Chapter 17 - Setting the Baseline Introduction When You Don’t Need a Baseline Before You Set a Baseline Set and Save a Baseline Set an Interim Plan Add a Task to a Baseline or Interim Plan Change Baseline Information for One or More Tasks Microsoft Project 98 – Chapter 17 Page of Introduction The project plan you create and refine represents your best estimate of how your project will work It can include key information such as task start and finish dates, resource assignments, and costs But how will you know if your project is proceeding according to plan? How will you know, for instance, if your project will finish on time or within budget? The best way to track what does and doesn’t go as planned is to set a baseline after you’ve refined the project plan and before the project begins A baseline is essential for tracking project progress It contains your original scheduling, resource, and cost estimates Once you’ve compared your baseline estimates to actual data, you can make any necessary changes to your project plan You can monitor the progress of your project to ensure that tasks are continuing on schedule, resources are completing their work in the time allocated, and costs are not exceeding your budget A baseline provides reference points against which you can compare project progress and know whether your project needs adjusting When you set a baseline, Microsoft Project saves the baseline data as part of the project file Microsoft Project displays this data in baseline fields so that you can compare baseline data to actual data For example, when you set a baseline, Microsoft Project copies the information from the Start and Finish fields into the Baseline Start and Baseline Finish fields You can modify the baseline itself to accommodate changes in the project such as combining, adding, and deleting tasks When You Don’t Need a Baseline In most cases, setting a baseline makes your project plan as useful as possible, because the baseline enables you to track and adjust your project But in certain situations a baseline isn’t very useful For instance, if your project has so few tasks and resources that you can track progress in your head, you wouldn’t need a baseline Or, if your project duration is very short, you might have little time or need to track tasks Of course, you can set a baseline for a project of any size and duration If you want to keep an accurate account of how closely each project follows its original plan, or you want to use data from one project to help you plan future projects, you may find it helpful to set a baseline for each project Before You Set a Baseline Because the baseline will provide the reference points against which you compare actual project progress, it should include your best estimates for task duration, scheduling, resource allocation, costs, and the other project variables you want to monitor Baseline information that consistently differs from actual data shows that your original plan is inaccurate If this is the case, don’t worry At any time during the project you can modify or rework the baseline To help ensure that your baseline information is as accurate as possible, it’s a good idea to double-check your project file, even if you’ve already spent a week fine-tuning it Checking the following items will help ensure that your baseline information is accurate: • The project start and end dates have been approved • Working times calendars have been adjusted for the project, all groups, and each individual Microsoft Project 98 – Chapter 17 Page of • • • • • • • • • The task list is complete The resource list is complete At least one resource is assigned to each task (except milestones) The workload is evenly distributed by resolving any resource overallocations The critical path has been shortened as much as possible Each task link reflects the true task sequence For example, if two tasks can start at the same time, they are linked with a start-to-start dependency No unnecessary contraints have been applied to any tasks All unnecessary slack time has been cut from tasks, and slack remains only in those parts of the schedule where it’s needed Estimated project costs are within budget For information about how to accomplish the tasks on this list, as well as other schedule refinements, read chapters 10 through 13 in Part 3, "Making Your Schedule Lean and Mean." Set and Save a Baseline Once you complete the initial process of creating a schedule — entering tasks, establishing task dependencies, assigning resources, and checking and adjusting your schedule — you’re ready to set a baseline plan By comparing your baseline information to an up-to-date schedule later in the project, you can identify and resolve discrepancies and plan more accurately for similar future projects If the Planning Wizard appears when you save your project file, you can have it save a baseline for you If not, you can save it yourself To set a baseline On the Tools menu, point to Tracking, and then click Save Baseline Click Save baseline, and then click Entire project By setting a baseline, only baseline information is saved You haven’t created a separate baseline file You cannot at some later time open and display a baseline plan If you want to keep a project plan that contains baseline information only, you can create a backup copy of the project file at the same time as you set a baseline To save a project file with baseline information On the File menu, click Save As In the File name box, type a name that reminds you that this file is a backup of baseline information For example, you might type baseline Click Save Set an Interim Plan After you save a baseline plan and begin updating your schedule, you may want to periodically save an interim plan An interim plan is a set of schedule information you can save at any time during your project You can compare the information in an interim plan with baseline information to monitor project progress You can save up to 10 interim plans for each schedule to compare changes in the scheduled dates of tasks Interim plans are useful for analyzing the accuracy of your scheduling estimates and for determining when your schedule began to get off track The task data saved in an interim plan includes the start and finish dates and any split dates No resource or assignment data is saved in an interim plan To set an interim plan On the Tools menu, point to Tracking, and then click Save Baseline Click Save interim plan In the Copy box, click the plan name you want to save In the Into box, click the name under which you want to save the plan Click Entire project or Selected tasks to save the portion of the schedule you want Microsoft Project 98 – Chapter 17 Page of Add a Task to a Baseline or Interim Plan At any point in your project, you may need to add a task to your schedule If you add a new task after you set a baseline plan or an interim plan, you should add that task to your plan as well This will enable you to track the progress of the new task along with the rest of the tasks in your schedule To add a task to a baseline or interim plan On the View Bar, click Gantt Chart In the Task Name field, select the task you want to add to the baseline or interim plan On the Tools menu, point to Tracking, and then click Save Baseline To add the task to the baseline plan, click Save baseline To add the task to the interim plan, click Save interim plan Click Selected tasks Note that if you click Entire project, you will reset the plan for your entire schedule Change Baseline Information for One or More Tasks Despite your best efforts and all the advice in this book, it might still turn out that your baseline doesn’t reflect project reality accurately enough to remain an effective tracking tool Perhaps some of your task estimates were knocked off target because of unpredictable factors Or, upper management decided to move up the project finish date, which means you may need to shrink task durations At such times, you’ll need to change the baseline information for tasks To change baseline information for one or more tasks On the View Bar, click Gantt Chart or any other task view In the Task Name field, select the tasks whose baseline information you want to change On the Tools menu, point to Tracking, and then click Save Baseline Click Save baseline, and then click Selected tasks When you click Selected tasks, Microsoft Project updates the baseline data for the tasks you selected Microsoft Project 98 – Chapter 17 Page of