Baselines

[project newby]

Hi there,

I am trying to learn how to use baselines (and what they are good for).
I set up a simple programme and saved the project baseline as baseline
1. I then rescheduled one task on the critical path such that the whole
programme was shifted a little. How do I represent this shift using
baselines?

Many thanks,

DE

 

[John]

Hi there,

I am trying to learn how to use baselines (and what they are good for).
I set up a simple programme and saved the project baseline as baseline
1. I then rescheduled one task on the critical path such that the whole
programme was shifted a little. How do I represent this shift using
baselines?

Many thanks,

DE

DE,
No need to post twice, we got it the first time.

Baseline data in Project is a snapshot of the plan at some point in time
- normally at the beginning just before plan execution starts. The
purpose of a baseline is to provide a point for measuring performance,
most often using earned value metrics. For example, as the plan is
executed, the current schedule (i.e. task start, task finish, duration,
etc.) change due to the dynamics of real life. By using the stored
baseline data, the project manager can measure how performance compares
to the original plan (i.e. ahead or behind).

Ideally, only one baseline is set and that is at the beginning. In my
opinion it is unfortunate that Project provides for multiple baselines
because it gives many users the impression that it is OK to set a new
baseline every time things start to go "South". To be fair, there are
circumstances wherein a selective reset of the baseline is appropriate.
For example, a change in scope, tasks are added, etc.

If you had to reschedule a task, one way to use the baseline data is to
look at the Start or Finish Variance fields. They will tell you how many
days that task was shifted from it's original schedule.

Hope this helps.
John
Project MVP

 

[Steve House]

A brief addendum to John's post ... I think of the Baseline as representing
the project schedule that you intend to work. Of course the real world will
always intrude and the schedule you end up actually working will probably be
different from that. By saving the baseline, you always have a static
record of what you thought you could do before you began work to compare the
actual performance against. Once work begins, the baseline represents what
you've planned to do, Actual data (start, finish, duration, etc) for work
that's done is a historical record of what you have done, and the rest of
the unworked portion of the plan, including the 'ripple-down' changes driven
by the posting of actuals, is a forecast of what you'll be able to do given
the progress you've made so far.

HTH