How Project Monitoring and Control process supports all 9 Project Management Knowledge Areas

Project management involves various functions that enable smooth and organized project execution. These various functions grouped together according to their purpose and these groups are referred as knowledge areas. Knowledge areas are based on common features, whereas project management process groups determine the order of project management activities. There are 9 knowledge areas as shown in the below figure.

Project monitoring and control is the process group that involves the tracking of project progress to acknowledge the deviation in project plan. A project plan is the basis for monitoring activities, conveying status, and making remedial move. Project monitoring and control enables timely corrective actions to be taken when performance deviates significantly from the plan. A deviation is significant if the deviation affects the project from meeting its objective. Project monitoring and controls is very important process as it helps to deliver quality product, in lowest possible cost and time.

Project monitoring and control tracks the project based on all 9 knowledge areas as following

• Project Scope Management

The client interaction happens to know whether they are satisfied or not. But in this interaction the project can get informal changes in the project scope. This means that project scope is changed without adding project schedule, budget or resources.

For this, monitoring and controlling helps the project scope management by periodically comparing the scope of project and agreeing scope among the stakeholders. The change in scope is corrected and handled by adding the new element or feature with help of stakeholders. The added feature is formally added to the scope and accordingly the budget and schedule are changed.

• Project Time Management

Project time management is about planning schedule the project according to available time. The monitoring and control periodically verifies the planned schedule to know the status of the schedule, influence factors that cause schedule changes, determine that the schedule has changed and manage changes when they occur. To monitor the time, schedule variance is calculated and accordingly the lag or delay can be noticed. The control the project total time the critical path is maintained by adding more resources to the critical path tasks.

• Project Cost Management

Cost management is important to the organization as if project is significantly big, it can affect the company’s ROI. The monitoring and control helps to monitor budget of the project. If any deviation is seen from the budgeted cost the corrective actions are taken. The corrective action ensures that only appropriate project changes are included in a revised cost baseline. The changes are informed to the project stakeholders of authorized changes to the project that affects cost.

• Project Quality Management

Quality of the work deliverables is important in terms of customer satisfaction and organisation reputation. The quality is monitored and controlled throughout the project by evaluating product or service quality requirements specified for the project. Quality requirements include both project processes and product goals. To control the quality of the deliverables the various techniques are used which includes Cause and effect diagram, Pareto chart, Histogram, Run chart, Scatter diagrams, etc.

• Project Human Resource Management

Human resource management includes assigning the right person to the right task. It is also including the identifying number of people required with their expectations. The monitoring and controlling includes the monitoring individual performance, giving them timely feedback, resolving issues and conflicts, and coordinating changes. Controlling part includes taking corrective action if any person is not doing work or managing more people according to scope or schedule deviation from plan.

• Project Communication Management

Communication makes sure that expectation and understanding of the deliverables is same. The main goal of monitoring and controlling communications is to ensure the optimal flow of information throughout project life cycle. There are many documents which has duplicate and interrelated information in project lifecycle. The controlling communication ensures that work performance information, change requests, project

Document updates, and organizational process assets updates are updated everywhere without any ambiguity. For improving communication many internal and external experts are available to help.

• Project Risk Management

The project risk management does not stop after initial risk analysis. It needs continuous monitoring of identified risks, monitoring of residual risks, identifying new risks and evaluating effectiveness of risk response plan. The changes and new risks are documented with action plan to mitigate the new risk. Risk monitoring and control includes risk reassessment, risk audits, technical performance measurements, reserve analysis, and periodic risk reviews.

• Project Procurement Management

Procurement management involves the contracts between vendors (sellers). Project monitoring and control supports procurement management by periodically reviewing performance and comparing it to the agreed upon plan and contractual provisions. 

The changes observed are managed by revising agreement, ensuring appropriate payments to the vendors and coordinating work between vendors and the project.

• Project Integration Management

Integration basically involves and coordinates between all other knowledge areas. It ensures that all elements of the project management come together at the right time. So here monitoring covers the tracking of whole project and managing the change in project work. The project team monitors the performance of the project work and identify the area that requires attention.

The project monitoring and control basically involves the tracking of changes in agreed or planned activity. Main purpose of project monitoring and control is to alert the relevant stakeholders about the issues that are causing problems and may cause problem in future. The project management team continuously monitor and control project work to decide if corrective or preventive actions are needed, what the best course of action is, and when to act.