Critical Friends: An Effective Guide - wiki Critical Friends: An Effective Practice Guide / Specific guidelines for sponsors
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Specific guidelines for sponsors

Commercial considerations

Contracts

  • Much like consultants, evaluators, professional mentors and others, critical friends tend to appreciate the security and clarity of a formal contract and financial arrangements.
  • When appointing critical friends there are some aspects that it may be particularly desirable to cover in a contract:
    • The nature of the role and in particular they way in which the critical friend is required to report on activities. Bearing in mind the confidential nature of the role, this may need some careful consideration.
    • If critical friends are expected to participate in anything other than direct support to the project (programme evaluation, general meetings, exercises in writing up), this should be clear in advance. This will affect their availability to project teams. Ensure that critical friends can give an accurate description of the boundaries of confidentiality to their projects.
    • The position of the critical friend in relation to other support available to the project(s) and their relationship to steering committees or, depending on the type of project, institutional management or governance structures.
    • The number of days that the critical friend is appointed for and whether a particular pattern is intended for the allocated days. It may be worthwhile, contractually or otherwise, to clarify expectations on the accessibility of the project team to the critical friend.
    • Fees will depend on a critical friend’s experience, seniority, availability and the complexities involved in the role. Some critical friends will have established fees they will inform you of, whilst others are happy to negotiate.

Finances

  • It is important to agree how financial claims can be made and how much detail critical friends are required to give to evidence the hours or days they have worked. It is also helpful if there is clarity in advance on how allowances for travel and preparation are covered within fees and when claims for fees can be made (interim or after completion of the work).
  • Finance departments within institutions and organisations are likely to have guidance on how to contract consultants and similar, the type of information needed to establish the critical friend as a service provider (or otherwise) and the constraints financial years may pose in relation to when claims need to be made.
  • When calculating the overall costs of appointing a critical friend, travel expenses should also be included, and depending on the employment status of the critical friend, VAT may be applicable on fees. This too is something that finance departments can advise on.

 

Managing the relationship with critical friends

  • There should be clarity in formal/informal reporting, confidentiality rules and protocols, information sharing, visit scheduling and time commitments.
  • Collaboration between critical friends is very beneficial to both the critical friends themselves and the general development of the programme.
  • Growing number of critical friends ought to form a pool or recognised group with expertise that can be drawn upon by a number of programmes and funding bodies to provide economies of scale and better value for money.
  • The role of the critical friend is evolving - with shared experiences.

 

Evaluating the critical friend role

  • As part of a "continuous improvement" philosophy, project and programme sponsors should conduct regular evaluations of the critical friend role, consulting all relevant stakeholders e.g. project teams, programme personnel, institutional beneficiaries, critical friends. As with all evaluations, they are only effective if they are fed back to stakeholders and acted upon e.g liaising with the critical friends' network and updating the critical friends guidelines.