In the project management world, project planning and project control go together like the proverbial horse and carriage. So it is not surprising that the APM Planning Specific Interest Group (SIG) has a special interest in project control and hence has produced this introduction to the topic. What is perhaps more remarkable is that APM’s publications didn’t already include one specifically about control, given that project managers spend such a large proportion of their time controlling projects. So this is a first step in filling the gap.

There is a narrow view of control which is about delivering projects in accordance with their plans, using disciplines like earned value and risk management already championed by APM. That view is about doing projects right. This Introduction to Project Control offers a wider perspective, which includes doing the right projects. It involves integrating all the disciplines of project management. Hence it draws heavily on the work of the other APM SIGs, brings together material from the APM Body of Knowledge, 5th edition and other APM publications and fills some of the gaps. It should therefore be seen as part of the exciting next wave of APM publications, which started with the guide Directing Change: A Guide to Governance of Project Management, in which the various compartments of the profession join forces in a more effective open plan workspace.

This document should be of interest both to those new to the profession and to ‘old hands’. It should lead to some healthy debate leading to further publications on this important topic.