This week the tweets looked at using a baseline plan and the tracking actuals against that plan. The following is a compliation of the week's series.

A baseline project plan is the estimated schedule, costs, tasks, and deliverables for a project. In essence it is what is expected to happen. The baseline plan should be approved by management and thus sets the schedule, cost, and deliverable goals for the project. Remember that the baseline plan is still an estimate and there will be changes to the scope, schedule, tasks, and budget along the way.

So why do a baseline plan? The baseline sets the stage to start the project and allows others to plan to be ready to support the project. As the project progresses you will use the baseline plan in two ways. 1) To manage the project 2) To track actual against the project.

Although the project plan itself will change throughout the project the baseline itself should not be altered unless there is a major change. What you want to do with the baseline is for each task capture actual start and finish dates as well as actual work. The actual numbers will help spot potential areas where the project can be at risk pof schedule or cost overruns. Actual project data is very useful for future projects, Having data from past projects helps provide future projects with better estimates.

Tracking actual data will also help you better manage resources and be able to make adjustments to assignments as needed.

Next week we will continue looking at baseline plans and how to deal with scope and major schedule changes plus when to rebaseline a plan. You can follow the weets themselves at @tprusk1.