Complexity-aware monitoring (C-AM) is a responsive approach, and it can be implemented at several points in the Program Cycle. We envision that it will be particularly helpful to think about C-AM at the project design and monitoring and evaluation (M&E) planning and updating phases, at the completion of a Country Development Cooperation Strategy (CDCS) process, or if things are changing and you’re in need of adaptive management (the “learning and adapting” phase of the Program Cycle). These times are all appropriate for C-AM implementation, although no time is prohibitive.

This is a really important question, and we'd like to correct a common misunderstanding: the procurement system is probably not as rigid as you may think. In our experience, contracts officers vary; but we're often very impressed with how forward thinking USAID's contracts officers are, particularly when the program's goals and expectations are clearly explained. If you discuss your needs openly, chances are there's a solution available to you. Adaptive management requires flexibility, and C-AM helps to provide the timely monitoring data to help inform this flexibility.

USAID employees can find additional guidance on Programnet, including a brief that identifies a few procurement mechanisms which are inherently more flexible options. USAID staff can download the brief here.

As we learn more during our trials and start to build a body of evidence, we will incorporate our findings into relevant trainings.

First and foremost, we looked for partners who have identified a monitoring need related to a complex aspect of their project. A project may have been a good candidate if performance monitoring wasn't meeting information needs because of any of the following:

Complexity-aware monitoring can be implemented at any point in the Program Cycle. However, for the purposes of these trials, we are looking for projects that are already operational and that have a current monitoring need. For those of you who are still at the project design stage, we would love to talk about incorporating complexity-aware monitoring into your project or activity M&E plan. After the project is running, you may then be an ideal partner for us in a later phase of the trials.

Most of the promising approaches on trial are backed by a significant body of theory and practice, but they had not previously been used to monitor USAID strategies and projects. The purpose of these trials was to generate a body of knowledge about the benefits of these approaches, and what supports their use, and under what conditions. 

When we talked to M&E innovators in the Agency, we found that they struggled with some common challenges including:

The trials were designed to cover the entire monitoring cycle from design to use of data. A trial beganwith a collaborative process to identify a monitoring need and select the most appropriate approach, continues through planning, preparation, training, and actual monitoring, and ended when the data informs decision making. Many partners required support for approximately one year. However, some approaches took less time. 

Time and resource requirements for each trial depended on the project’s monitoring need and the approach selected to meet that need. The five recommended approaches offered a range of resource thresholds, our goal was to help partners find the right balance between the usefulness of the information with the effort and cost to obtain it. There are very real time and resource (e.g. LOE, funding) constraints on potential partners, and we developed plans that fits within partner's available capacities.

Support to trial partners from the Office of Learning, Evaluation, and Research (LER) began during start-up. The Complexity-Aware M&E Team helped partners identify how monitoring data can support adaptive management of your project in complexity. Then, LER worked with partners to select the most appropriate monitoring approach. LER’s Resource Panel of international experts assisted with the design of the trial. After the trial launched, an expert provided tailored technical assistance on application of the monitoring approach. Each trial convened a Learning Circle that supported the use of the monitoring approach for the purpose of serving the project’s monitoring needs. Other members of the Learning Circle—including implementing partner representatives, USAID staff from the relevant USAID Mission or Operating Unit, members of the LER Office—collaborated to problem-solve and ensured that the trial produces useful data that meets the project’s monitoring needs.