Why Smartsheet is the best way to manage multiple projectsIn the articleBase lineI touched briefly onBaselineI will explain the function of
What is the baseline function?
Smartsheet is a cloud-based project management and collaboration tool that offers a variety of features to organize and manage your team's work. One of the most useful features for project management in Smartsheet isBaseline function.
SmartSheet's baseline feature allows users toA snapshot of the project plan at a specific point in timecan be obtained.This snapshot contains allTasks, Due Dates, Dependenciescontained.This baseline isA reference point for measuring progress or performance against the original plancan be used as
In the image below, the date and time of the task start and end (deadline) at the time of planning (or when setting the baseline) are recorded, and by updating the actual start and end dates of the task, the difference (Variance) is automatically calculated. (The Duration of Project 2 was originally scheduled to be 3 days, but now it is 34 days, resulting in a delay of 31 days, which is rolled up to the parent row, Parent Project 1.)
If you set the baseline in Japanese display, the column name will be as below.
In the image below, the Gantt chart portion is included, but it shows visual Gantt bars for baseline dates and actual dates.
The image below is an enlarged part of the Gantt chart. It shows that the Duration of Project 2 was originally scheduled for 3 days.
The Baseline feature allows users to compare the current state of a project with the original plan and identify deviations and delays.This information can be used to adjust project plans, allocate resources more effectively, and keep projects on track.
Baseline settings
To set the baseline,Gantt viewon the toolbar to switch to "Base line" Click the button.
in the project settingsDependencyis enabled,Predecessors column (Predecessors) Shows the start and end of the entire project as calculated by the dependencies specified in . (In the image below, the start is 23/04/01 and the end is 23/06/01)
If you like, to enable it,[setting] Click the button.
Reset baseline, delete
After that, as the project progresses and there are differences between the actual results and the plan (baseline), the display from the baseline menu also shows the difference for the entire project.
Reset
Reset the baseline if there are deviations from the original plan, but you want to manage future projects as a given.
To reset the baseline,[reset] Choose.This resets the variance to 0 and sets the values in the Baseline column to the current values in the Start Date and End Date columns.
Delete
If you want to review or change the original plan and set the baseline again from the beginning, disable the baseline setting by clicking "Delete".In this case, the Baseline Start (baseline start date), Baseline Finish (baseline end date), and Variance columns added by the baseline function remain as they are. Remove these columns if you want to add more columns. (If you do not delete it, when you set the baseline again, a column such as Baseline Start2 (baseline start date 2) will be added.)
Baseline rollup to parent row
If dependencies are enabled in the project sheet, Smartsheet willParent rollup functionfor a particular project sheet column, in a parent row.roll up A summary is automatically reflected.
This is also true for baselines.
Questions about Baselines with Indented Rows on the Smartsheet Community
For baselines with indented rows in Smartsheet Community, such as:Questionhad.
I have a task that is 161 days late. (Plan Organizational Change Management)
However, my lines are indented and it looks like baseline doesn't take this into account.At baseline, this task is 161 days late, but the overall Plan section is 0.
Is this what you intended?
Indeed, the column that appears to be Variance is -161 for the Plan Organizational Change Management task, but 0 for the parent row, Project Management Plan.
Cloudsmart answer to your question
We responded as follows.
Have you set a predecessor in your project?
Otherwise, actual date changes that do not affect parent level dates will show a parent level difference of 0.
The sheet below is attached as an example.
If you click the image or the URL below, you can see the published sheet, but Predecessors (dependency) are set in Parent Project 1, and Variance (difference) -31 days is also Roll UP (reflected) in the parent row However, since Predecessors are not set in Parent Project2 below it, Variance in the parent row is displayed as XNUMX as in the questioner's case.
Summary
As described above, the baseline function makes it possible to obtain a snapshot of the project plan at the time of the initial planning, grasp the progress of the project, and detect problems at an early stage.
For project managers who need to make informed decisions to keep projects on schedule and on budget, Baselines is a valuable tool in Smartsheet that you won't find anywhere else.