Management by Exception is a "policy by
which management devotes its time to investigating only those situations in
which actual results differ significantly from planned results. The idea is
that management should spend its valuable time concentrating on the more
important items (such as shaping the company's future strategic course).
Attention is given only to material deviations requiring investigation."
It is not entirely synonymous with the concept of exception management in that it describes
a policy where absolute focus is on exception management, in contrast to
moderate application of exception management. In Project Management, an implication of
Management by Exception is that the project board should meet when key
decisions about the project should be taken, and not on regular intervals. The
Project Manager should produce an Exception Report to summon the board
for such meetings.