April is Math Awareness Month, so it seems appropriate that two of this month’s articles invite us to think about number crunching. As Larry True enumerates in this month’s project control fundamentals article, cost tracking and cost controls involve more than just making sure the bottom line yields a profit. If the current mode of operation doesn’t work, it’s time to change the formula, he says.

Gordon Aronson points out that fudging an activity’s start and finish dates and the associated costs in CPM software can yield a plethora of headaches for the scheduler trying to reconcile the flow of money. He suggests two ways to satisfy discrepancies and placate the scheduler.

If math just isn’t your thing, Christopher Bryant of Warner’s Disputes Resolution Group looks at the pros and cons of retained logic and progress override as they relate to scheduling consistencies.

And finally, John Jurewicz interviewed key personnel from Bovis Lend Lease’s Chicago office to see how its switch to a Web-based collaboration portal has improved workplace communication and undoubtedly eased office stress. After all, April is also Workplace Conflict Awareness Month.