Progress
Progress
The Progress theme tests how the project is controlled against plan and how exceptions are escalated. Progress control compares actuals with plan, forecasts, and tolerances. The six tolerance areas are time, cost, scope, quality, risk, and benefits. The Project Manager manages within stage tolerances; the board sets project tolerances and manages by exception. Controls include checkpoint reports, highlight reports, end stage assessments, end project assessments, exception reports, and exception plans. The daily log records day-to-day information; the lessons log records lessons; the product status account reports product status. Work packages authorise work and define tolerances for teams.
Worked example
A stage has a cost tolerance of plus 10% on a 100,000 pound budget. At a checkpoint, forecast cost is 112,000 pounds. The Project Manager cannot resolve the gap within stage tolerance. She raises an exception report with options: reduce scope, add funds, or stop. The board reviews it at an end stage assessment, approves an exception plan that replaces the remainder of the stage, and resets the stage boundary. Reasoning: the breach is outside delegated tolerance, so escalation is mandatory.
Traps
Do not escalate every small variance; manage within tolerance. Do not confuse a highlight report with a checkpoint report. Do not treat end stage assessment as a formality; it is the board's decision point. Do not let an exception plan quietly become a new project plan. Do not forget that benefits tolerance exists alongside time, cost, scope, quality, and risk.