The two most common mistakes we see organizations make when creating a monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) system involve a lack of Upfront Thinking: 1) measurement is disconnected from strategy; and 2) there’s a rush to build digital data solutions, including dashboards, without defining the problem that’s being solved. During this session at the Global Digital Development Conference (Apr 27- 29, 2021), participants learned why it’s good practice to invest in Upfront Thinking before building a MEL system. Participants also received two tools – a logic model and logframe - to guide upfront thinking and maximize data use and learning. You can find templates and guidelines on how to use Upfront Thinking tools below.
