management controls

Management Controls – Overview.
Management controls aim to ensure that the project maintains its business integrity. This should deliver the project within the constraints of the resource and cost plans. Management controls need to encompass the entire project life cycle and normally consists of a comprehensive set of management reviews and reports. Project Initiation consists of a series of activities that are designed to provide a controlled start to the project. This ensures that the terms of reference, the project objectives, plans and job definitions are all agreed and clearly defined. The project initiation meeting is normally the final stage in the project initiation process. Project review meetings should be staged to monitor the actual progress against the base-lined plans and to review any current or potential problems. The aim of these meetings is to gather information from project team members and allow them to hear what others involved in the project are doing. These meetings are usually held at regular intervals, for example weekly or fortnightly.

In addition to the project team meetings, other meetings may be required to conduct formal reviews of the projects progress. These meetings will normally involve the project manager, and possibly some sub-project managers, meeting with the project owner. These reviews can be either pre-planned or called as circumstances dictate. They enable the project owner to satisfy themselves that the project is progressing satisfactorily before committing further resources to it. Progress reports should be viewed as the front-line project reporting mechanism serving project managers. These reports should be structured in a way that accommodates both the needs of the project management staff and the requirements of the overall project control framework - as applied to each project. Highlight reports, for example, are often used to present a summary of the current progress to the project owner thereby highlighting actual or potential problems. The reporting frequency will vary according to the needs of the project but is often based on monthly intervals. The project closure mechanism should be designed to ensure that closure of the project is formally approved and that all required information for future use of the project deliverable is documented. A post- implementation review is normally planned at project closure to take place between 6 and 12 months later.

Project Initiation.
Depending on the size and complexity of the project a large amount of preparatory work may be necessary prior to the project initiation meeting. The main purpose of this meeting is to formally approve the project initiation document and sanction the start of project work. The project initiation document should comprise the project plans, business case and terms of reference. Ahead of the project initiation meeting, the project sponsor should appoint the project owner and define its responsibilities. For external projects the actual appointment of individual members of the ownership body may not be directly under the Sponsors control. The project owner should appoint the overall project manager and define their responsibilities. They should also specify the components and level of detail they expect in the project initiation document. They should agree with the project manager, and then secure any additional resources that may be required in order to produce the project initiation document. The project manager should be responsible for producing the project initiation document and for ensuring that a suitable configuration management method is planned. The sub-project managers responsible for delivering the first stage of the project should be appointed and their responsibilities defined. This is important - to ensure that the project is not delayed once approval to proceed has been granted.

Project Initiation Meeting.
The project initiation meeting is normally the final stage in the project initiation process. The main purpose of the meeting is to approve the project initiation document. The project manager should table the project initiation document at the meeting and be prepared to answer detailed questions relating to its content and implications. At the project initiation meeting the main duties of the project owner should be based upon reviewing the project plans, defining how the project will be sub-divided and controlled, specifying appropriate quality standards and deciding whether or not to formally sanction project initiation.
The duties of the project owner should be based on:
1. Reviewing the main project objectives.
2. Approving the project plans.
3. Approve the first stage sub-project plans.
4. Defining the number of stages for review purposes.
5. Defining the required project controls framework.
6. Ensuring project scope and boundary are defined.
7. Ensuring known relationships with other projects are defined.
8. Ensuring all mandatory standards that are relevant are highlighted.
9. Agreeing the level of quality reviews to be applied.
10. Assuring that measures addressing the business risks are acceptable.
11. If satisfied the owner should authorize project initiation.
12. If not satisfied the owner should schedule another meeting or consider abandoning the project.
13. Inform the project sponsor and/or senior management of the outcome.
14. Distribute minutes of the meeting, if appropriate.

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