Communication Managment 10.5 Report Performance

1. Communication Management 10.1 Identify Stakeholder

2. Communication Management 10.2 Plan Communications

3. Communication Management 10.3 Distribute Information

4. Communication Management 10.4 Manage stakeholder Expectations

5. Communication Management 10.5 Report Performance

 

Performance reporting involves collecting and disseminating performance information for project stakeholders. Reporting usually focuses on scope, schedule, cost, quality, risk, and procurement. Reporting is often done on an "exception" basis (focusing only on status that exceeds acceptable thresholds). Reporting should also be appropriately detailed for the intended audience. Reporting includes three major categories:

·         Status reports (where the project now stands; analyzes variances)

·         Progress reports (what the team has accomplished; list of deliverable completed or partially completed)

·         Forecasting (predicting future status; earned value measures such as EAC, ETC, and VAC)

Report Performance
Inputs	Tools	Outputs
1.       Project management plan 2.       Work performance information 3.       Work performance measurements 4.       Budget forecasts 5.       Organizational process assets	1.       Variance analysis 2.       Forecasting methods 3.       Communication methods 4.       Reporting systems	1.       Performance reports 2.       OPA updates 3.       Change requests

Five Key Inputs for Report Performance:

1.       Project Management Plan: Provides the baseline information that forms the "plan" portion of plan versus actual. The approved plan for a project is known as the performance measurement baseline.

2.       Work Performance Information: The completion status of required deliverable, schedule progress, and actual costs incurred are compared against the plan.

3.       Work Performance Measurements: As before, performance is measured to identify variances and determine whether they require corrective action. Three specific metrics that are usually tracked include:

·         Planned versus actual schedule performance

·         Planned versus actual cost performance

·         Planned versus actual technical performance

4.       Budget Forecasts: Calculated using EAC and other earned value measures. Could also be checked using trend analysis. Provides estimates of funding required to complete the project (ETC).

5.       Organizational Process Assets: Organizational Process Assets that may affect performance reporting include:

·         Report templates

·         Policies and procedures that define the reporting measures to be used

·         Organizationally defined variance thresholds

Four Key Toots for Report Performance:

1.       Variance Analysis: Analysis of what caused any deviations between the baseline and the actual performance outcomes. Common steps in variance analysis include:

·         Verify the credibility of the data collected.

·         Determine the variance by comparing planned versus actual outcomes (earned value management is a common way to calculate variances).

·         Determine the impact of the variance and whether any response (change requests, corrective actions, or preventive actions) is needed.

2.       Forecasting Methods: Predicting future performance based on actual performance to date. PMI@ identifies the following categories:

·         Time series (earned value, moving average, linear prediction, trend projections, growth curves)

·         Causal econometric (regression analysis and econometrics)

·         Judgmental (intuitive judgments, opinions, and probability estimates such as Delphi method, scenario building, surveys)

·         Other (simulation, probabilistic forecasting)

3.       Communication Methods: Regularly scheduled status review meetings with an established frequency (weekly, monthly) and a prescribed level of participation and review. The team itself might meet weekly and a meeting with the customer might be held monthly.

4.       Reporting Systems: Standard tools to capture, store, and distribute performance information to stakeholders (especially cost and schedule information). Software packages are an effective way to deal with large amounts of information on multiple projects.

Three Key Outputs for Report Performance:

1.       Performance Reports: Organize and summarize information. Common formats include:

·         Gantt charts (also called bar charts)

·         S-curves

·         Histograms (resource histograms and Pareto charts)

·         Tables (for example, earned value data)

2.       Organization process assets updates: Lessons learned documentation is used to understand the cause of variances and the corrective action that fixed the problem. This information is recorded in a permanent historical database. That is, the information is used to improve the current project and future projects.

3.       Change requests: Analysis of performance may to change requests to deal with problems. Change request should always be processed using integrated change control.