Schedule and Cost
Similarly, specific questions can be posed regarding schedule and
cost. For example: Do project plans include a milestone schedule
indicating major pieces of work to be accomplished, and who will
be responsible for each?
Are project schedule time estimates and logic developed using input
from members of the project team, in order to build in commitment?
Are they prepared using a structured breakdown consistent with the
work breakdown structure, such that cost and schedule can be correlated?
Are project schedules allowing sufficient time to get the work
done right the first time, and without causing overruns? And when
changes are made during project implementation, are corresponding
changes made to the schedule to accommodate these changes?
The cost situation should be similarly examined, and the direct
impacts on the cost situation of any changes in the schedule also
recognized. Thus typical cost questions should include: Is the estimate
realistic, including both direct and indirect costs of all required
resources, or have any changes taken place since, in terms of the
project's parameters or the external environment, which might require
its re-evaluation?
Has a benefit/cost analysis been conducted for inclusion in the
project brief as part of the project's justification, and is project
financing soundly based?
Has the estimate been converted satisfactorily into a budget against
which costs can be readily assigned in the manner in which they
have to be collected? Are all relevant costs being collected and
faithfully allocated, and are cost estimates of the remaining or
outstanding work being prepared on a regular basis so that forecasts
of the eventual final total cost can be compared to the total budget,
as a primary management control tool?
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Scope
and Quality
