Page 52 - Global Project Management Handbook

2-14 STATE OF THE ART OF GLOBAL PROJECT MANAGEMENT

TABLE 2.3 Objectives and Time Boundaries of the Project Start Process
Objectives of the project start process
• Information transfer from the preproject phase into the project
• Definition of expectations regarding the postproject phase
• Development of adequate project plans for managing the project objectives, scope, schedule,
resources, costs, income, and risks
• Design of the project organization, adequate integration of the project into the permanent
organizations
• Development of the project culture
• Establishment of communication relationships between the project and other projects and relevant
project environments, initial project marketing
• Communicating the “big project picture” to all members of the project organization
• Planning of measures for discontinuity management
• Definition of the structures for the following project management subprocesses
• Developing the documentation “project start”
• Efficient design of the project start process
Time boundaries of the project start process
• Start:Project assigned
• End: Documentation “project start” filed
• Duration: 2–3 weeks

every two to three weeks. In an engineering construction project with a duration of, for
example, 24 months, formal project control meetings with the project owner team will be
necessary every two months, and short project progress reports should be issued once a
month. It is recommended to perform project control on reaching project milestones.
The evolution of the project, which results from the dynamics of the project itself and
from the dynamics in project environment relationships, must be followed. Possible
deviations of the actual data from the planned data are to be identified, and directive
measures for using new potentials and/or for correcting undesirable deviations are to be
set. Opportunities for organizational learning on the project are to be used.
Project control refers to all objects of consideration of project management, not just

the project scope, the project schedule, and the project costs. Within the framework of
“social” control, above all, the project organization, the project culture, and the relation-
ships to the relevant project environments are to be controlled.
For preparing project control communications, the following tasks must be fulfilled
by the project manager and project team members:
● Project control—determining actual data, performing planned versus actual analyses,
performing deviation analyses
● Project direction—planning directive measures
● Adaptation of the project plans—updating project plans
● Development of the project control reports—developing project progress reports, proj-
ect score cards, and deviation trend analyses
Figure 2.9 illustrates the project control process.
The performance of project control communications usually includes a project team
meeting and a project owner team meeting. In these meetings, a common project reality