LU1: INTRODUCTION TO PROJECT CONTROL
12 August 2024
Learning Unit Outcomes
At the end of this unit, you should be able to:
• Explain the project control process
• Discuss what should be controlled
• Manage stakeholders according to a strategy
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Project / Product
A project is a
• temporary endeavor with a start and finish date undertaken to
• create a unique product or service which brings
• beneficial change or added value
• Funded to accomplish a specific objective
• Once project goals have been accomplished – project is complete
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PROJECT CONTROL
• Project control is one of the special project management techniques within
the project integration knowledge area that enables the project manager to
monitor and control the project’s progress.
• Projects do not naturally finish on time, within budget, and to the required
quality – they must be guided to the finish line.
o It is, therefore, essential that the project manager understands the characteristics and features of
project control to be able to manage the process effectively.
• A narrow definition of “project control” is:
“The application of processes to measure project performance against the project plan, to enable
variances to be identified and corrected, so that project objectives are achieved.”
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PROJECT CONTROL PROCESS
• The project control process involves regularly gathering data on project performance,
comparing actual performance to planned performance, and taking corrective action immediately
if actual performance is behind planned performance. This process must occur regularly
throughout the project.
• A regular reporting period (time interval) should be established for comparing actual progress with
planned progress.
• Reporting may be daily, weekly, biweekly, or monthly, depending on the complexity or overall duration
of the project.
• If a project is expected to have an overall duration of a month, the reporting period might be as short as a
day. On the other hand, if a project is expected to run five years, the reporting period might be a month.
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PROJECT CONTROL PROCESS
• Figure 5.13 illustrates the steps in the project control
process.
• It starts with establishing a baseline plan that shows
how the project scope will be accomplished on
schedule and within budget.
• Once this baseline plan is agreed upon by the
customer and the contractor or project team, the
project work can be performed.
• Then it is necessary to monitor the progress to ensure
that everything is going according to the plan.
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PROJECT CONTROL PROCESS
• If the objectives cannot be met, the project manager must suggest and implement changes in the
project plans after consultation with the relevant stakeholders.
Steps in the project control process
Develop a plan.
Determine facts about the actual situation and anticipate future deviations from plan.
Compare the actual facts.
Plan how to get back on track – bring actual situation in line with plan.
If impossible to finish project as planned, revise the plan and start project control process
again.
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PROJECT CONTROL PROCESS
• Project control is the compass that allows the project to achieve its objectives. There are plans
created for:
Budgets (Cost)
Timeliness (Schedule)
Quality
Scope
Risk
The project manager must monitor each of these plans to determine if they are still on track. If a
variance (difference in the plan and the real world) is detected, the project manager must take steps
to bring the plan back on track or implement such contingencies that the objectives can still be met.
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PROJECT CONTROL PROCESS
• Most of what a project manager does during the project lifecycle has a ‘control’ element to it:
leading the project team, running meetings, managing stakeholders, etc.
• The project manager needs to employ, ‘hard’ quantitative control processes. These processes
address the project dimensions – quality, time, scope, cost, and risk.
Controlling the scope of the project – controlling changes
Ensuring that the project’s products/deliverables fulfill their requirements – controlling quality
Ensuring that the activities happen on time - scheduling
Ensuring that work is performed within budget – cost control
Managing risks
Managing problems and identifying issues (and obtaining external help to resolve them)
Making sure that the project leads to the benefits of the organization.
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PROJECT CONTROL PROCESS
• The project control process continues throughout the project.
• In general, the shorter the reporting period, the better the chances of identifying
problems early and taking effective corrective actions.
• If a project gets too far out of control, it may be difficult to accomplish the project
objective without sacrificing the scope, quality, schedule, or budget.
• Project managers must ensure they control their unique, transient, and unstable
projects in order to achieve their objectives.
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REPORTING CONSIDERATIONS
Reports of various kinds are produced for the organisation to determine how they are performing in a project.
This will indicate how much and where variances are being picked up.
What and how often to report is a question that must be answered in many ways. The main aspects to
consider are:
Who am I reporting to? The audience for the report is very important as various stakeholders may be interested in many
different aspects of the report.
A project team member might require a differently detailed report on a project whereas a CEO might only require a very
high level and quick to read status update. This will determine how much information to report.
How often should I report? This would usually coincide with the urgency of the project or how often different reporting
cycles are implemented in an organisation. A weekly report would obviously be required on a weekly basis whereas a
design change report might only be required ad hoc. A steering committee report may only be required once a month or
even once a quarter. What is important to consider is that there should not be long timeframes between reports. This could
cause small variances to develop into large variances.
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STAKEHOLDER ANALYSIS
• A stakeholder analysis may provide guidance on how to manage and report to various
stakeholders. Determine the level of influence and the level of interest of the stakeholders, which can
be managed in one of four ways as per the figure:
• Attempt to move uninterested stakeholders to interested stakeholders. Interested stakeholders are
more likely to participate or use their level of influence to benefit the project.
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REFERENCES
Burke, R. (2013). Project management: planning and control techniques: Burke publishing, Boston
Gido, J., Clements, J., & Baker, R. (2017). Successful Project Management: Cengage Learning, London
Schwalbe, K. (2018). Information Technology Project Management, Loose-leaf Version, Boca Raton
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