monitoring the control

Monitoring the

control

Earned Value

Earned value is a project performance measurement technique that integrates scope, time,

and cost data. Given a baseline, project managers and their teams

can determine how well the project is meeting scope, time, and cost.

Earned Value Analysis

Produce a baseline budget from the project plan Calculate the earned value of each activity Earned value = time for an activity / total time for the

project E.g. earned value = number of days for an activity /

number of days for the project

Earned Value Analysis

Earned Value Tracking Chart

0102030405060708090

100

0 5 10 15 20Week number

Cum

ulat

ive

cost

(%) Earned

value(BCWP)BaselineBudget(BCWS)Actual costto dateSchedule

variance (time)

Schedule variance (cost)

Budget variance

Cost variance

Prioritizing monitoring

Critical path activities Activities with no free float remaining Activities with less than a specified float High risk activities Activities using critical resources


Critical path activities Any delay in an activity on the critical path will cause

a delay in the completion date for the project. Critical path activities are therefore likely to have a very high priority for close monitoring


Activities with no free float remaining A delay in any activity with no free float will delay at

least some subsequent activity even though, if the delay is less than the total float, it might not delay the project completion date. These subsequent delays can have serious effects on the resource schedule as a delay in a subsequent activity could mean that the resource for the activity might become unavailable before that activity is completed because they are committed elsewhere


Activities with less than a specified float If any activity has very little float it might use up this

float before the regular activity monitoring brings the problem to the project manager’s attention. It is common practice to monitor closely those activities with less than, say, one week’s free float.


High risk activities A set of high risk activities should have been

identified as part of the initial risk profiling exercise. These activities will be given close attention because they are most likely to overrun or overspend.


Activities using critical resources Activities can be critical because they are very

expensive (as in the case of specialized contract programmers). Staff or other resources might be available only for a limited period, especially if they are controlled outside the project team. In any event, an activity that demands a critical resource requires a high level of monitoring.

Getting back on target

There are two principle options Shorten the critical path Reconsider precedence requirements


Shorten critical path The overall duration of a project is determined by the

critical path. Things that can be done to shorten critical path

increasing resource levels,improving resource efficiency,and how such means can shorten critical path

timescales to bring a project back on target.

Reconsider the precedence requirements The original project network will probably have

been produced for an ideal situation. Therefore, there is often scope to revisit activity constraints and precedences.


Change control

Everyone involved in the project should be aware of the change control system.

Anyone should be allowed to request a change. Change procedure should be clear an unambiguous. Request for change should be checked by a suitably

qualified person or persons. Change options should be explore. Preferred change option should be decided. Change option should be approved. Change should take place.

Conclusion

In here we have discussed the requirements for the continual monitoring of projects and the need for making progress visible. The important points were:

The execution of the plan is monitored. Activities that are too long need to be subdivided. Progress need to be shown in a visual way, in order to communicate information

effectively. Costs need to be monitored. Delayed projects can often be brought back on track by shortening activity times

or by relaxing some of the precedence constraints.

monitoring the control

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