Chapter 27: Time Management during Monitoring & Controlling the Project

Aim: To understand the Control Schedule Process

After the project enters the executing phase, work is performed to produce the project’s deliverables. All work should be performed according to the project schedule, budget, and quality standards. But does it happen that way all the time? Unfortunately No. As Project Manager, we must closely monitor these constraints to ensure that the project progresses as planned and adheres to the scope/time/cost baselines decided during the Planning Phase.

Manage the Project Schedule

The control schedule process helps the project manager to ensure that project work is being carried out according to the planned schedule.

The table below shows the inputs, tools and techniques, and outputs for the control schedule process.

Control Schedule
Inputs	Tools & Techniques	Outputs
Project management plan Project schedule updates Work performance information Organizational process assets	Performance reviews Variance analysis Project management software Resource leveling What-if scenario analysis Adjusting leads and lags Schedule compression Scheduling tool	Work performance measurements Organizational process assets Change requests Project management plan updates Project document updates

The control schedule process identifies any deviations from the project schedule. What happens if work is falling behind? Your recourse is to implement corrective or preventive actions or a change request to align the project execution with its expected results and timelines.

Exam Trivia:

A corrective or preventive action is an action that is implemented to bring future project events and tasks into alignment with the project plan and its baseline.

Some options available at this time could be to

• Update the project baseline to reflect the current situation using the documented change process.
• Level resources. When possible, reassign over-allocated resources to avoid schedule conflicts.
• Crash the schedule. Add people (internal/external) or resources to the tasks that have fallen behind and have a direct effect on the critical path; the down side is that this might cause unscheduled expenses.
• Fast track. Rearrange your activities to perform activities in parallel.
• Outsource the project or the affected part.
• Reduce the scope of the project.

Exam Trivia:

Reducing the Project Scope should be the last resort measure only. As the manager you must exhaust all other possibilities to bring the project schedule back on track and if all measures fail, then we must use Scope Reduction. Do remember that you are likely to face significant heat from both your management as well as the customer if you suggest scope reduction.

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