Project Control Systems

Student Name: Craig Abrahams

Student No: 1414682

SUM104 Online Distance: Project Planning and Control

Project Control Systems

MSC Construction Project Management 4th May 2015

[Word Count: 1975] Declaration: I hereby declare that this coursework is entirely my own work

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Student Name: Craig Abrahams

Student No: 1414682

Table of Contents

Title Page

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Table of Content

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Introduction

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Resource Structure / Allocation

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Planning

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4.0

Scheduling

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Monitoring and Control

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Conclusion

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References

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Student Name: Craig Abrahams

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Student No: 1414682

Introduction

Project controls are the data gathering, management processes used to understand and constructively influence the time and cost outcomes of a project; through the communication of information in formats that assist effective management and decision making. The successful performance of a project depends on appropriate planning. The execution of a project is based on a robust project plan and can only be achieved through an effective schedule control methodology. Planning and monitoring plays a major role to the cause of project failures. In our Architectural firm we know all to well how important control processors are. The delay of production of any information will have a major impact on the life cycle of the projct. The 4 systems I identified within the architectural industry is namely:    

Resource Structure / Allocation Planning Scheduling Monitoring and Control

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Student Name: Craig Abrahams

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Resource Structure / Allocation

Resource Structure and allocation is an important process in the life-cycle of any project. A well balanced blend of expertise has a more successful success rate. Our company allocates resources based on the following: 

relevant experience

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technical qualifications

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appreciation of project objectives

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level of available supporting resources

According to Project Management in Practice (2001), team members have some characteristics in common namely: 

They must be technically competent

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Senior members of the project team must be politically sensitive

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Members of the project team need strong problem orientation

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Team members need strong goal orientation

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Project workers need high self-esteem All projects are different in nature and therefore careful consideration in resource allocation is required. We tend to use the weighting process in deciding which resource to use. All this is dependent on resource availability. PMIS software assists the company with the resourcing and using programs like MS projects helps with this process. Organizing resources time between projects could be complicated therefor using MS projects manages this process effectively.

The main shortcomings of resource allocation would be over allocation. This is when you require too much of your resource to complete any task. The following could be considered to rectify over allocation: 

Delay a task

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Substitute resources in a project

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Find a resource with available time

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Decrease task duration

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Assign an additional resource

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Student Name: Craig Abrahams

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The term resource levelling used in MS Projects assists in over allocations where the program automatically arranges resourcing to achieve your goal. This could be done manually however an important aspect to consider when manually levelling would be project evaluation. After levelling the resource schedule and correcting any over allocations, you should review the schedule to make sure that you still meet the budget and planned finish date for the project and any related projects.

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Student Name: Craig Abrahams

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Student No: 1414682

Planning

The primary function of a project plan is to serve the project manager with a map of the route from start to finish. (Project Management in Practice. 2001) Often project planning is ignored in favour of getting on with the work. However, many people fail to realize the value of a project plan in saving time, money and many problems. The planning process includes the following: 

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Project Goals - First point of call would be reviewing the project scope of works. This will assist in developing the project path. This would also be the base-line for the life-cycle of the project. Once you have established a clear set of goals, they should be recorded in the project plan. Project Deliverables - Create a list of things the project needs to deliver in order to meet the goals, specifying when and how each item must be delivered. Add the deliverables to the project plan with an estimated delivery date. More accurate delivery dates will be established in the scheduling process. Supporting Plans - Resource Plan - Communications Plan - Risk Management Plan  Time and cost estimates too optimistic.  Customer review and feedback cycle too slow.  Unexpected budget cuts.  Unclear roles and responsibilities.  Stakeholder input is not sought, or their needs are not properly understood.  Stakeholders changing requirements after the project has started.  Stakeholders adding new requirements after the project have started.

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Student Name: Craig Abrahams

Student No: 1414682

 Poor communication resulting in misunderstandings, quality problems and rework.  Lack of resource commitment.

Risks can be tracked using a risk register, adding each risk identified to the risk register. Review your risk register on a regular basis, adding new risks as they occur during the life of the project. Risks which are ignored don't go away with an even bigger risk the longer its actioned. Pitfalls in Project Planning are as follows: 

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Time consumed - Project planning documents can be useful to a team however they are of little use if they are not created with genuine effort and thought put into them. Lack of use - One disadvantage many organizations and teams find with using project planning documents is that they are often created and then never used.

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Student Name: Craig Abrahams

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Student No: 1414682

Scheduling

The project schedule is the tool that communicates what work needs to be performed, which resources of the organization will perform the work and the timeframes in which that work needs to be performed. The project schedule should reflect all of the work associated with delivering the project on time. Without a full and complete schedule, the project manager will be unable to communicate the complete effort, in terms of cost and resources, necessary to deliver the project. Schedules also help with the following:     

Provide a basis for monitoring and control project activities. Determine how best to allocate resources so you can achieve the project goal. Assess how time delays will impact the project. Where excess resources are available to allocate to other projects. Provide a basis to help you track project progress.

Scheduling Tools: 

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Schedule Network Analysis  This is a graphic representation of the project's activities, the time it takes to complete them, and the sequence in which they must be done. Microsoft Project (Gantt charts) is a global familiar project management software typically used to create these analyses Critical Path Analysis  This is the process of looking at all of the activities that must be completed, and calculating the critical path – to take so that you'll complete the project in the minimum amount of time. The method calculates the earliest and latest possible start and finish times for project activities, and it estimates the dependencies among them to create a schedule of critical activities and dates. Schedule Compression  This tool helps shorten the total duration of a project by decreasing the time allotted for certain activities. It's done so that you can meet time constraints, and still keep the original scope of the project.

Tips when developing the project schedules:  

Realize the importance of the schedule Identify the availability of team members

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Student Name: Craig Abrahams

   

Student No: 1414682

Build the schedule around deliverables Include regular milestones Expect that the schedule will change Have a process for managing change

Gantt chart advantages  Allows for efficient organization  Helps establish timeframes  Highly visual Gantt chart disadvantages  Potentially overly complex  Need to be updated  Don’t show the whole picture What are the disadvantages in a CPM IMPLEMENTATION?  A CPM can become extremely complicated and difficult to fathom for the new recruits to the project team.  If the project is far too bulky and lengthy, the CPM requires software to monitor the plan.  CPM can become ineffective and difficult to manage if it is not well-defined and stable.  It cannot effectively handle sudden changes in the implementation of the plan on ground. It is very difficult to redraw the entire CPM chart if the plan of the project suddenly changes midway.  The CPM cannot form and control the schedules of the persons involved in the project.  The allocation of resources cannot be properly monitored.  The CPM takes longer to identify and to monitor the critical path when the project is of big dimension.  Using CPM, identifying and determining a critical path is difficult when there are many other similar duration paths in the project.

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Student Name: Craig Abrahams

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Student No: 1414682

Monitoring and Control

Monitoring is about assessing what work has been completed for a Program or Project including costs, risks and issues. Project monitoring and control are in some ways simply the opposite sides of project selection and planning. Monitoring  Is the collection, recording and reporting of project information that is important to the project manager and other relevant team members Controlling  Uses the monitoring data and information to bring actual performance into agreement with the plan. Monitoring information which requiring special attention: Scope, Time, Costs, Quality, Staff, Risks, Communications and Stakeholders. You will obtain then the following benefits: 

Instant view of the project status: anticipation to issues and decisions based on relevant information.

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Avoid budget overrun and delays: as a result of an effective monitoring of all the important aspects of the project.

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Improvement of productivity: Minimising the necessary time to generate reports, gathering information from different sources.

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Collaboration of all stakeholders: a well-informed team is a solid and motivated team.

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Objective evaluation of providers: efficiency parameters to define improved contractual agreements.

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Continuous improvement: anything that can be measured and analysed can be improved.

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Student Name: Craig Abrahams

Student No: 1414682

Project control, has one primary process: project status reporting. There are secondary processes namely: schedule control, change control, risk management, and quality control. These sub processes all depend heavily on information collection and information distribution.  Schedule control consists of monitoring the project schedule to determine if the project is on schedule. Tools used in schedule control are earned value estimation. Earned value management is a technique used to integrate a project's scope, schedule, and resources and to measure and report project performance from initiation to close-out.  The Change control process in project management ensures that each change proposed during a project is properly defined, considered and approved before implementation. This makes sure no unnecessary changes are made, services are not disrupted and resources are used efficiently. Change Control does not mean that there cannot be any change, but that change must be regulated with a process to ensure that only those changes that will benefit the project's objectives happen.  Risk Management has two stages in the process namely: Risk Assessment and Risk Control. Risk Assessment can take place at any time during the project. Risk Control cannot be implemented without a Risk Assessment. Similarly, most people tend to think that having performed a Risk Assessment; they have done all that is needed. Far too many projects spend a great deal of effort on Risk Assessment and then ignore Risk control completely.  Quality control requirements are defined during the quality planning process. They include both project processes and product goals. This process can help you in three ways:  Confirm that your project is meeting the quality standards  Provide a basis for corrective action  Provide feedback about your quality assurance process

Personally there are no shortfalls to the Monitoring process. This process is vital to any project which oversees all the tasks necessary to ensure that the approved and authorized project is within scope, on time, and on budget so that the project proceeds with minimal risk.

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Student Name: Craig Abrahams

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Student No: 1414682

Conclusion

For any new project, it impossible to foresee problems and any changes required during its life cycle. Therefor it’s vital to have your control processes working like a well-oiled machine. Everyone knows without oil in a machine, could lead to machine failure. According to John M. Nicholas (2001) there are questions which are asked which clarifies project control:     

What is project control and how does it differ from traditional cost control? Who controls the project? What are the steps and areas of emphasis in project control? How is project performance tracked and analyzed? What changes occur in projects and how are they controlled.

Project control should be on the forefront of any project start-up. Being on top of this control will lead to an efficient

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Student Name: Craig Abrahams

Student No: 1414682

Reference:   

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Code of Practice for Project Management for Construction and Development. (2002). 3rd ed. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Mantel, S. (2001). Project management in practice. New York: J. Wiley. Support.office.com, (2015). Goal: Resolve resource allocation problems. [online] Available at: https://support.office.com/en-sg/article/Goal-Resolve-resource-allocationproblems-cd56604a-f660-4ab2-b074-4cfafaef982d?ui=en-US&rs=en-SG&ad=SG [Accessed 15 April 2015]. Projectsmart.co.uk, (2015). [online] Available at: http://www.projectsmart.co.uk/projectplanning-step-by-step.php [Accessed 15 Apr. 2015]. Small Business - Chron.com, (2015). Advantages and Disadvantages of Using Project Planning Documents. [online] Available at: http://smallbusiness.chron.com/advantagesdisadvantages-using-project-planning-documents-17607.html [Accessed 16 Apr. 2015]. Mindtools.com, (2015). Project Schedule Development: Planning the Timing and Sequence of Project Activities. [online] Available at: http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newPPM_71.htm [Accessed 16 Apr. 2015]. Anon, (2015). [online] Available at: • http://www.projectcontrolsonline.com/Home/DefinitionandImportanceofProjectControls.a spx [Accessed 16 Apr. 2015]. ESSENTIALS of Strategic Project Management. (2004). Hoboken, NJ.: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Faniran, O., Love, P. and Li, H. (1999). Optimal Allocation of Construction Planning Resources.Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 125(5), pp.311-319. Images courtesy of google

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