Efficient monitoring & controlling of project work helps projects to progress according to the plan. Monitoring focuses on monitoring the key performace indicators (KPI) related to;

  • Schedule
  • Cost
  • Quality
  • Resources
  • Communications
  • Risks
  • Procurements
  • Stakeholder engagement
  • Health, Safety & Environment (HSE)

Controlling refers to taking the necessary steps to;

  • Eliminate deviations if any
  • Pro-actively prevent deviations from the ideal

Reactive Vs Pro-active Project Management

Taking corrective actions to correct deviations is reactive project management, where as forecasting fururistic potential problems well in advance and then taking measures to avoid them before they occur is pro-active project management. Project management becomes more efficient with pro-active project management.

Data is key

Whether it is cost or scheduling, forecasting need historical data related to;

  • Schedule
  • Cost
  • Scope
  • Quality
  • Resource utilisation
  • Project communications
  • Project risks
  • Project procurements
  • HSE incidents
  • Stakeholder satisfaction
  • Customer complaints
  • Snags etc

Project Management Information Systems (PMIS)

Project management information systems (PMIS) collects, collates and present project data from various sources like Document Management Systems, Scheduling systems, Time capture systems, Procurement systems, ERP, CAD, BIM etc and presents it in interactive project dashboards with drill down facilities.

Key concepts to be understood

  • Earned Value Management (EVM)
  • Rules of credit
  • Budgeted Cost of Work Scheduled (BCWS) or Planned Value (PV)
  • Budgeted Cost of Work Performed (BCWP) or Earned Value (EV)
  • Actual Cost Of Work Performed (ACWP) or Actual Cost (AC)
  • Schedule Variance (SV) = EV – PV
  • Schedule Performance Index (SPI) = EV / PV
  • Cost Variance (CV) = EV – AC
  • Cost Performance Index (CPI) = EV / AC
  • Estimate At Completion (EAC) = AC + (BAC – EV)/CPI
  • To Complete Performance Index (TCPI) = (BAC-EV) / (BAC-AC)
  • ‘S’ Curve
  • Project Dashboards
  • PMIS

Will explain these concepts in detail in the subsequent pages