Tag Archives: Time

The Critical Path by Derek Huether Free Project Management Information, Advice, and Templates

Impress Your PMP Friends By Understanding SPI and CPI

– October 9, 2009Posted in: Project Management

Are you studying for the PMP exam and struggling with the concept of Schedule Performance Index (SPI) and Cost Performance Index (CPI)? Are you just bored and want to impress your friends with your knowledge of SPI and CPI? Well, I’m going to try to make it easy for you.

To the left you’ll see two charts. Both are displaying variances on a monthly basis. The first chart is displaying variances in thousands of dollars, both in schedule and cost. The second chart is displaying the variances as they relate to a performance index.

Definitions and Formulas

Earned Value (EV) – The estimated value of the work actually accomplished
Actual Cost (AC) – The actual cost incurred from the work accomplished
Planned Value (PV) – The estimated value of the work planned to be done

[Chart 1 - Variance (In Dollars)]
Scheduled Variance (SV)=EV – PV
a NEGATIVE schedule variance is behind schedule and
a POSITIVE schedule variance is ahead of schedule
Cost Variance (CV)=EV – AC
a NEGATIVE cost variance is over budget and
a POSITIVE cost variance is under budget

[Chart 2 - Variance]
Schedule Performance Index (SPI)=EV ÷ PV
You are progressing at __% of the rate originally planned
Cost Performance Index (CPI)=EV ÷ AC
You are getting $_____ worth of work out of every $1 spent

Practical Application

So, where does that leave us? Your goal is to have a $0 (zero dollar) cost and schedule variance, resulting in a SPI and CPI of 1.0. That would mean you estimated correctly, leading into your project. Going into the PMP exam, you should know these formulas and how to calculate all of the above. Here are a 2 simple questions you should be able to answer:

1. Is a 1.3 CPI a good thing or a bad thing? Why?

This is a good thing! A 1.3 CPI translates to you getting 1.3 dollars of results for every dollar you put into the project.

2. Is a 0.90 SPI a good thing or a bad thing? Why?

This is a bad thing! A 0.90 SPI translates to your project progressing at 90 percent of the rate originally planned.

Here is the moment of truth. What kind of question is going to be on the PMP exam?

Example Question: Based on the charts listed above, what would you be more concerned with, schedule or cost, if you were taking over this project from another project manager?

Answer: The answer is cost. As of August, CPI is closest to 1.

Popularity: 3%

Tags: AC, Actual, Controlling, Cost, CPI, CV, Earned, EV, Monitoring, Planned, PMP, PV, Schedule, SPI, SV, TCPI, Time, VAC, Value, Variance

Free Meeting Minutes Template

Derek Huether

– July 14, 2009Posted in: Project Management

Back in March, I wrote a post about helpful tips for running a meeting. With it was a free copy of my meeting minutes template. Here is a brief refresher when hosting a meeting:

[1] Write out the purpose of the meeting with actionable events in mind. e.g. “Provide an updated status, identifying risks and opportunities, and identify new action items.”

[2] Identify your attendee list but only keep those you can map to the actionable events listed in step 1. There is a difference between an attendee list and a communications distribution list.

[3] Create an agenda. Do not ever arrange a meeting without a written agenda. Your meeting will suffer scope creep in the worst possible way.

[4] Identify who will run the meeting and who will take notes. It should not be the same person.

[5] Ensure discussion points align to the agenda. If they don’t, recommend taking the topic to another forum.

[6] End the meeting by having the note taker read back the discussion points and the understood action items.

[7] Send out the meeting minutes within one to two days.

Please note I don’t recommend using this for a Daily Scrum or Stand Up Meeting.

Popularity: 100%

Tags: Communications, Free, Meeting Minutes, Template, Time

Twitter and a Challenge to Communicate

Derek Huether

– May 4, 2009Posted in: Scrum, Social Networking

Twitter allows us to share the time and prevents us from trying to explain how to build the clock.

This morning, Dave Garrett, CEO of Gantthead.com and I were attempting to communicate via Twitter on the topic of PMI and Agile Scrum.

We were both finding it difficult to compress everything we wanted to say into 140 character posts. I highly doubt Twitter is going to replace the telephone or email as a central method of communications. It is, however, a great tool to capture the timeline and get your thoughts out quickly to like-minded people. Regardless of the constraints, it’s always good to read Dave’s viewpoint or see what he’ll post next. If you want to find an excellent Project Management resource, I recommend you check out and join Gantthead.com. If you want to see the world from Dave’s perspective, minute by minute, I recommend you follow him on Twitter.

140 characters aside, we were able to get our points across to one another.

(Image courtesy of Twitter)

Popularity: 1%

Tags: Agile, Communications, PMI, Scrum, Time, Twitter

People generally go to meetings because they are asked to attend. With a simple click of the mouse, they accept. Rarely do they respond to your request with the why did you invite me question. Some accept and just don’t show up. These are contributing factors that sway a meeting from productive to unproductive. I sometimes see people go an entire day and only attend meetings. When do they get actual work done? We all know that answer.

Here are a few helpful hints for the next meeting you organize.
[1] Write out the purpose of the meeting with actionable events in mind. e.g. “Provide an updated status, identifying risks and opportunities, and identify new action items.”

[2] Identify your attendee list but only keep those you can map to the actionable events listed in step 1. There is a difference between an attendee list and a communications distribution list.

[3] Create an agenda. Do not ever arrange a meeting without a written agenda. Your meeting will suffer scope creep in the worst possible way.

[4] Identify who will run the meeting and who will take notes. It should not be the same person.

[5] Circulate the completed agenda and collateral documentation prior to the meeting. Have some on hand in the event people don’t bring their own copies to the meeting.

[6] Provide different means of attending the meeting. e.g. In person, via telephone, via web meeting.

[7] Start every meeting on time. If you don’t start on time, how do you expect to finish on time?

[8] Ensure discussion points align to the agenda. If they don’t, recommend taking the topic to another forum.

[9] End the meeting by having the note taker read back the discussion points and the understood action items.

[10] Send out the meeting minutes within one to two days.

Here are a few helpful hints for the next meeting you are invited to or attend.
[1] Upon receiving an invitation, ask yourself if it is really necessary to attend this meeting. It could be you just need to be kept informed. Ask to be included on the meeting minutes distribution list rather then attending.

[2] If you are going to attend, arrive on time! It is rude to walk into a meeting after it has started. Have a little respect for the other attendees. They found it important enough to arrive on time, why can’t you?

[3] Know which agenda items pertain to you prior to coming to the meeting. Be prepared.

[4] Verify the published meeting minutes for accuracy.

I hope this helps you get the most out of your project meetings. As an added bonus, I am including a link to my free Meeting Minutes Template. You can also find it by navigating to my Free PM Templates page.

I welcome your feedback and suggestions.

Regards,

Derek

Popularity: 2%

Kobayashi Maru for Projects

Derek Huether

– March 6, 2009Posted in: Project Management

Without trying to appear to be too much of a geek, I sometimes code-name a project as Kobayashi Maru. For those out there who are not Star Trek geeks, Kobayashi Maru is a test in which command division cadets at Starfleet Academy are presented with a no-win scenario as a test of character. I use the term for a project in which management gets involved and I’m presented with a no-win scenario. I doubt they are trying to test character. Rather, it’s an example of their lack of understanding project management.

I’m sure there are PMs out there who have had management redirect resources from your project to others, only to refuse to narrow scope or push out a delivery date. That is a Kobayashi Maru. Just because I have a PMP®, don’t expect me to pull a rabbit out of a hat. On a previous program, I’ve looked management in the eye and reminded them that something will have to give. Narrow scope, extend the deadline, lower quality expectation, or increase the budget. Do something or this will be a no-win scenario.