Wednesday, 22 April 2009

Project management and accountability

I spent most of today working on the first year-end monitoring report for our Big Lottery Funded “Fit for Purpose” project. The project is really going pretty well, but there are areas in which we’ve over-delivered and areas in which we need more time. And of course these complex changes need to be reported on to our funders.

In the afternoon, I visited Letchworth for a steering group meeting for the Capacitybuilders-funded ICT project where we all emphasised the need to focus on delivering the project outcomes. This will seem obvious. But there can be long periods between a grant application, a grant-decision, and implementation of the programme. During these periods, priorities shift and change constantly and sometimes a project’s focus can drift substantially. Every voluntary sector project manager must constantly reconcile what was originally applied for, what the funder approved, and what the needs now are.

In the evening, Jackie and I went for a short walk in Sherrardspark. It was an excellent break from things: wood anemones, arum lilies, and vast quantities of bluebells and whitebells – and a woodpecker invisible but busy nearby.