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BUILDING THE PROJECT BASELINE 221

BCWP (Budgeted Cost of Earned value or
Work Performed). accomplishment value
(at any point in time).
ACWP (Actual Cost of
Work Performed). Actual cost to date.

SV (Schedule Variance). Difference between planned
accomplishment and EV.
CV (Cost Variance).
Difference between actual
cost and EV.

So it is essential that a baseline be established and controlled. For the most
part, this is a simple and straightforward process. However, there is the potential
for complicating circumstances. For instance:

• What if the project workscope changes? Does it invalidate the EVA? What
constitutes a legitimate baseline change?

• How do we manage the baseline for phased projects, wherein each phase
defines the successor phases?

In this chapter, we discuss how to build a project baseline, followed by illustra-
tions of pragmatic practices for managing the baseline and avoiding scope creep.
We also address the challenges noted above.

Building the Project Baseline

Let’s make this really simple. The project baseline is essentially a project plan.
Even if you were not planning on measuring performance, you would still want to
develop a basic plan for the project. Figure 1.1a (pg. 7) illustrates the basic activi-
ties and products associated with developing a project plan. These include:

• Identification of the work.
• Scheduling of the work.
• Assigning resources.
• Budgeting.

As we develop the plan, we balance objectives and constraints associated with
the defined workscope, and schedule, resource, and cost issues. The result, a list
of scheduled tasks, with resource assignments and cost estimates, becomes the
project baseline plan.