Programme Baselining and effect

[Roger]

Is it advisable to baseline individual projects prior to linking them
into a master programme file or should baselining be handled at the
programme level?

How are changes made to individual projects during the week
highlighted in a master programme file?

Should dependencies be handled at the project level or at the master
programme level?

The reason for the questions is that there is a requirement for a
programme consolidation milestone report to be created and managed on
a weekly basis. I would like some 'heads-up' information about the
best way to begin to manage this.

Regards
Roger

 

[Jack Dahlgren]

1) If they have a number of different dependencies within the program you
should work out those dependencies before baselining. If not, then baseline
when ever you want.

2) Weekly changes can be determined from variance reports or by setting an
interim baseline or regular baseline and comparing against it.

3) If you have interproject dependencies they should be made at the master
programme level. If you don't then you can keep them at the project level.

4) There are a number of ways to do this. I'd probably just mark the
milestones I'm interested then filter for them and export to excel where I
could create a milestone trend chart. Project doesn't have much facility for
trending, but for milestones that is an important thing to do.

Beyond this there are other considerations. Easiest to decide what you would
want if there were no limitations of the tool and then see if you can do it
in project rather than the other way around.

 

[Roger]

1) If they have a number of different dependencies within the program you
should work out those dependencies before baselining. If not, then baseline
when ever you want.

2) Weekly changes can be determined from variance reports or by setting an
interim baseline or regular baseline and comparing against it.

3) If you have interproject dependencies they should be made at the master
programme level. If you don't then you can keep them at the project level.

4) There are a number of ways to do this. I'd probably just mark the
milestones I'm interested then filter for them and export to excel where I
could create a milestone trend chart. Project doesn't have much facility for
trending, but for milestones that is an important thing to do.

Beyond this there are other considerations. Easiest to decide what you would
want if there were no limitations of the tool and then see if you can do it
in project rather than the other way around.

--

Jack, thanks for the reply.
In point 4 you allude to monitoring the trend of milestones externally
using Excel.
I would like to know a bit more about what you would be looking for in
doing this?
I'm assuming the milestones used are
1. baselined
2. actual
3. forecast
The type of information gained from trends I would guess to say how
many milestones have been missed, met, delayed and therefore the
reasons behind that. Is this the sort of thing you'd be looking for?
Regards
Roger

 

[Jack Dahlgren]

For milestones one of the more interesting things is looking at trends.
Chart the forecast milestone date with the x axis being the date the
forecast was made and the y axis being the forecast or actual date. When you
start the chart, the first point will naturally be the baseline. Watching
the trend will give you an indication of how the people reporting milestone
progress are actually reporting it. If they keep to the baseline then
suddenly jump out week for week as the milestone is expected to be
completed, then you need to talk to them... there are other things which can
be derived from such a simple chart. It requires keeping a historical
snapshot each week and charting it. Excel is well suited for this.