Purchase Solution

Monitoring and Controlling Project Progress

Not what you're looking for?

Ask Custom Question

What are some of the ways that a project manager can use budgeting plans to track and compare actual data on project progress? In what sense is some cost reporting not reflective of the actual work performed? How can a project manager remedy this situation?

Purchase this Solution
Solution Summary

Cost planning starts with the proposal for the project, at which time project costs are estimated. And for budgeting purposes, it is best to keep the work packages or activities small in terms of scope and duration when putting together a schedule. Thus, it is important for project managers to closely monitor budget numbers against the actual progress of the project. To help you understand this concept, the excerpt will explain why cost reporting is not always reflective of actual work performed and what you can do as a project manager to keep things under control.

Solution Preview

Just because money is spent on a project, it doesn't necessarily mean that a project is on task. Let's say you have $100,000 in the budget and your project is scheduled to reach a spend-target of $50,000 6 months after the project begins. You made plans to only spend $25,000 on labor in month four, but because one of your workers was injured on the job during the fourth month of work, ...

Solution provided by:
Tamara Daniels, MS
Education
  • Master Online Teacher Certificate, University of Illinois
  • MS, National Louis University
  • MA, National Louis University
  • BA, University of Illinois
Purchase this Solution
Free BrainMass Quizzes
SWOT

This quiz will test your understanding of the SWOT analysis, including terms, concepts, uses, advantages, and process.

Accounting: Statement of Cash flows

This quiz tests your knowledge of the components of the statements of cash flows and the methods used to determine cash flows.

Marketing Management Philosophies Quiz

A test on how well a student understands the basic assumptions of marketers on buyers that will form a basis of their marketing strategies.

Transformational Leadership

This quiz covers the topic of transformational leadership. Specifically, this quiz covers the theories proposed by James MacGregor Burns and Bernard Bass. Students familiar with transformational leadership should easily be able to answer the questions detailed below.

Understanding the Accounting Equation

These 10 questions help a new student of accounting to understand the basic premise of accounting and how it is applied to the business world.

View More Free Quizzes
Related BrainMass Solutions

  • Project planning, breakdown structure and control

    408963 Controlling measures: Controlling measures means combining the planning of the project with its execution and that includes process that can track, review and regulate its progress and performance.

  • Project Baseline

    Also, as you continue to think about monitoring and controlling the project, specifically consider the question: How can the project baseline and the earned value approach for variance analysis be used to monitor and report project progress?

  • Scheduling and Budgeting

    583356 Scheduling and Budgeting Determine the tools that would work best for developing a schedule and budget. Simple methods for monitoring and controlling the schedule and budget.

  • Monitoring and Controlling the Strategic Plan

    The project manager (PM) is responsible for monitoring and controlling the strategic plans. The PM was placed to lead the project by the stakeholders. In essence, the PM is executing the strategic objectives of the company.

  • 4 key stages of project monitoring

    Project Scheduling and Cost Control: Planning, Monitoring and Controlling the Baseline Taylor, J. (2008). Project Scheduling and Cost Control: Planning, Monitoring and Controlling the Baseline. New York: J. Ross Publishing.

  • Earned Value Analysis - Monitoring and Controlling Project Cost

    Monitoring and controlling project cost is important because often a project is allocated a certain budget, and controlling project cost might be a deciding factor in doing this.

  • Why it is Necessary to Monitor and Control Strategic Plans

    The senior executive team, which includes the CEO, CFO, COO, etc. are responsible for monitoring and controlling strategic plans.

  • Tools and methods available for a project manager

    Why is there more potential for conflict in a project environment as opposed to an operational environment? What is the difference between monitoring and controlling? What role does technology play in the monitoring and controlling of a project?

  • Controlling function at Wal-Mart

    Analyze issues related to the controlling function at Wal-Mart. Controlling involves influencing the human behavior in order to achieve the deliverables of the project. Controlling is much broad then the monitoring.

  • Project monitoring

    Project progress is usually monitored in uniform weekly or monthly intervals. Monitoring reports describe the status of various activities and not the completion dates.

View More Related Solutions