Project Management: A Comprehensive Guide to Implementation and Control

Project Implementation and Control

Managing Performance and Control

Introduction

After planning, the execution phase begins, requiring coordination of staff and resources. This necessitates monitoring and control to ensure project objectives are met. Regular progress monitoring helps identify deviations and define corrective actions.

Project management balances the triple constraint of scope, time, and cost, manages risks, and overcomes obstacles to deliver a quality product that satisfies customer needs.

Scope, Time, and Cost

Scope, time, and cost are the primary factors managed in a project. The project manager must prioritize delivering the project within the defined scope, on time, and within budget. Balancing these interrelated factors is complex. Changes in one factor often affect the others. For instance, prioritizing completion time might compromise scope and cost. Resource acquisition is often more challenging than adjusting time.

According to the PMBOK, project managers must manage all project areas, including integration, scope, time, cost, quality, human resources, communication, risk, and procurement.

Knowledge Areas

  • Integration Management: Integrates various project elements, including charter development, preliminary scope definition, project plan development, execution guidance, work monitoring, change control, and project closure.
  • Scope Management: Ensures the project includes all necessary work and only the work required for successful completion. This involves scope planning, definition, creating a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS), verification, and control.
  • Time Management: Ensures timely project completion. This includes defining and sequencing activities, estimating activity resources and durations, developing the schedule, and controlling it.
  • Cost Management: Involves planning, estimating, budgeting, and controlling costs to stay within budget. This includes cost estimating, budgeting, and control.
  • Quality Management: Ensures the project meets the needs for which it was undertaken. This includes quality planning, assurance, and control.
  • Human Resource Management: Organizes and manages the project team. This includes planning, acquiring, developing, and managing the team.
  • Communication Management: Ensures timely generation, storage, and dissemination of project information. This includes communication planning, information distribution, performance reporting, and stakeholder management.
  • Risk Management: Identifies, analyzes, and controls project risks. This includes risk planning, identification, qualitative and quantitative analysis, response planning, and monitoring.
  • Procurement Management: Acquires goods and services externally and manages contracts. This includes procurement planning, contract planning, soliciting responses, supplier selection, contract administration, and closure.

Project management processes belong to both a knowledge area and a process group. For example, cost estimation belongs to cost management and the planning process group.

Scope Management

Scope management ensures the project includes all necessary work and only the work required for successful completion. It focuses on defining and controlling what is and isn’t included in the project.

Scope Management Procedures

  • Scope Planning
  • Scope Definition
  • Creating a WBS
  • Scope Verification
  • Scope Control

Scope planning involves creating a scope management plan that documents how the project scope will be defined, verified, and controlled. The scope definition process details the project scope. The WBS hierarchically decomposes the project work. Scope control manages scope changes and their impact.

Time Management

Time management ensures project completion within the allocated timeframe.

Time Management Processes

  • Activity Definition
  • Activity Sequencing
  • Activity Resource Estimating
  • Activity Duration Estimating
  • Schedule Development
  • Schedule Control

Activity definition identifies and documents the specific activities needed to produce deliverables. Activity sequencing identifies dependencies between activities. Resource and duration estimation determine the resources and time required for each activity. Schedule development establishes activity start and end dates. Schedule control manages changes to the project schedule.

Network Diagrams and the Critical Path

Network diagrams graphically represent project activities and their dependencies. The critical path is the longest path through the network diagram and determines the shortest possible project duration. Delays on the critical path directly impact the project completion date.

Cost Management

Cost management ensures project completion within the approved budget.

Cost Management Processes

  • Cost Estimating
  • Budgeting
  • Cost Control

Cost estimation determines the cost of resources for project activities. Budgeting aggregates individual activity costs to establish a cost baseline. Cost control monitors cost changes and implements corrective actions.

Risk Management

Risk management involves identifying, analyzing, and controlling project risks. Risks are potential problems that could impact the project. Proactive risk management addresses potential problems before they occur.

Risk Definitions

  • Inherent Risk: Exists in the project environment.
  • Project Risk: Specific to the project.
  • Phase Risk: Associated with a particular project phase.

Risk Analysis

Risk analysis assesses the probability and impact of each risk. Risk exposure is calculated by multiplying probability and impact. Risks are prioritized based on exposure to focus resources effectively.

Project Closure

Project closure formalizes the end of project activities and documents the acceptance of deliverables. This includes completing all tasks, preparing delivery documents, and obtaining formal acceptance.

Quality Management

Quality management ensures the project meets customer expectations. It involves defining quality characteristics, establishing metrics, and implementing quality control processes.

Quality Management Processes

  • Quality Planning
  • Quality Assurance
  • Quality Control

Quality planning identifies relevant quality standards. Quality assurance ensures the project employs the necessary processes to meet requirements. Quality control monitors results and identifies ways to eliminate unsatisfactory outcomes.

Quality Tools

Various tools are used for quality management, including cause-and-effect diagrams, histograms, flowcharts, Pareto charts, run charts, scatter diagrams, and control charts.