control and evaluation

Control relates to the watching over of the project and making adjustments as necessary. Evaluation has to do with obtaining data/information for analysis relating to project or process success or lack thereof. Both have to do with measuring progress toward project objectives and identifying and addressing deviations. In every project there are many factors that must be controlled or evaluated. Some areas include scope time, cost, quality, human resources, communications, and risk. A key control and evaluation access for all areas is continual assessment, and post assessment after milestones are met in particular. An important thing to consider is that evaluations are not particularly useful unless the results are made useful in some manner. Collecting data and never evaluating it negates the value of collecting the data in the first place. One suggestion is to have project review meetings with project team members to discuss the current status of the project in relation to goals, expectations, and the like. Through these meetings you can help guide the project, address problems, resolve conflicts, and address staffing issues - all things that are difficult if not impossible to do simply with written reports.

When meetings are held, it is important to consider their purpose and intention. Focus is critical in both meetings and reviews to ensure time is not ill spent. An agenda should be established before the meeting and adhered to. It is recommended that the closing topic be a discussion of action items. At the start of the next meeting, it is wise to start out with a discussion of open items and updates on prior action items.

Equally, it is advised to develop status reports. A status report is a monitoring tool that identifies progress and problems and communicates them clearly and consistently to the project team and project management. It can also be used to track problem resolution and effects of changes to the scope, process, or policies. Some items that are commonly found in status reports include:

• activities planned for prior time period (day, week, month, etc)
• activites accomplished for prior time period (day, week, month, etc)
• activities planned for upcoming time period (day, week, month, etc)
• new issues
• old issues

Lastly, a formal project audit is recommended during the project. The purpose of a project audit is to get an accurate and clear pictures of the quality of work, current and past expenditures, and the current schedule of the project - in some ways it can be seen as a jumbo-sized status report. However, in this case the depth and breadth are commonly greater and more extensive. An audit can be completed by either an internal or external auditor; it is intended to give an independent review and examination of records and activities to assess the adequacy of progress, ensure compliance with estabilished policies and procedures, and to review the appropriateness of controls currently in place. An audit that is commonly performed is financial.

Other methods of review that can be used include:

• Peer reviews
• Process guidance (informal or formal)
• Walkthroughs
• Formal technical reviews/inspections
  

Monitoring and Controlling  data

As a project moves forward it is important to monitor progress and control for unanticipated change or delay. This means making use of data to create useful information that aids in decision-making. It also entails working with people to ensure the project stays on track. In many cases this includes sharing data and information with team members so they can self monitor and understand their impact on the larger project.

Project baselines

A good place to start is ensuring that the team has established project-based lines. A baseline is a clearly defined starting point for your project plan. It gives the team a reference point to measure and compare against. As an example, a baseline could be used to evaluate the effects of a change, or to track progress of an improvement and measure the difference between two periods of time.  Project baselines commonly include components of schedule, cost, or scope.  A project can have more than one baseline. For example, there may be a baseline that relates to the schedule In the form of specific start and end dates that cannot be altered. Thus the Gantt chart which shows individual work units must adhere to that Baseline start and end. If some tasks take longer than expected, then other tests must be adjusted to meet the requirements. Learn more about Gantt charts here.

Benchmarking

Benchmarking is finding a point of reference or standard to which data can be compared. It is the process of measuring key business metrics, products, and practices and comparing them to either other internal business areas, competitors or industry peers, or areas of other companies. They are useful in part because your company is aspiring to performance that is known to be achievable because someone has achieved it. In many cases benchmarking is an ongoing or iterative process instead of a one time type of effort. As noted by the National Institutes of Health Office of Management, there are some common types of benchmarking:

• Internal benchmarking is a comparison of a business process to a similar process inside the organization.
• Competitive benchmarking is a direct competitor-to-competitor comparison of a product, service, process or method.
• Functional benchmarking is a comparison to similar or identical practices within the same or similar functions outside the immediate industry.
• Generic benchmarking broadly conceptualizes unrelated business processes or functions that can be practiced in the same or similar ways regardless of industry.

One issue to consider when benchmarking though is how it is communicated and addressed within teams if the current results are not near the benchmark standard. Efforts should be made to ensure company morale remains positive as improvements are pursued.

ISixSigma (n.d.) recommends ten steps for benchmarking:

1. Step 1: Identify Opportunities and Prioritize (What to Benchmark)
2. Step 2: Deciding the Benchmarking Organization (Whom to Benchmark)
3. Step 3: Studying the Superior Process
4. Step 4: Finding Reasons and Devising Improved Processes
5. Step 5: Goal Setting for Improved Processes
6. Step 6: Communicate Findings and Gain Acceptance
7. Step 7: Establish New Functional Goals
8. Step 8: Develop Action Plan for Implementation
9. Step 9: Implement Specific Actions and Monitor Progress
10. Step 10: Keep the Process Continuous
    

WORKING WITH DATA AND INFORMATION

For starters, let's clarify data and information. Data contains raw figures and facts. Information, on the other hand, provides insights via analysis of data that has been collected. Information is dependent on data. 

Data is unorganized and undefined facts. When data are processed, interpreted, organized, and structured to help in decision-making or understanding then it becomes information. Data is not usually useful on its own, but information is. In the world of computers one might think of data as the input, and information as the output. As an example, let's say you have a list of numbers that looks like this:

8012158474
8015453343 
8012329976

The above would be considered data. If you take this data, however, and know that it is to  represent phone numbers then you can change this data to information.

Customer phone numbers:
801-215-8474
801-545-3343 
801-232-9976

And from this information you can extrapolate further by noting that all of the first three digits are an area code which happens to be in Salt Lake County, Utah.

In working with data and infromation, the first step is to identify what you want to know and how it might be measured. The next step is to record data that will help obtain the intended measurments and ensure the data is timely, relevant, and accurate. Once enough data is accumulated, compiling and summary of the data can occur. It is preferable that all compiled information results are cross-checked. Once the information has been confirmed, the best means of displaying the data should be addressed as well as discussion of who the data will be distributed to and how. The data should then be distributed with guidance as necessary on reading, interpretting, and classifying the results.

Handling Change Requests

At times, when reviewing information, it is determined that changes may be necessary. If this occurs, please review the Change Management section.

References

ISixSigma (n.d.) Benchmarking. Ten practical steps with review points. Retrieved June 27, 2022 from https://www.isixsigma.com/methodology/benchmarking/benchmarking-ten-practical-steps-review-points/

National Institutes of Health Office of Management (n.d.). Office of Research Services. Benchmarking. Retrieved June 27, 2022 from https://ors.od.nih.gov/OD/OQM/benchmarking/Pages/benchmarking.aspx