The DEE Technique

The DEE Technique®

Disaggregated Effectiveness Evaluation( DEE)

Strategic Performance Management for the Public and Private Sector

What is the DEE Technique?

The DEE Technique is a proven, proprietary methodology for the design, monitoring and evaluation of strategies, programmes, projects and Action Plans. Based on Dr Alan Ross’s PhD research and  refined  from decades of practical experience in complex public sector environments around the world, it provides institutions with a systematic and user-friendly framework for managing performance from inception through to delivery. Unlike conventional monitoring approaches that measure outputs only at the end of a project, DEE enables likely impact assessment to be made continuously throughout implementation — giving managers the early warning they need to take corrective action before problems become critical.

How the DEE Technique Works

At the heart of DEE is a structured monitoring framework built in close consultation with the client organisation, typically through a workshop process. The framework maps objectives, outcomes and impacts across all technical sectors involved in the programme, and assigns clear responsibility to individual sections, departments or regional offices. This shared framework gives all partners, staff and funding agencies a unified view of what needs to be done, by whom, and by when.

Once in place, the framework is monitored through a set of DEE indicators that track progress against the agreed schedule. Managers can navigate the framework horizontally to identify technical issues, or vertically to identify organisational or institutional underperformance. This two-directional monitoring makes it straightforward to pinpoint exactly where variance is occurring and to intervene quickly and decisively. Crucially, the system is designed to avoid overloading managers with unnecessary data — it highlights only the information that requires their attention, freeing them for genuine strategic management .It is designed to be “management by exception” so that managers need only intervene if progress is too far ahead or too far behind the agreed schedule.

The technique is supported by user-friendly software that generates clear graphical outputs including spider charts, snapshot assessments and progress management graphs. These visuals make it easy to report progress to clients, funding agencies and other stakeholders. The software operates in multiple languages and can also be used to run sensitivity analyses and “what-if” scenarios to support better planning.

Applications

The DEE Technique has been applied across a wide range of contexts. Its most common uses include benchmarking countries, organisations or industries against a template of desired standards - such as Good Governance frameworks, SDG strategies or UN Decade requirements, ESG compliance requirements etc. - as well as monitoring the implementation of national and regional Action Plans and development projects. It is equally effective as a portfolio management tool, providing an overall performance picture across multiple diverse projects or initiatives simultaneously. The technique has also been used to build Unified Performance Management Systems (UPMS) that link high-level government objectives down through multiple implementing agencies to ensure coherent, measurable contribution at every level. One application under consideration by a Deputy  Prime minister’s office  was to align and monitor the government's stated overall national objectives and targets through delivery of objectives and performance indicators of around 25 government ministries who were each to contribute their share towards the overall national objectives..

Proven International Track Record

The DEE Technique has been successfully applied to design, monitor or evaluate projects and programmes, to do bencharking or country readiness assessments across more than 50 countries on five continents. Clients have included major international funding agencies such as the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the European Union, and United Nations bodies including the IAEA and ESCAP, as well as national governments, county councils and central government departments. Notable applications include design and monitoring of a US$81 million World Bank road project in Nepal, a US$110 million ADB road and safety programme in the South Pacific, a benchmarking study of training capacity across 16 Asia-Pacific countries, and a review of Best Value in Police Training covering 43 UK Police Forces for the UK Home Office. Road safety programmes in Ghana, Fiji, New Zealand, Peru, Vietnam, Malaysia and Ukraine, as well as health and water supply projects in Egypt and Kenya, demonstrate the breadth of sectors and geographies in which DEE has been successfully deployed.

Senior practitioners from the World Bank, Asian Development Bank and UK public sector have consistently described DEE as one of the most user-friendly and effective monitoring and evaluation systems they have encountered - reducing the burden on project managers while significantly increasing the likelihood of programmes delivering their intended outcomes on time and within budget. It could have particular application now to assessing AI readiness of countries so that appropriate  remedial action plans can be devised to help the countries  strengthen any identified areas of weakness

to download  a more detailed summary (click here)

Contact: Dr Alan Ross  •  +353 851 273825  •  +44 7853 903455  •  alan.ross@global-ai.solutions or alanross999@icloud.com