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Background material for Year 3 Semester 2 PPSD session on January 29th, 2008 by Professor Omar Hasan Kasule Sr.
1.0 CONTROL
Control is assuring that plans are carried out effectively and efficiently. It provides a systematic and methodologic approach to ensuring compliance. It enables early detection and correction of mistakes. It may be internal (due to inner conscience and belief) or external (due to rewards and punishment). It may be pre-action, concurrent, or post implementation.
Project costs must be controlled by making sure that the operational budget is within the approved budget. No amount of control will get good results out of demotivated, weak-willed workers. Managers must be given enough authority to resolve control issues in areas of their responsibility. A good control system must be flexible, timely, accurate, cost-effective, understandable, acceptable, and objective.
The steps of the control process are (a) setting standards, criteria, or objectives; (b) measurement of actual performance; (c) comparing actual to expected standards; (d) and taking corrective action. Base plans can be changes as a result of control activities. The control program can fail due to resistance, inaccurate information, rigid bureaucracy, negligent management, too rapid changes, and an overstretched organization.
Continuous quality improvement (QI) is a management philosophy that is committed to continuous and consistent improvement in quality. It is consistent with the Islamic concept of ihsaan that calls for continuous human improvement. Quality assurance or quality improvement is a type of control.
2.0 EVALUATION
The objectives of evaluation are Assess whether objectives were achieved, Assess efficiency, Assess effectiveness, and Learn from experience. Its benefits are: Identify success and reinforce, Help management see areas of weakness and improvement, Reassure workers that they are moving well, reassure stake-holders, Gain confidence of supporters and donors, If the results of an evaluation process are not used to improve future performance the evaluation has not achieved its purpose.
Evaluation may be process evaluation or outcome evaluation. It may be internal or external. It may be during project implementation or at the end of implementation. The basis for evaluation is the individual accountability as well as the reward and punishment.
Data for evaluation can be collected by Direct observation, Questionnaire, Interview, End-product, Records review, and Performance/knowledge tests.
Self-evaluation is very difficult but yet very important. Only the most mature, most self-confident, and most sincere people are capable of looking at themselves in mirror and deal objectively with their performance, negative or positive.
Projects are evaluated on the criteria of keeping the schedule, finishing within budget, meeting all project objectives, and meeting stakeholder expectations.