Project Monitoring and Control Using MS Project Training Course

Duration 5 days 10 modules · 33 contact hours
Level Intermediate Certificate on completion
Who attends Project Managers, Project Control Engineers and others
Fee from USD 1,100 KSh 95,000 for Kenyan organisations
Where 52 cities + online See dates by city
Next start 7 Nov 2026 Course code SD-PM-049

Before you join: Participants should have practical experience working on projects and be familiar with common project terms such as tasks, milestones, dependencies, budgets, risks and stakeholders.

Dates & prices

Two start dates a month in every city, and live online on weekdays or weekends. Fees are per participant; classroom fees include tuition, materials, lunch and refreshments, and the certificate.

Suggest a date or city

Showing the next six months. Later dates, other cities and private deliveries for your team are available on request.

Course overview

Projects can appear on plan while critical information is missing or unreliable. Schedules may be updated without a consistent status date, percent complete may be entered without evidence, and cost forecasts may fail to explain variance causes. Risks, change requests and outcome indicators can also sit in separate files, preventing managers from seeing the full control picture. The result is late warning of missed milestones, budget pressure, resource conflicts or benefits that are no longer attainable. This course develops the monitoring and evaluation discipline needed to turn approved project plans into timely management decisions using Microsoft Project.

Participants build and control integrated schedules containing work breakdown structures, dependencies, calendars, resources, costs, baselines and progress data. They learn to collect reliable actuals, set status dates, measure physical progress, analyse critical-path movement and produce schedule recovery actions. The course applies Earned Value Management to calculate cost and schedule performance, forecast final costs and identify control thresholds. It also covers KPI registers, logical framework indicators, risk registers, issue logs, change control and executive reporting.

Teaching combines short instructor briefings with guided Microsoft Project demonstrations, public-sector, infrastructure, NGO and corporate delivery cases, group analysis, reporting simulations and individual application planning. Participants leave with a reusable project monitoring and control pack: an integrated MS Project control plan, baseline and progress-measurement rules, reporting templates, an earned-value analysis model, a monitoring and evaluation matrix, and a 90-day implementation plan. A certificate of completion is issued to participants who complete the course.

What you will be able to do

  • Build an integrated MS Project schedule with deliverables, dependencies, calendars, resources and costs
  • Set and protect project baselines using approved change-control procedures
  • Update actual progress using status dates, evidence rules and physical completion measures
  • Analyse critical paths, schedule variance and recovery options using MS Project views
  • Calculate Earned Value Management indicators including CPI, SPI, EAC and VAC
  • Develop KPI registers and monitoring matrices using logical framework indicators
  • Produce exception-based status reports for sponsors, steering committees and project boards
  • Create a 90-day project monitoring and control implementation plan

Benefits of attending

For you

  • Greater confidence updating controlled Microsoft Project schedules
  • Practical earned-value forecasting capability
  • Evidence-based progress measurement methods
  • Stronger project board reporting skills
  • Reusable monitoring and evaluation documentation

For your organisation

  • Earlier detection of schedule slippage and cost exposure
  • More reliable progress data for management decisions
  • Consistent baseline and change-control discipline
  • Clearer accountability for risks, issues and corrective actions
  • Standardised project reporting across teams and portfolios

Course modules

10 modules over 5 days

Participants can define a practical monitoring and control structure for a project.

  • Project monitoring, control and evaluation roles within the project life cycle
  • MS Project interface, views, tables and calendars for controlled schedules
  • Project governance: baselines, tolerances, escalation routes and reporting cadence
  • Defining measurable objectives through SMART criteria and logical framework assumptions
  • Monitoring data sources, ownership, collection frequency and quality checks
  • Distinguishing progress monitoring, performance evaluation and post-project benefits review

Participants can create a logically linked MS Project schedule suitable for monitoring and forecasting.

  • Work breakdown structures aligned with deliverables, control accounts and work packages
  • Enter tasks, milestones, durations and dependencies using precedence diagramming logic
  • Apply FS, SS, FF and SF relationships with appropriate leads and lags
  • Build calendars, constraints and deadlines without distorting critical path calculations
  • Inspect network logic using Gantt Chart, Network Diagram and Task Inspector
  • Validate schedule assumptions against the approved scope statement and WBS dictionary

Participants can model project resources and costs to support controlled forecasting.

  • Create work, material and cost resources with standard rate tables
  • Assign resources to tasks and interpret units, work and duration
  • Model fixed costs, accrual methods and cost-rate table changes
  • Identify overallocations through Resource Sheet, Resource Usage and Team Planner
  • Level resources manually while protecting approved dates and critical activities
  • Review resource demand against availability, skills constraints and procurement lead times

Participants can establish baselines and apply consistent rules for recording project progress.

  • Set interim and approved baselines after schedule and budget validation
  • Compare baseline, scheduled and actual fields through tracking tables
  • Establish data dates and status dates for consistent reporting cut-offs
  • Record actual starts, finishes, remaining duration and physical percent complete
  • Choose percent complete, physical percent complete or milestone evidence appropriately
  • Protect baseline integrity through authorised change control and version management

Participants can update project performance data and produce credible completion forecasts.

  • Update task progress using timescaled views, task usage and status date
  • Collect field progress using evidence rules, reporting calendars and data validation
  • Recalculate remaining work after productivity changes, disruptions and revised forecasts
  • Apply the 0/100, 50/50 and weighted-milestone progress measurement rules
  • Separate actual performance, forecast estimates and approved baseline commitments
  • Use the Tracking Gantt to isolate slippage, completed work and late tasks

Participants can calculate and interpret earned-value indicators for cost and schedule control.

  • Earned Value Management terms: PV, EV, AC, BAC, EAC, ETC and VAC
  • Calculate CPI and SPI from time-phased cost and progress data
  • Interpret cost variance and schedule variance against established control thresholds
  • Forecast completion costs using EAC formulas suited to variance causes
  • Configure earned value methods for tasks, resources and project reporting
  • Assess EVM reliability through baseline quality, timely actuals and objective progress

Participants can diagnose schedule delays and prepare proportionate recovery actions.

  • Analyse critical path, near-critical paths and total slack using MS Project
  • Trace delay impacts with driving predecessors, negative slack and deadlines
  • Perform schedule compression through crashing, fast tracking and scope trade-offs
  • Use Schedule Performance Index trends to trigger corrective action
  • Maintain recovery plans with accountable actions, dates and forecast effects
  • Escalate tolerance breaches through governance gates and exception reports

Participants can connect risk, issue and change controls to project schedule performance.

  • Maintain risk registers linking threats, opportunities, owners and response actions
  • Quantify probability-impact scores and connect residual risks to contingency allowances
  • Monitor issue logs, action registers and decision records alongside schedule data
  • Process change requests through impact analysis, approval authority and baseline updates
  • Evaluate change effects on scope, cost, schedule, risk and benefits
  • Link risk response tasks to the integrated MS Project schedule

Participants can produce evidence-based reports for project governance and evaluation purposes.

  • Design KPI registers with definitions, targets, indicators, sources and owners
  • Build status reports using dashboards, visual reports and filtered MS Project views
  • Apply RAG criteria, control thresholds and exception-based management reporting
  • Communicate forecast dates, cost exposure, risks and decisions for steering committees
  • Produce variance narratives that distinguish causes, impacts, actions and decisions
  • Evaluate outcomes using logical framework indicators, baselines and endline evidence

Participants can assemble a practical monitoring and control approach for an active project.

  • Integrate scope, schedule, cost, risk and indicator controls into one plan
  • Sequence weekly, monthly and stage-gate monitoring activities against governance requirements
  • Create a monitoring and evaluation matrix aligned with project objectives
  • Define data-quality checks for completeness, accuracy, timeliness and traceability
  • Prepare corrective-action logs with owners, due dates and closure evidence
  • Draft a 90-day control implementation plan for an active project

Exercises and examples are adapted to each cohort's sectors and roles.

What you take back to work

  1. Integrated MS Project control schedule template
  2. Baseline and progress-measurement rules checklist
  3. Earned Value Management analysis model
  4. Project KPI register template
  5. Monitoring and evaluation matrix
  6. 90-day control implementation plan

Who should attend

  • Project Managers — need reliable schedules, forecasts and corrective-action controls
  • Project Control Engineers — need stronger MS Project reporting and variance analysis methods
  • Programme Managers — need consistent monitoring standards across linked projects
  • Monitoring and Evaluation Officers — need to connect indicators with delivery plans and evidence
  • Project Coordinators — need to maintain progress data, reports and action registers accurately
  • PMO Analysts — need repeatable baseline, reporting and governance controls

Skills and tools covered

Schedule controlEarned value analysisProgress measurementResource monitoringProject reportingChange control

Tools and standards

Microsoft Project, Critical Path Method, Earned Value Management, Logical Framework Approach

How the course runs

Training methodology

The course uses short briefings to introduce control concepts, followed by instructor-led Microsoft Project demonstrations and guided case work. Participants analyse realistic schedule delays, resource conflicts, cost variances, field-reporting gaps and change requests. Group exercises apply Critical Path Method, Earned Value Management, logical framework indicators and exception reporting to project scenarios. Reporting simulations develop the ability to explain variance causes and propose corrective actions. Individual application planning helps participants adapt the methods, templates and reporting cadence to an active project.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have practical experience working on projects and be familiar with common project terms such as tasks, milestones, dependencies, budgets, risks and stakeholders. They should be able to use Microsoft Windows and basic spreadsheet functions. Prior use of Microsoft Project is helpful, particularly creating or updating a simple schedule, but advanced knowledge is not assumed. The course explains the required scheduling, cost-control and monitoring concepts before applying them. Participants do not need a project management certification, programming skills, advanced financial modelling experience or prior Earned Value Management training.

A typical training day

08:30 – 10:30First session
10:30 – 10:45Refreshment break
10:45 – 12:30Second session
12:30 – 13:30Lunch and networking
13:30 – 15:00Third session
15:00 – 15:15Refreshment break
15:15 – 16:30Workshop and daily review

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in East Africa Time, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

  • Instruction by a practitioner facilitator
  • Full course workbook and materials
  • Exercise files, templates and case studies
  • Refreshments and lunch on classroom deliveries
  • Certificate of completion
  • Post-course application plan

Frequently asked questions

You should understand basic project terms and have experience contributing to project plans, reports or delivery activities. Familiarity with Microsoft Project is useful but advanced scheduling or Earned Value Management experience is not required.

For live online delivery, bring a computer with Microsoft Project installed if possible, plus a stable internet connection. For classroom delivery, the training team will confirm device and software arrangements before the course.

The course suits project managers, project controls staff, PMO analysts, project coordinators, programme managers and monitoring and evaluation officers. It is particularly useful for professionals responsible for schedule updates, variance reporting, progress evidence or corrective actions.

A general scheduling course focuses mainly on building plans, dependencies and Gantt charts. This course concentrates on controlling an approved plan through baselines, status dates, progress rules, earned value, reporting, risks and change control.

Participants can use the templates and control methods to improve an active project’s schedule updates, forecast reports and monitoring records. The final application plan identifies actions to introduce over the following 90 days.

The programme provides approximately 32.5 contact hours, normally delivered from 08:30 to 16:30 each day. Time is divided between structured instruction, Microsoft Project demonstrations, case analysis, group activities, reporting simulations and application planning.

Questions about this course?

Ask about dates, fees, group bookings or running it for your team. Our training team replies by email.

Ask on WhatsApp info@skillsetdevelopment.com

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