Monitoring is the routine process of examining the progress and activities of a given project, as well as identifying the challenges experienced while implementing different programs. Evaluation, on the other hand, is a periodic activity used to make judgment regarding the effectiveness or relevance of a project (Phillips, 2012).
Apart from the definitions, other difference is monitoring relates a lot to observation whereas, evaluation, relates to judgment. The other difference is monitoring occurs during the operational level, whereas, evaluation takes place during the business level. Additionally monitoring is a short-term process, whereas, evaluation is long-term. Finally, monitoring aims at improving efficiency, while evaluation focuses on enhancing effectiveness ( Posavac, 2015) .
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Whether Or Not Monitoring Should Be Closely Related To Evaluation
Despite the above-mentioned differences, the two processes should be closely related. First, one cannot make a good judgment unless proper observation has been made. Secondly, one cannot execute a long-term process without incorporating short-term ones. In simple terms, monitoring plays a critical role in enabling effective evaluation (Phillips, 2012).
Differences at different stages
Planning - In the planning process, monitoring strategies are laid down to check whether or not the project will be capable of doing what it promises to do. Evaluation plans are, on the contrary, drafted to highlight the technique the management will use to measure how effective the program is in addressing the issue at hand ( Posavac, 2015) .
Implementation - At this stage, monitoring is carried out by internal parties, whereas, evaluation can be conducted by either internal or external parties. Also, a lot of monitoring is done at this stage than evaluation (Phillips, 2012).
Evaluation - Here, the evaluators focus on telling whether or not the project is efficient enough to deliver what it promised, whereas, evaluators measure whether or not the program is relevant or effective to address the issue at hand ( Posavac, 2015) .
Control - At this stage, the management responds to the monitoring report by figuring out better ways to increase the efficiency of the project. They also respond to evaluation report by coming up with better ways to increase the effectiveness of the program (Phillips, 2012).
References
Phillips, J. J. (2012). Handbook of training evaluation and measurement methods . Routledge.
Posavac, E. J. (2015). Program evaluation: Methods and case studies . Routledge.
