Are project audits necessary - that depends on what the point is of
the audit, and what stage the project is at.
Generally a key consideration for audits is "what not to do next
time", rather than what "what have you done so far".
I would advocate a certain level of project audits, provided it is
used to create good practice in project management, as part of a
"lessons learned" or "feedback loop" process. (I would not be a fan of
project audits if the outcome is just to find fault with the project
manager).
The fact that the planning was good is in itself a good reason to
carry out the audit - so that the good planning can be learned by the
organisation and carried forward into other projects.
These audits should be carried out irrespective of how good the
planning has been, though if the project is still at the planning
stage there probably isn't much point (or if the scale of the project
is small - the bigger the project the more I would advocate audits).
Appropriate warnings - in terms of metrics the key ones I would say are:
Time - Baseline, Actual, Forecast to end, variances.
Money - Budget total, actual spend to date, earned value, budgeted
actual value, budget to finish, variances.
Cancellation point:
Really depends on the project sponsors & stakeholders, but Project
Manager should review the original project scope against the business
reasons, and if they no longer are valid this should be flagged to the
sponsors & stakeholders.
This can happen when scope creep takes the project away from what was
intended, or else what is expected by the ultimate customer is not
going to be delivered, or is no longer valid. |
