PM Project Tracking & Monitoring

Project tracking consists of comparing the project plan with the actual advance of the project. Project tracking is particularly important for organizations with a track record of time- and cost overruns, particularly in the IT industry.

Process Activities

• Determine Work Done:
  Determine the "work done" or "% completed" for each project task. The more fine grain the WBS (work breakdown structure), the more you can reduce errors due to overoptimistic estimations. You can comfortably store the result of this process in the ]po[ [Tasks] page of each project.
  
  
• Determine Resources Spent:
  Determine how much time and other resources have been spent on the project. ]po[ basically performs this task for you by means of its timesheet and expenses & travel costs packages.
  
  
• Compare Work Done vs. Resources Spent - Earned Value Analysis:
  Comparing the two measures will provide you with early indicators on whether your estimations have been correct and if the project is on time. This analysis is supported by the project audit package wich keeps the word done/resources spent history of a project and displays this history as an EVA (Earned Value Analysis) diagram.
  
  
• Track Milestones:
  Milestones represent important achievements in a project. ]po[ supports this by its [milestones] package.

Process Input

• Project Management provided project related information
  
• Biz Intelligence & Reporting provides relevant data on current progress, costs, etc.
  

Process Output

• Project status reports and compilation of derived activities
  
• Adapted project status and visual indicators
  

Process Support by ]po[

The following ]po[ packages provide support for this process: 

• Project Management provides general PM functionality, calculates %-completed
  
• po Core implements project, arbitrarily nested project ("hierarchies") and groups or projects ("portfolios").
• Timesheet Tasks implements project "timesheet" tasks with estimation figures
• Materials provides the "service type" per project task (i.e. "senior developer", ...), linking project schedules with the customer's price lists

Process Performance Indicators

• Percentage of projects 'in time' vs. overdue