Monitoring data, two ways

Monitoring should provide timely feedback that helps teams deliver - yet monitoring stalls when we try to track too much. My last blog argued that, by using evaluation wisely, we can give teams the confidence to keep monitoring light and flexible.

Another way to retain lightness and flexibility - whilst generating useful feedback - is to think of monitoring as having two components: “formal” and “informal”.

Cooking "two ways" originated in my new home, France. Think chicken two ways, cauliflower two ways, chocolate two ways. It's about contrast and completeness - finding balance through two preparations that, together, make the dish whole

Monitoring works the same way: formal and informal combine to bring contrast and completeness to our understanding.

Formal data

Planned, organised and consistent.

This is what most people think of when they hear the word "data". A set of indicators and data points you come back to again and again, so you can see trends over time. At any point in time there's an agreed list of metrics that you are deliberately tracking. Formal data includes surveys, impact assessments or similar.

Informal data

Opportunistic and spontaneous.

The chat with casual workers as they queue at the factory gate, the conversation with farmers as you wander through town, the early morning walk through the market, coffee with an entrepreneur, the late-night shisha with a government official, an interesting piece of journalism, a passing comment at a conference.

You can collect formal and informal data during the same trip. Once, I was working in the tea sector. We had just collected some data from a large tea company. On the way home we spotted a tea collection point by the roadside, buzzing with activity. We stopped, bought a crate of Fantas to share, and chatted for hours.

“Informal” doesn’t mean “thoughtless”. Enjoy normal human conversations, but remember you’re trying to get to the truth of how people see things. Have a few key questions ready, avoid leading ones, practice active listening and stay alert to group dynamics. Look for chances to speak with dissenting or less-heard voices. And keep a simple record - who you spoke to, what stood out, and any follow-up it suggests.

Bringing them together in reflection

Formal and informal data come together in reflection - personal reflection, everyday conversations, team meetings, or more formal sessions every few months.

Formal data gives teams a shared reference point - what was expected and what’s happening. In discussion, it’s easy to lose the plot and disappear down rabbit holes. Then someone asks, “Wait… what were we trying to achieve here in the first place? Is it happening?”. Formal data anchors everyone to a strategy.

Informal data adds nuance and explains. It should be a continuous thing, but becomes especially important when what you expected to happen (as set out in your theory of change), doesn't. When data deviates from expectation, that’s an alarm bell - our cue to go and see what’s going on.

The key is to encourage both equally: clarity and discipline in the formal, curiosity and initiative in the informal. Together, they give us a fuller picture - what’s happening, what’s not, and why - so we can make better decisions grounded in real understanding.