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IV1021Lecture 6 – Monitoring and terminating

Gunnar Wettergrengunnarw@dsv.su.se

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Agenda

Monitoring the projectControlling the projectEvaluating/Terminating the project

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Monitoring and controlling the project

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Definitions and relationships

Monitoring and Control are opposite sides of selection and planning

bases for selection dictate what to monitorplans identify elements to control

Monitoring is collection, recording, and reporting of informationControl uses monitored information to align actual performance with the plan

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What, why and when

What: The central parts for any PM to monitor are time, cost, and performanceWhy: A PM’s main focus is to get a project completed on time, within budget, and delivering what the customer wantsWhen: Design control system before project start and monitor throughout the project lifecycle

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Monitor and control vs. Real work

One could make a case for that the more you monitor and control the less real work you performHowever, without these processes in place how can you keep track of the projectThe Planning-monitoring-control (PMC) process is central to a PM’s tasks

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The PMC process

Planning

Monitoring

Control

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How to do it?

How do we create this processWhat must be consideredHow to use it

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Designing the monitoring system

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Starting point

What do we need to monitor?Performance

• Activities and project progression

Time• Critical path• Estimations• Milestones

Cost• Total project cost• Activity costs

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Monitoring system creation

Start with the project action planDefine measurements for cost, performance, and timeImportant to remember that you must include all levels of activities Furthermore, mechanisms for collecting the data must also be in placeAvoid tendency to focus on easily collected data

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Continued..

The monitoring system should also include

Change tracking/controlDocumentation processesTelephone logsCode storage ….

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Example of measurementsPerformance

Activity completion (Subjective reports)Code errorsNumber of bugsNumber of changes

CostDifferent ratios

• Budgeted cost / Actual cost > 1

TimeProject member reporting (Important what increments you use)

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Collecting data and reporting

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Types of data

Frequency countsRaw numbersSubjective numeric ratingsIndicators and surrogatesVerbal characterizations

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From where do we get the data

Among manyEconomy systemsProject membersChange management systemsMS Project/Project server

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Analyzing data

Frequently some sort of post-processing must be done in order to understand the collected dataBudget breakdownsMathematical analysisEtc.

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Example of data analysis

Core concepts of project management. Mantel et al, 2004

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Reporting

ReportsProject Status ReportsTime/Cost ReportsVariance Reports

Not all stakeholders need to receive same informationAvoid periodic reportsAll involved need to know their status

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Report types

RoutineExceptionSpecial Analysis

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Controlling the project

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Background

The purpose of project control is to reduce the difference between the plan and realityVery difficult task

Humans are involvedHard to identify the problem sourceWe must make sure we don’t remedy the symptom

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Purpose

We are not trying to punish the ”guilty” but to remedy problemsTwo main purposes

Management of organizational assets (Physical, human, and financial)Obtaining the wanted result

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Designing a control system

Again primary purpose is to correct errorsControl systems must be cost effective

Cost of control system

Ben

efit

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PM mechanisms used for control

Process reviewsEvaluating and controlling the method of work

Personnel assignmentIdentify top performersBe careful, you do not want to create an elite group

Resource allocationReassign resources between tasks

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The control system itself

IP

Input Process Output

O

Control object

Control system

Effector

I

P

o

I

P

o

Comparator

Sensor

Adapted from Schoderbek et al. 1990, p.111

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Project evaluation

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We must perform

Project evaluationProject audit

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Project evaluation

How did we do?The project evaluation appraises the progress and performance relative to the planShould not be done only after project completionPurpose is to improve the process of carrying out projects

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Evaluation criteria

Original criteria for selecting and funding projectSuccess to dateBusiness/Direct SuccessFuture PotentialContribution to Organization’s GoalsContribution to Team Member Objectives

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Project audit process

Timing depends on purposeThree Levels

general auditdetailed audittechnical audit

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The audit report

IntroductionCurrent statusFuture project statusCritical management issuesRisk analysis / managementFinal comments

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Project termination

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When to terminate

Sunk cost approachGoal fulfillmentComparison to set failure/success factors

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Termination types

Project ExtinctionTermination-By-AdditionTermination-By-IntegrationTermination-By-Starvation

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Termination process

Core concepts of project management. Mantel et al, 2004

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Project final report

Main purpose is to facilitate organizational learningEvaluate what worked and what did notShould include:

Project performanceAdminstrative performanceOrganizational structureProject teamworkProject management techniques

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Summary / Questions lecture 6