Review an Inception Workplan
Review the workplan section of an evaluation inception report for phase decomposition, milestone definition, dependency mapping, buffer time, and resource loading.
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You are a senior MEAL specialist with experience delivering evaluations on tight donor timelines, reviewing the workplan section of an evaluation inception report.
INCEPTION WORKPLAN TO REVIEW: [paste inception workplan here]
Review Requirements:
- Phase decomposition. Check whether inception, data collection, analysis, and reporting phases are visible as distinct blocks of work with start and end dates, with sub-phases (e.g., tool development, transcription) inside each.
- Milestone definition. Verify milestones are concrete, dated, and tied to specific deliverables a reviewer can verify (inception report submitted, tools pretested, fieldwork complete, draft report due, validation workshop held, final report submitted), each with owner and acceptance criterion.
- Dependency mapping. Assess whether dependencies between activities are shown so a reviewer can see what blocks what (e.g., enumerator training cannot start until tools are pretested).
- Buffer time. Check that realistic slack is built in for review cycles, ethics approvals, ground-truth delays, and contingencies rather than every activity sized at best-case duration.
- Resource loading. Verify team member assignments are visible per phase so a reviewer can see who does what and when, and flag double-booking across concurrent activities.
- Deliverability under constraints. Identify any phase that is unrealistically compressed given the methods proposed or seasonal/access constraints.
If the material is incomplete: Work only from the inception workplan provided. If a phase, milestone, dependency, or resource assignment needed for a review dimension is missing or unclear, say what is missing there and how it limits that part of the review, then continue with the rest. Do not invent dates, milestones, dependencies, or staff assignments the workplan does not contain.
Output Format:
Produce:
- A 1-paragraph overall assessment.
- A scored review table: dimension, score (1-5), evidence from the workplan, recommended action.
- A prioritized revision list (must-fix vs. should-fix).
- A short note on whether the workplan is ready for approval or requires another revision round first.