Tuesday Brief: Most schedulers know the DCMA 14-Point Assessment, but PMI’s Practice Standard for Scheduling has its own way to score a schedule model, and many have never used it. This week Eric Christoph explains how PMI’s Conformance Index works, Kenneth Steiness shows how to keep the baseline history it asks for in Microsoft Project, and a Dale Howard tip from the archive helps you spot tasks that are one slip away from the critical path. Eric and Jeff Christoph take your questions live on November 18.
Featured Article: An Introduction to the PMI Practice Standard for Scheduling Conformance Index
While studying for his PMI-SP, Eric Christoph came across something in PMI’s Practice Standard for Scheduling that he hadn’t known existed: a Conformance Index that scores a schedule model against the standard itself. In the first article of a new series, he explains how the index sorts components into required, optional and not-scored groups, why your contract and schedule management plan set your minimum, and why one missing required component keeps a schedule off the scale entirely. He then tests a simple four-question method on two examples, one in Microsoft Project and one in ProjectXL.
The examples lead to a useful distinction. Some components you can judge from the file itself, and others only conform when a written procedure backs them up.
Read Article (9 minutes)
RSVP for November 18
Resource Article: Microsoft Project Baselining Best Practices
Eric’s Microsoft Project example depends on one habit: setting the baseline before progress starts and never saving over it. Kenneth Steiness, PMP and PMI-SP, walks through the routine that protects it. He keeps the original baseline in its own set, saves approved changes to the others, and adds new scope without wiping out the record of overruns that have already happened. He also covers the three situations where he considers a baseline update justified. The article includes a short video walkthrough.
Read Article (8 minutes)
From the Archive: Manage Your Projects Using the “Nearly” Critical Path
This Dale Howard tip dates from 2014. We’re resharing it because float and the critical path are core components in the Conformance Index, and because the setting Dale uses still sits in the same place in Microsoft Project today. He shows how to raise the “Tasks are critical if slack is less than or equal to” threshold so tasks a day or two from becoming critical show up in red alongside the critical path. He then uses a highlight filter to tell the two groups apart.
His steps refer to Project 2010 and 2013, but they work the same way in current versions of Microsoft Project desktop. One note before you try it: the new threshold changes what Project flags as Critical everywhere in the file, including filters and reports, so mention the setting when you share the schedule.
Read Article (6 minutes)
Live Event (11/18): An Introduction to the PMI Practice Standard for Scheduling Conformance Index
Eric and Jeff Christoph walk through the Conformance Index live, from how PMI frames a CPM schedule to how the score is calculated, with time for your questions. The session is built for schedulers who know the DCMA 14-Point Assessment but haven’t worked with PMI’s approach, and it’s open to MPUG members.
What You’ll Learn:
- How PMI’s Practice Standard frames a CPM schedule, from the method and tool to the model, its instances and the presentations your stakeholders see
- How to use your contract and schedule management plan to tell which resource, risk and earned value components apply to your project
- How the score is calculated, and why one missing required component keeps a schedule from being scored
- A four-question method for assessing any component in Microsoft Project, ProjectXL or whatever tool you schedule in
🗓️ Wednesday, November 18
🕛 12:00pm - 1:00pm ET
📍 Live on Zoom
🏅 1 PMI PDU: Ways of Working
Learn More + Register Here
MPUG members get live access and replays. Not a member yet? Join today.
Upcoming Live Events
MPUG hosts live events with leading experts on Wednesdays from 12:00 - 1:00 PM ET. Members get live access and replays.
11/18: An Introduction to the PMI Practice Standard for Scheduling Conformance Index | Learn More + Register Here
12/2: Upskilling Project Leadership: Building the Capabilities to Lead What’s Next | Learn More + Register Here
View Our Upcoming Event Schedule
PM Best Practice: Log Why Every Baseline Changed
Microsoft Project stamps each saved baseline with a date, but it doesn’t record why the baseline changed or who approved the change. Keep a short log beside the schedule. For each change, note which baseline set you saved to, the date, the change request or reason and the approver. When someone asks why the finish date moved, you can point to the entry instead of rebuilding the story from memory.
Baseline better this week!
