CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

The Practice Standard for Earned Value Management—Second Edition has been developed as a supplement to A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK^® Guide) [1].¹ A practice standard is a document that describes established norms, methods, processes, and practices. The information in this practice standard evolved from the recognized good practices of earned value management (EVM) project management practitioners. It reflects what are considered to be best practices on projects that use earned value management techniques. The practice standard provides guidelines for managing individual projects. It does not provide information on managing programs or portfolios of projects.

This practice standard is designed to provide readers who are familiar with the fundamental practices of project management, as outlined in the PMBOK^® Guide, with a practical understanding of the principles of EVM and its role in facilitating effective project management.

This is the second edition of this practice standard and builds on the work from the previous edition. It expands on many of the concepts and provides information about the infrastructure and processes necessary to conduct earned value management effectively. The second edition is completely reformatted to follow a process orientation.

1.1 Purpose of this Practice Standard

The Practice Standard for Earned Valued Management identifies a subset of project management practices that are used for earned value management.

The Practice Standard for Earned Value Management also promotes a common vocabulary. The definitions of key terms are aligned with the Lexicon, although not all vocabulary and definitions used in this practice standard are in the Lexicon.

This practice standard is not intended to be all-inclusive. There are many different methodologies and tools for implementing the processes described in this practice standard.

1.2 Relationship to the PMBOK ^® Guide

The Practice Standard for Earned Value Management focuses on the effective integration of those project management practices that are used for earned value management. It does not reiterate information in the PMBOK^® Guide. For purposes of this practice standard, it is assumed that a project has been initiated following the processes outlined in the Initiating Process Group defined in the PMBOK^® Guide. As such, it is assumed that high-level requirements documentation has been gathered along with other information in the project charter, stakeholders have been identified, and a strategy to manage their requirements and expectations has been developed.

The PMBOK^® Guide identifies a set of internal and external environmental factors, called enterprise environmental factors, which may influence a project's success. They may enhance or constrain project management options and they may have a positive or negative influence on the outcomes. Examples of these include:

• Organizational culture, structure, and processes
• Government or industry standards
• Infrastructure
• Company work authorization systems
• Project management information systems

The previous list is not complete, but it provides an example of those factors that can positively or negatively influence projects that use EVM. For a more robust list, refer to the PMBOK^® Guide.

In addition to enterprise environmental factors, the PMBOK^® Guide also defines organizational process assets. These include policies, procedures, templates, forms, knowledge bases, and information from previous projects that can have an influence on project success. There are two main categories: (1) processes and procedures and (2) the corporate knowledge base. The following is an abbreviated list (refer to the PMBOK^® Guide for a more complete list).

• Processes and procedures
• Standard project life cycles
• Policies
• Templates
• Financial control procedures
• Change control procedures
• Work authorization procedures
• Corporate knowledge base
• Project files
• Lessons learned
• Historical information from past projects
• Estimating information from past projects

Enterprise environmental factors and organizational process assets are inputs to almost every process. They are explicitly listed in the PMBOK^® Guide. However, the Practice Standard for Earned Value Management will not list them as inputs, although you can assume they are present. In certain instances a specific item will be identified, for example, work authorization procedures can be presented as an input if appropriate.

1.3 Assumptions

While the basic concept of EVM can and perhaps should be applied on every project where resource management and cost/schedule outcomes are important, this practice standard presents information for implementation on a large project. Additional assumptions include:

• The organization has the corporate policies and procedures to support EVM.
• The organization has the integrated information systems necessary to implement EVM.
• The project management team has the knowledge and skills needed to plan, execute, and control projects using EVM.
• Project team members and other stakeholders have sufficient training and understanding of EVM concepts to plan their work accordingly.

1.4 Structure of the Practice Standard

This practice standard has ten chapters. This first chapter is an introduction. Chapter 2 provides a high-level overview of EVM. The remaining chapters present a process perspective for planning, executing, and controlling project work using EVM.

Chapters 3 through 10 follow a similar format as outlined below.

• Introduction. Introduces the concept that will be described in the chapter. Includes a graphic with inputs and outputs.
• Inputs. Identifies the documents necessary to conduct the process.
• Description. Describes the methods, tools, and techniques used to conduct the process.
• Outputs. Identifies the documents or outcomes that are a result of the process.
• Considerations. Discusses variables and perspectives that an EVM practitioner needs to keep in mind when implementing the process.
• Summary. Summarizes the information in the chapter.

¹ The boldface numbers in brackets refer to the list of references at the end of this practice standard.