Using your EAC as a GPS6 Characteristics of a Good EAC

Kim Koster, Senior Director IPM

Top Ten Reasons Projects Fail

2

BAD plans and inadequate planning processes

Proposal not adequate

Lack of scope comprehension

Project managers not trained and/or inexperienced

Failure to set and manage customer expectation

Lack of leadership throughout the project

Cultural and ethical misalignment

Functional groups left out of the process

Project management processes inadequate or not used

Lack of communication

Wouldn’t you like a GPS?

3

Your GPS tells you

– Where you’re going

– How to get there

– What time you’ll arrive

– And even, provides alternate routes

You need a GPS for project success!

Project Tiers

4

POWERING PROJECT PROCESSES

Proposal Mgmt

An accurate proposal guides

your initial PMB

Risk Analysis &

Tracking

Identify and reduce project risk

exposure for improved forecast

accuracy.

Cost & EVM

Easily import actuals and

track project Earned

Value.

Schedule &

Resource Mgmt

Efficiently plan and manage

project activities, dates and

resources.

Performance

Analysis

Spot issues before they

become a problem.

Lessons Learned

Utilize lessons learned on past

projects for effective decision-

making in the future.

PROPOSAL PLANNING RISK MGMT EXECUTIONMONITOR &

CONTROL CLOSE OUT

5

Strategic Plans:Manpower, Sales, FPRA

6

Charac te r i s t i cs o f….

A GOOD EAC

7

1. Time phased estimates

2. Integrated with Schedule

3. Account For Contingencies

4. Rate Differences

5. Compare What-If Scenarios

6. Top down planning

Everyone is operating from the

same information!

What Exactly is IPM

8

IPM is the planning and execution of project so that cost, schedule, technical performance, suppliers,

quality, risk and resources are integrated in a closed loop fashion.

IPM utilizes multiple tool sets to provide tracking and predictive information on the status of a program

or project. Intended to provide insight to make daily decisions.

IPM is simultaneous and coordinated application of PM tools, methods, and processes to improve

project execution, control, and governance..

Plan

One

Integrated

SystemPLAN ANALYZE MONITOR

What Exactly is IPM

9

IPM is the planning and execution of project so that cost, schedule, technical performance, suppliers,

quality, risk and resources are integrated in a closed loop fashion.

IPM utilizes multiple tool sets to provide tracking and predictive information on the status of a program

or project. Intended to provide insight to make daily decisions.

IPM is simultaneous and coordinated application of PM tools, methods, and processes to improve

project execution, control, and governance..

Plan

One

Integrated

SystemPLAN ANALYZE MONITOR

Plan, Plan….and Then Plan Some More

IPM The Bigger Picture

Think of projects as a three-legged stool: Schedule is King

From rudimentary

cost modeling to

advanced

government-

compliance based

EV analysis, having a

sound schedule is an

absolute necessity.

CO

ST

SCOPE

Charting our Course

12

In driving and in project management,

a lot can go wrong:

– You have the wrong address

– You didn’t correctly estimate time

to get to the destination

– You didn’t understand the risks

(road closures, accidents)

Getting the Address and Path

13

Scheduling tools are an excellent

means of modeling these moving parts.

But…

they do little for making sure the

building blocks are used correctly.

Project Defines start or finish of the job

Encapsulates the defined work

Activities Defines duration for a given scope of work

Logic Links Defines sequence of work

Calendars Defines when an activity/resource can

work

Constraints Defines date overrides

Resources Defines who/what is available to execute

work

Resource

Assignment

Links the “executors” to their work

Architecture Your Coding

14

The Overall Architecture of Your Project

– Make sure your schedule is coded with the following:

• Integrated Master Plan (IMP) IDs

• Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)

• Cost Breakdown Structure (CBS)

• Organizational Breakdown Structure (OBS)

• Resource Breakdown Structure (RBS)

Build your Project Schedule

Schedule needs to reflect the work needed

to achieve the overarching objective of the

project

Separate deliverables from work

Start your plan with a WBS…

• What are we building?

• CriteriaProject

Objective

• Performance

• Cost, quality etcProject Scope

• List of ‘features’Project

Deliverables

• Breakdown of deliverablesWBS

• Detailed work, durations, sequencing etc

Activities

• Capacities, demands etcResources

15

16

• Includes all the project scope

• Outlined in accordance with

the WBS

• Is time phased by resource

(labor, material, and ODC)

• Integrates directly with the

IMS

• Process to track changes to

the PMB

Charac te r i s t i cs o f….

A GOOD PMB OR BUDGET

17

Impor tance o f….

FORECASTING

Benefits of a robust EAC

process:

• Predict the future

• Aligns with Corporate Goals

• Common focus

• Delighted customers

• Understand staffing needs

• Learn from the past

• Remain competitive

• Prepare for new work

Analyze

What is a KPI/Metric?

19

Your

business

informationQuantifiable measures used to gauge or compare

performance in terms of meeting strategic and

operational goals.

• Provides actionable information and will

tell us how we are doing along the way

• Most are financial metrics such as:

• Cash

• Profit

• Revenue

• Growth

• New Orders

Guideline for Picking KPIs

20

– Avoid “Death By KPI” - sometimes less is more

– Assure the underlying data is correct

– Parameters are controllable by the individual that owns the result

– The results tie to overall corporate goals

– Relevance to all levels of the organization

– Mechanism to communicate “Common Language”

– Benchmark both externally and internally

– Incorporate any learning and evolve your measures

Types of Project Metrics

21

– Project management best practices

– Industry/corporate standards: PMI, AACE, NDIA

– Fuse-specific: Logic Density™, Hotspot, Redundancy

– Compliance: DCMA 14 Point, DoD

– Create your own!

Schedule

• Logic

• Float

• Duration

Cost

• Overrun

• Capacity

• Burn rates

Performance

• Status

• Completed

• Delayed

Characteristics

• Level of detail

• Constrained

• Riding Data Date

Earned Value

• CPI/SPI

• Trending

• Earned schedule

Risk

• Exposure

• Hot spots

• Hidden paths

Monitor

23

What-ifing a new Project “Course”

Do this early and often with all stakeholders

Find the best path and work it with the overall team

Scope comprehension and tracking

Make sure that you fully understand both cost and schedule

Code the IMP or the SOW in the schedule

Understand the resources it will take to do the job

Make sure you stay compliant

Adhere to your system description and other process documents

Make sure that all of the changes are in writing before work is executed

• The results of these new plans will become the company financial plan

Change Will Be A Constant

Double up your Efforts to Mature you Risk/Opp Management Processes

Agencies are continuing to look to shift the risk to contractors with more Fixed Price contracts

Perform SRA on all phases of the project

Make sure you understand the impact of the R’s and O’s in the proposal phase making sure the

execution team has a good start.

Redouble you efforts to understand your mitigation plans

Identify your mitigation steps in your schedule

Revisit to make sure that the right mitigation steps are being funded

The overarching risk is in being able to forecast!

24

Scrub Your R’s and O’s Understand Mitigation Plans

Make 100% sure that the baseline is maintained and all changes are controlled

Replanning is a normal activity but should typically effect only future periods

Be sure to account for all authorized changes not yet negotiated

All changes to the budgets will need to flow in and out of MR and UB

Make sure you are using MR properly and it should not be negative (no out of

scope work coverage!)

In the haste of restructuring or optimizing don’t forget your rolling wave

For all of the changes you and your customer are making approval is needed

for open work packages

Rephasing can occur but make sure it is supported by CONTRACT schedule

Don’t forget your LOE packages as your work moves to the right

Controlled baseline changes are essential in IPM/EVM

25

Compliance Checklist

One Ecosystem

27

• Concept Training – Budgets, Schedules, and EACs

• Tools training where appropriate

• Role based training on company policy

• Establishment of Baseline (Cost and Schedule)

• Define who is responsible to complete and approve the forecast

• Frequency of Grass Roots or Bottoms-Up Forecast?

• Time Phased by Resource and Element of Cost

• Capability to do What-ifs and compare multiple forecasts

• Easy integration with scheduling tool

• Quick methods of getting info into the system

• Access to the information for decision making

PEOPLE

PROCESSES

TOOLS

Forecast Accuracy Check List

28

Project Success DEPENDS on a GREAT Planning/Forecasting Process

Arm Your Project Team with a GPS

More Information

Product Information: deltek.com/products/ppm

Twitter: @deltek4projects

Email: kimkoster@deltek.com