Work Monitoring and Control: A Project and Work Management Process Area at Maturity Level 2
Purpose
The purpose of Work Monitoring and Control (WMC) is to provide an understanding of the ongoing work so that appropriate corrective actions can be taken when the performance deviates significantly from the plan.
Introductory Notes
A documented work plan is the basis for monitoring activities, communicating status, and taking corrective action. Progress or status is primarily determined by comparing actual work product and task attributes, effort, cost, and schedule to the plan at prescribed intervals, milestones, or control levels in the schedule or WBS. Appropriate visibility of progress enables timely corrective action to be taken when performance deviates significantly from the plan. A deviation is significant if, when left unresolved, it precludes the work activities from meeting its objectives.
The term “work plan” is used throughout this process area to refer to the overall plan for controlling the work.
When actual status deviates significantly from expected values, corrective actions are taken as appropriate. These actions can require replanning, which can include revising the original plan, establishing new agreements, or including additional mitigation activities in the current plan.
Related Process Areas
Refer to the Capacity and Availability Management process area for more information about monitoring and analyzing capacity and availability.
Refer to the Measurement and Analysis process area for more information about providing measurement results.
Refer to the Work Planning process area for more information about establishing and maintaining plans that define work activities.
Specific Practices by Goal
SG 1 Monitor the Work Against the Plan
Actual progress and performance are monitored against the work plan.
SP 1.1 Monitor Work Planning Parameters
Monitor actual values of planning parameters against the work plan.
Work planning parameters constitute typical indicators of work progress and performance and include attributes of work products and tasks, costs, effort, and schedule. Attributes of the work products and tasks include size, complexity, service level, availability, weight, form, fit, and function. The frequency of monitoring parameters should be considered.
Frequency considerations can include the possible need for monitoring each service request or incident, and possibly even continuous monitoring for continuously delivered services.
Monitoring typically involves measuring actual values of planning parameters, comparing actual values to estimates in the plan, and identifying significant deviations. Recording actual values of planning parameters includes recording associated contextual information to help understand measures. An analysis of the impact that significant deviations have on determining the corrective actions to take is handled in specific goal 2 and its specific practices in this process area.
Example Work Products
1. Records of performance
2. Records of significant deviations
3. Cost performance reports
Subpractices
1. Monitor progress against the schedule.
2. Monitor the costs and expended effort of the work.
3. Monitor the attributes of work products and tasks.
Refer to the Measurement and Analysis process area for more information about developing and sustaining a measurement capability used to support management information needs.
Refer to the Work Planning process area for more information about establishing estimates of work product and task attributes.
4. Monitor resources provided and used.
Refer to the Capacity and Availability Management process area for more information about monitoring and analyzing capacity and availability.
Refer to the Work Planning process area for more information about planning the resources.
5. Monitor the knowledge and skills of work group members.
Refer to the Work Planning process area for more information about planning needed knowledge and skills.
6. Document significant deviations in planning parameters.
SP 1.2 Monitor Commitments
Monitor commitments against those identified in the work plan.
Example Work Products
1. Records of commitment reviews
Subpractices
1. Regularly review commitments (both external and internal).
2. Identify commitments that have not been satisfied or are at significant risk of not being satisfied.
3. Document the results of commitment reviews.
SP 1.3 Monitor Risks
Monitor risks against those identified in the work plan.
Refer to the Risk Management process area for more information about identifying potential problems before they occur so that risk handling activities can be planned and invoked as needed across the life of the product or work to mitigate adverse impacts on achieving objectives.
Refer to the Work Planning process area for more information about identifying risks.
Example Work Products
1. Records of risk monitoring
Subpractices
1. Periodically review the documentation of risks in the context of the current status and circumstances of the work.
2. Revise the documentation of risks as additional information becomes available.
As work continues (especially work of long duration or continuous operation), new risks arise. It is important to identify and analyze these new risks. For example, software, equipment, and tools in use can become obsolete; or key staff can gradually lose skills in areas of particular long-term importance to the work group and organization.
3. Communicate the risk status to relevant stakeholders.
SP 1.4 Monitor Data Management
Monitor the management of data against the work plan.
Refer to the Plan Data Management specific practice in the Work Planning process area for more information about identifying types of data to be managed and how to plan for their management.
Data management activities should be monitored to ensure that data management requirements are being satisfied. Depending on the results of monitoring and changes in requirements, situation, or status, it may be necessary to re-plan the work group’s data management activities.
Example Work Products
1. Records of data management
Subpractices
1. Periodically review data management activities against their description in the work plan.
2. Identify and document significant issues and their impacts.
3. Document results of data management activity reviews.
SP 1.5 Monitor Stakeholder Involvement
Monitor stakeholder involvement against the plan.
Refer to the Plan Stakeholder Involvement specific practice in the Work Planning process area for more information about identifying relevant stakeholders and planning appropriate involvement with them.
Stakeholder involvement should be monitored to ensure that appropriate interactions occur. Depending on the results of monitoring and changes in work requirements, situation, or status, it may be necessary to re-plan stakeholder involvement.
Example Work Products
1. Records of stakeholder involvement
Subpractices
1. Periodically review the status of stakeholder involvement.
2. Identify and document significant issues and their impacts.
3. Document the results of stakeholder involvement status reviews.
SP 1.6 Conduct Progress Reviews
Periodically review the work progress, performance, and issues.
The work “progress” is the status of the work as viewed at a particular time when the work activities performed so far and their results and impacts are reviewed with relevant stakeholders (especially work group representatives and work group management) to determine whether there are significant issues or performance shortfalls to be addressed.
Status or progress reviews are work reviews to keep relevant stakeholders informed. These reviews can be informal and may not be specified explicitly in work plans.
Example Work Products
1. Documented work review results
Subpractices
1. Regularly communicate status on assigned activities and work products to relevant stakeholders.
Managers, staff, customers, end users, suppliers, and other relevant stakeholders are included in reviews as appropriate.
2. Review the results of collecting and analyzing measures for controlling the work.
The measurements reviewed include those measurements collected for service parameter measures identified in work planning (e.g., availability, number of users) and can include those measurements collected for measures of customer satisfaction.
Refer to the Measurement and Analysis process area for more information about aligning measurement and analysis activities and providing measurement results.
3. Identify and document significant issues and deviations from the plan.
4. Document change requests and problems identified in work products and processes.
Refer to the Configuration Management process area for more information about tracking and controlling changes.
5. Document the results of reviews.
6. Track change requests and problem reports to closure.
SP 1.7 Conduct Milestone Reviews
Review accomplishments and results at selected milestones.
Refer to the Establish the Budget and Schedule specific practice in the Work Planning process area for more information about identifying major milestones.
Milestones are pre-planned events or points in time at which a thorough review of status is conducted to understand how well stakeholder requirements are being met. (If the work includes a developmental milestone, then the review is conducted to ensure that the assumptions and requirements associated with that milestone are being met.) Milestones can be associated with the overall work or a particular service type or instance. Milestones can thus be event based or calendar based.
Milestone reviews are planned during work planning and are typically formal reviews.
Progress reviews and milestone reviews need not be held separately. A single review can address the intent of both. For example, a single pre-planned review can evaluate progress, issues, and performance up through a planned time period (or milestone) against the plan’s expectations.
Depending on the work, “startup” and “close-out” could be phases covered by milestone reviews.
Example Work Products
1. Documented milestone review results
Subpractices
1. Conduct milestone reviews with relevant stakeholders at meaningful points in the work schedule, such as the completion of selected phases.
Managers, staff, customers, end users, suppliers, and other relevant stakeholders are included in milestone reviews as appropriate.
2. Review commitments, the plan, status, and risks of the work.
3. Identify and document significant issues and their impacts.
4. Document results of the review, action items, and decisions.
5. Track action items to closure.
SG 2 Manage Corrective Action to Closure
Corrective actions are managed to closure when the work performance or results deviate significantly from the plan.
SP 2.1 Analyze Issues
Collect and analyze issues and determine corrective actions to address them.
This analysis is performed for a different purpose and generally on different issues than the analysis performed as part of incident analysis, or change request analysis. However, the same or a similar mechanism can be used to analyze each of these types of issues and to manage them to closure. How best to implement a common solution for their analysis and management to closure depends on the risk of failing to handle each appropriately and the costs incurred by alternative solutions.
Example Work Products
1. List of issues requiring corrective actions
Subpractices
1. Gather issues for analysis.
Issues are collected from reviews and the execution of other processes.
2. Analyze issues to determine the need for corrective action.
Refer to the Establish the Budget and Schedule specific practice in the Work Planning process area for more information about corrective action criteria.
Corrective action is required when the issue, if left unresolved, may prevent the work from meeting its objectives.
SP 2.2 Take Corrective Action
Take corrective action on identified issues.
Example Work Products
1. Corrective action plans
Subpractices
1. Determine and document the appropriate actions needed to address identified issues.
Refer to the Work Planning process area for more information about developing a work plan.
2. Review and get agreement with relevant stakeholders on the actions to be taken.
3. Negotiate changes to internal and external commitments.
SP 2.3 Manage Corrective Actions
Manage corrective actions to closure.
Example Work Products
1. Corrective action results
Subpractices
1. Monitor corrective actions for their completion.
Refer to the Incident Resolution and Prevention process area for more information about monitoring the status of incidents to closure.
2. Analyze results of corrective actions to determine the effectiveness of the corrective actions.
3. Determine and document appropriate actions to correct deviations from planned results from performing corrective actions.
Lessons learned as a result of taking corrective action can be inputs to planning and risk management processes.