The Five Key Ingredients for Successful Automation of EV

Creating and automating an EV solution within the scope of your projects, existing software and processes will not only reduce the human error factor but will also reduce the number of steps required for assembling and updating information. Now you can focus on your real work: getting results from your Earned Value program. Here’s my five steps for automating EV:

1. Manage the EVM implementation and automation as it’s own project.  Involve ALL players: IT, Project Controls, Project Managers, Department Managers, Control Account Managers, Accounting/Finance, etc. Cooperation from each stakeholder group is a requirement.  Whiteboard the processes and integration points. Determine the system and process requirements, inputs and outputs. Spend the time to plan and design; above all, resist the urge to implement prematurely.
2. Review the design of your EVMS (if one exists) and scale appropriately. Automation is highly dependent upon the implementation of the EVMS. The software and interfaces currently used may be inadequate or too complex. Complexity of the EVMS must match the needs of the organization and provide the right level of detail. A full-blown, certified EVMS is not needed for smaller, simpler projects of less duration and risk. Likewise, a small scale, oversimplified approach to EVM will not generate the kind of data needed to manage large, complex projects. The design and implementation of the system must be scaled appropriately. This will help determine the interfaces and software needed.
3. Focus on integration points of software (and processes) – to eliminate manual steps, the primary source of mistakes. This includes the common WBS, OBS, and rate tables. Trace each point through the schedule, to accounting, to the EV software/cost processor, to any third party reporting tools. Remove as many manual steps as possible. For example, instead of cleaning up the data from the accounting system by hand, look at the design of the accounting tables and ask if a specific table can be generated for the sole purpose of importing into the EV Software. Which  software systems can talk to each other?  What interfaces need to be developed? Get IT folks on board and use them during design.
4. Consistency is King; Simplicity is Queen. Use the same naming conventions from the schedule, to the accounting system, to the EV software. Develop a common WBS, OBS, charge code structure, resource/rate tables, etc. for all systems and clean up those that don’t match. Import only those fields needed for data integration; additional fields can clutter up the systems and slow them down. Remember, the system exists for Earned Value Management. Don’t let other departments try to change the design of the system for their use.
5. USE the data generated from the software to make management decisions. Live and breathe Earned Value Management. Post graphs, schedules, variances,  etc., on walls/whiteboards. Use the data in discussions and meetings as often as possible. This will also highlight any issues with the data/design of the system so it can be fixed.

Post your comments about your experiences with implementing an Earned Value program.  Do you agree with these five items or do you thing something else is equally or more important?  

Read the previous posting Earned Value Secrets; if you're not using this one key ability, you're truly wasting your time

What are your experiences with convincing management to start using earned value?  Our next post looks at this important aspect of EV implementation - MANAGING UP: CHANGING THE CORPORATE CULTURE TO AN EVM CENTRIC CULTURE.

- Melissa Duncan (About Melissa)

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If you’re not using this one key ability, you’re truly wasting your time

One of the greatest, and often overlooked, advantages of Earned Value Software is the ability to automate the monthly statusing and reporting processes.  Forget for now, about all the other bells and whistles of any Earned Value Management Software. If you’re not using this key ability, you’re truly wasting your time.

How many times have you run into a situation where you had to enter data in more than one location because one software package did not talk to another?  I recently worked for a firm that required the Project Managers to enter their earned value and forecast data from the scheduling software into their cost processor every week. Literally, each PM had to enter hours or cost for each period for the duration of the project.  Periods were weekly, detailed for each day.  Each PM had 5-10 projects that could last for several years.  With 40+ Project Managers, it’s easy to see how many data entry mistakes were made each week, causing the department manager to blow a gasket.  Shall I even mention the huge waste of time spent on this effort?  Sounds insane, right?

Yet I’ve seen this practice in too many companies.  There is a tendency to minimize the effort required to maintain this practice, all in the name of saving a buck, because changing the software or design of the EVMS is too expensive in the minds of company management.  And besides, if the data isn’t entered correctly, it’s another excuse to yell at a Project Manager right?  Let’s not forget to yell at the Project Controls folks too!

What these companies are missing is the impact of this practice on the time, effort, and especially the morale of their employees!  Project Managers are supposed to be managing their projects.  Automation reduces the human error factor in these situations and reduces the number of steps required for processing.  EV software is specifically designed to integrate cost and schedule information.  Let it do its job.  Design your system with the thought of “How can this data be transferred automatically?” in the forefront of your mind.  If you find yourself entering data from one system into another, you’ve hit the automation opportunity jackpot and just need to find a common language.  In our next blog we’ll look at THE FIVE KEY INGREDIENTS FOR SUCCESSFUL AUTOMATION OF EV.  In the meantime, post your comments if you’ve had an experience where automation would have made your work easier.

- Melissa Duncan (About Melissa)