The paper written by Bahaa Hussein and Osama Moselhi on “Performance Reporting Using Schedule Compression Index” (http://www.iaarc.org/publications/fulltext/isarc2013Paper230.pdf) has detailed several performance indicators that can provide a better insight on how a capital construction project is performing for the time or schedule management aspect. These include the Schedule Performance Index (SPI) of the Earned Value Management (EVM) method, Baseline Execution Index (BEI), Current Execution Index (CEI), Total Float Consumption Index (TFCI), Critical Path Length Index (CPLI) as well as a newly introduced performance index known as Schedule Compression Index (SCI).
The Schedule Compression Index (SCI) adds a new dimension to the schedule performance reporting that provides additional early warning information on the project’s schedule performance to enable improved decision-making and enhance the probability of project success. The Schedule Compression Index (SCI) measure is the ratio for the sum of remaining durations in the original plan for all tasks falling after the reporting data date to that from the current forecast schedule. It reveals the “execution pace” for a project and provides an early warning of increased risk to on-time completion due to the cumulative impact of delays.
To calculate those schedule performance indices, there will be a need to have access to the project’s baseline schedule and all subsequent updates. In addition, there will be a need to have access to the project’s baseline budget which will become the basis for calculating the earned value (EV) by multiplying the percent complete for each cost center level by the baseline Budget at Completion (BAC) value.
Using a Project Management Information System (PMIS) like PMWeb, the different schedule performance indices can be calculated, monitored, evaluated, and reported on. PMWeb schedule module will be used to import the project’s baseline schedule and all subsequent schedule updates. Those schedules are usually maintained by the contractor who might be either using Primavera P6 or MS Project.
For each project schedule activity, the PMWeb schedule import command allows importing the original, actual, and remaining duration, planned and current start and finish dates, percent complete, and total float values for each activity. Of course, this will be in addition to the activity ID, description, WBS value, and WBS description. This granular data will become the basis for calculating the Baseline Execution Index (BEI), Current Execution Index (CEI), Total Float Consumption Index (TFCI), Critical Path Length Index (CPLI), and Schedule Compression Index (SCI). In addition, the percent complete will become the basis for calculating the Earned Value (EV) needed for the Schedule Performance Index (SPI).
PMWeb budget module will be used to capture the project’s baseline budget or budget at completion (BAC) at the required cost breakdown structure (CBS) level. Each budget line item will be linked to its relevant project schedule activity. This provides two options for creating the budget spending projection also known as the Planned Value (PV).
The first option is to have the budget spending projection be created automatically by selecting the distribution curve of the budget spending for each cost center and using the start and finish dates of the project’s schedule-linked task. The other option is to manually create the planned value curve which enables modifying the budget projection values calculated by selecting the distribution curve the budget spending and the start and finish dates of each cost center. The available distribution curves are Linear, Front Loaded, Back Loaded, and Bell-shaped.
Using the PMWeb forecast module, the percent complete value of the imported project schedule update will be used to calculate the Earned Value (EV) measure which when compared with the Planned Value (PV) measure from the Budget at Completion (BAC), the two performance measures of Schedule Variance (SV) and Schedule Performance Index (SPI). The forecast analysis transaction will be stored for each period.
Similar to all other business processes managed in PMWeb, supportive documents that are usually associated or required for each schedule update, budget, or forecast business process transaction can be attached to their relevant template. It is highly recommended to add details to each attached document to better explain to the reader what is being attached and viewed. In addition, links to other relevant records of other business processes managed in PMWeb can be also linked to the reported progress.
It is highly recommended that all those supportive documents, regardless of their type or source, get uploaded and stored on the PMWeb document management repository. PMWeb allows creating folders and subfolders to match the physical filing structure used to store hardcopies of those documents.
To ensure that the submit, review and approve dates of each schedule update or budget business process transaction submission are captured, a workflow will be assigned to each business process. The assigned workflow will map the submit, review and approve tasks, roles or roles assigned to each task, task duration, task type, and actions available for the task. In addition, the workflow could be designed to include conditions to enforce the approval authority levels as defined in the Delegation of Authority (DoA) matrix.
When a schedule update or budget business process transaction is initiated, the workflow tab available on the relevant template will capture the planned review and approve workflow tasks for each transaction as well as the actual history of those review and approval tasks. The captured workflow data will include the actual action data and time, done by who, action taken, comments made, and whether team input was requested.
About the Author
Bassam Samman, PMP, PSP, EVP, GPM is a Senior Project Management Consultant with 40-year service record providing project management, project controls services, and project management information systems to over 200 projects with a total value of over US $100 Billion. Those projects included Commercial, Residential, Education and Healthcare Buildings and Infrastructure, Entertainment, Hospitality, and shopping malls, Oil and Gas Plants and Refineries, and Telecommunication and Information Technology projects. He is thoroughly experienced in complete project management including project management control systems, computerized project control software, claims analysis/prevention, risk analysis/management (contingency planning), design, supervision, training, and business development.
Bassam is a frequent speaker on topics relating to Project Management, Strategic Project Management, and Project Management Personal Skills. Over the past 40 years, he has lectured at more than 350 events and courses at different locations in the Middle East, North Africa, Europe, and South America. He has written more than 300 articles on project management and project management information systems that were featured in international and regional magazines and newspapers. He is a co-founder of the Project Management Institute- Arabian Gulf Chapter (PMI-AGC) and has served on its board of directors for more than 6 years. He is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) from the Project Management Institute (PMI), a certified Planning and Scheduling Professional (PSP), and Earned Value Professional (EVP) from the Association for the Advancement of Cost Engineering (AACE) and Green Project Management (GPM).
Bassam holds a Masters in Engineering Administration (Construction Management) with Faculty Commendation, George Washington University, Washington, D.C., USA, Bachelor in Civil Engineering – Kuwait University, Kuwait and has attended many executive management programs at Harvard Business School, Boston, USA and London Business School, London, UK.