4/13/2017 MonitoringProjectActivityandDeliverables:NorthCarolinaTrainingConsortium

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MonitoringProjectActivityandDeliverables

Overview
Introduction
Monitoring
Exercise

Introduction
Managingaprojecteffectivelymeans:thinkingbeforeacting,identifyinganddealingwithpotentialproblemsbeforetheyoccur,andconstantlymonitoring
todeterminewhetheryouractionsareachievingtheirdesiredresults.Thegoalistointernalizeprojectmanagement,tomakeitsecondnature,awayof
thinkingaboutthedecisionsyoumakeinmanagingyourproject,nottocontroleverysingleactivity.

ProgressMonitoring

Trackstheoperationalworkoftheproject.ItanswersquestionslikeHaveactivitiesbeencompletedasplanned?Havedeliverablesbeenproducedas
anticipated?Istheworkoftheprojectprogressingasprojected?Atafundamentallevelitisapassiveprocess,itchangesnothing.Instead,ittellsthe
projectmanagerwheretheprojectperformanceisintermsofmoney,time,risk,quality,andotherareasofprojectprogress.

ProjectEvaluation
Tendstofocusontrackingprogressatthehigherlevelsofthelogicalframeworki.e.projectoutcomes.Evaluationstendtoexplorequestionslike,Isthe
projectsuccessfulatachievingitsoutcomes?Istheprojectcontributingtoitsultimategoal?Evaluationdataiscollectedandanalyzedlessfrequently
andoftenrequiresamoreformalintervention(oftenbytechnicaladvisorsorexternalevaluators)toshowprojectresults.

ProjectControl

Involvesestablishingthesystemsanddecisionmakingprocesstomanagevariancesbetweentheprojectplans(intermsofscope,cost,schedule,etc.)
andtherealitiesofprojectimplementation.Italsoinvolvesestablishinghowprojectvariancesandchangesaremanaged,documentedandcommunicated
withstakeholders.

Flexibility

Attemptingtocontrolallaspectsofaprojectmayassurethegreatestchanceofsuccess,butyouwillneversucceedatcontrollingeverything!Andthats
okay.

Inadditiontogoodplanningandmonitoring,mostsuccessfulprojectswillalsorequireflexibilitytoallowforcoursecorrectionsandproblemsolving.As
such,youneedtorememberthat,atanygiventime,theprojectplanrepresentsyourcurrentthoughtsabouthowthegoalsoftheprojectwillbeachieved.
Projectplans,expenditurereports,andteammeetingswillnot,inandofthemselves,guaranteeprojectsuccess.Asprojectmanageryoumustbeflexible
andbeabletomanagethechangesastheyoccurandtothinkoutsidetheboxwetheusualapproachesdontwork.

DocumentChanges

Itisimportanttoidentifyandproperlydocumentallchangesfromtheoriginalprojectscope.Ifanticipatedapproacheshaveneverbeentriedbefore,itis
importanttodescribewhatyouproposetodo,howyouexpecttheprojecttounfold,andtheresultsyouhopetoachieve.Thelesscertainyouarethatthe
planwillworkthemorecloselyyoushouldmonitorongoingperformancetoidentifydeviationsfromtheplanasquicklyaspossible.Ifaplannedapproach
doesntseemtobeworking,clearchoicesshouldbemadeabouthowtomodifyexistingplansandguidetheworkinnewdirections.Keepthesponsor
informedaboutchanges.

ProjectTolerance

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Projecttolerancesdefineperformancelimitswithinwhichtheprojectmanagercanretainautonomy.Positivetolerances(theamountbywhichyoucango
over)arethemostcommon.However,negativetolerancesarejustasimportant.Forexample,cominginunderbudgetmeanscompanyfundsare
unnecessarilytiedupforalengthoftime.

Tolerancesareakeypartofbeingabletoworkautonomouslyasaprojectmanager.Havingatolerancemeanstheprojectmanagerhasacertainamount
offlexibilitywithregardtoprojectconstraints.Inpractice,thismeansthattheprojectcanbeoverabitorunderabitandnothavetocontinuallygobackto
projectboard(orsponsor)torequestapprovalforprojectchanges.

Mostfrequentlyusedtolerances

TimeTolerancetheamountoftimebywhichtheprojectcompletioncanbelaterorearlierthantheplanneddate.
CostTolerancethepercentage,oracashamount,bywhichtheprojectcanbeoverorundertheplannedbudget.
ScopeToleranceismeasuredasanagreedvariationfromthedeliverable(product)description.Anypotentialvariationshouldbedocumented.
RiskToleranceprovideabenchmarkforwhichrisksyoushouldbeescalatingtoyoursupervisor.
QualityTolerancerangesthatdefineacceptableperformancefortheproduct(orreliableresultsforthedeliverables)asenvisionedbytheoriginal
scopeofworkordocumentedintheproductdescription.
BenefitsTolerancerangesofacceptableperformanceoftheprojectattheoutcomeslevel.

ChangeOrders
Someinstitutionshaveprocedurestoformallydocumentanytheyaregenerallycalledchangeorder.Onceachangeisapproveditshouldbe
incorporatedintoallotherareasoftheprojectincludingtherevisedbudgetandschedule.

Monitoring
Itisveryimportanttomonitortheprogressontheprojecttoensureitdoesnotgettoofaroffofyouroriginalplan.Onceyouveerawayfromyourplan,it
canbeverydifficult(sometimesimpossible)togetthingsbackontrackwiththeoriginalplan.

Aswithotheraspectsoftheproject,youmustdeterminethefrequencyinwhichyouaregoingtomonitorprojectactivities.Monitoringisreallyanongoing
activity,however,youhavetostrikeabalancebetweenhowmuchtimeyouspendtrackingactivities(youdonotwanttomicromanageyourteam)andthe
valueoftheeffort.Regularprogressreportsorweekly/monthlymeetingsareaneffectivewaytohelpyouinthemonitoringofaproject.Progressreports
donothavetobeformalorprettyjustaclearconciselistingofimportantpointswilldo.Ifpossible,trytoholdregularstatusmeetingsatpredetermined
days/timestoallowpeopletobeprepared.Ageneralguidelinethatwillworkwellformostprojectsis:Nomorethanonceperweek,butnolessthanonce
permonth.

Throughouttheprojectcommunicate,communicateandcommunicate.Goodcommunicationisamajorkeysuccessfactorofanyproject.Asaproject
manageryouwillsurelycommunicateviaphone,emails,meetings,andsoon.Givingyourstakeholdersaccesstoinformationisavitalpartofanyproject
communicationsstrategy.Ensurethatyourprojectteamhasaccesstoaninformationsharingsystemsuchasanintranetorasimilarcollaborative
environment.Inlargeprojects,ateammembermaybedesignatedtosupervisetheprojectinformationsharingsystem.

Tohelpbringpeopletogetherandkeepeveryoneinthesamepagealwayssendoutanagendawellbeforeanymeeting.Thisminimizeswastedtimeand
therewontbeanyIwillhavetolookthatupandgetbacktoyou.Althoughthemajorpurposeofprojectmanagementistoalignandmotivatepeopleand
tosupporttheirdecisionmaking,itispeoplescreativeinsightsandperformancethatwillultimatelyleadtoprojectsuccess.Also,constantfeedbackto
yourteammemberscanhelpthesuccessofyourproject.Feedbackshouldbespecific(notgeneralandvague)anditshouldalwaysincludeeveryone
thatworkedonaparticularportionofthework.

Asmentionedearlier,tobeagoodcommunicator,youmustbeagoodlistenerfirst.Solistenintentlytoyourprojectteamyourteammemberswill
appreciatethatyouvaluetheiropinionsandencouragediscussion.Listeningalsoisveryusefulasitprovidesyoufeedbackonwhetheryourteam
membersunderstandyourmessages.

IfyouareworkingonacomplexprojectdontforgettoassignsomebodytododocumentationlikeUserManuals,reports,etc.Makesurethe
documentationpersonisinvolvedtheprocess.Ifthesponsorasksforextraitems,negotiateeitherextratimeorextraresources(andthereforemoney)to
meettheincreasedexpectations.

MonitoringPlans

Scheduleprogress:
Whatisthestatusoftheactivitiesthathavebeenscheduledforthis(week,monthetc.)
Howareactivitiesprogressing?Ahead,behindoronschedule?
Areanycoursecorrectionsrequired?
Budget:
Howmuchofthebudgethaveyouspenttodate?
Howmuchisremaining?
Doyouhavearevisedestimatetocompletethework?
Scope:
Isyourteamworkingonactivitiesthatareinscopeoroutofscope?
Haveanychangesoccurredthatwillrequireascopeaddition?

Evaluations

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Evaluationscanalsobeanimportanttoolyouusetomonitoryourproject.Although,finalevaluationsareoftenmandatedbyafundingagencyorrequired
byasponsor,Midtermevaluationsoffertheadvantageofansweringmanyofthesamequestionsposedthroughfinalevaluations,whileprovidingthe
opportunitytosupplysuggestionstoimprovetheprojectefficiencyandimpactwhiletheactivitiesarestillunderway.

Commonevaluationquestionsmightinclude:

Didtheprojectsucceedataccomplishingtheoutcomes,goalsandimpactdesired?
Wastheprojectrelevant,effectiveandefficient?
Doestheprojecthavethepotentialtobesustainableinitsoperationsandimpact?
Isthetheoryexpressedinthelogicalframeworkupheld?

ExPostEvaluations
Inaddition,Expostevaluationsexamineprojectimpactatadefinedperiodoftimeafterprojectcompletion,sometimesayearaftertheofficialcloseofthe
project.Sometimescalledasustainableimpactevaluation,anexpostevaluationmeasurestheextenttowhichprojectoutcomesandimpactshavebeen
realizedthroughparticipantownership.Expostevaluationfindingscanbeanespeciallyusefulwayofusingevidencetoadvocateanimproved
developmentapproach.

BelowyouhavealistoftopicstoconsiderforExPostEvaluations:
Stakeholders:whowillbeaffectedby,areneededtosupport,orwillbeinterestedintheprojectoutcome.
Didyouassignspecificrolesandresponsibilitiesforyourpersonnel?
Isanyoneworkingonyourprojectresponsiblefordifferentareas?Ifso,areyouprovidingenoughsupportsotheycancompletetheirtasks?
Doyouneedinstitutionaland/orspecialapprovalsinordertostartactivities(IRB,IACUC,legalreview,etc.)?Ifso,howtheseextraneousapprovals
willaffectyourtimeline/monitoringactivities?
Doyou(anyanyoneelseworkingintheproject)understandsanysignificantprojectrisksandhowtheywillbemanaged?
Iseveryoneworkingontheprojectawareofthedatesonwhichactivitiesshouldbestartedandcompletedandmilestonesarereached?
Doyouhavebudgetsforallrequiredprojectresources(including,butnotlimitedto,money)?

Asamanagerareyousuccessfullycontrollingtheperformanceofwork,including:

Organizing,focusing,andcontinuallymotivatingprojectpersonnel
Trackingandcomparingprojectworkandresultsagainsttheprojectplan
Consideringandmakingchangestoplanswhentrackingsuggestsachangeiscalledfor
Keepingeveryoneinformedofprojectaccomplishments,issues,andchanges
Continuouslytrackinganddealingwithevolvingprojectrisk
Organizationinformationsystemscanbeusedtosupportprojectplanningandcontrol,includingthemaintenanceofrecordsof:
Theamountofworkeffortexpendedbypeopleonprojectactivities
Thefundsexpendedonprojectactivities

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