The story that simply will not go away.

Yes, it’s back: the Olympic story.

Headlines in today’s papers and on the TV and radio are the comments from the Department of Culture Media and Sport: who suggested that the organisers of the 2012 Olympics are “willing to spend money like water”, as costs for the event soar.

A very important statement is shown on the BBC web site: “But the government insists it has rigid cost control measures in place”.

Now, look at your projects: what cost control measures do you have in place to ensure that projects do not go over time, over budget and that they are delivering the right results?

This is a very high profile project. Look at high profile projects in your company and examine what monitoring and control processes are in place. The Olympic project is like a beacon; it shows what you should be doing in your projects. In this instance, monitoring and control; make them essential and an integral part of your projects.