Follow-up is a natural component of both project management and projects which, curiously enough, the research community has not previously addressed. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of the follow-up process in project management. The follow-up process is defined as a process where execution and implementation is improved through the exertion of continuous control. The method used was a multiple-case study, building on data from four organizations actively implementing follow-up processes. The data comprised interviews with project managers from the case organizations, company documentation, annual reports, publicly available information and presentations. The sectors the case organizations operated in were IT services, manufacturing, event organization, and a governmental administrative authority. Five themes emerged from an analysis of the empirical data which were found to influence the follow-up process in projects. The five themes are Documentation, Standardization, Accountability, Learning and Risk Assessment. With insights from the five themes, the research community and project managers can gain a strong understanding of what the follow-up process looks like and its role in project management. The implications for project managers include a better appreciation of the follow-up process and knowledge of the aspects to consider when setting up a new project process. With this paper the authors hope to contribute to the improvement of project management research and practice through a heightened awareness and understanding of the follow-up process.

Employee surveys are often used to support organizational development (OD), and particularly the follow-up process after surveys, including action planning, is important. Nevertheless, this process is oftentimes neglected in practice, and research on it is limited as well. In this article, we first define the employee survey follow-up process and differentiate it from other common feedback practices. Second, we develop a comprehensive conceptual framework that integrates the relevant variables of this process. Third, we describe the methods and results of a systematic review that synthesizes the literature on the follow-up process based on the conceptual framework with the purpose of discussing remaining research gaps. Overall, this paper contributes to a better understanding of the organizational and human factors that affect this process. This is useful for practitioners, as it provides guidance for the successful implementation of this human resource practice. For example, research suggests that it is important to enable managers as change agents and to provide them with sufficient resources.

Cette recherche a eu lieu au Qatar, pays du Golfe persique, où une vaste réforme du système éducatif est entreprise. Notre premier objectif dans cette étude a été d'examiner l'évolution des programmes de formation continue des enseignants des écoles dites indépendantes tels qu'offerts par la seule université nationale, Qatar University, et précisément par le College of Education (CED). Notre intérêt pour les programmes du CED est qu'ils y ont introduit progressivement un processus de suivi sur le terrain des pratiques. Notre deuxième objectif a été d'étudier les changements qu'ont pu apporter le suivi appliqué à l'un des programmes de formation continue en 2009-10 au niveau des pratiques d'enseignement et de la motivation et participation des élèves en classe. La collecte d'information s'est basée sur des documents, des questionnaires d'évaluation d'ateliers et de sessions de suivi, des observations de classes et des entretiens. Les résultats ont montré que le processus de suivi organisé au sein du programme de formation continue a amélioré les performances des enseignants et la participation des élèves en classe, montrant aussi la nécessité d'avoir une gestion pédagogique au niveau du leadership et des enseignants d'une part, et la nécessité de renforcer la coopération entre écoles et universités d'autre part. Par contre, l'effet escompté sur l'orientation professionnelle des élèves n'a pu être confirmé. Les résultats ont permis de faire quelques recommandations pour d'autres recherches, entre autres une étude qui examinerait l'effet­ établissement pour le développement d'une culture d'organisation apprenante et une autre étude sur un partenariat écoles-universités. / This research was done in the State of Qatar, located in the Gulf Region where a substantial reform begun few years ago. The first objective of this study was to explore the evolution of teachers' professional development programs (PD) offered by the sole national university in the country, Qatar University, and mainly by the College of Education (CED), to the so called Independent Schools. Our interest was specifically related to the progressive introduction of a follow-up process in CED professional development programs. The second objective was to study changes that the follow-up process could have carried out regarding independent school teachers’ practices and students' motivation and participation in class. Data were collected through documents, interviews, questionnaires and class observations. The results show that the follow-up process as planned within the PD program improved teachers’ performances to a good extent as well as students participation in class; results also show the need to reinforce instructional leadership and teachers’ effect on learning on one side, and the need to strengthen the cooperation between the schools and the university on the other side. However, the effect on students' future orientations could not be confirmed. The findings of this study helped to draw conclusions and provide a base for recommendations for further research such as the impact of instructional leadership on the development of a learning organization culture, and partnership between schools and universities.