Control – part 2 - Monitoring
Ensuring the project objectives are met
When monitoring a project there are essentially two aspects.
The first is ensuring that the project objectives are met.
The second is the actual process used to achieve this.
The first will utilise milestones to review the progress of objectives by assessing agreed deliverables.
This will include time, cost and quality objectives.
The actual process to achieve this
It is not possible to run a successful project without any control.
The process used must be robust, understandable and communicated to all interested parties.
Any process must be able to identify areas where the project schedule is off track and then, if possible, devise actions to correct the situation.
Under PRINCE2® 2005 assessing progress is about knowing what has happened and comparing it with what you expected to happen.
A simple robust monitoring system is required that provides a steady flow of information o n the project progress.
[see Controlling a Stage (CS) - part 3 - Assessing Progress (CS2) and Controls - part 1]
PRINCE2 2009 the theme Progress is used.
The purpose of the Progress theme is to establish mechanisms to monitor and compare actual achievements against those planned; provide a forecast for the project objectives and the project’s continued viability; and control any unacceptable deviations.
Two of the principles of PRINCE2 [see ‘The Complete Project Management plus PRINCE2’] are managing by stages and continued business justification.
The Progress theme provides the mechanisms for monitoring and control, enabling the critical assessment of ongoing viability.
[see Progress - purpose]
PRINCE2® is a Registered Trade Mark of the Office of Government Commerce in the United Kingdom and other countries.