Learning Solutions for Increased Project Performance

Welcome to Our March Issue

This month, we’ll be taking a look at Project Control.  Nearly every project manager has had the experience of a project being out of control—and the slight panic that went along with it. That’s why it’s so important to have a practical, comprehensive set of tools and techniques on hand that you can use to get things back in control and keep them there.

Included in this issue:

• What are We Trying to Control?
• Project Management Q&A
• Coping with Changes in a Project
• Change Request Form
• How to Manage Project Recovery
• Ready to Correct Your Course?  A-I-M F-I-R-E
• Reading Room: Project Control
• Creating “Quality” Inspections
• Achieve Project Success by Controlling Costs

Next Month’s Topic: Project Meetings

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pmPractitioner is published as a service to the project management community. Each issue provides practical project management solutions and tips adapted from a variety of business publications and resources.

What are We Trying to Control?

The process of controlling a project is ensuring that the work (scope) and all the resulting artifacts (deliverables) conform to the standards we’ve set. At the broadest level, the standard is the project plan. At more specific levels, there are particular standards within the plan, or referred to by the plan, to indicate the level of acceptable performance for different aspects of the project work. Primarily, we look to control scope, time, cost, quality and risk on projects, though there are many aspects of each of these.

When controlling scope, we look to control the amount and type of work to be done to produce the project’s product. You may recall that the output of a project (which may be a physical product, a service or a process) is collectively referred to as the product of the project. The scope of work is driven in large part by the scope of the product, which are the requirements. In many cases, changing the requirements of the project’s product will mean changing the work in order to meet them, and that, in turn, will affect the scope of the project.

When controlling time, we are interested in when the work gets done. Our main interest in the timing of work is its effect on the final delivery date of the project. Of course, positive variance is not usually undesirable and not thought of as putting the project “out of control.” (Can you imagine the reaction a statistically-minded person would get for reporting a project as out of control for being early?)

Controlling cost concerns itself with the amount we spend to complete the work. Of all the types of control, this is the most familiar and probably the first type of “control” ever used in business.

Controlling quality is a more modern concept, and it really encompasses two areas: the quality of the product of the project and the quality of the project management process itself. Both focuses are critically important to the project’s success, particularly if “success” for the project has been well defined.

In seeking to control risk, we must understand that it is a process that is ongoing, from project start to project finish. Our main objectives are to monitor known risks and possible triggers, to watch out for new risks on the horizon, and to assess and revise our risk response plan as needed.

Adapted from Applying Project Control: Critical Elements for Project Planning, Action for Results, Inc., 2008

March Project Management Q&A

Test your project management knowledge with these questions or use them as an exercise to help prepare for your PMP certification exam.

1. You have just been hired into an organization as a project manager. You understand that you will have some disadvantages in that your authority and resource availability are limited, and the functional manager controls the budget.

You are in what type of organization?

2. A stakeholder’s low risk tolerance will most likely manifest itself in a project with which of the following? 

Answers appear at the end of the newsletter.

Coping with Changes in a Project

As anyone who’s ever been involved in a project knows, original project plans always change. It’s just inevitable. Conversations with more than 500 project managers have indicated that dealing with changes – and changing priorities – is one of their biggest challenges and a primary source of stress. However irritating change is, the process of controlling it need not be complicated. Putting a formal change control system in place goes a long way in smoothly integrating and coordinating adjustments to a project plan.

With a proper change control system, a project manager will be able to easily:

• Review all changes to the project.
• Identify task impacts and translate them into project performance, cost and schedule.
• Evaluate the benefits and costs of the changes.
• Identify alternative changes that might better accomplish the same ends.
• Formally accept or reject requested changes.
• Communicate accepted changes to concerned parties.
• Ensure changes are properly implemented.
• Prepare monthly summary reports on any changes to the project.

Before you begin your next project, be sure to take steps to ensure that a change control system is in place and ready to work successfully.

Here’s how:

1. Describe the Change Process Clearly: Clearly describe how requests for changes will be initiated and processed.
2. Create the Proper Forms: Standardize ‘change order’ forms to handle your change requests. Make them readily available to everyone.
3. Establish an Approval Process: Outline how approvals are made (in writing) and by whom (project manager, project sponsor, client).
4. Amend the Project Plan: After a change has been approved, integrate the change into the project plan.

Adapted from Project Management, A Managerial Approach, Jack R. Meredith and Samuel J. Mantel, Jr., John Wiley & Sons, 2008

Change Request Form

It’s for certain that you’ll be dealing with change as you implement any project, so be prepared to explain in your project plan how you will identify and track changes. Be sure to have standardized documents such as this Change Request Form ready when you need them.

From Action for Results, Inc.

How to Manage Project Recovery

Even in well-planned projects, there are times when the unexpected happens and things spiral out of control. As project manager, what should you do if this occurs? Let’s briefly explore ‘project recovery.’

Definition

Project recovery is the identification and implementation of action needed to restore project control when unacceptable variances to the plan emerge.  This includes things like identifying and acknowledging the need for intervention, getting appropriate approvals, assessing recovery needs, and identifying and implementing appropriate recovery action. Your objectives are to ensure the success of the project, maintain stakeholder support and optimize team performance.

How Is It Done?

During project planning, establish acceptable variance boundaries that can be monitored. Define specific conditions under which the recovery plan is to be activated.

• Assessment Process: Establish regular project assessments as part of the project monitoring process. Use checklists and other assessment tools to focus your effort. Look for root causes of issues as well as be aware of cause/effect relationships in relation to required future activities. Compile and analyze findings and present recommendations.
• Action Planning: Based on each issue, develop a detailed recovery plan including what needs to be done, who needs to do it, how long it will take, what it will cost, what constraints need to be considered, etc.  Incorporate an approved recovery plan into the project plan.
• Ensure Closure: Communicate completion of the recovery process, reiterate project control processes (i.e. project review and issues resolution), and capture lessons learned.

Who Should Perform the Project Assessment?

The project manager and core team should ensure on-going assessment as part of the project review process. A recovery assessment should be performed by an experienced project manager, a Project Management Office representative or an external consultant.

Adapted from Accelerated Project Performance: Essentials of Project Management, Action for Results, Inc., 2005

Ready to Correct Your Course?  A-I-M F-I-R-E

Project managers should always be keeping an eye out for variances in a project, little hints that things may need adjusting. The earlier a variance can be identified, the better chance that it can be fixed with the least drastic corrective action.

To help keep on top of things, keep the A-I-M F-I-R-E acronym in mind:

A ware that a change event has occurred by noting a variance between the plan and what has occurred.
I solate the areas of impact, only taking action in the areas where it is needed.
M easure the variance in terms of changes in requirements, schedule slippage, cost overrun, etc.

Once a variance has been identified, isolated, and measured:

F orecast the future impact. What will the effect of the variance be if no changes are made to the plan? (Is it a one-time hit or will it occur repeatedly?)
I nvestigate alternatives to the current plan. Are there better routes to a more satisfactory outcome?
R eview by senior management is a must if the variance will have a major impact on the project.
E xecute the agreed upon correction. Revisit to ensure the correction does the trick.

Adapted from Total Project Control: A Manager’s Guide to Integrated Project Planning, Measuring, and Tracking, Stephen A. Devaux, John Wiley & Sons, 1999

Reading Room: Project Control

Earned Value Project Management, Quentin W. Fleming and Joel M. Koppelman, Project Management Institute, 2006

Integrated Cost and Schedule Control in Project Management, Ursula Kuehn, Management Concepts, 2006

Project Management: A Systems Approach to Planning, Scheduling, and Controlling, Harold Kerzner, Wiley, 2009

Project Planning, Scheduling & Control: A Hands-On Guide to Bringing Projects in on Time and on Budget, James Lewis, McGraw-Hill, 2005

Project Quality Management: Why, What and How, Kenneth H. Rose, J. Ross Publishing, 2005

Creating “Quality” Inspections

Quality control inspections are pre-defined tests of the quality of project deliverables to ensure the deliverables meet their specific acceptance criteria. Preparing for these reviews, or inspections, takes time, which project teams often forget to account for in the project schedule. As a result, they are sometimes more stressful than they need to be and not as useful as they could be.

The purpose of these reviews during the project lifecycle is to ensure an acceptable product at the end of the project. Catching mistakes or identifying opportunities for improvement is good! However, be sure to create an environment that does not create fear or stress in its review process.

It helps to:

• Create “ground rules” to guide the review process helps, particularly if there is a group involved. Such ground rules ensure that the parties remain objective and help prevent personal conflict.
• Have a clear objective for each inspection or review to validate that the deliverable meets its acceptance criteria.
• Follow a process for the inspection. Be sure it is systematic and methodical to ensure its effectiveness, and to provide a basis for continuous improvement. A poor review can lead to false confidence and bad assumptions.

If you find an error later in the process or after the product of the project has been delivered, you will want to be sure you know exactly which part of which process and its corresponding inspection to fix for next time.

Adapted from Critical Elements for Project Implementation, Action for Results, Inc.

Achieve Project Success by Controlling Costs

Project success depends to a great extent upon the ability to control cost. Although there may be other important project goals, cost remains a universal measure of success. Projects with substantial cost overruns are rarely considered successful.

Maintaining cost control requires a well-designed and implemented project cost control system that performs essential functions such as establishing baseline cost, collecting actual cost data, reporting/evaluating and taking corrective action when needed.  The level of detail collected and the format of the report documents should be matched to the requirements of the specific project and the management team.

Establishing an adequate project cost control system requires an investment. Project managers must take the time before starting project work to develop the structure of the cost control system.

The project manager must:

• Decide upon cost classification and the appropriate level of cost detail to be monitored.
• Work out actual cost collection procedures. (How will the cost control system interface with the organization’s accounting system?)
• Determine reporting frequencies, procedures, and formats.
• Allocate staff time so that the cost control system is sufficiently administered.

Even with the necessary time investment, it is well worth the effort. If an organization is willing to commit the necessary systems, it is possible to have a project cost control system that really works.

Adapted from The AMA Handbook of Project Management, Paul C. Dinsmore and Jeannette Cabanis-Brewin. AMACOM, 2006

Answers to March Q&A

1. (b) is correct.

This is the definition of a weak matrix. In a balanced matrix (a), your authority and resource availability are low to moderate and the control of the budget is done via a mix of you and the functional manager.

[Initiation], PMBOK, Fourth Edition, p. 29

2. (a) is correct. (Requests that extra test steps be added)

People with low tolerance for risk will want to test thoroughly and often. This is not necessarily a bad thing but it is good to recognize what’s driving the requests to do the testing.

An aggressive approach (d) is actually the way a risk-seeking person would take on a project and she would likely be prone to skip as much testing as possible.

[Planning], PMBOK, Fourth Edition, p. 278