Written by: EnCompass Staff

EnCompass is delighted to share a new brief about The Virtues of Virtual Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL). A decade before COVID-19, EnCompass was already integrating virtual approaches in its MEL activities. Now, with the pandemic forcing a global pivot away from in-person programming, we are poised to share our expertise.

Virtual MEL approaches can help avoid delays, reduce the cost and footprint of monitoring, evaluation, and learning activities, increase participation coverage, and enhance evaluation rigor. Our participatory virtual design, data collection, and learning sessions use resources efficiently. They also bring together stakeholders from across geographies, including organizations and individuals who might not be able to participate otherwise. We use context-appropriate technology and cutting-edge virtual facilitation techniques, including WhatsApp, Adobe Connect, and other tools, to ensure meaningful stakeholder participation that parallels face-to-face engagement.

EnCompass’ team of experts is standing by to provide support as organizations adapt their approaches to include virtual MEL. Stay in touch with us at @EnCompass_World to learn more about our MEL activities and the services we are poised to offer.

Update: This brief may be considered a companion piece to EnCompass’ recent resource on evaluation during the COVID-19 pandemic: An Evaluator’s Guide to COVID-19: Using Evaluative Thinking to Learn and Adapt Programs.