Notes

Outline

Chapter 15: Controlling

What Is Involved in Controlling Projects? Controlling is the process of measuring progress towards project objectives monitoring deviation from the plan taking corrective action to match progress with the plan Controlling cuts across all of the other phases of the project life cycle and involves seven knowledge areas

Table 15-1. Controlling Processes and Outputs

Schedule Control Peeter’s philosophy was to avoid schedule changes by determining important milestones and setting realistic completion dates Football analogy:  Keep making first downs and you’ll score touchdowns! Peeter sacrificed some functionality in the system to meet schedule dates Everyone knew what key milestone dates were and that Peeter was serious about meeting them

What Went Right?

What Went Wrong?

The ResNet Team Vs. Management Peeter and Fay wanted to change the sequencing of office installations after the problems in Hibbing Arvid and other team members banded together to convince Peeter and Fay not to change the sequencing because it would cause even more problems With some overtime and additional funds, the Hibbing and Detroit offices were both completed on time

Scope Change Control Everyone worked together to determine the scope of the project The 1996 ResNet kickoff meeting clarified scope and emphasized the shared responsibility in making the project a success Agents requested over 11,000 enhancements to the software.  About 38% of them were implemented based on priorities and time and cost constraints

Table 15-2. Kickoff Meeting Statements About ResNet Purpose and Scope

Quality Control The agents helping to write the code knew what shortcuts people might try, so they built user-friendly, foolproof software The industrial engineers used statistics to create random samples of agents to test the system Two quality control reports were very effective in tracking the quality of the system

Figure 15-1.  New Hire Call Handle Time Learning Curves

Figure 15-2.  Direct Tickets per 100 Calls - Actual Vs. Predicted

Performance and Status Reporting Reports emphasized key issues decisions that needed to be made numerical progress on the project Important numbers tracked were the number of PCs installed, the average call handle times for sales agents, and the number of calls resulting in direct ticket sales

Figure 15-3. Sample Weekly Status Report

Managing Resistance to Change ResNet team members did not think of change management in the traditional view of handling change requests The ResNet team focused on managing people’s resistance to change when introducing a new system ResNet included a full-time analyst responsible for change management There was a change management plan and teams at each office Training helped reduce the fear of change

ResNet Videotape Introduction    "Recently we began testing a new reservation system call ResNet with agents from several of our offices.  At the end of the test, we sat down with these agents and asked them their candid opinion of ResNet.  Now we know that change can be difficult.  But what we found and what you're about to hear will hopefully show you that this is change for the better.  Our vision is that ResNet will improve customer service, increase efficiency and revenue, and ultimately make your job easier.  Once again, you will be hearing from your peers¾agents who have used this new system, giving their honest opinion of ResNet" (Crystal Knotek, 1995).