Current status of MEL within your project
What is the current status of MEL for your project or organisation? Is there an MEL plan? Is any MEL work being done now, or has there been any in the past?
Before you embark on any new activity, do a quick audit of previous and current work in this area. You don’t want to reinvent the wheel or repeat past mistakes. Previous work can inform your future planning, and you may even be able to use some existing data in new analysis. Having said that, do not design your new plan to fit in with previous work, unless you really believe it would be useful to do so.
Activity: Find out what MEL, impact assessment and data collection has already been done. You can use the following prompts:
- What has been done?
- Why was this work done (for what purpose)?
- Was it useful?
- What happened as a result?
- What (if any) MEL is currently being done?
Record your findings in your MEL workbook. If possible, get copies of relevant plans, data, analysis and reports.