Preparation and the planning for the PPI™ pilot are critical to ensure operational success. Communicating the pilot objectives clearly to management and staff is important for the PPI pilot to achieve its objectives.

• Develop an Action Plan
• Set Pilot Objectives
• Choose a Sampling and Selection Strategy
• Assess Resources Required

Develop an Action Plan

An action plan is a step-by-step process for implementing the PPI. An effective pilot or implementation plan needs to be thought through carefully and assessed for each organization's individual needs. Select the following link to see further information, from the PPI Pilot Training Guide, to assist an organization in creating an action plan.

An organization may need to revisit and adjust its action plan several times during the implementation of the tool, as it receives feedback from staff and clients. This plan can later be expanded into an operational manual, when the organization is clear about how best to integrate the PPI into its operations.

Action plan template and activity (PPI™ Pilot Training Guide)

Set Pilot Objectives

Integrating the PPI begins with an implementation plan that defines goals, sets standards for good performance, and identifies information that allows an organization to gauge performance according to the chosen standard. Setting the objectives will help determine the sample size and approach.

Identifying Pilot Objectives (PPI™ Pilot Training Guide)

Choose a Sampling and Selection Strategy

There are a couple of main objectives necessary to determine the sampling and selection criteria for a PPI pilot or implementation.

1. Survey samples should be large enough to yield statistically reliable results and large enough to be representative of the total population clients, within specified confidence levels.
2. Sampling methodology should minimize the likelihood of selection bias, including self-selection bias and interviewer-selection bias.
3. The strategy should include a systematic quality control process to verify survey data validity.

Pilot Sample Size (PPI™ Pilot Training Guide)

Assess Resources Required

The resources required for piloting the PPI at an organization varies depending on size, technical expertise, staffing levels, and pilot objectives. An important step of piloting the PPI is assessing the resources required for the individual organization. Below are some examples of areas to consider as well as links to supporting material.

Financial (cost considerations)

• Supplies: office supplies (pens, papers, copies) for the pre-test and survey that will likely be a minimal cost but depends on the size of the pilot.
• Staff: salaries for field officers and partial time of management for quality control checks and supervision.
• Transportation: if visiting a client’s home is already a part of the field staff’s regular workload, there should be no additional transport costs to factor in.

Case study cost examples for NWTF [PPI™ Pilot Training Guide]

 

Human Capital (management, staff – job descriptions)

The PPI is designed so the organization can use readily available human resources and equipment.

Managers can prepare the sampling framework and train loan officers in administering the PPI. Field staff can conduct interviews during routine visits to borrowers' homes and input the data daily into a simple Excel spreadsheet. There is no need to hire people to enter the data or to buy/rent sophisticated software or equipment. Organizations with a separate research department can assign the responsibilities of sampling, analysis, auditing and reporting to this department.

HR requirements [PPI™ Pilot Training Guide]

 

Technical/equipment

Though the PPI does not require the use of sophisticated software or equipment, an organization should have an automated MIS to make effective use of PPI data. Beyond that initial prerequisite, organizations with widely differing levels of technical expertise, portfolio size and staffing levels can successfully integrate the PPI into operations. The data are simple enough to be entered into an Excel spreadsheet and/or can be incorporated into the existing MIS system. For pilot purposes, it is common for MFIs to use PPI Intake Tool, a simple excel workbook, to collect PPI scores and some additional demographic information.

One example of combining the PPI with current technical operations is by integrating the PPI indicators with the client intake forms or loan applications simply by attaching the PPI indicators to the back of the form or on another piece of paper.

MIS Requirements (PPI™ Pilot Training Guide)

PPI Intake Tool: A simple Excel workbook to collect the PPI data.