Getting Started with ActivityInfo - Introductory sessions
Welcome to the “Getting Started with ActivityInfo” introductory sessions. This is a series of sessions addressed to new and older users of ActivityInfo who wish to get introduced to the platform or refresh their memory on key functionalities available. In addition to these sessions, we will be offering open office hours during which we can address specific aspects of the platform.
These are free training sessions provided by the ActivityInfo team.
Are these sessions for me?
- Are you responsible for Monitoring and Evaluation or information management activities in your organization and wish to use ActivityInfo to manage data related to them?
- Do you wish to explore the potential of the platform to start designing databases for your projects or programs and collect timely and quality data?
- Do you want to use ActivityInfo for your M&E and data collection activities but you are not sure where to start?
Then, get started with these sessions!
Overview of ActivityInfo
During this session, we provide a high-level overview of what ActivityInfo is and how it can meet your organization's data management needs. We discuss the main features and functionalities of the platform so that you and your team can have a comprehensive understanding of what you can achieve in your daily work in Monitoring and Evaluation data collection activities or information management tasks.
In summary, we explore:
- ActivityInfo's core functionalities
- How ActivityInfo fits within your organization's data workflows
- What use cases ActivityInfo can be used in within humanitarian and development settings
Designing your first database
During this session, we look at the steps for creating a database in ActivityInfo. We discuss key principles to keep in mind and how we can design forms and create flexible structures in the platform to facilitate data collection and analysis for our colleagues and partner organizations. We will also explore structures that match different types of needs such as global Monitoring and Evaluation, multi-partner reporting, beneficiary progress reporting and more.
In summary, we explore:
- The principles behind what makes a good database
- Which ActivityInfo features enable you to create an effective database
- A practical, step-by-step approach to creating databases in ActivityInfo
- How to structure databases, design forms and configure user roles in ActivityInfo
- Examples of databases across various use cases
More resources:
- Tutorial: Adding Likert Scale questions
- Tutorial: Designing for barcodes
- Tutorial: Creating an inventory of qualitative content in an ActivityInfo database
- Tutorial: A complete guide to data importing in ActivityInfo
- The ultimate list of tips for ensuring data quality in ActivityInfo
- Introduction to database translation
- Review records with the “Edit ‘reviewer only’ fields” permission
Analyzing your data
During this session, we look at data analysis and data visualization using the built-in tools in ActivityInfo. We discuss the key functionalities that enable you to combine your data, and we will go over the different kinds of reports (such as pivot tables, charts and maps) that you can create using ActivityInfo. We will also go over how you can consolidate multiple reports so that you can have a comprehensive overview of your data and your projects' progress or impact.
In summary, we explore:
- A framework to guide your data analysis in ActivityInfo
- Types of analysis you can do with your data in ActivityInfo
- Reports you can create in ActivityInfo: pivot tables, charts and maps
- How you can consolidate multiple reports using Notebooks and Dashboards
- How you can disseminate your analysis (sharing and publishing your reports)
- How to integrate ActivityInfo with other analytical software for further analysis (e.g. Power BI and R)
- Examples of analyses you can do across various use cases
For an in-depth Q&A session please take a look at this recording.
For advanced sessions on data analysis in ActivityInfo please take a look at this collection of recordings.
More resources:
- Creating a Notebook for 3W Activities
- Using maps to plan interventions
- Tutorial: Add a calculated measure
Integrations:
- Tutorial: Connecting Power BI to ActivityInfo
- Connecting Excel to ActivityInfo
- Connecting ActivityInfo with ArcGIS Online
- Connect QGIS to an ActivityInfo form
Introducing ActivityInfo to your team
During this session, we will cover strategies for how you can effectively roll out ActivityInfo to your team to help your organization get more value out of your data more quickly. We will discuss what challenges you might face and how to avoid them.
In summary, we will explore:
- Change management principles and how to leverage these in your roll out of ActivityInfo
- A practical, step-by-step approach for introducing ActivityInfo to your team
- Best practices to ensure successful adoption
- Common pitfalls and how to avoid them
For an in-depth Q&A session please take a look at this recording.
More resources:
- A guide for rolling out ActivityInfo in 4 steps
- Managing change during digital transformation in M&E teams
- 4 tips for effective partner capacity development when implementing an M&E system for a large-scale complex program
- Motivating partners to work together on a common information management system
- Best Practices for Developing Internal Training Materials for reporting data in ActivityInfo
Designing roles
During this session, we look at user management and role design with specific examples and best practices that you can adjust to your team structures and program, project, country, region or team needs.
In summary, we explore:
- Principles for granting permission
- Understanding how roles work in ActivityInfo
How to design effective roles:
- Permitted operations and access to resources
- Setting up conditions to define allowed record-level operations
As well as:
- Adding parameters to roles
- Managing reference data
- User management best practices
For an in-depth Q&A session please take a look at this recording.