Chapters 5 and 6 established a baseline plan and a schedule, respectively, for the consumer market study project. Once a project actually starts, it's necessary to monitor the progress to ensure that everything is going according to schedule. This involves measuring actual progress and comparing it to the schedule. If at any time during the project it is determined that the project is behind schedule, corrective action must be taken to get back on schedule. If a project gets too far behind schedule, it may be very difficult to get back on track.
The key to effective project control is to measure actual progress and compare it to planned progress on a timely and regular basis and to take necessary corrective action immediately. A project manager must not simply hope that a problem will go away without corrective intervention-it won't. Based on actual progress and on consideration of other changes that may occur, it's possible to calculate an updated project schedule regularly and forecast whether the project will finish ahead of or behind its required completion time.
This chapter will cover the details of controlling a project and will focus mainly on the critical role of controlling the scheduling to ensure that the work gets done on time. By mastering the concepts discussed in this chapter, you should be well prepared to help control your projects. You will become familiar with
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