Controlling involves comparing actual performance with planned performance. In other words, are you doing exactly what you planned to do? If you discover deviations from the plan (often called “variances”), you must analyze these variances and figure out alternative actions that will get the project back on track. You can then decide which alternative is best and take appropriate corrective action.21 Controlling involves several subprocesses:22
• Progress Reporting—collecting and disseminating progress information to all project stakeholders.
• Overall Change Control—coordinating changes across the entire project.
• Scope Change Control—controlling changes to project scope. This often means limiting the project’s deliverables to only those planned.
• Cost Control—controlling changes to the project budget.
• Quality Control—monitoring specific project results to determine if they comply with relevant quality standards and identifying ways to eliminate causes of unsatisfactory performance.
• Quality Assurance—evaluating overall project performance on a regular basis to provide confidence that the project will satisfy the relevant quality standards.
• Risk Control—attempting to minimize the effect that “unknowns” or potentially negative events will have on the project.