Product-Oriented Entrepreneurial Capstone … Proceedings/Short Courses/1.1...Product-Oriented Entrepreneurial Capstone Experience Workshop The second screen is the NLD / Gantt Chart

Product-Oriented Entrepreneurial

Capstone Experience Workshop

ENTC 419 – Project Management

Earned Value User’s Guide

Jacob Terkelsen Project Manager Digerati Group



Table of Contents

TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................................................................ 2

INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................................................... 3

REQUIREMENTS ...................................................................................................................................................... 3

LAYOUT ..................................................................................................................................................................... 4

IMPLEMENTATION ................................................................................................................................................ 6

INSERTING TASKS ..................................................................................................................................................... 6 INSERTING GANTT CHART ........................................................................................................................................ 8

EXAMPLE AND EXPLANATION ........................................................................................................................... 9

CUSTOMIZATION .................................................................................................................................................. 10

FORMULAS .............................................................................................................................................................. 10 BCWP, BCWS, and ACWP ................................................................................................................................ 10 SPI and CPI ....................................................................................................................................................... 10 Scheduled Task Cost .......................................................................................................................................... 11 Actual Task Cost ................................................................................................................................................ 11 Macro ................................................................................................................................................................ 11



Introduction Earned value is a tool used by project managers to gauge the performance of the project by both schedule and cost. As you have learned, The two major factors in earned value are Scheduled Performance Index (SPI) and Cost Performance Index (CPI). These values are fairly easy to calculate when you have an entire project laid out in front of you, but when actually calculating the figures for your project, it can prove to be a challenging task. By using this tool (developed by Jacob Terkelsen) It will allow for the automatic calculation of these figures on the task level and project level.

Requirements To run this spreadsheet, a copy of Microsoft Excel 2003 or newer is required. Any version before 2003 could work, but is not guaranteed. To utilize this spreadsheet, macros must be enabled for Excel, which can be enabled through the security settings under the macro menu. In order to properly use the spreadsheet, the Responsibility Assignment Matrix (RAM), Network Logic Diagram (NLD), and Gantt Chart need to be completed and verified to begin working on the Earned Value Spreadsheet. When looking at the NLD, it is important to quantify how long the task will take in terms of work hours, not scheduled days. By using hours instead of duration, the figures will be easier to be calculated. Duration is important; however it is more used when calculating the NLD and Gantt Chart.



Layout

This spreadsheet is broken down into two main screens. The first screen to be discussed is the RAM segment. On the left hand side is where the task numbers and task names are listed, just as in the RAM. On the top row there are several different input fields. The Member field is the where the personnel is assigned to a task. The Rate field is where the personnel are assigned an hourly pay rate. The Manpower (hours) field is where you schedule how many hours it is supposed to take to complete the task, and the Manpower (days) field is the duration of the task. The % Scheduled field is how much of the task is scheduled for that week. The % Complete field is the percentage of how completed a task is. The remainder of the columns is values that are automatically calculated by the spreadsheet. The Member Cost field calculates the cost for each member to complete the task, and the Scheduled Task Cost adds up all of the members for that task for an estimated completion total. Actual Task Cost is calculated based on the hours logged for each task, which will be discussed on the second spreadsheet screen. Budgeted Cost of Work Performed (BCWP) multiplies the Scheduled Task Cost and multiplies it by the % Complete field. Budgeted Cost of Work Scheduled (BCWS) multiplies the Scheduled Task Cost by the % Scheduled field. Actual Cost of Work Performed (ACWP) sums up the Actual Task Cost field for that task. SPI is calculated by dividing the BCWP by the BCWS, and CPI is calculated by dividing the BCWP by the ACWP.



The second screen is the NLD / Gantt Chart portion of the spreadsheet. This page acts as a scheduler where the team members will log their hours for each task. The green rows are the areas where the members will log their hours, and will correspond to the dates in the upper row. The blue date indicates the current day, but will need to be changed manually. The white rows indicate the task duration, which is taken from your Gantt chart and will span the from the start date through the stop date. Tasks colored in red will be the project’s critical tasks, and tasks colored in yellow are normal tasks. If necessary (though not required) phase duration can be colored in to represent the time span of each phase. When calculating the Actual Task Cost (see pg 3) the entire green row for each task is summed to accumulate the total amount of hours for each person. Back on the first screen, below all the task rows is a section that displays project total figures. The first figure is the total summation of all the BCWP figures. The second figure is the total summation of all the BCWS figures. The third figure is a summation of all the ACWP figures. Lastly, project SPI and CPI are calculated, and also displayed to the graph in the appropriate areas.



Implementation After completing and verifying all of the required deliverables, it is time to start setting up the baseline values. When opening up the spreadsheet, macros must be enabled to properly insert tasks. By using the macros, the formulas that are used within the spreadsheet are conserved, and the calculations will remain consistent for both the task totals as well as the project total. If macros are disabled, by going to Tools > Macro > Security, the security settings can be changed, and reopening the spreadsheet will prompt for enabling or disabling macros.

Inserting Tasks

To insert a task, a copy of the previous green and white rows is required. To do so, click the number which corresponds to the green row and hover over the white row’s number to highlight both rows. Then, right clicking on the numbers will allow you to copy the selected rows.

A dashed border will then be produced around both of the rows indicating it has been properly copied. Next, go to the next green row and right click on the row’s number. Then, selecting Insert Copied Cells will paste the copied row into the new location.

This process needs to be completed for the total amount of tasks listed in the RAM. To create a space or phase name, simply right click on the next white row and simply insert a new row. After the spaces have been allocated, proceed to insert the task names and numbers, but do not place anything into the Member, Rate, and other columns.



Now that each task is allocated space on the spreadsheet, members must be assigned to the task. To do so, select the Member cell in the green row for each task and press Ctrl+I. Ctrl+I is the hotkey for the macro, and can be changed if necessary. After the hotkey is pressed, the spreadsheet will prompt the user for how many workers are scheduled for the task.

After entering a number, the spreadsheet will insert a new green row(s) and will automatically update the calculations for the various values.

When the macro is completed, proceed to fill the columns for Member, Rate, Manpower (hours), and Manpower (days) in the row BELOW the task name. If too many members have been inserted, right click on the row number and delete the row. If too few members have been inserted, right click on the row and insert a new row.

Taking the time to notice the changes, the fields for Member Cost, Scheduled Task Cost, BCWP, BCWS, and SPI all now have calculated values for them. The fields for Actual Task Cost, and CPI do not have values though, and that is because members have not logged hours into the other screen of the spreadsheet.



Inserting Gantt Chart

Assuming that the RAM tasks have been inserted, it is time to insert the Gantt Chart into the second half of the spreadsheet. This step can be done either before or after the insertion of members into the RAM portion due to the mechanics of the macro. For this example, the members and tasks have been inputted.

In this screen, the green rows have been expanded to include the different members assigned to the different tasks, and the task duration fields have been shifted accordingly. It is now time to fill in the data from the Gantt Chart. Though not seen in this screenshot, the top of the screen displays the date for each column. Now, take the Gantt Chart and fill the appropriate Task Duration as they are scheduled. Take note that critical tasks are colored in red and regular tasks are colored in yellow.

Now that the timeline is defined, project members can now begin logging hours in the appropriate sections. Hours should be logged in the bottom rows of each green section, and can be placed on any day, due to the flexibility of the calculation.

With the values in place, the figures for Actual Task Cost and ACWP are calculated.



Example and Explanation Using the previously inserted values from the other sections of this document, the following spreadsheet has been generated.

With the hours logged, all of the values are calculated and taken into account. For the “Task” task, Joe has worked 40 hours and Bob has worked 10 hours, so they have worked exactly what they were supposed to work. Since they are only 50% complete with the task, this is taken into account and it changes the task SPI and CPI accordingly. For the “copied row” task, Sam has worked 10 hours and completed his task. Since he was only scheduled to work 5 hours on the task, his CPI is decreased due to being over budget. For the “copied row 1” task, John has completed his task in only 6 hours, which is half of the scheduled amount, so the CPI is adjusted accordingly. If a member completes a task before it is scheduled to be completed, the SPI field will increase about 1.00, and if they do not complete a task by the scheduled date, the SPI will decrease below 1.00. As the different values are calculated, the project SPI and CPI is calculated and displayed on the graph. In terms of this “project”, they have an SPI of .63 and CPI of .64, which places them in the bottom left quadrant which represents being behind schedule and over budget. Using project management knowledge, this value is believable since Joe and Bob have a critical task that has required many hours of labor, yet the two are only 50% complete. Even though John is on schedule and under budget for his task, it is not enough to overcome how behind the other task is. If you were to log the progress after one more week, Joe and Bob could figure out its an easy problem, and complete the project and vastly improve the projects SPI and CPI.



Customization Since this entire project is based out of Microsoft Excel 2003, any of the standard formatting, equations, and macros can be utilized. In this section, I will be explaining how the formulas are created and how the macro works.

Formulas

The formulas used in this spreadsheet are based upon the formulas that are explained during the regular course curriculum. They have been adapted for use with Excel, and have to use the proper format to function correctly.

BCWP, BCWS, and ACWP

Since BCWP is the calculation of the Scheduled Task Cost and the % Complete, it is natural to assume the following equation and Excel formula:

askCostScheduledTCompleteBCWP ×= %

)#(*)#( rowKrowI=

BCWS is calculated in a similar manner, and is the product of Scheduled Task Cost and % Scheduled, and when implemented in Excel you get the following:

askCostScheduledTScheduledBCWS ×=% )#(*)#( rowJrowI=

ACWP is an accumulation of the total amount of labor spent on a certain task, so the summation of all of the members’ costs will give the correct value. Again, this formula must be adapted to the Excel syntax, and it provides the following:

∑= )(xerCostActualTembACWP

))#(:)#(( rowHrowHSUM=

SPI and CPI

These values are calculated in a very simple manner: SPI is the quotient of BCWP and BCWS, and CPI is the quotient of BCWP and ACWP. Both are very similar between the formula and Excel expression.

BCWSBCWPSPI =

ACWPBCWPCPI =

)#(/)#( rowMrowLSPI = )#(/)#( rowNrowLCPI =



Scheduled Task Cost

Scheduled Task Cost is the summation of how much each member is supposed to spend towards labor for each task. This value is very similar to the ACWP calculation, and is described as thus:

∑= )(xMemberCostaskCostScheduledT

))#(:)#(( rowGrowGSUM=

Actual Task Cost

When calculating Actual Task Cost, the spreadsheet factors in the Rate which the member is paid per hour and the total amount of logged hours. When converted into the formula, the syntax is:

∑×= sMemberHourRateCostActualTask

)#())#(:)#(( rowDrowFCrowTSUM ×=

Macro

The macro uses some very simple Visual Basic syntax that can be viewed through the help menu in the macro editor. The macro first selects the entire row that the user selects and prompts the user for input. It then selects the amount of rows that the user has defined and copies and inserts that many new rows. Once the rows are inserted, the program clears out all the values for Member, Rate, Manpower (hours), Manpower (days), % Scheduled, % Complete, BCWP, BCWS, ACWP, SPI, and CPI. By using this method instead of manually copying, the formulas are automatically updated by how many new rows are inserted, and the user does not need to go in and manually configure the formulas.

Product-Oriented Entrepreneurial Capstone … Proceedings/Short Courses/1.1...Product-Oriented Entrepreneurial Capstone Experience Workshop The second screen is the NLD / Gantt Chart

Documents