Project Control Methods: Importance, Steps, and Case Study

Running head: PROJECT CONTROL METHODS
PROJECT CONTROL METHODS
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PROJECT CONTROL METHODS
Project scheduling one of the earliest task must be constructed in project initiation phase.
Project schedule is constructed to document project tasks with start and end date. It is also
necessary to define the tasks necessary to complete any certain project along with the resources
allocation. Generally, every project consists of multiple small tasks which are categorized into
different phases in order to avoid any complexity in future. After identifying all the necessary
tasks, tasks could be allocated to different team at different timeline. Necessary resources are
also need to be allocated for every individual task. These planning process must be conducted
before starting any certain task in order to get a clear idea about the investment and time lines.
These aspects must be defined because stakeholders have dissimilar schedules and their
accessibility and leave or vacation need to be documented in order to successfully plan those
tasks.
Previously, printed calendar and spreadsheets are used to document such details.
Nowadays, most of the organization use scheduling tools to get the job done precisely and
effectively. Generally, projects are consisting of several moving parts and frequently changed
over time. Project scheduling can be used to set the dependencies and automatically update tasks.
It can also use to alert managers and other stakeholders about specific tasks (Hwang & Ng 2013,
p. 193). The project scheduling tools are very useful in order to enable the manager to schedule
multiple task, due dates and assign required resources. For scheduling a project precisely, there
are mainly four steps need to follow which are described below.
Define Activities: every project consists of multiple tasks. These tasks need to be completed in
order to complete the whole project. By utilizing a WBS which stands for work breakdown
structure, multiple tasks cab be organized according to the dependencies and timeline (Fleming

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PROJECT CONTROL METHODS
& Koppelman 2016, p. 199). The key advantage of this method is to breakdown work sets into
activities that deliver a basis for monitoring, executing, scheduling, estimating and controlling
the project work.
Estimation: After arranging multiple tasks into groups, the effort and time necessary to
complete the tasks are estimated. Proper estimation can give a clear idea of the required
investment and time for completing any certain task. In most of the cases, proposed budget and
timelines are mapped to the identified activities (Meredith et al. 2016, p. 23). Estimation is one
of the essential piece of schedule which assist to calculate the precise schedule.
Determine Dependencies: In any certain project, where multiple tasks need to be completed in
order to complete the project, every tasks cannot be started independently at any time. Most of
the tasks are depends on one other as it cannot be started before completing other certain tasks.
For instance, in a construction project, doors cannot be painted before start carpeting doors.
Dependencies must be set for individual tasks in order to avoid complexity in future (Braglia &
Frosolini 2014, p. 256).
Assign resources: Resource assigning is also falls under the schedules every tasks need certain
resources to complete the tasks. Every task must be monitored by someone who will be
responsible for maintain the assigned team as well (Mubarak 2015, p. 219). The resource
allocation is also one of the essential piece of schedule which assist to calculate the precise
schedule.
To understand the significance and impact of the schedule over a project a case study has
been identified below. This case study will assist to understand the scheduling impact on a
Taiwan project. The Taiwan project named AAA Road construction project was a fail project