The activities
An activity is an action that transforms inputs (labour, knowledge, equipment, raw materials, time) into planned outputs within a specified period of time.
Sometimes, one activity is sufficient to get the desired outputs, but often you have to go through a series of activities. When you have to go through the same series of activities or tasks every time you want to get an output, you can define them as a process. In the logframe, each output has one or more activities/processes.
Activities have to be planned over time, to make sure all the outputs are obtained in the course of the project. Some activities can’t start before others, because they need the outputs that the previous activities produce. This means that when the first activity has a delay (started too late or takes more time than planned), the second one will also be delayed. This can cause a cascading effect and in the end the outputs aren’t realised within the project’s duration.
In other cases, activities aren’t dependent of each other, but planning too many activities at the same moment can create an overload for the project team. In such a case, activities will have to be postponed, but this means that the project’s planning goes out of the window and again by the end of the project you may find that not all the outputs have been realised.
Making a good planning also means that you make sure every activity is alotted the necessary time.
When establishing your logframe, make sure that all the key activities that are needed to obtain an output are listed, but don’t loose yourself in listing every little thing you have to do. For instance, routine administrative tasks are normally not included in the logframe. Contrary to outputs, purposes and goals, activities are formulated as an action: you do something.
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