The project board has asked for highlight reports every six weeks during stage 3. As a result, the project manager has asked each team manager for checkpoint reports every six weeks, in order to collate these into the highlight report. The team manager for the 'marketed courses' is new to team management.
Is this an appropriate action as part of the 'controlling a stage' process, and why?
No, because the frequency of reporting should reflect the level of control required for the work package. The appropriate frequency of checkpoint reports should be based on the specific needs and risks of the work package, not just to align with the timing of highlight reports. Reporting too infrequently or too frequently can respectively undermine proper control or create unnecessary administrative burden.
I guess the answer is C because the PM should have asked for more frequent checkpoint reporting to have better control and lower the risk since the team manager is new.
C is the correct answer. No, because the frequency of reporting should reflect the level of control required for the work package. The frequency of progress reports from teams should be proportional to the risk and complexity of the work, rather than arbitrarily matched to highlight reports. Since the marketed courses team manager is new, imposing an overly frequent reporting requirement could be burdensome versus tailoring control to the actual level needed.