Project changes should be expected, planned for, and well managed.
Out-of-scope extras (gold-plating) add no value to the project and should be avoided.
Scope verification ensures that the work product is formally accepted. Quality assurance ensures the correctness of the work product.
Lessons learned are important resources for planning and future projects. Maintaining the lessons learned during project control is important.
All change-control systems should include guidance on the following factors;
How to influence the factors that cause change
How to detect when a change has occurred
How to obtain agreement on a change activity
How to manage the change
Earned value is the preferred project controlling and performance reporting technique.
Cost variance (CV) = earned value actual costs
Cost Performance Index (CPI) = earned value / actual costs
Schedule variance (SV) = earned value planned value
Schedule Performance Index (SPI) = earned value / planned value
Estimate at completion (EAC) = budget at completion (BAC) / CPI
Estimate to complete (ETC) = EAC / actual costs
Variances are always "earned value" minus something. Performance indexes are always "earned value" divided by something.
Performance indexes of less than 1 are unfavorable.
Quality control focuses on measurement. Quality assurance focuses on all the planned and systematic quality activities within the project.
The key quality control tools and techniques are control charts, pareto analysis (80/20 rule), Ishikawa diagrams (cause and effect, fishbone), trend analysis, and statistical sampling.
Preventing a risk event is always preferred to mitigating a risk event.
A key goal of effective risk management is to have a response plan ready (that is, a mitigation strategy) to be implemented if the risk event occurs.
Risk management may require replanning, developing alternate strategies, and re-baselining the project, depending on the severity of the risk.
