Mike DewingSenior Project Manager / Program Manager| MLD Holdings Ltd.Surrey, British Columbia, Canada
Some people say you shouldn't update baselines, but I've also seen people say you should update baselines. - I typically create an original baseline (first approved baseline) as your almost guaranteed someone will ask you how you did compared to the original details. - a new baseline is required when you have a significant change - typically this change is outside or beyond your level of responsibility. Fro example costs variances exceed 3% and your allowed up to 2% OR you schedule is delayed by +2 weeks and your authorized up to 2 weeks. Re-baselining will take the project to the correct management level to be reapproved and possibly reprioritized accordingly. Remember to go back to the business case to make sure the project is still viable, achievable and attainable. Between baselines is typically called forecasting
Which projections should not be changed and which ones are alright to update as the project progresses? - totally depends on what is changing, remember the baseline should be the entire project plan which encompasses all the subsidiary plans. Saving Changes...
John TiesoAuthor, Lecturer in Business Management| The Catholic University of America, Busch School of Business & EconomicsArlington, Va, United States
Mike, sounds like a good approach to me. While, as I already stated, baselines and their constant change (in many cases) are not my ideal work, I do believe in creating an initial baseline to know how we have moved from reality at some fixed time to change at some future time. Saving Changes...
Michael:
Agree with Aaron and many here but...a baseline is your starting point to gain approval from your sponsors, get buy in from your stakeholders and to a great extent to your team that provided the original estimates.
I suggest to use a baseline but don't arbitrarily don't adjust your schedule. Keep these thoughts in mind: Don't re-baseline your schedule without any need for 10 - 15 % variance, approval from your sponsor, a recommended approach. (one that can alleviate from any adjustment to the schedule that allows you to catch up, maintain your budget and get the best performance from your team(resources) you have available to you.)
Agree with most of the previous comments.
There is you initial baseline, the one approve at the beginning of the project. You need to keep that one.
Then a baseline of approve change, specially when you have an external client, that is the one that is refer to in you reports.
Last you can have other baselines for new changes not yet approve, for internal usage. Last one in more organizational choice. Saving Changes...
Morne BeeslaarManaging Director| Faolan ConsultingPretoria, South Africa
Large businesses typically have a mandatory 'trigger' when you should rebaseline i.e. 10% overrun on the baseline schedule. This should then be approved by the board with substantiating change/deviation notices.
On a practical note I also rebaseline when scope changes affecting the critical path occurs. Trick is to keep your original schedule and current aligned so that you can always measure yourself against the IP schedule (which represents the promise to investors). Deviation from this should be clear and with a logical documented trail of changes made and why. Saving Changes...
Anton OosthuizenSenior Business Analyst / Project Manager| Self EmployedPretoria, Gauteng, South Africa
As a minimum whenever your critical path is affected. Anymore is a matter of personal choice. Saving Changes...
Thank you everyone for all your great answers! Saving Changes...
Kgobalale John MalatjiProjects Portfolio Manager | Noko-impJohannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa
1. Baseline should be updated if there are changes which affect project critical path.
2. Project types which are new in the organization or industry are often difficult to forecast from the beginning. Often a progressive elaboration strategy is adopted. Once the team has a clear understanding of the project activities, a re-base-lining may be necessary.
3. If a project is running too far behind schedule such that it is impossible to catch up, it is common practice to re-baseline so that the tracking makes sense and does assist the Team. Saving Changes...
Wade HarshmanScrum Master| GDITIndianapolis, In, United States
I worked for one company that required baselines. It was used for governance and performance monitoring; the baselines represented what the governing body approved. For example, a project that took 5 years and $10M might have originally been approved with the expectations of 3 years and $5M. Having that original baseline available helped us identify project management issues and improve the way we estimated and approved projects.
Major changes required approval from governing committees in order to control costs and provide accurate estimates to executives and shareholders. If major changes were approved, a new baseline would be created. Also, we were required to baseline each project at the beginning of each fiscal year, for the same reasons.
The point is that baselines aren't necessarily created with the intent of locking in an inflexible project plan. Baselines are created with the expectation that things will change. Some tools now keep data history, making baselines almost irrelevant; and there may be no reason to baseline if your project plan is etched in stone, or if it changes frequently but has operational support. Saving Changes...
Houssam AOUINADirector of PM/PMO| ICFGabes, Gabes, Tunisia
Baseline is to measure performance against. It can be revised only if significant changes are approved by the change control board through integrated change control. Now. If there is no CCB and no integrated change procedures then baselines have no more sens since the original plan is always following actual one... Saving Changes...
