PM Rolling Milestones

MS Project--Why Save Baseline?

First the Commercial
Most people (even IT gurus) end up fighting with Microsoft Project. Fight no longer! I’m teaching my 2-day MS Project class on Dec. 3 and Dec. 4 at our Entrepreneur Shop at 130th & W. Center Rd. I know this sounds like I’m bragging, but I’m an excellent MS Project teacher. So come get some training before you get any more frustrated. Check it out and always, our entire training schedule.

What is baseline?
Baseline is defined as “A formally approved version of the project schedule and/or budget that is used as the benchmark for comparing future progress as the project is completed.” In class I usually define it as “the agreed upon plan.”

This reminds me of my time working in the PMO at Intel. For large projects, when the project plan and budget were fairly mature, there was always a final formal project planning meeting. It was always attended by the project manager, the facility manager, the head of engineering, the head of architecture, the maintenance manager, and possibly others. They would go into a conference room, lock the door, and negotiate the final project plan. At the end of that meeting, they signed the cover page of the plan.

Yes, it was formal but I think rightly so, since the managers were all committing their resources to that plan. In MS Project, once that agreement was signed, we would save baseline.

What does MS Project do when you save baseline?
When you save baseline in MS Project, the software takes the current start and finish dates for each task and copies them into columns called “Baseline Start” and “Baseline Finish.” The planned or scheduled dates will probably move (usually they’ll be pushed later; that’s projects for you), but the baseline dates will not. So by comparing Baseline Start to Start and Baseline Finish to Finish, you will know if each task is ahead of (theoretically, it could happen) or behind schedule.

What about multiple baselines?
Starting with MS Project XP, Microsoft gave us 10 more columns for Baseline Start (named Baseline Start1, Baseline Finish1, Baseline Start2, etc.). I would recommend that you save these for major changes in project scope. Copy the original baseline columns into Baseline Start1 and Baseline Finish1, then resave Baseline. Then you can rename Baseline Start1 to something that describes it better.

Why should you save baseline?
Many filters and reports in Project are set to show if your project is ahead of or behind schedule. Basically these compare Baseline Start to Start and Baseline Finish to Finish. So without baseline saved, you’ve lost a lot of the power of these tools.

MS Project can be a great tool in the hand of project managers, but you need to make sure you’re using it well and to your best advantage. If you’ve never saved baseline in a project, you should work with that.

Make friends with MS Project,
Beth G.

Congratulations!
Congratulations to five people who finished their UNO Project Management certificate at the end of October. From Ho-Chunk, Inc., congrats go to Bill Medcalf, Tori Kitcheyan, Kevin Church and Lee Anne Pretends Eagle. Ho-Chunk, Inc. is a tribal-owned business that is diversified enough to apply project management to everything from construction to telecommunications projects.

Also finishing her certificate is my favorite student from Idaho, Dana Stevenson. Dana works for ON Semiconductor. Dana is an Omaha native who likes to drive over 1,000 miles to come to class! Dana is a very savvy project manager in a fast-paced industry.

Apologies to one of my favorite students, Frank McMaster, who finished his certificate in September and I forgot to acknowledge him in the October newsletter. Frank is a fun guy who is also one of those people who is always thinking and analyzing. He works for CSC, where they create software for our nation’s defense.

It’s been my pleasure to work with these six people in various classes. Congratulations and Good Luck!

Beth G.

About Us
NBDC is a self-supporting entity of the University of Nebraska Omaha's College of Business. We work alongside businesses: instructing and mentoring in project management, leadership, and technology to help make each business more productive.

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Project Management Rolling Milestones e-newsletter is written by Beth Giesbrecht , project management expert and presenter at NBDC, a part of the University of Nebraska at Omaha College of Business. Beth welcomes your comments and suggestions. Email her or call the NBDC Business office at 402.595.2900.