Baseline vs Current Programme
The reference and the live schedule — keep them distinct.
What it is
The baseline is the accepted, frozen reference programme; the current (live) schedule is where progress is recorded and the forecast lives. Variance and delay analysis depend on comparing the two.
Why it matters
Blur the two and you lose your reference point. Every meaningful measurement — slippage, variance, delay — is the current schedule read against a fixed baseline.
In practice
- Assign the baseline in P6 (Maintain Baselines) and set it as the Project Baseline — an unassigned baseline gives you no variance at all.
- Keep the baseline effectively read-only; re-baseline only on formal approval, and record when and why.
- Use variance columns (BL Project Finish vs Finish, BL Start) to read slippage activity by activity.
- A re-baseline resets the reference — do it deliberately, never to quietly absorb slippage.
Watch for
- A working schedule with no baseline assigned — variance impossible.
- Re-baselining every cycle, erasing the history a claim needs.
- Comparing against the wrong baseline (a secondary baseline, not the project baseline).