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A Project Manager managed independent, outside consultants for an economic development group on the west coast of the United States. One of their major projects was to create a study to determine the economic impact of extending the 710 freeway in Southern California.
The freeway committee allocated a budget of $200,000 for the study. The economic development group hired independent economic consultants and put them to work on the project. The problem was how to coordinate the activities of the consultants, keeping them on task and within budget.
They organized the project in Project System. They entered all contacts regarding the contract into the system database. Then they entered all employees and all consultants into the system as users. Finally they added the individual tasks into the job system and assigned them.
A $200,000 budget sounds good, however when you have consultants billing into the project, largely at their own discretion and up to $250 per hour, things can get out of control in a hurry. Consultants were trained to log into the system to get their assignments. Their pay was based on the hours reported into the system. The project manager could log on and see the jobs in work and the work record of each consultant. By reviewing the work coming in, he was able to accurately control and effectively manage the entire project. It wasn't without bumps, but he had the information on hand and real time so he knew exactly where the project stood at all times.
As employees will sometimes do, one of the consultants overstated the hours and understated the work. The consultant rebelled against the system, not liking the structure it imposed. However, since his pay was based on the hours reported, the project manager was in control, not him. The manager could clearly see the consultant was not delivering - and not cooperating with detailed record keeping.
This consultant was replaced. Since the manager had knowledge of the project he quickly identified and fixed problem. He took corrective action by replacing the consultant. Without Project System the consultant could have drained the budget for months, or even years.
Budget tightening demanded a full audit of the project. Normally, a Project Manager might be in big trouble in an audit. Because they managed the project with Project System, there were detailed records of what was done, when it was done, and how much it cost. Not only did they pass the audit, they were commended on superior organization and project management. Their superior organization and control lead to more contracts.
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