Baseline management in project plan

A baseline is the approved version of a plan (scope, schedule or cost) that can be changed only through formal change control, and is used as a basis for comparison. Baseline management means creating, approving, protecting and updating baselines so that actual performance can be measured against them. It is a vital part of the project management plan.

Main baselines

• Scope baseline: approved scope statement, WBS and WBS dictionary.
• Schedule baseline: approved schedule with start and finish dates.
• Cost baseline: approved time-phased budget (used for earned value).
• Together these are called the performance measurement baseline.
• Other baselines: quality, requirements, configuration.

Plan -> Approve -> BASELINE -> Compare with actuals
                       ^            |
                       +- Change control (approved changes)

Usefulness in developing the project management plan

1. Reference for control: variance = actual − baseline; shows deviations in time, cost and scope.
2. Earned value management requires a cost baseline.
3. Clear agreement between sponsor, manager and team about what was planned.
4. Prevents scope creep: any change must go through integrated change control, and the baseline is updated only with approval.
5. Helps forecasting (EAC, completion date).
6. Version control: previous baselines are kept to review history and for lessons learned.
7. Accountability: the team knows the target they will be judged against.
8. Supports configuration management by fixing the approved versions of documents and software.

Rebaselining

When a major approved change happens (e.g. the customer changes scope), a new baseline is set and the old one is retained for records. Frequent rebaselining hides poor performance and should be avoided.

Example: A web project has a baseline of 6 months and Rs 10 lakh. After 3 months the actual cost is Rs 6.5 lakh against a planned Rs 5 lakh, which shows a cost overrun against the baseline and prompts corrective action.