Results-based management (RBM) is a management strategy that steers an organisation's work towards defined results and uses evidence on actual results to make decisions on design, resources and reporting. The UN Development Group set out this definition in its 2011 RBM Handbook, and the OECD's glossary of RBM terms reached its second edition in June 2023.
This guide is for planning, monitoring and evaluation staff, programme managers and board secretaries in government bodies, NGOs, development programmes and companies that report on outcomes.
What does results-based management mean in practice?
RBM changes the question a manager asks. Instead of "what did we do?", the question becomes "what changed, and how do we know?". Activities and spending still matter, but they are judged by the results they produce.
The UNDG RBM Handbook sets out three principles behind the approach: accountability, national ownership and inclusiveness. Outside development work these become clear ownership of each result, results that the people affected recognise as theirs, and stakeholders involved in setting and reviewing them.
The same handbook separates RBM from managing for development results (MfDR). MfDR keeps the focus on change in the countries or communities served, while RBM has traditionally also covered an agency's internal performance. Most organisations now use the term RBM for both.
What is the results chain?
The results chain is the causal logic at the centre of RBM. Inputs pay for activities, activities produce outputs, outputs contribute to outcomes, and outcomes contribute to impact. The UNDG handbook ties the chain to a theory of change, so the assumptions linking one level to the next are written down rather than taken for granted.
The levels carry different accountability. In the handbook's terms, outputs are new skills, products or services that come from activities within the organisation's control, such as trained staff or a new procedure. Outcomes are changes in institutional and behavioural capacity that follow the outputs. Impact is the long-term change in people's lives.
A common failure is writing activities as results. "Hold 12 workshops" is an activity. "District health teams apply the new referral protocol" is an outcome, and it can be measured. The handbook's test is simple: if you cannot show at least a contribution between two links, they do not belong in the same results framework.
Which frameworks and references define RBM?
There is no certifiable RBM standard. The approach is defined by a small set of reference documents, mostly from the UN system and the OECD. The table lists the ones most organisations and funders refer to.
| Reference | Owner and date | What it gives you |
|---|---|---|
| Results-Based Management Handbook | UN Development Group, 2011 | The definition used above, three principles, the results chain and a results matrix with six columns |
| Glossary of Key Terms in Evaluation and Results-Based Management for Sustainable Development, second edition | OECD, 27 June 2023 | Agreed definitions of results, outcomes, indicators, baselines and other terms |
| Evaluation criteria | OECD Development Assistance Committee, revised 2019 | Six criteria for judging an intervention: relevance, coherence, effectiveness, efficiency, impact and sustainability |
| Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness | OECD, 2 March 2005 | Managing for results as a shared commitment, with results-oriented reporting frameworks that track a manageable number of indicators |
| ISO 37000:2021, Governance of organizations | ISO, confirmed in August 2026 | Governance guidance whose topics include oversight, accountability, and data and decisions |
Individual funders publish their own templates and terms on top of these. Use the funder's version where a grant requires it, and keep a glossary that maps its terms to yours.
What does a results matrix contain?
The results matrix, or logical framework, is the main planning tool. In the UNDG handbook it has six columns: outcomes and outputs, indicators with baselines and targets, means of verification, risks and assumptions, the role of partners, and indicative resources.
Each indicator needs a reference sheet before data collection starts. It should state the definition, the unit, the data source, who collects it, how often, and the baseline value with its date. Without a baseline, a target means nothing and progress cannot be reported honestly.
Monitoring then compares actual values with targets at set intervals, and the variance goes to the people who can act on it. Evaluation asks the deeper questions, and the six OECD DAC criteria give it a common structure. Our guide to building an RBM monitoring and evaluation system covers that stage in detail.
How does RBM apply to governance and boards?
RBM governance means the governing body directs and oversees by results rather than by activity reports. In practice the board approves the strategic results framework, agrees the few outcome indicators it will track, and receives reports that show variance against targets with management's explanation.
The UNDG handbook makes accountability layered: each party is accountable for the results it can be shown to have contributed to, and each agency answers to its own governing body. A board can apply the same idea by matching each outcome to a named executive and each output to a unit.
ISO 37000:2021 gives the governance side a reference. Its topics include oversight, accountability, and data and decisions, which map directly onto results reporting. Board minutes that record a decision changed because of results data are the clearest evidence that RBM has reached the top. Results-based leadership, the behaviour side of the same idea, has its own guide to results-based leadership.
What records show that RBM is working?
A funder, auditor or evaluator looks for evidence that results information changes decisions. The list below is AGS's practical reading of what reviewers usually ask for, not a requirement from any one framework.
- An approved results framework or logframe for each programme, with version control.
- Indicator reference sheets with dated baselines and targets.
- Monitoring reports that show variance and the action taken.
- A risk and assumptions register that is reviewed, not just written once.
- Evaluation terms of reference and a management response to the findings.
- Management review or board minutes recording decisions based on results.
How AGS can help
Two AGS kits cover results-based management. Both are editable Word files.
- Results-Based Management System (RBM): 39 documents, including 12 procedures, a logframe, an indicator reference sheet and 7 checklists.
- RBM Governance Management System: 67 documents, adding strategic planning and results alignment, data quality, evaluation management and results reporting procedures, guidance notes and a training pack.
Frequently asked questions
Can an organisation be certified to RBM?
No. RBM is an approach, not a certifiable standard. Funders and evaluators assess how well it is applied, and some organisations build it into a management system they audit internally.
What is the difference between RBM and a logframe?
The logframe is one tool within RBM. RBM is the wider cycle of planning, monitoring, evaluating, reporting and learning that uses the logframe.
Is RBM only for development projects?
No. The OECD notes that its RBM glossary, first developed for international development co-operation, can be applied in any field of public policy. The same logic works for company strategy and social investment.
Does buying documentation mean we will meet a funder's requirements?
No. Documents are a starting point. Whether you meet a funder's requirements depends on how you apply them and on that funder's own rules.
AGS provides independent documentation toolkits. This guide and the referenced kits are not affiliated with, endorsed by or approved by the United Nations, the OECD, ISO or any funder.
Reviewed October 2026. Facts checked against the sources current at publication.
