My Communities

In a livelihood project, the target was set as 30% increase in the income of the beneficiaries. Beneficiaries were defined as both direct and indirect beneficiaries. After baseline it was found by my team that the target was too ambitious to achieve within the project period of 3 years. So, we revisited our inputs outputs and outcomes and came up that if we focus only on direct beneficiaries (to whom we supported with inputs like training for improving agricultural production, agricultural inputs, linkage with supply chain for selling with produces), it will be achievable, yet ambitious. Then we discussed this with our donors and made them convinced. However we shared detailed stage by stage plan. There, we emphasized that project would facilitate the beneficiaries to get access to other resources(government schemes, agricultural research organizations etc.) beside ours.

i was asked to carry many articles in a short time. i replied that the time is too short so i need more than

@Alim16 said in Module 3 Discussion: Unrealistic Targets:

@somenath said in Module 3 Discussion: Unrealistic Targets:

@Dmegastar said in Module 3 Discussion: Unrealistic Targets:

@somenath said in Module 3 Discussion: Unrealistic Targets:

In an anti-trafficking project we intended to track the trafficking cases through the indicator "number of cases of trafficking registered in the police station" and target set was to reduce the number of cases by 30%. But while doing the baseline we found the registered cases in police station was only 3 while in the community the number of cases was found to be very high but they were not reported. So, it has been observed that the target which was set based on the said indicator was unrealistic. So, I replaced the indicator with "number of unregistered cases of trafficking" reported through household survey.

@somenath That is a smart way of getting realistic with the unrealistic targets......Happy learning......

Thanks .........

Smart moves indeed. Can you please share with us which methods you use to reduce the number of cases by 30% so others can learn who are involved in similar project.

Dear Friend,

Thank you for your interest in learning about our project. In order to give a clear idea about the project, I will first discuss the context of the project area and then come to the point you asked for.

The project was implemented in flood-prone areas of Bihar state of India. The economy of the area is primarily agrarian. Every year the flood washes away the crops, belongings and assets of the entire population of those areas. After the flood, the cases of missing girls or marriage of girls with unknowns used to happen every year. Marriage of girls in India is still considered as a burden for the parents. Different studies found that many poor families allured with handsome cash for the marriage of their daughters. In most of the cases, the grooms did not belong to the same community, rather they introduced themselves as they came from big cities with the sound economic condition. This induced many poor parents to arrange the wedding of their adolescent daughters in a hurry without proper background checking of the groom. Later, the families could not trace their girls and not even the grooms. In some cases, the adolescent girls from poor families allured with job offers in big cities, where the girls also got trapped in the hope of good life and income.

Under such circumstances, the project targeted to reduce the cases of trafficking by means of (i) developing alternative livelihood for the areas, (ii) enhancing the awareness as well as the capacity of the girls, their families and the community to identify the traffickers and address the issue (iii) strengthening the institutional mechanisms for child protection. Moreover, during the intervention, we also found that most of the cases of trafficking were not reported to the police station. Because the parents were unaware of the mechanism and they feared about societal pressure as the police investigation is not considered as a good repute of the family. Thus, to get proper information about unregistered cases, we appointed a few community people as the community guides in our project. They facilitated the project staff to build rapport with the community as well as the victim families.

I hope you can get my points. However, I am happy to reply if you have further queries.

Luckily I have not faced such situation till the date. But if one is ever asked to work towards unrealistic target, it is important to describe the scenario to the supervisor. May be that way, you can readjust the target. I believe that team discussion is very important as you get different ideas from different people to cope with one situation.

Sometimes you can set unrealistic target knowingly or unknowingly, and this may be attributed to the fact that you might have used a given data or project of the past to project a target of your new project based on the assumption that all facotrs would remain constant, only to find out that there are a lot of variations. For instance, we had a project where by we trained community hygiene promoters to the conducting hygiene promotion within a given community. We established that one community hygiene promoter was able to reach 10 households per day. When we developed our next project we set a target for one community hygiene promoter to be reaching at least 10 households per day, our assumption was simply that the areas were could not be so much different in terms of population and settlement distribution, little did we know that this particular community had a scattered kind of settlement and the distance from ohe homestead to another was quite long. Mid may the project we realize that we had set target to much high that one community hygiene promoter could only achieve households in a day. This therefore meant that we had to review our targets and communicate early enough to our donors giving a justifiable reason.

@pmeoidiwa2019 said in Module 3 Discussion: Unrealistic Targets:

i once worked on a project where the targets set where unrealistically too high. the project coordinator called for a meeting and we adjusted the targets basing on what we had been able to achieve the previous year.

it is very important to rely on the previous data to adjust your targets, it is also crucial to assess your working practices

@RolandDongmo said in Module 3 Discussion: Unrealistic Targets:

i was asked to carry many articles in a short time. i replied that the time is too short so i need more than

hey @RolandDongmo, thanks for posting your thought. you know If you’re going to miss deadlines, it is very crucial to raise your hand early on, andTalk these with your project manager with your potential solution in your hand

I was a time ago faced with the situation of an unrealistic target. the project to target the disaster victims of hunger. I supposed to register a population of 15 000 households and feed them in the same month.The time was for only for 14 days .Travelling meant to go as far as 300km.We had to follow all procedures and criteria but failed to reach the target of feeding the target.
Advice; if the target is unrealistic, don't stress yourself,reach out to the supervisor or the organization in charge and share with them your opinion or reasons why you find to unrealistic to reach the said target.When planning, look through the lens of been realistic and practical to your capacity. The fact that you have a lot to achieve does not mean everything has to go into high targets within a short period. Targets can be spread over a period of time. By setting target that realistic and practical you will be able to concentrate towards it is achievement, rather than set so much high and achieving nothing

@Emlight said in Module 3 Discussion: Unrealistic Targets:

One time that I was asked to reach an unrealistic target was to distribute/collect questionnaire within three days for an ongoing project. My intervention was to requested for the extension to a week. My advice is to always access time against resources for any given project.

@Emlight, my advice on that, it is important to focus on what you can control and have a plan to follow, and then ask immediate support to your superior in order to achieve the set objective or targets in the time scheduled.

@Shabina said in Module 3 Discussion: Unrealistic Targets:

Luckily I have not faced such situation till the date. But if one is ever asked to work towards unrealistic target, it is important to describe the scenario to the supervisor. May be that way, you can readjust the target. I believe that team discussion is very important as you get different ideas from different people to cope with one situation.

i agree with you @Shabina, it is not a job of one person, it is a job for a team, because it is important to understand the situation in advance before moving to the project field, in order to plan accordingly and to avoid surprise ....

@Jotieno said in Module 3 Discussion: Unrealistic Targets:

Sometimes you can set unrealistic target knowingly or unknowingly, and this may be attributed to the fact that you might have used a given data or project of the past to project a target of your new project based on the assumption that all facotrs would remain constant, only to find out that there are a lot of variations. For instance, we had a project where by we trained community hygiene promoters to the conducting hygiene promotion within a given community. We established that one community hygiene promoter was able to reach 10 households per day. When we developed our next project we set a target for one community hygiene promoter to be reaching at least 10 households per day, our assumption was simply that the areas were could not be so much different in terms of population and settlement distribution, little did we know that this particular community had a scattered kind of settlement and the distance from ohe homestead to another was quite long. Mid may the project we realize that we had set target to much high that one community hygiene promoter could only achieve households in a day. This therefore meant that we had to review our targets and communicate early enough to our donors giving a justifiable reason.

@Jotieno , I agreed with you that data or past project target are sometimes not enough when setting up your target. That why it is always advisable to exhaust all possible resources available like community engagement. I believe if your team would have engaged/visited the community fully during the planning phase you would have notice the topography of the settlement.

@MuzamaniJamesBaloyi said in Module 3 Discussion: Unrealistic Targets:

I was a time ago faced with the situation of an unrealistic target. the project to target the disaster victims of hunger. I supposed to register a population of 15 000 households and feed them in the same month.The time was for only for 14 days .Travelling meant to go as far as 300km.We had to follow all procedures and criteria but failed to reach the target of feeding the target.
Advice; if the target is unrealistic, don't stress yourself,reach out to the supervisor or the organization in charge and share with them your opinion or reasons why you find to unrealistic to reach the said target.When planning, look through the lens of been realistic and practical to your capacity. The fact that you have a lot to achieve does not mean everything has to go into high targets within a short period. Targets can be spread over a period of time. By setting target that realistic and practical you will be able to concentrate towards it is achievement, rather than set so much high and achieving nothing

@MuzamaniJamesBaloyi , It always to appropriate to discuss unrealistic target with your superiors/donors explaining why you think the target set are unrealistic base on the resources at hand and proffer ways and means to revisit the target set or increase the resources at hand to meet the set target.

@Carlama, This is the essence of data when setting up your target because it gives you a complete highlight of your targeted community. This helps you to set ambitious but realistic targets.

@Course_Operations said in Module 3 Discussion: Unrealistic Targets:

Setting ambitious yet achievable targets can be difficult. Have you ever been asked to reach a target that was either too high or too low? How did you respond to the situation? What advice would you offer other learners who may be asked to work towards unrealistic targets?

Some targets can be way more higher that what we can realistically achieve within set time.
I was involved in a research project that required the field officers to register at least 100 farmers/ per day in an online platform. This target was over ambitious as the area of study has plantations owned by companies thus getting the farmers would be a big challenge. We resolved this issue by reducing the target number and also increasing the area under study.

I was working on a School Health and Nutrition project as a planner. I was given an unrealistic target of monitoring school feeding in all the schools in the District in a period of three months. There were over 60 schools. The challenge was mainly with the amount of resources available for logistics such as fuel. previously, in that period of time, and with similar resources, i could only reach 20 schools. I made it known to my supervisor that the target was unrealistic and i put it in writing, explaining the reasons in detail. The supervisor was very understanding and agreed to make reasonable adjustments

One time I was asked to reach an unrealistic goal was when I was working on a project where the budget was too small with so many expectations which involves enrolling People living with HIV/AIDS with high percentage that negative people, where we also have to do sessions and workshops .

I worked on a School Health and Nutrition Project as an M&E Officer. I was given a target of monitoring 60 schools in a period of three months. Using information from previous experience, i knew that the tart was unrealistic. Using the same duration, it was only possible to monitor 20 schools. This was because the schools were far apart and the District was very extensive. The terrain was also very poor. Another factor to consider was the amount of resources available. The District had some financial challenges. Available funds could not cater for logistical arrangements such as fuel. Therefore, after making this analysis, i communicated to my supervisor that the target was unrealistic. Fortunately, my supervisor understood the logic and agreed to adjust the target to a realistic one.

@Course_Operations said in Module 3 Discussion: Unrealistic Targets:

One time that I was asked to reach an unrealistic target was when i had to finish updating the database in a space of 3 days before a project review meeting. i promised my supervisor that i would finish on time. I responded by trying to speed up the finishing process but i failed to complete on time. I want to advise my peers to not commit or promise to reach a certain target in a given period if they will require more time than available.

One time I was asked to reach an unrealistic target was when I was tasked by my project coordinator to ensure that 80% of our project participants send us through text messages feedbacks on their impacts experienced while 50% of them were illiterates and without mobile phones. I responded by presenting a data on the participants location, phone ownership and literacy rate to my coordinator so he then decided that we should get the feedback by going to the participants in peeson

One time I was given a project where I had to reach a certain target. My group worked tirelessly to successfully finish our work but we could not achieve the target because of time and poor planning. There are so many things to consider when setting targets for a project. It is also very important to set realistic targets.

@Kasondems said in Module 3 Discussion: Unrealistic Targets:

I worked on a School Health and Nutrition Project as an M&E Officer. I was given a target of monitoring 60 schools in a period of three months. Using information from previous experience, i knew that the tart was unrealistic. Using the same duration, it was only possible to monitor 20 schools. This was because the schools were far apart and the District was very extensive. The terrain was also very poor. Another factor to consider was the amount of resources available. The District had some financial challenges. Available funds could not cater for logistical arrangements such as fuel. Therefore, after making this analysis, i communicated to my supervisor that the target was unrealistic. Fortunately, my supervisor understood the logic and agreed to adjust the target to a realistic one.

It is very important to set realistic targets

@Kasondems said in Module 3 Discussion: Unrealistic Targets:

I worked on a School Health and Nutrition Project as an M&E Officer. I was given a target of monitoring 60 schools in a period of three months. Using information from previous experience, i knew that the tart was unrealistic. Using the same duration, it was only possible to monitor 20 schools. This was because the schools were far apart and the District was very extensive. The terrain was also very poor. Another factor to consider was the amount of resources available. The District had some financial challenges. Available funds could not cater for logistical arrangements such as fuel. Therefore, after making this analysis, i communicated to my supervisor that the target was unrealistic. Fortunately, my supervisor understood the logic and agreed to adjust the target to a realistic one.

It is very important to set realistic targets

@Fidelia said in Module 3 Discussion: Unrealistic Targets:

One time I was asked to reach an unrealistic target was when I was tasked by my project coordinator to ensure that 80% of our project participants send us through text messages feedbacks on their impacts experienced while 50% of them were illiterates and without mobile phones. I responded by presenting a data on the participants location, phone ownership and literacy rate to my coordinator so he then decided that we should get the feedback by going to the participants in peeson

Organizations are only interested in results. They do not care about the process so they tend to set unrealistic targets for emoloyees. So it may be unavoidable

One time that I was asked to reach an unrealistic target was when i was asked by my supervisor to cut down by 50% on the cost of fuel for our operations when we had a tracking system in place. I responded by reminding my supervisor about the effectiveness of the tracking system in the fuel management system and that there was no system reported incident of pilferage,before its (Tracking system) implementation the cost had escalated by 150% and in addition the company had just bought a new fleet of vehicles

@Arithi said in Module 3 Discussion: Unrealistic Targets:

@Course_Operations said in Module 3 Discussion: Unrealistic Targets:

One time that I was asked to reach an unrealistic target whereby i was required to vaccinate 4,000 heads of cattle per day with a team of three vaccinators and two animal handlers. This was not possible because cattle requires a lot of manpower to restrain for proper vaccination. The realistic target would be 1,500 cattle per day. I responded by showing my supervisor the average numbers vaccinated by similar teams from previous projects. Data available from vaccination reports showed that the highest similar teams vaccinated between 1,000-15,00 cattle per day. we therefore agreed that my team would set a target of 1,500 cattle per day.

The set target was unrealistic, the approach taking by Arithi and team through research and setting an ambitious yet achievable target is great! Quite educative.

sometimes last year, i was given a target to collect data from 3 communities within a state in my country. This was a malaria project and needed to publish a midyear report. I was given just 3weeks to conduct this exercise, only for me to spend over 2weeks on just one community. I had to consult with the principal officers and design a quick sampling frame to meet up time. The targets were reviewed and a more realist approach was employed in getting data from the communities before the time elapsed.

One time that i was asked to reached unrealistic target was not long ago regarding maternal mortality. The inputs from the donors were grossly inadequate to realize such outcome and impact within the stipulated time. So we outlined all these challenges and forwarded to them, to make necessary adjustments where need be.

@shamsuddeen said in Module 3 Discussion: Unrealistic Targets:

@Course_Operations said in Module 3 Discussion: Unrealistic Targets:

Respond to this prompt after completing the content in Module 3.

Setting ambitious yet achievable targets can be difficult. Have you ever been asked to reach a target that was either too high or too low? How did you respond to the situation? What advice would you offer other learners who may be asked to work towards unrealistic targets?

Sample Post: One time that I was asked to reach an unrealistic target was ______ . I responded by ______ .

One time that I was asked to reach an unrealistic target was when I was requested to teach and cover a non verbal reasoning book 2 to a 6 year old child in three hours which would not be possible for the child. I responded by given the managing trustee reasons why that could not be achieved and suggested 10 hours with 20 minutes break after each hour to enable the child comprehend effectively.
I would advice myself and anybody reading this, that it's inevitable to run away from such kind of unrealistic targets from our managers, supervisors e.t.c but how we respond back to them is very important. We should be calm and clear to the reasons why the targets can not be achieved and give alternatives to achieving such a target. I believe it would go a long way in helping us achieving our targets.

You are very correct. Somethings, our superiors introduce unrealistic targets but the manner that we respond to them is very significant. Proving beyond reasonable doubt why the target(s) may not be achievable is another important key.

In our organization, we planned to work for APC of bitter gourd last years. While setting the targets, since it was first time farmers are going to practice it, I suggested to make the time of transplantation in their regular time of transplantation of vegetable. There were other assumption as well, First assumption is that, When they usually do vegetable plantation, they will take it up very easily as because of they are doing the same type of jobs. Secondly, at the time of august, rain would be average which would-be good for vegetable cultivation. Thirdly, at that time, other work of agriculture like paddy cultivation and maize cultivation would be very less so farmers would be available for this work. But our team decided to do it during June. So most of the nursery bed was prepared and get destroyed due to heavy rain and the remaining plants would not been transplanted due to unavailability of human recourses.

One time that I was asked to reach an unrealistic target was when I was implementing a project on savings groups. I was given a target of establishing 50 savings groups (approximately 600 individuals) and training them on the savings methodology within a period of eight months. The groups were expected to practice saving and loaning amongst the members with some interest. It was not easy to sell the concept to target group as their religion forbids interests. Further, majority of the population were already in the savings group. I responded by identifying and providing the training to the already existing groups, which built on their capacity provided them with financial literacy skills. The community was impressed and referred me to several groups that were in need of the training and were ready to practice the methodology. for the loans being provided, they introduces a facilitation fee, which was an equivalent of the interest. I captured their details in the organization’s database with their consent and provided the report. Through intense monitoring and mentorship sessions, the existing groups slowly adopted the methodology and the donors were impressed too by the outcome.

When given unrealistic targets, one should stay optimistic and work towards achieving the targets. Further, one should explore the possible alternative ways of meeting the target and where possible seek approval from their supervisors.

@Course_Operations said in Module 3 Discussion: Unrealistic Targets:

Respond to this prompt after completing the content in Module 3.

Setting ambitious yet achievable targets can be difficult. Have you ever been asked to reach a target that was either too high or too low? How did you respond to the situation? What advice would you offer other learners who may be asked to work towards unrealistic targets?

Sample Post: One time that I was asked to reach an unrealistic target was ______ . I responded by ______ .

One time that I was asked to reach an unrealistic target was very high, I was told to deliver about 120% of my sales target within 3 weeks instead of 4 weeks . I responded by looking at the risk and assumptions associated, and forwarded to the management that based on the timeframe, I could only deliver on 100% of my target. Although it resulted to a query but at the end I was able to achieve 103% in 3 weeks

One time that I was asked to reach an unrealistic target was when I participated in a project I that required commissioning 200 sites in 1 week due to customer request. I discussed with my immediate supervisor about it and we called for a stakeholders meeting. After the meeting we agreed that we will engage some staff from another department to assist in achieving the target.

@Course_Operations said in Module 3 Discussion: Unrealistic Targets:

Respond to this prompt after completing the content in Module 3.

Setting ambitious yet achievable targets can be difficult. Have you ever been asked to reach a target that was either too high or too low? How did you respond to the situation? What advice would you offer other learners who may be asked to work towards unrealistic targets?

Sample Post: One time that I was asked to reach an unrealistic target was ______ . I responded by ______ .
Many a times it comes to encounter unrealistic targets. At that time, First of all we need to convey our donor about the situations and request them to allow us to set the targets again. We have to intimate our internal governing system about the situation as well and take their advice. Is donor would not be ready to change the targets, than we have to break the targets into manifolds and make our strategy to at most achieve it.

@RCPparticipant said in Module 3 Discussion: Unrealistic Targets:

Respond to this prompt after completing the content in Module 3.

Setting ambitious yet achievable targets can be difficult. Have you ever been asked to reach a target that was either too high or too low? How did you respond to the situation? What advice would you offer other learners who may be asked to work towards unrealistic targets?

Sample Post: One time that I was asked to reach an unrealistic target was when I was requested to plan for too many field missions per month, which would not have allowed staff to have any rest. I responded by stating the reasons for refusal and adjusted the plan accordingly.
at first we need the target and find the reason and bottlenecks. then, focus on what else that we can do to adress the bottleneck. Generate some new innovative idea to adress it and work towards the best achievements.

One instance that represented a low target came from last year's Operation Christmas Child. We had set a goal of 5,000 pairs to be distributed as a part of Operation Christmas Child, and we based this number off of the previous year, which only sent 1,800 pairs. We thought it would be difficult to reach this target but attainable. We completely underestimated this number since we sent 15,000 pairs of shoes to be used for Operation Christmas Child. Now we know what the response has been for Operation Christmas Child, and our 2019 targets reflect this knowledge. The best piece of advice was discussed in this module: set targets that are realistic but are not too easy to accomplish.

@Course_Operations said in Module 3 Discussion: Unrealistic Targets:

Respond to this prompt after completing the content in Module 3.

Setting ambitious yet achievable targets can be difficult. Have you ever been asked to reach a target that was either too high or too low? How did you respond to the situation? What advice would you offer other learners who may be asked to work towards unrealistic targets?

Sample Post: One time that I was asked to reach an unrealistic target was ______ . I responded by ______ .

One time that I was asked to reach an unrealistic target was training 100 peoples physical exercises who lived in a rural area where people were not that much aware of exercises. I responded by my voice that there should be another target which maybe more important for those people...

@Course_Operations said in Module 3 Discussion: Unrealistic Targets:

One time that I was asked to reach an unrealistic target was of collecting data over a large area in only 3 months . I responded by adjusting the timelines to 6 months and increasing data collecting agents .

I never had such an assignment, but from this course i have learned that adequate planning and appropriate indicators may be required for high targets. on the same breath, high targets may motivate optimistic people, while low targets may cause pessimism.

One time I was asked to reach an unrealistic target was when I was working in a church office almost a decade ago, the church was just about two years old at the time and the growth was pretty slow. The set man of the church asked all church office workers to bring at least ten new people each to church every Sunday and if possible an additional ten every mid-week service. Mind you, we all work in the church office and are required to be at work every Monday to Friday, occasional Saturdays when church programs are fixed and every Sunday service. How then do we meet these new people? At the time, internet was not this advanced and as such it was not an option. Weeks and weeks went by and not one of us could meet this unrealistic target.

I responded to the situation by expressing truthfully, when I was questioned by the set man, that the target was unrealistic and I let him see my point. I made reference to other churches similar to ours that ended up growing, using existing information on how they came about their growth. I suggested that we adopt same strategy other than setting unrealistic targets.

My advice to anyone who maybe asked to work towards unrealistic targets is to find and use existing data to prove to whoever set the targets that they are unrealistic and based on bias not facts.

@Shayla said in Module 3 Discussion: Unrealistic Targets:

@Course_Operations said in Module 3 Discussion: Unrealistic Targets:

Respond to this prompt after completing the content in Module 3.

Setting ambitious yet achievable targets can be difficult. Have you ever been asked to reach a target that was either too high or too low? How did you respond to the situation? What advice would you offer other learners who may be asked to work towards unrealistic targets?

Sample Post: One time that I was asked to reach an unrealistic target was ______ . I responded by ______ .

One time that I was asked to reach an unrealistic target was training 100 peoples physical exercises who lived in a rural area where people were not that much aware of exercises. I responded by my voice that there should be another target which maybe more important for those people...

Hi Shayla,

I agree with you that the interests of beneficiaries should be considered in choosing a project and in setting targets. Maybe a better way to reach people in that rural area would have been to carry out an awareness or education program to sensitive them on the need for and benefits of physical exercises.

@Voaali said in Module 3 Discussion: Unrealistic Targets:

sometimes last year, i was given a target to collect data from 3 communities within a state in my country. This was a malaria project and needed to publish a midyear report. I was given just 3weeks to conduct this exercise, only for me to spend over 2weeks on just one community. I had to consult with the principal officers and design a quick sampling frame to meet up time. The targets were reviewed and a more realist approach was employed in getting data from the communities before the time elapsed.

Hi Voaali,

This is a good example of what we were taught in this course, that targets can be adjusted sometimes. You did the right thing by discussing the need for this change with your team. Thanks for sharing your experience.

Working on VMMC project this has been difficult as Targets are being set according to Demographic population, this has dire consequences as the numbers are not accurate as the Baseline or Past Project were not accurately monitored when submitting the axial numbers. You are given higher targets and when on ground you find out the majority of individual have been rendered the services in the past.

As part of a predator monitoring project in Fiordland, New Zealand, several workers were tasked with install

One time that I was asked to achieve an unrealistic target was when our Organisation was contracted by a research institute in New Zealand to install 120 monitoring cameras in a national park in four days with only four staff and heavy snow lying and falling in a remote area accessible only by helicopter. By the end of day one, I raised concerns that attempting to complete the task would involve health and safety challenges, and, after discussion, we changed our plan to install 60 cameras in three days, and flew out a day early, avoiding greater risks of hypothermia and other health and safety issues.

@jmunemo said in Module 3 Discussion: Unrealistic Targets:

Unfortunately I have not yet worked on development projects involving M&E, thus I have no previous experience on this matter. I am however looking forward to learning from those that have had experience with this situation.

@jmunemo, There are two reasons we can set unrealistic target:
Optimism
Uncertainty

I was asked to reach unrealistic target by identifying people who lived with HIV and the kits for testing were insufficient due to the high target that was set. My advice to the organization was that, provision of adequate testing kit should be made in other to have a wide range of people to be tested so the desired number or Target of positive clients can be achieved

One time when I was asked to reach an unrealistic target was when we were asked to collect certain data within 7 days. Looking at the data requested it was unrealistic to collect it within the 7 days. So i responded by suggesting either to have more people to work on the data. Or increase the number of days from 7 to 10 days. I would advise those that have been given unrealistic targets to open up with their managers. Telling them that this is not realistic and offer them (Managers) reasons and possible solutions.

I was asked to reach the unrealistic target when I was working as a project coordinator in the year 2011-12. I was the responsible person to dealt four projects i;e flood recovery and rehabilitation, Disaster Preparedness project, Second green revolution project and STEER project in one year in one district, Kendrapara under state of odisha. Among these the target of 2nd green revolution project was too ambitious. The target was to cover 2500 acres of land under line transplanting of rice crop in a compact area. It was difficult but achieved within the time frame. It was possible because I analysed my staff strength and their skill on agriculture field. Since staffs have less skill, I negotiated with agriculture experts and organised one orientation for staff and recruited progressive farmers as volunteer. Simultaneously organised the campaigning on green revolution and its benefits in each village in presence of the experts and scientists as a result the farmers of each village came forward and supported the volunteers and staffs during distribution of seeds and monitoring the line transplanting of rice.
As immediate effect the adjacent village farmers also adopted the same line transplanting method because it gives the more yield.

@Toni5459 said in Module 3 Discussion: Unrealistic Targets:

One time that I was asked to reach an unrealistic target was while working on the PeaceFarm project as a volunteer in Kenya. My collegue and I fundraised money for building a farm with the aim of feeding 60 children. The problem is that, during the dry season, the field needs lot of water for maintaing good quality crops. Therefore, for using large amount of water, a municipal consense was required and also, the money weren't enough to sustain the cost of the irrigation system.

I believe the best response to an unrealistic target as being part of a team is to give the team leader reasons why target may not be achieved based on existing facts, trends and important factors like time.

we should not be too optimistic nor too pessimistic when setting our target because when we set targets we are comitted to that and a faillure will not only discourage your team and beneficiaries but it will reduce your self confidence

Once time i was asked to reach an unrealistic goal was when i was working on a project where average income community members were to open saving account for basic healthcare and nutrition needs but the targets were too high.I responded by giving the managing personnel reasons why that could not be achieved,by collaborating with colleagues and we did a survey on households.By this we realized that most of the community members had other accounts and secured insurance policies therefore they did not need other options.

@apostledavid58 said in Module 3 Discussion: Unrealistic Targets:

We used to file monthly report for certain organization that I once worked with and at the beginning of every month the National level would set targets for each province and being at the local level the set target would seem unrealistic due to either the target exceeding the resources at hand or the target not being applicable to the situation at hand..e.g: the target would request that only high school student be included in program by reason of age while we have student of the same age whilst in primary school.
in such scenario, it is better to revisit the target and discuss with the donor if any changes in the target is required

@manengspatricia said in Module 3 Discussion: Unrealistic Targets:

we should not be too optimistic nor too pessimistic when setting our target because when we set targets we are comitted to that and a faillure will not only discourage your team and beneficiaries but it will reduce your self confidence

the target should be based on some data

I remember there was a time I was asked to compile a six month report in two hour which needed you to go through registers and you are expected to give segregated report of age and village this person came from which I declined its always important to understand what you are to do before accepting and analyzing

I have never been asked to reach a target that was either too high or too low. My advice for learner who may be asked to work towards unrealistic targets is to do not accept to work with unrealistic targets because in the future will not be possible to measure the real impact of your action.

I experience this often. When there is information that the new government is determined to support agriculture, since we do not generate revenue, but render agricultural extension services. So, expectations are high, we develop demonstration research for the various agricultural enterprise. Soon, we begin to realign and adjust our targets when funds do not get approved early; sometimes, we eventually end up not carrying out any of the demonstrations for the year. The next year, we set our targets cautiously, having ones we could achieve with little or no funding.

I was assigned by an organisation to identify the needs and problems faced by people living in different resettlement camps in the northwest province of Cameroon after the lake Nyos disaster of 1988. I encountered problems because the community members could not agree on specific problems and how they could be prioritised. Furthermore what I was suppose to do was vast with no clear limitations.
in my view this can be better done if I was asked to address the problems in specific domain rather on everything.

A few years back I used to work in a construction site. There was this one instance when our manager asked us to complete blockwork of an entire building within 2 months. Considering the average amount of time blockwork of a single floor takes, it was highly unrealistic. Even after having many discussions, the manager was unwilling to increase the deadline. So for a weeks we tried to work on 3 floors simultaneously to make sure that we stand a chance of delivering our targets. However, that resulted in the sub-contractors quitting the jobs, the labourer complaining about the amount of work and drastic reduction in the quality of construction. After a month, when the manager realised the mistake in the approach, he finally increased the deadlines and revised the targets.

While working in a construction site, our manager used to give us many unrealistic targets. This used to result in reduction in quality control, contractors quitting the jobs and the labourers ending up being too exhausted. Therefore, when the manager was made to realise the gravity of the situation we used to sit and revise our given targets.

one time I was asked to reach a unrealistic target which was drilling water for a community that settled near a river to provide clean water for them but due to the water table and the location being near a river the water was being contaminated by the dirty water from the river hence making it impossible to provide clean water for that settlement.

@Mich-o said in Module 3 Discussion: Unrealistic Targets:

one time I was asked to reach a unrealistic target which was drilling water for a community that settled near a river to provide clean water for them but due to the water table and the location being near a river the water was being contaminated by the dirty water from the river hence making it impossible to provide clean water for that settlement.

@Mich-o, do you relocate the drilling when you found out that the closeness to the river is affecting the project? please share with us what happened.

@cnyingcho73 said in Module 3 Discussion: Unrealistic Targets:

I was assigned by an organisation to identify the needs and problems faced by people living in different resettlement camps in the northwest province of Cameroon after the lake Nyos disaster of 1988. I encountered problems because the community members could not agree on specific problems and how they could be prioritised. Furthermore what I was suppose to do was vast with no clear limitations.
in my view this can be better done if I was asked to address the problems in specific domain rather on everything.

@cnyingcho73 , do you discussed it with your boss/supervisor? If yes what was the outcome. Please share so other can learn something from it. Thanks!

@Ornela said in Module 3 Discussion: Unrealistic Targets:

Once time i was asked to reach an unrealistic goal was when i was working on a project where average income community members were to open saving account for basic healthcare and nutrition needs but the targets were too high.I responded by giving the managing personnel reasons why that could not be achieved,by collaborating with colleagues and we did a survey on households.By this we realized that most of the community members had other accounts and secured insurance policies therefore they did not need other options.

@Ornela, This is the essence of reliable data because it helps you to set ambitious but realistic targets.

The one time I was asked to reach an unrealistic target was when I was working on the project that was addressing national priorities for water related human health and climate induced migration. The project aimed at interviewing immigrants in the refugee camps in order to understand if environmental disasters contrubuted or has an impact in them leaving their home Countries. At the planning of this peoject we suggested that we must have funding for incentives but the company had no budget. The interviewees wouldn't want to participate due to hunger and they spend more that three days with no food. I had to use all of my S &T and personal money buying basic food for them so that I conduct interviews for the whole week.

So considering I've just started working with my organization, we were asked to get many enrollments for the internship or trainings program which was quite difficult to achieve considering there weren't many people interested in this. The target was too high and the job I had was just to promote it among my peers. So I started to find the reason behind why people wouldn't want to register and then found out that the problem was that most of them didn't get what my organization really does and these days all the students want to have all information in a very small post. So, I cut the posts short and modified them.

@nafulasmamai said in Module 3 Discussion: Unrealistic Targets:

@Course_Operations said in Module 3 Discussion: Unrealistic Targets:

Respond to this prompt after completing the content in Module 3.

Setting ambitious yet achievable targets can be difficult. Have you ever been asked to reach a target that was either too high or too low? How did you respond to the situation? What advice would you offer other learners who may be asked to work towards unrealistic targets?

Sample Post: One time that I was asked to reach an unrealistic target was ______ . I responded by ______ .

One time I was asked to reach an unrealistic goal was when I was working on a project where low income community members were to open a mobile money saving account for basic healthcare needs but the targets were too high. I responded by collaborating with fellow colleagues and did a short survey on households, this way we realised that most of the community members had other secured other insurance policies therefore they did not need other options.

it may be that the logframe activity " activate money account for healthcare needs" wasn't the adeguate one and therefore the target won't get the aimed results.

@Course_Operations said in Module 3 Discussion: Unrealistic Targets:

Respond to this prompt after completing the content in Module 3.

Setting ambitious yet achievable targets can be difficult. Have you ever been asked to reach a target that was either too high or too low? How did you respond to the situation? What advice would you offer other learners who may be asked to work towards unrealistic targets?

**Sample Post: One time that I was asked to reach an unrealistic target was when I was working on a project in Cuba. Our indicator was about sending participants from their ministry to attend international conferences / workshops abroad. The beneficiary was extremely reluctant to send people abroad, but after explaining that not fulfilling the target of 9 participants, the donor would see it as a failure to the project. I convinced to send 6 participants, and we had to give a rational explaining that the beneficiary didn't find any international event of interest to justify the 3 trips remaining.

@Course_Operations said in Module 3 Discussion: Unrealistic Targets:

Respond to this prompt after completing the content in Module 3.

Setting ambitious yet achievable targets can be difficult. Have you ever been asked to reach a target that was either too high or too low? How did you respond to the situation? What advice would you offer other learners who may be asked to work towards unrealistic targets?

**Sample Post: One time that I was asked to reach an unrealistic target was when I got lead workshops in an district in which violence burst out unpredictably . I responded by revising the time frame, the question of security prevailing

@Gaelle This is really interesting and goes to show that when send assumptions are made regarding a project for example the community participation and engagement any disappointment or non commitment from them can lead to the failure of the project. I can relate to that but was the participant conduct related to the topic or total lack of motivation. Why will wonder if the project was designed with the community approval if so why the sudden change of conduct?

We started a saving group most of member had the high targets than ability of member in fifth month of contribution the group collapsed because of unrealistic target amount of members. Hence the project failed.

This was a good idea to avoid unrealistic targets.

@jacklineburudi said in Module 3 Discussion: Unrealistic Targets:

When piloting IGCSE for refugees the target was to enroll 20 candidates which was too ambitious for me.I suggested to the team that we plan for amaximum of 7 given that in Kenya self learning is uncommon and quite a number might not be confident to sit for the final exams ,we need to have evidence before the mass registration

I strongly agree with your position as it is important to have some form of evidence that participants would be willing to take part.

Hello,
i am Bushra Rana from Pakistan . i am teaching in school . i used to file monthly report for certain organization that I once worked with and at the beginning of every month the National level would set targets for each province and being at the local level the set target would seem unrealistic due to either the target exceeding the resources at hand or the target not being applicable to the situation at hand..e.g: the target would request that only high school student be included in program by reason of age while we have student of the same age whilst in primary school.

You know I've been in the same situation because our target was to train refugees from the age of 14 years but you realise it was very hard to set that target because it is very hard to differentiate between someone who is 14 and about and someone who is less and again every person wanted to get the chance of touching a computer
It became hard to hit that target of get people of 14 years and above

Like me I've also been in the same situation because our target was to train refugees from the age of 14 years and above but you realise it was very hard to hit that target because it was very hard to differentiate between someone who is less and above the age of 14 so it became hard to hit that target target since every person wanted to get the chance of touching a computer

@Course_Operations said in Module 3 Discussion: Unrealistic Targets:

Respond to this prompt after completing the content in Module 3.
Setting ambitious yet achievable targets can be difficult. Have you ever been asked to reach a target that was either too high or too low? How did you respond to the situation? What advice would you offer other learners who may be asked to work towards unrealistic targets?

One time that I was asked to reach an unrealistic target was when I was working with a communication firm and was asked to get 600 new subscribers registered each month. The funny thing was that the network in our locality was not good and people are mostly not interested in that line. After coming in contact with the reality in the field, I responded by just going with what was obtainable in the market, though it was frustrating.

@Course_Operations said in Module 3 Discussion: Unrealistic Targets:

One time that I was asked to reach an unrealistic target was training of teachers . I responded by indicating the in could not be achieved in given time and human resource we have. We have a lot discussion with in team by analysis of time and resource and available data.

I responded by informing my supervisor that not all that can be counted should be counted thus we should a few realistic targets based on facts/historical trends

@Course_Operations said in Module 3 Discussion: Unrealistic Targets:

One time that I was asked to reach an unrealistic target was ______ . I responded by ______ .

I have never faced such a situation so far. But to have aspirational targets which are achievable with hard work motivates the team to perform to their best.

One time that I was asked to reach an unrealistic target was to distribute 50000 food baskets in 3 days . I responded by dividing the number of the baskets by the number of distribution points and the time needed for each baskets and then shew it to the management to show them that it was impossible to do it in 3 days, so we extended it into one week.

I was asked to enroll 3500 women for adult learning across 140 learning centres in kachia LGA of Kaduna State Nigeria. This is way too high compare to the previous enrollment of 120 in the first circle of the project. I was able to employ community engagement strategy which help me and my team to sample out information from community gate keepers, key stakeholders and community members. This helped us to enroll the required number of beneficiaries. The possible suggestion from my own view to other learner's is to carry out tentative analysis on the subject matter and leverage/engage the right/relevant stakeholders on the particular subject matter.

we were once given unrealistic targets at our organisation when we wanted to conduct home visits for children living with HIV and update their case files. 200 case files were to be update by one person per week.This was unrealistic because we had to conduct home visit also. We did the best we can at the end of the week no one reached the target.When they asked the reasons why that is when we told them why we did no reach the target. That is how we solved our problem of unrealistic target that we were given that time.

M&E skills are truly essential if we are to have a robust implementation of programs and achieve real tangible results especially in the African health care systems.

@Course_Operations said in Module 3 Discussion: Unrealistic Targets:

Respond to this prompt after completing the content in Module 3.

Setting ambitious yet achievable targets can be difficult. Have you ever been asked to reach a target that was either too high or too low? How did you respond to the situation? What advice would you offer other learners who may be asked to work towards unrealistic targets?

Sample Post: One time that I was asked to reach an unrealistic target was ______ . I responded by ______ .

Lucky for me, I've worked in conducive work environments that major in setting realistic targets and so, have not been placed in an untenable position before.

One day that i was to respond to an unrealistic target was in FY18. I was asked to distributing livestock to 800 people in Ruhanza communities while the commited budget allowed me to reach only 500 people.

I responded by asking the revision of the plan. I demonstrated that the budget was too low to buy 800 pigs because there was an inflation. The leadership told me that it was good to wait until the plan's review so that i can raise the question. When the time came, the question was raised. As it was very important to distribute pigs to all of targeted community members, the budget was revised accordingly.

In setting up your target, you need to consider your resources..
You must know your baseline this will help in setting up your target for your project.
You should not be too optimistic or pessimistic in setting up your target

@Alim16 said in Module 3 Discussion: Unrealistic Targets:

@Ornela said in Module 3 Discussion: Unrealistic Targets:

Once time i was asked to reach an unrealistic goal was when i was working on a project where average income community members were to open saving account for basic healthcare and nutrition needs but the targets were too high.I responded by giving the managing personnel reasons why that could not be achieved,by collaborating with colleagues and we did a survey on households.By this we realized that most of the community members had other accounts and secured insurance policies therefore they did not need other options.

@Ornela, This is the essence of reliable data because it helps you to set ambitious but realistic targets.

That's it good to conduct formative surveys

One time that I was asked to reach an unrealistic target was when we committed to implement 10 different interventions with at least three developers within one years time. I responded by revising the target to plan in any uncertainties that might delay the process, e.g. regulations or logistics.

I was involved in a project where the donor wanted to reach an unrealistically high number of people from locations that were difficult to access. We were able to provide evidence based on mappings we had carried out of the populations and were able to agree a more realistic target and population distribution.

I would say, when setting targets (or accepting targets set for us) it's important to research how realistic those are, there is nothing more demoralising that setting a target that will not be met. And that could also create problems with donor when they feel that the work we do did not meet their expectations.

One time that I was asked to reach an unrealistic target was to provide training to each and every child in a community on child protection and make each one of the participating kid complete a module of 3 months . I responded by _stating that getting the kids in the program will have to be based on their availability and interests, even though child protection is an important aspect but one has to be considerate that children go to work, study, have other engagements. so the target was altered on the feedback and changed to more practical aspects of children to attend at least one module on safe and unsafe touch to give them an over view of child protection. this was somewhat helpful in attaining and impacting the overall goal of the program _____ .

@Course_Operations said in Module 3 Discussion: Unrealistic Targets:

Respond to this prompt after completing the content in Module 3.

Setting ambitious yet achievable targets can be difficult. Have you ever been asked to reach a target that was either too high or too low? How did you respond to the situation? What advice would you offer other learners who may be asked to work towards unrealistic targets?

Sample Post: One time that I was asked to reach an unrealistic target was ______ . I responded by ______ .

One time that I was asked to reach an unrealistic target was when my team were asked to train 200 Nigeria Youth Corp Members on skill acquisition for one month I notice the target is unrealistic because one month is a short period for an individual to acquire and master such skill my team and I wrote back to our donor for the extension of the duration of the training for 3 months to enable the participants acquire and master the skill.

I was doing an exercise on market survey data collection .The target population was very limited with the sample area .The target entries were very high .I engaged my project manager and we increased the days to collect the data.

@777_777 said in Module 3 Discussion: Unrealistic Targets:

@Course_Operations said in Module 3 Discussion: Unrealistic Targets:

Respond to this prompt after completing the content in Module 3.

Setting ambitious yet achievable targets can be difficult. Have you ever been asked to reach a target that was either too high or too low? How did you respond to the situation? What advice would you offer other learners who may be asked to work towards unrealistic targets?

Sample Post: One time that I was asked to reach an unrealistic target was ______ . I responded by ______ .

One time that I was asked to reach an unrealistic target was when my team were asked to train 200 Nigeria Youth Corp Members on skill acquisition for one month I notice the target is unrealistic because one month is a short period for an individual to acquire and master such skill my team and I wrote back to our donor for the extension of the duration of the training for 3 months to enable the participants acquire and master the skill.

th

@PearlUtuk said in Module 3 Discussion: Unrealistic Targets:

@Course_Operations said in Module 3 Discussion: Unrealistic Targets:

Respond to this prompt after completing the content in Module 3.

Setting ambitious yet achievable targets can be difficult. Have you ever been asked to reach a target that was either too high or too low? How did you respond to the situation? What advice would you offer other learners who may be asked to work towards unrealistic targets?

Sample Post: One time that I was asked to reach an unrealistic target was ______ . I responded by ______ .

Lucky for me, I've worked in conducive work environments that major in setting realistic targets and so, have not been placed in an untenable position before.

@PearlUtuk ,Lucky indeed. Let say for example things change and you find yourself in such situation,how will you handle it. Please feel free to share your thought with us. Thanks!

@ShikuKamau, Thanks for sharing your experience. Have you ever said yes to unrealistic target. If yes how did you and your team handle it?

one time i was asked to reach unrealistic target was i was asked to supervise relief food distribution in two distribution centres ,both running at the same time,same day.
I responded by notifying the supervisor of what he has requested and the risks involved and that for the two distributions to run concurrently at some point i will be delegating the responsibilities to the selected relief committees.

@Course_Operations said in Module 3 Discussion: Unrealistic Targets:

Respond to this prompt after completing the content in Module 3.

Setting ambitious yet achievable targets can be difficult. Have you ever been asked to reach a target that was either too high or too low? How did you respond to the situation? What advice would you offer other learners who may be asked to work towards unrealistic targets?

Sample Post: One time that I was asked to reach an unrealistic target was ______ . I responded by ______ .

One time that I was asked to reach an unrealistic target was in 2017 when I was carrying a community water and sanitation project. The project required taking inventory on number of standtaps, assessing catchment sanitation and having 30-minutes focus group discussions with community water stakeholders (water board committee members). The scope of the project was 35 localities and 52 catchments. The duration of the project was supposed to be 40 days maximum. However, the design of the project was largely skewed with respect to scope and schedule. Catchments are located far on top of hills and the average time given for covering a locality was just about 1 day. The target was too much and the error came from the fact that the planning focused on the number of localities rather than on the number of catchments.
So the advice I can give to project planners is to do feasibility or reconnaissance studies before planning. Collection of baseline data is indispensable before every project planning.

@MariaKn said in Module 3 Discussion: Unrealistic Targets:

One time that I was asked to reach an unrealistic target was when we committed to implement 10 different interventions with at least three developers within one years time. I responded by revising the target to plan in any uncertainties that might delay the process, e.g. regulations or logistics.

@MariaKn ,Thanks for sharing your experience. Can you please share your experiences with us when you revisit the target and what was the outcome so we can learn from each other. Thanks!

I was asked to meet an unrealistic target in 2007 by my Deputy Director. She asked me to go online in a space of one month to search for funding opportunities and write the proposal and win the proposal for the organization. It was just my few months into Development space as a volunteer in an organization where I am the only staff and she comes from her office as a government worker to supervise me. There was no orientation or training on proposal writing or even project management.