Project Control

Project Control
Project control is a series of processes and steps that a project
manager in cooperation with other management staff carries out to
control the project in terms of progress, quality, changes,
products, commitments and other critical concerns. The ultimate
purpose of project control is to manage work during each stage of
the implementation life-cycle and to prepare the project for the
next stage. In this article you will find out how to control a
project in 5 steps. Project control is a project management function
intended for achieving defined objectives and expectations within a
predetermined timetable.


Steps in project control 

1. Hold Meetings
The objective of conducting meetings during the course of a project
is to assemble and manage an effective project team that is able to
accomplish defined goals and objectives. At a meeting the project
manager should provide an overview of work at the moment, describe
current goals and issues, and establish effective communications
with the team.
Every meeting starts with an agenda. The project manager needs to
write a meeting agenda and then share this document with all
participants of the meeting.

2. Perform Quality Control
By controlling project quality it is possible to confirm that the
product is complete and developed in line with expectations.
Quality control involves business and technical staff in a range of
activities such as defining technical standards, setting business
expectations, establishing product requirements, others.Quality
control starts when a project is initiated and lasts throughout the
entire project lifecycle until the product is developed and handed
over to the customer. It aims to ensure that activities and tasks
at any given stage of the lifecycle can be signed off so that the
project can continue developing.
3. Track Work Progress
This step in controlling a project refers to monitoring, measuring
and controlling progress on the project. The purpose is to ensure
that project work is being done as scheduled. The project manager
needs to track work progress at any given stage to make sure the
project goes towards right direction.
4. Respond to Changes
The goal of controlling changes is to define and implement the
addition of work into a given stage. By effectively responding to
changes the project manager is able to ensure that the scope,
schedule and cost remain relevant to current situation.
5. Manage Issues
As a process, issue management aims to resolve any issues affecting
the success of a project. This process takes a range of steps which
are to identify issues, asses their impact, develop resolution
actions, take those actions and track progress on issues.A project
manager needs to manage issues in order to ensure that the project
is carried out as planned.
Along with the five listed steps in project control, there are
other activities such as risk management, exception management,
communications management. Project control is a complex and
comprehensive process, and thus project managers should realize all
the steps of this process.

Prerequisites of Control system: the prerequisite of control system
are:
1. Planning: Control is not possible without planning .
Planning provides targets or standards for control. Standards are
the starting point of control system. They can be in terms of time,
cost, quality, and performance. They should be measurable ,
attainable, time bound and understandable
2. Information system: Control is based on feedback of
performance information. an effective information system is
essential requirement of control. Information system is based on
the internal reporting system of the organization and other
sources. projects should have project management information
system.
3. Organization structure: Control requires a structure . The
authority- responsible relationships should be clearly defined to
collect performance information, compare actual results with
standards, identify deviations, and suggest corrective actions.
4. Flexibility: the control system should be flexible . It
should be capable of adjusting to environmental changes
5. Participation: All the members of the control team should
take part in the control process . It should be based on
participatory approach.
6. Timeliness: The reporting and feedback for control should
be on time. If the information is not received at the right time ,
the control actions will be ineffective.

Definition of Control 
''Control of an undertaking consists of seeing that everything is
being carried out in accordance with the plan which has been
adopted, the orders which have been given, and the principles which
have been laid down. Its object is to point out mistakes in order
that they may be rectified and prevented from recurring''
  Controlling is one of the managerial functions like planning,
organizing, staffing and directing. It is an important function
because it helps to check the errors and to take the corrective
action so that deviation from standards are minimized and stated
goals of the organization are achieved in a desired manner.
According to modern concepts, control is a foreseeing action
whereas earlier concept of control was used only when errors were
detected. Control in management means setting standards, measuring
actual performance and taking corrective action.

The elements of control
The four basic elements in a control system —
(1) The characteristic or condition to be controlled: The
characteristic can be the output of the system during any stage of
processing or it may be a condition that is the result of the
system. For example, it may be the heat energy produced by the
furnace or the temperature in the room which has changed because of
the heat generated by the furnace. In an elementary school system,
the hours a teacher works or the gain in knowledge demonstrated by
the students on a national examination are examples of
characteristics that may be selected for measurement, or control.

(2) The sensor: The second element of control, the sensor, is a
means for measuring the characteristic or condition. For example,
in a home heating system this device would be the thermostat, and
in a quality-control system this measurement might be performed by
a visual inspection of the product.

(3) The comparator: The third element of control, the comparator,
determines the need for correction by comparing what is occurring
with what has been planned. Some deviation from plan is usual and
expected, but when variations are beyond those considered
acceptable, corrective action is required. It involves a sort of
preventative action which indicates that good control is being
achieved
(4) The activator: The fourth element of control, the activator, is
the corrective action taken to return the system to expected
output. The actual person, device, or method used to direct
corrective inputs into the operating system may take a variety of
forms.
                      Information is the medium of control, because the flow of sensory
data and later the flow of corrective information allow a
characteristic or condition of the system to be controlled.