Project Control

A key feature of good project management is achieving a balance between too much and too little project control. A balance between an over-control of projects resulting in too much bureaucracy and a lack of delegation, and under-control resulting in misunderstandings and lack of delivery. The key elements in project control are:

Project Proposals and Project Briefs
Project Scoping Reports and Project Plans
End-of Stage Stocktakes
Delegations and authorisations
Contract Management
Operational Progress

Project Proposals and Project Briefs

The aim of a project proposal is to ensure that the projects undertaken are sensible and viable, and that others know about them.

Following a Project Proposal Stage, a brief Project Proposal Report should be presented to the Sponsor - in most cases a line manager, programme manger, or director. For Corporate Projects it should be reviewed and agreed by the Management Team.

Typically, it should address some or all of the following key questions.

What is the rationale for doing this? What is problem/issue is the project addressing?
How does it fit with our other policies and projects, and with our corporate objectives?
What options are there for tackling this?
Is the solution proposed really practical?
Who are the key stakeholders and what are their positions/reactions?
What are the key issues to be addressed?
In broad terms, what will it require from us in terms of resources and time?

It should include a project brief to set up the delivery stages of the project, covering what is to be delivered, by when; who is to be the project manager and project sponsor, and what resources are to be committed.

Project Scoping Report

The aim of a Project Scoping Report or Project Plan is to summarise and present the Project Mangers views as to what the project is about, what the issues are in delivering it, what the project objectives should be, what the issues are, what tasks need to be done and the resources needed. In particular, it should establish and agree the project objectives and terms of reference.

It will be presented to and agreed with the Project Sponsor and used to inform others of the project and its likely progress. For Corporate Projects, it should be reviewed and agreed by the Management Team.

End of Stage Stocktakes

The Project Scoping Report should include a section on project control. Amongst others items this should identify a number of end-of-stage stocktake points (often two, three or four) - critical points at which stocktake and review meetings should be held between the Project Manger and the Sponsor.

The aim is to review project progress, check that the original outputs and outcomes are still valid in terms of the overall organisational plans, and provide information to inform other related projects.

Delegations and Authorisations

When the Project Scoping Report is being discussed by the Project Manager and Sponsor, they should agree any delegations and authorisations needed - particularly if significant finance is involved.

The aim here is to ensure that people carrying out the project have the resources and powers to resolve the difficulties they face quickly, without undue loss of accountability and control.

Contract Strategy and Management

If the organisation undertakes numerous project involving the use of contracts, the they need make available the company guidance and rules for contract management the Project Manager can access and follow.

The aim here is to ensure that any contracts are awarded fairly and based on good practice approaches for managing contract progress.

Operational Progress

There are a variety of control mechanisms traditionally used in project management to enable the Project Manager can keep track of project progress and know where they need to pay attention. Project managers rarely use them all - they customise their project control from them to suit their particular project. In this area one simply cannot avoid delving into the detail - that is where slippage will take place. In summary they are:

Project Progress Reporting - Meetings
To keep the key people up to date on progress and to highlight any deviations from plan.
Project Progress Reporting - Written Reports
To keep the key people up to date on progress and to highlight any deviations from plan.
Progress Control - Project Plans and updates
To enable the project manager to remain up to date on progress and identify and deviations from plan.
Progress Control - Cost Budgets and Updates
To enable the project manager to remain up to date on progress and identify and deviations from plan.