Anticlue

Monitoring and Controlling Project Work

Considering that the Project Management Plan is the baseline for the project. This is guide for monitoring and controlling the project. As a project manager, one will need access to work performance information, performance reports, and change request. This information will need to be at your fingertips as inputs to yield project performance indicators. After analyzing and reviewing the information, it is time to decide whether corrective or preventative actions are needed.

The four inputs to monitoring and controlling project work are:

1. Project Management Plan – The project management plan is the main source of information about how the project will be executed, monitored, and controlled. It is the plan, with all additional subsidiary plans as needed.
2. Work performance information – Work performance information is the information about project activities. This includes status information about progress, deliverables, expenses, and quality assurance validations.
3. Rejected change requests – Reject change request can be enlightening when reviewed in the context of determining how the progress of the project is fairing.

Remember the quality of the measurement is only as good as the data gathered to ascertain the measurement. While it may take time, being vigilant and reviewing this information will save one headaches in the long run.

So how do you sort through the granular details and formulate it into information? Well the good news is this isn’t a single problem, it affects all project managers, and there are standardized tools and techniques for monitoring and controlling project work.

These tools and techniques are:

• Expert judgment - On the basis of current project information and experience with similar projects, project managers and team members can use expert judgment to make decisions, such as whether to take corrective or preventive actions.
• Earned value technique (EVT) – Earned Value Technique (EVT) provides project managers with a means of calculating current project schedule and cost performance. Project managers can then use this information to forecast future schedule and cost performance.
• Project management methodology – The organizational project management methodology provides project managers with detailed guidance and procedures to enable effective monitoring and control through each stage of a project.
• Project management information system (PMIS) - A PMIS allows for monitoring and controlling parameters such as cost and resource usage. A PMIS can also enable project managers to calculate and manage earned value information, as well as request and update project information automatically.

Using the correct tools and techniques will help keep you in the loop of what’s going on with your project.
Obviously as one monitors and controls there will be some action items that occur. These action items cycle back into the project execution. So what are some outputs or action items that occur during the Monitor and Control Project Work process?

The outputs of monitoring and controlling project work are:

• Recommended corrective actions - These are based on project work performance information. By comparing this information to the project plan, the project manager or team uses expert judgment to put forward ideas to remedy problems that have arisen.
• Recommended preventive actions - These are based on project work performance information. By comparing this information to the project plan, the project manager or team uses expert judgment to suggest ways of avoiding project risks.
• Forecasts - Based on work performance information received during the Monitor and Control Project Work process, forecasts allow the prediction of successful or unsuccessful project outcomes.
• Recommended defect repairs - These are an output of monitoring and controlling project work. This output recommends the remedial work necessary when a product does not meet quality requirements.
• Requested changes - These are revised actions that are necessary for meeting project objectives. The requests are often made by the project manager or members of the project team as a way of improving methods or overcoming problems.

Just keep in mind that every organization is different, and your experiences of monitoring and controlling project work will depend on your company's project management methodology and the type of project.