There have been suggestions that SV is not a good indicator of performance. That Schedule Variance Can Equal 0 and We Can Be A Year Late! This suggestion was made on EV Linked In. I also found a similar suggestion of page 18 of the PMI Practice Guide for Earned Value.
This can only be true if we were not paying attention when the Planned Completion date went whooshing by. Here's the starting point.
Some Discussion
- The planned total budget is $100.00.
- The planned duration is 10 months.
- The Planned Value for each month is $10, for 10 months to get to $100.
- The actual performance is less than planned – Physical Percent Complete does keep up with the plan.
- When the planned completion date arrives, it turns out we’re late because we’re underperforming and SV showed that from day one.
What does SV look like on the day we're supposed to finish?
- Well it doesn't look good and hasn't looked good for awhile
- SV = $18.8
- SPI = 1.23
- It's been unfavorable since day one
- We're late and the SV/SPI shows it
- Are we "managing" this project or just reporting numbers?
- If we were managing we'd have seen this coming back in month 1
Can SV =0.0 at end of the project?
- No, not if planned end of the project was at month 10. In month 10, SPI=1.23
- Yes, if we complete the work in month 12 and ignore the fact we blew past the end date and redefined the new end date in month 12!
We have remember Douglas Adam's quote
I love the sound Milestones make, as they go whooshing past
