Control and Sustainment

Definition

Control and Sustainment: Control plans, audits, process ownership, reaction plans, standard work, visual management, training reinforcement, and review cadence.

History

Control and Sustainment supports the deployment side of improvement: moving changes into daily work, keeping gains from fading, and learning from what fails in practice.

When to Use

Use Control and Sustainment when improvement work must survive handoff, behavior change, leadership review, training reinforcement, and daily operating pressure.

Step-by-Step

• Define the change, operating condition, or failure mode tied to Control and Sustainment.
• Assign ownership, communication, training, standard work, and review cadence.
• Monitor adoption through process evidence and leading indicators.
• Adjust the sustainment system when behavior, metrics, or results drift.

Examples

• Apply Control and Sustainment to a real process, project, role, or learning path where the entry can guide a decision.
• Connect the entry to at least one guide, tool, template, case study, or implementation review before treating it as complete.

Common Pitfalls

• Using Control and Sustainment as terminology only, without connecting it to behavior, evidence, or process results.
• Skipping operational definitions, ownership, context, or follow-up when applying the entry.
• Forcing the entry into a situation where another BoK method or reference would fit better.

Related Tools

• Training Reinforcement and Knowledge Transfer (Guide)
• Project SENTINEL Case Study (Guide)

Further Reading

• Training Reinforcement and Knowledge Transfer
• Project SENTINEL Case Study