The project management audit

Projects are managed by people and people are at least a little imperfect: Conflicting pressures can cause project managers to confuse or distort the way they see their projects. To help them accurately understand their projects, practitioners can use a variety of tools to evaluate project progress. One such effective and inexpensive tool is the project management audit. This article explains the why, when , who, what, and how of auditing projects, explaining the nature of project audits so that readers can decide if such a technique can help them better understand their projects. In doing so, it discusses the differences between planned and unplanned audits, the prerequisites of the project management auditor, the processes for preparing and performing audits, and the structure for reporting audit findings. It concludes by identifying the hazards of project management auditing.