Provide the discussion reply to two of the post separately.

1. Monitoring and Controlling Project Cost by Ashok.

Despite the many challenges on the way towards a project completion, cost management is by far the most significant of them all. It is not uncommon for many projects to experience cost overruns irrespective of the industry. A comprehensive and systematic approach to cost management is a definite solution to this problem. Practices such as focusing on aligning project needs with available resources, supervising current and future expenses, and analyzing cost performance, can assist a great deal in avoiding the risk of cost overrun.

Cost management is the process that involves, planning, controlling and monitoring the budget of a project. Cost management process helps the project to predict unavoidable expenses with as much accuracy as possible.

The title of the article I explored this week is, "Construction Project Cost Management and Cost Control Based on Big Data" in which Chen (2022) indicates that with the increasing number and scale of construction projects and the huge investment in these projects, cost monitoring and control is a very crucial concept that determines the success of a project. This article analyzed the development of a perfect and an efficient workflow of information that is based on a large-scale technology that will help in achieving the whole process of cost monitoring and control.

The author of the article gives a general outline of project cost management and further explains the common features of the cost management system. According to Chen (2022), some principles guide the project cost management to ensure there is continuous improvement including adhering to the information gathered from project design, utilizing advanced resources, and ensuring safety of the project. By contrast, the sixth edition of the PMBOK guide indicates that control of costs involves taking into consideration influence of factors that can cause any changes to the planned cost baseline, making sure that all changes are acted upon, managing changes upon occurrence, ensuring expenses do not exceed planned and authorized expenditure, monitoring the performance of costs and also understanding the difference from recommended and approved costs. It also involves monitoring, preventing unwanted changes, informing project stakeholders of any approved changes, and providing the expected cost overruns within the set time limits. According to the Project Management Institute (2017), this process involves control of inputs, outputs, tools, and techniques used in the entire project. The purpose of project cost monitoring and control is to ensure the entire project is done within the required and recommended budget. Besides, cost monitoring and control are important because they ensure the project budget is maintained and aligns with the desired objective.

References

Chen, S. (2022). Construction project cost management and control system based on big data. Mobile Information Systems, 2022(7908649), 1-7. https://doi.org/10.1155/2022/7908649

Project Management Institute. (2017). Project management body of knowledge (PMBOK) guide, 6th. ed. Global Standard.

2. Monitoring and Controlling Project Costs by Laudra.

Article: Project Monitoring: What It Is and Why It's Important

Author: Dara Fontein

Article Summary

The goal of monitoring a project is to verify that it is completed on schedule, on budget, and to the project's specifications. Monitoring a project also includes identifying and addressing any obstacles or issues that may develop throughout the project's implementation. The process group's activities keep the project on schedule. Unlike the previous phases, project monitoring and control activities run from start to finish. These activities examine the project's progress and deviations from the baseline (Fontein, 2021).

The cost monitoring and management method has various components. The project baseline confirmation confirms the project manager's understanding of the project's scope, budget, and timetable. Assuring deliverable quality and benchmarking against baseline goals and KPIs are part of work monitoring and control. Throughout the monitoring process, the change control integration element tracks resources such asbudget and timeline. Change requests must be reviewed, authorized, and documented. It also involves communicating prior decisions(Fontein, 2021).

The scope verification process means that all stakeholders have seen and formally agreed to a version of the scope. This version becomes the project's scope baseline and is subject to scope change control, meaning it cannot be changed without going through the process. Work outputs and deliverables are then assessed throughout the project to verify they match the scope description agreed upon at the start. Project timelines and budgets are constantly tracked. Any revisions to cost or timeline estimates are approved. Project monitoring is incomplete without quality control. This stage compares individual project results and deliverables to defined quality standards. Changes are sought and authorized if issues are found(Fontein, 2021).

The performance reporting element is the project's report card. As outlined in the communication management strategy, it entails gathering and disseminating project information, conveying project progress, resource use, and forecasting future progress and providingstatus to various stakeholders(Fontein, 2021).

During the monitoring and controlling phase, it is essential to efficiently track KPIs, promote good communication, and conduct a meeting to discuss lessons learned (Fontein, 2021).

PMBOK Contrast

The article provided a high-level overview of the monitoring and controlling project costs process. As expected, the PMBOK, 6^th edition, provided much greater detail. The article and the PMBOK provide a similar description of the process and the inputs/outputs. The article didn't provide examples of the project documents but did mention the creation of certain documentation The PMBOK, 6^th edition provided specific examples such as the assumption log, milestone list, lessons learned register, scope baseline and change management plan.

Basic Elements

This process group's major objective is to regularly examine and analyze project performance in order to detect and address deviations from the project management plan. This is done at the conclusion of each project phase or when exception conditions occur. To perform the monitoring and control process for a project in an effective and efficient manner, there are a number of widely regarded elements that must be included.

Project Baseline Confirmation

Work Monitoring and Control

Change Control Integration

Scope Verification

Schedule and Cost Control

Quality Control

Performance Reporting (Fontein, 2021).

Purpose

This process group's major objective is to regularly examine and analyze project performance in order to detect and address deviations from the project management plan. This is done at the conclusion of each project phase or when exception conditions occur (PMBOK, 2017, p. 613).

Importance

Monitoring and controlling project expenditures is crucial to the project's success. This process ensures that activities are completed in accordance with the project's specifications, that critical dates are fulfilled, and that team members have the appropriate workload and capacity. In addition, it permits project modifications or resolutions in the event of problems, as well as budget tracking and adherence. This procedure also promotes accountability on the part of team members and stakeholders (Fontein, 2021).