Implementation Phase

[accordion] [tab title=”What are main characteristics of the implementation phase?”] The implementation phase is the period ranging from the signature of the financing agreement to the completion of the project. During this phase, ‘activities’ are carried out and the ‘results’ are delivered to the beneficiaries. Monitoring and mid-term evaluations take place during this phase. Often the time lapse between the planning, formulation of the financing proposal and the actual take-off of the project may require a ‘start-up’ workshop to be held. Such a workshop ensures the alignment of the different stakeholders and enables a detailed work-plan and ‘Plan of Operations’ to be drawn up. The implementation phase is further characterised by the mobilisation of resources in accordance with the ‘Plan of Operations’ and by the organisation of the monitoring system aimed at introducing corrective action.
[/tab] [tab title=”Can the design of a plan (the agreement) be altered during implementation?”] The administrative procedures of the financing institutions may not permit any change in ‘activities’. ‘Activities’ are frequently related to budget items and mechanisms for financial control may operate on the basis of whether or not ‘activities’ have been carried out according to plan. The need to handle ‘activities’ as part of a flexible plan, or the idea of working on the basis of ‘results’ to be achieved, with ‘activities’ being planned in by the implementing agency during the implementation phase, is becoming increasingly apparent (re. Process approach and SWAPs).
[/tab] [tab title=”What problems commonly arise during the implementation phase?”] Right at the start of the implementation phase it can become apparent that the project plan as it stands no longer addresses the issues. ‘Assumptions’ made during the planning stage may no longer apply and, due to the time lapse between project planning and actual implementation, the situation within which the project plan was first drawn up may have changed. ‘Activities’ and ‘results’ may need to be modified and a start-up workshop can be helpful to discover what needs to be done.
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