Conducting the Pilot
The action plan created during the planning phase will help the organization conduct the pilot. Some other helpful resources, regarding timing, training, collecting and quality control, are outlined in this section.
Set Timeline and Schedule
The organization can create a pilot timeline and training schedule to correspond with the pilot action plan. An agreed-upon timeline will help ensure the successful implementation of the PPI pilot. Depending on the size of the pilot, the timeline and schedule will differ. The MFI can assign ample time for each phase to ensure understanding across the entire organization. An example of a pilot timeline is available for download below.
Example Project Plan: An example timeline and resource allocation for a pilot. Please customize the document to meet individual organizational needs.
Train Field Staff
Training the field staff to administer the PPI is critical to the success of the PPI pilot. The PPI relies on the accuracy of the responses to the PPI indicators, so initial training should empower employees to accurately administer the PPI.
The interviewers are usually field staff or loan officers who are familiar with the clients and who can easily conduct the interview during regular client household visits. The training and orientation of interviewers can be completed in one day and should be performed no more than one week prior to starting the pilot. Supervisors or branch managers can carry out the training and quality control.
Sample interview procedures, along with best practices, and practice interview exercises are outlined in the following documents.
Interviewing Clients and Interview Practice (PPI Pilot Training Guide)
Determine Intake and Collection Methodology
Organizations can utilize current operations when implementing or piloting the PPI. For instance, if the field staff visits the client's home during the loan application or the exiting process, the PPI can be administered during the same visit. Field staff should be trained in the interviewing process beforehand. How the PPI information will be collected and encoded needs to be determined during the action plan development.
Depending on computer availability, loan officers can input data on their own clients at the branch level. If that does not fit with the MFI's operational processes, data can be input at a central location instead. Data entry time varies depending on the system used; for example, at Negros Women for Tomorrow Foundation (NWTF) the average entry took about 18 seconds using the organization's tailored MIS.
Data Collection and Data Entry (PPI Pilot Training Guide)
An example of a general intake form can be found below.
Ensure Quality Control
To guarantee credibility and accuracy of the data collected, a thorough quality control system must be established prior to conducting the interviews. Supervisors can randomly review completed PPIs brought in by field staff to make sure that all questions are completed and scores are correctly calculated. In some cases, the correct responses to some questions are unclear. For example, what is the correct response if the wall materials are made of both light and sturdy materials, or if the floor is part mud and part cement? The answers to these questions can be found in the original national household survey.
Grameen Foundation recommends that supervisors/managers/independent interviewers re-administer the PPI with 10% of those interviewed as a means of verifying the accuracy of the responses recorded. These second interviews should be done within a week of the first interview. For more information on Quality Control of the survey please refer to the following supporting material.
Quality Control of Survey Information (PPI Pilot Training Guide)
