4squareviews

This process is the one where you monitor the progress of the project to see if there are any variances between the actual work done and the work that was supposed to be done according to the schedule.   If there are variances, then the output of the process will be change requests that will bring the work back on schedule.

6.6.3 Control Schedule:  Outputs

6.6.3.1 Work Performance Information

The work performance data on the work actual done in the last reporting period is the input to this process.   The process compares that work done to the work that was supposed to be done, and the result of this comparison is work performance information, such as a schedule performance index (SPI) or schedule variance (SV) measurement.

6.6.3.2 Schedule Forecasts

Earned value measurement can forecast the amount of time it will take to finish the project.   For example, let’s say you are halfway done with a project that should take 10 weeks.   If you have a schedule performance index of 0.9, that means your project is being worked at a 90% level of efficiency, which roughly speaking means that your project will take 10/0.9= 11.1 weeks to complete if you work at the same pace.   These schedule forecasts, as well as the work performance information, are inputs to the general integration process 4.6 Perform Integrated Change Control, which will turn them from work performance information that is useful for the project team to work performance reports which distill that information so that it is useful for stakeholders.

6.6.3.3 Change Requests

Every monitor and control process has as a possible output a change request, which can take the following forms:

• Defect repair (for defects that have already occurred, but are just being detected now in the current reporting period)
• Corrective action (for defects that have recently occurred in the last reporting period)
• Prevention action (for defects which may occur in the future if current trends continue)
• Changes in schedule management plan–rather than changing the work to fit the plan, if you discover that the plan was unrealistic to begin with, it may be necessary to change the plan.

6.6.3.4 Project Management Plan Updates

• Schedule management plan–the schedule management plan may be updated if there is a change in the way the schedule is managed, discovered as a result of this process.
• Schedule baseline–if change requests are approved, then the changes will be reflected in the schedule baseline; additional baselines such as cost and performance measurement may also be affected.

6.6.3.5 Project Document Updates

Integration Knowledge Area

• Lessons learned register–if effective techniques for monitoring the schedule, or discovering the causes of variances, are discovered in doing this process, these lessons are added to the lessons learned register
• Assumption log–if the cause of variance is discovered, this may change the assumptions in the assumptions log that affect the schedule

Schedule Knowledge Area

• Basis of estimates–if this process uncovers any revision in any of the schedule estimates, this may need to be reflected in an update to this document
• Schedule data–if there are modifications to the schedule recommended as a result of this process, the project schedule network diagrams may need to be changed.
• Project schedule–any alterations in the schedule data, if plugged into the schedule model, may result in changes such as the forecast finish date of the project.

Resource Knowledge Area

• If some of the techniques of this process such as resource optimization (resource leveling and resource smoothing) and schedule compression (crashing and fast-tracking) cause changes in the resource calendars, these are updated as a result of the process.

Risk Knowledge Area

• Risk register–fast-tracking is a schedule compression technique which, if used as part of this process, may increase the risks of rework for the activity to which they are applied.   These risks need to be updated in the risk register.

The outputs then feed into the general monitoring and controlling process 4.6 Perform Integrated Change Control.   (All the separate knowledge area monitoring and controlling processes do so, by the way, not just the processes for the schedule knowledge area.)’

This concludes the posts for the schedule management knowledge area.   The next post will start the next knowledge area, that of cost management.

Filed under: Uncategorized |