Management Response
- Key recommendations and/or issues: Are the recommendations and/or issues relevant and acceptable?
- Key actions: What are the concrete proposed actions? Who are the key partners in carrying out the actions?
- Implementation of the actions: Who are the responsible units? What is the timeframe for implementation?
Every evaluation should have a formal Management Response, consisting of presentation of the response, action or non action to evaluation recommendations and lessons learned and follow-up or tracking mechanisms. Developing the Management Response is an opportunity to engage with stakeholders to reflect on the evaluation process, findings, recommendations and lessons learned. The reference group should be involved in developing the management response, with the manager.
Some organisations have an internal system for recording and tracking the management response. UN Women together with UNDP is using the Evaluation Resource Center for recording and tracking evaluation management responses. The management response must be done within six weeks of finalizing the evaluation report. This allows the evaluation to still be fresh and can facilitate programme improvements that are time sensitive.
The Management Response becomes the basis for making and tracking changes in the programme and for getting others to implement changes as needed. Managers shouldn’t simply fill out the paperwork and file it. Rather, they need to use the Management Response as a lever for getting the actions completed.
What if there are ‘poor’ results? ‘Poor’ results can mean two things: 1) the evaluation was not of high quality; or 2) the results were not favourable to the programme.
If the evaluation was well developed (including a good ToR, adequate time for conduct, good communication with the evaluation team, and strong stakeholder engagement) and if UN Women /UNEG standards for reporting were followed, the report should be of good quality. If this is not the case the manager needs to work with the evaluation team and the reference group to address the weaknesses.
The tougher challenge is what to do when the report reveals major problems with the programme, problems that might put its future in question. Here the evaluation may be met with some resistance, political issues may arise, and there may be a temptation to just ‘hide’ the report.
The process for GE / HR responsive evaluation described in this Guide means that unfavourable results should not come as a surprise. The ongoing monitoring of the programme would have alerted the manager to problems; there will have been briefings with the evaluation team and the reference group during the conduct of the evaluation; and the manager and reference group may have participated in the formulation of recommendations.
There would have been time to consider approaches and manage – or create – expectations that major changes may need to happen. This can be an opportunity to create a stronger programme and to work closely with programme partners to make the necessary changes. The Management Response is a useful tool for setting out a course of action and to track progress.
Making effective use of an evaluation takes planning and creative thinking. There is increased likelihood that lessons from evaluations are actually used when the manager:
Anticipates the kind of use to make of the evaluation (monitoring results will give good clues), obstacles to use (e.g. people, resources, culture, and uncertainty), and potential misuse
Identifies primary stakeholders and users and their responsibilities (who can influence change, how?)
Understands political, development and cultural contexts, and sources of uncertainty, as well as programme and organisation specific contexts and decision points: programmes and organisations have rhythms of decision making, so that influence may be easier at certain times in these cycles
Engages users and stakeholders in the evaluation, feedback, follow up and the change process
Achieves small wins – sometimes it is better to move incrementally by making small changes and getting feedback as people feel more comfortable and motivated by the process, and it is less disruptive (The manager needs to know the programme and the stakeholders and move at a pace that is likely to achieve success)
Gets feedback from different stakeholders on how the evaluation is being received, and if changes made as a result of the evaluation are having an effect (one reason a good monitoring system is important)
Manages expectations for realistic change and the time it may take, particularly in GE/HR programming
Contributes to building an evaluation culture through incentives and recognizes those who take evaluation seriously, manage it well, and follow up on it; leads by example; and works with partners to help them be more effective at monitoring and linking monitoring to evaluation
Further guidance on the Evaluation Management Response is provided.
Tip: Developing a formal management response to an evaluation does not guarantee its use and usefulness. The participation of programme stakeholders is critical to ensuring evaluations are learning exercises and actually contribute to programme improvements and evidence-based decision making.
