2.3. Project Execution and Control Phase

2.3.1. Purpose

It is said that Project Management is 20% planning and 80% tracking and control. The project manager is like a lifeguard looking for someone to save. The project manager must monitor the project team at all times, because even the best team member can drown. Executing, monitoring and controlling project progress is important to detecting issues, problems and solutions early enough to quickly get the project back on schedule so the objectives are still met. While it is impossible to foresee and plan for every issue, project managers can regulate work as the project progresses, and still deliver a finished product that meets the objectives and requirements laid out in the initiation and planning phases.


The emphasis of the Execution and Control Phase is to ensure that each deliverable achieves the desired results, in the designated period, within the designated cost, and using the specified allocated resources. To ensure the accomplishment of that goal, continuous supervision of the project is required. The project manager must ensure that

all the plans leading up to this phase are in place, current and can be implemented as soon as the situation warrants.

2.3.2. Project Manager Role

The project manager is responsible for controlling the project. He or she implements tracking and reporting processes, tracks the plan as it progresses and reschedules when needed to keep the project on track. During this phase the project manager is responsible for scope management. They will implement the change control process and manage the change control log. It is during this phase that customer deliverables are produced and the project manager is responsible for quality assurance and deliverable signoff. In addition the project manager is also responsible for executing the risk management plan and ensuring that risks have little or no unexpected impact on the project.

2.3.3. Inputs

􀂃 Project Team

􀂃 Project WBS

􀂃 Communication Plan

􀂃 Risk Management Plan

􀂃 Organization Chart

􀂃 Responsibility Matrix

􀂃 Project Notebook

􀂃 Issues/Action Item Log

􀂃 Status Reports

􀂃 Project Schedule

2.3.4. Outputs

􀂃 Current and Updated Project Schedule

􀂃 Change Management

􀂃 Quality Management

􀂃 Phase Sign Off


2.3.5. Step-By-Step Process

1. Tracking

Immediately after management approval, a project baseline should be established. This baseline is the standard by which progress will be measured. Variances to the baseline may trigger implementation of contingency plans developed during the planning phase to keep the project on track. Once the project has begun, the project manager must have a way to effectively monitor the progress against the baseline. Many activities may be occurring simultaneously and may be difficult to control. In order to stay involved with all phases of the project, the project manager will establish a routine project review strategy and communication plan to ensure current, accurate and consistent progress feedback. The frequency of each project tracking/review is normally a function of the project’s remaining duration. As the project draws to a close, the frequency should increase. Other variables such as project phase, complexity, management visibility, overall cost, current performance, and proximity to major milestones are also considerations.

2. Status Meeting

Project status meetings should be held by the project manager, as needed, to review schedule and budget variances, focus on short term milestones, address any issues and assign action items, and gain support for required scope or strategy changes. The frequency of the status meetings is dependent on the expectations of the project owner and the progress of the project. Each meeting should be documented and meeting minutes distributed within 48 hours of the meeting.

3. Change Management

Issues arise throughout the project that could cause change in scope to occur. Once a change has been requested, the project manager or the change originator will complete the Scope Change Request Form (Appendix B). The project manager will keep the Scope Change Request Log (Appendix B) in the project notebook.

a. Evaluate Scope Change Requests

An assessment of the impact of the scope change will be performed to examine the tasks, schedule, cost, and quality that may be affected by the change. A solution will be recommended based on the impacts assessed.

Project managers should use the following process steps to control changes in scope:

􀂃 Change in scope due to requirement change requests - Requests for changes will be formally documented and approval is required prior to re-baselining of the project plan.

􀂃 Change in scope due to design implications - The project manager will re-estimate the project following major milestones. If the new estimates exceed the baselined estimate significantly (i.e., requiring additional resources or

causing schedule slippage), the required change in scope is documented and approval is required prior to re-baselining the project plan.

For scope changes that impact major milestones, project team and project owner concurrence is required. After approval of the expanded scope the project plan is re-baselined by the project manager to reflect the new scope and submitted to the Program Office to be filed as the official documentation.

b. Assess Scope Change Impact

The project manager must ensure that the scope control process established during the initial scope definition is enforced. The project manager and core team members should scrutinize each Scope Change Request Form for its benefit and schedule/cost impact and the results should be communicated to the project sponsor for final approval. Each member of the core team should make a careful review of the impact of changes in scope before the change is approved.

c. Taking Corrective Action

Revisit the Planning Process - The success of a project is often determined by the strategy and recovery techniques the project manager uses when problems arise or changes in scope are made. The methods used to put a problem project back on a successful course are the same as those used to develop the original project execution plan. The ultimate goal is continuous schedule, resource and budget optimization.

Minimize Float Usage - During the entire execution phase, the team should adopt a proactive philosophy and think ASAP by establishing goals to out-perform the target project. A healthy amount of pressure should be maintained by the project manager to keep float usage at a minimum.

Crash the Schedule - If the schedule does slip, the first place to look for improvement is the critical path activities. Every activity in the critical path represents an opportunity to recover lost time. If a scope change is causing the end date of the project to be extended, the project manager should evaluate all tasks along the critical path to see if adding resources or re-evaluating the duration estimate could shorten durations.

Expand Work Breakdown - Breaking large activities down into smaller pieces is a good way to enhance control. “Divide and Conquer” is an appropriate strategy, especially when more information is available than when initial planning was performed.

Trend Analysis - If Earned Value Analysis is used and the resulting reports indicate a negative trend, the problem could be several individuals, or a combination of factors. Out of Target Projects, numerous scope changes, inaccurate planning estimates and progress reporting, are the most common occurrences the project manager should investigate and resolve.

d. Review Status with Owner

Once the scope change impact has been assessed, the project manager will schedule a meeting to review with the project owner. The project manager must have available the completed Scope Change Request Form and a recommendation for the project owner. Based on the impacts associated with the change and input from the project manager, the project owner will decide whether to approve or reject the request.

After the project manager and project owner have discussed the scope change request and associated impact, the project owner must sign the Scope Change Request Form and designate either the approval or rejection. For major scope changes, upper management approval is required. The project manager will keep the owner signed Scope Change Request Form in the project files for future reference.

e. Update Project Plans and Schedule

Typically scope changes require changes to the project plans and the project schedule. In order for any project plan or schedule to change, the project owner must have acknowledged his approval of such changes by signing the Scope Change Request Form.

Usually not all project plans will require changes. The project manager must determine which project plans will be affected and update them accordingly. For example, the communication plan may require additional reports to be generated or the human resource plan may be altered to increase resources on the project. It is the project manager’s responsibility to ensure that all project plans are updated and adhered to.

When schedule changes are made, the project manager must ensure all project stakeholders, especially project team members, are aware of the revisions.

4. Maintaining Quality

Quality Plans should not be seen as separate documents, but rather as a set of quality review activities that must be included in the project’s detailed project plan. The project team members and subject matter expert’s (SME’s) will provide the project manager with reports noting compliance or noncompliance to the quality plan or quality expectations, specifications, and procedures. As needed, the project manager will intervene when quality is not acceptable. The determination of acceptability is within the owner and other stakeholders. The project manager is responsible for obtaining feedback from the owners and/or other stakeholders to determine if the requirements have been met. The primary method of obtaining quality feedback is to conduct regular quality reviews.

a. Quick Guide to Conducting Project Deliverable Quality Reviews

What they are - The primary reason for a review is to detect defects as quickly and economically as possible. It is well documented that it is much faster to correct oversights earlier in development than later.

What they are not - A performance appraisal. A place to bring your ego.

When to have - Reviews should be conducted as soon as a significant deliverable requires a progress or completion review.

Who should attend - Key stakeholders who are involved in the life cycle of the product, e.g., requirement gatherers to operations people.

Who should not attend - Supervisors. This is not a meeting where politics should be a factor, nor is it to be construed of as a performance appraisal. Participants for each quality review should be free from personal criticism or career implications. If personal performance is an issue, it should be address privately between the individuals involved – not in the quality review session.

b. Quality Assurance Roles and Responsibilities

A quality review will usually take the form of a meeting involving the following roles:

The Presenter, who is usually the author of the end deliverable.

The Chairperson or Moderator, who may be the project manager or any other competent person. This is a most demanding role, as it requires the ability to act as a chairperson as well as having an understanding of the end deliverable.

The Reviewers, who must be competent to assess the end deliverable. They must be thorough in their review and understand that they are taking personal responsibility for the quality of the end deliverable.

c. Maintaining Project Process Quality

Just as important to managing deliverable quality is the process of managing project process quality. Project managers should use the series of Quality Checklists (Appendix B) to monitor quality throughout the project life cycle. The following checklists are provided and should be tailored to the specific needs of the project:

5. Project Documentation

Throughout the project, the project manager will generate reports relating to quality issues and conformance. This will include the project status report and weekly status reports. A quality audit will be performed periodically to ensure accuracy of the information.

Throughout the project, the project manager will develop lessons learned to be placed in the repository. The lessons learned will address any issues or problems encountered in the quality of the project and the associated resolutions. Use the Team Member Evaluation Form (Appendix B) to gather and analyze lessons learned.

a. Produce and Distribute Documentation

The project manager must produce and distribute all the project documentation necessary to reflect any changes to the project plans and/or schedule. The Communication Matrix developed in the Planning Phase will detail the recipients, communication methods, and number of copies required.

b. 5.2. Produce Project Reports

During the project, the project manager is required to produce project reports. These reports are provided in Microsoft Project and include:

􀂃 Project Status Reports

􀂃 Deliverable, Task or Milestone Reports

6. Executive Review Meeting Facilitation

The executive review meeting/presentation may need to be conducted every month depending on the visibility of the project. It is one of the most informative ways senior management of the company can review the overall progress and status of the programs/projects being worked on in the company. Because this meeting will be for higher executives in the company, additional items will need to be considered. Some of these include:

􀂾 Appropriate facilities - Reserve the best meeting facility possible within the company. Reserve them well in advance. Make sure the climate settings are comfortable. If presentation equipment and props are to be used, make sure they are usable in the room. The meeting room should have speaker phone equipment in it. There should be extra seats available.

􀂾 Invitation to meeting - Because executive managers have more demand on their time, send out invitations to the meeting well in advance. A meeting agenda should also go with the invitation. Try to schedule meeting in the mid morning when the attention span is usually the best.

􀂾 Materials - Because executive managers have little time to spare, have all materials and extras ready well before the meeting. Spare meeting equipment (overhead bulbs, markers, easels etc.) is also desirable. Spare packets of the presentation material should also be made. Be Prepared!

These are the steps needed to conduct a typical executive review meeting.

􀂾 Send out invitations with meeting agenda well in advance (3 to 4 weeks) to the executives.

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􀂾 Reserve meeting facility keeping in mind the previous criteria.

􀂾 Have project managers update all project report summary information. Have information consolidated. Review information for correctness.

􀂾 Prepare rough draft of meeting material. Practice presentation of material. Presentation will want to be in the 30 to 40 minute range. Make sure material relays exactly what information will need to be presented.

􀂾 Finalize material and produce presentation material packets along with any other needed materials (overheads, charts, and graphs).

􀂾 Confirm attendance from returned invitations. Know exactly who will be at the meeting beforehand.

􀂾 Day of meeting: Go to meeting room early to set up.

􀂾 Greet executives before meeting while passing out presentation material.

􀂾 Start meeting on time. Thank executives for attending.

􀂾 Have a designated person take meeting minutes.

􀂾 Present meeting material. If lengthy discussions start, use discretion to bring them to a stop to continue meeting.

􀂾 After material has been presented, open the floor up to questions.

􀂾 After meeting is concluded, thank attendees and state that meeting minutes will be forwarded to them within 48 hours.

7. Monitor and Control Project Risk

Risk control is the process of continually sensing the condition of a program and developing options and fallback positions to permit alternative lower-risk solutions. Continuously updating the risk management plan is an important step in risk avoidance and risk control.

At a minimum, risk plans, and additional risks should be reviewed weekly by the project manager and monthly by the entire project team. Plans must be updated and new plans developed as risks change throughout the life cycle of the project.

This component of risk management forms part of the day-to-day management of the project. It contains the following steps:

􀂾 Implement risk avoidance actions in accordance with the risk management plan.

􀂾 Implement risk contingency actions in accordance with the risk management plan, if risk avoidance does not occur.

􀂾 Report on each risk issue during progress reporting (internal to the project and at management (e.g., Steering Committee level). Develop corrective actions to project costs, schedule, quality, technical and/or performance as needed.

􀂾 Monitor and analyze the effectiveness of each risk control action. Modify or replace any actions that are ineffective.

􀂾 Periodically update the list of managed risks by “dropping” risk issues that have been avoided or no longer pose a real threat to the project. Add new risk issues as they surface during the project. Periodically, review the risk probability and impact information to ensure that this information remains current and accurate. Reassess the priority list to ensure the appropriate risks are being managed. This list will change as the project progresses and what was a low priority risk may become one of the top priority risks. If needed, develop a Risk Management Plan for any new risks in the top priority list.

Update Risk Management Plan. It is important that the risk management strategy is established early in a project and that risk is continually addressed throughout the project life cycle. Updating the risk management plan is essential to managing risk effectively.

8. Manage & Resolve HR Conflicts

During any project, issues/conflicts may arise. Due to the temporary nature of the project itself, team members may experience conflicts within their functional organizations for their time, personality conflicts among the team, and conflict associated with the incredible industry growth. This is a natural occurrence resulting from the differences in the organizational behavior of individuals, the differences in the way that functional and project managers view the work required, and the lack of time necessary for project managers and functional personnel to establish ideal working relationships.

Regardless of how well planning is developed, project managers must be willing to operate in an environment that is characterized by constant and rapid change. This dynamic environment can be the result of changes in the scope of work, a shifting of key project and functional personnel due to new priorities, and other unforeseen developments. The success or failure of a project manager is quite often measured by the ability to deal with change.

In contrast to the functional manager who works in a more standardized and predictable environment, the project manager must live with constant change. In his effort to integrate various disciplines across functional lines, he must learn to cope with the pressures of the changing work environment. He has to foster a climate that promotes the ability of his personnel to adapt to this continuously changing work environment. Demanding compliance to rigid rules, principles, and techniques is often counter-productive. In such situations, an environment conducive to effective project management is missing and the project leader too often suffers the same fate as heart-transplant patients, rejection.

There is no single method that will suffice for managing all conflicts in temporary management situations because:

􀂾 There exist several types of conflicts.

􀂾 Each conflict can assume a different relative intensity over the life cycle of the project.

If project managers are aware of some of the major causes of disagreements in the various project life-cycle phases, there is a greater likelihood that the detrimental aspects of these potential conflict situations can be avoided or minimized. The average conflict intensity perceived by project managers has been measured for various conflict sources and for various phases of the project life cycle. Seven potential sources have been identified and ranked as the most common cause of conflicts in the life-cycle of projects:

􀂾 Conflict over project priorities.

􀂾 Conflict over administrative procedures.

􀂾 Conflict over technical opinions and performance trade-offs.

􀂾 Conflict over manpower resources.

􀂾 Conflict over cost.

􀂾 Conflict over schedules.

􀂾 Personality conflict.

The project manager should proactively work with the project team in an attempt to avoid conflict. Many conflicts can be either reduced or eliminated by constant communication of the project objectives to the team members. Many times this continual repetition will prevent individuals from going too far into the “wrong” and thus avoid the creation of a conflict situation. Escalating the conflict to upper management should be the last resort for the project manager.

9. Adjust Schedules

There are several ways to update the schedule. Some of the most frequently used methods are: percent complete, remaining duration, duration completed a future estimated completion date, actual start, and actual finish. If the schedule is resource loaded, actual work periods completed or estimated work periods remaining should be reported. The goal is to provide enough information to accurately compare the present project status to the planned target. Actual dates are often reported carelessly, especially completion dates. This is true, because of the assumption by the person supplying the progress that it is only important that the work is reported finished. Accurate actual progress information is important for analyzing the current status of the project, but it is also important for historical project templating and benchmarking.

Project managers should update their scheduling tool and project plans at least weekly. Team members should be directed to report weekly at a minimum:

􀂾 Actual hours worked for each task for that week

􀂾 Weather the task was completed

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􀂾 Remaining hours that they estimate it will take to complete each task

􀂾 Any issues that arise requiring corrective action

All reporting should be turned into the project manager by mid-day Friday so the project manager can update the schedule prior to a Monday Weekly Status Meeting or Report.

10. Troubled Project Process

A troubled project is any project that is behind schedule and/or over budget and/or is not meeting the requirements of the customer. Although there are ways to detect when a project is headed for trouble, too often symptoms are missed and/or ignored.

The troubled project process has two purposes. The first is to provide guidance in identifying symptoms that indicate that a project is headed for, or in trouble. The second is to outline the process to bring a troubled project back on track.

a. Indicators of a Project in Trouble

The foundation for project success is laid during the Opportunity Assessment & Initiation Phase of the project management life cycle. It is during this phase that the business case or technical description is developed, outlining the opportunity, project objective, scope, and deliverables. It is here that a high-level risk assessment is performed. If this phase is cut short, the project is on its way to failure. Indicators include:

􀂃 Budget Indicators:

􀃠 Concern that the project as a whole is over budget

􀃠 Earned value indications that deliverables will not be produced on time and/or within budget

􀃠 Unclear as to specific areas of development causing budgetary problems

􀃠 Generalized vs. Targeted cutbacks

􀂃 Planning Indicators:

􀃠 Poor planning, missing deliverables

􀃠 Lack of a detailed project schedule

􀃠 Not understanding the business problem

􀃠 Not involving the stakeholders

􀃠 Little or no risk assessment

􀃠 Poor communications

􀃠 Lack of processes, i.e. change control, issue management, scope management, etc.

􀃠 Not enough or not the right resources

􀃠 Estimates-to-please vs. accurate estimates

􀃠 Lack of deliverable owners

􀂃 Schedule Indicators:

􀃠 Arbitrary schedules

􀃠 Inability to measure completeness

􀃠 Vague objectives

􀃠 Dependencies not defined

􀃠 Inaccurate estimates

􀃠 Mandated end dates

􀃠 Tasks that are too large

􀂃 Control Indicators:

􀃠 Lack of processes (change control, issues management, etc.)

􀃠 Team members cannot state project objective

􀃠 Too many ad-hoc meetings

􀃠 Lack of commitment from the staff

􀃠 High turnover rate

􀃠 Poor or no communications…lack of status reports

􀃠 Communications breakdown with the owner

􀃠 Personnel working on tasks that are different than tasks on the schedule

􀃠 Project manager departs

􀃠 Plan not baselined

􀃠 Critically late tasks

􀃠 Too much work remaining for the time frame of the deliverable

􀃠 Schedule not up-to-date

􀃠 “Nasty” e-mails sent back and forth

􀃠 Project manager cannot give an accurate status of the project without conducting some research

􀃠 Deliverables not signed off

􀃠 Heavy overtime

b. Causes of Project Failure

It is during the Opportunity Assessment & Initiation and Planning Phases of a project that the foundation of project success takes place. Planning is the foundation for all projects. Improper or lack of planning contributes more to project failure than any other cause.

􀂃 Causes of project failure that occur during the initial phases of a project include:

􀃠 Lack of understanding of problem statement

􀃠 Problem is a symptom

􀃠 Objective is vague

􀃠 Lack of proper scope

􀃠 Missed deliverables

􀃠 Lack of ownership for deliverable

􀃠 No or poor risk assessment

􀃠 Assumptions and constraints not fully understood

􀃠 Accepting unachievable objectives

􀃠 Over confidence

􀃠 Lack of owner participation

􀂃 Causes of project failure that occur later in the project include:

􀃠 Poor project tracking or no project tracking

􀃠 Out-of-date documentation

􀃠 Schedule not updated

􀃠 Lack of team member enthusiasm

􀃠 Little or no testing

􀃠 Lack of re-planning each week to bring schedules back on track

􀃠 Lack of physical inspection of deliverables

􀃠 Lack of project sponsor involvement

􀃠 Status reports that contain mostly noise not substance

􀃠 Processes are dumped

c. Random Reviews

Symptoms of project failure can be detected through the use of random project reviews. These reviews are similar to those conducted at project completion. An individual or organization outside of the project should conduct them. The following steps provide an effective approach to an interim project review:

􀂃 Collect and review project documentation

􀂃 Interview team members

􀂃 Interview the owner

􀂃 Interview the project manager

􀂃 Facilitate a group discussion of the entire project team to identify successes, failures, and recommendations for improvement.

Properly developed and managed project status reports can “take the temperature” of the project and identify potential problem areas. These reports should come directly from the project management office and assuming the information at the project level is correct, they will provide an accurate picture of the project’s health.

d. Troubled Project Review Steps

This section outlines an effective approach in handling troubled projects. Of course, since all projects are different, the approach may be varied based on the circumstances for the project that is being addressed.

It is recommended that the individual assigned to correct a troubled project is independent, i.e. from another organization. This will help eliminate politics that may hinder corrections and improvements that might need to be made.

Addressing a Troubled Project

Interview the project manager

Determine status of the project by reviewing the project schedule with them. Gain an understanding of the project organizational structure. Review the communication plan. Assess the level of project management skill the PM has.

Review project management processes and implement appropriate processes immediately

Determine if processes are in place for change control, communications, issues management, supplier management, scheduling, time tracking, meetings, and risk management. Implement processes as appropriate.

Collect and review documentation

This would include project charter, schedules, meeting reports, requirements, correspondence, etc.

Make information visible

Immediately start to put WBS’s, up-to-date schedules, and other pertinent project information on walls so that it is visible.

Conduct Gap Analysis

Review the project charter and the project schedule to determine if all deliverables are accounted for in the schedule. Begin to develop a charter if one is not available.

Addressing a Troubled Project

Interview the owner

Verify the mission statement, scope statement, and objectives from the charter with the owner. Determine how effective communications have been. Review their requirements with them. Find out if they feel that their requirements are being addressed. Identify improvements that they may recommend.

Interview team members

Determine how much they know about the project’s mission, objectives, deliverables, and strategic initiative supported. Review their work plans to determine if they reflect the actual work they are performing. Update project schedules to reflect accurate estimates to completion. Determine how much they understand of the project management processes that have been implemented.

Team session

Bring the team together to discuss how the project might be improved and to identify issues. Implement appropriate processes, such as change control, issue management, and the communication plan. Have the project manager restate the project mission, scope, and objectives.

Re-plan

Conduct a planning session that reviews the identified deliverables and looks for gaps. Before the meeting, construct a “straw man” WBS on one of the meeting room walls and use that as a starting point. Identify those deliverables that have been completed. Re-estimate the hours on the remaining deliverables. Break out the group into teams based on deliverable ownership. Have those teams break their work packages into tasks, assign resources, estimate durations, and determine dependencies.

Conduct Risk Assessment

Conduct risk assessment at the high and low levels.

Addressing a Troubled Project

Consider “crashing” the schedule

Determine resources required finishing the remaining work. If the schedule is going to be missed, consider temporarily adding resources and/or overlapping dependencies to make the scheduled dates.

Consider reducing the scope of the project

Determine if any deliverable can be deferred to a later project. Meet with the owner and demonstrate the impacts on schedule, cost, and quality. Have several alternative plans available for review.

Streamline communications

Utilize exception reporting. Review meeting management and streamline meetings if possible.

Implement face-to-face meetings with owner (if appropriate)

Discourage e-mail in all situations when it is important that team members and the PM see the reaction of the owner or when e-mail has been used to send “hate” mail.

Reduce the number of ad-hoc meetings

Insure that ownership of deliverables is understood that deliverable owners have the correct tools, and up-dated schedules.

Consider a team building exercise

Conducted by an outside organization, off-site. Focus on identifying how team members depend on each other and in improving communications.

Develop plan to recover project

Create project schedule to pull the project back on track.

Risk management plan

Create a risk management plan that includes assessments throughout the remainder of the project.

11. Complete the Phase Sign-off

Project Sponsors may require that large projects be broken down into phases or very specific milestones. Where this exists, use the Phase Sign-off (Appendix B) to gain complete approval and acceptance before proceeding to the next phase or milestone.

12. Conduct Interim Project Review with Owner

Periodically arrange a meeting with the project owner to review the project schedule and other tracking documents and reports in detail is important to assure the project is progressing according to plan.

Managing the expectations of the project sponsor is the most important activity that a project manager can do. In most cases, bad news is better received in a timely manner versus a “surprise” late in the process. Be honest and up-front with the project sponsor. If the project sponsor wants to change the scope, demonstrate to them the impact of the change through the scope change process and gain their concurrence before proceeding. Saying yes is simple, but can have severe implications to the project if the impact is no known before the agreement was made. Many companies end up “eating” project costs because they agree to changes without understanding the project impact.

As the project nears completion, all the loose ends will start to surface and the project manager may be faced with presenting bad news concerning time, cost, or quality. If project sponsor expectations have managed well throughout the life cycle of the project, then closure for the project will be much easier.