We made a Theory of Change. Now what?
Workshop
About the Event
This proposal focuses on an opportunity to collaboratively explore the various ways in which Theories of Change (herafter ToC[s]) can be used iteratively throughout the lifecycle of project to help review, reflect, and course correct projects. Through an immersive role-playing activity, participants will take on roles of different stakeholders on a fictitious project, test each others’ assumptions, and discover new and novel ways to problem-solve using a ToC. By using a ToC not only as a product, but as a process, participants will learn about a multitude of benefits of ToCs such as: proactively identifying risks, triggering reflection and iterative learning, appropriately adapting work plans, strengthening communication, establishing (or maintaining) stakeholder buy-in, and facilitating proper hand-over.
Outline of Skill Building Workshop: In this 90-minute hands-on workshop participants will learn novel ways to use a ToC to reflect on their assumptions and biases, engage with new types of stakeholders and funders, and identify issues that emerge within a simulated project and explore how to mitigate them.
Part 1: Guidehouse facilitators will start with a brief presentation describing how a ToC can be used throughout the lifecycle of a project, as well as explore benefits of engaging curiously with your project through a ToC. This will be followed by an overview of the main activity (a role play game) and set the context and ground rules. All participants will be provided a ToC of the fictitious project to be used in the activity.
Part 2: Participants will be assigned to groups, each representing a different stakeholder/actor in a fictitious project: the project implementer, a funder, an external evaluator, and the project’s intended beneficiaries. Groups will go into breakout rooms where they will be given additional context and information about the stakeholder they are representing, and a problem. Each stakeholder, honing their own needs, biases, and experiences, will have time to reflect on their problem as a group and come with an approach. Then, facilitators will bring the groups back together, encouraging the stakeholders to engage in a negotiation with one another on the given issue. Are the assumptions stated in the original ToC from project inception holding true? Why or why not, and according to who? How can we use the ToC to reflect on assumptions, risks, lessons learned, or to address problems and course correct?
Part 3: The role-playing activity will be followed by a reflection in plenary where participants will have a chance to share learnings and best practices using question prompts from Guidehosue.
Outline of Skill Building Workshop: In this 90-minute hands-on workshop participants will learn novel ways to use a ToC to reflect on their assumptions and biases, engage with new types of stakeholders and funders, and identify issues that emerge within a simulated project and explore how to mitigate them.
Part 1: Guidehouse facilitators will start with a brief presentation describing how a ToC can be used throughout the lifecycle of a project, as well as explore benefits of engaging curiously with your project through a ToC. This will be followed by an overview of the main activity (a role play game) and set the context and ground rules. All participants will be provided a ToC of the fictitious project to be used in the activity.
Part 2: Participants will be assigned to groups, each representing a different stakeholder/actor in a fictitious project: the project implementer, a funder, an external evaluator, and the project’s intended beneficiaries. Groups will go into breakout rooms where they will be given additional context and information about the stakeholder they are representing, and a problem. Each stakeholder, honing their own needs, biases, and experiences, will have time to reflect on their problem as a group and come with an approach. Then, facilitators will bring the groups back together, encouraging the stakeholders to engage in a negotiation with one another on the given issue. Are the assumptions stated in the original ToC from project inception holding true? Why or why not, and according to who? How can we use the ToC to reflect on assumptions, risks, lessons learned, or to address problems and course correct?
Part 3: The role-playing activity will be followed by a reflection in plenary where participants will have a chance to share learnings and best practices using question prompts from Guidehosue.
Speakers
| Name | Title | Biography |
|---|---|---|
| Elizabeth (Lizzy) Sweitzer | Senior Consultant | Elizabeth is a Senior Consultant for Guidehouse, based in Washington DC. She has a background in Monitoring and Evaluation of International Programs and provides a range of Federal clients with M&E support. |