CONTROL:

1 – Is project management software used?
2 – Are (were) project management tools used?
3 – Are regular review meetings held?
4 – Does the project have measurable goals?
5 – Does the firm have funding discipline (stay within the budget guidelines?)?
6 – Are good financial controls being used?
7 – Were/ are major phases/ milestones identified?
8 – Has the project’s actual performance been measured against the original plan?
9 – Project is occasionally evaluated against its original justification (old v. present?) Must overruns be explained with statements other than the word “other”? (No = bad)
10 – Do major scope changes require approval from management?
11 – Were pre-established standards used with this project (for testing rigor, evaluating or comparing)?
12 – Do reasons for delays/ cancellations get explained to management?
13 – Were/are major phases/ milestones achieved?
14 – Are deadlines strictly enforced?
15 – Is this project too big for the project team?
*How well is management managing the project’s risk?
*Are numbers mis-recorded in spreadsheets?
*Are cut and paste errors being made when formulas are being copied into other spreadsheets?
*Are the correct arithmetic (+ and -) signs being used in the spreadsheets?
*Are the correct spreadsheets being linked together?
*Are the correct macros being applied?
*Is the spreadsheet correctly named?
*Do the summary columns and rows correctly total?
*Are spreadsheet results tested against known results?
*Are there sufficient auditors at the project location to perform good audits?
16 – Are emergency requests being used to obtain resources as a means to by-pass established controls? (Yes = bad)
17 – Is money being given to the project without rules for disbursement? (Yes = bad)
18 – Do union work rules seriously increase pay when workers perform duties during off-hours or by them doing jobs outside their job descriptions? (Yes = bad)
19 – Can union employees earn more than their standard salary while working a during a standard work-day (e.g., penalty payments/ changing work assignments)?
20 – Do project costs include expenditure outside the budget?
21 – Depending on timing, is it possible that some data may not be available, when needed?
22 – Are effective control measures taken to avoid making overtime decisions on the fly?
23 – Are team members/ employees cross-trained in multiple tasks to avoid some overtime?
24 – Is the workforce structured so that the organization is not wasting money on overstaffing?
25 – Is project manager using control tools to coordinate and schedule overtime and provide feedback to senior management, such as a moratorium on OT for all workers?
26 – Has senior management/ project manager challenged minimum staffing mandates/ practices? (No = blue)
27 – Can project manager provide a summary of mandated minimum-staffing requirements? (No = red)
28 – Must supervisors justify and approve overtime before people perform overtime work? (No = red)
29 – Do supervisors physically observe people performing overtime work? (No = red)
30 – Are workers entitled to a minimum number of overtime hours? (Yes = blue)
31 – Must overtime sheets be turned in at the end of that shift? (No = bad)
32 – Can departments hide funds within other budget lines to cover overtime and other unanticipated expenses?
33 – Knows the amount of money being spent on consultants, the number of consultants on the project and who the highest paid are & what they do?
34 – Can project manager/ senior management easily stop/ slow down spending if funds/ money is being spent too fast? Does PM ensure efforts are made to keep costs down? (No = bad)
35 – Can course corrections be made quickly by PM/ SM to respond to changing conditions, when needed?
36 – Is overtime restricted to a maximum of 40 hours per week?
37 – Are contractors working BEFORE approved contracts are signed? (Yes = bad)
38 – Does PM/ team perform daily reconciliation of activities and services? Are databases/ reports updated daily/ regularly? (No = blue)
39 – Are contractors/ employees both (minimally) paid overtime pay, whenever their daily hours exceed 10 hours?
40 – PM ensures compliance with overtime laws, requiring 1.5 times their regular pay for hours worked more than 40 hours in a given week?
41 – Must PM provide an explanation regarding the actions taken to reduce/ mitigate overtime when more than 2 hours of overtime per day is/ has been worked?
42 – Does/ (has) PM initiate control procedures to reduce cost/ schedule/ and anticipate safety/ quality issues?
43 – Do penalties exist if PM exceeds project’s constraints? (No = bad)
44 – Must PM/ employees/ contractors complete and submit daily time-cards for pay/ accountability purposes at least weekly? (No = bad)
45 – Does PM manage high risk activities between regularly scheduled reporting periods? (Yes = good)
46 – Can PM delay or reduce future activities as a cost control measure?
47 – Has union and other team members been informed NOT to look for ways to “create” overtime?
48 – Are handover of responsibilities/ resources (where they came from, and where they ended up) done with proper (and traceable) checks? (No = bad)
49 – Does PM assure sufficient resources are available to avoid delays?
50- Does PM eliminate activity gaps on the scheduling chart to optimize time. (No = red)
51 – Do functional/ activity managers have local control (meal/ bathroom/ rest breaks) over the work being performed? (Yes = good)
52 – Does PM’s purchasing department use volume purchasing power to negotiate lower prices?
53 – Does PM respond promptly to early signs (monitoring changes) of project trouble (over budget/ behind schedule)? (Yes = bad)
54 = Does the firm’s purchasing policy always seek fair competition when procuring goods and services? (No = blue)
55 – Can staff be called into work around the clock? (Yes = blue)
56 – Do laws exist (and are they enforced) to regulate the number of hours worked in a 24 hour period and the minimum hours off (for rest) before resuming work? (Yes = green)
57 – Are management-authorized productivity “naps” allowed during the project members’ workday? (Yes = blue)
58- Can any tasks be started earlier or finished later than planned?
59 – Can PM deploy SWAT team specialists to address and correct specific issues/ problems when and where needed before they become serious? (Yes = good)
60 – Does PM manage/ review absences to prevent overtime manipulation tactics, such as during periods of worker shortage (e.g, vacation), where a planned worker (A) calls in sick, causing PM, et al to offer additional overtime to the remaining available workers (B through Z), only to have worker (A) show up and also be paid overtime? (No = red)
61 – Do workers on scheduled vacation, show up to work or work overtime without advanced authorization from PM, et al? (Yes = bad)
62 – Do any normal project activities (specifically identify which) fall outside/ beyond the PM’s control? (Yes = blue)
63 – Does PM/ activity manager know where and how to prioritize deploy his/ her forces? (Yes = good)
64 – Are resources properly placed where needed, based on the daily activity report(s)? E.g., where resources arrived and how they were deployed and used. (No = blue)
65 – Does overtime work require the advance approval of the finance department/ department manager or senior official? (Yes = good)
66 – Were funds spent before they were officially authorized? (Yes = bad)
67 – Can activities receive funds, which will not be identified until after the reporting period ends? (Yes = bad)
68 – Are funds being spent on the right things? Does anyone verify the resources are properly spent? (No = bad)
69 – Do route/ attendance sheets effectively match up with the project’s work breakdown structure? (No = bad: Demand compliance/ request audit)
70 – Can PM accurately account for all resources associated with the project? (No = bad)
71 – Do union leaders excessively control staffing (overtime/ especially outrageous overtime, job/title assignments/ number of people assigned to the project/ timesheet fraud) for the project, without competent management supervision (Yes = bad)
72 – Has PM created a checklist of various tasks to improve the workflow and coordination of people and project activities? (Yes = green)
73 – Can system be manually overridden by human intervention/ force? (No = bad)
74 – Has SM/ PM established/ implemented a plan to back up the project’s data? (Yes = good)
75 – Does/ has PM quickly intervened/ inquired when key tasks are deviating from plans/ expectations? (Yes = good)
76 – Has SM/ PM planned and provided resources to secure sensitive/ high-value items? (Yes = good)
77 – Does SM/ PM use systems (e.g., equipment turn-in at end of shift/ workday) to account for and document the project’s resources? (Yes = good)
78 – Does PM have the power to execute a stop-work-order, if required? (Yes = good)
79 – Is the information captured too late to be used? (Yes = blue)
80 – Can/ will the project’s performance be improved if the data gathering could be done earlier in the timeline?
81 – Does the project have/ PM/SM use price controls to prevent employees from making resource commitments, unilaterally, without supervisory approval? (No = bad)
82 – Does the PM know & can list the limiting factors, creating problems now?
83 – Are delays addressed as soon as possible? (Yes = good)
84 – Firm relies heavily on vendor to police itself? Yes = Ba