Unit 5: Project Control

Essential Reading

Field, M. and Keller, L. (2007) Project Management. London: Open University Press (pp.267-285; 313-315)
Study Guide: (pp. 115-157)

Additional Reading:

Maylor, H (2010) Project management 4th Ed. Edinburgh: Pearson Education Ltd. (pp.242-259)

Pinto, J.K. (2012) Project Management A Competitive Advantage. 2nd Ed. London: Pearson Education Limited
(pp. 399-420)

Schwalbe K. (2009) An Introduction to Project Management 2nd Ed. Boston: Cengage Learning (pp.225-233)
Unit Learning Outcome

Upon successful completion of this module, you will be able to:

Analyse and understand the factors that make up sound project control principles.

Describe the factors of comparing actual performance against plan and other project
performance criteria.

Examine the various techniques and methods for reporting on project progress.
r Unit learning outcomes

r Project Control

Control and Reporting

Principles of Monitoring and Control

Scope and Quality Control

Quality is Free

Variances

Managing: The Start of the Project

Controlling Project Objectives

Resource Control

Methods to Control Resource and Project Objectives

Reporting on Project Objectives

Controlling the Changes in the Project Project Evaluations

Closing the Project

Summary

References
Control is the system, or process, of comparing actual performance to the plan to determine how the project is
progressing.

“Monitoring and control are the project manager’s predominant activities during the main execution phase. Field and Keller (1998)

Expect the following to happen during a project (Field and Keller, 1998):
There will problems meeting quality specifications.
Some items will be overlooked in the estimate.
Activities will take longer than expected.
Key staff will leave the project.
Suppliers will be late delivering equipment.
Equipment will cost more than estimated.
New legislation may prohibit a planned course of action.
i Always have a formal process to control changes in the project.

i Revise project plans as needed to keep them realistic and accurate, but only those authorised to
update the plans.

i Elevate problems to the lowest level of management that can make the decision and take action.

iEnsure that progress, cost expenditure and scope performance are calculated and reported using
methods consistent with the way the plan was set up.
 Monitoring and Control
Knowledge Area Outputs
All Requested changes, Recommended corrective
actions, Updates to plans and processes
Project Integration Management Forecasts, approved change requests, corrective actions,
preventative actions, defect repair, change requests
validated defect repair
Project scope management Charter, PID, Accepted deliverables

Project time management Performance measurements, forecasted completion times

Project cost management Performance measurements, Forecasted completion costs

Project quality management Quality control measurements

Project human resource management SMART objectives, Performance Management

Project communications management Performance register, resolved issues
Project risk management Risk register updates

Project procurement management Contract documentation

i Scope management is defined as:

“The processes required to ensure that the project includes all the work required, and
only the work required, to complete the project successfully. It is primarily concerned
with defining and controlling what is or is not included in the project.” Burke (2003)

i Scope management is all about defining what the project will achieve.

iScope management is interested in both the quality of the project work and the
quality of the product or service that is being created by the project.

i To control the scope and quality you must compare actual performance to the scope
statement to determine variances.

i Scope and quality are more difficult to measure than time or cost.
 When controlling scope and quality:

Ask if the specification, as per the scope statement, being met? Compare performance with

the scope statement.

Analyse variance to compare against to determine impact against scope and quality.

Publish reports that detail where the project is meeting or not meeting specification.

Take corrective action to act on scope deviations quickly.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YffeAKmF66U
 Quality management is the processes to ensure the project will satisfy the needs for which
it is undertaken by addressing the management of the project and the product of the
project.

One important document is the Project Quality Plan.

a detailed document that explains how the company will assure that the product will be made
to the client’s requirements.

Tools used includes: cause and effect diagrams, control charts, run charts, Histograms

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CItADAJO3w&feature=related
 It costs less to get the job done right first time.

The cost of the re-work may be two or three times the cost of the original job.

Prevention costs are those costs that are associated with actions taken to make sure the product
will be made to the required standard.

The Project Quality Management Plan documents the necessary information required to effectively manage
project quality from project planning to delivery. It defines a project’s quality policies, procedures, criteria
for and areas of application, and roles, responsibilities and authorities.

The Project Quality Management Plan is created during the Planning Phase of the project.
Intended audience is the project manager, project team, project sponsor and any senior leaders whose
support is needed to carry out the plan.
i Not all variances will have a negative impact on the project.

i Not all variances will need corrective action.

i Job of the project manager to determine whether the variance has:

A significant impact on the project.

Whether the impact is a problem.

The cause of the variance, including reasons and the people involved.

If the variance will cause other variances elsewhere in the project.

i As the project manager develops and analyses solutions to the variances, and/or problems, he will decide
on a course of action.
' Executing the Project

start the project off by holding a formal kick-off meeting with all the key players involved in
the project.

' Activities of the project manager during the project’s execution (Field & Keller, 1998)

Initiating.

Planning, organizing and staffing.

Monitoring and controlling.

Directing.

Communicating.
 Time

the process of comparing actual schedule performance to the baseline schedule to determine
variances, evaluate possible alternatives and take appropriate action.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SsNAx0zu3mY

Cost Control

cost control is the process of comparing actual expenditures to the baseline cost plans to determine
variances
 The process of comparing actual performance to the source plans to highlight variances and
determine appropriate action.

Some methods used to control resources include:

Team members should prepare individual plans for accomplishing their work.

Empower team members to accomplish their tasks by giving them appropriate authority and
information.

Ensure all team members understand the basic project objectives and understand their tasks.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IkYUDQCYGHA
' Inspection
include examining, testing and measuring whether activities are progressing to
schedule.

' Statistical Sampling

not practical to inspect every activity in the project so sometimes principles of
statistician sampling are applied to measure progress.

' Control Charts

show results along with established control limits.
help to check if the project, or an activity, is in control or in need of adjustment.
 Reports should be designed to communicate exactly what it needs to communicated.

Projects are sanctioned to meet objectives in scope, time and cost.

When preparing reports you should consider the following:

Maintain concise, quality, accurate plans.

Choose the best format for a report.

Use exception reporting.

Use software to break information down and report on variances.

Keep everyone informed.

Make reports easy to read.

 Reporting per cent Complete

reporting per cent complete is sometimes more useful than just reporting on how many units or
hours have been completed.

Sample Reports

designed to show senior management key information

i Throughout a project, events may happen that necessitate minor or major changes to the plan.

i Most changes happen because of errors at the planning stage.

i Changes may also be brought on by external events.

i Change control is needed to manage the potential effects on the project. i Change control is

often called configuration management.

 Take the following actions to keep changes to projects under control :

Introduce a process for submitting, evaluating and approving changes to the project plan.

Review change requests with the project team.

Look at other areas and courses of action and determine their effect on the project.

Approve or reject changes and communicate changes to all concerned. Document and track

changes, reporting their effect in the project.

Most project managers hold project reviews to ensure team members are motivated, and
customers and clients are happy.

Project reviews also help motivate the team.

Project reviews also provide feedback to help everyone stay focused on the project objectives.
 Four general methods:

On-going reviews: on-going reviews should ensure that the project standards, as included in
the scope statement, are being met.

Periodic Inspections: these are weekly or monthly inspections to ensure that project
objectives are being met.

Milestone Evaluations: milestones are the completion of major phases in the project.

Final Project Audit: this happens at the end of the project to confirm that every thing was
completed as agreed by the customer, and/or client.
i Good project management techniques include procedures for formally closing the
project.

i The reason for project closure is to confirm that all the work has been completed as
agreed and the customer accepts the final product.

i There may also be a deliverable called project handover.

i The purpose of project closure is to ensure:

All the payments have been made and finance reconciled.

Project documentation completed.

Final project reports completed.

Project closure is also a time to recognize individual efforts and celebrate project success.

The project manager should also ensure that team members have smooth transition to other
projects.
- Have all activities in the project plan been completed?
- Have all work orders been completed?
- Have all the contracts been closed out?
- Has the client accepted the final product?
- Have all the maintenance procedures been put in place? Have all final project reports been
prepared?
- Have all payments been made to vendors and contractors? Have the project accounts been
reconciled and closed? Are all parties aware of the pending closeout?
- Has excess project material been dealt with?
- Have all project equipment and other resources been returned to stores or reallocated?
i The techniques of project monitoring and control.

i The steps of controlling the project schedule, cost and scope.

i The importance of gathering information and how information is reported

i Control is the process of comparing actual performance to the plan to determine

variances and take appropriate action.

i Scope management covers the processes required to ensure that the project
includes all the work required, and only the work required, to
complete the project.
 Field, M., Keller, L. (2007) Project Management. Open University

Schwalbe, K (2009) An Introduction to Project Management. Cengage Learning

Burke, R. (2003) Project Management, Planning and Control Techniques. John Wiley and
Sons.