Project Control in Action, Adjusting Schedules and Managing Deviations ( APM PFQ Microlesson )

This focused episode is dedicated to the 'Control' part of Monitoring and Control, a critical skill for the APM Project Fundamentals Qualification (PFQ). Knowing when and how to intervene is the key to successfully navigating project execution.

By the end of this microlesson, you'll have a clear understanding of the tools and processes required to effectively adjust your project schedule, manage inevitable deviations, and keep your project marching toward successful completion.

Transcript

Welcome back to Project Management Insights. Today we're discussing the final crucial stage of project control. How we take our up-to-date project picture and use it to make necessary adjustments, ensuring our project stays on course. 

Now that we have an up-to-date picture of the project and its progress, it's normal to have to readjust the schedule. This is to account for the minor differences between our initial estimates and the actual performance of the team. This proactive adjustment is central to effective project control. For those minor discrepancies, the ones that fall within your project's predefined tolerance boundaries, the project manager and the team usually have the authority to make the necessary adjustments without needing to escalate to senior management. This might involve allowing a little extra time for certain tasks, or perhaps a bit more money being spent. These adjustments are part of routine project management. They're vital for ensuring that small deviations don't compound into larger, more problematic issues down the line. 

However, for more serious situations, those significant deviations that we've had to escalate to the project sponsor, the decisions required are often much more substantial. Here, you might need to allocate significantly more money or time to get the project back on track, if these additional resources, whether money or time, are simply not available. 

Or if the deviation is particularly severe, then the project team must consider more fundamental changes. This could mean amending the project scope,  effectively reducing what the project is going to deliver, or modifying the quality standards to be achieved. Both of these options have significant implications for the project's ultimate outcome and almost always require the formal authorisation of the senior management team, led by the project sponsor. These aren't operational fixes, they are strategic decisions that balance the project's viability against its original objectives. The continuous cycle of control, and that brings us to the end of the project control cycle. It's important to remember that this cycle isn't a one-time event that you do once and forget. It's a continuous, iterative process. This cycle is repeated for each work package, for each phase, and throughout the entire project lifecycle. It provides that essential feedback loop, ensuring the project remains aligned with its objectives even as circumstances evolve and unforeseen challenges arise. Ultimately, this ongoing vigilant control is what allows a project to adapt, overcome obstacles, and successfully deliver its intended value. This control continues until the project reaches its conclusion, at which point we move into the project transition phase. 

That's all for today's episode. Be sure to subscribe for more insights into the world of project management. Until next time, keep your projects governed and on track.