MONITORING:
1 – Does management have direct oversight of this project?
2 – Is the firm organized for project management?
3 – Management is aware of other competing projects?
4 – Does management read, understand and comment on project-related reports?
5 – Was a quality assurance plan developed for this project?
6 – Was the quality assurance plan used?
7 – Is there a standard report format in use?
8 – Does management receive regular reports from the project manager?
9 – Are project reports filed by both the project manager/team and management?
10 – Were major cost and schedule contingencies identified?
11 – Is this project achieving its intended goals?
12 – Are the project’s goals specific and measurable?
13 – Is the justification for this project still valid?
14 – Knows the budgeted amount the project initially received? Knows the amount left in the budget?
15 – Knows what money is being spent on and who the biggest suppliers are?
16 – Knows the amount spent at each phase of the project (including currently)?
17 – Knows what is/ was/ will be spent and on what?
18 – Knows what will be spent that is currently unallocated?
19 – Knows what will be spent on administrative costs?
20 – Knows what will be spent by the end of period ( the quarter? Year?)
21 – Is anyone keeping several sets of books/ recording work on unauthorized systems? (Yes = bad)
22 – Is there any slowness in submitting required forms? (Yes = bad)
23 – Are there noticeable instances of unreasonable, unnecessary and inappropriate expenses being submitted?
24 – (Where applicable): Is the project collecting unauthorized fees?
25 – (Where applicable): Are the correct fees charged, collected and properly deposited?
26 – Is high turnover occurring?
27 – Can/ could project manager/ team see the patterns (i.e., deviations from the norm) in the data with the intent to find solutions? Are deviations continuously evaluated and corrected? (Yes = good)
28 – Knows contract amount when project was originally awarded and knows what the cost of the project is now?
29 – Can project manager view dashboard information in real-time? (No = bad)
30 – Does senior management/ project manager know which h areas have the largest gap between field testing and laboratory test results? (No = bad)
31 – Does project manager know what activities are improving and which are getting worse, requiring extra attention? Are the extra work hours spent paying off?
32 – Can project manager easily determine what has changed since the last report was received?
33 – Do poorly performing areas get extra scrutiny?
34 – Does senior management/ project manager receive quality data on a continuing basis?
35 – Does senior management/ project manager analyze overtime costs?
36 – Are responsible individuals informed and held accountable when activities costs/ schedules are exceeded?
37 – Do competent project staffers watch contractors perform the work?
38 – Is/ has project manager significantly underestimated overtime costs? (Yes = red)
39 – Does project manager use a computerized system to manage overtime information? (No = Blue)
40 – Does project manager personally monitor all critical success factors (CSFs)? (Yes = good)
41 – Does senior management/ project review/ share with all concerned, the project’s progress on each of its major goals?
42 – Does project manager know where the majority of overtime/ names & titles of people performing overtime/ hours per day/
week, when/ where preventable accidents (or other maladies)/downtime occur?
43 – Can project manager go far back and review previous results?
44 – Is data readily broken down by specific activities/ cost centers to identify possible small improvements?
44 – Does project manager review the full list of project’s activities and what money is being/ has been spent on?
45 – Knows the percent of overtime compared to department’s expenses? Knows the ratio of straight pay time to overtime for employees/ contractors? (12% should be the overtime maximum)
46 – Has/ does overtime expenses decrease with increased staffing (addition of more full or part time people)?
47 – Does (apples to apples) cost comparisons between similar activities to determine variations/ best practices?
48 – Does a stated overtime policy exist?
49 – Does PM need to hire more (specific) people to reduce overtime?
50 – Maintains a system of continuous evaluation of key performance indicators?
51 – Knows the status of the various contracts associated with the project? (No = bad)
52 – Does PM stay vigilant against fraud/ quality problems?
53 – Does PM/ team regularly review timesheets (the person’s name/ title/ dates/hours/ days worked/ activities/ initial work being performed)/ separate visitor and employee sign-in/ sign out sheets/ credit card/ bank statements/ payroll reports and cancelled checks for accuracy and prove the work was actually performed?
54 – Are supervisors aware of the legal pay and hours/ benefits to be paid to employees/ contractors? (No = bad)
55 – Does PM know where the largest percentage of spending is occurring?
*Can PM identify where the largest change orders are coming from?
*The percent increase to the project’s cost?
56 – Does PM have a copy of all union required work rules/ contracts?
57 – Does PM understand the project’s procurement process? (No = bad)
58 – Are before and after analyses (B&A) done to evaluate project performance? (No = red)
59 – Are analyses done to determine what is working well in one setting but NOT in a similar (but related) setting? (No = bad)
60 – Does SM/PM feel they are tracking too many performance measures?
61 – PM knows the number of staff hours required to track performance measures?
62 – Does PM require daily sign-in/ sign-outs AND supervisors to approve and submit data on a daily basis? (No = bad)
63 – Is sign-in/ sign-out procedure tied to the payroll system? (No = bad)
64 – Is each area’s workflow (managing the flow of people and materials inside-the-area, to and from the area) properly set up? (Yes = bad)
65 – Does PM effectively track slow moving activities and jobs? (No = bad)
66– Are any activities approaching or exceeding their 15% rule? (Yes = bad)
67– Does PM know the amount of work in process? (Yes = good)
68 – Does PM know which activities are performing really well? (Yes = good)
69 – Does PM periodically spot check the raw data/ work in process that is included in the status reports s/he receives? (No = bad)
70 – Does PM rely on data points (such as cost per unit or units completed per hour – see charts in back of this file) to be assured that employees/ contractors are effectively doing their jobs? (Yes = good) For example:
*Status yesterday?
*Status past 7 days? 10 days? 14 days?
*Status 3 to 10 weeks ago?
*Status 2 to 6 months ago?
71– Knows the amount of bills that are outstanding and awaiting payment? (No = bad)
72– Do any activities/ test performance show too much variability (same task taking wild amount to complete)? (Yes = bad)
73– Is mandatory overtime (up to and including working back-to-back shifts) frequently required (more than 20%) in order to perform daily operations? (Yes = blue)
74– Does PM closely track repair work and maintenance to ensure it’s performed in accordance with procedures? (No = bad)
75- Does PM effectively track work/ task assignments and ensure that they are being performed? (No = bad)
76– Are comprehensive progress reports (including contractor performance/ oversight reports)
*being issued on a regular basis (e.g., monthly)? (No = bad)
*follow-on reports show lack of/ no progress over a long period of time
77 – Must any funding (money) be used by a designated deadline? (Yes = blue)
78– Does PM have the ability to audit the supply chain to evaluate efficiency/ delays, work scheduling/ re-routing, fraud and quality? (No = blue)
79 – Can staff produce information in real-time? (No = blue)
80 – Does PM monitor financial statements at least monthly? (No = bad)
81 – Does PM review project’s receipts to monitor spending and time remaining on contracts? (No = bad)
82 – Does PM perform a monthly review to ensure that financial statements match the project’s receipts? (No = bad)
83 – Between meetings and reports, does PM ask activity managers how they are progressing toward the monthly/ project deadline, especially if they are behind schedule/ over budget? (No = bad)
84 – Knows where majority of costs are occurring? (Yes = good)