Tool 10 - Outputs: Monitoring Productivity

1. To review whether there are monitoring mechanisms in place to assess work productivity.
2. To assess whether management processes, routine work, and planned actions are delivering projected outputs.
3. To evaluate whether the outputs produced are related to identified management needs and lead to the achievement of desired outcomes.

Outputs are measures of ‘productivity’ resulting from the implementation of planned actions, routine work and management processes. Different types of output can be expected across the management cycle. These can include:

• plans and/or strategies, policies and other instruments resulting from planning processes (e.g. a completed and approved management plan or tourism strategy);
• physical works carried out on the ground (e.g. building repairs, maintenance work, information panels installed);
• material products or goods produced (e.g. publications, audio guides, websites);
• the volume of work and activities undertaken (e.g. numbers of meetings held with other actors, patrols undertaken, surveys completed, research undertaken and published);
• data and information derived from management processes, including monitoring processes, which can inform future planning and actions (e.g. numbers of visitors, numbers of users of a specific service provided); and
• services provided (e.g. fire-safety systems, recreation activities, educational activities).

Identifying the outputs produced is important, but not sufficient. What is important is to assess whether those outputs are in line with planned actions and needed management measures, thereby leading to desired outcomes being achieved. Note that an output may not directly respond to a management need, but may form the basis of another action or process. For instance, a desired outcome identified in the management plan may be the reduction of physical impacts on certain attributes because of excessive visitation. Therefore, an initial output can be a tourism strategy, followed by the construction of a new visitor walking route (another output), which reduces the number of visitors accessing the attributes being impacted. The data generated from monitoring changes in visitor numbers is yet another output that can provide valuable information about management needs and the impacts on the attributes of the property.

Outputs are usually expressed in numbers, such as: number of surveillance patrols; number of community meetings conducted; number and proportion of archaeological assessment studies initiated and ongoing; number of condition assessments undertaken for buildings and/or other structures and number of school visits. The assessment of outputs derived from a programme of actions – based on a management plan as well as annual (or multi-year) work plans – requires the outputs to be defined or, in some cases, for targets (either quantitative or qualitative) to be set. The assessment of output productivity can be measured using:

• actual work undertaken, and products and services delivered versus what was planned (e.g. numbers of patrols or maintenance works undertaken compared to what was projected in the work plan(s);
• the extent to which planned actions were completed); and
• actual versus planned expenditure.

Certain types of output will be produced on a regular basis (e.g. annually), while others will be delivered sporadically or may even be a one-off product, such as the establishment of the visitor walking route, mentioned above. Assessing whether all expected outputs were produced within set targets (e.g. in terms of cost, quantity, quality and time-frame) will promote transparency and accountability. However, it can be time-consuming – and not always helpful – to monitor all forms of productivity over time. Therefore, the relevant outputs need to be defined in advance – preferably when the management plan is being developed. In general, outputs that offer a good measure of productivity involve:

• repeated actions or activities that are important for achieving the management objectives for the property;
• aspects related to the use of the property; and
• products and services that are part of annual reporting requirements.

Developing a set of indicators will help you to measure productivity (see Box 5.7).

While outputs are a good measure of productivity and an important tool to communicate to donors, local communities and decision-makers how funding is being used, they are insufficient to assess management effectiveness. People often measure outputs to judge performance since the data for these are easier to collect and monitor than for outcomes. However, management effectiveness needs to be assessed on what is being achieved (outcomes) in addition to what is being produced (outputs). This is ‘Outputs’ (Tool 10) is positioned right before ‘Outcomes’ (Tool 11), since both are interrelated. Ultimately, the production and delivery of outputs needs to be examined based on its contribution to the achievement of outcomes. If needed, refresh your understanding of the difference between outcomes and outputs by returning to Section 3.3 of the Toolkit.

The use of this worksheet is dependent on prior identification of output indicators or at least output targets. Where indicators and/or targets are not available, this should be noted. In such cases, leave the main columns of the worksheet blank but complete the final rows, and consider the following questions:

• Does the programme of actions included in the management plan and/or work plans identify the outputs to be produced and delivered? If not, why not?
• If outputs have not been identified or no management plan exists, what products and services being delivered might be good measures to assess productivity?
• What needs to be done to put in place monitoring mechanisms to measure and assess outputs?

Note that in this case, parts of the worksheet can be used as a template for the identification of output indicators.

If output indicators exist, it is likely that you will use a different assessment approach or method to that suggested in Worksheet 10. You may also use different terms to assess outputs. Box 5.8 provides an example of the assessment approach embedded in Worksheet 10. You can decide if the worksheet offers a better approach to the method that you currently use; in which case, you can adapt the worksheet to complement this. Alternatively, you can replace the entire worksheet with your current method. Whatever you decide, the important thing is that you draw conclusions on what is working well, what is not working, what could be improved, and what should be done about it. The reflection questions included below can help you t o respond to such issues.

Reflection questions:

• Do planning instruments (e.g. management plan and work plans) include a logical and clear understanding of inputs, actions or activities, outputs and outcomes – and the links between them? If not, what aspects are missing? For instance, are annual (or multi-year) work plans organized by actions only, without a clear link to the outputs and outcomes those actions are intended to produce or deliver?
• Where output indicators have been identified, are they well defined and aligned with the management objectives and other desired outcomes for the World Heritage All inherited assets which people value for reasons beyond mere utility. Heritage is a broad concept and includes shared legacies from the natural environment, the creations of humans and the creations and interactions between humans and nature. It encompasses built, terrestrial, freshwater and marine environments, landscapes and seascapes, biodiversity, geodiversity, collections, cultural practices, knowledge, living experiences, etc.   property?
• Do the identified indicators cover different types of outputs and collectively provide a good understanding of the productivity of the management system, or are they limited to the output indicators that are the easiest to measure?
• Do the identified indicators enable the tracking of management productivity over time?