Build your own M&E roadmap
You know the twelve components. The more difficult question is the order in which you build them. Sequencing is a strategic decision: some investments unlock others, while some lead to money spent twice. A dashboard before the indicator logic, or an evaluation before an evaluability check, will cost more than it shows.
Build your roadmap, then see how a country with a similar context actually did it.
Three quick questions
Answer these so we can match you to a documented country that started in a context similar to yours. You will meet that country after you build your roadmap.
Put each activity where you would build it
Tap an activity, then tap the phase where you would address it. Tap a placed activity to pick it up again. There is no single correct order, but some sequences unlock later work while others force revision. Place at least five to continue; place all twenty for the full comparison.
Tap an activity to pick it up.
1 · Foundations
2 · Indicator design
3 · Data systems
4 · Evidence use
Your sequence, next to the matched country's actual roadmap
Apply this to your context
- Looking at your own roadmap: which activity are you planning too early?
- Which are you leaving so late it will need revision?
Take this to your team: sequencing your M&E roadmap
Building an M&E system is a process that needs sequencing. Some activities unlock the ones after them, while others lead to money spent twice. Use this with your team to check your own roadmap.
The four phases, and what each means
- Foundations: the diagnostic, governance and mandate.
- Indicator design: a theory of change first, then indicators drawn from the results chain.
- Data systems: data flows, databases and dashboards built on the indicator logic.
- Evidence use: evaluability, evaluation, and the governance moments that turn evidence into decisions.
Check your context for ways to build out of order
- Are we commissioning a dashboard before the indicator logic behind it is agreed?
- Are we selecting indicators before the written results chain or theory of change?
- Are we planning an evaluation before checking the measures are actually evaluable?
- Are we skipping the foundations diagnostic to show a quick, visible output under pressure?
Put these to your team
- Which activity are we planning too early, before the preconditions it depends on?
- Which activity are we leaving so late it will force revision later?