A method for controlling an elevator installed in a building that includes an elevator car arranged to travel in a hoistway between floor landings that are at different heights, one or more ropings connected to the elevator car, a hoisting machine for moving the elevator car, and a control for control the hoisting machine is provided. In the method, the sway data of the building is determined, which data describes the strength of the sway of the building, and the starting position data of the elevator car is determined, which starting position data contains data about the starting position of the elevator car and/or data about how long the elevator car has been in the starting position, and the settings for the run speed of the next run are determined on the basis of the starting position data and the sway data. An elevator is configured to perform the method.