Project Control - Introduction | Planning Engineer's Manual

Once a project starts, certain aspects can easily deviate or go astray. This deviation can be overspending, a schedule slippage, a departure from the objective/scope, or something else. It is of utmost importance to know—at all times—where you stand in relation to where you planned to be (the baseline). If you find yourself behind schedule or over budget, you must know why and then take corrective action to get back on track or, at least, minimize the deviation. If the deviation is positive (i.e., the project is ahead of schedule or under budget), actual performance was probably better than that expected in the baseline plan. This process exemplifies project control.

Although the concept of project control covers all aspects of the plan (budget, schedule, quality, etc.), our main focus in this book is on schedule and budget control, which are related.

Keywords:  Project Control, Budget Control, Schedule, Project Schedule, Project Budget, Project Budget Control, Quality of Project, Planning Schedule, Project Planning Schedule, Baseline Program, Schedule Slippage, Ahead of Schedule, Behind Schedule, Corrective Action.