Discussion 5- Monitoring project

Running head: COMPUTER SCIENCE 1

COMPUTER SCIENCE 6

Computer Science Homework

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Project Controls: Key Elements, Benefits, and Challenges

By Hexagon AB

Published in 2022

Introduction

The success of any project relies on many elements that have to be monitored and controlled continuously. Some of the common aspects include costs incurred, the set budget, and the time estimated for the project. However, the fact remains that in many large-scale projects, the likelihood of missing targets in all or some of the elements mentioned above exists. Some of the missing targets include optimism bias, manual estimation errors, insufficient historical data, and scope creep. For these reasons, project control and monitoring are paramount for the successful completion of a project without missing the set targets and utilizing more than the allocated resources.

Summary of the Article

According to the article, project control is a process that involves gathering and analyzing a project's data for the essence of keeping its costs and time schedules within the set parameters. Through gathering and analyzing the project's data, project controls aid in critical processes such as initiating, planning, monitoring and controlling, communicating, and locking in costs and time. Ultimately, project managers and controllers can use the data gathered during project controls to forecast future issues that may arise, and in so doing, they can be prepared to mitigate them. Thanks to project controls, project managers and controllers can course-correct any project elements that get out of track.

Additionally, project control is an umbrella element that shadows critical project activities such as developing a work breakdown structure, monitoring project costs, provision of feedback and reports, collaborating on initial project schedules, creating a risk management plan, and, most importantly, aligning projects with an organization's goals and objectives. It is crucial to note that project control's two primary focuses are costs and schedule factors and their continuous monitoring for any risks that may interfere with them. Statistics have proven that roughly 98% of projects incur cost overruns or delays of approximately 80% of the original value. Most projects experience time delays of 20 or more months in the time element.

One crucial fact about project control is that the success of its activities depends on being run through the entire project life cycle, from the initiation phase to closure. Any spurts can affect the effectiveness and efficiency of the process and, ultimately, the chances that the project is completed within the set targets. Additionally, project control falls under project management, and thus in many projects, project controllers are answerable to project managers. Therefore, the primary role of project controllers is to analyze a project, collect data, and use the observations to make recommendations to the project manager.

Further, having established that project control focuses on the costs and schedule of a project, some of the critical processes under control include; project planning, which involves the collaboration of project managers and controllers to grant all parties involved in the project a baseline to work with. As the second process, Budgeting helps to accurately determine the costs of the project and understand when and why variances occur. The third process is risk management which becomes possible through continuous monitoring of the project's life cycle. Change management, forecasting, performance management, and project administration are other processes involved.

As project controllers monitor the costs and time, they interact with other involved parties like project managers whom they answer to, the finance team, vendors, construction managers, procurement team, and the technical team. Their collaboration is crucial to the success of the process and ensuring that all parties are updated on any changes in costs and time.

The article further pinpoints some of the primary benefits of project control in the success of any project. They include;

· Mitigation of project scope creep

· Data benchmarking for future projects through well-structured projects

· Increased margins when working in a fixed-price environment.

· Reduced project costs by making timely decisions.

· Enhanced project predictability for cost and completion date.

Cost reports, change management registers, and risk registers are vital reports that project controllers require to note down information gathered throughout the process and serve as references for future projects. However, just like any other process, these teams and individuals face challenges in their task, with the most significant being lack of support and commitment from the senior management. The other possible challenges include outdated manual processes, confrontational dynamics, and perception of the process as just another cost function.

Relevant Points Brought Out in the Article

· Project control is a process that involves gathering and analyzing a project's data for the essence of keeping its costs and time schedules within the set parameters.

· At its core, project control is part of a monitoring function that analyzes scenarios and provides recommendations. The controller reports on costs and schedules and advises the project team of potential issues.

· Statistics have proven that roughly 98% of projects incur cost overruns or delays of approximately 80% of the original value. Most projects experience time delays of 20 or more months in the time element.

· Through gathering and analyzing the project's data, project controls aid in critical processes such as initiating, planning, monitoring and controlling, communicating, and locking in costs and time.

· Project control is an umbrella element that shadows critical project activities such as developing a work breakdown structure, monitoring project costs, providing feedback and reports, collaborating on initial project schedules, creating a risk management plan, and most importantly, aligning projects with an organization's goals and objectives.

· Project control is crucial to the success of large projects and the overall success of any organization. Thus, today, it is paramount to use automated reporting and algorithm-based forecasts to harness a project's data.

Critique of the Article

On the upper end, the article thoroughly tackled the most crucial elements of the project control process, from what it entails, the parties involved, all the activities involved, vital documents required by project controllers to effectively and efficiently conduct their analysis, benefits of the project to not only the project in question but also the organization at large and lastly some the challenges faced throughout the process. Further, the article pinpoints how necessary the process is to the overall project's success in being implemented and completed within the set targets. Thanks to the process, organizations can use the data gathered and the reports submitted as references if the same issues occur in the future. In that way, the same mistakes regarding costs and time cannot be repeated.

However, the author could have included accurate data and examples of organizations that have successfully implemented the process. This would also include success rates and the evolution of the process over the years from manual systems to their transition to automated ones that are less time-consuming and more effective and efficient. Such information would serve as a benchmark for organizations looking to incorporate the process in their projects or those looking to refine their projects in terms of costs and schedule.

Application of the Concepts in the Article

Project control is a process most applicable and valuable to organizations venturing into various projects, be it large-scale, medium, or small-scale. However, since, in most cases, it is large-scale projects that suffer costs and schedule overruns, the process is most useful for such tasks. The information laid out in the article is helpful to organizations at the beginning stage of their projects, but also to those that have had failed projects in the past and are looking to learn, understand where they went correct, and hopefully get it right in future projects.