Conducting a successful and, especially, useful project audit is not an easy task and several elements need to be considered, including keeping track of the overall organizational objectives, determining the proper metrics, as well as the instruments that need to be used in order to reach those metrics and following the general auditing good practices that are in use in the industry (Elyse, 2010).
The audit process is usually described as a "structured independent review to determine if project activities comply with organizational and project policies, and procedures" (Nielsen, ), so this explains, in part why the audits should be conducted by independent reviewers. The main reason for this is obviously the fact that independent reviewers tend to be more objective in their evaluation and, as a consequence, will provide conclusions that are not biased, as they could be if internal reviewers were used.
b) Student 1: The internal reviews and project audits are always important as a very comprehensive analysis of how the project was completed and undertaken. Some of the most relevant conclusions that could be drawn include the way the budget was spent and other important financial details. At the same time, the analysis could aim to determine how effective and productive the workforce was, as well as how well these individuals worked together as a team and how the tasks were allocated and handled between them. The audit report would need to be as objective as possible, which is one of the reasons why an independent auditor should be hired. On one...
The external reviewer can first evaluate how well communication was handled within the team. Then, he can sit down with each of the member and determined what worked and what did not in the relationship between the team members and, particularly, how this can be successfully changed in the future so as to produce better results and a more coherent and cohesive synergy. With that in mind, it is clear why the reviewer needs to be external of the project and of the company as well, in many cases: objectivity is the common sense explanation, as well as an increase perception of the functional mechanisms of the entire team and undertaken project.
Bibliography
1. Nielsen, Dave. Project Audits. On the Internet at http://ezinearticles.com/?Project-Audits&id=3443497. Last retrieved on September 29, 2011
2. Stanleigh, Michael. Undertaking a Successful Project Audit. On the Internet at http://www.bia.ca/articles/UndertakingaSuccessfulProjectAudit.htm. Last retrieved on September 29, 2011
3. Elyse. Taming Chaotic Project Management. On the Internet at http://www.anticlue.net/archives/001039.htm. Last retrieved on September 29, 2011
