Maintaining Control During Project Execution 177In many cases, deliverables cannot be fully evaluated until
they’ve been created. From the standpoint of project control,
your mission is primarily to keep deliverable performance from
being degraded. It’s important to note that deliverable perform-
ance can fall short for two reasons.
Failure to Perform as Expected. It’s very possible to create
deliverables “according to design or specification” that do not
turn out as expected. Perhaps they do not perform as we’d
hoped or cannot accomplish their intended purpose. This kind
of outcome is not uncommon in situations where you’re creat-
ing something new, where significant research and development
is required. In this situation, risk management and communica-
tion can be two useful strategies. Make sure that the customer
of the deliverables is fully aware that performance problems are
a possibility.
To defend against last-minute disappointment or rework,
you might conduct periodic checks of deliverables against
design specifications, create mockups or sample products, per-
form random tests, sample representative deliverables, and
conduct specially designed performance tests.
Performance Standards Are Altered During the Project.
Sometimes a decision is made during the project to lower the
standards of performance of project deliverables. This situation
can occur if it’s determined that what was thought to be achiev-
able is simply not. In other cases, standards are lowered to com-
pensate for cost or schedule problems.
From a management standpoint, the difference between
these two situations is huge. An inability to meet performance
standards because of technological challenges is often under-
standable. If handled properly, that is with the understanding and
cooperation of the customer, this situation should not become a
reflection on your management ability. However, if you or a
member of your team “trade off” deliverable performance as a
way to save time or money—without the express permission of
the client—you’re asking for trouble. Make sure that you review