In this lecture, we will focus on the management of the project during its execution. We will discuss the need to collect and process new information as it becomes available. We will discuss the design of the monitoring system and how corrective actions can be taken during project execution based on the processing of the new information when it becomes available. Project monitoring and control is part of project execution management. During project execution, new information is made available. For example, actual duration and actual cost of finished activities. New insights from the customer and actual availability and cost of resources are also available. By monitoring the actual progress of the project and comparing it to the baseline, deviations from the baseline plan are detected. Root cause analysis of such deviations lead to better understanding of cause and effect, and help the project manager and his team decide if corrective actions are needed, and what is the best action when several alternatives exist. Project control is needed as part of risk management in the effort to deal with uncertainty. In a certain or deterministic environment, a good plan would guarantee a successful project. In such an environment, perfect information about the project stakeholders, their needs and expectations, along with information about technological and economic environment, are translated into the product scope and the project scope. In reality, complete and accurate information about the list of activities, the duration of each activity, and the availability of resources is rarely available. There are many unknowns in project plans based on partial information, forecasts, and estimates. It based, or sometimes, simply on a guess. During project execution, more information is made available and can be used to improve the plans and to support decisions regarding corrective actions. The project monitoring and control system is designed to find new information as early as possible, and to use it using during project execution as a basis for corrective actions, and the update of project plans. The monitoring and control system is designed to collect new information from stakeholders as well as information on the actual progress of the project. By focusing on deviations between the project plan or baseline and actual progress made during project execution, the real status of the project is revealed. Deviations are possible in all project dimensions, including scheduling, resources availability, resources usage, and budgeting. The basic building block of a control system is a feedback loop, by which a comparison is made between plans and actual outcome. This allows deviations to be detected. These deviations are analyzed in an effort to find the cause of the deviation and to determine the best way to use this new information to bring the project back on track. In some cases, it is best to do nothing, while in other cases, corrective actions are needed. In some extreme cases, new information may indicate the need to terminate the project. For example, information on a new product introduced by competitor that outperforms the product developed by the project. In other cases, minor changes in project plans may be sufficient. For example, changing the start time of activities, changing the level of resources, or changing the mode of execution of some activities. The project manager and his team should collect information related to the voice of the customer and the needs and expectations of stakeholders throughout the new product development project. Such information may change its current status of the new product development project is presented, and as competition introduces new products to the market. Information on technological changes, changes in the economy, the political situation, and regulation should be actively looked after and collected using project execution. This information may be trigger for updating the project plans. A simple form of monitoring is a tracking Gantt chart in which actual progress is marked. In this Gantt chart, each bar represents a project, task, or activity. The tracking Gantt chart is a simple visual display of the current state of the task. A completed task is colored in brown. A task that did not start yet is colored in blue. And tasks that have started but not yet finished are colored in brown and blue. The blue portion of the bar represents unfinished part of the task, while the brown portion represents tasks or part of tasks that are completed. It is possible to present the deviations between the planned and actual progress in several ways. There are commonly used reports designed to support monitoring and control. For example, a comparison between plan and actual at the activity level or at the period level. By combining the information in these reports, the current state of the project as well as deviations from the baseline plans can be detected, analyzed, and serve as a basis for the decision to take a corrective action. A simple way to monitor deviations in the cost and income of the project is to compare the planned cost and planned income for each period with the actual data. Any deviation detected in this simple report should be investigated. The source may be the activity taken longer than planned, or a resource notion that is translated into a split in one or more activities, and consequently results in additional cost. Once the source of the deviation is identified, it is possible to decide if a corrective action is needed and what corrective action is more suitable. A comparison between planned and actual data for each activity or task can reveal activities that took longer than planned or activities that cost more than planned, or both. Based on such information, it is possible to change modes of some activities to assign additional resources and to schedule activities in order to put the project back on track. Root cause analysis of deviations is the basis for corrective actions. The essence of project control is deciding if corrective action is needed, what is the best corrective action, when to apply it, and on what activities or resources. Some examples of corrective actions are: One, assign or release resources. Two, change activity mode. Three, change activity start time. And four, split activities. The combination of a good monitoring root cause analysis and taking the right corrective action and the right time is a recipe for fighting project risk and combating uncertainty in the project environment. Project success is a result of good planning and good execution. Proper monitoring and control during project execution is essential. In this session, we have seen some techniques used for project monitoring and control.
