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Project monitoring is a critical part of project management because it helps companies monitor progress, evaluate the effectiveness of efforts, and make informed decisions.

This article will shed some light on this topic by discussing popular evaluation tools and methods.

What are project monitoring and evaluation?

Project monitoring and evaluation are systematic processes that entail collecting, analyzing, and using data and information to track a project’s progress and gauge its performance.

Monitoring a project, therefore, helps the project manager ensure that work remains on track.

Monitoring plays a significant role in achieving a project’s desired and planned outcomes.

As such, project managers must be meticulous in all phases of project monitoring, ensuring that tasks are executed correctly and that any doubts or hurdles are ironed out in time.

Project monitoring: how is it performed?

A successful project monitoring plan can only take place through the following actions:

• Setting clear goals: It means working with specific, measurable and time-bound indicators. These indicators provide benchmarks to measure progress and success.
• Data collection: Data are the cornerstone of project monitoring. Throughout project implementation, data are collected through different methods, such as surveys, meetings, focus groups, observations, and document reviews. These data can include both quantitative and qualitative information.
• Data analysis: Once collected, data are analyzed to measure project performance and impact. Data analysis may involve statistical techniques, qualitative coding, and comparative assessments.
• Reporting and feedback: Findings from data analysis are used to generate reports. These documents provide in-depth information on what works and what does not during a project’s life cycle.
• Learning and adaptation: Project monitoring is not just about evaluating past performance but also about using that knowledge to make future improvements- so-called “lessons learned“; project managers and stakeholders should be prepared to adjust their strategies based on their findings.

Project monitoring: 10 most used techniques

You can use many techniques for project monitoring.

Here are some examples:

1. Work breakdown structure (WBS): A way through which work can be broken down and organized into smaller pieces. It includes a visual representation of all project activities and can be used to split up activities and budgets.

2. Gantt chart: It is another way of visual data representation. Nonetheless, it is probably more exhaustive than the previous method and provides more information to a project manager. Gantt chart visually represents activity versus time and helps project managers monitor progress in real-time.

3. PERT chart or graph: PERT stands for “Project Evaluation and Review Technique.” It is similar to a Gantt chart, although structured differently. This chart allows project managers to spot and highlight interdependencies between project activities and identify possible bottlenecks.

4. Critical Path Method (CPM): This tool identifies the most important tasks in a project and the estimated time to complete them. Using this information, the project manager can determine which activities must start first and which affect the overall project schedule.

5. Project dashboard: Dashboards provide a real-time, visual overview of project status, including KPI (Key Performance Indicators), progress toward goals, risks, open issues, and milestones. These are powerful tools for project managers because they help them quickly grasp the project’s status and communicate it effectively to stakeholders and teams.

6.Risk monitoring: This technique involves identifying, analyzing, and responding to project risks. It includes assessing the likelihood and impact of risks, devising mitigation strategies, and continuously monitoring risks throughout the project to manage any changes.

7.KPI: KPIs are specific metrics used to measure progress in various aspects of a project. They can include task completion time, cost, work quality, customer satisfaction, etc. By measuring these indicators regularly, project managers can gauge whether the project is on track to meet its goals.

8.Project reviews and audits: These are formal reviews performed during and at the end of the project to ensure that everything is moving forward according to plan. Reviews may include reviewing compliance against quality standards, verifying adherence to budgets and timelines, and evaluating the effectiveness of project management.

9.Team feedback techniques: Encouraging regular feedback from team members can provide valuable insights into project progress. This can be accomplished through update meetings, surveys, or retrospective sessions, where teams discuss what is working well and what can be improved.

10.Trend analysis: this technique involves observing project performance over time to spot trends, predict potential problems, and take proactive action. Trend analysis can help predict whether a project is on track to meet its goals or whether corrective adjustments are needed.

By using a combination of these techniques, project managers gain a thorough understanding of project progress, identify and resolve problems in a timely manner, and guide the project to a successful conclusion.

Early problem identification allows corrective actions to be implemented before issues become more significant and costly. Furthermore, a thorough assessment of potential risks at each stage of the project enables the development of effective mitigation strategies and contingency plans.

Corrective actions may include adjusting timelines, reallocating resources, amending objectives, or revising execution strategies. These actions are crucial to keeping the project on track with its original objectives and ensuring that it is delivered on time and on budget.

In every project, it is vital to set up a structured process for monitoring and managing potential risks. This process begins with risk identification, followed by their assessment regarding the likelihood of occurrence and impact on the project. Subsequently, it is necessary to plan and implement actions to mitigate the identified risks, continuously monitoring the effectiveness of these measures.

Project monitoring: using Twproject

In the previous section, we went through various techniques used for project monitoring.

Using these charts can be simplified with Twproject, the best project management software available.

Twproject allows you to plan, schedule, assign, and update activities, resources, and end results.

It also provides customizable dashboards, reports, and alerts that indicate a project’s status, problems, and risks.

By collecting data and updates in a single place, project reporting and evaluation become, therefore, straightforward.

Thus, the project manager, team members, and stakeholders can access all pertinent and current information related to a project anytime and anywhere.

When it comes to project monitoring, the following features of Twproject make it the ultimate software:

• Task planning and assignment: It helps to break down projects into tasks, set deadlines and detail work performance schedules.
• Resource allocation: Assign and allocate both human and material resources.
• Collaboration tools: They promote communication and teamwork among team members and stakeholders.
• Document sharing and management: Facilitates centralized archiving, management, and project documentation sharing.
• Time monitoring: It helps to track time spent on activities and projects for performance analysis.
• Reporting and analysis: It provides in-depth information on project performance through customizable reports and dashboard visuals.
• Scalability: It can vary according to the size and complexity of projects and grow with your business.
• User-friendly UI: If a tool is convenient, team adaptation is facilitated, and problems associated with the learning process are minimal.
• Integration features: Ease of integration with other business tools to assist workflow efficiency and reduce redundancies to a minimum.

Project monitoring and evaluation are key steps to project success.

Opting for comprehensive software such as Twproject will maximize efficiency, optimize resources, and guide the team to amazing results.

Gantt charts for projects are the essential weapon of the Project Manager, but they can be extremely useful and effective even for anyone who wants to organize their activities in a structured way.

This planning tool appeared in the early twentieth century and has since been widely used for project planning.

The main reason for the success of the Gantt charts is their simplicity and the focus on the quick visualization of the activities.

Gantt charts are also an excellent way to plan the project in a temporal way, allowing to define roles, responsibilities and effective use of resources.

In fact, they provide an immediate vision of how to develop and structure the project and act as a guideline to the end.

What is a Gantt chart?

The Gantt chart, also called scheduled bar chart, is a tool for panning a set of activities that, generally, are part of a single, more complex project.

On the horizontal axis there is the time span, whose unit of measurement depends on the project calendar – days, weeks, months, etc. – while on the vertical axis we find the list of the various activities.

Each task forms a coloured bar that goes from the start date to the end of the activity.

Once all the activities have been inserted, there is a visual scheme of how the project is structured, which tasks come first, which ones overlap and which ones happen later.

The resources that carry out every single activity are easily identifiable.

With such a graphic structure, it is easy to understand, at first glance, if the processes are taking place on schedule and if the progress of the project is in line with the scheduled deadline.

Many software have, in the Gantt, their sore point because the Gantt is not very effective or even non-existent.

Only some software, including Twproject, allow not only to obtain a Gantt chart of the project that is easy to read, but also to get even more details, indicating for example:

• the resource assigned to a given activity;
• if the resource works full-time or part-time;
• how much work has been done and remains to be done;
• the cost associated with each activity.

What are the advantages of the Gantt chart?

As a company we think that the Gantt chart, if well structured and managed, can bring various benefits to the management of a project.

Here is a list of advantages that this system inevitably presents.

The Advantages of Gantt: Visualization

The Gantt chart allows to clearly visualize the workflow and the project structure.

When we insert the various tasks, or analyse the schema after inserting them, we can immediately realize any inconsistencies.

The linear scheme allows you to understand in advance if you will face potential organizational or technical problems and allows you to prepare in advance.

The distribution of the activities allows to identify the intermediate goals and to understand if the project is in line with the schedule or not.

The Advantages of Gantt: Flexibility

As already mentioned, an advantage of the Gantt chart is to clearly show the start and end date of a given activity.

The timing of each task will be set after a direct comparison with the managers of each sector, in order to have a realistic value.

For this reason, the Gantt chart is also useful for the feasibility analysis of a project.

Once the entire project structure is set up, it makes no sense to run to complete certain steps before the set date – unless there is really a valid reason – as this may be reflected in the lack of completeness and / or accuracy.

If you have agreed on a certain date speaking to the direct responsible, it means that this is the time necessary to carry out the work correctly and completely.

Forcing time would affect the quality of work.

The Advantages of Gantt: Efficiency

These charts allow an intelligent and effective use of resources.

It becomes really difficult for the resources to be reliable when they are grappling with too many processes and find themselves submerged.

All conflicts and problems that follow an overload of tasks can lead to a definitive blockage of the whole project and, inevitably, to its failure.

Using Gantt charts as a project planning tool gives you an overview of the project timeline so you can easily see where and when a particular resource is busy.

So, it is possible to allocate resources in such a way not to slow down or block the activities.

Once a process comes to an end, you can transfer the resource to another activity.

The Advantages of Gantt: Motivation

Gantt charts are great for morale!

Probably we all had those days where we felt completely lost and submerged from work and projects and we could no longer see the direction in which we were going.

In this case, the Gantt chart can be a valid psychological aid.

Looking at the diagram, in fact, you can immediately see how activities are taking place and how each process leads to the completion of the entire project.

It is a very effective method to raise morale and motivate the team.

Moreover, seeing the achievement of a goal – however small it may be – is still a gratification. It allows to concentrate, step by step, on the different blocks of activity without feeling disoriented by a project that can be long and complex.

The Advantages of Gantt: Communication

Gantt charts are not just a useful tool for planning the project.

Team members can use these diagrams to see where they are in the project, what they need to complete certain tasks and the inputs they need.

The project diagram shows them exactly who they should contact and who they should collaborate with during each phase.

This makes them able to communicate better not only with each other, but also with the Project Manager.

Thanks to the Gantt charts, it is also possible to help improve cohesion, communication and understanding of and in the team.

Create your Gantt now

Contact us for a tailored demo and find out how to use Twproject’s interactive Gantt

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The aspects (disadvantages) of the Gantt chart to keep under control!

As with any high performance tool, even for the Gantt Chart, there are some aspects to monitor.

Aspects that if not properly managed could result in real disadvantages.

Let’s list briefly the aspects to pay attention to, so that everyone can make his evaluations:

• It can become extraordinarily complex. Except for the simplest projects, a Gantt chart will present a large number of activities and resources used to complete the project. There are special software that can handle all this complexity. However, when the project reaches this level, it must be managed by a small number of people, or often by one, able to handle all the details. Large companies often employ one or more prepared Project Managers. In companies not used to this type of management, this may not work as it should.
• The size of the bar does not indicate the amount of work. Each bar on the graph indicates the period of time in which a given activity will be completed. However, by observing the bar, it is not possible to determine what level of engagement we need to complete these tasks. For example, a short bar could take 500 hours, while a longer bar could take only 20 hours.
• The length of a bar in fact indicates the timing of a given activity and not its complexity in terms of working hours.
• It needs constant updates. After starting the project, things can change. If you use a Gantt chart, you need to be able to change the chart easily and frequently.
• Difficult to see on a single sheet of paper. The software that allows you to manage these graphics are mostly suited to a computer screen and are not meant to be printed. It therefore becomes difficult to show the details of the plan to a broad audience. It is certainly possible to print the chart, but this normally involves a job of “cutting and pasting” of the individual pieces, rather expensive in terms of time.

Bottom line

To sum up, in the context of project management it is essential to have a clear view of the beginning of activities and how they develop as the project progresses.

We have seen how using a Gantt chart helps team members visualise not only when individual activities begin and end, but also how they intersect and influence the final outcome of the project.

All in all, the biggest advantage of the Gantt chart is the pure simplicity and the clear overview of the activities and their duration.

This makes it ideal for projects where facilitated access to all relevant information is required and where these should be easily understood by all those involved in the project.

This is why we thought of an evolution of the Twproject Gantt.

We have, in fact, built a tool that can shape situations in real time and be easily modified over time.

Twproject’s focus is to capture the work done in real time, to guide the Project Manager during the entire project development.

Our customers’ experience in this direction encourages us by providing us with guidance in future development.

Now it’s your turn, create your Gantt with Twproject and get a 15-day free trial!

The Project Life Cycle consists of four main phases through which the Project Manager and his team try to achieve the objectives that the project itself sets.

The four phases that mark the life of the project are: conception / start, planning, execution / implementation and closure.

Each project therefore has a beginning, a central period, a completion and a final phase (successful or not). All phases that we will analyze in this article constitute the so-called Project Life Cycle.

Obviously, those mentioned are only the main phases of the project, which means the starting point for a further subdivision in sub-phases, activities and tasks, increasingly basic and detailed, necessary for the development and allocation of work among the resources.

For each phase or lifecycle activity, the project manager must have two clear things in mind:

• The objectives of each project phase: based on company constraints ranging from quality to timing and costs;
• Products (derivable): every activity must lead to results that can be tangible goods or a documentation or specific services, etc.

But now we specifically enter the four main phases of the project life cycle.

The initiation phase

During this first phase, the objective or “need” of the project is identified.

This can be, for example, the resolution of a business problem or the analysis and creation of a concrete opportunity.

An appropriate responce to the need can be documented in a business case with the recommended solution options.

A feasibility study is then conducted to verify if each option is in line with the objective and a final solution is determined.

The feasibility study asks questions about the feasibility of the project. Questions such as “can we do the project? Do we have the resources to do it?“.

Furthermore, a justification study phase of the project is also carried out, for example by answering the question “is the project necessary for this objective?“.

Once these analyzes have been carried out and the project is considered feasible and necessary, this is officially started and, in case it has not already been identified, a project manager is appointed.

The project team is then identified and involved, thus starting to take shape.

At this point we can then move on to the detailed planning phase.

If we use a good project management application, the initiation phase will be much easier and once fully operational, the software itself will answer the questions mentioned above, i.e. if we have the resources to do it, if it is functional to the objective and so on.

We plan ahead and monitor our progress, thus being able to identify the critical paths, anticipate project delays or interruptions before they happen and therefore improve workflow.

Read the interview with Gap Studi e Consulenze and find out which approach they chose using the many planning tools offered by Twproject

Twproject is a complete solution that offers all the tools the project manager needs in this phase. Using this platform you’ll have the possibility to create your project from the very beginning and add the different team members, specifying their roles.

The planning phase

In this phase we start from the objective of the project and move on to develop it in as much detail as possible, planning the steps necessary to reach the final solution.

The individual tasks of the project are then identified, as well as the requirements that the resources must have and the strategy to follow.

A project plan is created that illustrates the activities, tasks and timelines.

The project manager coordinates the preparation of a project budget by providing cost estimates for labor, equipment and materials, if needed.

The budget is used to monitor and control the expenses incurred during the entire project phase.

Once the Project Manager has identified the work, prepared the strategy and the performance and estimated costs, the basic components of the planning process are complete.

It comes then the right time to identify and address any factor that may pose a threat to the success of the project. This part is called risk management.

Potential problems are identified, as well as the action that must be taken to avoid them, solve them or at least reduce their impact.

This is also a good time to identify all stakeholders and establish a communication plan that sets out the information needed to keep all the parties involved in the project informed.

Finally, the project manager will draw up a quality plan that includes the quality objectives, the control measures, also listing the criteria to be met  obtain the acceptance of the client – customer that can be the company itself.

Arrived here, the project has been discussed and planned in detail, and is ready to run and move on to the next stage.

Twproject can also help you in this phase, in defining the activities through the drafting of the WBS and immediately following with the planning of the phases over time with an interactive Gantt editor:

The execution phase

During the third phase, that of the implementation, the project plan is put into motion and the work is performed in concrete, following the steps structured in the planning phase.

It is important and fundamental to maintain control and communicate how – and when – necessary during this whole phase.

Progress is continuously monitored and appropriate  changes are made and documented as variations with respect to the original plan.

Whatever project  it is, a project manager usually spends most of the time at this stage.

During the execution of the project, people perform their tasks and progress information is exchanged through regular team meetings, so-called progress status meetings .

The project manager uses this information to maintain control over the project direction by comparing progress reports with the project plan, to measure the performance of activities and take corrective actions if necessary.

The main strategy should always be to bring the project back to its original course,that of the project plan drawn up in the previous phase. If this is not possible, the changes from the original plan must be recorded and the modified plan must be formalized.

During this step, project sponsors and all other stakeholders should be regularly informed about the progress of the work.

Each product result should be analyzed and accepted.

Once the results of the various steps have been produced and the client has accepted the final solution, the project is ready for closure.

Twproject helps you manage the execution phase, on two levels, for the project manager and for the team memebrs.

The project manager can constantly monitor the ongoing activities:

The team, on the other hand, will have a simple and extremely flexible ToDo management tool. ToDos can represent daily activities, tickets, bugs, ideas, organized in the form of a list or Kanban board.

The closing phase

During this closing phase, the emphasis is placed on:

• the final results;
• the delivery of project documentation;
• the termination of supplier contracts;
• the release of project resources;
• the communication of the closure of the project to all the stakeholders.

The last remaining step is to conduct an analysis of what went well and what did not.

Through this type of analysis you gain experience and knowledge, are gained, factors that will help the project manager, and the team in general, for future projects.

Unfortunately, the closing phase is often underestimated and in many companies the project is delivered without further evaluation; it only matters if the project was a success or not.

In reality, it isn’t only important to conclude a project successfully, but also to be able to execute it in the way that was set in the original project plan.

There is no shortage of cases in which the objective has been achieved despite having experienced a phase of execution full of changes, delays and problems.

The closure phase also serves to analyze this, in order to avoid making the same mistakes in the future and not adequately assessing certain risks.

The four phases of this life cycle may vary according to the sector and the type of project, but in general they are valid in any area.

When a project manager follows Project Life Cycle taking into account all the factors of each individual phase, he will have already taken the first step towards success.

Tell us about your personal experience of success.

How can a software help you managing the life cycle?

As shown, good project management software can make a real difference in each of the 4 phases of the project life cycle, since it can:

• help you draft the WBS;
• guide you in planning and execution;
• monitor and verify the phases  of a project with an interactive Gantt chart;
• check the correct balancing of the load on the resources.

That’s why a tool like Twproject is fundamental in the outcome of a project, since it has all the suitable tools for following each phase of a project’s life cycle, providing the project manager with a complete and constantly updated view.

Try it now for free! And afterwards, don’t forget to share your impressions and experience in managing the phases of a project with us.

Managing and reporting on European projects involves more specific and in-depth work than “traditional” company-level projects.

This kind of work touches both public entities and private organizations. It offers an opportunity to access funding credits and grants to overcome economic crises or to support innovations that could not be pushed forward through ordinary funding.

This article will cover how European projects are structured and how best to manage them.

European projects and NRRP: what are these?

European projects generally are a method of helping to achieve European Union goals.

This means the European Commission distributes allocated funds to help beneficiary projects, activities, and infrastructure that boost economic growth, equality and/or social welfare.

In particular, the NRRP – National Recovery and Resilience Plan – is an official document that one submits to the European Union to qualify for aid from the Next Generation EU (NGEU), a fund established by the European Union to stimulate economic recovery following the Coronavirus pandemic.

When managing and reporting a European project, it is imperative to know exactly what the European Commission will review.

Each applicant must complete a Financial Statement form, where:

• Costs must not include profit for beneficiaries;
• Costs must relate to a specific cost item;
• Costs must be sustained during the project period;
• Costs must follow national guidelines on taxation and social security.

This official document must be accurate down to the smallest detail, as it will serve as the basis for calculating what grants will be received once the Commission performs its formal checks.

Twproject: the tool for managing and reporting on European and NRRP projects

Considering the degree of accuracy required for the reporting and management phase of European and NRP projects, it becomes imperative to choose the best tool.

TWProject is a software di project management that is a solid companion for managing complex projects.

The tool is flexible and offers multiple features to meet various needs.

Most notably, it allows you to easily view work, milestones, dependencies, and progress while preventing bottlenecks.

There is a notification system and a statistics page to keep abreast of everything that is happening during your project.

When it comes to European projects,  document management is a crucial aspect.

TwProject allows you to bring everything you need in one place.

Images, files, reports, text files, etc. – any type of document can be attached to a project and easily retrieved.

And if your documentation is already stored in a safe place, you can connect it with Twproject via a simple link.

From a  cost management standpoint, this project management software also strives to offer the very best.

As we saw earlier, the Financial Statement is the document on which the calculation for contributions will be based. Hence, costs must be tracked and reported appropriately from the very beginning.

Thanks to Twproject’s charts and reports, you can easily track your actual costs and the expense entry to which they relate.

Also, many filters will allow you to extrapolate project costs based on different criteria.

And again, if several people are working on a project, costs can be accessed and modified only by those who are allowed to.

We were able to engineer a standardized process and model it within Twproject, thus having a streamlined, quick, efficient and effective process for carrying out the necessary reporting

Read the interview with Argea And find out how they easily create reports to be presented to the control bodies of the EU.

Managing and reporting on European projects: a specialist’s task

There is growing competition in applying for EU funding.

Therefore, those in charge of European project management and NRRP must be specialists who regularly refresh their skills.

Most people might think reporting on European projects is a strict, cold task.

The truth is, drafting reports to be submitted to the European Commission needs a human touch capable of presenting ideas and potential developments relevant to the EU.

However, this is only possible if the professional is supported by a solid project management tool, such as Twproject.

This will allow for keeping the documentation and data up-to-date and error-free, greatly simplifying the work.