Monitoring & Controlling

Project Management / By

Monitoring and Controlling Process group

The Monitoring and Controlling Process Group consists of those processes which required tracking, reviewing, and regulating the progress and performance of the project. We can identify any areas in which changes to the plan are required and initiate the corresponding changes. The key benefit of this Process Group is that project performance is observed and measured regularly and consistently to identify variances from the project management plan.

The Monitoring and Controlling Process Group also includes

  • Controlling changes and recommending preventive action in anticipation of possible problems,
  • Monitoring the ongoing project activities against the project management plan and the project performance baseline.
  • Influencing the factors that could circumvent integrated change control so only approved changes are implemented.
  • Measure project performance using the documented technique in the plan.
  • Identify variances and recommend corrective action to get back on track.
  • Resolve conflicts and issues
  • Perform impact analysis to approve or reject changes
  • Obtain formal acceptance of deliverables from the customer
  • Monitor the status of risks and identify new risk have emerged.

This continuous monitoring provides the project team insight into the health of the project and identifies any areas requiring additional attention. The Monitoring and Controlling Process Group not only monitors and controls the work being done within a Process Group, but also monitors and controls the entire project effort. In multi-phase projects, the Monitoring and Controlling Process Group coordinates project phases in order to implement corrective or preventive actions to bring the project into compliance with the project management plan. This review can result in recommended and approved updates to the project management plan.

Processes under Monitoring and Controlling Process group:

Monitor and Control Project Work

Monitor and Control Project Work is the process of tracking, reviewing, and regulating the progress to meet the performance objectives defined in the project management plan. Monitoring includes status reporting, progress measurement, and forecasting. Performance reports provide information on the project’s performance with regard to scope, schedule, cost, resources, quality, and risk, which can be used as inputs to other processes.

Inputs

Tools & Techniques

Outputs
  • Project Management Plan
  • Schedule forecasts
  • Cost forecasts
  • Validated Changes
  • Work performance information
  • Enterprise environmental factors
  • Organizational process assets
  • Expert Judgment
  • Analytical technique
  • Project Management information system
  • Meetings
  • Change Requests
  • Work performance reports
  • Project Management Plan updates
  • Project documents updates

It allows stakeholders to understand the current state of the project, the steps taken, budget schedule and scope forecast.

Analytical Techniques includes

  • Regression Analysis
  • Grouping methods
  • Casual Analysis
  • Root Cause analysis
  • Forecasting methods
  • FMEA (Failure mode and effect analysis)
  • FTA (Fault tree Analysis)
  • Reserve Analysis
  • Trend Analysis
  • Earned Value Management
  • Variance Analysis

Perform integrated change control system

Perform Integrated Change Control is the process of reviewing all change requests, approving changes, and managing changes to the deliverables, organizational process assets, project documents, and the project management plan. This process review all request for change or project documents, deliverables, baseline, or the project management plan and approves or reject the changes.

Even well-planned projects are going to require change from time to time. The larger the project the more change there usually is. Keeping track of change in light of timeline and budgetary considerations is an important task that must be addressed. Ongoing documentation and follow-up related to change orders and related costs is an essential part of any project manager’s job.

Inputs

Tools & Techniques

Outputs
  • Project management plan
  • Work performance reports
  • Change requests
  • Enterprise environmental factors
  • Organizational Process asset
  • Expert Judgment
  • Meetings
  • Change control tools
  • Approved change requests
  • Change log
  • Project management plan updates
  • Project documents updates

Validate Scope

It is the process of formalizing acceptance of the complete project deliverables. It brings objectivity to the acceptance process and increase the chance of final product, service, or result accepted by validating each deliverables.

Inputs

Tools & Techniques

Outputs
  • Project management plan
  • Requirement documentation
  • Requirement traceability Matrix
  • Verified deliverables
  • Work performance data
  • Inspection
  • Group decision making technique
  • Accepted deliverables
  • Change requests
  • Work performance information
  • Project documents updates

Control Scope

If there have been adjustments to budget, timeline, or the desired end-product, it is important to re-visit the documentation related to scope and mitigate any unresolved challenges. Maintaining effective communication with stakeholders and related constituents will keep everyone updated and engaged in the project’s success.

Inputs

Tools & Techniques

Outputs
  • Project management plan
  • Requirement documentation
  • Requirement traceability Matrix
  • Work performance data
  • Organizational Process asset
  • Variance Analysis
  • Work performance information
  • Change requests
  • Project Management plan updates
  • Project Documents updates
  • Organizational process asset updates

 

The key benefit of this process is that it allows the scope baseline to be maintained throughout the project. Controlling scope ensure all the requested changes and recommended corrective and preventive actions are processed through perform integrated change control process.

Control Schedule

Control schedule is the process of monitoring the status of project activities to update project progress and manage changes to the schedule baseline to achieve the plan.

Inputs

Tools & Techniques

Outputs
  • Project management plan
  • Project schedule
  • Work performance data
  • Project calendar
  • Schedule data
  • Organizational Process asset
  • Performance reviews
  • Project management software
  • Resource optimization techniques
  • Modeling techniques
  • Leads and Lags
  • Schedule compression
  • Scheduling tool
  • Work performance information
  • Schedule forecasts
  • Change requests
  • Project Management plan updates
  • Project Documents updates
  • Organizational process asset updates

 

Performance review consists of:

 

  • Trend Analysis
  • Critical Path Method
  • Critical chain method
  • Earned Value management

Control Cost

We can replace schedule by cost in previous definition. Control cost is the process of monitoring the status of project cost and managing changes to the cost baseline.  This process provides the means to recognize variance from the plan in order to take corrective action and minimize risk.

It makes sense than that using the control cost process means that your project must stay within funding limitations and manage your project expenditure.The project manager must be proactive – don’t just wait for variances to occur, but influence and control the factors that contribute to the variance.  The focus should be on taking appropriate steps to bring the actual cost back in line with the plan either by modifying future plans or by changing the way in which to work is being performed.

Inputs

Tools & Techniques

Outputs
  • Project management plan
  • Project funding requirement
  • Work performance data
  • Organizational Process asset
  • Earned Value Management
  • Forecasting
  • To-Complete performance index (TCPI)
  • Performance reviews
  • Project Management software
  • Reserve analysis
  • Work performance information
  • Cost forecasts
  • Change requests
  • Project Management plan updates
  • Project Documents updates
  • Organizational process asset updates

Control Quality

The quality control process is there to make sure that the project and product results with the quality management plan. The quality management plan, qualitative methods, and quality metrics are applied to along with the work performance measurements and the deliverables themselves in order to determine whether the work has been done correctly.

Inputs

Tools & Techniques

Outputs
  • Project Management Plan
  • Quality Metrics
  • Quality checklist
  • Work Performance Data
  • Approved changes requests
  • Deliverables
  • Project Documents
  • Organizational process assets
  • Seven Basic Quality tools
  • Statistical Sampling
  • Inspection
  • Approved change requests review
  • Quality control measurements
  • Validate changes
  • Verified Deliverables
  • Work performance information
  • Change requests
  • Project management plan updates
  • Project documents updates
  • Organization process assets updates

 

Work performance data includes

  • Planned Vs Actual technical performance
  • Planned Vs Actual schedule performance
  • Planned Vs Actual Cost performance

Seven basic tools of Quality

  • Flowcharting
  • Cause and effect diagrams
  • Check sheets
  • Histograms
  • Pareto Chart
  • Control charts
  • Scatter diagrams

Control Communication

Control communication is the process of monitoring and controlling communication through the entire project lifecycle to ensure the needs of the project stakeholders are met. This process ensures an optimal information flow among all communication participants, at any moment of time.

Inputs

Tools & Techniques

Outputs
  • Project Management Plan
  • Project communications
  • Issue Log
  • Work performance data
  • Organizational process assets
  • Information management systems
  • Expert Judgment
  • Meetings
  • Work Performance information
  • Change requests
  • Project management plan updates
  • Project document updates
  • Organizational process asset updates

Control Risk

Control risk is the process of implementing risk response plans, tracking identified risk, monitoring residual risk, identifying new risk and evaluating risk process effectiveness throughout the process.This process improves efficiency of the risk approach throughout the project lifecycle to continuously optimize risk response.

Inputs

Tools & Techniques

Outputs
  • Project Management plan
  • Risk Register
  • Work performance data
  • Work performance reports
  • Risk Assessment
  • Risk Audit
  • Variance and Trend Analysis
  • Technical performance measurement
  • Reserve analysis
  • Meetings
  • Work performance information
  • Change requests
  • Project Management plan updates
  • Project documents updates
  • Organizational process asset updates

Change request contains

  • Recommended corrective actions
  • Recommended preventive actions

Control Procurements

Control procurement is the process of managing procurement relationship, monitoring contract performance, and making changes and contracts as appropriate.  This process ensures that both seller and buyer’s performance meet procurement requirement according to the terms of the legal agreement.

Inputs

Tools & Techniques

Outputs
  • Project Management plan
  • Procurement documents
  • Agreements
  • Approved change request
  • Work performance reports
  • Work performance data
  • Contract change control system
  • Procurement performance reviews
  • Inspection and audits
  • Performance reporting
  • Payment systems
  • Claim administration
  • Records management system
  • Work performance information
  • Change requests
  • Project management plan updates
  • Project documents updates
  • Organizational process assets updates

Control Stakeholder Management

Control stakeholder management is the process of monitoring overall project stakeholder relationship and adjusting strategies and plans for engaging stakeholders. This process will maintain or increase the efficiency and effectiveness of stakeholder engagement activities as the project evolves and its environment changes.

Inputs

Tools & Techniques

Outputs
  • Project Management Plan
  • Issue Log
  • Work performance data
  • Project documents
  • Information management systems
  • Expert Judgment
  • Meetings
  • Work performance information
  • Change requests
  • Project Management plan updates
  • Project documents updates
  • Organizational process asset updates

Questions & Answers

  1. A Team member notifies you that she has added extra functionality to the project. She tells you that there was no impact on the cost or schedule. What should be done as a result of this change?
    • Implement change control process to track the change
    • Understand what functionality was added.
    • Instruct the team member to remove the extra functionality.
    • Issue and approved change request

    Correct Answer: B

  2. Calculating estimate to complete (ETC) is done during the.
    • Planning Process group
    • Initiation process group
    • Execution process group
    • Monitoring and controlling process group

    Correct Answer: D

  3. Quality is achieved when
    • The requirements have been met
    • Customer expectations have been exceeded.
    • The customer indicates acceptance of the product or service
    • The customer stops asking for additional features.

    Correct Answer: A

  4. Verify scope is closely related to
    • Perform quality control
    • Sequence Activities
    • Perform quality assurance
    • Time management

    Correct Answer: A

  5. Which of the following is the BEST method to control changes on a given project?
    • Look for sources of changes
    • Make the changes quickly when they occur
    • Prevent changes from being made
    • Direct all changes to the change control board

    Correct Answer: A

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About Sparsh Goyal

A passionate IT professional, Sparsh Goyal boasts of 4.3+ years of experience. He has worked for various projects under AWS, Google Cloud Platform, Spring Boot, Python, Microservices, RESTful, RESTFUL APIs/SOAP, Scripting, Shell and JAVA. He is also working towards gaining proficiency in Oracle Cloud PaaS, DevOps, SaaS and Docker/Kubernetes. His primary and secondary skills validate his relentless pursuits of expanding his horizon and developing more as an IT person. He boasts of the following certifications: *Google Professional Cloud Security Engineer. *AWS Cloud Solutions Architect Associate. *Oracle certified JAVA programmer.

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