Project controlling plays a central but often underestimated role in modern project management. It encompasses far more than just financial monitoring and affects all aspects of project implementation.
Effective project controlling goes beyond analysing key figures. It includes methods and processes for the continuous monitoring, evaluation and optimisation of project performance. From the planning phase to completion, it provides decision-relevant information and enables proactive risk management.
In this blog, we will take a closer look at the various dimensions of project controlling.
Table of contents - What you can expect:
Successful project controlling: prerequisites
Methods for project controlling
Challenges in project controlling
Project controlling is an essential part of project management that monitors and controls the planning and adherence to budgets, deadlines and targets. It comprises both operational and strategic controlling, whereby the Operational project controlling on individual projects or several Projects running simultaneously is focussed and the Strategic project controlling supports long-term decisions on project selection and prioritisation.
Project controlling is crucial to the success of a project as it monitors and controls costs and progress at every stage. By recognising and reacting to problems and delays at an early stage, risks can be minimised and the Success rate of projects be increased. This helps to complete projects on time and on budget by identifying and addressing inefficient communication, lack of change management and insufficient expertise.
The main objective of project controlling is to harmonise the planned and actual course of the project by adhering to the agreed costs, efforts, deadlines and results. The project plan serves as a central instrument for comparing target and actual data and recognising deviations at an early stage.
For project controlling to be effective, certain requirements must be met. Transparency in all areas and precise planning are central to this. Here is an overview of the most important points:
| 🎯 SMART goals | Objectives should be specific, measurable, accepted, realistic and time-bound to ensure clarity and traceability. |
| 📝 Thorough preparation and planning
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This includes the distribution of tasks to sufficient participants, scheduling including milestones and time buffers, as well as clarity about costs and budget distribution.
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| 📊 Traceable key performance indicators (KPIs) | Recording and reviewing KPIs are essential in order to measure the progress and success of the project. |
| 💬 Open error culture | A corporate culture that deals openly with mistakes enables targets and key figures to be adjusted if necessary. |
| 🔍 Regular checks | Constant checks, such as target/actual comparisons, are necessary to monitor services rendered, tasks completed and progress over time. |
Once you have completed the entire project planning, budget planning and project controlling are no longer a major problem. With a tool like ZEP, you can plan the budget for each resource. Individual cost rates which considerably simplifies budget planning. ZEP not only supports you with the detailed Budget planningbut also facilitates the rough planning of your project. From project planning to finalisation, project controlling therefore remains a constant authority for your project. Project management and control.
With ZEP, you can keep track of Project time tracking keep an eye on your team's performance and ensure that all objectives are achieved on time and within budget. The software enables efficient resource planning, digital project tracking and electronic project management. Time recordingwhich leads to Digitisation and automation of your project business. By minimising manual input, ZEP reduces sources of error and ensures precise project management. Invoicing according to the new E-invoicing obligation. ZEP also generates important key figures and reports that give you a better insight into the project status and serve as a basis for well-founded project planning and decision-making.
In project controlling, there are various procedures and methods that can be used depending on the project requirements. The choice of suitable measures depends on factors such as the scope and importance of the project, the size of the company and the project team as well as the relevant key figures and measured values.
Below we show you some examples of how you can implement project controlling effectively:
The basis for all plans and measurements of success is thorough project planning, which usually utilises the work breakdown structure (WBS). The WBS details the underlying structure of the project by dividing it into sub-projects and underlying work packages. This logical linking of elements enables effective prioritisation, Allocation of resources and scheduling, which is particularly advantageous for backward scheduling.
Earned value analysis (EVA), also known as performance value analysis, examines the progress of a project up to its completion value. Important key figures such as the Planned valuethe actual costs and the percentage of completion are taken from the project planning and set in relation to each other. The EVA is particularly useful as it makes it possible to compare deadlines with the services provided and to assess both costs and completion dates during the project.
The utility value analysis (NWA) is a rather subjective method for assessing and deciding on projects, especially when objective criteria such as financial figures are not sufficient. In the NWA, relevant criteria are first selected and weighted, with the weighting totalling 100 percent. Each project is then awarded points for each criterion, based on a set rating scale (e.g. 1-5). The weighted points are totalled to calculate the utility value, with the project with the highest utility value winning the decision.
Traffic light controlling, also known as the traffic light system or traffic light method, offers a clear and distinct way of assessing the status of tasks in a project. Progress is visualised using the three traffic light colours green, yellow and red, making it immediately clear at which points in the project it is becoming critical. This method is particularly useful for time management and is ideal for projects with many deadlines, as it enables ongoing and up-to-date assessment.
You can use the milestone trend analysis to check whether all defined milestones and their deadlines are being met or whether delays are occurring that could jeopardise the achievement of targets. Milestones are defined and an earliest and latest target date is set for each one. During the course of the project, you regularly create forecasts on the expected achievement of the targets and visualise these in a diagram that shows the reporting dates on the x-axis and the forecast target dates on the y-axis. The resulting trend curve provides information on the further progress of the project.
The cost trend analysis (CTA) compares the actual costs with the originally planned costs of the project and estimates the remaining costs until the end of the project. This comparison enables the project controller to determine whether there are significant deviations and recognise risks at an early stage. Based on this analysis, a forecast of the further course of the project is created, which supports project management and helps to make any necessary adjustments.
Risk analysis is a central method in project controlling that should be carried out and documented regularly. It is used to assess, evaluate and Prioritisation of risks by assigning values between 0 and 9 as well as the probability of occurrence in per cent. The risk indicator is calculated by multiplying these values and helps to categorise the risk as low (0-3), medium (3.1-6) or high (6.1-9). This classification enables targeted management and action planning to minimise risk.
For project controlling, key figures defined at the beginning are crucial for monitoring the progress and success of a project. Depending on the project, different KPIs may be relevant. The following parameters are usually used as KPIs:
Certain processes are essential in project controlling in order to ensure effective planning, monitoring and control of projects. The standard "DIN 69901-5:2009-1: Project management phase "Control"" defines 15 essential processes for project controlling, 6 of which are mandatory. Here is an overview of the important processes:
| Process | Mandatory |
| Trigger processes | |
| Control dates | ✅ |
| Control changes | ✅ |
| Control information, communication, reporting & documentation | |
| Issue acceptance | ✅ |
| Managing costs and financial resources | |
| Carry out a kick-off | |
| Form a project team | |
| Develop project team | |
| Ensure quality | |
| Control resources | ✅ |
| Managing risks | ✅ |
| Processing contracts with customers and suppliers | |
| Controlling additional claims | |
| Control target achievement | ✅ |
These processes are critical to ensure that all aspects of the project are effectively monitored and managed, and provide a solid foundation for communicating with stakeholders and team members.
Project controlling is a complex process that goes far beyond mere monitoring. It poses typical challenges for companies, such as precise planning and ensuring comprehensive transparency. However, if these requirements are met, teams benefit from early risk identification, clear objectives and simplified communication with project managers. Stakeholders. It also enables a transparent analysis of performance, costs and punctuality as well as well-founded decision-making aids for several alternatives.
Effective project controlling is essential for the success of modern companies. It goes far beyond mere cost monitoring and encompasses the holistic management of projects - from planning to completion. By using suitable methods such as earned value analysis, milestone trend analysis or traffic light controlling, companies can recognise risks at an early stage, make optimum use of resources and lead projects to success in a targeted manner.
The greatest challenges lie in precise planning, the creation of transparency and the consistent application of controlling processes. Modern project management software such as ZEP can make a decisive contribution here: it supports detailed budget planning, enables efficient resource management and provides important KPIs for well-founded decisions in real time.
Ultimately, project controlling is not an end in itself, but a powerful tool for continuous improvement. It enables companies to learn from experience, optimise processes and constantly increase the success rate of their projects. In an increasingly complex and dynamic business world, effective project controlling thus becomes a decisive competitive advantage.
There are various roles in project controlling, each of which takes on specific tasks. Project managers, who often also take on the role of project controller, work closely with project controllers to monitor and control progress. If these tasks cannot be performed internally, it is possible to use external service providers who can provide valuable insights with an objective view of the project.
Good project controlling is characterised by the fulfilment of certain requirements, including the definition of SMART goals, thorough preparation and planning, as well as the use of comprehensible key performance indicators (KPIs). It includes regular checks and an open error culture that enables adjustments to be made. Effective project controlling goes beyond the mere analysis of KPIs and includes methods for continuous monitoring, evaluation and optimisation of project performance.
Project controlling is an essential part of project management, but focusses specifically on monitoring and controlling budgets, deadlines and targets. While project management covers the entire life cycle of a project, project controlling concentrates on the continuous monitoring and optimisation of project performance. Project controlling provides project management with decision-relevant information and enables proactive Risk management.
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