Copyright 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Inc Monitoring and Controlling the Project Project Management in Practice Second Edition Mantel, Meredith, Shafer, and Sutton Prepared by Scott M. Shafer Wake Forest University John Wiley and Sons, Inc.

Copyright 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 7-2 Introduction 4 Monitoring and Control are opposite sides of selection and planning –bases for selection dictate what to monitor –plans identify elements to control 4 Monitoring is collection, recording, and reporting of information 4 Control uses monitored information to align actual performance with the plan

Copyright 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 7-3 Plan-Monitor-Control Cycle 4 Closed loop process 4 Planning-monitoring-controlling effort often minimized to spend time on “the real work”

Copyright 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 7-4 Figure 7-1 Project Authorization and Expenditure Control System Information Flow

Copyright 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 7-5 Designing the Monitoring System 4 Identify special characteristics of performance, cost, and time that need to be controlled –performance characteristics should be set for each level of detail in the project 4 Real-time data should be collected and compared against plans –mechanisms to collect this data must be designed 4 Avoid tendency to focus on easily collected data

Copyright 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 7-6 Formats of Data 4 Frequency Counts 4 Raw Numbers 4 Subjective Numeric Ratings 4 Indicators and Surrogates 4 Verbal Characterizations DATA COLLECTION AND REPORTING

Copyright 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 7-7 Data Analysis 4 Aggregation Techniques 4 Fitting Statistical Distributions 4 Curve Fitting 4 Quality Management Techniques

Copyright 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 7-8 Figure 7-2 Number of Bugs per Unit of Test Time

Copyright 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 7-9 Figure 7-3 Percent of Specified Performance Met During Successive Repeated Trials

Copyright 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Inc Figure 7-4 Ratio of Actual Material Cost to Estimated Material Cost

Copyright 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Inc Reporting 4 Reports –Project Status Reports –Time/Cost Reports –Variance Reports 4 Not all stakeholders need to receive same information 4 Avoid periodic reports 4 Impact of Electronic Media 4 Relationship between project’s information system and overall organization’s information system

Copyright 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Inc Report Types 4 Routine 4 Exception 4 Special Analysis

Copyright 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Inc Meeting Guidelines 4 Meetings should be help primarily for group decision making –avoid weekly progress report meetings 4 Distribute written agenda in advance of meeting 4 Ensure everyone is properly prepared for meeting 4 Chair of meeting should take minutes –avoid attributing remarks to individuals in the minutes 4 Avoid excessive formality 4 If meeting is held to address specific crisis, restrict meeting to this issue alone

Copyright 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Inc Virtual Reports, Meetings, and Project Management 4 Use of the Internet 4 Use of Software Programs 4 Virtual Project Teams

Copyright 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Inc Percent of task’s budget actually spent not good indicator of percent completion EARNED VALUE

Copyright 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Inc Conventions Used to Estimate Progress on Tasks –50% complete when task started and other 50% added when task finished 4 100% –100% complete when finished and zero percent before that 4 Ratio of Cost Expended to Cost Budgeted

Copyright 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Inc Variances 4 Cost/Spending Variance EV - AC 4 Schedule Variance EV - PV 4 CPI EV/AC 4 SPI EV/PV

Copyright 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Inc Additional Items of Interest 4 Estimated (Remaining Cost) to Completion ETC = (BAC - EV)/CPI 4 (Total Cost) Estimated at Completion EAC = ETC + AC

Copyright 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Inc Background 4 Acts which seek to reduce differences between plan and actuality 4 Difficult Task –human behavior involved –problems rarely clear cut PROJECT CONTROL

Copyright 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Inc Purposes of Control 4 Stewardship of Organizational Assets –physical asset control –human resources –financial control 4 Regulation of Results Through the Alteration of Activities

Copyright 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Inc Background 4 Purpose is to correct errors, not punish the guilty 4 Investments in control subject to diminishing returns 4 Must consider impact on creativity and innovation 4 Be careful not emphasize short-run results at the expense of long-run objectives 4 Dangers of across the board cuts DESIGNING THE CONTROL SYSTEM

Copyright 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Inc Primary Mechanisms by Which PM Exerts Control 4 Process Reviews 4 Personnel Assignments 4 Resource Allocations

Copyright 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Inc Components of a Control System 4 Sensor 4 Standard 4 Comparator 4 Decision Maker 4 Effector

Copyright 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Inc Types of Control Systems 4 Go/No-Go Controls –predetermined standard must be met for permission to be granted to continue 4 Post-Control –done after project completed –purpose is to allow future projects to learn from past project experience

Copyright 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Inc Figure 7-7 Sample Project Milestone Status Report

Copyright 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Inc Tools for Control 4 Variance Analysis 4 Trend Projections 4 Earned Value Analysis 4 Critical Ratio

Copyright 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Inc Figure 7-8 Trend Projection

Copyright 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Inc Figure 7-9 Critical Ratios with Control Limits

Copyright 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Inc Figure 7-10 Cost Control Chart

Copyright 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Inc Scope Creep 4 Coping with changes frequently cited by PMs as the single most important problem 4 Common Reasons for Change Requests –Client –Availability of new technologies and materials SCOPE CREEP AND CHANGE CONTROL

Copyright 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Inc Purpose of Change Control System 4 Review all requested changes 4 Identify impact of change 4 Evaluate advantages and disadvantages of requested change 4 Install process so that individual with authority may accept or reject changes 4 Communicate change to concerned parties 4 Ensure changes implemented properly 4 Prepare reports that summarize changes made to date and their impact

Copyright 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Inc Rules for Controlling Scope Creep 4 Include in contract change control system 4 Require all changes be introduced by a change order 4 Require approval in writing by the client’s agent and senior management 4 Consult with PM prior to preparation of change order 4 Amend master plan to reflect changes