Page 138 - DMGT302_FUNDAMENTALS_OF_PROJECT_MANAGEMENT

Unit 8: Monitoring and Controlling

Notes
Example: A retailer won a bid to supply a regional office of a national firm with a
computer, terminals, and software. Due to insufficient planning, the installation was completed
far beyond the due date with very inadequate performance. The project failure disqualified the
retailer from bidding on an additional 20 installations planned by the national firm. Another
firm in the construction industry ran 63 percent over budget and 48 percent over schedule on
major project because the PM had managed similar projects several times before and “knew
what to do without going into all that detail that no one looks at anyway. “

8.2 Designing the Monitoring System

The key to setting up a monitoring system is to identify the special characteristics of scope, cost,
and time that need to be controlled in order to achieve the project goals as stated in the project
plan. The exact boundaries within which these characteristics should be controlled must be
determined, as well as the specified performance characteristics for each level of detail in the
project activities. In order to manage for overall project success, control must be exercised at the
detailed work level for each aspect of project performance or there is no guarantee that the
desired changes will result. The project plan identifies what is being done, when, and the planned
level of resource usage for each task and sub-task in the project, so real-time data must be
identified to measure achievement against the plan. Mechanisms to gather and store such data
must be designed. In addition to collection systems for hard data, the monitoring system should
include telephone logs, change tracking/control systems, documentation processes for both
formal (e.g., meetings) and informal communications, and other such softer data collection
systems. Once again, monitoring is the direct connection between project planning and control.

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Caution The key to setting up a monitoring system is to identify the special characteristics
of scope, cost, and time that need to be controlled in order to achieve the project goals as
stated in the project plan.

8.3 Data Collection and Reporting

Once we have decided on the type of data we want to monitor, the next question is how to collect
these data and turn them into information useful for controlling the project. This is the activity
of data collection and reporting. In this section we cover the physical collection of data and the
analysis of that data, if necessary, to transform them into information. Once transformed,
however, there are many ways to present the information and these are covered under the topic
of reporting , including a discussion of the three main types of reports. A very special means of
both collecting and disseminating data, and even sometimes information, is the proverbial
“meeting, “ and we offer some advice for this often painful phenomenon — both in-person and
virtual meetings are included. The use of electronic means for distributing information or
reports is briefly examined. At some point we have to decide what data we need to collect and
precisely how to go about collecting them. A number of questions are raised. Should we design
and use special forms? Should data be collected just before or after an important milestone?
Should time and cost data always be collected at the same time each month? There are many such
issues that arise when considering the data collection process and most of them can only be
answered in the context of a specific project.

Did u know? Once we have decided on the type of data we want to monitor, the next question
is how to collect these data and turn them into information useful for controlling the project

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