Project Management:
A Managerial Approach 4/e
By Jack R. Meredith and Samuel J. Mantel, Jr.
Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Presentation prepared by RTBM WebGroup
Project Management
A Managerial Approach
Chapter 11
Project Control
Project Control
Control is the last element in the
implementation cycle of planning-
monitoring-controlling
Control is focused on three elements of
a project
Performance/Quality
Cost
Time
Chapter 11-1
Controlling Performance
There are several things that can cause a
project’s performance to require control:
Unexpected technical problems arise
Insufficient resources are available when needed
Insurmountable technical difficulties are present
Quality or reliability (consistency )problems occur
Client requires changes in specifications
Interfunctional complications arise
Technological breakthroughs (innovation)affect the
project
Chapter 11-2
Controlling Cost
There are several things that can cause a
project’s cost to require control:
Technical difficulties require more resources
The scope of the work increase
Initial bids were too low
Reporting was poor or untimely
Budgeting was inadequate
Corrective control was not exercised in time
Input price changes occurred
Chapter 11-3
Controlling Time
There are several things that can cause a project’s
schedule to require control:
Technical difficulties took longer than planned to resolve
Initial time estimates were optimistic
Task sequencing was incorrect
Required inputs of material, personnel, or equipment
were unavailable when needed
Necessary preceding tasks were incomplete
Customer generated change orders required rework
Governmental regulations were altered
Chapter 11-4
Purposes of Control
There are two fundamental objectives of control:
1. The regulation of results through the alteration of
activities
2. The management/care of organizational assets
The project manager needs to be equally attentive
to both regulation (guideline) and protection.
The project manager must guard the physical
assets of the organization, its human resources,
and its financial resources
Chapter 11-5
Physical Asset Control
Requires control of the use of physical assets
Concerned with asset maintenance, whether preventive or
corrective
Also the timing of maintenance or replacement as well as
the quality of maintenance
Setting up maintenance schedules in such a way as to
keep the equipment in operating condition while
minimizing interference to ongoing work
Physical inventory whether equipment or material must
also be controlled
Chapter 11-6
Human Resource Control
Stewardship (care) of human resources
requires controlling and maintaining the
growth and development of people
Projects provide fertile ground for cultivating
people
Because projects are unique, it is possible
for people working on projects to gain a
wide range of experience in a reasonably
short period of time
Chapter 11-7
Financial Resource Control
The techniques of financial control, both
conservation and regulation, are well known:
Current asset controls
Project budgets
Capital investment controls
These controls are exercised through a series
of analyses and audits conducted by the
accounting/controller function
Chapter 11-8
Financial Resource Control
Representation of the accounting/controlling
function on the project team is mandatory
The parent organization is responsible for the
protection and proper use of resources owned by
the client or charged to the client
Due diligence (attentiveness) requires that the
organization proposing a project conduct a
reasonable investigation, verification, and
disclosure of all material facts relevant to the firm’s
ability to conduct the project
Chapter 11-9
Three Types of Control
Processes
Decisions must be made concerning:
At what points in the project will control be
exerted
What is to be controlled
How it will be measured
How much deviation will be tolerated
How to spot and correct potential
deviations before they occur
Chapter 11-10
Three Types of Control
Processes
No matter what the purpose in controlling a
project there are two basic types of
control mechanisms that can be used:
Go/no-go control
Post control
Cybernetic control is a third, but less
common control mechanism that is rarely
directly applicable to projects.
Chapter 11-11
Go/No-go Controls
Take the form of testing to see if some specific
precondition has been met
Most of the control in project management falls
into this category
This type of control can be used on almost every
aspect of a project
Must exercise judgment in the use of go/no-go
controls
Go/no-go controls operate only when and if the
controller uses them
Chapter 11-12
Go/No-go Controls
There are two conditions
• Go condition
• If the risk condition is not present the control decision
will be to “go” or continue as planned without
implementing the risk response.
• No go condition
• If the risk condition is present then a “no go” decision
must be control. Simple means that the original plan is
replaced with the risk response plan.
Go/No-go Controls
Phase-gated processes:
Invented by cooper in 1994
Control the project at various points through out its life
cycle to make it sure it remains on course and of value total
organization
Most commonly used for new product service development
Series of gates are planned
Gates are installed to check the phase through life cycle of
project
Criteria is developed in project planning stage
Go/No-go Controls
Response to go/no-go controls tends to be
neutral or negative
“Barely good enough” results are just as acceptable
as “perfect” results
The system makes it difficult for the worker to
take pride in high quality work because the
system does not recognize gradations of quality
The fact that this kind of control emphasizes “good
enough” performance is no excuse for the
nonchalant (casual) application of careless
standards
Go/No-go Controls
Discovery driven planning
Discovery-driven planning and learning plans:
Invented by Megrath(1995) and Rice(2008)
How valid the initial assumption now appear to be regarding the project
Assumption checklist for validity.
initial valid Assumption (Risk)
Make a checklist of assumptions and check during project by evaluating with
actual plans, and expected market.
Assumption checklist for each stage is prepared with most critical
assumptions first and when the project reaches that stage assumptions are
checked for validity. If critical assumption is not met project must be re
planned.
If no plans can satisfy all revised assumptions the project is terminated
Information Requirements
for Go/no-go Controls
The project proposal, plans specifications,
schedules and budgets contain all the
information needed to apply go/no-go
controls to the project
Milestones are the key events that serve as a
focus for ongoing control activity
These milestones are the project’s deliverables in
the form of in-process output or final output
Information requirements
of a cybernetic controller
First, the PM must define precisely what characteristics of
an output (interim output or final output) are to be controlled.
Second, standards must be set for each characteristic.
Third, sensors must be acquired that will measure those
characteristics at the desired level of precision.
Fourth, these measurements must be transformed into a
signal that can be compared to a “standard” signal.
Fifth, the difference between the two is sent to the decision
maker, which detects it, if it is sufficiently large, and
Sixth, transmits a signal to the effector that causes the
operating system to react in a way that will counteract the
deviation from standard
Postcontrol
Postcontrols are applied after the fact
Directed toward improving the chances for future
projects to meet their goals
It is applied through a relatively formal
document that contains four distinct sections:
The project objectives
Milestones, checkpoints, and budgets
The final report on project
Recommendations for performance and process
improvement
Postcontrols
Post controls are seen as much the same as a
report card
They may serve as the basis for reward or
punishment, but they are received too late to
change current performance
Because post controls are placed on the process of
conducting a project, they may be applied to
such areas as: communication, cooperation,
quality of project management, and the nature of
interaction with the client
Chapter 11-28
Post control
The project objectives
Description of project objective
Project Objectives include the effects of all change orders issued and approved during
the project
Milestones, checkpoints, and budgets
This section starts with a full report of project performance against the planned
schedule and budget
Significant deviations
The final report on project
Complete documentation
final report should cover project organization, methods, review of the communication
networks, monitoring systems, and control methods
Recommendations for performance and process improvement
Post control report is a set of recommendations covering the ways that future
projects can be improved
Cybernetic Controls
Human response to steering (directing)
controls tends to be positive
Steering controls are usually viewed as helpful
rather than a source of
unwelcome(unknown) pressure
Response to steering controls also depends on
the acceptance that the goals of the control
system are appropriate
Chapter 11-26
Cybernetic Controls
This function is performed by sensors that measure
one or more aspects of output. Measurement taken by
sensors are transmitted to comparator, which
compares them with a set of predetermined
standards. The difference between actual and
standard is sent to decision maker, which determines
whether or the difference is of sufficient size to
deserve correction. if difference is large signal is sent
to effectors, which acts on the process or on the
inputs to produce output that conform more closely to
standard.
Cybernetic Controls
Cybernetic control system that acts to reduce
deviation from standard is called negative
feedback loop. If system output moves away
from the standard in one direction the control
mechanism move it in opposite direction.
Control of Change and
Scope Creep
Coping with changes and changing priorities is
perceived as the most important single problem
facing the project manager
The most common changes are due to the natural
tendency of the client and project team members to
try to improve the product or service
The later these changes are made in the project, the
more difficult and costly they are to complete
Without control, a continuing accumulation of little
changes can have a major negative impact on
the project’s schedule and cost Chapter 11-34
Control of Change and
Scope Creep
The project manager’s best hope is to control the
process by which change is introduced and
accomplished
This can be done with a formal change control
system that is able to:
Review all requested changes and identify all task impacts
Translate those impacts into project performance, cost, and
schedule
Evaluate the benefits and costs of the requested changes
Accept or reject the changes and communicate to all
concerned parties
Ensure that changes are implemented properly
Chapter 11-35
Effective Change Control
Procedure
The following guidelines, applied with reasonable
rigor, can be used to effectively control changes:
1. All project contracts or agreements must include
a description of how requests for a change in the
project’s plan, budget, schedule, and/or
deliverables, will be introduced and processed
2. Any change in a project will be in the form of a
change order that will include a description of the
agreed-upon change together with any changes
in the plan, budget, schedule, and/or deliverables that
result from the change
Chapter 11-36
Effective Change Control
Procedure
3. Changes must be approved, in writing, by the
client’s agent as well as by an appropriate
representative of senior management of the firm
responsible for carrying out the project
4. The project manager must be consulted on all
desired changes prior to the preparation and approval of
the change order. The project manager’s
approval, however, is not required
5. Once the change order has been completed and
approved, the project master plan should be
amended to reflect the change, and the change
order becomes part of the master plan
Chapter 11-37
