Project controlling: Tasks, definition and methods of a core phase in project management

By Jérémy Hasenfratz

Published: 5 May 2025

Proper control of projects ensures smooth progress and ensures the productivity and profitability of the company.

But what is project controlling? What are the tasks of this essential phase in the realisation of a project? What methods and tools exist to monitor a project?

The benefits are many: time optimisation, economic savings, competitiveness, efficiency and satisfaction on the part of the customer, client and your teams.

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What is project controlling?

Definition

The realisation of a project depends above all on good project planning and project management. Project controlling is a core phase in project management and monitors the correct administration of activities and compliance with deadlines, costs and quality.

According to DIN 69901, project controlling serves to " ensure the achievement of all project objectives". The project controlling tasks are therefore a constant cycle between measurement and comparison of deviations during all project management phases, or from project definition to project completion. Project controlling is therefore necessary in order to

Measure the progress of a project in relation to the forecasts, the allocated budget and the available material and human resources;
anticipate, visualise and correct deviations in real time and thus be able to deal with resource bottlenecks and delays.

In project controlling, a distinction is made between operational and strategic project controlling. Operational project controlling is divided into 2 sub-areas: Individual project controlling and operational multi-project controlling.

Operational project controlling

Individual project controlling

As the term suggests, single project controlling is used to control and monitor a single project in the company in order to ensure that the project is carried out correctly.

Operational multi-project controlling

Operational multi-project controlling, on the other hand, concentrates on one time period. Several projects with different degrees of completion and deadlines are checked together in order to optimise the coordination of the different project processes.

The methods of operational multi-project controlling are similar to individual project controlling, with the difference that this project controlling monitors several projects simultaneously.

Strategic project controlling

Also known as strategic multi-project controlling or portfolio controlling, strategic project controlling deals with the provision of information and tools to build up the building blocks of a project, or prioritisation, evaluation and decision-making.

What are the objectives of project controlling?

The achievement of project goals in an effective manner,
To measure progress in order to visualise the current status of the project,
Recognising deviations (target/actual comparison) from the project plan,
Proposing corrective measures for project management,
Documenting the results in a project status report,
Communicating the results to stakeholders, teams, clients, etc.

What tasks does project controlling involve?

Depending on the size of the organisation, the project and the number of people involved, it is necessary to monitor the quality, progress and success of the project at every stage of its development. Project controlling can be carried out by the project manager himself or by one or more project controllers - this also depends on the size of the company and the project.

Project controlling includes the following tasks:

Control and planning of the project,
Checking deliveries with regard to quality, deadlines, resources and costs,
Monitoring performance indicators and KPIs,
Controlling the correct implementation of project management methods,
Coordinating possible measures against deviations from the project plan.

What exactly does a project controller do?

The project controller is responsible for managing the progress of the project (updating, planning, controlling). The project controller therefore plays a key role in the overall success of a project without making strategic decisions.

He/she communicates with various project management contacts and forwards important information to the relevant people. As a guarantor of quality, he/she analyses the key figures within a defined time and budget framework.

Here is a non-exhaustive list of his/her usual tasks:

Preparing an updated project status report during meetings,
Monitoring ongoing measures and meeting deadlines,
Maintaining the methodological framework of the projects,
Summarise and share information with managers,
Definition of key performance indicators (KPIs) and preparation of results reports in the form of dashboards,
Preparation of financial reports,
Provide support and assistance to software users.

With a strong team spirit, he/she brings a structured vision to the project and pays great attention to detail. The success of a project implementation largely depends on the project controller, as his/her presence has led to important time savings when planning, time and priority coincide.

Methods and examples of project controlling

Project controlling also relies on various instruments and methods to monitor and supervise the progress of the project. There is a corresponding method for each project phase, which also depends on various parameters, such as

Size and area of the company,
Size of the team,
Relevance and size of the project,
available performance indicators, etc.

Below we show you some examples of methods that you can use in the various phases of project progress.

The work breakdown structure (WBS)

The work breakdown structure (WBS) is a great help in project planning. With this method, the entire structure of the project is divided into subtasks based on work packages (tasks). This creates a logical sequence between the individual tasks of the project and promotes prioritisation, reaction to delays and communication between the teams throughout the course of the project.

The Net Worth Analysis (NWA)

The Net Worth Analysis (NWA) is a common planning method for companies to make decisions when no objective and financial criteria can be found for a clear decision. It analyses each individual project alternative and ranks or prioritises them on the basis of utility values (e.g. a scale of 1 to 5). It is necessary to define criteria for comparable alternatives in advance so that the decision-makers (e.g. clients) can indicate their preferences.

The Earned Value Analysis (EVA)

Earned Value Analysis (EVA) is a method of measuring budget and performance throughout the course of a project. This technique compares the costs, the deadlines of the project and the expected and actual productivity rates. The EVA is presented in the form of a graph that shows the curves for the planned value, the actual costs and the match between these two data, resulting in the earned value.

The target/actual comparison

The target/actual comparison is a controlling tool that compares the target costs with the costs incurred in a specific period (actual costs). With the help of this comparison, a deviation from the actual costs can be determined and traced back to its cause.

The risk analysis

The risk analysis should be documented during the entire project implementation. This rather extensive method combines all activities for recognising and handling events of any kind. It regularly assesses the causes and consequences of their impact on the progress of the project and prioritises them according to their criticality.

The milestone trend analysis (MTA)

Milestone trend analysis (MTA) is also a project controlling method and is used to recognise delays at an early stage. The MTA is presented in the form of a diagram that allows milestone delays to be clearly recognised. This requires firmly defined deadlines for each milestone. According to DIN 69900, milestones are defined as " events of particular importance" and can be, for example, the completion of a work package. The milestone trend analysis is above all an important tool for orientating the performance progress of a project.