www.evidenceandinsights.org - Blog by Evidence, Analytics and Insightswww.evidenceandinsights.org - Blog by Evidence, Analytics and Insightshttps://www.evidenceandinsights.org/blogs/author/evidence-analytics-and-insightsThu, 29 Jan 2026 02:17:44 +0100http://zoho.com/sites/<![CDATA[Scope: The Silent Saboteur of MEL Projects ]]>https://www.evidenceandinsights.org/blogs/post/scopecreepinMEL If you work in Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL), you’ve pro ]]>

Projects rarely explode; they slowly drown in unspoken scope.

If you work in Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL), you’ve probably lived this: a project that didn’t crash spectacularly… it just quietly slipped, stretched and shape‑shifted until no one was quite sure what “done” meant anymore.

It wasn’t bad intent. It was scope. Not big, dramatic scope changes, just “one more indicator,” “a quick extra dashboard,” “only a short learning brief,” “let’s add two more countries to the sample.” Each request is reasonable. Each one is “small.” And almost none of them are properly costed, scheduled, or documented.

Individually, they feel harmless. Together, they sink your project.

How Scope Creeps in MEL Work
In MEL, scope creep often hides behind our desire to be helpful and responsive and every “yes” without an explicit trade‑off creates tiny delays that weren’t in the original workplan, tiny costs that weren’t in the original budget and tiny expectations that were never explicitly agreed.



Over months, the cumulative effect is huge:

     - Your team is overloaded
     - Your quality drops
     - Your timelines slip
     - Your client is confused about why “this took so long” and “cost so much

No one remembers the dozen “small” asks. but you are living them.

The Real Skill: Saying “Yes, But…”

The solution is not becoming the consultant who always says “no.” The real professional skill is learning to say “yes, but…”
  • “Yes, we can add that indicator, **but** we’ll need to reduce depth elsewhere or extend the timeline.”
  • “Yes, we can run that additional workshop, **but** it will require a budget amendment.”
  • “Yes, we can produce that learning brief, **but** we’ll need to drop the slide deck or increase the level of effort.”

You’re not refusing value. You’re making trade‑offs visible. When you do this consistently, scope stays honest, accountability stays shared, stakeholders understand that every new “small” thing displaces something else and that’s not being difficult. That’s being transparent.

Why MEL Is Especially Vulnerable
MEL projects are uniquely exposed to scope creep because:
1. Learning never really ends: As insights emerge, people naturally want to explore more. Without boundaries, every interesting question becomes a new task.
2. Deliverables are often intangible: Frameworks, theories of change, dashboards, learning processes are easy to “add onto” because they’re not as visibly constrained as, say, building a road.
3. Stakeholders are diverse:  Programme teams, donors, partners, communities have slightly different information needs. “Just add this for us” multiplies fast.
4. We’re wired to be useful: MEL professionals often feel pressure to demonstrate value, which can translate into “never saying no.”

Without clear scope discipline, MEL teams end up doing more and more work for the same budget and timeline, all while being told to “keep it light‑touch.”

Making Scope Explicit: From Saboteurs to Allies

When scope is explicit, stakeholders stop being accidental saboteurs and start becoming allies. Practically, that means:
Define scope clearly at the start: Spell out:
  - What is *in* scope (indicators, methods, deliverables, countries, stakeholders)
  - What is explicitly *out* of scope
  - Assumptions (e.g., data access, staff availability, decision timelines)
Agree a simple change process: It doesn’t need to be bureaucratic: document the request, clarify the impact on time, cost, and quality and get written confirmation of the trade‑off 
Use visual tools: Roadmaps, deliverable tables, and RACI matrices help everyone see:
- What was agreed
- What has been added
- What has moved as a result

When everyone can *see* the consequences, conversations shift from:  “Can you just add this?”  to  “If we add this, what should we deprioritise?”. You’re no longer fighting fires; you’re negotiating priorities. The project may still be complex—but at least everyone is drowning in the same pool, on purpose.               



​How We Help: 
​Consulting & Training on MEL Project Management



At Evidence, Analytics and Insights, we don’t just talk about scope; we help you manage it.
  1. MEL Consulting Support: We work with organisations to design MEL frameworks with realistic, bounded scope and build MEL workplans and budgets that reflect actual effort. We facilitate scoping and rescoping conversations between programmes, MEL teams, and donors and when needed, rescue MEL projects that are already drowning in unspoken scope
  2. Training Courses: Turning “Yes, But…” Into a Habit. Through our learning platform - The Learning Hub; we offer practical training on MEL Project Management with modules to build scope discipline into your MEL practice, including: 
    • What goes into a MEL Project?
    • Scoping MEL Projects for Success: How to define what’s in/out of scope, set realistic expectations, and avoid overload.
    • Managing Scope Creep in MEL: Scripts, tools and templates for saying “yes, but…”, handling change requests, and keeping stakeholders aligned.
    • Communicating MEL Trade‑offs to Non‑MEL Colleagues - turning technical constraints into clear, compelling explanations for programme teams and donors.

Courses can be delivered online or in‑person and tailored to your organisation’s context.
If your MEL team feels stretched, if your projects keep expanding without extra time or budget, or if you’re always “almost finished” but never quite done, you don’t have a performance problem, you have a scope problem.
Get in touch to discuss MEL consulting support, or explore our upcoming training courses to start turning scope from a silent saboteur into a managed, visible, shared decision.


]]>Fri, 31 Jan 2025 12:56:00 +0100<![CDATA[Vactraca in Partnership with Evidence, Analytics and Insights ]]>https://www.evidenceandinsights.org/blogs/post/vactracaandeaiEAI is excited to announce its collaboration with Vactraca to pilot an approach to improving childhood immunisation rates in South Sudan. This short-t ]]>

Project Pilot in South Sudan

EAI is excited to announce its collaboration with Vactraca to pilot an approach to improving childhood immunisation rates in South Sudan. This short-term health intervention utilises the innovative Vactraca necklace, designed to enhance community engagement and compliance with vaccinations before a broader rollout can occur.

Historically, South Sudan has faced challenges with immunisation coverage, as evidenced by the 2006 Sudan Household Health Survey (SSCCSE), which reported an alarming immunisation rate of just 2.7%. Although this figure improved to 18.9% in the 2017 South Sudan Expanded Programme on Immunisation Coverage Survey (SSECS), there remains significant room for growth, especially considering the 8.7% coverage reported in 2011.







The Vactraca pendant has multiple discs and each disc represents an infant’s routine immunization schedule. The discs highlight what vaccinations an infant should take and at what age they should take them. Vactraca caters to all mothers including those who have multiple birth.



All vaccine information is stored behind the discs, making it easy for health workers to keep track of the vaccines that have been administered.


The pilot study aims to:

      • Assess the practicality and effectiveness of using Vactraca necklaces in increasing childhood immunisation rates.
      • Gather insights on the necessary time and resources for successful interventions.
      • Document practical activities for continuous use of the devices.
      • Evaluate community responses, particularly from mothers to gauge acceptance of the Vactraca necklaces.
      • Identify factors that may influence the effectiveness of the necklaces in fostering immunization uptake.
      • Measure the direct impact of the intervention on vaccination rates among children and test the scalability of Vactraca.

This prospective interventional study will adopt a quasi-experimental design and utilise a mixed-methods approach to evaluate its outcomes. A comprehensive Theory of Change and logical framework will guide the evaluation, aiming to estimate the expected changes attributed to the Vactraca initiative. Vactraca is partnering with UNICEF in South Sudan for the roll out of the pilot.

The findings from this pilot study will not only provide essential insights for the future design of immuniation interventions but will also enhance opportunities for securing funding for a wide-scale implementation of Vactraca. By demonstrating the necessary skills and expertise required for successful rollout, we aim to encourage acceptance and utilisation of the Vactraca necklaces, leading to improved health outcomes for children in South Sudan.

For more information about Vactraca, please visit their official website.

Visit the Vactraca Website
]]>Mon, 27 Mar 2023 16:36:00 +0100<![CDATA[My Adventures in Remote Data Collection]]>https://www.evidenceandinsights.org/blogs/post/smsdataHello there!  I’m excited to share my journey as an intern working with EAI in Abuja, where I had the incredible opportunity to lead a project usi ]]>

An Intern’s Experience at EAI

Hello there! 

I’m excited to share my journey as an intern working with EAI in Abuja, where I had the incredible opportunity to lead a project using remote data collection methodologies for a HiV and nutrition intervention in Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps at Wukari and Gassol LGAs of Taraba State with text messages (yes! the regular Short Message Service or SMS - on phones).

Buckle up, because this experience was thrilling and, let's be honest, a bit overwhelming at times!

Meet the Intern

Before diving into the details of the project, a bit about me - I’m a newly minted Economist. After completing my NYSC, I joined Evidence, Analytics and Insights eight months ago with high hopes and a curious mind, eager to soak up all the knowledge I could. Having previously supported various team members for just over five months, I was happy, learning a lot and settled in the team. 

Our evaluation Director looked up at me in a team meeting and told me I was ready to be a leader - supported leadership of course, and I could not believe it. Me? my own project? Yep! Just like that I was assigned a Monitoring project. My first ever. I was nervous, excited and my head was spinning all at the same time! 

It was time for a real test, and boy, did this project deliver! An Evaluation Manager was asked to supervise my work and she was a huge help and blessing with developing my monitoring approach for our mobile phone surveys and the data collection tools. She also reviewed and signed off all my reports. 

The Why Behind Our Approach
So, why did we decide on SMS responses for data collection? In the face of logistical challenges and security issues in the region, traditional methods just wouldn’t cut it. We needed a way to reach project beneficiaries quickly and efficiently while ensuring their safety and privacy. Plus, with individuals in the IDP camps scattered and frequently moving, SMS was both accessible and convenient. It felt like we were entering the modern age!

Utilising SMS for data collection in the development sector has numerous advantages. When conducted properly, it can serve as a low cost, independent and feasible strategy, especially in contexts where individuals may not feel comfortable sharing sensitive information in person. This helps reduce social desirability bias — where respondents tend to answer questions in a manner they believe will be viewed favourably by others — overcoming logistical constraints that may prevent in-person visits.

For example, when gathering information about nutritional habits or health concerns, sensitive questions can be answered more honestly via SMS than in person, leading to more accurate data collection. Additionally, by using SMS technology, we allowed for crisis reporting to identify, manage or prevent conflict by identifying concerns and addressing them right away. I deeply believe that this approach allowed the project to improve its efficiency and increased beneficiary engagement and satisfaction. This is because we produced these short reports for every round of data collection through which we captured areas for improvement that could be quickly addressed by the NGO that commissioned us.

It's important to note that the use of mobile technology is well used in conflict-mitigation programmes for other aspects of programme delivery for instance: in Identifying and mapping hate speech and rumours;  countering hate speech and rumours; identifying and mapping risks to livelihood or other likely causes of conflict; collating and analysing citizens’ perceptions of risk and conflict; mapping violent incidents, tracking armed groups; and providing early warning.

Setting Up the SMS System

The design stage was where the magic began. After the sign-off of my plan and utilising an open-source software platform, we set up a data collection system that relied on the Global System for Mobile (GSM) communication modem connected to a laptop computer. 

To maximise the network signal—because let me tell you, we needed every ounce of connectivity—a trusty external signal amplifier was installed and connected to the GSM modem. This creative use of technology allowed us to ensure we could reach participants even in areas where the network was notoriously weak.


Project participants received SMS prompts through a Java-based mobile platform (what we all know as the torchlight phone) which most people on the project already had, allowing them to respond using a simple digit code system that summed up their answers. The process was straightforward: participants could easily text their responses back to us, making it easier for individuals who might face barriers to in-person interviews. All the text messages received were automatically uploaded to an online server and we could download responses on an excel sheet.

Navigating Bureaucracy and Gaining Approvals

Now, let’s talk about the bureaucratic maze that is obtaining approvals from local authorities. Initially, I faced challenges as government staff queried our use of SMS compared to the preferred face-to-face engagements usually done through paper based or online surveys delivered by enumerators. These face-to-face data collection approaches allow them to provide oversight to the data collection process, ensure ethical data collection, give them a sense of what is going on in the field and of course they often get stipends for their time doing all this work. The back and forth led to delays in getting the necessary paperwork. The approval process felt like trying to go uphill in quicksand—frustrating and slow!

To overcome this, we tried to build rapport and demonstrate the importance of our work to the local authorities. Presenting our project’s benefits clearly and persistence with the responding to queries raised in our application for approvals allowed us to eventually move forward. 

Gaining approvals was essential for ethical collection of data, even though we decided against formal ethical approval in this instance, as our methodology aimed to ensure minimal risk to respondents, we were mindful to obtain necessary authority approvals to ensure that our project was within the legal framework and respected community norms, such as ensuring that our participants were informed about the purpose of the study and how their data would be used.

The Learning Experience: Challenges and Overcoming Them

As we embarked on the execution phase, I experienced a mix of excitement and nerves. Although we had done a pilot, on day one, when the SMS survey went live, my heart raced as my Evaluation Manager supervised the data collection that was live on our server, while I coordinated with IT to be sure that the setup of our SMS system worked. Working with our data analyst, I learned how to manage incoming responses, ensuring accuracy and organisation. 

In working with our target population—the participants who had at least a mobile phone—one challenge came to the surface very quickly: not everyone had consistent access to mobile networks. In some rural areas, connectivity issues and message delivery failures became a hurdle. These were mitigated by closely monitoring message delivery and timing our messages to account for peak connectivity hours.

Final Reflections

Looking back at my experience the past eight months, I can honestly say it was a whirlwind of learning and growth. I came in as a fresh-faced intern, and I’ll be leaving with new skills, a deeper understanding of project execution, and a newfound appreciation for team collaboration. 

As I continue my journey, I am grateful for the support and guidance from my senior colleagues and mentors. I raise a toast to more challenges, more pings of incoming data, and perhaps, a little less chaos in future projects! Until next time!

 - Benjamin Jatau

Get Started Now
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