Overview

The process of Tracking Progress is used once you have completedthe plan, or have completed sufficient iterations to reach an acceptable plan, and the project isprogressing. Now the important phase of regular monitoring begins. Monitoring is important to helpcatch problems as early as possible, and thus minimize their impact on the successful completion ofthe project.

The main steps for monitoring progress are:

• Saving a Baseline schedule, also known as Target. This schedule holds the dates against which progress iscompared.

• Recording or marking-up progress as of a specific date, often titled the Data Date, Status Date, Current Date and As-Of-Date.

• Updating or Statusing theschedule with Actual Start and Actual Finishdates where applicable, and adjusting the activity durations and percent complete.

• Comparing and Reporting actual progress against planned progress and revising the schedule,if required.

Comparing the status of an activity against more than one Baseline is useful, forexample:

• The original plan, which could be Baseline 1, to see the slippage against the original plan.

• Last Period, which could be Baseline 2, to see the changes since the last update.

By the time you get to this phase you should have a schedule that compares your original planwith the current plan, showing where the project is ahead or behind. If you are behind, you shouldbe able to use this schedule to plan appropriate remedial measures to bring the project back ontarget.

This chapter will cover the following topics: