Project management handbook
This handbook is designed to provide you with a number of practical tools to use when planning and implementing a project in the field of European youth work.
It is a product of the SALTO-YOUTH UK Project Management training programme that was run twice in the spring of 2001 and is intended for practitioners who are organising international projects with young people. A course report is also available on the SALTO web site, which contains detailed information about the training methods used and a course evaluation. Many of the tools were designed and developed by the 49 participants from over 20 different countries in these two courses.
SALTO stands for ‘Support for Advanced Learning and Training Opportunities’ in the European Commission’s programme, YOUTH. As part of their commitment to increase quality, the Commission set up four SALTO-YOUTH centres within the National Agencies of UK, France, Flemish Belgium and Germany. One of SALTO’s main tasks has been to offer training courses in areas that are important to the quality development of the programme.
The co-operation covenants between the Council of Europe and the European Commission, another pillar of the European training strategy, have published a number of T-Kits (Training Kits). These and other resources are available on line (www.traning-youth.net). The intention has been to avoid repetition of this work but rather to compliment it and to bring some of the materials into one easy-to-use format.
The materials in this handbook are laid out so that they can be adapted and/or copied for use in a wide variety of projects. References have been provided for further background reading and training courses are offered through National Agencies on a regular basis.
Consider using this handbook as a companion during the life of your project. If you keep it in a loose-leaf binder format, you can add in a your own pages of notes and copies of things like application forms. If you do this throughout the project it will provide a very useful reference when compiling your report.
The first section of the handbook describes a simple flow diagram for any project. This is followed by some notes on leadership, with questions to ask yourself personally or as a leadership team. Each part of the flow chart is then tackled in turn. Practical tools and checklists are provided. Notes are kept to a minimum as it is assumed that you will have read some background in other publications or attended a training course.
Project Phases
Below is a simple flow model of the life of a project. This will be used to define the structure of this handbook. Further, more complex models are available in the T-Kit Number 3 Project Management available on line at www.training-youth.net.
Defining
Assessing
needs
Objective
setting
The
‘W’ questions
Involving
young people
Team
building
Planning
Time
lines and Gantt charts
Planning
Visit checklist
Planning
for evaluation
Implementing
Fundraising
Financial
management
Marketing
plan
Risk
assessment
Contracting
with young people
Evaluation
checklist Group
evaluation exercises Recognising
Young Peoples’ Learning Achievements Report
writing
Evaluating & Reporting
Some thoughts on leadership and management
Leadership means many different things to many different people. One way to express the difference between leadership and management is to say that “managers do things right and leaders do the right things”. Or in other words, leaders are responsible for effectiveness and managers are responsible for efficiency (See T-Kit No.1 Organisational Management, page 44).
Both leadership and management are about clarifying, uniting, facilitating, encouraging and co-ordinating. They are dynamic processes and responsibilities that take time, effort and often heartache!
As you embark on the role of leader and/or manager – either on your own or as a team, you may find it helpful to ask the following questions:
Who
are the people to whom I am accountable?
Who are the people to whom I am accountable?
What are the things that are important to them?
What are the key principles and values that will influence this project?
Why should those you lead or manage respect you in your role?
How will I/we set learning and other objectives for this project – in a way which gains commitment from all?
What processes will I/we use to get the most from the whole team and ensure motivation?
Which elements of the project are fixed and which elements are flexible?
How will I/we manage communication throughout the project – both internally and externally?
1 Defining
Being clear about what your project is for is crucial to its success and the following tools help with this.
Some thoughts on needs analysis and objective setting. This includes hints to help you organise you thinking and be clear about what you are trying to achieve through your project.
Some guidelines on involving young people in the project from the outset
Some thoughts on teambuilding as a foundation for the relationships in the project.
Needs analysis
An analysis of need - be it formal or informal – should be the precursor to setting objectives. Your project may start from the point of wanting to meet personal or social needs. At the personal level, needs can be broken down into four main areas; Emotional, Mental, Social and Physical. At the social level you may wish to tackle an element of social inclusion, crime reduction or service to particular groups.
Analysing specific needs may have been done previously - most likely as part of strategic planning in the project’s host organisation. It is often the recognition of a need in the community that brings groups together to ‘do something about it’.
If you are this stage then consulting with NGOs, community organisations and local government will help your analysis of need; to gain their views and the benefit of any research they may have carried out. Or you may consult with members or users of your organisation. If it is members who will be taking part in the project then they should be consulted at the earliest opportunity.
At an organisational level you want to carry out a SWOT analysis as part of the process of identifying needs. Individually and as a group, list all the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats to the organisation in relation to kind of activity you have in mind.
Learning and personal development are the two most common areas of need or stated objectives of European Youth projects. These are summarised in the table below.
Learning and personal development outcomes
Skills |
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Investigation, Observation, Language, Communication, Expression, Self-reliance, Making choices, Lobbying & self advocacy, dealing with the unexpected, reviewing and evaluating |
Knowledge |
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Other cultures, histories and world views, human rights and equal opportunities, issues affecting others, other ways of addressing personal and community issues |
Attitudes |
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Challenging stereotypes, tolerance and understanding, broader perspectives, greater disposition to learn languages, greater sense of responsibility for global issues, enhanced self esteem, increased motivation |
Setting aims and objectives
Aims
Aims are broad statements about general direction or purpose of the project. Ideally there should only be one aim for a project, but certainly avoid having more than three.
Objectives
Objectives are the steps to be taken to reach the aim or satisfy the purpose. They are more specific, support the aim, can be seen as steps along the way or (better) as a set of results that together will ensure the aim is achieved. Again it is strongly recommended that a project should have no more than five objectives. This way those involved will be required to think specifically about what they are trying to achieve. Clear, concise aims and objectives help everyone to commit to them and aids in decision making and prioritising.
Objectives should be… Concrete
Multiple
Assessable
Timed
Realistic
Flexible
Recognisable (in the activities or tasks)
Remember - Objectives are NOT activities
The basic criteria for objectives are that they are SMART. This means that they need to be:-
Simple
Measurable
Achievable
Realistic
Time related
Objectives can be expressed in sentences beginning with:-
To increase……………..
To decrease…………….
To discover…………….
To raise awareness about……………
To enhance……………
To reduce………………
When setting learning objectives the following may be useful:-
As a result of this international project young people will….
know more about………………
be able to………………………
feel/think differently about……………….
Young people should be involved as fully as possible in the objective setting process. Some thoughts on involvement of young people is included later in this section.
Team building
T-Kit No. 1 Organisational Management has a section on teams in chapter 3. The T-Kit can be found at www.training-youth.net. The following additional comments are offered to get you started in your thinking about your project team.
One definition of a team is a group of people working towards a common goal. Team spirit is the willingness of the members of a team to make their own priorities lower than the priorities of the team.
When planning an international project with young people we need to consider who is in ‘the team’. Many organisations have the culture that promotes the idea of a ‘leadership team’ or a ‘direction team’ and then there are participants. This is perhaps appropriate for large projects or organisations, but for smaller, time bound projects it is better to consider everyone involved as part of the team.
Some members will be involved at the centre of things and others will be on the periphery, but they are all members of the team and need to be communicated with in the same clear and efficient way.
Shared vision
Without a shared vision it is not possible for team to all move in the same direction. Without a shared vision different people will view objectives and priorities in different ways, and without a shared vision it will be difficult to evaluate if the project has been successful.
The best way to ensure that the vision for a project is shared is to build it together. We need to check that the aims and objectives of an international youth project have been developed by all those involved and most importantly, the young people. Different stakeholders will of course have different objectives but they need to be compatible and complimentary to those of the young people.
Communication
Communication is a two way process and requires constant monitoring. Is anyone being left out? What are the systems for keeping everyone up to date with developments? How do you ensure that good ideas are not lost and that everyone is given the chance to be heard?
Team make up
It isn’t always possible to choose every one who is part of your project team, but it is possible for everyone to make a contribution to the team. Are you giving opportunity for people to use their skills and attributes and to develop new ones? (Maybe that is one of your project objectives?) From a practical point of view, do you have all the necessary skills to complete the project? What do you need to add, by training, by bringing others in, or by farming out certain tasks to others?
Team progress
Be aware that teams are dynamic and changing entities. They grow and develop, they have fluctuating energy levels and, in the context of international youth projects, they have beginnings and endings. The members of teams change too: Their levels of commitment wax and wane, skills are developed and people grow into and out of roles. Team members need to be aware of each other as these changes take place. As trust and confidence in each other is developed, so efficiency and effectiveness will develop too.
One of the biggest changes occurs when two teams come together – for example at the start of an exchange. This is crucial time for team building activities and awareness of relationships.
Some practical tips
To aid team development consider using or adapting some of the following practices.
Hold regular meetings with a planned agenda
Send out a regular newsletter for all stakeholders – include notes from the meetings
Engage all members in a ‘skills audit’ to identify skills and gaps to be filled
Make sure there is enough time for people just to talk – it is in the informal times that some of the best ideas emerge
Use an inclusive, creative approach to deciding on the project aims and objectives
Put the aims and objectives of the project on all correspondence and in a prominent place at meetings.
Take time to review what is going well and what is going not-so-well, at regular intervals – assess the role of relationships in the team in this.
Involving Young People
It is a criteria for some funders and regarded as best practice by many practitioners, that young people should be fully involved in the whole process of planning, implementing and evaluating their international experiences. This leads to greater learning and brings with it greater complexities for those responsible for the organisation.
Young
people can do more than you think - Don’t
underestimate their abilities Is
an exchange the best vehicle to meet their needs? What is their
view? How
is the group to be selected? What is the young people’s
involvement? How
is the partner country selected? Why
is the partner country selected? How are the young people involved? Who
prepares advertising for recruitment? Who
develops the selection criteria? Young people can do that. How
aware are the young people of the educational content of the
project? How
are the aims and objectives set? At
the early stages young people could brainstorm their expected
learning outcomes How
are young people to be involved in ALL decision making processes? How
are young people involved in the hosting programme, the residential
programme, the home-stay programme? How
are the young people involved in the funding applications? How
are young people involved in the publicity for the project? How
do the young people communicate with the members of the partner
group – before, during and after the project? Have
the young people identified and made their own decisions about how
they will handle difficulties and conflict. How
involved are the young people in choosing gifts for partners,
thanking partners, saying good-bye to partners? How
will young people evaluate the experience? Against whose objectives
and standards? How
will young people communicate their experience to others?
Whose
exchange is it anyway?
2 Planning
This section deals with the process of planning. It considers what a plan is and introduces the Gantt chart as one planning tool. It also gives a very brief introduction to critical path analysis. This is followed by a detailed checklist for advanced planning visits and then some thoughts on planning for evaluation.
A Plan is 'a drawing intended to exhibit (show) the relative position and size of the represented parts', 'a tabulated statement or scheme', 'design, intention, way of proceeding
Planning is the creation of a plan, a dynamic map of a journey
The process of creating the plan can be seen as a cyclical one.
It is also a continuous one that does not stop until the project is complete.
Defining
Aims
Planning
Deciding
Implementing
Controlling
Some golden rules for planning
80% of project management effort goes into planning - 20% into realisation
The 5 P's: Prior Planning Prevents Poor Performance
KISS: Keep It Simple, Stupid!!
Start with the outline and work up to the detail
Ask the W questions
Who does what?
With Whom?
When?
Where?
With What?
What's the output/result?
What's available to do it?
When does it need to be done by? When does it start and finish?
Who do you check with/report to?
What does this task have a bearing on? (How does it fit?)
What's included?
Content - aims, outcomes, quality indicators, monitoring and evaluation strategies
Organisation - structure, roles, allocation of tasks, phasing, communication
Interaction - forming and managing teams, culture, conflict
External Environment - analysis, marketing, dissemination
Finance and administration - costs, resources, contracts, controls, reporting
Gantt Chart
The Gantt chart is one way of representing (and therefore communicating) the plan - there are versions on the theme but the main thing is to be able to break down the whole project into measured tasks. Tasks should be defined by objectives, which in turn are defined by Aims.
Gantt charts have several key features
Phases give a breakdown of the life of a project. (See charts from T- kit No.3 Project Management pp 33,34,36, 37, 43)
Milestones indicate particular points in the life of the project
Tasks start and stop at various points in the life of the project
Tasks need resources - they have financial implications.
An example of a Gantt chart is given on the next page and a blank chart is provided for your own use. Alternatively there are a number of software programmes available for project planning. Some of these are free but most were deigned for large scale manufacturing purposes and so have features, which may not be of use to you.
Critical Path Analysis (or time analysis)
Critical path analysis uses the data on the Gantt chart to monitor progress and ensure that tasks are started and finished on time. The key features are presented in their most basic form below:
Early dates - the earliest date a task can start or finish whilst obeying all the constraints of its predecessors. Found by working forwards.
Late dates - the latest date a task can start/finish whilst still obeying all the constraints of its successors. Found by working backwards.
The difference between early and late finish dates is the 'total float' or 'slack'. If the plan results in negative float then the project cannot be completed on time.
If float is zero or negative for an activity or task it is said to be 'critical'. Delaying the start will delay the whole project. Those with positive float can be delayed.
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GANTT CHART EXAMPLE |
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Activity |
who is responsible? |
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contacting partners |
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Find participants |
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partner details for application |
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budget checks |
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complete application |
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submit application |
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Preparation of/by participants |
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Planning Visit |
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information to parents/sponsors |
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reservations & bookings |
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Fundraising |
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press release |
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organise programme |
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EVENT |
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review/evaluation |
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evaluation presentation |
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report submission |
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follow-up |
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GANTT CHART
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Activity |
who is responsible? |
Period 1 |
Period 2 |
Period 3 |
Period 4 |
Period 5 |
Period 6 |
Period 7 |
Period 8 |
Period 9 |
Period 10 |
Period 11 |
Period 12 |
Period 13 |
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Working with partners
Significant quality can be added to the planning process by meeting with partners. If the partners are based in other countries then it would normally be those who are travelling to the main event who would also travel to meet with the host organisation. Funding is available for planning visits within the YOUTH programme. If possible this should involve young people.
The following checklist has been developed by groups of SALTO Project Management training course participants. Follow this to ensure you make the most of your planning visit.
Check list for an Advance Planning Visit (APV)
Planning the APV
Choose one working language
Communicate by mail, fax etc (check best method)
Formulate and circulate a provisional agenda for the APV
Check visa requirements
Ensure the APV participants will be the leaders who will accompany the group on the project
During the APV
Start of the meeting
Expectations of the project and each other
Get to know each other
Formal procedure-take it seriously
Make decision how you should make decisions
Agree who will take minutes
Concise record of meeting and agreements reached, with deadlines sent to each participant after the meeting
Set the agenda for the meeting
Issues to discuss
Rules for youth workers (before the exchange they should prepare material)
Issues like time, alcohol, drugs, sex, health and safety, gender issues, money, how to tackle problems… And make a clear definition of the rules
How to handle conflict within the group
Access to information - checking the level of information. Plan how to make it transparent.
Expectations, both personal expectations of the leaders but also organisation’s own and partner’s expectations
Aims and objectives
Target Group, participants’ sex, background, age, disadvantage, age balance, ethnic origin
Planning time scale
Action Plan with deadlines
Evaluation and report
What shall we evaluate? For who? How shall we do it? What do we need to do it? Who is responsible? Together with whom? When should it be ready?
Personalities amongst the leaders, roles
Participation and preparation of participants
Contract agreed by young people
Responsibilities, delegate the work, who does what (use the SWOT analysis?)
Open discussion about the cultural habits of the visiting country
Security
Legal requirements
Programme, schedule details
Working methods
Translations – do you need them?
Spare time activities
Group leader, choose contact person (available) from each organisation
Prepare a financial agreement all partners have to sign
Formal contract
Financial: Reimbursement
Documentation
Practical things to discuss
To get all information about hospitality arrangements, local medical facilities
Accommodation
Special Needs
Food
Money
Travelling arrangement to the country
Transport in the country
Resources
Surroundings and possibilities for excursions
Technical utilities
Information on country
Standard of living
Is everything organised (good!)
Meetings and deadlines and responsibility
E-mail / fax / telephone facilities for during the project
After the APV
Fulfil all agreements reached
Some advice on your
way
Keep in contact, send
regular reports Keep to deadlines
Respect the ability of
the organisation Ask for help if required! Be Tolerant
Work together –
feel and own the project
Planning for evaluation
We often think of evaluation as something we do at the end of a project but planning for at the beginning means that the project will benefit from the results whilst still in progress. It will also make the final evaluation much easier.
This checklist was also produced by participants in the SALTO Project Management training course:
Checklist for evaluation
Take the time to think about evaluation – it is worth it!
Evaluation should show if the project has been completed
Evaluation involves everybody
BEFORE..................Planning for evaluation
When planning a project, plan evaluation.
Are the aims and the objectives measurable? Use eg ‘SMART’ Can you measure everything? Define clear indicators for each objective so you will know (have evidence) an objective has been achieved.
Global View: Need to take time to work on content of evaluations from beginning of project. Evaluation plan: aims of evaluation, sources of information.
Why are you doing the evaluation?
Who is evaluation for?
What will I evaluate?
Is it the needs and the issues the organisation is trying to respond to? Is it the process? Is it the performances, the outputs and the costing? Is it the outcomes? Is it the organisation? Is it the group dynamic? Or what? Compare to the aims and objectives for the project. Is there something that has to be measured before the activity? (for eg if you are aiming at increasing someone’s awareness).
Who will evaluate?
Internal or external evaluator? Evaluation involves everyone.
Use an expert to write it in an objective way. Involve experts for their opinion
Who to involve? How could we involve the participants?
Motivate and stimulate the participants as part of the project. Evaluation involves every stakeholder, from participants, families, communities, youth workers, host families, sponsors etc. Ask for participants’ suggestions for improving quality for future projects.
How to do it?
Which method should be used? Qualitative method or quantitative? Use mixed methods. Bear target group in mind when devising evaluation. Choice of method depends on why you are doing it and who the target group for the evaluation is. Search for creative, lively, interactive, dynamic and fitting methods. First try and then use the right methods.
What kind of indicators? Keep it specific and simple. Differentiate between achievement and aims, time management, financial management, personal management, quality management etc. Use different techniques at different stages or different techniques at the same time. Make it fun. Review the learning process/project as a whole and sub projects. Create a pleasant environment.
Consider using…
Drawings,
Interviews
Feedback seminar, games, interviews
Questionnaires. Simple, easily understandable questions. Open ended questions – do not expect certain answers. Include project aims. Adapted to the target audience. Not personal, evaluating the project! To the right people. Confidential. Task – result orientated not person orientated. Concrete. Use sociological questions – max 5 options – explain? Funny and interesting questions. What to ask about: resources, finances, activities, hospitality/food, accommodation, general feelings. Significant questions - on service, hospitality, activities, trainers, spare time
Collecting information
What kind of information do I need? How could I find it? Written, verbal, Using diary, interviews, videos, media, photos, statistics etc. Have a system for recording.
When to do it
Put in the schedule and plan it. Make an evaluation plan with partners during the Planning Visit. Continuous evaluation.
Evaluation at all stages of the project
Who is responsible for what?
NB This checklist is continued in the Implementation and Evaluation sections of the Handbook
3 Implementing
Fund raising
Raising the necessary funds for your project should be seen as an integral part of the whole life of the endeavour. Numerous books and directories have been written about fundraising and a number of these are mentioned below.
This section aims to compliment existing publications by asking some questions, which will help organise your thinking and your actions. They highlight the need for good planning and clarity of objectives as described in chapter 2.
Essential questions for fund raisers
Do we have clear objectives for our project?
What do we know about the objectives of the funders we want to approach?
What do we know about their application processes, deadlines and other requirements?
What does the experience of other applicants tell us about the funder and about our application?
How much time do we need to prepare each application?
What other resources do we need to complete our applications?
Fundraising is one of the most country-specific activities in international youth projects. The rules and traditions of fundraising vary from country to country. At the European level funding is available from the sponsoring body of this handbook, the YOUTH Programme of the European Commission. An introduction to the YOUTH programme is included in the box below and further details of these funds can be found on the respective web sites. The full YOUTH programme users guide and application forms can be downloaded from www.europa.eu.int/comm/education/youth.html
The YOUTH Programme
Action 1 - exchanges
for groups of young people aged between 15 and 25
minimum 16 people per group, maximum 60
informal exchanges
can be bilateral with just one partner country, or multilateral involving three or more countries
five deadlines for application in a year
Action 2 – Voluntary Service
for young people aged between 18 and 25
voluntary placements in local communities throughout Europe
short term placements 1week to 6 month projects
long term placements 6 to 12 month projects
can work in a variety of settings including the care sector, with children etc.
Action 3 – Youth Initiatives
Youth Initiatives allows young people (15-25) to devise, manage and run projects of their own choosing within their local community.
projects must contain a European dimension
successful applicants can receive up to 10,000 euros towards the cost of their projects.
the scheme has been highly successful in motivating disaffected and disadvantaged young people and is an excellent tool in assisting their personal development and the skills acquisition useful to their working lives.
Action 3 – Future Capital
this is for young people who have completed European Voluntary Service (EVS)
it is aimed primarily at individuals, but it does allow two young people to apply for the same project as long as they demonstrate the relevant link
successful applicants can receive a maximum of 5000 euros
applicants must apply within two years of completing EVS
Action 5 – Support Measures
Support Measures provide the tools to help all those working in the youth field to:
find partners, develop youth work skills and prepare for projects
exchange good practice, develop youth policy, build transnational partnerships and develop co-operation with countries outside the European Union.
Projects might take the form of seminars, courses, visits, etc. depending upon the objectives of the activity.
At the time of writing a new T-Kit is being written on Funding and financial management and this will eventually be available on the youth.net site. The diagram below has been drafted for the T-Kit and demonstrates one way of looking at fund raising. It is included here with the permission of the T-Kit publishers.
The role of the fundraiser
The diagram below was devised for the T-Kit on Funding and financial management and is used with permission. It provides a schematic view of the processes that fund raisers go through during the life of a project:
Having started with the project idea and completed the initial planning stages of the project, the fundraisers job is to ‘encode the information collected about the project into a language and format which can be used by the funder. The fundraiser also filters out information that is not relevant or appropriate to the potential funder. This is dependant on the understanding of the funder by the fundraiser. Knowing the language (both the jargon and the ethos) and the agenda of the funder is crucial to successful applications, as is attention the detailed information about application processes. If the funder only wants one side of A4 to describe the project then sending a six page colour pamphlet will not promote a good reaction.
Having received a positive response from a funder the fundraiser has to decode the messages that come with it. What are the requirements of the funder? What restrictions are there about the way the money can be spent? What timescales have they imposed and what are the consequences for the management of the project?
The money (or gifts in kind) of course, allows the project to go ahead. As the diagram shows, this involves ‘doing’, ‘spending’, monitoring’ and ‘maintaining relationships’. Then comes the evaluation (a very significant phase in the eyes of many funders), and the creation of a report. This report that will bring together much of the information needed to produce the necessary individual reports for funders, but again this need to be filtered and encoded. Not, in any way to manipulate the information or to misinform funders – on the contrary – but ensure that funders have their own questions answered in the format they require. Again, funders often have many reports to read and so a standard format is a common request. It may be worth checking to see if they would like a copy of your full report in addition to their required minimum.
The person with responsibility for fund raising clearly needs to have an overview of the whole project and the freedom to input ideas and considerations in to all aspects of it. This does not mean that he or she will be only one actually doing the fund raising. As with PR and marketing, everyone involved in the project has some contribution to make; even if it is only behaving well and not damaging the reputation of the organisation.
Gathering resources for a project should be seen as an integral part of being involved – in fact for some it may be their only involvement. Try to harness the creativity and energy of all the stakeholders to make the fund raising effort a success. This in itself will be a sign to funders that yours is a quality project which makes the best use of the resources available to it.
The role of the fundraiser
IDEA
PLANNING
Filter -Encoder
Application Form
Application Form
Application Form
Decode
Do
Spend
Monitor
Maintain
Relation
-ships
Do
Spend
Monitor
Maintain
Relation
-ships
Do
Spend
Monitor
Maintain
Relation
-ships
EVALUATION
REPORT
Encode
Funders
Report
Funders
Report
Funders
Report
Financial management
Some
Basic Rules for Handling Money
Keep
incoming and outgoing money separate Always
give detailed receipts for money received
Always
obtain receipts for money paid out
(if
not possible get a cash ‘voucher’ signed)
Keep
receipts and vouchers in a secure file
Pay
surplus cash into the bank as soon as possible
Have
properly laid down procedures for receiving cash
Restrict
access to the petty cash system and to the safe
Keep
cash transactions to an absolute minimum
Preparing a budget
When calculating budgets it is worth taking a look at the applications forms the funders you intend to apply to. They may have items of expenditure that you have not thought of and may want you to arrange the headings in a particular way. If you do this at the budgeting stage then you will have a simpler job to convert your budget into the format they require including any ineligible costs.
If you have run a similar project in previous years, or if you have access to the accounts from a project run by someone else then this can be a handy starting point for budgeting. Take care though not to include items just because others did. You need to be sure that you can justify every item of expenditure and to be able to prioritise items if money becomes short.
You should prepare the budget in the following four stages:
A. Calculate expenditure
Possible headings under expenditure include:
Travel costs: what costs are you responsible for?
Hire costs: how much and when do we pay?
Activity costs: how much will it cost to run the exchange?
Exceptional costs: are there any hidden costs?
Telephone what admin costs do we have to pay?
Expenses: are there likely to be any staff costs?
Sundries make a reasonable judgement about these small cash
amounts.
Fees including specialist staff, interpreters etc
Food and accommodation – don’t forget travel days and all visitors and guests
B. Calculate income
Income will be made up of guaranteed income, i.e. income which has already been agreed by a funder or funders, and non-guaranteed income, i.e. income which you plan to raise.
Possible headings under income include:
Statutory funding including the EU
Corporate gifts
Private donations
Personal contributions from participants
The value of gifts in kind
Income from fund raising events
C. Compare Income and Expenditure
Total income and expenditure should now be compared with each other to establish if there is a surplus or deficit.
It is recommended to budget for a surplus of about 5% (i.e. ensure that income exceeds expenditure by about 5%). This should ensure that any unforeseen expenditure could be met. Such a surplus is sometimes known as a contingency fund but you should check that you potential funders allow this.
Once the budget shows an adequate surplus, then you to ‘phase the figures’ or to produce a ‘cash flow forecast’; i.e. to analyse when the different items of income and expenditure will arise.
D. Phase the budget (produce a cash flow forecast)
Phasing is a most important aspect of constructing a budget. It involves analysing both income and expenditure month by month (or quarter by quarter, or week by week, depending on the level of detail and the length of your project). This is important because, whilst the total budget for the year may show a surplus, it is quite possible to have sizeable deficits in individual months.
If there is deficit in a particular month, then it may be possible to arrange for funders to pay earlier or to defer expenditure to a later date. If there is a significant surplus in any month then it may be appropriate to invest the money in a higher rate bank account.
It is important to have the budget for the project approved by those responsible for the finances of your organisation. Be sure also, to know what will happen if the project makes a loss; who will fulfil any obligations to pay bills or repay funders if the project does not go ahead as planned?
Marketing and Communications (MARCOMS)
Closely allied to the fund raising efforts of any project are the marketing and communications functions. These areas are vital if one is to get the maximum ‘gain’ for young people and the organisation. Local, regional and national awareness of your project can bring goodwill and sometimes money. But you need to be sensitive: It may be that not all your participants will want to have their names in public or indeed would benefit from it.
Communications
You need to communicate effectively with a wide range of stakeholders: The initial task is to identify those people or organisations who may have an interest in and/or expectation of the project in order that these people can be kept informed and in the most appropriate manner. It is essential that each is targeted in a manner which is appropriate and effective for them.
The list below shows some of the stakeholders:
Participants
Parents
Leaders
Trustees
Sponsors
Funders
Other club members
Local Authorities
You need to use your judgement to decide which methods of communication are most appropriate to each stakeholder. Some people will not know that they are stakeholders – or indeed they will not become stakeholders until you have contacted them. Either way you need to plan for your communications and marketing. The MARCOMS plan is one to do this and an example is given below. You many want to consider each of the ideas in it for your own project. Following this a blank form is provided for you to use in your own project.
Example MARCOMS Plan for an Ecology Project
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TARGET |
TOOLS |
MESSAGE |
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Young people |
Meetings Flyers Letters Posters Party Word of mouth |
Have Fun Positive experience Meet new friends Do something different Active “Nature needs you”
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Parents |
Local Media Letters Meeting Word of mouth |
Learning by doing Learning languages Interactivity Support
of professionals |
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Local Community |
Local Media Organisation magazine Brochure Megaphone Cars Stands/Fair |
Intercultural impact Putting the community on the World map “Let’s open up to the world” |
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Youth Organisations |
Posters Leaflets E-mail- e-mail bombing |
Global view Gather youngsters New information Motivate youngsters “United we stand divided we fall” |
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Sponsors/Funders |
Letters Media Visit Files Web-site |
Good publicity “Free” visit card Get product to be known world-wide |
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Schools |
Letters Visits/presentation Animation Meet teachers/students Posters |
More alternative methods of learning Interactive “Subject we cannot ignore” |
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Media |
Press message Invitations Interviews Visual things (video, web-site, pictures) |
Good for local community “Do –make-say- thing” |
MARCOMS Plan
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TARGET |
TOOLS |
MESSAGE |
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Writing a Press Release:
All too often the writing of a press release is done quickly and without a great deal of thought, leading to dissatisfaction when the media do not take up your story.
The basic criteria to include, to give your press release a fair opportunity of success are as follows:-
WHO - is involved in the project? Be clear about your organisation and the young people involved, especially any particular areas of disadvantage.
WHAT - is the project about? Give brief details including young peoples involvement in the preparation.
WHEN - is the project taking place?
WHERE - is the project taking place?
WHY - are you developing the project? Be clear about the benefits to young people.
HOW - are you raising the funds? How are you travelling to your destination?
PERSONAL STATEMENT - If possible obtain a supporting comment from a prominent member of the local community.
In addition to all of this if you can supply a photograph of the group in action this will help to get your press release printed. Make sure your photograph shows full-face pictures of participants in a close up situation. Don’t forget to provide names of those in the photo - with the correct spelling!
It is worth noting that Editors of local newspapers usually prefer to write their own headlines so it is not worth spending a very much time thinking up a catchy headline.
SAFETY FOR PROJECT PARTICIPANTS
The project should be safe and enjoyable for everyone, but it is not possible to guarantee the behaviour of other individuals. Consequently, it is essential that each person protects him or herself to maximise their own safety. The guidelines below are designed to help individuals have a happy and successful experience.
Each person should know the rules and follow them at all times. Be ready for different cultures that could mean very different expectations and standards of behaviour. What is normal and acceptable to you may be seen as rude, threatening or unkind to others and vice versa. For example, it many southern European countries it is normal for people to kiss on one or both cheeks when they meet, including men.
Your rights – You have the right to:
Expect privacy.
Be free from teasing, bullying, violence, suggestive remarks or pressure to engage in sexual activity.
Say no to unwanted affection, touching or anything that makes you feel embarrassed, upset, hurt or lonely.
Say no to an adult’s inappropriate demands and requests.
Refuse gifts.
Withhold information that may put your safety at risk.
Trust your instincts or feelings.
Ask for help.
How to keep safe …
Do Avoid being on your own
Do Trust your instincts about people you meet
Do Tell someone responsible if you are going off on your own.
Do Avoid potentially unsafe areas like back streets, bars, clubs
Do Carry some money for a taxi (but not too much).
Don’t Agree to meet someone you don’t know.
Don’t Accept lifts or invitations from someone you don’t know.
What to do if you feel threatened…
Be firm and tell the person to stop.
Avoid letting the person see that you are upset.
Make a lot of noise to attract attention.
Get away from the situation quickly and go to the nearest public place.
Tell an adult you trust about what has happened as soon as possible.
Keep a note of the time, place, date, what happened, how you felt about it, and the name of anyone who might have seen what happened.
Find out if the same thing has happened to any of your friends; encourage them to tell someone, too.
Risk Assessment
At an organisational level, leaders have a responsibility to assess and manage the risks inherent in a project. First, risks should be assessed and then action should be taken to manage them. Remember that risks change all the time and therefore risk assessment and management should be a dynamic and responsive activity.
In order to tune up your thinking about risk, you may want to consider what you would do in the following situations:
Skiing in Turkey
Sun hot, piste safe, young people want to ski, suitably clothed, ski hire free.
Do you let them ski?
Pedalos on Lake Garda
Very hot day, lots of small children on pedalos, young people want to go on pedalos, all group aged 15+, Italian leaders say it’s OK.
Would you let them use the pedalos?
Swimming in the sea
Three “well built” young men at the edge of the sea, it’s hot, the sea looks safe, and the sun is shining. Do you let them swim?
If you need to stimulate discussion, you may want to give people the role of participant, parent, leader, and so on. You may also want to use the questions used in the risk assessment below; what could cause harm? What would the nature of the harm be? What is the likelihood of it happening? How could reduce the likelihood and/or the effects?
Alcohol on Youth Exchanges
Alcohol on European youth projects can often be a problem. There are significant culture differences in the attitude towards drinking across Europe and beyond. You may want to consider the following questions:
Will prohibition work?
How could you limit drinking?
What educational outcomes can be gained from tackling the subject?
Do you want to negotiate with your participants?
What rules or other arrangements could you establish with them?
Do you need to first discuss this with leaders from your partner groups?
Don’t forget that risk assessments need to be carried out for all stages and all activities in the life of a project. This includes:
Fund raising events
Travelling
Accommodation arrangements
Home stays
Programme activities
Accompanied and unaccompanied activities
Water and adventure activities
Evaluation meetings and activities
Risk assessments are not just for the obviously risky activities like climbing or water sports. Think about all activities, visits, travel arrangements etc.
Carrying out a risk assessment
The main steps of a risk assessment are:
Identify the hazards - All the hazards associated with the activity need to be identified. A hazard is something with the potential to cause harm. This can include the behaviour of individuals.
Identify those at Risk - That is, those who might be affected by the hazard. This may not only be the people directly involved in the activity.
Estimate the likelihood of harm occurring, the severity and the number of people who might be affected - Some risks will not be significant because the likelihood of harm is very low, the severity of potential injury is very low, or both.
Decide if the level of risk is acceptable – classify as high, medium or low, or give a score using the system below.
Put safeguards in place or change the activity - to reduce risk or remove the hazard
In order to give a risk a score as suggested in No. 4 above, the following formula might be used.
Risk = Hazard Severity x Likelihood of Occurrence
Hazard Severity |
Rating |
Likelihood of occurrence |
Rating |
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Fatality/permanent disability |
5 |
Will invariably happen |
5 |
|
Major injury/long term absence |
4 |
Highly probable |
4 |
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3 day injury/temporary disability |
3 |
Probable |
3 |
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First aid injury |
2 |
Possible |
2 |
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Minot injury (bruising abrasion) |
1 |
Remote possibility |
1 |
NB The hazard severity column refers to physical injury, but don’t forget to consider the risk of emotional or psychological injury also.
The score should tell you whether or not action is required
16-25 Unacceptable Risk - immediate action
10-15 Risk Reduction Required - high priority
6-9 Medium Risk - action required
3-5 Low Priority - further risk reduction
1-2 Low Risk - no further action required
Control Measures - Following risk assessment, control measures must be considered to reduce risk. The risk should always be reduced where it is reasonable to do so. Activities should not proceed where the risk is at an unacceptable level.
Recording - Regulations in some countries require that the significant findings of risk assessments must be recorded. Even if not required to do so, it is recommended that details of the risk assessments should be recorded for use in reviewing safety and in the case of litigation being started against the organisation.
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Risk Assessment Form |
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Organisation name
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Venture |
Overall dates |
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Activity to be assessed
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Signed Designation/title Date |
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What are the hazards? ie the potential to do harm
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To whom?
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What are the risks? ie the likelihood of it happening – High, medium or low
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How can they be eliminated, reduced, isolated or controlled?
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Contracting with Young People
Contracting with young people is a well established method of involving them in the setting of ground rules and creating a participative culture in a project. The idea is to encourage participants to think-up and think-through their own responsibilities for behaviour during the project. The contract becomes a formal way of remembering what different stakeholders can expect from each other for the life of the project. Consideration needs to be given to the integration of contracts, which have been developed by different partner groups. Likewise, you should try to ensure that all partner groups establish contracts as early as possible.
Below are two examples of such contracts:
Young People’s contract for exchange visit
YOU HAVE TO BE PRESENT DURING THE ENTIRE PROGRAMME
YOU HAVE TO BE ON TIME
BEHAVE YOURSELF WITH YOUR HOST PARENTS
NO USE OF DRUGS
NO ALCOHOL TILL AFTER 9:00 P.M.
THE BAR WILL CLOSE AT 1:00 A.M.
NO KISSING, THIS WILL BE COMPLICATED AFTERWARDS BECAUSE OF BROKEN HEARTS, CHILDREN, ALIMONY AND TRAVELCOSTS!
BEFORE AND DURING THE EXCHANGE I AGREE TO THE FOLLOWING RULES:
I will do my best to make the contact with the Spanish group as nice as possible.
I will help to prepare certain parts of the programme and I will take part in the preparation.
I will not take drugs with me during the exchange or use it.
I will not use alcohol outside the situations in which we have agreed that we can drink alcohol.
I will keep to the agreed codes of conduct, for example concerning sleeping times.
I will participate in preparing the meals.
I will agree to help and to do the dishes. I will leave our accommodation tidy.
During the period of preparation and the exchange I will avoid confrontation with the police.
If I don’t keep these agreed promises, I will be send home by train with no excuse. Afterwards I will accept disciplinary action.
Signature leadership: Date:
Signature participant: Date:
Evaluation During the project
NB Continued from the checklist in the section on planning…
DURING.....................
Collect information during the whole period.
Find time to do the evaluation, put it in the timetable, so that it’s not rushed at the end. Allowing room and space to explain what went wrong and to combine oral and written evaluation if possible.
Make a checklist to use during a Youth Exchange.
Take notes during the Exchange, every day. Make evaluations during the exchange: review daily, diaries. Record all project details (date, place, and number of participants)
Motivate participants
Explicit explanation of evaluation methods and why choose these methods – justification. Collaboration of all participants (young people, hosting families, local authorities, partners etc) Involve everyone in evaluation – ask everyone to contribute to the report and how the project could be better. Obtain as much feedback from participants as possible
NB Continued in the section on Evaluation and reporting
4 Evaluation and Reporting
Evaluation checklist
The final section of the checklist in the previous two sections
AFTER........................
Interpreting the collected information – what does it mean?
Focus both on the achievements and the mistakes.
Summarize individual evaluations. Find the ideal balance between analytic and realistic data. Analysis. Objective, self-critical. Clarify the differences between personal opinion and objective interpretation. Do not judge the answers/opinion/ results.
Make it improvement orientated – finding out the weak points and looking for ways of improving
Explanation of purpose included – revised by team
Make evaluation a week after participant has had time for reflection
Make the review right after project.
Do it no more than a month after the activity has taken place
How could we implement the learning?
Share and transfer learning process. Use them as a study material.
How could we share the evaluation between our partner?
What do I do with the result? Following up and implementation – how?
Possible conclusions and consequences. What future projects do we plan?
The report to funders
Clear conclusions with suggestions and future plans – A best practices Guide
Encourage interacting (also for next project)
How to make the final report
Has to be real/truthful/honest. Include both positive and negative aspects; short and clear sentences, use ordinary language. Include Pictures, Video, and CDROM etc.
Target reader – what is the aim of writing? Who is the reader? Internal use? External? Clear structure. Adjust writing style to the needs of the readers
Add documents: program, list of participants, references from other people, media, sponsors, budget & accounts.
Fulfilling the formal criteria
The following pages include a number of exercises for use in the evaluation of a project. Adaptations may need to be made depending on which stakeholders you plan to involve in them.
Evaluation Exercises
THE EVALUATION TREE
Evaluation is a process that starts from the beginning of a project with young people. It is not something that can be left to the end in the hope that you can remember what it was you set out to achieve. The danger in evaluating work with young people is that the process can become boring so the ‘Evaluation Tree’ is something you may wish to use in order to make the process a little more interesting.
The Tree itself can be constructed either by going out and finding an old branch, with plenty of twigs which can then easily be set into a hole drilled into a piece of wood to support it. Or alternatively can be made from stiff cardboard or thin plywood. The important thing is to have plenty of places from which the ‘fruit’ can be hung.
It is most effective if the tree is between three and four feet high. You can always involve the young people in making it as this helps to create a greater ownership of it.
Green Yellow Red
The Apples, or any fruit you choose, should be cut out of thin card in a proportionate size to the tree. When they have been written on these can then be hung from the tree by using Christmas bauble hangers or by attaching them with cotton.
The Green apples are used at the beginning of the project.
The Yellow apples half way through the project.
The Red apples at the end of the project.
At the start of the project get young people to identify how they see it developing, what do they hope to learn from it, and what they see their involvement as being and write this on the Green Apples.
At the half way stage use the yellow apples to again get the young people to consider whether it is developing as they thought, what have they learnt so far about themselves and others and what future learning do they hope to gain.
At the end of the project use the red apples to work through a similar process.
You will now have a colourful tree which young people have been fully instrumental in developing but more importantly you will have an overall picture of how involved young people have been, what they have learnt and you will be able to use this to develop further work with the group.
THE EVALUATION MAP
This activity is aimed at giving you the topics to be able to develop discussion around particular areas of the Exchange. It is possible to use the map both early and later in the Exchange experience initially to look at expectations and in the latter stages to consider the reality. It will then be possible to use the two together to help to identify changes in attitudes, skills and knowledge.
Initially get the group to brainstorm onto sheets of Flip Chart paper all the significant events to do with :- The Exchange planning, Decisions made, Fund Raising activities, The Exchange itself, particular incidents (funny or serious) plus any other areas you wish to look at.
Once these have been decided on and agreed within the group get them to draw a large map of an Island on paper.
The task for the group is then two fold. Initially they need to discus which were the most important areas for them in connection with the success or otherwise of the exchange and jointly decide how much space on their Island should be given to those particular areas. Once they have decided on the sizes of the areas and marked them on the map they should consider what percentage of those areas were positive ones for them and what percentage were negatives. They then shade in the extent of the negatives in each area. ( It is a good idea to use different coloured felt tip pens or paints for each area.).
Now the young people write in the areas the various comments they had made on the Flip charts splitting them into the positives and negatives. This gives you a good base from which to launch into a discussion about what it was that made the good things good and what caused the less positive things to occur and how they could have been avoided.
In the ‘decisions’ section it will be useful to consider whether your perception of the level of decisions being made by the group is the same as their perception and if it is not then why are there differences.
If the group appears to be avoiding looking at some of the more difficult areas of its development then consider using role play to work through these areas. You could soften this a little by asking the group to role play five different situations which reflect different moods of the group
Once you have completed the Island and moved back to group discussion your map will help everybody to focus in on the experience of the Exchange to look in greater depth at their learning.
THE TIME MACHINE
The Time Machine is a simple but effective technique to use at the end of a project or, possibly after the first leg of an exchange.
For the Time Machine to operate properly the young people involved in the project need to be asked to bring along to the meeting anything which they have which relates to the experiences they have been through. These may be photographs, notes of meetings, video tape or even letters which they received from their partner if they communicated prior to the actual exchange.
The Leaders also need to be prepared with as much material as possible which will remind the participants of things that happened on the way .
The TIME MACHINE can be as simple or as complex as you wish to make it. A simple version is to have a box which has each month that the exchange group has been meeting marked on it with a dial on the front of it and then pull together some tables. All the participants climb onto the tables, including the leaders, and the dial is turned to a date in the past. The time machine then takes you back month by month until you arrive at that time.
With a bit of imagination this can easily become an experience especially if as a leader you can remember some of the groups’ birthdays or get them to call out as you go back past their birthdays. You can also call out events which happened as you go back past them to help get into the mood and to bring the whole experience back to mind. (It’s amazing how much is forgotten as time goes by).
Some appropriate music to play whilst going back and flashing lights also helps.
When the desired month is reached everybody climbs off the time machine and shares their memories of this particular part of the exchange in terms of how they felt at that time and what they were doing in connection with the exchange. The photographs and recordings act as good prompts at this time so that each element of the experience can be evaluated.
During the course of the session all the months can be visited and a picture slowly built up of how the young people felt the process went. They can then start to identify things that they learnt about themselves, each other and their partners throughout the experience.
Creating reports
There is great debate about report writing and the value of the documents produced so you need to be sure about its purpose. The following questions should help to plan your report and to ensure that it fulfils its purpose.
Who is the report for? For funders? Participants? Parents, the Press? The answer to this question will dictate the style and structure of your report. You need to check the requirements and expectations of the different stakeholders. Is the report a memento or a record of the achievement of the activity? How does it relate to the evaluation? Is there a deadline by which the report must be finished?
What resources are available? How much time do you have? What about printing or copying costs? Has the cost of producing the report been included in the budget?
Who is going to be involved? Can the production of the report be regarded as part of the whole experience for the young people involved? What skills do these people bring to the job?
Which media can you use? Does the report have to be paper based or can it be produced on video, website or CD ROM? Do the words have to be in a formal style or can you use cartoons, or photos with captions and annotations? What technology do you need and can you get you get it?
How will you structure your report? Will it be a simple historical account of what happened or will it be structured around issues or learning outcomes? How will you ensure that a variety of perspectives on the experience are represented?
How much detail will you include? Will you have an ‘executive summary’ for those with little time to spend reading? Will such a summary meet the needs of some stakeholders? Does everyone involved have to tell their whole story or will you include pieces or anecdotes from each individual? Does everyone have to make a contribution? Who will have the ultimate editorial power?
Once you have answered the questions above it should relatively straightforward to devise a simple structure for you report and to commission different people to write or produce different sections. If this is your approach then you may want to agree and write down some basic editorial guidelines for everyone before they get on with it. If you are writing on a PC then agree the font size and type and any layout parameters and a maximum and minimum size for each contribution.
If you are using images then make sure they are credited to the person who created them and make sure there is some reference to them or explanation of them in the text. Poor quality images can spoil the overall standard of a report to be prepared to only use good ones. If you are using electronic or video media, make sure you include instructions on how to access the report and where to get help if it doesn’t work.
And finally, constantly put yourself in the place of the reader or viewer. Imagine you have the same level of knowledge about the project as them and check that the report still makes sense to you.
Recognising achievement
It is becoming important to be able to ‘prove’ that international experiences do develop skills and competencies, and to be able to measure these developments in a systematic way. When this is made formal we refer to it as accreditation. The UK National Agency, Connect Youth, has developed a structure and process to facilitate this. It is hoped that the Personal Record of Achievement (PRA) will be approved by one of the authorities in the UK that provide National Vocational Qualifications. This will add further credibility to the process and make the PRA certificate valuable to potential employers and educational bodies.
Using an ‘accreditation’ process like the PRA does not need to remove the fun and spontaneity from international activities. The key is to remember to collect evidence whenever possible and appropriate in order to demonstrate the learning.
Personal Record of Achievement - PRA
The Personal Record of Achievement is designed to allow you to be able to provide evidence that you developed a range of skills and understanding as a result of participating in an International Youth Exchange, a Youth Initiative or a European Voluntary Service project.
It is recognised that all exchanges and initiatives should encourage participants to use and develop certain skills; these have been named “Base skill areas” – there are six of these. There are also nine “Optional skill areas”.
Participants in the scheme are expected to show development in the six Base skills areas and in a minimum of two Optional skill areas; a total of eight skills areas. They are as follows:
Base Skills Area
Working with others
Self-awareness
Intercultural awareness
Communication skills
Problem solving
Review and evaluation
Optional skill areas
Citizenship
Equal opportunities
Health & safety
Political awareness
Analytical skills
Project theme skills
Improving learning and performance
Number & information technology
Language skills
Evidence
Evidence of learning can be shown in a number of different ways. Some of these might include:
Written information about the way you carried out a piece of work and what you learned from the process
Recorded evidence on a tape, which details the work carried out and what you learned.
Photographs – on their own these cannot be considered as evidence of learning; however, they are a valuable way of supporting your written evidence
Video tape – evidence on a tape is valid and is often an excellent way of demonstrating your learning in a specific area
A statement by another person – if another person has seen you carry out a piece of work and seen evidence of your learning, they may write a testament to this effect for your evidence sheets.
Oral evidence may be given to an assessor to demonstrate and support written, or other evidence provided.
The evidence is validated by a youth worker, or teacher, who has been working with the group, either throughout the period of the ‘exchange’, volunteer placement or with a Group Initiative. When this person is satisfied that development has taken place in the chosen areas (a minimum of eight) they can countersign the certificate.