Schedule updates and progress control

Periodic updates, comparison against the baseline, deviations found and a corrective action proposed while there is still time to act.

Outcome

A periodic report that shows each deviation with its cause and proposes a concrete action for it.

The problem

A programme that stops being updated once it is approved is, a few months later, a historical document — deviations become visible only when it is too late to recover them.

How the work is done

  • Periodic updates — percent complete, actual start and finish dates and the remaining duration of every activity.
  • Comparison against the baseline — where the project is ahead, where it is behind, and how the critical path has moved.
  • Progress analysis — planned against actual progress, for the whole project and for each part of it.
  • Each deviation and its cause — with a proposed action: resequencing, fast-tracking, more resources or a recovery programme.