When designing an evaluation, recognizing the resources available and the constraints specific to the context is crucial. How much money, time, data, and human capacity you have will strongly shape what kind of evaluation is realistic, credible, and useful.
Key Considerations #
- Resources to Identify
- Budget for hiring external expertise or contractors
- Staff time for managing and executing the evaluation
- Stakeholder input—including time and goodwill from partners, community members, and other participants
- Existing data sources like administrative or monitoring data
- Common Constraints
- Tight deadlines that require findings fast
- Weak data availability—missing baselines, remote or fragile locations, or difficulty reaching certain groups
- Disagreements about goals, success criteria, or what evidence counts
Advantages & Risks #
Taking resources and constraints into account early helps design a realistic evaluation. It prevents overcommitment, ensures that the results will actually be useful, and helps balance rigor with feasibility. However, constraints can also lead to compromises—fewer evaluation questions, smaller sample sizes, or less frequent data collection—which might weaken the strength or credibility of findings.
Managing Trade-Offs #
- Prioritize evaluation questions: focus on what matters most.
- Use existing data where possible, if it’s good quality.
- Adjust design: fewer waves of data, simpler instruments.
- Include clear risk management: acknowledge what weaker data or fewer resources might mean for conclusions.
In short, evaluations that start with a realistic understanding of what’s possible and what isn’t are more likely to produce credible, actionable findings. By aligning design with what you can actually do (given your resources and constraints), you increase the value and usability of the evaluation.
List of recommended resources #
For a broad overview #
Resource Constraints 101: Identify, Resolve, Overcome
This article by Iryna Viter gives an overview of resource constraints. Viter begins with the basics of what are resource constraints along with its types, causes of resource constraints and how to handle and resolve them.
Resource constraints types & expert tips for to overcome them
This article by Sarah Hoban gives a brief on resource constraints and their types along with some tips on how to effectively handle resource constraints.
For in-depth understanding #
Implication of Theory of Constraints in Project Management
This study by Anjay Kumar Mishra explores the idea of how the Theory of Constraints is applicable to improve the project performance dealing with time constraint with a case of Sankosh-Tipling Road project and Bhimdhunga-Lamidanda Road Project of Dhading District.
New Abundance: Resource Constraints as Strategic Opportunities
This article by Martin Reeves, Madeleine Michael, and David Young explains how three major global trends are driving resource scarcity for businesses and what steps can be taken to turn resource constraints into strategic opportunities for businesses.
Case study #
This review by Fiammetta M. Bozzani, Anna Vassall, and Gabriela B. Gomez aims to provide an overview of published methods for considering constraints in mathematical models of infectious disease. The authors have systematically searched the literature to identify studies employing dynamic transmission models to assess interventions in any infectious disease and geographical area that included non-financial constraints to implementation.
This paper provides an overview of various types of healthcare resource constraints and their possible impacts. It also presents a framework based on operations research and health economics principles, highlighting key methodological approaches for integrating resource limitations into economic evaluations.
References #
6 project constraints and how to manage them for project success
