I am on a project and I need to show cost graphs/reports.
I usually do EV but the EV on this project has not been planned correctly and they wont do a rebaseline. They did not follow EV planning rules at all. Tasks are real high level spanning a year or more. Also, the current PMB is not valid due to scope change but they want cost graphs ran against it to manage. The tasks in the schedule were loaded with a flat cost for total resources and not manpower loaded.
With a good cost integrated schedule I can show the EV graph with BCWS,BCWP,ACWP, then show the schedule. This tells the story of what is going on. I do not have this traceability on this project but they want charts to show manpower req, costs, what if costs, trends, etc.
What charts do you recommend I compile ? Saving Changes...
Looks like your sponsors want their cake and to eat it as well! I think you are asking the wrong people this question.
You need to get your reporting requirements from your sponsors. It looks like you need to start by doing some education of what is normal for project reporting and why this does not fit this project. They then have the choice of "normalising" the project or coming up with new ways to show the information they need.
By the way how do you manage to an out of date and poorly defined plan? As the project manager I would draw a line in the sand and replan this project so that you can manage it properly. A risk workshop is always a good way to demonstrate the risks of managing the a poor plan.
Good Luck with that one! Saving Changes...
Bill BiglerProject Scheduler| Booz Allen HamiltonCentreville, Va, United States
There are several actions that I would try. Let me list a few to give you some ideas.
First, I would make list of the EV data that is missing from the PMB. You cannot do EV without sufficient data. Be sure to include the PMB needs to reflect the scope of the project. Also, include ways to collect the missing data. Then discuss this list with your project manager or, if you are the project manger, discuss it with your manager or a sponsor/mentor. The purpose being that you are setting the expectations for using EV. As is, it cannot be done.
You say that the tasks are at a high level and that a scope change occured. If the scope change identifies another high level task, create it. If the scope change was incorporated in one or all of the existing tasks, document the change for each affected task.
You do not say if the approved scope had an approved budget. If yes, then distribute the budget among the tasks as appropriate. If not budget increase, then the existing budget is expected to work.
Do you have actual costs for each task to work with? If not, you will have to do any cost analysis at the project level. Useful? Some, but it is the best that you can do. If you have actual costs per task, then use that data. Be sure to get all resource costs, not just manpower. If costs associated with the increased scope is included in the existing task actual costs, don't worry about it, cost overrun will start to show and the scope change could be one of the reasons.
Use a monthly average of the planned costs unless you have more enough detail to make a spending curve for each task.
Lastly, if the scope change is reflected in a new task and actual costs are being reported against it. Present it as a separate project.
Hope this helps.
Bill Saving Changes...
Tanzim AkhtarEPM Application Specialist| Ministry of EducationRiyadh, Saudi Arabia
Hi ...
For the very current environment you can assign these flat costs to the Fixed Cost column (assuming you are using MS Project). Then you can use SQL Server Reporting Services to generate Cost graphs to your. Saving Changes...
Wayne MackRetired| RetiredSouth Riding, Va, United States
I would follow up with management to determine what sort of reports they are expecting and how they will be utilized. If other PMs are currently producing the reports, ask them how they produce their reports. Going back to the information in the original post, the request is for "cost graphs", not CPI or EVM. I would try a simple monthly burn rate chart with a bullet point list of major project accomplishments. This will tell management what they have spent, allow them to project a burn rate to see what the project will cost for the fiscal year, and give them a list of what they have received for their money to date. Still, determining what has been delivered in the past is probably the best step in meeting this reporting requirement. Saving Changes...
