The performance measurement baseline is a project management artifact that is revealed during the creation of the project management plan. Because, although the project management plan shows us the general perspective we are aiming for very well, as a principle, when it comes to the execution stages of the project, it is really necessary to be able to see if the project is progressing in accordance with the planned way. This approach also contributes to monitoring the general value delivery of a project during its execution.
Schedule Baseline
According to many project management experts, time is the most important variable that has the potential to impact the chance of success to realize the project management plan. Schedule baseline is the schedule planned by the project team and approved by the necessary stakeholders.
Listed as a part of baseline artifacts in project management, it is likely to be useful in:
By creating a baseline schedule, the goal is having the means to compare our progress on execution of the project to where we aimed to be at that time of the project. More simply, the schedule baseline is necessary used to be used for measuring and monitoring the performance of a project. To do this the delivered work should be compared against the baselined plan for a determined time or time interval.
In projects with waterfall approach, Schedule baseline is used and it can be changed only by applying formal change control process and by following the guidance of a change control plan.
See also:
Budget Baseline
The budget baseline is a time-staged project budget that must be approved by the project sponsor and, if necessary, by key stakeholders. In other words, we can call the budget baseline the total budget expected to be spent on a project.
The budget baseline is important because it helps ensure that all project costs are accounted for and that the project stays on track financially. The budget baseline is created during the project planning phase and is updated as the project progresses.
A key part of creating a budget baseline is forecasting the project costs. This involves estimating the cost of each task and then summing the totals to get the overall project cost. The budget baseline should be approved by the project sponsor and, if necessary, by key stakeholders. This will help ensure that everyone is on the same page with respect to the project budget.
It is a project artifact and considered as a baseline artifact as well. It is likely to be used in the activities of the following performance domains:
The budget baseline is obtained mainly by collecting cost estimates for activities previously achieved plus the management reserves determined for the project. It forms a component of the project management plan. The budget baseline is used to measure the performance of the project throughout the project. Costs such as maintenance costs that will occur after the project is completed are not included in this baseline.
When creating a budget for your project, it's important to establish a baseline that can be used for comparison later on. This will help you track your project's expenses and make sure they stay within the allotted budget. Just like any other project management baselines, the budget baseline should be aimed at providing a realistic view of the project's expenses.
A budget baseline is a critical part of effective risk management in projects. By tracking actual costs against the budget baseline, you can quickly identify any deviations from expected spending and take appropriate action. The budget baseline is also useful for other aspects of project management, such as creating the risk management plan, identifying risks, conducting a qualitative risk analysis, and optimizing risk responses.
Budget baseline is directly used for measurement and control purposes as a part of the measurement performance domain since it is needed to be used to compare actual results to estimated ones. It also provides information for tailoring processes about acquiring resources or conducting procurements.
See also:
Scope Baseline
The scope baseline is the project management artifact, in which all the works planned to be carried out within the scope of the project are described in detail. In order to keep the scope under control during the project, the scope baseline is taken as a reference and the progress of the project and the completed works are constantly compared with the scope baseline. Thus, the answer to the question of whether the project is being continued in accordance with the planned scope can be found.
Scope baseline is categorized among the baseline artifacts and considered to be used in the following performance domains,
The scope baseline, along with the schedule baseline and the cost baseline, constitutes the performance measurement baseline. Since the scope baseline is used as a basis for comparing project performance with the planned performance, change control processes must be implemented in order to make changes to the scope baseline. The scope baseline forms part of the project management plan along with other baseline documents.
Scope baseline is categorized among the baseline artifacts and considered to be used in the following performance domains,
- Planning performance domain,
- Project Work Performance Domain,
- Delivery Performance Domain,
- Measurement Performance Domain
The scope baseline, along with the schedule baseline and the cost baseline, constitutes the performance measurement baseline. Since the scope baseline is used as a basis for comparing project performance with the planned performance, change control processes must be implemented in order to make changes to the scope baseline. The scope baseline forms part of the project management plan along with other baseline documents.
See also:
Milestone Schedule
In project management, schedule milestone is a project artifact used to identify, track and review significant and major project-related events by marking important points in time.
Milestone schedule is just one of these schedules and it is considered as a part of baseline artifacts of a project. Milestone schedule is likely to be used in the following performance domains;
- Development Approach and Lifecycle Performance Domain
- Measurement Performance Domain
- Stakeholder Performance Domain
- Project Work Performance Domain
- Planning Performance Domain
A schedule milestone should always be in summary level to show project manager, key stakeholders, and senior management if the key priorities of the project going in line with the planned one at first glance. While dealing with senior management and key stakeholders, as a project manager, you may not have enough time to discuss the project schedule in a detailed way. Therefore this summarized project artifact is of immeasurable value in terms of communicating with important stakeholders of a project in a short time.
The course of a project can be looked at in many different ways. In order to do this, the project team and the project manager have a number of tools at their disposal. The most important of these tools is to create schedules.
See Also: Schedule Management Plan
Baseline Artifacts
Baseline artifacts are a key part of project management, and are used to establish a reference point for measuring a project's performance against the planned one. In order to create a baseline, project managers will typically use project management artifacts such as models, methods, and artifacts. By doing so, they can establish a consistent foundation for their project and make it easier to track changes and deviations.
In order to ensure that a project is actually a project, key stakeholders need to approve key artifacts that make up the project management plan (PMP). These artifacts can be baselined, which means they are set in stone (or at least as close as you can get in the ever-changing world of project management). The baseline establishes the core of the project and without it, there is no project. This means that all projects have a baseline and they should be well understood, well communicated, and approved by the key stakeholders.
Project management is all about change, but that doesn't mean that everything is in a state of constant flux. There are some aspects of a project that can be locked down and made immutable. This allows everyone involved in the project to have a common understanding of what is happening and what is expected to happen. It also creates a foundation that can be built upon.
The project baseline typically consists of;
- Budget baseline
- Schedule baseline
- Scope baseline
The combination of these three baselines forms the performance measurement baseline. Along with these concepts milestone schedule is also considered among baseline artifacts.