written by
Shashidhar S A
Founder, HubForge Global · MERL & AI Innovator
- En-Intrapreneur
- Driving evaluation ecosystems through People, Process & Product
Contents
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A HubForge Global Impact Network Foundation playbook
Win the right assignments, contract them well, deliver evidence that holds up, and see it used. Then do it faster with AI, without spending your clients' trust.
Where do you want to start?
Take it with you
Keep the 60-page playbook offline, print the 81-page template pack with 36 templates across the seven CONSULT stages, open the companion consulting toolkit, or keep the one-page cheat sheet nearby.
Chapter 1 ·
What an M&E consultant does, how an assignment flows, the words you will meet first, and a 30-day plan to get from zero to your first practice assignment.
The job in plain words
The journey
Each stage has its own chapter section, tools and templates later in the playbook.
Ten words you will meet first
Tap a word to see what it means. Underlined words anywhere in the playbook also explain themselves.
Choose your path
M&E essentials
This playbook is about consulting. These are the evaluation basics underneath it; each links to a trusted place to learn more.
A 30-day starter plan
Tick actions as you go; your progress is saved in this browser.
Your practice assignment
Try each task first, then compare. The practice ToR is the one in the bid desk: load it into the ToR scanner with one click.
Chapter 2 ·
Eight lines from realistic terms of reference. Each hides a risk that sinks assignments.
Why this matters
Chapter 3 ·
The client asks for a report. What they need may be a decision, a system or a skill. Know which role you are playing.
Edgar Schein
Which role is this?
You are probably
Your answer appears here.
Eight common assignments
Days vary widely with scale and team. Treat these as a starting point for scoping, not a price list.
Meet the two examples
Both are fictional and followed through every stage. No sector knowledge needed.
Chapter 4 ·
The CONSULT method takes any M&E assignment from the first ToR to findings that get used.
Chapter 5 ·
It joins two traditions: how the best consultants solve problems and build trust, and the standards evaluators are held to.
Peter Block, Flawless Consulting
Tap a phase to see which CONSULT stages carry it.
Maister, Green and Galford
Move the sliders. Notice what happens when self-orientation rises.
Conn and McLean; Minto
Seven steps from strategy consulting, and where each sits in CONSULT. Then write it answer first.
The standards you are held to
Four more findings
Chapter 6 ·
How top evaluators get from evidence to a verdict they can defend, choose a causal design that fits the question, and evaluate programmes that keep changing.
Evaluative reasoning · Scriven, Davidson, King
Data alone never says whether something is good. These four steps turn evidence into a verdict a client can follow and challenge.
A rubric in action · the mid-term evaluation
Pick a criterion. The rubric was agreed at inception; the highlighted level is where the evidence landed.
Value for money · four Es
Cause and effect
Answer four questions about the assignment. The guide suggests designs; the table explains all eight.
Complexity · Patton; USAID
Equity and power
Quality standards · OECD DAC; UNEG
Tick each standard your draft meets. Fix the gaps before you submit.
Chapter 7 ·
Twenty-one tools that strategy firms, proposal teams and evaluators rely on, explained from scratch, with a template, a worked example and an AI prompt for each.
Strategy consulting practice
None needs a big team or budget. Each one changes what a client can do with your evidence.
Mapped to CONSULT
New to these? Pick a stage, then a tool. Each one explains itself in plain words, shows a blank template with guidance, a filled-in example and the steps, and lets you download the template.
Chapter 8 ·
Six working tools from top-firm practice. Fill them in for a live assignment and copy the result into a proposal, an inception report or a status note.
Chapter 9 ·
The templates and rules to keep open on every assignment.
Twelve questions to answer before you decide to bid. Tick them as you read.
Inception report contents
One row of an evaluation matrix
Build your own in the workshop and download it.
The 1:3:25 structure
Answer first: situation, complication, question, answer
Words for the moments new consultants find hardest. Copy, then fill in the brackets.
See the UNEG ethical guidelines and the AEA guiding principles in the library.
Chapter 10 ·
AI makes a good consultant faster and a careless one dangerous. Client trust is the asset you protect.
AI is good at
AI is not good at
The loop between steps three and four is where the quality comes from. Push back on the first answer every time.
Tap each mistake to see the check.
The one it can't do: sit across the table and earn the client's trust.
Three openings for each stage. Replace the highlighted words, remove names, then push back on the first answer.
Chapter 11 ·
Four tools for your next bid: scan a ToR, price it, set your day rate and build the evaluation matrix.
Paste a ToR, or part of one. The scanner flags common risky phrases and counts the questions. It reads patterns, not meaning. Remove names first.
Go or no-go
Then ask your AI
Pick a starting shape, then change the days to fit this assignment. Rates and costs are yours to set; nothing is sent anywhere.
Work out the lowest day rate that pays you what you need over a year, once unbilled days and overheads are counted.
One row per evaluation question. The example is the mid-term evaluation. Download it for your inception report.
Chapter 12 ·
Everything you need to work on your own: six calculators for the numbers clients ask about, nine document templates you can download and fill, and the evaluation concepts explained in plain words.
Calculators
Pick one. Every input has a sensible default, so change only what you know. Nothing you type leaves this browser.
Document templates
Each template lists its sections with a line of guidance for each. Download it as a Word file and write in the boxes.
Concepts explained
Tap a concept. These are the ideas clients, reviewers and ToRs assume you already know.
Chapter 13 ·
Six tools to turn good work into a name clients can find and describe: your positioning, your profile, a case study, a content plan, your relationships and the events you attend.
Why your name matters
Good work does not speak for itself if nobody can say what you do. These six tools take you from a clear sentence about your niche to a small, honest body of proof, and a circle of people who know when to call you.
One sentence on who you help, with what problem, and how. Everything else in your profile follows from it.
Proof a client could check: anonymised case studies, practice notes and talks, shared with consent.
A light routine for relationships and events beats a burst of posting. Give first, follow up within 48 hours.
Six tools, in this order
Start with positioning, since the other five reuse it. Use the arrow keys to move along the steps.
Three ground rules
No results you did not achieve and no roles you did not hold. Every claim needs a proof point someone could check.
Anonymise client work, then send the draft to the client and get written permission before you publish anything.
Share something useful with each person in your circle. Let AI help you draft, but never let it invent your proof.
Chapter 14 ·
Most consultants are good at the work and weak at the business around it. Both decide whether you last.
Position
Pick one or two from each line. A past client should be able to repeat your niche in one sentence.
Pipeline
Pricing models
Getting paid
Chapter 15 ·
Top consultants lead teams, pass due diligence, negotiate well, run a room, get evidence used, and become known for one thing.
Growth models
Leading a team
Five roles, four quality checkpoints, and a duty of care to everyone in the field.
Due diligence
Tick what you already have. The gaps are your next month's admin.
Negotiation · Fisher and Ury
Facilitation · Liberating Structures
Five simple methods for evaluation moments, and a two-hour validation workshop you can copy.
Use and influence · Kirkhart
Reputation
What is coming
Chapter 16 ·
A five-level path from new evaluator to leading international evaluations: what you do at each level, what proves it, and the move that gets you to the next one.
The career ladder
Tap a level to see what you do there, what proves it, and the move that gets you to the next one.
Self-assessment · AEA domains plus consulting practice
Pick the level you are aiming for. Your profile, the target and a personal growth plan update as you go. Nothing leaves this browser.
For people new to consulting
A 12-month plan
Tick actions as you finish them; your progress is saved in this browser.
The international market
The donor CV
Credentials and communities
Chapter 17 ·
Ten checks before you bid, and ten before you submit the final report.
Start with the decision.
Chapter 18 ·
The research, standards and practices behind every stage, a glossary of every term, and a one-page cheat sheet.
The whole method on one page. Pin it above your desk.
Answer first · Hypothesis-driven · No overlaps, no gaps · 80/20 · So what? · Pre-wire · Obligation to dissent · Results, not reports.
An advance on signing · Payments on submission, not approval · Invoice the day a milestone is met · Check registration, GST and tax deduction rules with an adviser.
HubForge Global Impact Network Foundation · Share freely with credit · Not legal or tax advicehubforgeglobal@gmail.com · www.hubforgeglobal.com · linkedin.com/in/shashidharsa
written by
Founder, HubForge Global · MERL & AI Innovator