How to Baseline a Project Schedule

Every project has a planned start and end date, with tasks, phases and milestones along the way.  It isn't uncommon for a project to have shifts in this timeline due to unanticipated delays and accelerations. As a project manager, tracking the performance and deliverables of a project at any given time is key! 

Schedule Baseline allows for Managers to track how far off schedule the project has shifted, by providing you with the schedule baseline date of a task in comparison to the actual date after it may have shifted!

In this article, we will cover the steps on how to make use of the Schedule Baseline feature.

Step 1. Have an outlined schedule in place

Before you can baseline your schedule as a project manager, you will need to have a planned schedule. 

• Start by collecting all the tasks you’ll need to execute, to lead your project to its final deliverable. This goes with establishing deliverables, key milestones, dependencies and resources that will execute the tasks. 

Step 2. Navigate to the Gantt view

Once the schedule plan is outlined - that is your Baseline which you will lock in as the initial baseline by clicking on ReBaseline. As the execution of the plan is in motion, you will start to pick up where certain tasks may require re-planning or reprioritising to ensure the project is remains on track. 

On your schedule there might be a deliverable such as "Integration testing" which is set for a specific number of days with a start and end date, but as you work on the deliverable you notice that you may require additional days to complete it.

• Double click on the specific deliverable task on the right of the Gantt view to open the dialogue for entering a new End date. Click Save.

In the Gantt view now, you will see the baseline of that deliverable task. A Red baseline indicates that the task is delayed, and the end date had been moved a later date. A Blue baseline indicates that the task accelerated and will be completed before it's baseline date.

• Hover over the baseline of the task if you wish to see the baseline date at a glance. 

Step 3. Rebaseline your schedule

• Navigate to the schedule to assess your project outline.

At a glance, you'll be able to assess how many days it would take to complete the deliverable based on its start and end date. In this case, it could mean that you require more testers as resources to get the testing done. Rebaselining your schedule will give you a new realistic baseline, based on the schedule assessment. 

• Navigate to the Gantt view and click on ReBaseline.

• You will be prompted with a message to confirm the changes being made, and you will click Baseline. 

Now you're able to go back to your task's dialog to view the changes that have been applied. 

• Double click on the specific task on the right in the Gantt view to view your new Baseline start and end date. 

As a manager, you will start to have a better overview on how to track the performance of the project throughout, by comparing the project plan time versus project actual time. And you will now be able to accurately forecast future projects with realistic timelines in place.