Earned value measurements

The report shows the task as being behind schedule and even over budgeted and is expressed in terms of cost variance.  

Budget hours	Weeks	Completion %
1000	12	100
550 hours	6	55

 

The planned value for the project is 550 hours. On assessing the actual progress using the activities completed referred to as 0/ 000 method , it can be calculated that we only have completed activities that are worth 350 hrs of the budget for the whole task.  Similarly, the actual expenditure of the same activities that have been completed is 480 hours. In the language of earned value, the result is Planned Value totaling to 550 hours, 350 hours representing the Earned Value and the actual cost being 480 hours. From this analysis, it can be shown that basically the project is behind schedule in that what is earned is less than that which has been planned and the actual is more than earned meaning that the budget limits have been exceeded. This data is to be used by all the members of the project team and who are responsible for work management to have an understanding of schedule performance and cost in the entire lifecycle of the project. This will enable the highlighting, early enough, of schedule and cost issues and hence offering enough time for minimizing impact and providing a real opportunity for recovery plan development where necessary. In addition, the measurement of these values can provide data which can be used for the purpose of future forecasting on how the project with turn-out eventually. This can be done through cost estimation at completion and total duration forecasting.

How to determine project status

When determining the next project status, there are various aspects that you should consider. You should check whether the project will be delivered as per the expected time, whether the budget allocated for the project is sufficient to complete it entirely and whether the delivered results will match the expectation of the users. In addition, the report should consider whether the quality offered by the final results is enough to cater for all the user needs.

In measuring the status of the project, there is a need to track is the state of affairs of various project dimension but the objectives of the project should be defined first in order to measure against them.  These dimensions to measure include the budget, schedule and scope since they are the basic constraints that are set out at the beginning of the project and the shareholders have agreed on them.  They will determine whether it is a worth business course to continue with the status. They are very important items to be monitored as they largely contribute to the satisfaction of all stakeholders and even meet the business case (Makar, & Lawrence Technological University,2008). Moreover, the project can be budget and on time and still fail due to various flaws in the designing process and hence you should add quality to the rest of dimensions that should be measured.

 The other aspect to be measured is schedule to determine the extent to which the milestone dates sets are being achieved. To determine whether the goal is being met, there are other indicators which should be considered which may suggest any risk the schedule may face.  These include the accuracy of work estimates for the tasks which have been completed, mean time of opening issues, resolving issues and longest open issue concerning the project. The budget should also measured to ensure the agreed upon project cost is met in the remaining part of the project (Kerzner, 2004). In fact, all the measurement of the various aspects should be done on a weekly basis.  The training on Earned Value Management can be carried out through the use of various materials such as programs, video and case studies which provide throughout engagement of an individual in an entire session. This makes it possible to apply the learning to the project as soon as possible. In addition, Online EVM Training can be used for providing regular instruction on the measurement of various metrics used in the project management. These programs can make use of metrics such as Baseline Schedule and Project progress. Planned Value refers to a budget baseline that is time-phased and results from the baseline schedule. This involves the translation into monetary terms.  Project progress involves the measurement of actual cost and also the percentage so as to obtain periodic data (Kerzner, 2004).

References

Makar, A. J., & Lawrence Technological University. (2008). Assessing critical success factors in earned value management. (Dissertation Abstracts International, 69-12.)

Kerzner, H. (2004). Advanced project management: Best practices on implementation. Hoboken, N.J: Wiley. 312