120315P - CONTROL AS A MANAGEMENT TOOL

Presentation at the Nurses Leadership Seminar on March 15, 2012 by Professor Omar Hasan Kasule Sr.

What is control?

• Control is assuring that plans are carried out effectively and efficiently.
• It is an important management function because it helps overcome some of the problems of human limitations by providing a systematic and methodologic approach to ensuring compliance.

Planning and control:

• Planning and control are interdependent.
• The project control system is determined by the plan.
• The plan will be changed from the findings of the control system.
• Plan implementation will be modified in case of mistakes.

Uses and misuses of control

• Control is used to maintain the project on track.
• Control is misused as :blame and ridicule

Monitoring and tracking

• Project monitoring is checking to make sure that everything is going well and according to the set plan.
• It aims at making sure that work is progressing according to schedule and that costs are within the approved budget
• Tracking is use of monitoring information and results to update the base plan
• Steering control is continuous monitoring of performance with corrective measures being taken as soon evidence predicts deviation from the desired target.
• Observation and monitoring of performance should be continuous; anecdotal observations do not help.

Control and symptoms of failure

• Seeds and symptoms of organizational decay or project failure can be detected early and corrective action taken if efficient control mechanisms are in place.
• Many people and organizations commit mistakes and are on a failure path without realizing it. They think that they are doing well.
• Deviations from the plan that are insidious in onset and progress slowly are more likely to me missed than sudden and dramatic ones.
• Control can not discover or prevent all mistakes. Any human system is liable to error. What is important is to detect as many errors as possible and as early as possible so that corrective action can be taken.

Primary problems and symptoms

• The project control system may uncover problems. Care must be taken not to take symptoms as primary problems.
• The underlying problems must be unraveled. The problem must de identified, described, and analyzed.
• Data should be collected to better define the problem in more detail and identify primary and secondary causes.

Problem solving

• Problem solving requires action plans to address the problem. The action plan should define the strategy and objectives as well as the tactics to achieve the objectives.
• The action plan should be implemented immediately. Its impact should be evaluated.
• Some apparent problems may be the tip of an iceberg of many underlying problems to be uncovered and resolved.
• While studying and resolving problems, you should not stop project execution because that will demotivate the project team members. In practice this implies that problem solving must be quick to make sure that necessary corrections are made before the project proceeds too far.

Control of costs

• Project costs must be controlled. Every project team member must be conscious of cost control.
• The accounting system should be set up in such a way that data is available for each key stage and for each activity.
• The operational budget must be compared to the approved budget.
• Monitoring project costs must be done in detail. If the general organizational accounting system can not provide the level of detail required you should consider setting up a separate system for the project.
• The control system should be simple and straightforward and should not be a generator of unnecessary paperwork.

Parameters to consider in project cost control:

• Actual cost of work performed,
• Budgeted cost of work performed,
• Budgeted cost of work scheduled.
• Cost overrun is computed as the difference between the actual cost of work performed and the budgeted cost of work performed

Human resources and control:

• The most important factor in project implementation are human resources.
• No amount of control however judicious will get good results out of demotivated, weak-willed workers.
• Control should not be a substitute for good planning, selection of qualified workers and training them, and providing the right environment for successful work.
• Each worker should be treated as an individual. There should be no expectations of performance beyond individual capacity.
• Control is sometimes misunderstood to mean personal control over individuals. If used in this way it leads to negative results. You control systems and not people.
• You seek to understand problems so that you may solve them. You are not going after individuals, apportioning blame and punishing.

Control is not an end in itself:

• Control should not be seen as an end in itself. The overall goals of the organization should always be kept in mind.
• Too much or wrong misguided control could appear successful in the short run but destroy the organization in the long run.
• Over-control destroys creativity, results in a negative atmosphere within the organization, and demotivates workers.

Internal and external control:

• Control may be internal or external. Internal control is achieved by instilling consciousness of Allah in the worker, instilling pride in good workmanship, and hope for thawab.
• Control intrinsic within the worker (self control) is more effective and permanent than external control.
• External control depends on bureaucratic control tools, rewards and punishments.

Types of Control

• Control at various levels of planning: Control may be at the level of strategy or at the level of tactical plans or at the level of day-to-day operational plans.
• Control by management function: Control may concentrate on particular management functions such as problem solving, or planning.
• Control by structural unit: Control may also concentrate on particular departments of the organization such as finance, personnel, dawa, education etc

Characteristics of a good control system:

• Flexible
• Timely
• Accurate
• cost-effective
• understandable
• acceptable
• objective

Steps of the control process:

• Setting objectives and standards: numerical & qualitative
• Measuring actual performance:
• Comparing actual to expected performance: cause of deviation, amount of deviation
• Taking necessary action: When there is no deviation, the action to take is reinforcement. In cases of deviation, preventive and corrective measures re taken.
• Trade-offs in the control system involve: costs, time, resources, and performance.

Reasons for change of base plans:

• Over-optimistic estimates
• Omissions
• Lack of resources
• Loss of resources
• Change of strategic plans during implementation
• Poor team work

Factors to consider in making changes in plan

• Budget implications
• Time implications
• Impact on objectives
• Impact on resources
• Impact on other projects

Management control tools:

• Strategic plans
• Long-range financial plans
• Operating budgets
• Project progress reports
• Project exception reports: details of deviation, reason for deviation, consequences of deviation, forecast completion, financial implications
• Statistical reports
• Financial reports.

Types of project meetings:

• Informal one to one
• Informal short team meetings
• Formal project progress meetings
• Formal project review meetings (involve stakeholders)
• Negotiations with functional managers

Purpose of project progress meetings:

• Review action plans from previous meetings
• Update processes
• Discuss and solve problems
• Anticipate problems
• Assess
• Forecast
• Motivate
• Deal with grievances

Agenda for project meeting:

• Action lists
• Current status
• Deviations
• Future plans
• Anticipated problems
• Performance evaluation
• Updated action list

Project Review Meetings:

• Project review meetings require good preparation.
• Written reports should be given to the participants in advance to study.
• During the meeting oral presentations should be brief and should concentrate on the following points: what is going well, what are the problems encountered, what action is planned to correct the problem, what decisions need be made, and what are the problems anticipated in the future.
• An action list from the meeting should be distributed.

Why control fails:

• Resistance
• Inaccurate information
• Rigid bureaucracy
• Negligent management
• Too rapid changes
• The organization is overstretched

DISCUSSION #1: CONTROL IN YOUR ORGANIZATION

Think of a recent project in your organization,

(a)  Draw up a control plan that could have detected and corrected one of the problems encountered. Use the following outline:

·         Criteria

·         Actual performance

·         Compare actual to expected performance

·         Corrective/reinforcement action

(b)  Identify management control tools that were or should have been used