by After the project is commenced the next step is to ensure that the project gets completed by achieving the desired objectives. But sometimes things go wrong when we try to implement them.
So it becomes very important to control and monitor the projects especially in the implementation stage. Another reason for this control is the amount of cost involved with the projects.
So one way of doing this is the control of in-progress projects. Therefore, it refers to the assessment and monitoring of the projects which are currently in progress. It helps to implement any changes to be done at an early stage so that if something goes wrong it can be treated well in time.
There are two aspects of control of in-progress projects:
- Establishing procedures for internal control: it refers to setting up certain procedures through which we can keep control of the ongoing project internally. It may be done through assigning a dedicated supervisor for this or can be done by investing in technology related to this.
- Regular progress reports: regular progress reports may be maintained so as to judge the daily progress of the project. This progress report can also be used to track the planned performance with the actual performance. This will help the company know about areas where we may be lacking.
Post-Completion Audit
Even after the project is completed it is so important to audit the project. The main aim is to compare the actual performance with the planned performance or we can say that to know whether the project has produced desired results or not.
If the results are desired, we aim to look for things which performed well and is there any scope for improvement or not and if the results are not desired then we may aim to find out the shortcomings due to which the project suffered and how can we improve them.
Post-completion audits also help a business find out what were the biases that we made in our judgements. We will also be able to include healthy caution.
It will also help us to determine who were the best performers who put in extra efforts to make the project success and we will also be able to serve this audit as a training ground for potential executives.
Abandonment Analysis
Project management is certainly a very dynamic process. Anything can happen in this fast-changing dynamic world. Here is where abandonment analysis comes into the picture.
Abandonment analysis is a technique which is used for existing projects and even for new projects that whether the existing project terminated or is to be continued.
| New Project | Existing Project |
| A project in which the major amount of investment is yet to be made is known as a new project. Hence the cash outflow here is relevant. | A project in which most of the investments are made and this investment represents the sunk cost. |
| The cash flow estimates are uncertain in this case. | The cash flow estimates are quite precise. |
The rules to consider are:
If PVCF<SV<DV then it is highly advised to divest the project because the divestiture value is highest in the case and makes the most sense to divest.
If PVCF<DV<SV then the project must be terminated because the SV value is highest and we will get the most benefit by terminating the project.
If SV<PVCF<DV then we should divest the project because at this stage we are getting the most value by divesting the project.
If SV<DV<PVCF then we should continue with the project because we will get the most benefit by continuing the project.
If DV<SV<PVCF then in this we should continue with the project as both DV and SV are lower than PVCF.
If DV<PVCF<SV then we must terminate the project because neither divesting nor continuing the project will help.
