Executing and Delivering
Executing work
Execution includes directing and managing project work, developing the team, performing quality assurance, managing communications and stakeholder engagement, conducting procurements, and implementing risk responses. The PM coordinates work, removes impediments, and keeps baselines current through change control.
Change control
Any change to scope, schedule, cost, or quality should go through integrated change control: document the request, assess impacts, obtain approval from the change control board or delegated authority, update plans and baselines if approved, and communicate the decision. Gold plating means adding unrequested features; it is not scope validation. Scope creep is uncontrolled scope expansion.
Quality and team
Quality assurance is process-focused: are we using the right processes? Quality control is product-focused: are the outputs correct? Team development includes motivation and conflict management. Conflict often arises from schedules, priorities, and resources. Collaboration/problem-solving is usually best; forcing may suit emergencies; compromise, smoothing, and avoiding have narrower uses. Address conflict early and directly.
Monitoring, acceptance, and closure
Track work performance, the issue log, risk triggers, and procurement performance. Validate deliverables against customer acceptance criteria. Closure includes final acceptance, contract closure, releasing the team, archiving records, capturing lessons learned, and handing off benefits. Transition is not optional.
Traps
Do not approve changes verbally without impact analysis. Do not confuse quality assurance with quality control. Do not treat closure as only a final report, and do not ignore procurement close-out.
Rule of thumb
When a stakeholder requests a new feature mid-project, do not simply add it. Log the request, analyze scope, schedule, cost, and risk impacts, route it through change control, and update the baseline only if approved.