To keep control over the project from the beginning of the project all the way to its natural conclusion, a project manager uses a number of techniques: [project planning]?, earned value, risk management, Scheduling?, [Process Improuvment]?.
There are a number of guiding techniques that have been developed over the years that can be used to formaly specify exactly how the project will be managed. These include the [Project Managers Body of Knowledge]? (PMBOK), and such idears as the [Persional Software Process]? (PSP), and the [Team Software Process]? (TSP). These techniques attempt to standardise the practices of the development team making them easier to predict and manage as well as track.