2. Purposes of Evaluation – Goals of the System.
Primary purpose of evaluation is to help translate the
achievement of the project’s goal into contribution to the
parent organization’s goals.
Efficiency in meeting both the budget and the schedule.
Customer satisfaction.
Business/Direct success.
Future potential.
3. Purposes of Evaluation – Goals of the System.
Direct Goals of the project ignores many costs & benefits to the
project, team members, parent organization.
Ancillary goals attempts to –
Improve understanding of the ways in which project’s value to the
organization.
Improve process for organizing & managing projects.
Provide congenial environment in which project team members can work
creatively together.
Identify organizational strengths & weaknesses in project related personnel,
management & decision making techniques & systems.
Identify & improve the response to risk factors in the firm’s use of the project.
Allow access to project policy decision making by external stakeholders.
Improve the way project contribute to the professional growth of the project
team members.
Identify the project personnel who have high potential for managerial
leadership.
4. Purposes of Evaluation – Goals of the System.
Problems associated with finding the ancillary goals
One can not measure the performance against unknown goal.
Individuals pursue their own ends while working for
organizations.
Lack of trust.
Multipurposed projects.
5. The Project Audit
A through examination of the management of a project,
its methodology & procedures, its records, its properties,
its budgets & expenditure, and its degree of completion.
Studies financial, managerial, and technical aspects of
the project.
Six Parts -
Current status of the project.
Future status.
Status of crucial tasks.
Risk assessment.
Information pertinent to other projects.
Limitations of the audit.
6. The Project Audit
Why Is It Done?
Revalidate the business feasibility of the project.
Reassure top management.
Confirm readiness to move to next phase of project.
Investigate specific problems.
7. The Project Audit
Depth of the Audit
Time & Money constraints.
Depth of investigation depends upon circumstances & needs
unique to each project.
The general audit
Constrained by time & resources & usually a brief review of the project..
The detailed audit
Conducted when follow up to general audit is required.
When general audit has disclosed unacceptable level of risk or
malperformance in some parts of the project.
The technical audit
Detailed audit cannot investigate the problem at a satisfactory technical level.
Carried out by qualified technician under the direct guidance of the project
auditor.
Most detailed audit.
8. The Project Audit
Timing of the Audit
Early audits tend to focus on technical issues, and tend to benefit
the project.
Focused on the technical issues to solve key technical problems.
Later audits lean toward cost and schedule, and tend to benefit the
parent organization
Transfer of lessons learned to other projects
Postproject Audits
Legal necessity because of client specifications in contract.
Major part of the postproject Report, a major source of managerial feedback
to the parent firm.
To account for all project property & expenditures.
9. Construction & use of the Audit Report
General format for all audit report.
Communication device.
The information should be arranged so as to facilitate the
comparisons of the predicted vs. actual results.
Negative comments about individuals or groups associated
with the project should be avoided.
Writing in clear, professional, unemotional style &
restricting content to information & issues that are relevant
to the project.
10. Construction & use of the Audit Report
Format for Project Audit Report.
Introduction
To provide the framework of understanding for the reader.
Including project objectives
Also audit assumptions, limitations
Current project status
Cost - comparing actual costs to budgeted costs.
Schedule
Progress/Earned Value
Quality
11. Construction & use of the Audit Report
Future Project Status
Conclusions and recommendations
Critical Management Issues
A Pareto approach
Risk Management
Major threats to project success
Caveats, Limitations, Assumptions
Appendices
12. Construction & use of the Audit Report
Responsibilities of the project Auditor/Evaluator
Truth, ethics, external assistance, independence etc.
Assemble small team of experienced experts.
Familiarize the team with the requirements of the project.
Audit the project on site.
After completion, debrief the project’s management.
Produce a written report according to a prespecified format.
Distribute the report to the PM & project team for their response.
Follow up to see of the recommendations have been
implemented.
13. The Project Audit Life Cycle.
Six basic phases:
Project audit initiation
Purpose and scope of audit; gathering sufficient information;
assess methodologies, team members required
Baseline Definition
Determine the standards against which performance will be
measured. (Benchmarking)
Establishment of Audit Database
Gathering/organizing pertinent data
Focus on what’s necessary
14. The Project Audit Life Cycle.
Preliminary Analysis of the Project
The judgment phase
Comparison of actuals to standard
Audit Report Preparation
Present findings to PM first
Then, prepare final report
Audit Termination
Review of audit process
Disbanding of team
15. Some Essentials of an Audit/Evaluation.
The Audit/Evaluation Team
Depending on size of the Project
The project team members, accounting/ controller dept, technical
specialty areas, the customer, marketing dept, senior mgmt,
purchasing/asset mgmt, personnel dept, legal/contract
administration dept.
To conduct a through & complete examination of the project or
some prespecified aspect of the project.
Report information & make recommendations to maximize the
utility of the work.
16. Some Essentials of an Audit/Evaluation.
Access to Records
Free access to all information relevant to the project.
Gathering data is responsibility of the A/E team.
Systematic methods should be developed for separating out
useful information.
Access to Project Personnel & Others
Contact between project team members & A/E team members
should be free.
But should not be made without the clearance from top
management.
Care must be taken to avoid misunderstandings.
Critical comments should be avoided.
17. Project Termination Areas
Project Closeout
Organization Financial Purchasing Site
Closeout Mtg Payables Contracts Close Facilities
Plans Receivables Supplier Comm Dispose Equip/Mat'l
Personnel Budget Report Final Payments
18. The Varieties of Project Termination.
Project is terminated
When work on the substance of the project has ceased
or slowed to the point that further progress on the
project is no longer possible
When the project has been indefinitely delayed
When its resources have been deployed to other
projects
Or when project personnel become personae non
gratae with senior management and in the company.
19. The Varieties of Project Termination.
Four ways to close out a project.
Termination by Extinction
A project is successfully completed.
Or a project is unsuccessful.
Changes in external environment can kill the project.
Termination by murder – political assassination to accidental
projecticide.
Suddenness of project demise & lack of obvious signal that death is
imminent.
Arrangements must be made for orderly release of the project team
members and their reassignment to other activities in parent
organization.
The property, equipment and materials belonging to the project must
be managed accordingly.
Project Final Report (project history) must be prepared.
20. The Varieties of Project Termination.
Termination by Addition
When project is a more or less full fledged member of the parent
organization, it lives its first year in a protected status – carrying
less than an major share of overhead cost. As the year pass, the
project is expected to assume the economic responsibilities of
full scale.
Project personnel, property, and equipment are often simply
transferred from dying project to the newly born division.
Projects are transformed according to standard procedure of
regular operation.
The transition poses difficult time for PM.
21. The Varieties of Project Termination.
Termination by Integration
Most common way of dealing with successful projects & most
complex one.
Project personnel, property, material, functions and equipment
are distributed among the existing elements of the parent
organization.
The output of the project becomes a standard part of the
operating system of the parent firm or client.
Integration of Personnel, manufacturing, accounting/finance,
Engineering, information systems/software, marketing, purchase,
distribution, legal etc, Risk identification and management.
22. The Varieties of Project Termination.
Termination by Starvation
Slow starvation by budget decrement.
Some time senior management does not wish to terminate an
unsuccessful or obsolete project coz of competition.
The project budget might receive deep cut or series of small
cuts.
In effect the project is terminated but the project still exists as a
legal entity with sufficient staff to maintain some sort of
presence.
23. When to Terminate a Project.
Some questions to ask when considering termination:
Has the project been obviated by technical advances?
Is the output of the project still cost-effective?
Is it time to integrate or add the project as a part of regular
operations?
Are there better alternative uses for the funds, time and
personnel devoted to the project?
Has a change in the environment altered the need for the
project’s output?
24. When to Terminate a Project.
Reasons projects fail:
Project organization is not required
Insufficient support from senior management
Wrong person as project manager
Poor planning
Political Terminations
Cross-cultural Terminations
Senescence Terminations
25. The Project Termination Process
Decision Process
The Implementation Process
Project History Report preparation (ref page no-567)
