adminRudo Grace Gwata-Charamba Correspondent
Results Based Management (RBM) is a life-cycle approach that is aimed at enhancing effectiveness, efficiency, transparency and accountability in the management of initiatives through a consistent focus on causing changes in people’s lives, towards improvement.
Regrettably, most stakeholder groups in developing nations, including Zimbabwe, resent the notion and its implementation to the extent of even questioning its utility in certain areas or sectors as was the case with several readers from the field of education.
These challenges with the approach were generally attributed to the poor way in which it was introduced, as well as the perceived conspicuously foreign nature of the associated systems.
Such an experience is fairly pervasive with literature confirming that the effective implementation of RBM in most developing nations is hindered by the customary practice where the associated systems are merely ‘imported’ and used without adjustments to meet the specific needs of each receiving entity.
Institutionalisation of the notion plus customising the associated systems, as far possible, makes the concept a lynchpin of meaningful development in all sectors.
Adoption of the notion is aimed at enhancing the performance of the sector and ultimately improving people’s lives.
All initiatives ought to focus on causing changes (or results) in the lives of end-users.
Within the education sector, such end-users encompass scholars, graduates, their employers, families, communities and society at large.
Increase in levels of literacy or innovative capacity, the acquisition of basic life skills, both the quality and number of graduates produced rather than mere numbers or infrastructural developments signify typical results in the field of education.
The RBM cycle is characterised by highly participatory processes and comprises three main integrated phases, namely planning, execution and learning (from experience).
Planning starts with identifying problems or situations that needed attention and setting goals relating to addressing the same.
Such goals ought to be aligned to the mission of the concerned entity, which derives from the national vision and priorities.
Accordingly, staff, in their group and individual capacities, set goals and define the results they desire to achieve towards effectively contributing to the national goals.
The identified goals are translated into results statements, a practice that entails selecting a desired destination or distinct desired change in the lives of a group of people then deciding on the best available route to reach that destination.
On the journey towards that destination, progress is checked against a map and making adjustments, as necessary. These links between processes and the expected results are developed and depicted in a logical relationship, termed a results chains, also a central principle of results thinking.
Explicitly, the chain stipulates the causal progression that is necessary to achieve desired results.
The results chain is created using a “backwards mapping” process and describes how the targeted population will progress from the current to the desired situation.
That is, the desired achievement at the end of the initiative is used as the starting off point and stakeholders then “walk backwards” to the current status considering what is necessary to achieve the desired change.
Inputs, within the results chain, refer to the resources required for producing goods and services and for achieving results. In the education system, such inputs that include funds, human resources, equipment, buildings and textbooks, among others.
Activities denote the planned processes (mixing, combining and/or moving around) the inputs to generate products/goods and services, termed outputs, that will be used towards achieving the target changes (results) in people’s lives.
School or college graduates plus the knowledge that they acquire during their studies are typical examples of such outputs that are sought for the purpose of contributing to the achievement of results.
Accordingly, the production of goods and services, by itself, can be meaningless if it does not contribute to changes in people’s lives.
Outcomes are the quantitative and/or qualitative changes in the social and economic conditions for students, their families and society in general, that accrue from the use of knowledge gained.
A typical example of such outcomes in the education sector relates to the new levels of capacity among the graduates, made possible by the use of knowledge acquired.
Basically, RBM entails shifting focus and mindset, at all phases of the development process, from “what do we want to do, how much is available for expenditure and what is produced?” to: What change in people’s lives is desired? How can it be brought about and what quantities and nature of resources are required to bring about such change?
For example, a learning institution may set a goal to increase the pass rate for the Ordinary level science students by 10 percent in the next five years in line with national priorities.
The activities or processes to achieve this goal that may include increasing the levels of tuition in science subjects, improving the availability of laboratory facilities, exposure to scientific environments, allowing more time for study are identified.
This is followed by the identification of resources or inputs required to drive these activities.
Landmarks for progress, termed performance indicators, are also collectively identified during this planning phase. Accordingly, the approach helps to link policy, resources and project design with service delivery and the effects on the lives of stakeholders.
Execution involves the implementation of identified activities as well as assessment of progress towards achievement of goals.
The associated activities are then implemented with regular and continuous monitoring and reporting on performance. Such performance relates to the delivery of benefit plus the degree of satisfaction from the perspective of stakeholders, particularly the end-users.
That is, monitoring and reporting focuses on progress towards the achievement of desired results, continued relevance of the initiative, in addressing identfied needs plus the utilisation of resources (effciency).
Accurate monitoring data are ordinarily collected through research, notably among beneficiaries of initiatives.
In addition, both best practices and lessons learned are documented and used to inform decision-making procedures, all aimed at continued performance improvement.
Learning, in the context of RBM, refers to a continuous process that involves increasing knowledge, among stakeholders, through the integration of identified best practices and lessons learned into decision-making on current processes.
Accordingly, adjustments aimed at improvement towards maximising the achievement of results, are made with best practices replicated while lessons are recorded, thus minimising repeated errors.
Through the full adoption and institutionalisation of RBM, education programmes can effectively support the performance of the national programme, achievement of its goals plus the realisation of Vision 2030.
Dr Rudo Grace Gwata-Charamba is an Author, development Project/ Programme Management Consultant and Researcher with a special interest in Results Based Management (RBM), Governance and Leadership. She can be contacted via email: [email protected]
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