🛠️ Monitor and Control Project Work
🔍 What is it?
Monitoring & controlling project work spans from initiation through closing, involving:
- Observing project activities & results
- Comparing actual & forecasted performance to planned baselines
- Aggregating work performance information from all processes
- Evaluating impacts on plans & baselines
🎯 Why is it important?
| Aspect | Explanation | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Scope | May be complete but quality might be poor | Deliverables done but with defects |
| Schedule | May meet deadlines but at excessive cost | Finished on time but over budget |
| Holistic View | Enables timely corrective & preventive actions | Keeps project on track with risks & quality checks |
🔄 Activities Involved
- Analyze & track risks
- Perform quality control
- Use data analysis techniques:
- Alternatives analysis
- Cost-benefit analysis
- Earned value analysis
- Root cause analysis
- Trend & variance analysis
- Review changes and corrective actions for effectiveness
📋 Artifacts Produced
| Artifact | Description |
|---|---|
| Change Requests | Requests for scope, plan, or process modifications |
| Work Performance Reports | Summaries of project performance metrics |
| Project Artifacts Updates | Updates to plans, schedules, and documents |
⚠️ Types of Change Requests
| Type | Definition & Purpose | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Corrective Action | Fix actual deviations to align with plan | Rework, adjusting schedule, reallocating resources |
| Preventive Action | Act on anticipated deviations before they occur | Training, resource change, adjusting workflows |
| Defect Repair | Fix components not meeting requirements | Fixing a defective product or deliverable |
✅ Corrective Action: Key Points
- Requires realistic project plan & baselines with control limits
- Must measure & identify deviations early
- Use observation, listening, and metrics actively — don’t wait
- Root cause analysis essential before acting
- Monitor effectiveness after implementation
- Continuously measure during project lifecycle
🔮 Preventive Action: Key Points
- Based on trend analysis & experience to foresee issues
- Examples:
- Adjust project to avoid repeat problems
- Change a risky resource
- Provide training for backup skills
- Major preventive changes require formal approval (Change Control Board)
🛠️ Defect Repair: Key Points
- Also called “rework”
- Fix when deliverables do not meet requirements
- Reviewed through integrated change control like other changes
🧠 Remember!
The bulk of a project manager’s time is spent on:
Measuring performance + Implementing corrective/preventive actions
— and you must understand this well for exams & real projects!