Project Control Training Course: Scheduling, Earned Value and Change Governance

Programme Summary

Project control training course for senior project, programme and PMO leaders, lasting one week and ending in a project control pack for one live project. Delivery slips when baselines are weak, progress is reported as opinion and changes enter without a decision. The programme builds a schedule baseline, links cost to progress through earned value management, and sets the governance that turns variance into a decision. Mars Training Centre UK delivers this programme on project control to mixed-organisation cohorts.

The Business Case

Organisations that cannot see true progress discover overruns when options have already narrowed. A disciplined approach to project control gives sponsors an early, evidenced view of schedule and cost, and a record of why scope moved and who agreed it. Leaders who govern change deliberately protect expected benefits and keep credibility with funders, boards and delivery partners when plans have to move.

• Schedule Reliability: Improves as baselines are tested for logic and float before approval.
• Cost Visibility: Becomes clearer as earned value separates spending from progress achieved.
• Decision Quality: Rises as change requests are assessed against a recorded baseline.

Principles and Evidence Base

• PMBOK Guide: Its performance domains frame planning, measurement and delivery, and they shape Sessions 1, 2 and 4.
• ISO 21502: This international guidance on project management supports the governance roles, stage reviews and reporting used in Sessions 4 and 5.
• Earned value management: Its measures of planned value, earned value and actual cost underpin the variance analysis in Session 3.
• Critical path method: Its network logic and float calculations underpin the baseline built in Session 2.

Intended Participants

• Senior leaders who sponsor projects and must judge whether reported progress can be trusted.
• Programme and project directors who answer for schedule, cost and scope across several projects.
• PMO heads who set reporting standards and review project performance.
• Planners and cost controllers who prepare baselines and forecasts for decision makers.
• Managers who approve or reject changes to scope, time and budget.

Typical functions include construction, energy, public infrastructure and information technology delivery.

Learning Outcomes

1. Participants will be able to diagnose weaknesses in a project plan, its scope breakdown and its control arrangements.
2. Participants will be able to construct a schedule baseline with network logic, a critical path and float.
3. Participants will be able to evaluate cost and schedule performance using earned value measures.
4. Participants will be able to prioritise corrective actions according to their effect on the baseline.
5. Participants will be able to justify decisions on change requests with recorded evidence.
6. Participants will be able to design a reporting and review cycle that gives sponsors a reliable view.

Programme Structure

Day 1: Project Control Principles and Diagnosis

What must be in place before progress can be controlled, and where does the current arrangement fall short?

• Control Cycle Model
• Work Breakdown Structure Review
• Control Account Mapping
• Plan Maturity Checklist
• Control Weakness Diagnostic

Day 2: Building the Schedule Baseline

How is a schedule logic network built so that it can be defended and later measured against?

• Activity Sequencing and Dependency Logic
• Duration Estimating Methods
• Critical Path Analysis
• Float and Resource Constraint Review
• Baseline Approval Record

Day 3: Measuring Performance with Earned Value

How are progress and cost combined to show whether a project is ahead, behind or over budget?

• Planned Value and Earned Value Rules
• Cost and Schedule Variance Calculation
• Performance Index Reading
• Estimate at Completion Methods
• Variance Analysis Sheet

Day 4: Change Governance and Corrective Action

How are changes assessed, decided and recorded so that the baseline stays meaningful?

• Change Request Register
• Impact Assessment Template
• Change Authority Matrix
• Recovery Option Comparison
• Stage Gate Review Criteria

Day 5: Assembling a Project Control Pack

Do the baseline, measurement and change tools hold together on one live project?

• Testing the Session 2 Baseline Against Session 1 Findings
• Applying Session 3 Measures to Current Progress Data
• Running Session 4 Change Decisions on a Live Request
• Drafting the Sponsor Dashboard
• Completing the Project Control Pack

Methodology

The programme uses a data exercise method built on anonymised schedules, progress records, cost reports and change logs from construction, energy and technology projects. Participants work in small peer groups on a project of their own, calculate their own variances, challenge one another's baselines and receive facilitator feedback on every artefact.

• Suggested activity: Reviewing a supplied schedule network and marking the weakest logic links.
• Suggested activity: Calculating earned value measures from a progress record and explaining the result to a sponsor.
• Suggested activity: Acting as a change authority and deciding three competing change requests.

Capstone Output

Each participant completes a project control pack for one live project. It holds a diagnosed control gap list, a schedule baseline summary, an earned value variance sheet, a change decision log and a sponsor dashboard. The pack is used at work to brief a steering group, reset a drifting baseline and agree the next review cycle.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is project control suitable for leaders who have not built a schedule baseline themselves?

Yes. The programme assumes experience of sponsoring or delivering projects and builds project control from plan structure upward.

Which standards does project control rest on in this programme?

It draws on the PMBOK Guide and ISO 21502 for governance and structure, and on the critical path method and earned value management for measurement.

How is the project control pack used at work?

You use it to brief a steering group, reset a drifting baseline and agree the next review cycle for your project.

How does project control differ from a programme on project risk analysis?

Project control centres on baselines, measured progress and change decisions, while project risk analysis centres on identifying and quantifying uncertain events.