Earned Value Management is a tool used by the managers of a given project to measure the sole performance of a project. It can be defined as the systematic process of managing a project by finding the variances in the project based on the difference between the work performed and the planned work. The baseline of a project is very significant to the Earned Value Management alongside services, which are used as the reference points in the Earned Value Management of activities.
It is well known that having control of an ongoing project is the major to the project’s success or failure. Earned Value Management is the most widespread method used in controlling the general cost and time required for the completion of the project. Through project EVM, one can predict the final outlook, cost, and duration of the project. One of its major purposes in the project is to generate early warnings in a timely manner so that the project managers are able to deal with the problems and exploit the project opportunities. It also helps in decision-making by providing the project managers with an early summary of what is expected from the project.
Earned Value Management can be used to determine the possibility of failure or constraint in the project as it progresses. It can also be used to determine the efficiency of the project as it progresses in relation to the cost of the project and the overall outcome expected. In many cases, EVM does not really impact the budget or the schedule baseline of the project; however, it only gives an estimation of the expectation from the budget that has been laid down. It also does not impact the schedule. However, it helps in planning and considering the given timeline.
According to my own perspective, EVM is very essential for the success of a project because through it, the project manager is able to identify constraints in an ongoing project and deal with them early enough before they make the project suffer a blow. The project manager is also able to plan the provided financers well using Earned Value Management.
References
Fleming, Q. W., & Koppelman, J. M. (2016, December). Earned value project management. Project Management Institute.
Batselier, J., & Vanhoucke, M. (2015). Evaluation of deterministic state-of-the-art forecasting approaches for project duration based on earned value management. International Journal of Project Management, 33(7), 1588-1596.
