Control vs. Monitor — What's the Difference?
Edited by Tayyaba Rehman — By Maham Liaqat — Updated on April 23, 2024
Control involves managing or directing operations, while monitoring refers to the regular observation or tracking of activities.
Difference Between Control and Monitor
Table of Contents
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Key Differences
Control implies exerting authority over a system or process to manage its functions and achieve desired outcomes. Monitoring, on the other hand, involves observing and checking the progress or quality of something over a period of time.
When controlling, one actively makes decisions that influence the outcome, such as adjusting settings or implementing strategies. Whereas monitoring is more about gathering data and understanding status, often without immediate intervention.
Control often includes setting standards, rules, or guidelines that dictate how a process should be carried out. Meanwhile, monitoring is concerned with ensuring these standards are met through consistent oversight and assessment.
In many systems, control mechanisms are implemented to make adjustments based on feedback received through monitoring. This shows how monitoring can complement control by providing the necessary information for informed decision-making.
Effective control can lead to efficiency and goal achievement within a system, while effective monitoring ensures transparency and compliance, highlighting areas needing attention or improvement.
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Comparison Chart
Definition
Directing and managing to influence outcomes
Observing and tracking to gather data
Interaction
Active intervention and decision-making
Passive observation, generally without direct intervention
Purpose
To regulate and achieve specific objectives
To check compliance and inform adjustments
Outcome
Direct impact on system performance
Indirect influence through information provision
Example
Adjusting a thermostat to control room temperature
Watching a security feed to monitor premises
Compare with Definitions
Control
Implementing rules to standardize processes.
They control quality through rigorous testing protocols.
Monitor
Regularly observing systems to ensure proper functioning.
He monitors the server status to prevent downtime.
Control
Adjusting mechanisms to achieve desired outcomes.
She controls the speed of the conveyor belt to ensure efficiency.
Monitor
Checking compliance with standards and regulations.
The agency monitors businesses for environmental compliance.
Control
Directing resources to optimize performance.
They control costs by minimizing waste.
Monitor
Gathering data to analyze trends.
They monitor market movements to predict stock performance.
Control
Making strategic decisions to influence systems.
Leadership controls company direction through policy decisions.
Monitor
Keeping surveillance for security purposes.
Cameras are installed to monitor the building’s entrances and exits.
Control
Exercising authority to manage operations.
The manager controls the workflow by assigning tasks.
Monitor
Tracking progress against goals.
She monitors her project milestones weekly.
Control
The power to influence or direct people's behaviour or the course of events
The whole operation is under the control of a production manager
The situation was slipping out of her control
Monitor
One that admonishes, cautions, or reminds, especially with respect to matters of conduct.
Control
A person or thing used as a standard of comparison for checking the results of a survey or experiment
Platelet activity was higher in patients with the disease than in the controls
Monitor
A pupil who assists a teacher in routine duties.
Control
A member of an intelligence organization who personally directs the activities of a spy
He sat with his KGB control as the details of his new assignment were explained
Monitor
A usually electronic device used to record, regulate, or control a process or system.
Control
A high card that will prevent the opponents from establishing a particular suit
He has controls in both minor suits
Monitor
A video display or speaker used in a production studio to check audio or video quality
The sound engineer detected a hiss on the monitor.
Control
Determine the behaviour or supervise the running of
He was appointed to control the company's marketing strategy
Monitor
(Computers)A device that accepts video signals from a computer and displays information on a screen; a video display.
Control
Take into account (an extraneous factor that might affect the results of an experiment)
No attempt was made to control for variations
Monitor
(Computers)A program that observes, supervises, or controls the activities of other programs.
Control
To exercise authoritative or dominating influence over; direct
The majority party controls the legislative agenda.
Monitor
An articulated device holding a rotating nozzle with which a jet of water is regulated, used in mining and firefighting.
Control
To adjust to a requirement; regulate
Rules that control trading on the stock market.
Valves that control the flow of water.
Monitor
A heavily ironclad warship of the 19th century with a low, flat deck and one or more gun turrets.
Control
To hold in restraint; check
Struggled to control my temper.
Monitor
A modern warship designed for coastal bombardment.
Control
To reduce or prevent the spread of
Used a pesticide to control insects.
Controlled the fire by dousing it with water.
Monitor
See monitor lizard.
Control
To verify or regulate (a scientific experiment) by conducting a parallel experiment or by comparing with another standard.
Monitor
To check the quality or content of (an electronic audio or visual signal) by means of a receiver.
Control
To verify (a financial account, for example) by using a duplicate register for comparison.
Monitor
To check by means of an electronic receiver for significant content, such as military, political, or illegal activity
Monitor a suspected criminal's phone conversations.
Control
Authority or ability to manage or direct
Lost control of the skidding car.
The leaders in control of the country.
Monitor
To keep track of systematically with a view to collecting information
Monitor the bear population of a national park.
Monitored the political views of the people.
Control
One that controls; a controlling agent, device, or organization.
Monitor
To test or sample, especially on a regular or ongoing basis
Monitored the city's drinking water for impurities.
Control
An instrument.
Monitor
To keep close watch over; supervise
Monitor an examination.
Control
Controls A set of such instruments.
Monitor
To direct.
Control
A restraining device, measure, or limit; a curb
A control on prices.
Price controls.
Monitor
To act as a monitor.
Control
A standard of comparison for checking or verifying the results of a scientific experiment.
Monitor
Someone who watches over something; a person in charge of something or someone.
The camp monitors look after the children during the night, when the teachers are asleep.
Control
An individual or group used as a standard of comparison in a scientific experiment, as a group of subjects given an inactive substance in an experiment testing a new drug administered to another group of subjects.
Monitor
A device that detects and informs on the presence, quantity, etc., of something.
Control
An intelligence agent who supervises or instructs another agent.
Monitor
(computing) A device similar to a television set used as to give a graphical display of the output from a computer.
The information flashed up on the monitor.
Control
A spirit presumed to speak or act through a medium.
Monitor
A studio monitor or loudspeaker.
Control
(transitive) To exercise influence over; to suggest or dictate the behavior of.
With a simple remote, he could control the toy truck.
Monitor
(computing) A program for viewing and editing.
A machine code monitor
Control
(construed with for) To design (an experiment) so that the effects of one or more variables are reduced or eliminated.
Monitor
A student leader in a class.
Control
To verify the accuracy of (something or someone, especially a financial account) by comparison with another account.
Monitor
(nautical) One of a class of relatively small armored warships with only one or two turrets (but often carrying unusually large guns for a warship of its size), usually designed for shore bombardment or riverine warfare rather than open-ocean combat. from 1862
Control
To call to account, to take to task, to challenge.
Monitor
(archaic) An ironclad.
Control
(transitive) To hold in check, to curb, to restrain.
Monitor
A monitor lizard.
Control
Influence or authority over something.
The government has complete control over the situation.
Monitor
(obsolete) One who admonishes; one who warns of faults, informs of duty, or gives advice and instruction by way of reproof or caution.
Control
The method and means of governing the performance of any apparatus, machine or system, such as a lever, handle or button.
Monitor
(engineering) A tool holder, as for a lathe, shaped like a low turret, and capable of being revolved on a vertical pivot so as to bring the several tools successively into position.
Control
Restraint or ability to contain one's movements or emotions, or self-control.
Monitor
A monitor nozzle.
Control
A security mechanism, policy, or procedure that can counter system attack, reduce risks, and resolve vulnerabilities; a safeguard or countermeasure.
Monitor
(transitive) To watch over; to guard.
Control
(project management) A means of monitoring for, and triggering intervention in, activities that are not going according to plan.
Monitor
One who admonishes; one who warns of faults, informs of duty, or gives advice and instruction by way of reproof or caution.
You need not be a monitor to the king.
Control
A control group or control experiment.
Monitor
Hence, specifically, a pupil selected to look to the school in the absence of the instructor, to notice the absence or faults of the scholars, or to instruct a division or class.
Control
A duplicate book, register, or account, kept to correct or check another account or register.
Monitor
Any large Old World lizard of the genus Varanus; esp., the Egyptian species (Varanus Niloticus), which is useful because it devours the eggs and young of the crocodile. It is sometimes five or six feet long.
Control
(graphical user interface) An interface element that a computer user interacts with, such as a window or a text box Ctrl.
Monitor
An ironclad war vessel, very low in the water, and having one or more heavily-armored revolving turrets, carrying heavy guns.
Control
(climatology) Any of the physical factors determining the climate of a place, such as latitude, distribution of land and water, altitude, exposure, prevailing winds, permanent high- or low-barometric-pressure areas, ocean currents, mountain barriers, soil, and vegetation.
Monitor
A tool holder, as for a lathe, shaped like a low turret, and capable of being revolved on a vertical pivot so as to bring successively the several tools in holds into proper position for cutting.
Control
(linguistics) A construction in which the understood subject of a given predicate is determined by an expression in context. See control.
Monitor
A monitor nozzle.
Control
A spirit that takes possession of a psychic or medium and allows other spirits to communicate with the living.
Monitor
Display consisting of a device that takes signals from a computer and displays them on a CRT screen
Control
A checkpoint along an audax route.
Monitor
Someone who supervises (an examination)
Control
A duplicate book, register, or account, kept to correct or check another account or register; a counter register.
Monitor
Someone who gives a warning so that a mistake can be avoided
Control
That which serves to check, restrain, or hinder; restraint.
Monitor
An iron-clad vessel built by Federal forces to do battle with the Merrimac
Control
Power or authority to check or restrain; restraining or regulating influence; superintendence; government; as, children should be under parental control.
The House of Commons should exercise a control over all the departments of the executive administration.
Monitor
Electronic equipment that is used to check the quality or content of electronic transmissions
Control
The complete apparatus used to control a mechanism or machine in operation, as a flying machine in flight;
Monitor
A piece of electronic equipment that keeps track of the operation of a system continuously and warns of trouble
Control
Any of the physical factors determining the climate of any particular place, as latitude,distribution of land and water, altitude, exposure, prevailing winds, permanent high- or low-barometric-pressure areas, ocean currents, mountain barriers, soil, and vegetation.
Monitor
Any of various large tropical carnivorous lizards of Africa and Asia and Australia; fabled to warn of crocodiles
Control
In research, an object or subject used in an experimental procedure, which is treated identically to the primary subject of the experiment, except for the omission of the specific treatment or conditions whose effect is being investigated. If the control is a group of living organisms, as is common in medical research, it is called the control group.
Monitor
Keep tabs on; keep an eye on; keep under surveillance
Control
The part of an experimental procedure in which the controls{6} are subjected to the experimental conditions.
Control
The group of technical specialists exercising control by remote communications over a distant operation, such as a space flight; as, the American Mission Control for manned flights is located in Houston.
Control
To check by a counter register or duplicate account; to prove by counter statements; to confute.
This report was controlled to be false.
Control
To exercise restraining or governing influence over; to check; to counteract; to restrain; to regulate; to govern; to overpower.
Give me a staff of honor for mine age,But not a scepter to control the world.
I feel my virtue struggling in my soul:But stronger passion does its power control.
Control
To assure the validity of an experimental procedure by using a control{7}.
Control
Power to direct or determine;
Under control
Control
A relation of constraint of one entity (thing or person or group) by another;
Measures for the control of disease
They instituted controls over drinking on campus
Control
(physiology) regulation or maintenance of a function or action or reflex etc;
The timing and control of his movements were unimpaired
He had lost control of his sphincters
Control
A standard against which other conditions can be compared in a scientific experiment;
The control condition was inappropriate for the conclusions he wished to draw
Control
The activity of managing or exerting control over something;
The control of the mob by the police was admirable
Control
The state that exists when one person or group has power over another;
Her apparent dominance of her husband was really her attempt to make him pay attention to her
Control
Discipline in personal and social activities;
He was a model of polite restraint
She never lost control of herself
Control
Great skillfulness and knowledge of some subject or activity;
A good command of French
Control
The economic policy of controlling or limiting or curbing prices or wages etc.;
They wanted to repeal all the legislation that imposed economic controls
Control
A mechanism that controls the operation of a machine;
The speed control on his turntable was not working properly
I turned the controls over to her
Control
A spiritual agency that is assumed to assist the medium during a seance
Control
Exercise authoritative control or power over;
Control the budget
Command the military forces
Control
Lessen the intensity of; temper; hold in restraint; hold or keep within limits;
Moderate your alcohol intake
Hold your tongue
Hold your temper
Control your anger
Control
Handle and cause to function;
Do not operate machinery after imbibing alcohol
Control the lever
Control
Control (others or oneself) or influence skillfully, usually to one's advantage;
She manipulates her boss
She is a very controlling mother and doesn't let her children grow up
The teacher knew how to keep the class in line
She keeps in line
Control
Verify or regulate by conducting a parallel experiment or comparing with another standard, of scientific experiments;
Are you controlling for the temperature?
Control
Verify by using a duplicate register for comparison;
Control an account
Control
Be careful or certain to do something; make certain of something;
He verified that the valves were closed
See that the curtains are closed
Control the quality of the product
Control
Have a firm understanding or knowledge of; be on top of;
Do you control these data?
Common Curiosities
What is the primary difference between control and monitor?
Control is about making decisions to manage processes, while monitoring is about observing and tracking processes.
How do control and monitoring work together?
Monitoring provides the data needed to make informed control decisions, ensuring that processes are on track and meeting objectives.
Can monitoring exist without control?
Yes, monitoring can occur without control, simply to observe or gather data without influencing outcomes.
Why is control important in business?
Control helps businesses manage resources effectively, achieve goals, and maintain compliance with laws and standards.
Is monitoring always passive?
While typically passive, monitoring can involve active elements like adjusting sensors or updating software to better collect data.
What is an example of control in a technological environment?
In a technological environment, control can be seen in managing network traffic to optimize server performance.
What tools are used for monitoring?
Tools for monitoring can include software, sensors, cameras, and other data-gathering devices.
How does technology affect control and monitoring?
Technology enhances both by providing more precise control mechanisms and more comprehensive monitoring capabilities.
How can monitoring impact decision-making?
Monitoring impacts decision-making by providing real-time data that can lead to proactive changes and improvements.
What skills are essential for effective control and monitoring?
Effective control requires leadership and decision-making skills, while monitoring requires attention to detail and analytical skills.
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Written by
Maham Liaqat
Edited by
Tayyaba RehmanTayyaba Rehman is a distinguished writer, currently serving as a primary contributor to askdifference.com. As a researcher in semantics and etymology, Tayyaba's passion for the complexity of languages and their distinctions has found a perfect home on the platform. Tayyaba delves into the intricacies of language, distinguishing between commonly confused words and phrases, thereby providing clarity for readers worldwide.
