Earned Value Management Using Microsoft® Office Project A Guide for Managing Any Size Project Effectively

by Dayal, Sham

• ISBN13: 9781932159981
• ISBN10: 1932159983
• Edition: CD
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2008-09-01
• Publisher: J. Ross Publishing
• More Book Details

Summary

Earned Value Management Using Microsoftr Office Project is the first reference to effectively combine the most widely used scheduling tool with the most widely accepted cost management technique. It is a practical guide to end- to-end scheduling and cost management using Microsoft Office Project that includes a CD-ROM of a limited version of a unique EVM software tool that will help practitioners more effectively manage their projects, track and report the status and progress of projects, and take necessary action before their projects fail beyond repair. This text is an excellent complement to whatever Microsoft Office Project guide that you may be using and a significant addition to the literature on how to use EVM.

Author Biography

Sham Dayal, PMP, has over 12 years of practical experience in the IT industry where he specializes in managing projects using EVM techniques with Microsoft Project software. Mr. Dayal currently holds a program management position with Mphasis BFL Ltd, an EDS company, and is co-founder of Connoizor Software Pvt Ltd, a company that specializes in software tools and templates, project execution, and product development. Mr. Dayal was the first person at Mphasis to successfully implement EVM for project tracking (progress, status and forecasting) and was instrumental in creating a new technique for tracking the progress of production support projects. This new technique, based on the EVM concept, won a Quality Knowledge Excellence Award. Mr. Dayal is a frequent speaker on EVM and has been published in leading journals on EVM pertaining to more effective project lifecycle management. He has a bachelor's degree in Computer Science and a master's in Applied Statistics.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. ix
Acknowledgments	p. xi
About the Author	p. xiii
An Introduction to the Chapters	p. xv
Web Added Value	p. xix
EVM in Project Management	p. 1
Common Project Management Issues	p. 2
The Solution	p. 2
The EVM Reporting Tool	p. 3
Read Me First Instructions	p. 5
Mock Setup Process	p. 7
Customer Support	p. 8
Schedule Management	p. 9
Basic Project Management Processes	p. 9
Basic Schedule Elements	p. 10
Work Breakdown Structure	p. 10
Effort Estimates	p. 12
Resources	p. 13
Resource Costs	p. 14
Task Dependencies	p. 16
What Is EVM?	p. 19
Basic Elements of EVM	p. 19
Planned Value	p. 20
Earned Value	p. 22
Actual Cost	p. 24
Planned Time	p. 26
Elapsed Time	p. 27
Calculation of Earned Value Performance Measures	p. 28
Schedule Variance	p. 29
Schedule Variance Percent	p. 30
Schedule Performance Indicator	p. 32
To-Complete Schedule Performance Indicator	p. 34
Schedule Variance (Time)	p. 36
Schedule Variance Percent (Time)	p. 38
Schedule Performance Indicator (Time)	p. 39
To-Complete Schedule Performance Indicator (Time)	p. 41
Cost/Effort Variance	p. 43
Cost Variance Percent	p. 44
Cost Performance Indicator	p. 46
To-Complete Cost Performance Indicator	p. 48
Budget at Completion	p. 52
Budget at Completion (Time)	p. 52
Estimate to Complete	p. 53
Estimate at Completion	p. 54
Estimate at Completion (Time)	p. 56
Variance at Completion	p. 58
Variance at Completion (Time)	p. 58
Why EVM?	p. 59
Benefits of EVM Explored	p. 59
Monitors a Project as It Progresses	p. 59
Shows Schedule/Cost Performance at a Glance	p. 61
Uses Numbers Rather than Dates	p. 62
Quantifies and Tracks Delays Caused by External Factors	p. 62
Embraces Change in a Project	p. 63
Makes Project Monitoring Simple	p. 64
Facilitates Having Projects On Time and Under Budget	p. 66
Improves Customer Satisfaction	p. 67
Forecasts Cost/Effort and Time Required	p. 68
Forecasts Future Efficiency Needed	p. 69
Manages Trends	p. 71
Allows Total Control of a Project	p. 73
Creating a Schedule	p. 75
Schedule Preparation	p. 75
Setting Up Microsoft Office Project-MPP Options	p. 76
The Schedule Screen	p. 76
The Calendar Options Screen	p. 78
The Project Information Screen	p. 80
The Project Calendar	p. 81
Creating a WBS	p. 83
Assigning Estimates	p. 84
Creating Resources	p. 88
Setting Up the Resource Calendar	p. 89
Assigning Resources	p. 91
Sequencing Lowest-Level Tasks	p. 93
Assigning Priorities to Summary Tasks	p. 96
Creating Recurring Tasks	p. 98
Resource Leveling	p. 101
Baselining the Schedule	p. 106
Setting Up the EVM Report Template	p. 109
Preparing the Template for a New Project	p. 109
Project Options	p. 109
Configuration Options	p. 111
Populating Reporting Periods	p. 113
Tracking Progress in the Schedule	p. 117
Tracking Progress in MPP	p. 117
Summary Level Tracking	p. 118
Task Level Day-Wise Tracking	p. 119
Resource Level Day-Wise Tracking	p. 120
Adjusting the Schedule While Tracking	p. 122
Tracking Progress with the EVM Tool	p. 123
Monitoring the Schedule	p. 129
The Summary Sheet-Checking and Updating	p. 129
The Earned Value Graph	p. 131
The Forecast ($) Graph	p. 132
The Forecast (Time) Graph	p. 133
The Forecast (Index) Graph	p. 134
The Variances ($) Graph	p. 135
The Variances (Time) Graph	p. 136
The Indexes Graph	p. 137
The Other Indexes Graph	p. 138
Additional Schedule Management Techniques	p. 139
Drilling Down to Check Tasks at Risk	p. 139
Resequencing Tasks in a Schedule	p. 141
Putting a Schedule on Hold	p. 142
An Entire Schedule	p. 142
Selective Resources	p. 142
Updating Resource Leave/Vacation Time	p. 143
Managing Scope Creep	p. 143
When Should a Schedule Be Rebaselined?	p. 144
Rebaselining a Schedule	p. 144
Rebaselining the EVM Report Template	p. 145
EVM for Production Support	p. 147
Schedule Management - An End-to-End Example	p. 155
EVM Template Quick Guide	p. 187
Glossary	p. 193
Index	p. 223
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