Project Management Control: It’s About Time

I stopped at the grocery store the other day to pick up a few items. I am always amazed at the vast selection of fresh fruits and vegetables at the market. When I was growing up, the selection was so much narrower.

At the checkout lane, a tall thin teen was at the register. When he got to my fruits and vegetables, he stopped and stared at a cucumber for several minutes. Noticing the bottleneck forming behind me, the cashier asked me, quite sincerely, “Is this a kiwi?” I answered, “No that is a cucumber.” The long line of people behind me snickered at his lack of produce knowledge.

Is it reasonable to expect cashiers to be familiar with all the foods they ring up each day? On the other hand, is it reasonable to expect that project managers be familiar with all the tasks they have to manage? There are so many tasks and variables in a construction project! Technology is constantly changing, material and labor costs are rarely static and time is truly finite. Can a project manager possibly monitor every activity, every cost and every process? No. Is that practical or necessary? No, it is not.

It is well understood that the primary factors in a project are scope, schedule and budget. There are other common metrics used, but all ask three essential questions: What will be done? What should it cost? How long should it take? The term “should” is key because these costs and times are estimates. Yes, there are stipulated sum agreements and liquidated damages for projects, but these terms underscore the lack of guarantees against unanticipated costs or schedule delays.

Monitoring is essential to control. My mantra for project managers is simply this: You can expect what you inspect. One cannot control what is not monitored; one cannot monitor what is not measured. The primary reason for project monitoring is to ensure that decision-makers have timely information, enabling effective control over the project. Project control ensures that actual costs, schedules and final product quality coincide with the plan. Note: There is no guarantee of a trouble-free project; control is an effort to reduce the risk of failures.

It is reasonable to conclude that factors affecting both cost and schedule should be monitored. In my opinion, controlling a project is primarily a function of controlling time. Controlling time allows simultaneous control of both cost and schedule.

Scheduling converts the essential elements of project scope into the most efficient timetable. The schedule is the primary basis for monitoring and controlling the project. In any project there are activities that fall on a critical path, i.e., activities that must be completed in sequence without any buffering time between them. That path determines the expected project completion date. If one of the activities on the critical path is delayed, the project schedule is exceeded.

To maintain adequate control over a project you must monitor critical paths and, when monitoring, must concentrate on measuring output rather than activity. Seeing a construction site buzzing with activity does not denote schedule compliance or prove that the project is going well.

The most important consideration is whether the work accomplished is the work that is scheduled to be accomplished at that time. For example, a project is scheduled for completion in 16 weeks and a concrete slab is due to be placed at the end of week one. The concrete is actually placed at the end of week two. Have any costs been available to monitor yet? Probably not. So if we are monitoring costs, we have no evidence of a cost overrun. However, we do know that if the project is behind schedule one week it is highly unlikely that the week can be made up without additional cost. Have you ever experienced a project that “made up time” without additional cost?

Stay with me here. The terms “time” and “schedule” are interdependent. A “schedule” denotes the aggregation of the length of time allotted for all activities in the project, including float for non-critical items. “Time” denotes the actual length of time each activity consumes. “Time” shows the effects of technical difficulties that take longer to solve than planned: initial time estimates that are too optimistic, task sequencing that is incorrect, required resources that are unavailable when needed, change orders, regulation delays, etc. All of these have a propensity to affect cost.

Need more reasons to monitor time? None of the following commonly encountered tendencies is included in a project plan, yet each will adversely affect costs and schedules:

• Thoughtless optimism or over-promising during programming or schematic design stage.
• Success-oriented schedules, which tend to have a lack of management reserves.
• Setting capacity equal to demand.
• Delaying the start of non-critical tasks.
• Multi-tasking by switching back and forth between projects.
• The human element: People make mistakes.

How many times has a construction project been completed without an equipment breakdown or a late material delivery? These will create additional costs and delay project completion. Another variable to consider: There is often no advantage seen to completing a project early!

“OK,” you ask. “How can we effectively monitor time?” There are many methods, from simple to complex. Here is an example of a simple method. While training a new project manager, I instructed her to monitor the start and stop times of each activity on a current project. Each day she was to look at the schedule to see what activities should be starting and ending. The same day she was to visit the project site and note what activities were actually starting or ending. Then she was to compare the reality to the schedule. If they were the same, all was fine.

The first time she identified an activity not starting as scheduled, she came to me and stated that a lumber delivery had been made but the carpentry crew did not show up as scheduled. If the crew did not show up, the project would be delayed. At this point, the project was only one day behind schedule, so I instructed her to contact the general contractor about getting back on schedule. She and the general contractor contacted the carpentry crew foreman. He agreed to work his people on overtime to make up for the lost time. When the crew failed to show up, she discovered it at the moment it occurred. From then on, she monitored the carpentry crew to make sure they worked longer hours to get back on track.

Like I said: It’s about time. There are a number of methods and tools available to assist in monitoring and controlling projects ranging from simple lists on a spreadsheet to earned value analysis — far too many to consider in depth here. The bottom line is to identify key performance measures that are related to time. These measures are typically benchmarks, timeframes and target dates. When closely monitored, they will help an organization define and evaluate how successful a project is in terms of making progress. When developing the schedule it is important to be realistic — consider the tangibles and intangibles, keep flexibility in the system, address the human factors (focus on correction, not punishment) and then optimize control by closely monitoring time to keep the project on schedule and minimize schedule overruns.

Monitoring time is essential for successful project managers. It is important to recognize a problem as soon as it appears and to act on it.