1. Control, closure and continuous improvement
Chapter 10
Control, closure and continuous improvement

2. Learning objectives After reading this chapter you should be able to:
explain the difference between monitoring and control
identify appropriate variables to measure in project control
design a control system for a given project
explain the purpose of and describe a process for change management in a project
apply a variety of project control methods
discuss the importance and benefits of project closure
explain the purpose of a final project review
discuss reasons for project success and failure
explain the principles of critical chain project management
identify several approaches to continuous improvement

3. Project monitoring and control
Project monitoring is about collecting sufficient data to make sure that the project team implements the plan correctly
Project control is the process of ensuring that the project delivers everything it is supposed to, such that there is complete assurance on delivery integrity
‘everything’ it is supposed to deliver includes:
physical products and assets
quality products
documentation and deliverables

4. Elements that make up project monitoring are:
selection of control measures
observation of activities
collection of control data
comparison of control data with planning information, such as that contained in schedule, budget and risk management plans

5. Project control systems
Project control can be exercised through formal or informal mechanisms
Small projects performed by small teams located in the same place under a single organisational unit may not need a formal control system
The decision to introduce a formal control system and the selection of a specific system should be based largely on two aspects of the project:
The risk involved
The cost of the control system and its expected benefits
Project control systems compare actual cost and progress to planned cost and progress as laid down in the baseline cost curves and baseline schedule charts

6. Control limits
Established for important parameters and any deviations outside these limits are flagged
Corrective action is taken when the deviations are considered significant

7. Designing a project monitoring and control system
A monitoring and control system should address the following questions:
What control measures should be selected?
What data should be used to estimate the current value of each control measure?
How should raw data be collected, from which sources and in what frequency?
How should the data be analysed to detect current and future deviations?
How should the results of the analysis be reported, in what format, to whom and how often?

9. Change management and control
Change control is concerned with (PMI, 2000: 47):
influencing the factors which create changes to ensure that changes are beneficial
determining that a change has occurred
managing the actual changes when and as they occur
Sometimes a project plan needs to be changed as part of the action recommended when a project starts to deviate from its plan
Managing change requires planning, discipline and communication among team members and client representatives

10. Benefits of effective change management
Occurs when early identification of the source of change and its effect on a project are realised
Next, a plan to manage change is developed, communicated to all parties and implemented
If these steps have all taken place, the following outcomes are likely:
Enhanced client relationships
Improved financial performance
Reduced project delays
Better project teamwork
Improved management of project quality

11. Types and sources of change
Change arising from the project team:
Scope creep New technologies and tools
Increased level of effort Personnel changes
Quality creep Schedule improvements
Client-initiated change:
Personnel changes
Scope creep
Scope leap
Changes originating from external sources:
Mandated changes
Availability changes
Implementation cost changes

12. Milestone monitoring
Simple method that project managers can use to control a project
Less effective and less detailed than other methods, but has the advantage of needing only a modest amount of management effort to set up and maintain
Requires less sophisticated cost and accounting techniques and can be used even when the project plans or schedules are not particularly detailed

14. Project control using earned value analysis (EVA)
Widely used cost and schedule control system
Also known as ‘cost/schedule control system’ (C/SCS) and ‘baseline performance measurement’ (BPM)
Basic principle of EVA is to compare the value of actual work completed (known as the earned value) against planned progress and actual expenditure
Technique requires the project manager to schedule and budget project work using a time-phased plan and monitor progress against this plan

15. The primary measurement variables in EVA
Value of actual work done - earned value; the value of completed work expressed in terms of the budget assigned to that work. More formally, it is called the ‘budgeted cost of work performed’(BCWP).
Value of planned work - planned value or, more formally, the ‘budgeted cost of work scheduled’(BCWS).
Actual expenditure - the ‘actual cost of work performed’(ACWP).

16. Schedule variance (SV)
SV = BCWP - BCWS
Cost variance (CV)
CV = BCWP - ACWP

17. Project closure
Should begin during the planning phase of a project when the work plan is developed, not in the final stages
Should be ongoing throughout the life of a project
Essentially combines 2 processes (IPMA, 1999: 40):
Commissioning of the project deliverables and their acceptance by the sponsor
To document all experiences in the project

18. Benefits of efficient project closure
Provides a unique opportunity for the project manager to capture and distribute the experience, skills and knowledge that have been developed during a project
Provides benefit to all the project stakeholders
Paves the way for the project team members’ feelings of personal accomplishment

19. The closure plan
The project must have well-defined tasks in the WBS and an adequate budget for closure activities
Most closure plans will contain procedures for the following activities:
Phased closure based on tasks in the work breakdown structure
Demobilising staff and resources
Recommending staff development opportunities
Closing the technical elements of the project
Conducting a project closure meeting with the client and reconciling the client’s vision with the final product and service
Closing the financial elements of the project
Evaluating, rewarding, and recognising project team members
Archiving project material
Supplying information to the firm’s business development database

20. Final project evaluation
The processes of review and evaluation are applied at different stages throughout a project
The end of a project marks the last major milestone and provides an important opportunity to capture lessons learned during the project
The end of a project is an opportunity to revisit the project’s critical success factors
There are often business development opportunities to explore with clients in terms of follow-on work or new services associated with the completed facility or asset

21. Determinants of project success (based on study by Pinto and Slevin [1988b])
Project mission
Top management support
Project schedule and plans
Client consultation
Personnel
Technical tasks
Client acceptance
Monitoring and feedback
Communication
Troubleshooting

22. Characteristics of the project team leader
There are an additional four factors largely ‘beyond the control of the project team’ but still regarded as critical to project success:
Characteristics of the project team leader
Power and politics
Environmental events
Urgency

24. Project failure (12 ‘tongue-in-cheek’ methods compiled by Pinto and Kharbanda [1996])
Ignore the project environment (including stakeholders)
Push a new technology to market too quickly
Don’t bother building in fallback options
When problems occur, shoot the one most visible
Let new ideas starve to death from inertia
Don’t bother conducting feasibility studies

25. 12 methods to ensure project failure continued…
7. Never admit a project is a failure
8. Overmanage project managers and their teams
9. Never, never conduct post-failure review
10. Never bother to understand project trade-offs
11. Allow political expediency and infighting to dictate crucial project decisions
12. Make sure the project is run by a weak leader

26. Performance measurement
The goal of making measurements is to permit managers to see their company more clearly, from many perspectives, and hence to make wiser long-term decisions
Establishing the right performance measures is the key to successful performance improvement
A good way of doing this is to develop performance measures that are cross-functional and which are linked to strategies, objectives and performance criteria