Monitoring and quality, cost, schedule control

Definitions

Project monitoring is the continuous collection, recording and reporting of information on the actual progress of a project (physical work, time, cost, quality, resource use) during implementation, and its comparison with the plan, so that deviations are known.

Project evaluation is the periodic, systematic assessment of a project (during, at the end, or after completion) to judge its relevance, efficiency, effectiveness, impact and sustainability against the objectives, and to draw lessons for decisions and for future projects.

Project control is the process of comparing actual performance with the plan, analysing the variances and taking corrective action (or revising the plan) so that the project is completed within the planned time, cost and quality.

Quality control

Quality control checks that materials and work meet the specifications and standards. This is done through inspection, sampling and testing (cube test, density test), the use of control charts and Pareto/fishbone analysis, and by correcting or rejecting defective work. It is carried out by a quality engineer with a test plan and records.

Cost control

Cost control keeps the actual cost within the approved budget. The budget is set by WBS/cost codes, the actual cost is recorded, the variance is found (actual against budget, or by earned value: CV and CPI), the final cost is forecast (EAC) and corrective action is taken (reduce wastage, improve productivity, control variations and procurement).

Schedule control

Schedule control keeps the work on the planned timetable. Actual progress is compared with the baseline (bar chart, S-curve, SV and SPI); the cause of any delay and its effect on the critical path are found; corrective action is taken (more resources, overtime, re-sequencing, fast-tracking, crashing) and the schedule is updated.