Monitoring & Evaluation officers naturally deal with a lot of data. It is part of their job to collect and process them, and to prepare them for reporting. Especially when confronted with numbers, most people’s first intuition is to open an Excel file and start a table. This is a smart choice considering that
most people have Excel installed on their computer, it's free (after you have purchased the Microsoft office package – which most organizations have), it's relatively easy to use after some practice, there are a lot of online help pages, manuals and video…IT
How to Create a Joint Agenda in Your WebMo
Want to set up a joint agenda in your WebMo (wiki) for a joint workshop or regular team meetings? Here you can find instructions on how to do it! First, type the preferred title, e.g. “Joint Agenda” or “Weekly Team Meeting” in the search bar and hit enter. Under the search results, the title will appear as a red link. Click on this title and you will then be directed to an empty page. Now you can structure your agenda page by adding headlines for every point that you would like to talk about in your meetings. …
Flexible Tools, Flexible Work Environments
(UPDATE: MAY 2018)
I had previously written about the wonders of working remotely (see here). It has been almost 2 years since I took on this approach, so I thought I should provide an update on this experience.
I know there are several companies out there with very flexible approaches, but to date, I do not know another organization that is as flexible as energypedia consult, in terms of providing their employees with tailor made work contracts. Perhaps this flexibility is what makes our tools great! Not only do we provide our customers with tools that tailor to their…
Remote Working for Digital Nomads – How a Wiki Enables Me to Do “Beach Office”
We know there are many people out there working remotely either by being home-based, or as freelancers, or are digital nomads who travel around the globe carrying a laptop with them and work at the same time. Whatever the case, they all have one thing in common: No real fixed office environment.
Does this sound like you? Then you probably know how technology can help you achieve this. In my case, I would like to share my experience and the technology that allows me to work remotely.
A bit of background:
I am a full-time employee who works for energypedia…
How to Change the Language in Your Wiki
Do you want to have the system texts in your wiki displayed in Spanish, French or Kiswahili? Switch your language settings in your wiki! You can change your language settings to almost any language in the world.
Here are the steps to follow: Log into your wiki, go to the top right corner of the screen and hover over your picture and user name. A drop down menu will appear. Select “Preferences”. You are now directed to your user profile. Scroll down to the section “Internationalisation”. Choose your desired language under the option “Language”, and then save your…
Free Excel Guide to Building Monitoring Tools
Imagine the following dialogue between a project manager and his supervisor:
Supervisor: “Please create a short overview of the impacts and the degree of goal achievement of your project. By tomorrow morning would be great.”
Project manager: “No Problem. I’ll just open my monitoring tool, have a look into the Management Cockpit and … done!”
Now, you might ask yourself: What is a “monitoring tool” and what is a “Management Cockpit”? And above all: How can I get one?
I’m glad the guide at hand will provide you with answers to those questions. It…
M&E software – 8 Tips on How to Talk to IT Guys
You want to take your M&E system one step further and introduce a proper M&E software? That’s great, because a software has the potential of making the monitoring process more efficient and transparent, reduce errors and get more accurate data. But how to go about it? You have three options:
You build your own system, for example in Microsoft Excel; You purchase an M&E software package off-the-shelf; You hire an IT consultant to set up a customized M&E system according to your organization’s specific requirements.If options one and two do not work out…
What is Confidential, Remains Confidential
Energypedia consult’s WebMo platforms are made for collaboration. They allow any number of people in different locations to jointly work on projects and to share information. Platforms are not limited to the staff of one organization: It is very well possible to invite all concerned stakeholders regardless of their organizational affiliation.
But what if a team wishes to exchange confidential information on their WebMo platform that are not meant for the eyes of other stakeholders like donors or implementing partners? Does that mean they cannot give them access at all…
Get a Free Copy of our WebMo Brochure!
Simplify your daily work and make it more efficient with WebMo! One of our favorite WebMo tools is the google maps integration. If you are dealing with projects in regional offices, a map can definitely be of great help to give you a bird's eye view of your projects per country.
You can fit as many pins as you need to represent individual projects.
To make visualization even easier, it is possible to change the pin's shape as well as color…