MODULE 6

Project Management

SESSION TOPIC 6: Monitoring and Controlling the Project

LEARNING OUTCOMES:
The following specific learning objectives are expected to be realized at the end of the session:
1. Explain the Plan‐Monitor‐Control Cycle.
2. Explain the need for project control.

KEY POINTS

Monitoring Control

CORE CONTENT
The Plan‐Monitor‐Control Cycle
Managing a project involves continually planning what to do, checking on progress, comparing progress to plan, taking
corrective action to bring progress into agreement with the plan if it is not, and replanning when needed. This plan ‐
monitor‐control cycle constitutes a “closed‐loop” process that continues until the project is completed.

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Data Collection and Reporting
Once we have decided on the type of data we want to monitor, the next question is how to turn them into information
useful for controlling the project.

Overview: What's a project management report?

A project management report isn’t exactly fun to do, but it's necessary to promote project visibility, keep everyone on the
same page, manage stakeholder expectations, and minimize risks.

Project reports:

 Chronicle how projects are progressing

 Communicate the status of the project’s budget, scope, and schedule
 Serve as audit trails when you need to look back and analyze how the project performed
 More importantly, they provide the information stakeholders need to arrive at the best possible decisions.

Types of project management reports

To ensure successful projects, project managers need to stay on top of key project aspects: scope, budget, schedule,
resources, risks, stakeholders, etc. Reports help them do just that.

Here are some of the most common types of reports.

1. Status report

A project status report updates stakeholders on the project status — how it’s progressing, essentially. It disseminates key
information, such as:

Work that has been completed

 What’s coming up
 Actual performance vs. baselines vs. forecasts (e.g., actual date a milestone was completed vs. due date vs.
expected date of completion if it’s still in progress)
 Budget
 Project schedule
 Resources
 Issues and risks affecting the project
 Changes made to the project
 Action items
 Message to key stakeholders

A project status report takes many forms, including a Microsoft PowerPoint presentation or a document with graphs and
tables generated by your project management software tool.

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2. Risk report
Risks are uncertainties that can affect a project one way or another. They should therefore be communicated in a timely
manner. Risk reports are critical for project risk management and may include the following information:

An overview of overall project risks and opportunities

 Individual risk summaries
 Risk treatment action plan
 Risk incidence trends

3. Resource report
Every project requires resources. Without the right people or the right tools, moving the project forward will be extremely
difficult. A resource management report helps project managers allocate the right resources to the right tasks at the right
time.

They contain information such as:

 Who’s working on what, and when

 Potential overallocation — meaning certain team members are working beyond their capacity, which can lead to
bottlenecks, burnout, and project delays
 Resource availability for more efficient scheduling

4. Variance report
A variance report shows whether the project is advancing according to plan. It compares what actually happened against
what’s supposed to happen (actual results vs. planned outcome), allowing you to gauge whether or not your project is on
budget, on schedule, or within scope.

5. Budget report
The budget report is a cost management tool that provides essential financial information to keep projects within or under
budget. At the minimum, they should contain:

 The total amount spent on completed activities

 The total amount expected to be spent to date
 By comparing the total amount spent to date vs. scheduled spend to date, you’ll know right away if the project is
on budget. If it’s not, these measures can get it back on track:

 Swapping less productive team members with more experienced, productive ones
 Cutting the scope of some tasks or deliverables
 Eliminating certain costs (e.g., using virtual meetings over in-person meetings that require travel)

What needs to be included in a project management report?

Your report should convey what you want your audience to know, particularly if you want key stakeholders to perform an
action. Project reports vary from company to company, and lengths can vary from one page to 10 pages or more,
depending on what your organization requires.

These are some key elements to include:

 Project identification details: The project’s name, project manager’s name, project sponsor, start and expected
end dates, customer name and details, and report release date.
 Key measures of project success: Actual schedule vs. planned schedule, actual costs vs. budget, actual vs.
planned resourcing, actual vs. planned scope, risks overview, and issues with quality, if any.

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  Other information: Pending and approved project change requests, an overview of the decisions and actions
undertaken since the last report, recent milestones and accomplishments, upcoming milestones, deliverables
coming due, and actions or decisions required.
Data Analysis
Following the collection of the data through the monitoring system, it is frequently necessary to analyze or process the
data in some manner before reporting it for control purposes.

Meetings
Oftentimes, reports are delivered through face‐to‐face meetings.

Source: rring.eu

Virtual Meetings, Reports, and Project Management

Source: matchboxvirtual.com
Project Control
Control, the act of reducing differences between plan and actuality, is the final element in the planning ‐monitoring‐
controlling cycle.

Purposes of Control
There are two primary purposes of control:
1. the stewardship of organizational assets
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 2. the regulation of results through the alteration of activities

IN-TEXT ACTIVITY
Monitoring
Monitoring is the collection, recording, and reporting of project information that is of importance to the project manager
and other relevant stakeholders.

Control
Control uses the monitored data and information to bring actual performance into agreement with the plan.

SESSION SUMMARY
Project monitoring and control are, in some ways, simply the opposite sides of project selection and planning. Monitoring
is the collection, recording, and reporting of project information that is of importance to the project manager and other
relevant stakeholders. Control uses the monitored data and information to bring actual performance into agreement with
the plan. Clearly, the need to exert proper control mandates the need to monitor the proper activities and elements of the
project.

REFERENCES
Refer to the references listed in the syllabus of the subject.

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