Unit-5

Monitoring and Controlling

Monitoring and Controlling process group, the project’s deliverables are reviewed, which

means they are compared to the established baselines. The project manager monitors the big three:

cost, schedule, and scope. However, the project manager must also continually check the status of

risks and review quality.

An important part of the Monitoring and Controlling process group is the management of changes.

Each time a change is proposed, the project team should revisit all related documents, which is

accomplished in the Perform Integrated Change Control process.

If there are significant variances from the plan, the project manager must take immediate corrective

action, following the established change control process. The important question, as always, is: Are

the required changes refinements or additions? Changes are submitted to the change control board to

determine if they are to be implemented or not.

Monitoring and controlling also involves forecasting. For example, using earned value analysis

techniques, the project manager can estimate a revised cost and schedule for completing the project.

During the monitoring and controlling process, the project manager must:

• Validate and verify deliverables.

• Measure deliverables against the cost and schedule baselines.

• Determine variances and return to cost and schedule.

• Respond to threats and opportunities.

• Manage changes through established change control procedures.

• Leverage tools and techniques such as Earned Value.

• Monitor and control procurements and sub-contractors.

• Use Configuration Management and Integrated Change Control systems.

The Monitor and Control Project Work

The Monitor and Control Project Work process is where the tracking, reviewing, and regulation of

progress occur. This involves determining the status of the project, which is documented in the status

reports. These reports are analyzed to determine actual vs. planned progress, and if required, revised

forecasts of the cost and schedule are generated.

A common theme throughout the monitor and controlling process is the tracking of the scope, cost, and

schedule, and reporting on the performance, which is illustrated in Figure 26.2.

The project manager monitors and controls project work throughout the project. As an example, for

the PMA project, the project manager’s activities include:

• Producing cost and schedule variance reports using Earned Value.

• If there is a significant variance, issuing a change request.

• Updating plans when approved by sponsors and stakeholders.

• Using earned value techniques, revising forecast estimates for the cost (e.g., a new estimate to

complete) and schedule.

Perform Integrated Change Control is the process that describes how changes are documented,

approved, and managed. This is accomplished through a Change Control System, CCS, which is

summarized in Figure 26.3.

This is the process of reviewing all change requests, which may apply to either the deliverables or

the documentation. All change requests must be formally documented, approved by stakeholders,

carefully implemented, and monitored.Each proposed change is reviewed for its cost and schedule
impact, and then either rejected or approved. Only approved changes are incorporated into a revised
baseline.

As an example, again consider the above PMA case, where a key programmer left the project. The

project manager created a change request during the monitor and control project work process. In

the Perform Integrated Change Control process, the change request is reviewed and analyzed in

consultation with stakeholders. The team came up with the following proposed solutions:

1. Hire and train a new team member.

2. Move team members to different activities.

3. Change the scope slightly to reduce the effort.

Keeping to the schedule is most important, and the first two proposed solutions will result in a delay.

Only the third option will maintain the schedule, and so it was selected. After everyone agreed to the

reduction in scope, the change was approved. The project manager documented all of the potential

impacts of the change request, in all relevant plans, and also requested that the team members update
the baseline configuration of the system.

Why do changes occur, and what causes them?

Changes occur for many reasons and, typically, by stakeholders requesting additional functionality.
This results in scope creep, which is the uncontrolled growth of the project.Even the project team can be
responsible for scope creep as they implement improvements to the project by providing features that
the sponsor did not request.Sometimes, changes occur due to some unknown risks materializing and
these may result in changes to the project cost or schedule.This is often called gold plating.

What happens when we need to make a change?

In practice, before changes are made, they need to be approved by the stakeholders. A formal process

is required, as documenting the change helps the various stakeholders understand the nature of the

request and the potential impact. The change is documented in a Change Request, which is the

initiator of the Perform Integrated Change Control process.

Usually, a project has a Change Control Board that analyzes the change request, and decides whether

to approve it or not.Once the change is approved, the project manager performs a variance analysis,
which will document how significant the impact of the approved change is. The project manager will
need to revise the scope based on the approved change, and create a new baseline. Once the new
baseline is created, all relevant project documentation must be updated, especially cost and schedule
baselines.

Control Quality

In the Control Quality process, the team monitors the deliverables and assesses the performance of

the project. Project deliverables are monitored for quality and technical defects or deviations from

planned cost and schedule necessitate corrective action. The inputs to and the outputs from the

Control Quality process are shown in Table 26.9.

In the PMA case study, the project team conducted Verification and Validation. The purpose

verification was to find defects in documents such as specifications or test cases, but not to fix them.

Verification was accomplished through reviews, meetings, inspections, and walks-through.

Validation occurred after verification. Validation was the testing of the functionality of the product,

i.e. does the product meet the customers’ requirements. The output of the Verification and Validation

was the Quality Control Measurements document, which is shown in Table 26.10.