When Redefine the Project Baseline

In this podcast Ricardo talks about the concept of project baseline and discusses in which conditions is acceptable to redefine the baseline.

Download (8 MB)

Episode transcript

The transcript is generated automatically by Podscribe, Sonix, Otter and other electronic transcription services.

Hello everybody welcome to the show. Five minutes PM. Podcast Today like to discuss with you When I should update my base line. And first of all, I need to explain to all of you, what is a baseline, a baseline it's like a photo it's like a picture of your project and the Baseline will build all the references to the Project. How I can see if I'm the layered or how I can see if I'm spending more money that was planted.

So this is the proper Baseline and I set up the Baseline to make the Project control easier for me so I can check, okay. This task was supposed to be in 10 days and it's now in 12. So I have two days of delay. So this is the objective of, for good and the proper basally, but Wim, this reference lose the real meaning and become pointless.

And I need to update, I can not date my Baseline my reference only because my project is not doing so well. I need to update this one. You have something extremely powerful that change all the assumptions and all that. The constraints that are outlining this project. So I have a big change in the brochure charter scope statement for some dramatical change in the market, a risk extremely powerful risk.

That becomes true. That change. All of the market does is the reason for change in the Baseline and not only the Project results. And if I change the Baseline every single day, I will lose the reference. So let me give you an example, very easy example, to make you understand that I have two daughters and think when you see a kid and then you say bye-bye and you see the kid again, the child, again in two weeks years, what usually is the first think that brings to your mind at that time?

When you see that after two years, you see ups your grill, Oh, you are a more beautiful, last beautiful, but only one thing you will compare the two year old child with the reference that you have two years ago in what's the difference from someone that you don't see everyday to someone that you see everyday, for example, is very hard to see your kids growing.

Why? Because you see them every single day and every single day, you set up a new base line and new base line. And sometimes you lose the reference. When you say, Oh, she sought out. Now he is so beautiful. But if you do this every single day, you don't see this change. You don't see, for example, your hair falling and you becoming bald from one day to day or not.

Are you need to have reference to see this. If you are gaining weight or losing weight, you will not increase your eight by 10 pounds in one day. No, no. Maybe you will increase one ounce to wellness and next week, three ounces, two ounces, and then you will see the results in a future. This is the reason for the photo. The Baseline is the photo of your Project.

There's a picture of your project in that day. So if I returned back to my photo albums and I see all Ricardo, we've two years old, four 10, I can track it a little bit. What happened with me? But if I don't have any picture, I don't have any reference. So we may should change my Baseline. I need to change this only. And only if I have something dramatical that changed completely.

For example, my company was so to another company and then dis project will be completely redesigned. It, this is a reason to change our Baseline my team change it completely. The government brought a new lot that change completely the market conditions. So she thinks that our big in extremely relevant four, the existence of the Project. And not only because I don't have a good results, then I will just reset the new base line and compare.

You will lose the track. Don't do that. Change your Baseline only in critical situations. When you have something extremely relevant that you need to reboot, everything may be revisit all your plans, all your plans, and do all the changed. So you need to reboot our WBS chart and change maybe eight 85% of your work packages. This is a reasonable reason for change in the base line. And not only because, or the results or not so good for me, then I will read Baseline.

So think about that. I hope you enjoyed this podcast and see you next week with another five minutes PM. Podcast bye.

Menu

Resources & Insights

Products & Services

More Resources & Insights

Ricardo Vargas

Podcasts

When Redefine the Project Baseline

Search in Podcasts

Latest podcast episodes

Book recommendations