Milestone Control

Milestones are indicator points that receive special attention and form the basis of central control and communication activities. Quite often, a milestone is a point indicating the completion of a specific work package or stage in the project. At other times, a milestone indicates the completion of necessary tasks external to the project. As such, a milestone does not document…

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Budget Control

This type of control tracks the project budget, comparing the original budget to the amount of money actually spent up to that point, in order to guarantee that a sufficient amount is reserved for the project to be completed. If it becomes obvious that the project cannot be completed on budget, this control is also responsible for identifying the origin…

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Schedule Control

Schedule control deals with analyzing the progress being made on project tasks based on the planned start and completion dates, in order to identify any deviation from the plan as early as possible. Deviation might be the result of a delay in starting the work on a given task or a delay in its completion and might actually be positive…

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Work Plan Quality Control

The work plan is one of the most important tools in the project manager’s toolbox. As such, it is crucial to ensure that it is properly prepared and written and free of any hidden problems that might prevent it from being implemented. The project manager must verify that the work plan is complete and that the timetables calculated within are…

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Success and Failure of Projects

A successful project is defined as a project that meets its goals, and whose output is of value to the client. It seems, then, that the success or failure of any given project is primarily a function of its goals. Therefore, a clear definition of those goals and an objective way to measure whether or not these goals have been…

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Project Kickoff

After the project is approved, its kick off should be announced to main stakeholders and any other authorities or parties involved in it. This meeting has several purposes: to initiate and ensure positive project communications to generate awareness of the changes that will come about as part of the project to engender a commitment towards the project to prevent a…

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