Execution, Monitoring, and Control
What the domain is really testing
This domain is the engine room: directing work, managing the team, and controlling performance against baselines. Candidates must know integrated change control (request, assess impact, decide, update baselines, communicate), configuration management, and the use of earned value and variance analysis as early warning. Understand issue logs, lessons logs, and the discipline of measuring progress by accepted deliverables rather than effort spent.
Concepts to hold firmly
- Percent complete based on effort is misleading; use milestone or deliverable completion.
- Change control applies to scope, schedule, cost, and quality baselines alike.
- Quality control results and risk triggers both feed control decisions.
- Team development is a control activity: address conflict early, use ground rules.
- Forecasting uses trends, not hope.
Traps
A very common trap: a stakeholder asks the project manager to "just do it" and the manager complies to preserve the relationship. The correct answer is always to process the change. Another trap is treating a variance as acceptable because the team is working hard; effort is not performance. Watch for answers that update the baseline before approval.
Rule of thumb
No baseline changes without an approved change request; no change request without an impact assessment.
Worked example
A client requests an extra integration mid-project. Steps: log the request, assess cost/schedule/risk impact with the team, present options to the change board, obtain a decision, update the baseline and plans if approved, and communicate to all affected stakeholders.