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As the project manager, If I was not monitoring the status of the project the changes from the plan would not have been caught. If the deviations were not caught, adjustments in the schedule would not have happened. Without the adjustments, the project would have been over budget and possibly past the planned completion date. All of these are expectations that the stakeholders have for the completion of the project, in other words, the project could have failed.

If it was crucial for the project to be completed on time within budget, but changes happened that prolonged the duration of the project, I would use change control measures. Change control measures let changes occur in a systematized way (UMGC, 2023). The systematic way would make it easier to understand how those changes affect each activity in the project plan and ensure they are.

I could use a schedule compression tool, like fast-tracking for the project. This is when two activities are completed at the same time (UMGC, 2023). I would have team leads in these activities keep in constant communication with each other to ensure that their products complement each other and do not sacrifice quality. Another compression tool I could use is crashing. I would juggle resources around, possibly adding new ones to get the project back on track. This always costs more money though (UMGC. 2023).

Knowing of the slippage or speed-up ahead of time, it is always easier to incorporate a compression tool. If a change is detected too late, there may not be enough time to do a fast track because associated tasks would already be started or completed. And to crash the schedule, it takes time to juggle tasks and materials.

If nothing can be done to remediate the change in project duration, implement the change control. A change control would minimize the effect of the change and it would communicate the change to all stakeholders and team members.

If there was a large change that affected the project's duration, I would ensure it is well documented. The documentation would explain the reason for the change, and the effect it has on the project's cost, time and total scope (UMGC, 2023). I would then ensure that the documentation is effectively received, understood and approved by all major stakeholders.

References

UMGC (2023). Project Implementation Overview. In IFSM 438: Fall 2023. Week 7. https://leocontent.umgc.edu/content/dam/course-content/tus/ifsm/ifsm-438/document/Project%20Implementation%20Overview.pdf