GBEPM 610: MANAGEMENT OF PROJECTS

LECT 10: PROJECT CONTROL: MONITORING

AND EVALUATION

Prepared and presented by

Dr Alice Lungu, PhD

Copperbelt University, Kitwe
 CONTENTS
 Introduction
 Project Control
 Purpose of control
 The project control process
 Change in projects
 Project monitoring and evaluation
 References
 INTRODUCTION
 To control means “seeing that everything occurs
in conformity with established rule and expressed
command” (Henry Fayol)
 Control is a fact-finding and remedial action
process to facilitate meeting the project purposes
(Cleland & Ireland, 2002).
 PROJECT CONTROL
 Project Control
 The process of comparing actual performance against plan to
identify deviations, evaluate courses of action, and take
appropriate corrective action (Larson & Gray, 2020).
 Control is the process of monitoring, evaluating, and
comparing planned results with actual results to determine the
progress toward the project cost, schedule, and technical
performance objectives, as well as the project’s “strategic fit”
with enterprise purposes (Cleland & Ireland, 2002, pp. 378-
379).
 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.
 Purpose of Project Control
 Project control is not concerned with determining what has
happened (although this is important information), but
rather to predict what may happen in the future if present
conditions continue and if there are no changes in the
management of the project.
 This enables the project manager to manage the project in
compliance with the plan.
 The basis of effective project monitoring, evaluation, and
control is an explicit statement of the project objectives, goals,
and strategies which provide performance standards against
which project progress can be evaluated
 (See Cleland & Ireland, 2002).
 Purpose of Project Control (Contd.)
 The basis of effective project monitoring, evaluation,
and control is an explicit statement of the project
objectives, goals, and strategies which provide
performance standards against which project
progress can be evaluated (Cleland & Ireland, 2002).
 The two primary purposes of control:
 the stewardship of organizational assets (physical,
human, and financial); and
 the regulation of results through the alteration of
activities.
 (See Mantel, et al. 2011, p. 255)
 Project Control Process
 Project Control involves four main steps namely:
 Setting a baseline plan.
 Measuring progress and performance.
 Comparing plan against actual.
 Taking actions
 Project Control Process (Contd.)
Performance Standards/ Baseline
 Project performance standards are based on the project
plan, including at minimum the expectations for the
project, established in the project objectives, goals, and
strategies, relative to project cost, schedule, technical
specifications, and strategic fit.
 Some key standards in project control include the
following:
 Scope of work; Project specification; Work breakdown structure;
Cost estimates and budgets; Master schedules; Project owner
satisfaction (strategic fit); etc.
 (Cleland & Ireland, 2002, p. 379).
 Project Control Process (Contd.)
Performance Observation
 Performance observation is the receipt of sufficient
information about the project to make an intelligent
comparison of planned and actual performance.
 Formal and informal sources.
 Formal sources include reports, briefings, participation in review
meetings, letters, memoranda, and audit reports.
 Informal sources include casual conversations, observations, and
listening to the inevitable rumors and gossip that exist within the
project team and in other parts of the organization.
 Project Control Process (Contd.)
Comparing Planned and Actual Performance
 Comparing planned and actual performance based on the desired
project standards gives the opportunity to get answers to three key
questions about the project:
 How is the project going?
 If there are deviations from the project plan, what caused these
deviations?
 What should be done about these deviations?
 Assessment of the project’s status is an ongoing responsibility of the
project team and the senior managers.
 Information obtained by performance observation is compared with
the performance standards laid down in the project plan and when
analyzed, forms the basis for reaching a judgment about the project’s
status and whether corrective action is required.
 Project Control Process (Contd.)
Corrective Action
 Corrective action can take the form of replanning, reprogramming, or
reallocating resources, or changing the way the project is managed
and organized.
 The corrective actions that are available to the project manager
center on the cost, schedule, and technical performance parameters
of the project.
 The project owner may have finalized one or more of these
parameters.
 Correcting a problem with one of the parameters of the project may
have reverberations on one or both of the other parameters.
 Such potential reverberations should be considered by the project
team when the alternatives for corrective action are being studied.
 CHANGE IN PROJECTS
 “Change”
 any deviation in the project plan
 happens defacto or by discretion
 tends to increase project cost and schedule
 Changes are inevitable during the course of the
development lifecycle, and there are various
reasons why changes occur.
 Some of these reasons are technical, some are
procedural, some are financial, and still some are
political or people-related.
 Change Control in Projects
 Role of the PM is to control changes, not let changes
control the project!
 Uncontrolled changes lead to “scope creep”
 The effects of the change on the project must be assessed
 Effects of defacto changes must be reflected in revised work plans,
schedules, and budgets
 Estimated effects of discretionary (requested) changes must be
assessed before the changes are approved or denied.
 Reasons for Change in Projects
 Incomplete Requirements
 Unknowns or omissions in the original plan or requirements
 User change of mind
 Because of changing conditions or needs, the original requirements are no
longer what user wants
 Pursuit of perfection
 User or designer perceives “desirable” improvements in the original plan or
requirements
 Insurmountable Obstacles
 Unavoidable difficulties render original plan difficult or impossible to follow.
 Original requirements difficult or impossible to achieve
 Opportunities
 User or designer sees benefits not recognized or unavailable when plans
or requirements were first established
 Change Control Process
 Project plan should include polices and procedures
for change control and configuration management
 These policies and procedures are communicated
to customers, contractors, suppliers, and
everyone in the core project team
 Functions of Change Control
 Continuously identify changes as they occur
 Reveal consequences of changes (impacts on the other
tasks, project costs, and duration)
 Analyze alternative courses of action and make
acceptance or rejection decisions
 Minimize changes
 Communicate changes to all concerned
 Ensure changes are implemented
 Report summaries of all changes and their impact on the
project
 Change Control Procedures
 Require that the original work requirements and work
orders are clearly stated and agreed upon by persons
responsible
 Closely monitor work to ensure it is meeting (not
exceeding) specifications.
 Be alert for signs of cost or schedule overruns; take quick
action to correct problems
 Require all engineering and work changes to be
 documented for their effect on work orders , budgets, schedules,
and contractual prices
 reviewed, and
 authorized by sign- off
 Change Control Procedures
(Control)
 Require similar control procedures of all subcontractors,
purchase orders, test requests, etc.
 Change control board
 Freeze date: At a predefined phase, freeze project against
all nonessential changes (freeze point must be agreed to
by management)
 The sooner the project can be frozen, the less that
changes will adversely affect project schedule and cost
 PROJECT MONITORING AND
EVALUATION
 Monitoring means to keep track of and to check systematically all
project activities.
 This enables the evaluation, an examination and appraisal of how things
are going on the project.
 Hence, monitoring and evaluation are integral to control.
 Thus, monitoring requires that sufficient intelligence is gained on the
status of the project so that an accurate and timely evaluation of the
project can be conducted.
 Several issues have to be addressed by the project team:
 What should be monitored and evaluated.
 What monitoring tools should be used.
 When the project should be monitored and evaluated.
 Who should monitor and evaluate.
 Where the monitoring and evaluation should be carried out.
 Role of Project Manager in
Monitoring and Control
 Guide project to meet performance
requirements, scheduled due dates, and
budgeted expenses.
 Monitor project performance vs. plan
 Take corrective action
 Make project conform with plan
 Make plan conform to new
realities/expectations
 Project Monitoring System for
Control
 Information System Structure
 What data are collected?
 Current status of project (schedule and cost)
 Remaining cost to complete project
 Date that project will be complete
 Potential problems to be addressed now
 Out-of-control activities requiring intervention
 Cost and/or schedule overruns and the reasons for
them
 Forecast of overruns at time of project completion
 Project Monitoring System…
(cont’d)
 Information System Structure (cont’d)
 Collecting data and analysis
 Who will collect project data?
 How will data be collected?
 When will the data be collected?
 Who will compile and analyze the data?
 Reports and reporting
 Who will receive the reports?
 How will the reports be transmitted?
 When will the reports be distributed?
 Project Monitoring Methods
 Status review meetings.
 Communicate and assess project status
 Identify and quickly correct deviations from project
plan
 Observation and Site visits often—unannounced
and uninvited.
 Technology—video- and audio-conferencing,
websites, email, and cell phone.
 Formal reports and documents.
 Status Review Meetings
 Informal Reviews— “Peer Reviews”
 Held frequently and regularly
 Involve members of the project team
 Focus on project status, special problems, emerging issues, and
project performance
 Participation depends on project phase and issues at hand
 lssue Log
 Each meeting starts with a status review of items on the issue log.
 For each issue, define
 problem
 required course of action
 target date
 person responsible
 Status Review Meetings (Contd.)
 Daily Standup Meetings
 Held at the start of each day
 Short (15 minutes) and to-the-point
 An update on status
 team members give a quick run-though of
yesterday’s progress and today’s next steps
 Status Review Meetings (Contd.)
 Formal Reviews
 Scheduled at milestones or critical project stages; e.g.,
 Preliminary review
 Assess how well the functional design specifications fit the
basic operational requirements
 Critical review
 Check design for conformance to the preliminary design
specifications
 In phased project planning approach, decision to continue
project based upon results of the review
 Project audit
 Review initiated by customer to assess project progress
 Status Review Meetings (Contd.)
 Communication Plan
 Addresses all project communication—formal, informal,
verbal and written
 Includes tentative schedule for formal design and
management review meetings, milestone meetings, etc.
 describes meeting formats, itineraries, preparations, attendance,
and leader.
 Gives points of contact: customer, contractor, vendors,
subcontractors, supporters, others.
 Kind of communication needed for each (next slide)
Status Review Meetings (Contd.)
 MONITORING AND CONTROL
PROCESS
 Starts with the Project Plan
Prepare Plan A. Authorize Work

B. Monitor Work
(Track and Report)
Repeat
throughout
C. Analyze Performance project

D. Take Action
 Data for Monitoring
 Use a variety of measures, qualitative and quantitative
 Invoices
 Time cards
 Managers and supervisors assess progress by observation, asking questions,
and reviewing reports
 Achievement of milestones.
 Test and demonstration results.
 Design reviews—meetings with managers and technical personnel to review
progress
 Opinions of outside experts.
 Do not only measure the cost and time expended, which are measures of
input, but also measure the output from each task and work package
 Output measures address the deliverables or results defined for each work
package.
 Monitoring Performance
 Project plan specifies methods/procedures for tracking and
assessment
 Defines specific measures and metrics to be used for terms
like “ review”, “verify”, or “assess”
 Monitoring includes status meetings and reviews and
specified in the communication plan
 Internal
 Exercised by contractor
 External
 Exercised by customer
 Audit of books and records; Work inspection; Periodic reports of costs, schedule,
and performance; Incentive contracts; Customer’s own project manager
 Project Control Emphasis
 Scope Change Control
 identify where changes have occurred
 ensure the changes are necessary or beneficial
 contain or delimit the changes wherever possible
 the implementation of changes.
 Quality Control
 manage work to achieve requirements and specifications
 take preventive measures to eliminate errors and mistakes
 identify and eliminate sources of errors and mistakes
 includes technical performance measurement, TPM
 Project Control Emphasis
(Contd.)
 Procurement Control
 Monitor quality, schedule, and cost of all procured items
 Visit and inspect the facilities of subcontractors and suppliers
 Track subcontractors’ and suppliers’ progress and expenses,
 Prepare contingency for all major procured material, equipment,
components, and services
 Schedule Control
 Keep project on schedule and minimize schedule overruns
 Use Time Buffers (described next)
 Fight Tendency to Multitask
 Frequently Report Activity Status
 Publicize Consequences of Delays and Benefits of Early Finish
 Technical Performance
Measurement
 Periodically measure performance and compared to
targets.
 Initial measures based on estimates from computation,
modeling, and simulations
 Later measures derived from test and demonstration
results on actual hardware and software.
 Estimates and actual measures are plotted on a TPM chart
that shows progress toward achieving the objective.
 If actual performance for one part of the system exceeds
the target or objective by some margin, then that margin
can be traded-off against targets for other parts of the
system where performance is lacking or at risk
 Issue Management
 An issue is an emergent problem, question, or matter in dispute. It is
something that must be resolved.
 Every issue should be documented, prioritized, tracked, resolved, and
closed out.
 Issue management involves the steps of identification,
documentation, analysis/evaluation, communication, action,
monitoring, and closure.
 These steps are included on an issue log, which is a record of all
issues encountered. The log is retained throughout the project and
updated whenever a new issue arises or changes status.
 Issue Management (Contd.)
 Periodically review open issues in the project. Keep track
of the number and age of the issues.
Issue Management (Contd.)
 Project Progress Report Format
 Progress since last report
 Current status of project
 Schedule
 Cost
 Scope
 Cumulative trends
 Problems and issues since last report
 Actions and resolution of earlier problems
 New variances and problems identified
 Corrective action planned
 Monitoring Time Performance
 Tools used to catch negative variances
from plan and communicate project
schedule status:
 Tracking and baseline Gantt charts
 Show expected, actual, and trend data for event
duration performance.

 Control charts
 Plot the difference in scheduled time on the critical
path with the actual point on the critical path.
Project Schedule Control Chart
 Glossary of Terms
 EV
 The percent complete times its original budget. The percent of the
original budget that has been earned by actual work completed.
The older acronym for this value was BCWP—budgeted cost of the
work performed.
 PV (Planned Value)
 The time-phased baseline of the value of the work scheduled. An
approved cost estimate of the resources scheduled in a time-
phased cumulative baseline (BCWS—budgeted cost of the work
scheduled).
 AC
 The actual cost of the work completed. The sum of the costs
incurred in accomplishing work. (ACWP—actual cost of the work
performed).
 Glossary of Terms
 CV
 Cost variance is the difference between the earned value and the
actual costs for the work completed to date where CV=EV-AC.
 SV
 Schedule variance (SV) is the difference between the earned value
and the baseline line to date where SV=EV-PV.
 BAC
 Budgeted cost at completion. The total budgeted cost of the
baseline or project cost accounts.
 EAC
 Estimated costs at completion. Includes costs to-date plus revised
estimated costs for the work remaining. TABLE 13.1
 Glossary of Terms
 ETC
 Estimate to complete.
 VAC
 Cost variance at completion (BAC-EACe), where EACe is derived
by estimators in the field.
 Or, alternatively, cost variance at completion (BAC-EACf), where
EACf is derived from a formula using actual and earned value
costs.
 VAC indicates expected actual over-or underrun cost at
completion.

TABLE 13.1
 Developing an Integrated Cost/Schedule
System

1. Define the work using a WBS. 3. Develop a time-phased

a. Scope budget using work
packages included in an
b. Work packages
activity. Accumulate
c. Deliverables budgets (PV).
d. Organization units 4. At the work package level,
e. Resources collect the actual costs for
f. Budgets the work performed (AC).
2. Develop work and resource 5. Multiply percent complete
schedules. times original budget (EV).`
a. Schedule resources to activities 6. Compute the schedule
b. Time-phase work packages into a variance (EV-PV) and the
network cost variance (EV-AC).
 Development of Project Baselines
 Purposes of a Baseline (PV)
 An anchor point for measuring performance
 A planned cost and expected schedule against which actual cost
and schedule are measured.
 A basis for cash flows and awarding progress payments.
 A summation of time-phased budgets (cost accounts as summed
work packages) along a project timeline.
 What Costs Are Included in Baselines?
 Labor
 Equipment
 Materials
 Project direct overhead costs (DOC)
 Methods of Variance Analysis
 Comparing Earned Value
 With the expected schedule value.
 With the actual costs.
 Assessing Status of a Project
 Required data elements
 Data Budgeted cost of the work scheduled (PV)
 Budgeted cost of the work completed (EV)
 Actual cost of the work completed (AC)
 Calculate schedule and cost variances
 A positive variance indicates a desirable condition, while a
negative variance suggests problems or changes that have
taken place.
 Methods of Variance Analysis
(Contd.)
 Cost Variance (CV)
 Indicates if the work accomplished using labor
and materials costs more or less than was
planned at any point in the project.
 Schedule Variance (SV)
 Presents an overall assessment in dollar terms
of the progress of all work packages in the
project scheduled to date.
 Indexes to Monitor Progress
 Performance Indexes
 Cost Performance Index (CPI)
 Measures the cost efficiency of work accomplished to date.
 CPI = EV/AC
 Scheduling Performance Index (SPI)
 Measures scheduling efficiency
 SPI = EV/PV
 Percent Complete Indexes
 Indicates how much of the work accomplished represents of
the total budgeted (BAC) and actual (AC) dollars to date.
 PCIB = EV/BAC
 PCIC = AC/EAC
Interpretation of Indexes
 Forecasting Final Project
Cost
 Methods used to revise estimates of future
project costs:
 EACe
 Allows experts in the field to change original baseline
durations and costs because new information tells them the
original estimates are not accurate.
 EACf
 Uses actual costs-to-date plus an efficiency index to project
final costs in large projects where the original budget is
unreliable.
 REFERENCES
 Gray, C. F. & E. W. Larson 2006 Project Management: The
Managerial Process, 3e., New York: McGraw-Hill.
 Larson E. W. & C. F. Gray 2017 Project Management: The
Managerial Process, 7e., New York: McGraw-Hill.
 Mantel, S.J. Jack R. Meredith, S.M. Shafer & M.M. Sutton
2011 Project Management in Practice, 4e., Hoboken, NJ:
Wiley.
 Nicholas, J. & H. Steyn 2020 Project Management for
Engineering, Business, and Technology, 6e., Oxford:
Elsevier.