Go Back
Written by: Nick Edwards / Posted on: / Category: Project Management

Project Execution, Monitoring & Control Overview

Table of Contents

Project Execution

Project execution success means that your project meets or exceeds project mission and objectives as well as:

  • Results in a satisfied client
  • On or ahead of the agreed upon schedule and on or under budget
  • Results in winning the client’s trust
  • Project staff is motivated at completion to work on another project
  • The client sells our services to other clients for you
  • Leads to follow-on business

During project execution, you will distribute work packages and execute key management areas based on areas defined in the PM Plan. Task leads will break down the information into task lists and execute those tasks. As the PM, you are primarily responsible for executing the project in the most effective way that deals with these project constraints:

  • Scope
  • Cost
  • Schedule
  • Human resources
  • Quality
  • Risk

System development projects, as opposed to labor support contracts, have a unique set of project execution phases depending on the type and complexity of the project.

While the Project Team is busy developing project deliverables, you will need to implement a series of management processes to monitor and control the activities being undertaken by the Project Team. Monitoring the work involves reviewing technical, cost and schedule progress against the baseline plan.

The monitoring and controlling process consists of activities performed to observe project execution so that problems are identified in a timely manner. This ensures ample time to correct any issues found to control project performance. Project performance is observed and measured regularly to identify project variances from the approved plans documented in the PM Planning process.

The monitoring and controlling process also involves controlling changes and prioritizing and recommending mitigation strategies for risks anticipated on the project. At a high level, you should monitor ongoing project activities against the approved plans and project performance baselines.

You also influence the factors that could circumvent integrated change control in accordance with the Configuration Management Procedures. This ensures that only approved changes are implemented as they relate to scope, cost, schedule, quality, and personnel.

To ensure that the customer’s requirements are met, the PM monitors and controls the necessary activities and resources. Several management processes are undertaken to ensure that the project proceeds as planned. These are discussed in the Project Execution subsections.

Here is a [project execution and control summary checklist]

Here is a [project execution and control roles and responsibilities checklist]

Financial Management

Part of your project management job is to ensure that the project is completed within the allocated and approved budget.

Budget management is concerned with all costs associated with the project, including the cost of human resources, equipment, travel, materials, and supplies. Increased costs of materials, supplies, and human resources, therefore, have a direct impact on the budget. Just as task duration estimates are tracked carefully against actual costs, the actual costs must be tracked against estimates.

The same analysis should be conducted, and the same questions asked: What other aspects of the budget were constructed based upon these estimates? Changes to the scope of the project will most often have a direct impact on the budget. Just as scope changes need to be controlled and managed, so do changes to the project budget.

It is the responsibility of the PM to closely monitor the financial performance of the project and take responsibility for addressing cost-related issues as they arise. In addition, you should always be aware of the effect your decisions may have on the total cost of the project, both before and after the product or service is implemented.

Roles and responsibilities:

There at least three key players involved in the project’s financial processes. As the PM, you are ultimately responsible for ensuring the financial baseline is established and for reviewing and validating monthly financial results. Headquarters staff currently accomplishes many of these tasks. Your primary responsibilities, depending on the type and complexity of your project are:

  • Set-up your project in your Company's accounting system (e.g., Deltek, PeopleSoft, Excel) – Carefully proof for errors and correct immediately.
  • Understand labor rate composition
  • Review and validate monthly financials
  • Generate and maintain monthly forecasting template
  • Generate EAC for FFP contracts
  • Participate in budgeting process
  • Review or initiate IFRs
  • Review accrual tracking and estimating
  • Prepare procurement requisitions
  • Develop a time phased budget

A Billing Administrator will set-up the project financial baseline, prepare and submit invoices, and resolve any invoice problems.

Depending on the size and scope of your project, you may have a Project Control Analyst who plays a major role in monitoring progress by supporting you with the business aspects of the project such as establishing the WBS, opening job numbers, and establishing the budget baseline. This support might have been included in the budget estimate or might be an overhead expense. Otherwise, you will be responsible for fulfilling this role. It includes the following tasks:

  • Financial project status data
  • Forecasts
  • Re-planning and revisions to the baseline
  • Internal and customer reports
  • Financial aspects of project reviews

Cost accounting tasks:

There are several cost accounting tasks that you will be responsible for either initiating or supporting during the execution of your project.

Organizational overview:

  • Your company organization
  • Rates
  • Accounting org chart
  • Accounting calendar
  • Department codes
  • Indirect departments

Time and Labor:

  • Charge codes
  • Approve time sheets
  • Approve labor adjustments
  • Ensure employees are compliant
  • Labor qualifications forthcoming
  • Automated sub timesheet systems

Expense Reports:

  • Approve expense reports/cash advances/travel authorizations
  • What is allowable/reimbursable on your contract?

Purchasing:

  • Approve Req’s
  • Receive materials
  • Approve IFR's

Job Status Reports (JSR):

  • Closing notifications
  • Accruals
  • Burn rates
  • Approve JSR's
  • How to read a JSR

Tools:

  • Company reporting dashboard

As you can see, there are quite a few terms and activities that impact your ability to successfully monitor and control the financial aspects of your project. The finance department can assist you with each of these tasks. Also, a cost accounting training program is available, too.

Cost components:

As PM, you will need to understand the components that make up your labor and indirect costs (see Figure).

Different indirect rates will be applied to the labor charges on your project. This information is very company proprietary and competition sensitive as are project status reports. All company overhead, G&A and other rate information must be protected either by shredding or placement in a locked file. This includes reports that reflect vendor and subcontractor billing rates. Your group’s program controller can explain these cost components and how they impact your project financial baseline.

Charge numbers:

As your company PM, you should understand how the company assigns charge numbers. You should also familiarize yourself with your company's basic financial terms including account, business unit, department identifier, burden rate, project identifier and activity identifier.

Earned value management:

Earned value has proven to be an effective analytical methodology to identify project cost and schedule status, especially on more complex projects. However, it is important to make sure to incorporate in pre-execution planning and budget the necessary resources and schedule time to accommodate earned value management.

Earned value management is a schedule and cost system used to assist Project Teams and customers in assessing progress, provide early warning for corrective action and estimates of future schedule and cost based on current progress.

Cost control metrics commonly used, at a minimum, to measure progress are:

  • Cost variance
  • Cost performance index
  • Cost versus funding
  • ODC costs versus plan
  • Remaining budget versus budget at completion
  • Subcontractor cost variance

The information provided in this subsection is only a high-level overview. More specific guidance on earned value can be found at online project management sites and in standard earned value management training courses.

Financial approval:

Most companies have a financial approval process with several steps that must be followed to ensure that your company continues to comply with government regulations. PMs should make sure they are very familiar with this process. Your financial department can walk you through this process.

There are usually three key players in the management of the cash flow process: you as the project manager, the Billing Administrator assigned to your contract and the contract manager. Your company’s goal is to recover all contract costs through billing. Contract costs are all direct costs specific to a contract, plus indirect cost allocations.

In general, it consists of the following activities:

  • Contract set-up
  • Time sheets (manual or automated)
  • JSRs and
  • Reviews and email approvals

Schedule (Time) Management

Schedule or time management is the process of recording and controlling time spent by staff on a project.

As time is a scarce resource within projects, each team member should record time spent undertaking project activities and the appropriate Deltek charge number(s). This will enable the PM to control the amount of time spent undertaking each activity within the project. A timesheet register is also completed, providing a summary of the time spent on the project in total so that the PM Plan can always be kept fully up to date.

Schedule status should be collected and/or reported weekly or monthly. Weekly status collection is best for larger complex projects where the PM doesn’t interface with

team members daily, projects where the schedule is critical to the customer and will thus drive cost, and projects where the team is spread over multiple locations. Collecting reports of schedule progress weekly will send a message to the entire team that schedule is important. Collecting schedule status in a weekly face-to-face meeting with teammates present is the best way to get real understanding of performance issues.

The most common method of reporting schedule status is the planner/scheduler putting collected status into Microsoft Project and seeing what it does to the critical path and downstream milestones (including project completion). Your company will require that projects use a scheduling tool such as Microsoft Project unless your client specifies a different automated tool. This is usually done monthly, even when status is collected weekly. Corrective actions are assigned when slips impact critical milestones. Another approach is to do milestone counting. Each task starts and stop date is given a point value (e.g. one point for a start and two points for a finish). Points are then recorded for each schedule owner and compared against planned points in the baseline on a weekly or monthly basis. While this doesn’t show the impact on the critical path, milestone counting focuses the team on meeting all commitments.

Some PMs feel that if the schedule is monitored and the planned dates are met, cost will take care of itself. And, for labor-intensive contracts, a strong correlation between schedule and cost does often exist. However, both should always be closely monitored, and forecasts of schedule and cost performance compared and used as sanity checks against each other.

Here is a list of common schedule control metrics:

  • Schedule variance
  • Milestones late (aged)
  • Average duration/planned duration for completed tasks
  • Actual hours versus plan
  • Schedule performance index
  • Number of class hours training conducted
  • Milestones completed on schedule
  • Software problem reports opened
  • Cumulative # of open software problem reports
  • Number of design changes
  • Software problem reports closed
  • Number of COTS product version upgrades
  • Number of requirements changes
  • Number of temporary fixes for COTS products in use

Project managers finding themselves behind schedule may need to impose seemingly drastic measures to control the schedule performance. Such things as extended workweeks, added staff, weekly or even daily schedule reviews, and planning with daily “inch-stones” can be effective in improving schedule performance.

One key to schedule success is to explain the project activity network to the entire team and help them understand the downstream effect of being late on a small milestone. If this is done effectively, then every member of the Project Team becomes schedule focused and meets his or her individual schedules or asks for help.

Change Management

One of your major functions is to ensure that the project performs ONLY the work and delivers ONLY the deliverables required and documented in the contract and specifications.

Any deviation from what appear in the scope, service delivery or performance documents is considered change and must be handled using the change control process. The key elements of this process are document and software release management and baseline management.

Depending on the complexity of your project, you should use one of the many available configuration management systems.

No project of even moderate complexity will be planned or executed perfectly. There is always room for improvement. One method of building continuous improvement into projects is to add the role of the Configuration Control Board or CCB. Real and potential process, product and performance problems are reported to the CCB for corrective action. The CCB then uses the configuration control process of logging the problem, assigning action, and tracking progress in solving these problems.

Change control board (CCB):

Change is inevitable on projects. Customer requirements, funding, and schedules may change. Rates (labor, overhead, and G&A) may change. Approaches selected in the proposal phase may not work out. Key personnel may not be available when needed, or not at all. In these situations, the PM Plan must be changed to reflect the reality of the situation, evaluated against the contract for scope change and coordinated with the customer. While change is necessary, successful projects manage change carefully. Unnecessary or unaffordable change often leads to disaster.

Configuration and change management process:

The following figure illustrates the basic configuration and change management process that should be implemented on your project.

Quality Management

Quality management and control involves monitoring the project and its progress to determine if the quality standards are being implemented.

The entire organization has responsibilities relating to quality, but the primary responsibility for ensuring that the project follows its defined quality procedures ultimately belongs to the PM.

Poor quality results in increased costs, low morale, low customer satisfaction and increased project risk. High quality results in lower costs, engaged and productive Project Teams, high customer satisfaction and lower risk.

For more complex system and software development projects, you should try to implement a Capability Maturity Model Integration Level 3. This is characterized by having a set of defined and documented standard processes established and subject to some degree of improvement over time. Basically, you should define the processes to be used to control, audit, and measure the quality of the work and the resulting work products.

Specify the use of quality control processes such as quality assurance of conformance to work processes, verification and validation, joint reviews, audits, and process assessment. Also, clarify who will be responsible for reviewing compliance with each of these quality requirements.

Your Quality Director can help you identify the appropriate quality elements to implement for the scale and complexity of your project.

Implementation:

The Corporate Quality Control Manager will implement this Plan using a systematic, step-by-step approach to ensure that the quality of services performed meets and/or exceeds contract requirements regarding timeliness, accuracy, appearance, completeness, consistency, and conformity to appropriate standards and/or specifications. The following subparagraphs explain the processes and procedures that we will follow to assure that the performance objectives are met and/or exceeded.

Inspection Methods to be Used:

We use a variety of inspection methods to identify problems in the Quality of Service we are providing under this contract. They will include, but not be limited to:

  • Personal evaluations
  • Standard Operating Procedures (SOP’s) specifically tailored to this location and the type of services we are providing
  • Checklist developed for each task group and location of such task group
  • Review of QAP reports
  • Review of Customer Complaints
  • Scheduled and unscheduled QC inspections of each functional and task area
  • On-site inspection by Corporate managers, scheduled and unannounced

Your company's primary method of identifying deficiencies in the quality of services to be performed before the level of performance becomes unacceptable as defined in the Service Delivery Summary relies on a multi-tier/multi-level inspection process. This method incorporates the Total Quality Management concept known as Total Employee Involvement (TEI). TEI is simple in both theory and practice. Applied to inspections, TEI has two separate and distinct elements. The first element is actively involving all project employees in inspecting service input and output. The second element involves empowering and continually motivating employees to perform inspections of in-progress and completed work. Applied to general project management, TEI sparks the talents, knowledge, and creativity within employees and motivates them to perform to the best of their ability. It ensures the completed work is of high quality. The chart below provides a brief description of each employee's role in the multi-tier/multi-level inspection process.

[Total Employee Involvement Responsibilities Table]

Inspections will be performed by the Quality Control Specialist on a weekly basis. Individual employees will review their work daily to assure compliance with contract requirements. Your company’s Corporate Quality Control Manager will perform quarterly quality reviews in addition to reviewing and participating in the resolution of cited deficiencies when they occur. The Corporate Quality Control Manager will also conduct unannounced quality reviews throughout the contract period of performance.

As can be concluded, the benefit of this multi-tier/multi-level inspection process is that it results in over-inspection/over-sampling. The results of over sampling combined with proper quality training make it exceedingly more likely that a potential defect is identified and corrected well before it is identified by the customers as a deficiency or a threat of a reduction in performance standards/levels.

Deficiency Correction:

Once a defect is identified, the Corporate Quality Control Manager is to be notified immediately. All issues will be addressed immediately, thoroughly reviewed, and corrected. This corrective process focuses on two steps: 1) Root Cause Analysis and 2) Process Control/Continuous Process Improvement. Both proactive steps eliminate reliance/dependence upon Government or customer identification and direction for correction of deficiencies prior to resolving the defect. It is important to note that to close out the loop of this cycle, both Government and customer input/feedback will be solicited before implementing the Process Control/Performance Improvement measure(s).

Root Cause Analysis:

After a defect has been identified through inspections, our QC management team will perform a "Root Cause Analysis.” This analysis simply means that the defect will be analyzed to identify the underlying procedural or systemic cause of the defect. To fully ensure identification, our QC management team will employ a routine, systematic approach to problem elimination. In other words, the team will eliminate non-contributing causes/factors and methodically narrow it down so that the contributing cause/factor can be definitively identified.

Process Control/Continuous Process Improvement:

Once the root cause of the problem has been identified, focus is then immediately shifted to developing process control/performance improvement measure(s) that concentrate on preventing reoccurrence and thus continually improving services. The benefit of these measures is that they optimize the process and procedure by eliminating "weak link(s)" in the process or procedure. Your company’s approach to effecting preventive and corrective actions so that they are suitable to the deficiency relies on developing a tailored/customized/case-by-case response to the problem. Examples include:

  • Revised Standard Operative Procedures (SOP’s)/Work Instructions
  • Additional Training of Project Personnel

Once the final process control/performance improvement measure has been selected and implemented we review the area that was previously deficient to test whether the corrective action implemented will ensure that a defect will not be repeated. This review is continued until the process has fully matured.

Trend Analysis:

Your company might routinely perform trend analysis as part of its QC Program. Trend analysis to be an efficient and effective tool in defect prevention. Trend analysis concentrates on identifying trends in the performance of contract work by reviewing previously compiled quality data (e.g., inspection results). Emphasis is placed on identifying both negative and positive trends/shifts impacting contract performance. It also looks at trend "forecasting" versus simple identification of current or past trends. Once these trends are identified, the Project Manager usually has the authority to order the appropriate action. The nature of the action is tailored/customized to the trend(s) identified. Specifically, positive trends are recognized and acknowledged, whereas negative trends are corrected at the procedural/systematic level to eliminate reoccurrence. The corrective action taken has the goal of achieving a level of performance at or above contract requirements. This approach helps ensure the continuity and consistency of high-quality services. Once the appropriate action has been taken, the trend(s) will continue to be monitored for adherence to or exceeding of contract requirements and to monitor contract performance.

Recording and Processing Customer Complaints:

While the objective is to achieve a “Zero Defects” posture, companies also recognize that complaints sometimes occur. The Quality Control Specialist (QCS) (or, on smaller projects, the PM) receives and documents all incoming complaints. The Quality Control Specialist evaluates the complaint and either resolves it or relays it to the Project Manager for resolution. In those cases that are a result of poor workmanship, the QCS reviews the work, discusses the discrepancies with the affected employee, and implements corrective action. The QCS ensures that the complaint is recorded and processed in accordance with contract requirements and the Quality Control Plan.

All Quality Control records concerning the performance of this contract should be maintained in the QCS’s office. These files contain inspection reports, records, discrepancies, corrective actions, copies of all incoming and completed customer complaints, etc. These records need to be available for Government review at any time upon request.

Valid customer complaints are one method by which deficiencies are identified by individuals other than your Quality Control staff and the Government Representatives. Where there is a case of poor performance, non-performance, or a dis-satisfied customer, thoroughly investigate the report, and if valid, document the report and take corrective action.

Each complaint is evaluated as to whether the service was required, and the standard was not met. The following action is then taken:

  • Corrective action that includes correcting the deficiency along with the actions taken or to be taken to prevent a recurrence. The corrective action will address both short-term remedial actions and long-term solutions.
  • Corrective actions apply to both contractor-discovered deficiencies (because of your Quality Control Program) and Government surfaced deficiencies that result in documented notification and requests for corrective action. These corrective actions should be in accordance with the reporting and documentation requirements deemed necessary by the Government.
  • Using the Customer Complaint Program, as well as other internal measures of Quality Control, such as employee input, scheduled and unscheduled inspections, you should be able to create an environment that will be able to not only correct current deficiencies, but will be able to identify and resolve all potential areas of concern prior to a deficiency becoming a reality.

In the event that a deficiency, either actual or potential, should arise which would have either a direct or indirect impact on the Government, the Project Manager should immediately notify the Government Representatives of the situation, the circumstances surrounding the situation, the potential impact and possible solutions.

Risk Management & Control

The risk dynamics of a project change throughout the project and risks enter and leave a project as time passes.

So, the risk management process is not a one-time-and-then-forget-it process. You must continue to identify, assess, and mitigate risk associated with the project to stay on top of changes. The Project Risk Profile is a communication tool and worksheet.

As the PM, you should coordinate or lead efforts to quantify, assess, and develop potential risk mitigation actions for high impact/high probability project risks. This will often require the performance of a trade-off analysis to identify the most cost and schedule effective risk mitigation approach. A matrix like the one shown in this Table can be used to analyze each mitigation alternative.

Here is an outline for a detailed risk checklist:

[Risk Assessment Detailed Checklist ]

With the input from the client and industry partner's, you recommend courses of action and implement those courses of action within the constraints of time and costs as specified by the project budget. Should any risk mitigation action require significant cost or time to implement, then a written request must be developed and submitted to your manager and, eventually, to the client. Any scope changes must be communicated by your Company Contracts Administrator to the client Contracting Officer.

Here are a few examples of common risks and mitigation actions:

  • Budget management reserve - mitigates cost risk
  • Schedule slack/lag - mitigates schedule risk
  • Parallel development - mitigates technical risk
  • Propose an incentive fee - mitigates cost risk

  • Interim Progress Reviews - mitigates

    cost, schedule, and technical risks

You should review all risks documented in a risk log (risk register) with senior management and, where appropriate, with the client during the respective progress reviews and reports.

L = Low M = Medium H = High

Some of the common risk status descriptions are:

  • Risk documented, but analysis not performed
  • Risk analysis done, but response planning not performed
  • Risk response planning complete
  • Risk trigger has occurred and threat has been realized
  • Realized risk has been contained
  • Identified risk no longer requires active monitoring

Risk mitigation measures should then be identified and action plans, where appropriate, implemented. This matrix may be used during this process:

The project duration and complexity will usually prescribe whether risks should be re-evaluated at a minimum of once a month, bi-weekly, or whatever is deemed appropriate.

Periodic Assessments are conducted at predetermined intervals, normally during milestone reviews. This may be appropriate for projects with limited resources. However, with this approach low risks could develop into higher project risks if not identified early enough in the project.

Continuous Assessments are a more proactive approach, allowing project risks to be identified early and mitigation strategies to be developed before risks impact performance, cost, and/or schedule.

Independent Risk Assessments are accomplished by a subject matter expert (either from a different company group or an industry partner). This is especially useful when an unbiased review of the project risks is needed coupled with expert recommendations. On higher risk projects, the cost of an independent risk assessment might be included in the project budget baseline.

Issue Management

Project issues may arise from several sources.

These include, but are not restricted to:

  • Issues with project stakeholders
  • Funding issues
  • Staffing issues
  • Technical issues
  • Management issues
  • Organizational issues

Issue analysis involves determining why a problem has occurred, as well as the corrective action required to rectify the problem. Corrective action is required when the issue, if left unresolved, will prevent your Company from meeting the customers’ requirements or the overall project objectives.

The PM is responsible for the ongoing tracking and monitoring of project issues. This involves:

  • Keeping track of identified issues
  • Identifying new issues
  • Evaluating and communicating any changes in issues
  • Ensuring corrective actions are implemented by the due date
  • Reviewing issue status
  • Evaluating the effectiveness of corrective actions

The corrective action required in response to an identified issue will vary, depending on the nature of the issue. The determination of the required corrective action may require a discussion of alternative options to resolve the problem. Depending on the size of the issue, the identification of the corrective action may require a formal decision making to select the most appropriate solution to rectify the problem.

All issues tracked on the Issue Log must be assigned an owner (the person responsible for implementing the corrective action) and a due date by which the corrective action should have occurred. Corrective actions taken must also be reviewed to determine if the action taken was effective in resolving the problem. This review must be conducted before the issue is closed. Where the corrective action taken was not effective in resolving the issue, appropriate action must be taken to ensure that the issue is effectively resolved.

Subcontract & Procurement Management

You might also be using subcontractors to provide additional support services.

A Subcontracts Administrator will oversee procuring these services for you. Depending on the type of project, you may have numerous material requirements that you and your Project Team will need to have ordered by a company Procurement Specialist in accordance with approved government acquisitions procedures. A Procurement Specialist can walk you through this procurement process so that you don’t deviate from accepted government practices.

Your primary responsibilities as a PM are:

  • Submitting a purchase request (PR) for approval
  • Providing a subcontractor statement of work (services) or bill of materials (products)
  • Providing the buyer with three or more potential resources

Please note that all procurements must be made by an authorized company Procurement Professional.

It is important for you to identify all material on a bill of materials and then carefully communicate these requirements using a purchase requisition (PR), provide a statement of work or bill of materials and three or more potential sources. Also, determine as soon as possible if any of these items fall on the project critical path. The PR to approval as a purchase order can take up to three weeks

These are the steps you should take to process a purchase request.

  • Obtain a code assignment
  • Once the vendor is selected, you’ll need to provide a sole source justification or a technical evaluation form
  • Submit non-disclosure agreements and teaming agreements to your subcontracts administrator

Here is one company's subcontractor/vendor process:

Managing customer furnished products, information, and equipment (often referred to as GFE/GFI on Government contracts) is one of the PMs many responsibilities. Clear responsibility for accepting, maintaining, and accounting for all furnished products, information, and equipment should be assigned. However, the PM is accountable and must be cognizant of the status of all such items. In addition, the PM must ensure that customer furnished products are provided on the agreed-to schedules and in the agreed-to configurations, that documentation and software are complete and correct, and that equipment operates properly and is accurately tagged and entered the property management system.

If furnished products that are not provided on schedule, do not satisfy agreed-to configurations, and/or do not operate properly, the PM, assisted by the project Contracts Administrator, must inform the customer of the problems, and seek speedy resolution. The PM should also initiate planning within the project to identify alternatives to mitigate deficiencies in the furnished items.

Human Resources Management

One of a project manager's most important responsibilities is to assign work to the Project Team and ensure that the work is completed according to the project schedule.

You are responsible for allocating tasks to appropriate team members at the appropriate times. A good PM establishes and maintains a Project Schedule that minimizes team member down time. Along with your Team Leaders, you must continuously communicate to each member of the team what is required and by when, and then manage the performance of each team member in meeting the requirements. Some of your human resource responsibilities are:

  • Ongoing recruiting activities (see Step 2)
  • Team building activities
  • Recognition and rewards
  • Performance reviews
  • Set expectations
  • Communicate regularly
  • Evaluate performance
  • Give feedback
  • Training & career development plans
  • Personnel changes

For each of your employees, you need to set goals and expectations, assess performance, identify development opportunities, and reward good performance and the attainment of goals. A typical company performance management timeline is illustrated in the following figure.

Some of the metrics that you can use to evaluate overall staff performance on your project are employee turnover, performance evaluation and training hours per employee.

Defining the employee’s training and career development plans is also a key responsibility of project managers. It is a major contributor to staff retention. Finally, there is sometimes the need to make personnel changes both for positive reasons such as a promotion or transfer to a new contract or because of performance issues.

It is crucial to follow the established company process for dealing with problem employees. Here is a list of human resource references that every project manager should be familiar with.

  • Your company recruiting system
  • Your company Wage & Salary Class Guide
  • Adverse action review process
  • Grievance review process
  • ADA basics
  • Preventing workplace harassment
  • Preventing workplace discrimination

As a manager of people, you will also need to familiarize yourself with your company’s adverse action and grievance review process. As a rule, you should discuss all personnel issues with a Human Resources representative prior to taking any disciplinary action either verbal or written. Also, note that all formal written counseling sessions and disciplinary actions will require HR review.

Project Communications Guidelines

Meetings can be an efficient means of communication but they can waste time if not conducted efficiently.

All meetings should have an agenda provided to the attendees before the meeting. One attendee should be nominated to maintain a record of topics discussed during the meeting, actions assigned, and any conclusions reached.

Conduct regular meetings to communicate information to the team, establish priorities, make decisions, and build morale. Periodic meetings are commonly held to resolve issues, review work products, determine work status, and consider changes to scope. The most common topic for periodic project meetings is the status of the work based on the project metrics.

A PMs job is to identify problems and fix them before they become insurmountable. Interpersonal conflicts, if left unchecked, will often negatively impact project performance. This includes your own conflicts with client or contractor personnel. Learn to deal with problems head-on. If you can’t effectively deal with a communications conflict, then go up a level on the organization to seek a resolution.

[This table] presents several useful communications techniques.

A Project Authority Matrix is a useful management tool to document the role each stakeholder has in determining your project's success. This example illustrates a simple matrix for a small subset of project stakeholders. This matrix should include everyone you will communicate with during the execution of the project and the topics you will communicate.

A monthly internal Job Status Report that feeds into a corporate executive review should include the following information:

  • Status Summary – indicating any significant impacts to the project
  • Major Accomplishments – a list of the most important completed tasks, or a description of work done toward their completion
  • Project Milestone Report – a high-level glance at the major project deliverables, with their intended and actual start and end dates
  • Issues analysis and Issue Response – a running list of open and closed issues
  • Change Request Analysis – a running diary of actions taken toward acceptance of change control
  • Risk Analysis Report – any Risks that may be turning into a project issue and report on any situation that occurred that resulted in the Project Team being unable to perform work
  • Financial Commentary
  • Project Manager's Comments and significant planned accomplishments for the following weeks

Customer Relationship Management

Customer relationship management (CRM) is the process that companies use to optimize client communication and ensure client satisfaction.

The following subsections describe ten key CRM activities and guidelines.

A. Know your stakeholders

B. Understand your contract

C. Be careful what your promise

D. Manage expectations

E. Don’t let your scope creep

F. Don’t take things for granted

G. Don’t surprise your client

H. Be proactive / offer solutions

I. CRM guidelines

J. Grow your contract

A. Know your stakeholders:

It’s hard to overstate the importance of relationships to the successful management of a project. It is critical that you identify the key individuals who are project decision makers or influencers. These individuals are not always readily apparent. For instance, many IT projects are funded by a client’s operational unit whose buy-in is needed both in the requirements phase and to obtain delivery acceptance.

In addition, internal your company support organizations play a critical role in ensuring your success. Your efforts to effectively communicate with them in a timely and responsive manner will pay huge dividends.

A stakeholder analysis matrix can be used to assess how much and what kind of attention you should pay to various stakeholders. More complicated programs with numerous stakeholders with conflicting interests can be further analyzed using an influence map, a diagram that shows the relationships between every key player.

B. Understand your contract:

You should know your contract backwards and forwards. This is the only way to ensure that you deliver everything your company is contractually obligated to provide while you avoid doing work that is outside the scope of the contract. Some of the key elements of your contract are:

  • “Shall” statements (what your Company must do)
  • Specific deliverables and special requirements
  • Tasks that are required to reach client’s stated goals
  • Ancillary tasks (acquiring special equipment; hiring specialists; training)
  • Reporting and communicating tasks to the customer and key Your company personnel
  • Refer to the project initiation and kick-off, Section II, of this Guide for additional information

C. Be careful what your promise:

Almost all your contracts will have a defined scope of work. Your responsibility as a PM isn’t to deliver everything your clients want regardless of cost and schedule impact. That is why it is important to make sure you and your client have a clear understanding and agreement regarding what is in and out scope to the contract. This is clearly one of your biggest challenges.

D. Manage expectations:

One way to make sure you can manage your client’s expectations is to confirm every agreement in writing. This is the only way to minimize misunderstandings.

E. Don’t let your scope creep:

While you should do your best to provide outstanding service and solutions, you shouldn’t strive for perfection. Rather, you should do your very best to fulfill the contract requirements in accordance with established company quality processes and procedures.

Scope creep is a common occurrence on IT projects and is perhaps the number one cause of cost overruns, schedule delays and poor customer relations. It is important that you bring any potential contract scope expansion to the attention of your client and, coordinating through your Contracts Administrator, process the necessary change proposal to accommodate additional contract requirements before initiating new work.

F. Don’t take things for granted:

PMs can't take things for granted. Too many things can go wrong without constant attention and oversight. Your client is assuming you will stay on top of the status of your project. This means regular status meetings and reports as well as the maintenance of the risk register discussed in the risk management section. Don't assume that everything is on track just because no one has come to you with problems.

You should also coordinate with internal your company Information Services group regarding any changes in your project IT support needs.

G. Don’t surprise your client:

No client or a company senior manager or contracts manager likes to be surprised with bad news. A key component of CRM is to identify and communicate potential project risks to your client before they become more serious issues. In other words, don't wait until the day before a deliverable is due to tell your client you are going to miss the deadline. Instead, bring them a solution along with the problem. Being proactive means developing a work around plan to any project problem before it is too late and then getting approval from your client. This is an important component of managing client relations.

H. Be proactive/offer solutions:

No one – your supervisor or your client – wants to just be handed a problem. Part of the key to being a successful PM is to research and present a solution or a set of alternatives. In more complex cases, the appropriate problem reporting communication includes giving your client a schedule of when you will complete the data gathering and analysis necessary to identify the optimum solution. In other words – be proactive. For further guidance on dealing with problems, see Section III – G, Issues Management.

I. CRM guidelines:

Here is some guidance as to how to deal with some of the more common CRM challenges.

  • You and your supervisor should establish a rapport with the key client stakeholders. This means visiting your client on a regular basis and your supervisor visiting the next level client management on a monthly or bi-monthly basis to seek feedback on project performance and to help the client identify new opportunities for your company support.
  • Also, make sure to conduct thorough kick-off meetings both internal and then with your customer.
  • Establish and document project objectives in your PM Plan.
  • Make sure your client buys into your technical approach.
  • Don’t let your PM Plan gather dust. Instead refer to it on a regular basis.
  • Measure your project progress against the plan and modify it where necessary to reflect project baseline changes.
  • Establish a collaborative win-win partnership with your client.
  • Help your client understand that your company is a services and solutions delivery company as opposed to a personal services company.
  • You deliver high quality services and products and, for instance, want to avoid your client managing your staff’s timecards and sending your staff on personal errands.
  • Help your client focus on contract deliverables and milestones instead.
  • Understand your client’s success criteria and establish corresponding project success measures (like a balanced scorecard).
  • You and your client should know what constitutes success. If you don’t, you’ll never be done! This is especially important on fixed price tasks.
  • Try to set expectations that you can meet or exceed.
  • Read your contract – especially the statement of work and refer to it before agreeing to additional tasking.
  • You are responsible for controlling the scope of work and changes to it! Ignore the contract at your peril.
  • Regularly review with your stakeholders the project technical, cost and schedule status compared to client expectations.
  • Actively seek client feedback regarding what is going well and not well. Also, listen to your teammates regarding project status and concerns. You can’t fix it if you don’t know about it.
  • The problem you ignore or refuse to hear will often surface later to torpedo your project.
  • Communicate workarounds or assumptions to your client in writing.
  • You need to be willing to say no to your client:
  • When something the client wants is out of scope
  • When a request is unreasonable or unethical
  • When something is not in their best interest, you can say, “Our experience has shown us that…”
  • When you must say no, try to offer a more attractive alternative to solve client’s problem
  • When all else fails…talk to your manager!
  • The truth is easier to remember a month later than the lie you told yesterday!
  • Don’t always give the client everything they ask for or want. This will require you to build a strong rapport and mutual trust.
  • Document disagreements, especially regarding financial and accounting issues. Alert upper management promptly to any unresolved issues or client dissatisfaction.
  • The quality of your relationship with your client can be an excellent barometer of the status of your project. Make sure not to avoid your client. Even bad news needs to be communicated in a timely manner to avoid doing serious damage to your credibility and relationship.

To get your project out of trouble:

  • Meet with your clients to understand their concerns – this means really listen to what they have to say.
  • Bring a director or VP to show commitment or when you must deliver bad news (like you can’t spend more of your company money on fixing a problem that isn’t your company’s fault).
  • When necessary, work with your client to re-define project closure. Make sure to include your contract administrator in this process and then make sure any baseline changes are documented.

Every company employee is expected to behave in an ethical manner. There is absolutely no exception to this. If in doubt, seek guidance. If you are uncertain about your client’s business practices, talk to your Contracts Administrator or upper management.

J. Grow your contract:

Once you have successfully kicked off your project, you should be on the lookout for additional tasking both with your existing client and other key client managers. You should also look for opportunities to introduce other Your company capabilities and solutions to your client.

The other major business development activity every PM needs to be aware of is the need to perform early re-compete capture activities. Of course, maintaining customer satisfaction is a major element of winning a re-compete. But, waiting until the last minute to prepare and execute a capture plan is a recipe for disaster.

At least several months before your contract is to be re-competed, you should define and implement the winning capture strategy. Be a champion for necessary capture and proposal resources. Understand the client’s needs and biases. For instance, is someone in the client’s organization or a small business contractor pushing to have your work set-aside for small business competition? And, if so, can you or a company representative make a convincing argument why this acquisition change would jeopardize contract performance? As the PM, it is your responsibility to keep the business unit focused on the capture of your re-compete.

Every re-compete should have some level of capture plan. This plan should include:

  • Acquisition strategy
  • Competitive analysis
  • Project improvement
  • Positioning
  • Customer requirements changes
  • Design to cost
  • Teaming/subcontract changes
  • Pricing strategy including Price to Win

This process is elaborated in the Academy Business Development & Capture Management section. It involves understanding the client’s acquisition strategy, the potential competition, their teaming arrangements, strengths, and weaknesses. Importantly, as the incumbent, we need to identify and address our weaknesses well before the start of the acquisition process. The capture manager might be the current PM, a specifically assigned capture manager, or a company executive, depending on the project's size and complexity.

Each re-compete must adhere to the company's bid decision process aligned with the lead tracking system. Moreover, contemplate the following questions:

  • Do we want to continue performing this work?
  • Has it been profitable?
  • Is the work feasible, or is the customer too challenging?
  • Does the client wish for our win again?
  • Is managing the project overly consuming for the expected revenue and profit?
  • For minor tasks, is there enough potential for expansion to justify another bid, or would subcontracting or transferring the work to a small business partner be more beneficial?

Key considerations for re-compete capture positioning:

  • Is it necessary to replace any key staff to align with client preferences?
  • Are the right subcontractors in place?
  • Identification and rectification of existing weaknesses.
  • Possibility of implementing changes before the proposal phase.
  • Identification of key themes and discriminators.

It is a common misjudgment among PMs that client satisfaction guarantees high proposal scores, forgetting these key clients might not be part of the evaluation team. It is crucial to elaborate on the benefits and features of our technical approach comprehensively. Understanding and articulating the management approach, including staffing, organization, and task management, is vital, alongside a risk assessment to illustrate job comprehension.

In terms of pricing, aggressive strategies might be necessary, which could include personnel adjustments. Avoid over-reliance on the assumption that the client will maintain premium payments for our services.

Security Management

The Project Manager is responsible for all aspects of program security, including personnel and document security.

The government Project Manager expects compliance with their security requirements, supported by inspections from their security department. It's crucial for the PM to collaborate with the company's Security Team, which provides day-to-day support and should be integrated into client meetings and program reviews as appropriate.

Security responsibilities include:

  • Ensuring personnel compliance with contract security requirements, including reporting of personal status changes, foreign travel, and contacts.
  • Collaboration with the security department to fulfill all contract requirements.
  • Immediate reporting of security incidents, even if the client is leading the investigation.
  • Notification of any contractual or procedural changes to the security team.

It's standard practice for HR to inform security of personnel changes; however, PMs should also communicate with the Security Team about program alterations. Security clearances transfer for new personnel might require prior client approval, which can extend up to 90 days or more.

Polygraph requirements, often seen as daunting, are supported by the Security Team, which should provide guidance and discussion prior to the polygraph.

Project Kick-off Meetings

Effective and proactive project kick-off meetings are vital, akin to ensuring a construction team understands the blueprints before foundation work. It is essential to invite all relevant stakeholders to both internal and external meetings.

Preparation for a kick-off meeting should include:

  • Clarification of meeting objectives.
  • Securing appropriate facilities.
  • Establishing participation and discussion rules.
  • Advanced attendee invitations.
  • Agenda development with a clear goal for each topic: information dissemination, decision making, or information gathering.
  • Assigning minute-taking responsibilities.

A successful kick-off sets a project on the path to success, demanding clear definitions of success criteria, identification of risks, challenges, and constraints, and comprehensive understanding among the team of project control, status requirements, and necessary tools and support from the client.

Typical agenda items for internal kick-off meetings might include introductions, project scope and objectives, risk identification, team roles, client involvement expectations, and logistic arrangements. Following the meeting, distributing minutes, including an action item list with designated responsibilities and deadlines, ensures continued momentum and accountability.

These principles also apply to client kick-off meetings, adapted to include any specific contractual requirements and ensuring all critical client stakeholders are present.

Saturday March 9th, 2024

Effective Project Management Guide

Next

Funding Ninja, LLC.

A team of writers dedicated to getting you the funding you deserve.

SERVING: USA & UK

OFFICES: CINCINNATI - DENVER - HARTFORD - INDIANAPOLIS - NEW YORK - SYRACUSE

Contact Us