Monitoring and Controlling (Focus Area)
Focus Areas are not project phases. They describe categories of work that can occur at any point in the life cycle and often overlap dynamically.
Definition
The Monitoring and Controlling Focus Area consists of those actions required to track, measure, review, and regulate the progress and performance of the project; identify any areas in which changes to the plan are required; and initiate the corresponding changes.
Monitoring includes comparing project performance data, producing performance measures, and reporting performance information. Controlling includes analyzing variances, assessing trends, evaluating alternatives, and recommending course corrections. The key benefit is to ensure the project is on track to meet expectations. This Focus Area is performed in parallel with all other Focus Areas — it is not a separate, stand-alone area.
For stable projects, M&C effort is fairly consistent throughout execution. For projects with frequent significant changes (common in adaptive approaches), M&C effort is less consistent and more event-driven.
Processes by Domain
| Process | Domain |
|---|---|
| Monitor and Control Project Performance | Governance Domain |
| Assess and Implement Changes | Governance Domain |
| Validate Scope | Scope Domain |
| Monitor and Control Scope | Scope Domain |
| Monitor and Control Schedule | Schedule Domain |
| Monitor and Control Finances | Finance Domain |
| Monitor Stakeholder Engagement | Stakeholders Domain |
| Monitor Communications | Stakeholders Domain |
| Monitor and Control Resources | Resources Domain |
| Monitor Risks | Risk Domain |
Key artifacts created / updated
- Work performance information — analyzed data (not raw) comparing actual vs. planned performance
- Work performance reports — status reports, dashboards, forecasts distributed to stakeholders
- Change requests — corrective actions, preventive actions, defect repairs submitted for CCB approval
- Forecast updates — revised EAC, ETC for cost; revised completion date for schedule
- Updated Risk Register — emergent risks added; closed risks removed; risk status updated
- Updated project management plan — after change requests are approved and baselines updated
- Updated Integrated Baseline — if approved changes modify scope, schedule, or cost baseline
Key activities
- Monitor and control project performance against baselines (scope, schedule, cost)
- Perform integrated change control (assess change requests, approve/reject, update baselines)
- Monitor and control scope (validate deliverables, track scope creep via change log)
- Monitor and control schedule (SV, SPI, forecast EAC using Earned Value Management (EVM))
- Monitor and control finances (CV, CPI, EAC, reserve consumption)
- Monitor risks (track identified risks, identify emergent risks, reassess risk register)
- Monitor stakeholder engagement and communications effectiveness
- Analyze variances and determine corrective or preventive actions
- Report project performance to stakeholders (status reports, dashboards, forecasts)
Agile / hybrid considerations
- In adaptive: monitoring occurs at sprint reviews (product feedback from stakeholders) and Retrospectives (process feedback from the team) — replaces formal written status reports
- Velocity tracking and burndown/burnup charts replace EVM in pure adaptive contexts
- Kanban: WIP limits and cycle time are key monitoring metrics for flow efficiency
- Hybrid: formal EVM reporting may coexist with sprint burndowns — governance requirements determine which metrics are mandatory
Exam angle
- Monitoring is continuous and parallel: M&C runs alongside Executing at all times — wrong answers treat it as a phase that happens after work is done or only at milestones
- Corrective vs. preventive action: corrective = bring back on track after a variance occurred; preventive = take action to avoid a future variance — both require change requests through the CCB
- EVM acronyms: BCWS = PV (planned value), BCWP = EV (earned value), ACWP = AC (actual cost) — wrong answers frequently misidentify these; CPI < 1 = over budget, SPI < 1 = behind schedule
- Change request gate: changes identified during M&C must be formally approved before implementation — urgent changes are not exempt; submit, approve, then implement