Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
against the plan is not monitored, much of the benefit is lost. The basic monitor-
ing consists of each task manager estimating the current percent complete and
the estimated total time and budget required to complete each task (estimate to
complete, etc.) at regularly scheduled intervals. These estimates are then com-
pared with the percent of the budget spent for the work completed and the
total budget for completion. The estimates are reviewed by the overall environ-
mental analysis managers as a quality control, but having the task managers
perform the reviews adds to their sense of ownership and forces them to pay
attention to progress and schedule. A wise manager will keep time and funds
in reserve as a contingency as issues, problems, and unanticipated complica-
tions arise as they always do. There is then a backstop to shore up a task until
corrective measures to bring it back in line are put in place.
Another form of monitoring to keep the analysis within budget and schedule
is periodic task review meetings. At these meetings the task managers present
their findings and work status to the overall manager, senior consultants, and
other task managers. This meeting serves multiple purposes including:
r Forces the task managers to realistically assess the status of their work.
r Produces feedback and identifies opportunities for streamlining the
work, particularly if task completion and budget spent are out of line.
r Creates a midstream opportunity for senior consultants or others to
identify opportunities to truncate the analysis on a specific resource
or alternative.
r Informs each task manager what the others are doing which lends
consistency and quality to the final product in line with a multidis-
cipline approach.
r Provides informed opportunity to revisit the project plan and make
adjustments as necessary such as focusing on critical issues and
truncating effort that has little benefit.
r Provides a form to nurture a truly interdisciplinary approach to
environmental impact analysis.
One important aspect of project management and monitoring is to iden-
tify and address bad news as soon as it is uncovered. If the description of
an affected environment, alternative description, or impact prediction devel-
ops into a more complicated, and thus resource demanding, effort than
originally envisioned, early identification and acknowledgment provides an
opportunity to address the situation. It also allows the environmental analy-
sis manager to inform the project proponent (i.e., the one who is paying for
the project) before the situation snowballs and allows the project proponent
to participate in addressing the problem. Ignoring anticipated schedule or
budget problems almost never makes them go away, and knowing about the
possibility before it happens usually makes the shock less severe.
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