IT Project Management (22MCA421) 2024

UNIT 3 – PROJECT MANAGEMENT AND CONTROL

INTRODUCTION

Once work schedules have been published and the project is started, attentionmust be focused on
progress. This requires monitoring of what is happening,comparison of actual achievement against the
schedule and, where necessary/ revisionof plans and schedules to bring the project as far as possible back
on target.

I. CREATING THE FRAME WORK

 Exercising control over a project and ensuring that targets are met is a matter of regular
monitoring - finding out what is happening and comparing it with targets.
 There may be a mismatch between the planned outcomes and the actual ones. Re-planning may
then be needed to bring the project back on target. Alternatively, the target could have to be
revised.

Figure 1: Project Control Cycle

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 Figure l illustrates a model of the project control cycle and shows how, once the initial project
plan has been published, project control is a continual process of monitoring progress against that
plan and, where necessary/ revising the plan to take account of deviations.
 It also illustrates the important steps that must be taken after completion of the project so that the
experience gained in any one project can feed into the planning stages of future projects, thus
allowing us to learn from past mistakes. Normally concerned with four types of shortfall - delays
in meeting target dates, shortfalls in quality, inadequate functionality, and costs going over target.
a. RESPONSIBILITY
 The overall responsibility for ensuring satisfactory progress on a project is often the role of the
project steering committee, project management board or PRINCE2. Day to-day
responsibility will rest with the project manager and, in all but the smallest of projects; aspects of
this can be delegated to team leaders.
 Figure 2 illustrates the typical reporting structure found with medium and large projects. With
small projects individual team members usually report directly to the project manager, but in most
cases team leaders will collate reports on their section's progress and forward summaries to the
project manager.

Figure 2: Project reporting structures

 These, in turn, will be incorporated into project-level reports for the steering committee and, via
them or directly, progress reports for the client.Reporting may be oral or written, formal or

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informal, and regular or ad hoc – given in below table. Informal communication is necessary and
important, but any such informal reporting of project progress must be complemented by formal
reporting procedures
Table: Categories of reporting

b. ASSESSING PROGRESS
 Some information used to assess project progress will be collected routinely, while other
information will be triggered by specific events.
 Wherever possible, this information should be objective and tangible - whether or not a particular
report has been delivered, for example. Sometimes, however, assessment will have to depend on
estimates of the proportion of the current activity that has been completed.
c. SETTING CHECKPOINTS
 It is essential to set a series of checkpoints in the initial activity plan
Checkpoints may be:
 regular (monthly, for example)
 Tied to specific events such as the production of a report or otherdeliverable.
d. TAKING SNAPSHOTS
 The frequency of progress reports will depend upon the size and degree of risk of the project.
Team leaders, for example, may want to assess progress daily (particularly when employing
inexperienced staff) whereas project managers may find weekly or monthly reporting appropriate.

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 In general, the higher the level, the less frequent and less detailed the reporting needs to be.At the
level of individual developers, however, strong arguments exist for the formal weekly collection
of information.
 This ensures that information is provided while memories are still relatively fresh andprovides a
mechanism for individuals to review and reflect upon theirprogress. If reporting is to be weekly
then it makes sense to have basicunits of work that last about a week.
 Major, or project level, progress reviews will generally take place at particular points during the
life of a project - commonly known as review points or control points.
 PRINCE2, for example, designates a series of checkpoints where the status of work in a project or
for a team is reviewed. At the end of each project Stage, PRINCE2 provides for an End Stage.
Assessment where an assessment of the project and consideration of its future are undertaken.
II. COLLECTING THE DATA
 As a rule, managers will try to break down long activities into more controllable tasks of one or
two weeks' duration. However, it will still be necessary to gather information about partially
completed activities and, in particular, forecasts of how much work is left to be completed. It can
be difficult to make such forecasts accurately.
 Where there is a series of products, partial completion of activities is easier to estimate. Counting
the number of record specifications or screen layouts produced, for example, can provide a
reasonable measure of progress.
 In some cases, intermediate products can be used as in-activity milestones. The firstsuccessful
compilation of a program, for example, might be considered a milestone even though it ¡s not a
final product.
a. PARTIAL COMPLETION REPORTING
 Many organizations use standard accounting systems with weekly timesheets to charge staff time
to individual jobs.
 The staff time booked to aproject indicates the work carried outand the charges to the project. It
doesnot, however, tell the project manager what has been produced or whethertasks are on
schedule.
 It is therefore common to adapt or enhance existing accountingdata collection systems to meet the
needs of project control. Weeklytimesheets, for example, are frequently adapted by breaking jobs
down toactivity level and requiring information about work done in addition totime spent.

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 Figure 3 shows an example of a report form, in thiscase requesting information about likely
slippage of completion datesas well as estimates of completeness.

Figure 3: A weekly timesheet and progress review form

 Other reporting templates arepossible. For example, rather than ask for estimates of
percentagecomplete, some managers would prefer to askfor the number of hoursalready worked
on the task and an estimate of the number of hours neededto finish the task off.
b. RED/AMBER/GREEN (RAG) REPORTING
 One popular way of overcoming the objections to partial completion reporting is to avoid asking
for estimated completion dates, but to ask instead for the team member’s estimates of the
likelihood of meeting the planned target date.
One way of doing this is the traffic-light method. This consists of the following steps:
 Identify the key (first level) elements for assessment in a piece of work.

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 Break these key elements into constituent elements (second level).

 Assess each of the second-level elements on the scale green for 'on target', amber for 'not
on target but recoverable' and red for 'not ontarget and recoverable only with difficulty'.
 Review all the second-level assessments to arrive at first-levelassessments;
 Review first- and second-level assessments to produce an overall assessment.
 For example, Amanda decides to use a version of the traffic-light, method for reviewing activities
on the IOE project. She breaks each activity into a number of component parts (deciding, in this
case, that a further breakdown is unnecessary) and gets the team members to complete a Result at
the end of each week.
 Figure 4 illustrates Justin's completed assessment at the end of week 16.

 Traffic-light assessment highlights only risk of non-achievement it is not an attempt to estimate

work done or to quantify expected delays.Following completion of assessment forms for all
activities, the project manager uses these as a basis for evaluating the overall status of the project.
 Any critical activity classified as amber or red will require further consideration and often leads to
a revision of the project schedule. Non-critical activities are likely to be considered as a problem if
they are classified as red, especially if their entire float is likely to be consumed.

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III. VISUALIZING PROGRESS

Having collected data about project progress, a manager needs some way of presenting that data to
greatest effect. In this section, we look at some methods of presenting apicture of the project and its
future. Some of these methods (such as Gantt charts) providea static picture, a single snapshot/
whereas others (such as timeline charts) try to show howthe project has progressed and changed
through time.
1. GANTT CHART
 One of the simplest and oldest techniques for tracking project progress is the Gantt chart. This
is essentially an activity bar chart indicating scheduledindustrial engineer activity dates and
durations, frequently augmented with activity floats.
 Interested in Reported progress is recordedon the chart (normally by shading activitythe
efficient bars) and a 'today cursor' provides an immediate visual indication of
whichorganization of work. Activities are ahead or behind schedule.

Figure 5: Part of Amanda’s Gantt chart with the ‘today cursor’ in week 17
 Figure 5 shows part of Amanda'sGantt chart as at the end of Tuesday of week 17 . 'Code and
test module D'has been completed a head of schedule and 'Code and test module A'appears
also to be head of schedule. The coding and testing of the other two modules are behind
schedule.

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2. SLIP CHART
 A slip chart (Figure 6 ) is a very similar alternative favored by some project managerswho
believe it provides a more striking visual indication of those activities that are notprogressing
to schedule'- the more the slip line bends, the greater the variation from the plan.
 Additional slip lines are added at intervals and, as they build up, the project managerwill gain
an idea as to whether the project is improving (subsequent slip lines bend less)ornot. A very
jagged slip line indicates a need for rescheduling.

Figure 6: The slip chart emphasizes the relative position of each activity

3. TIMELINE
 One disadvantage of the charts described so far is that they do not show clearly theslippage of
the project completion date through the life of the project. Analyzing andunderstanding trends
in the project so far allows us to predict the future progress of theproject,
 For example, if a project is behind schedule because so far productivity has notbeen as high
as assumed at the planning stage, it is likely that the scheduled completiondate will be pushed
back even further unless action is taken to compensate for or improveproductivity.
 The timeline chart is a method of recording and displaying the way in which targetshave
changed throughout the duration of the project.
 Figure 7 shows a timeline chart for Brigette's project at the end of the sixth week.Planned
time is plotted along the horizontal axis and elapsed time down the vertical axis.

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 The lines meandering down the chart represent scheduled activity completion dates -at the
start of the project 'analyze existing system' is scheduled to be completed by theTuesday of
week 3, 'obtain user requirements' by Thursday of week 5, 'issue tender', thefinal activity, by
Tuesday of week 9, and so on.

Figure 8: Brigette’s timeline chart at the end of week six

 At the end of the first week Brigette reviews these target dates and leaves them as theyare -
lines are therefore drawn vertically downwards from the target dates to the end ofweek1 on
the actual time axis.
 At the end of week 2, Brigette decides that ‘obtain user requirements'will not becompleted
until Tuesday of week 6 - she therefore extends that activity line diagonallyto reflect this. The
other activity completion targets are also delayed correspondingly.

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 By the Tuesday of week 3, 'analyze existing system' is completed and Brigette puts ablob on
the diagonal timeline to indicate that this has happened. At the end of week 3 shedecides to
keep to the existing targets.
 At the end of week 4 she adds another three days to 'draft tender'and 'issue tender'.

Note that, by the end of week 6, two activities have been completed and three are still unfinished.
Up to this point she has revised tar¡4et dates on three occasions and the projectas a whole is
running seven days late.

 The timeline chart is useful both during the execution of a project and as part ofthe post-
implementation review. Analysis of the timeline chart, and the reasons for thechanges, can
indicate failures in the estimation process or other errors that might, withthat knowledge, be
avoided in future.
IV. COST MONITORING
 Expenditure monitoring is an important component of project control, not only in itself, but also it
provides an indication of the effort that has gone into (or at least been charged to) a project.
 A project might be on time but only because more money has been spent on activities than
originally budgeted.
 A cumulative expenditure chart such as that shown in Figure 9 provides a simple method of
comparing actual and planned expenditure. By itself it is not particularly meaningful - Figure 10
could, for example, illustrate a project that is running late or one that is on time but has shown
substantial costs savings.
 We need to take account of the current status of the project activities before attempting to interpret
the meaning of recorded expenditure.
 Cost charts become much more useful if we add projected future costscalculated by adding the
estimated costs of uncompleted work to thecosts already incurred.
 Where a computer-based planning tool is used,revision of cost schedules is generally provided
automatically onceactual expenditure has been recorded.
 Figure 9 illustrates the additionalinformation available once the revised cost schedule is included -
in thiscase it is apparent that the project is behind schedule and over budget.

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Figure 9: Tracking cumulative expenditure

Figure 10 : The cumulative expenditure chart can also show revised estimates of cost and
completion

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V. PRIORITIZING MONITORING
The list of priorities should be applied in deciding levels of monitoring are
1. Critical path activities: Any delay in an activity on the critical path will cause a delay in the
completion date for the project. Critical path activities are therefore likely to have a very high
priority for close monitoring.
2. Activities with no free float: A delay in any activity with no free float Free will delay at least
some subsequent activities even though, if the delay activity may be is less than the total float, it
might not delay the project completion delayed without date. These subsequent delays can have
serious effects on our resource schedule as a delay in a subsequent activity could mean that the
resources for that activity will become unavailable before that activity is completed because they
are committed elsewhere.
3. Activities with less than a specified float: If any activity has very little float it might use up this
float before the regular activity monitoring brings the problem to the project manager's attention.
It is common practice to monitor closely those activities with less than, say, one week free float.
4. High-risk activities: A set of high-risk activities should have been identified as part of the initial
risk profiling exercise. lf we are using the PERT three-estimate approach we will designate as
high risk those activities that have a high estimated duration variance. These activities will be
given close attention because they are most likely to overrun or overspend.
5. Activities using critical resources Activities: can be critical because they are veryexpensive (as in
the case of specialized contract programmers). Staff or other resourcesmight be available only for
a limited period, especially if they are controlled outsidethe project team. In any event, an activity
that demands a critical resource requires a high level of monitoring.

Steps involved for prioritizing monitoring:

 Collection–you must collect and gather all the data about your projects.
 Ranking–you must develop and use a ranking model that includes criteria for prioritizing.
 Verification–you must approve the ranked projects.

Project tracking: Project tracking is a project management method used to track the progress of tasks in
a project. By tracking your project, you can compare actual to planned progress, and identify issues that
may prevent the project from staying on schedule and within budget.

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 Tracking is the process of determining how well you are sticking to the cost estimate and
schedule.
 It is the same as adapting the schedule according to the latest developments.

Benefits:

Project tracking helps project managers and stakeholders know what work has been done, there sources
that have been used to execute those tasks, and helps them create an earned value analysis by measuring
project variance and tracking milestones.

Steps to track the project:

 Start with a project outline

 Create deliverables and milestones
 Set realistic, clear and measurable goals
 Use a project tracker template or a
 Project tracking software to keep track of time, costs and tasks
 Meet regularly with team and stakeholders
 Have clear deadlines
 Support transparency

Change control:

 Change control is a methodology used to manage any change requests that impact the baseline of
your project. It’s a way to capture that change from the point where it’s been identified through
every step of the project cycle.
 That includes evaluating the request and then approving, rejecting or deferring it. Change control
is the process used to manage all these variables.
 If change happens (which it always does) then it’s crucial that you have a mechanism in place to
control that process.

Purpose:

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To make sure that you’re not changing things in the project that doesn’t need to be changed.

Benefits:

 Change control not only reinforces your team’s ability to work better together, but the positive
effects bleed into overall efficiency. It works hand-in-glove with teamwork, of course.
 Managing change effectively is crucial to bringing in your project on time and within budget.

Software Configuration Management:

1. SCM is concerned with tracking and controlling changes to the software.

2. In software development process, every work product would have to be accessed and modified
by several members
3. Hence a proper configuration management system is required to avoid several problems
4. Configuration management is carried out through the following two principal activities
5. Configuration identification
It involves deciding which parts of the system should be kept under configuration
management

6. Configuration control
It is used to ensure that changes to a system occur smoothly Configuration management
process

Purpose of SCM:

 Concurrent access
 Undoing changes
 System accounting
 Handling variance
 Accurate determination of project status
 Preventing unauthorized access to the work products.

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Managing contracts:

 Contract management is the overseeing of a project’s contracts from their initial pre-award phase
through to completion.
 Proper contract management ensures that the project’s budget and resources are in alignment with
its overall objectives.
 Tracking contracts as they progress and identifying and managing any issues as they come up is
an important project management process.

Phases:

1. Contract creation (This contract management stage involves identifying the contract type and
who will be responsible for each task.)
2. Contract negotiation (After the initial contract is drawn up, negotiation occurs in which line
items are discussed, changed, updated, or completely removed.)
3. Contract approval (Contract approval often involves multiple sign- offs from various managers
and departments, as well as contractors and vendors. All may have to give approval on the
contract’s specifications before the final deal is made.)
4. Contract finalization (The process of contract signing between the involved parties is the final
step to getting the project started.)
5. Contract change management (All data and information regarding changes to contract
deadlines, budgets, expenditures, etc., must be fully tracked and shared with the teams involved.)

Contract Management:

 Contract management is an intricate oversight process that follows contracts from pre-award to
completion, including execution, vendor selection, issue detection and control, tracking and
processing.
 When implemented properly, contract management processes ensure that budgets and abilities are
in alignment with project objectives.

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 The best contract management flows seamlessly through the organization and integrates with
project management and control, always involving the team members for input and outcomes, and
carefully monitoring contractors for performance and deadlines.
 When a contract is initiated, it should reflect goals, time lines, budgets, resources, risks,
regulations, and specifications.
 Each phase of the process requires specific elements, purpose and management in order to
proceed to the next step.
 Technicians, engineers, and other skilled professionals must be carefully chosen to complete the
contract and execute the project.
 Provides an active thread connecting all aspects of the project, helping to fill in the holes during
revisions, and ensure communication with the right team members, at the right time.

Benefits:

 Contract management stream lines adherence to the contract and can lower business costs. All
necessary documents can be found and accounted for in one place, offering increased
transparency for team members from different departments, as well as contractors working offsite.
 A positive contract experience creates lasting business partners with vendors and subcontractors.
Particularly in the construction industry, finding good help is paramount for future projects.
 Important business objectives and goals are identified when a contract is written. A good contract
management process sets expectations around those priorities and ensures commitments in the
contract are met.

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