Earned Value Management Using Microsoft® Office Project

Name: Earned Value Management Using Microsoft® Office Project
SKU: 978-1-932159-98-1
Price: 69.95 USD
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A Guide for Managing Any Size Project Effectively
By Sham Dayal, PMP
Softcover, 7.5 x 9.25, 248 pages
ISBN: 978-1-932159-98-1
September 2008

LEARN & EARN: Get 5.2 PDUs in the PMI skill area of Technical Skills
Includes a CD-ROM

ISBN: 978-1-932159-98-1 Categories: Business, Default Category, Project and Program Management Books

Description

Schedule and cost management are the most essential parts of project lifecycle management and many projects fail as a result of not managing these critical components effectively. The most commonly used tool for project schedule management is Microsoft Office Project, which is designed to assist project managers in developing schedules, assigning resources to tasks, tracking progress, managing budgets and analyzing workloads. The most common technique used for cost management is earned value management (EVM), a project management technique used for measuring project progress in an objective manner that combines measurements of project scope, schedule and cost performance within a single integrated methodology. EVM is becoming the standard across the world for this purpose in both the private and public sector and many organizations are now adopting this technique to manage their projects. In the public sector, EVM is mandated for all government projects in the United States and many other countries are following suit.

Earned Value Management Using Microsoft® 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.

Key Features

Covers the knowledge areas of schedule and cost management in depth and is aligned with the Practice Standard for Earned Value Management published by Project Management Institute
Provides a practical step-by-step approach to building a schedule and managing it throughout the lifecycle of the project
Shows how to setup the schedule in such a way so as to enable effective cost management through EVM and how to use the EVM software tool provided to manage current and future projects
Includes valuable tips and practical illustrations for every step in the process
Demonstrates how EVM can be effectively applied to any size project or program with the same rigor as that of a large and critical project
WAV offers free downloadable tables with calculations of the different parameters of the EVM technique and a sample project schedule — available from the Web Added Value™ Download Resource Center

About the author(s)

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 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.

Chapter 1: Introduction
    General Problems Faced in Projects
    Solution to Be Implemented
    EVM Reporting Tool

Chapter 2: Schedule Management
    Basic Elements of a Schedule
    Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)
    Estimates
    Resources
    Resource Costs
    Task Dependencies

Chapter 3: What is Earned Value Management?
    EVM Introduction
    Basic Elements of EVM
    Planned Value (PV)
    Earned Value (EV)
    Actual Cost (AC)
    Planned Time (PT)
    Elapsed Time (ET)
    Calculation of the EV Performance Measures
    Schedule Variance (SV)
    Schedule Variance % (SV %)
    Schedule Performance Indicator (SPI)
    To-complete Schedule Performance Indicator -TSPI
    Schedule Variance (Time)
    Schedule Variance % (Time)
    Schedule Performance Indicator (Time)
    To-complete Schedule Performance Indicator (Time)
    Cost/Effort Variance (CV)
    Cost Variance % (CV%)
    Cost Performance Indicator (CPI)
    To-complete Cost Performance Indicator – TCPI
    Budget At Completion (BAC)
    Budget At Completion Time (BACt)
    Estimate To Complete (ETC)
    Estimate At Completion (EAC)
    Estimate At Completion Time (EACt)
    Variance At Completion (VAC)
    Variance At Completion Time (VACt)

Chapter 4: Why EVM?
    EVM Performance Measures De-mystified
    Benefits Explored
    Monitoring the Project as it Progresses
    Schedule/Cost Performance at a Glance
    Dealing with Numbers Versus Dates
    Quantify & Track Delays Caused by External Factors
    Embrace Changes in the Project
    Project Monitoring Made Simple
    Projects On-Time & Under Budget
    Improved Customer Satisfaction
    Forecast Cost/Efforts and Time Required
    Forecast Future Efficiency Needed
    Managing Trends
    Total Control of the Project

Chapter 5: Creating your Schedule
    Preparing Your Schedule
    Microsoft Project Setup
    MS Project Options
    Calendar Options
    Project Setup Information
    Project Setup Calendar
    Creating the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)
    Assigning the Estimates
    Creating Resources
    Resource Calendar Setup
    Assigning Resources
    Sequencing Last Level Tasks
    Assigning Priority to Summary Tasks
    Creating Recurring Tasks
    Resource Leveling
    Baseline Schedule

Chapter 6: EVM Report Template Setup
    Preparing Your EVM Report Template for First Use
    EVM Template Project Options
    Configuration Options
    Populate Reporting Periods

Chapter 7: Tracking Progress on the Schedule
    Tracking Progress in MPP
    Summary Level Tracking
    Task Level Day Wise Tracking
    Resource Level Day Wise Tracking
    Adjusting Schedule while Tracking
    Tracking Progress in the EVM Tool

Chapter 8: Monitoring the Schedule
    Checking and Updating the Summary Sheet
    Checking the Earned Value Graph
    Checking the Forecast ($) Graph
    Checking the Forecast (Time) Graph
    Checking the Forecast (Index) Graph
    Checking the Variances ($) Graph
    Checking the Variances (Time) Graph
    Checking the Indices Graph
    Checking the Other Indices Graph

Chapter 9: Additional Schedule Management Techniques
    Drilling Down to Check Tasks at Risk
    Re-sequencing Tasks in Your Schedule
    Putting Your Schedule on Hold
    Entire Schedule on Hold
    Selective Resources on Hold
    Updating Resource Leave/Vacation
    Checking for Scope Creep
    When to Re-baseline the Schedule?
    Re-baseline your Schedule
    Re-baseline your EVM Report Template

Appendix A
Appendix B
Quick Reference & Glossary
Index

Reviews

“This guide offers an easy and effective way to learn how to apply the earned value management technique to real world projects using Microsoft Project. The EVM tool included brings a coherent framework that can be used on any project. I highly recommend this book.”

—Kesary Vanaja, Project Manager, HCL Technologies Ltd.