and offers paths for learning and improvement.
In OHED operational zones, research provides a basis for questioning and testing assumptions; it provides means for agencies seeking to learn from their experiences and to incorporate them into policies and practices. From that, OHED research provides a way to assess the crucial link between implementers and beneficiaries on the ground and decision-makers. Likewise, it adds to the retention and development of institutional memory ; and, it provides a more robust basis for raising funds and influencing policy.
REPORTING AND FOLLOWING UP ACTIVITIES
At OHED, reports enable decision making and problem solving while basing on the information presented, discussed and analyzed before making important decisions. Also, reports develop certain skills after gaining experiences and knowledge.
Meetings are an important way to motivate OHED teams and help initiatives run smoothly. Whether we need to share information, gather feedback, or make decisions, there are a plethora of positive effects of having daily and weekly staff meetings at every OHED office. According to a leadership lesson presented by the OHED trainers, “Effective meetings allow for open conversation that draws upon each members’ knowledge, skills, and perspectives to solve problems and to support one another in achieving the collective goals.”
RESEARCH IN OPERATIONAL ZONES
At OHED, the purpose of research or survey is to inform actions undertaken to fill a particular gap within the Congolese communities. Thus, OHED study should seek to contextualize its findings within the larger body of the established research programs. In addition, research or survey must always be of high quality in order to produce knowledge that is applicable out of the setting. The results of OHED study may have implications for government policy and future project implementation with partners.
One problem that often plagues progress in OHED research programs is the slow translation of results into practices. Often, a disconnect exists between the OHED members who conduct research and those who are positioned to implement its findings.
The underlying problem in OHED operational zones is that “the production of research evidence is organized institutionally with highly centralized mechanisms, whereas its application is highly decentralized. This social distance prevails because national scientists collaborating with OHED are more oriented to the international audiences of other scientists for which they publish than to the needs of practitioners, policy makers, or local public.”
As OHED researchers, it is imperative to take steps to overcome field barriers. Publishing our study may be one initial step to make our research known to the global community. Other proactive measures can be taken to encourage the uptake of evidence-based interventions.
OHED members present research findings at various venues, such as at Government offices, International and National NGOs, Academic Centers, and Innovation Conference Buildings. Furthermore, we send the results of our study to local officials, policy-makers and community leaders for advocacy, appropriate actions and visible results on ground.
OHED members believe that research is what propels humanity forward. So, it’s fueled by curiosity: we get curious, ask questions, and immerse ourselves in discovering everything that needs to be known.
At OHED, learning is thriving. Without curiosity and regular research activities, progress would slow to a halt, and our lives as we know would be different. OHED members need prompt support for the construction of venues or offices for their research, education and development activities.