Chapter 11: Project Control and Assessment keep project on target as close to plan as feasible adapt to new circumstances Chapter 10 Project Control and Assessment

Difference Between Planning and Control The term planning and control are often confused, and occasionally these terms are used in such a way as to suggest that they mean the same thing. Actually, planning and control are two quite different concepts. Planning involves developing objects and preparing various budgets to achieve those budgets.  Control involves the steps taken by management to increase the likelihood that the objectives set down at the planning stage are attained and that all parts of the organization are working together toward that goal. To be completely effective, a good budgeting system must provide for both planning a control. Good planning without control is time wasting.

Planning vs. Control Planning set goals & directions allocate resources anticipate problems motivate Control guide work toward goals ensure effective use of resources correct problems reward achievement

Planning and Control

IS Control Problems which may lead to Project control failure Lin & Hsieh (1995) Corporate Culture, can be closed to new ideas Organizational Stability, too busy in reorganization. Developer Experience with IT, unfamiliar with the project activities. Developer Task Proficiency, no experience Project Size, bigger projects, greater risks System Structure, changing requirements cause problems Lin & Hsieh, Journal of Systems Management, Nov/Dec 1995, 48-52

Magic Twelve Success Indicators Planned milestone event are been met Budget is under control Quality control results are within specification Minimal request for change Project resources are being supplied per schedule and skill levels are adequate Project team appears to be cohesive and happy. User seems satisfied with the progress of work Top management remains visible Third party vendor are delivering quality items on schedule Risk event are under control Training program is progressing according to plan No outstanding issues with support group

Managerial Actions to Maintain Project Control Ahituv et al. [1999] Early user involvement Senior non-technical management in charge for time and budget performance Milestones for accurate project progress measurement Hold suppliers & vendors legally responsible for deadlines Don’t change project requirements

Risk Management process Plan risk management it involves how to approach, plan, and execute the risk management. Identify risks Analyze and assess risks, qualitative and quantitative. Plan risk response Monitoring and control risks

Risk management process

The control process The control process is a continuous flow between measuring, comparing, and action. The four steps in the control process are: - Establishing performance standards, set at the beginning of the project, technical specifications, budgeted costs, schedules, resource requirements - Measuring actual performance - Comparing measured performance against established standards - Taking corrective action.

The Control Process (advantages) Assess actual vs planned technical accomplishment Verify validity of technical objectives Confirm need for project Time progress to match operational requirements Oversee resource usage Monitor costs

Statistical process control (SPC) Involves using statistical techniques to measure and analyze the variation in processes.  Most often used for manufacturing processes, the intent of SPC is to monitor product quality and maintain processes to fixed targets.  Statistical quality control refers to using statistical techniques for measuring and improving the quality of processes and includes SPC in addition to other techniques, such as sampling plans, experimental design, variation reduction, process capability analysis, and process improvement plans.

Benefits of SPC Provides surveillance and feedback for keeping processes in control Signals when a problem with the process has occurred Detects causes of variation Accomplishes process characterization Reduces need for inspection Monitors process quality Provides mechanism to make process changes and track effects of those changes

Control Techniques There are several techniques as stated in the PMBOK used to monitor and control the cost of a project: Forecasting is based on the current actual performance. As a project manager, having the ability to tell whether your project will be delivered on-time and on-budget is critical. Let’s take an example to understand this, Suppose you have completed 25% of your project. As per the schedule you are on track. However, after completing 50% of the project, you realize your project is delayed. By using forecasting method you can determine the degree of delay. This will also enable you to investigate the cause of delay and the corrective action, such as Crashing required to get the project back on track. variance analysis, is the comparison of expected project performance to the actual cost performance. This analysis helps you understand the causes of variance, if any. Preventative and corrective actions are determined based on the variance analysis. Earned Value, s a mathematical method by which you can measure the actual performance of a project. You will use EV to monitor your project in terms of schedule and cost. Indicates how much of the budget was planned to have been spent in order to do the amount of work done so far. Performance Review, Performance reviews in projects are required to check the health of a project. This usually involves Cost and Schedule as the main parameters to assess. However, other parameters, such as Scope, Quality, Team Morale, may be used.

Earned Value Work Package Budgeted % done Earned Actual A 20 100 20 25 Total earned value 51 54 Efficiency = earned/actual A = 20/25 = 0.80 B = 10/8 = 1.25 Efficiency of total project = 51/54 = 0.94

Project Cost Monitoring tie to work packages work descriptions time-phased budgets work plans & schedules responsibility assignments resource requirements keep up with change orders

Work Authorization upper management authorizes project  project manager authorizes department work via work orders functional managers authorize work orders to sections

Data Collection upper management continues or cans  project manager adjusts to solve problems work sections report progress

Data Collection & Tally periodically collect data about actual costs and work progress project control accounting system tallies and summarizes by work package by department project overall manager intimately familiar with budget, actual

Project Review Meetings where things are going wrong emergencies time bombs opportunities should be periodical participants should have information prior give assignments to present in advance broaden participation

When to Hold Review Meetings? periodic regularity leads to more thorough preparation can have in central meeting place with network schedule on wall key data available special event at critical milestones

Corrective Action A corrective action is a Identification and elimination of the causes of a problem, thus preventing their recurrence. A corrective action is a change implemented to address a weakness identified in a management system. Normally corrective actions are implemented in response to a customer complaint, abnormal levels of internal nonconformity, nonconformities identified during an internal audit or adverse or unstable trends in product and process monitoring such as would be identified by Process Control.

Jokes about change!!!!!!! Officer: "Soldier, do you have change for a dollar?" Soldier: "Sure, buddy." Officer: "That's no way to address an officer! Now let's try it again!" Officer: "Soldier. Do you have change for a dollar?" Soldier: "No, SIR!"

Quotes….. They always say time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself. It's not that some people have willpower and some don't. It's that some people are ready to change and others are not. Change your thoughts and you change your world. Things do not change; we change. Only I can change my life. No one can do it for me.

Reasons for Changes change in project scope & specification changes in design - errors, omissions, afterthoughts, revised needs changes to improve rate of return changes to adopt improvements

Impact of Changes cause grief for project team. the more the project completed, the more difficult to adopt changes impact on project scope, cost, time, schedule which can lead to major sources of conflict may reduce changes & impact by change review process, but changes should be avoided if possible.

Project evaluation Formative evaluation, monitoring progress on the project, use meeting, brainstorming, and GSS. Post project evaluation, classifying completed project into categories of success and failure.

Summary project control guides work toward goals assess actual versus planned need data collection, information dissemination focus on work package & cost account use authorization process constantly update projected performance