Week 1 - Earned Value Management System (EVMS)

Question 1

Why use EVMS? (3 reasons)

Answer 1

1. Identification of trends
2. Accurate picture of contract status
3. Basis for adjustments

Question 2

What 3 measurable parameters does the EVMS use to determine progress?

Answer 2

1. technical (deliverables)
2. schedule
3. cost

Question 3

EVMS establishes a _____ to measure progress

Answer 3

baseline

Question 4

What are the 5 basic elements of EVMS?

Answer 4

1. Budgeted Cost of Work Scheduled (BCWS)
2. Budgeted Cost of Work Performed (BCWP)
3. Actual Cost of Work Performed (ACWP)
4. Budget at Completion (BAC)
5. Estimate at Completion (EAC)

Question 5

What is BCWS?

Answer 5

Budgeted Cost of Work Scheduled is the result of taking the total budget, and dividing it by the number of work periods. This gives you the value of each work period in terms of the budget.

Question 6

What is BCWP?

Answer 6

Budgeted Cost of Work Performed is the earned value based on the how much work you have done. If you have done the work for one work period, the earned value will be the budget for one work period.

Question 7

What is SV?

Answer 7

It is the difference of actual work done and planned work, in terms of budget for each work period.

Schedule variance = BCWP - BCWS. (negative means behind schedule)

Ex: If each work period has a budget of $1000, and you complete the work for one work period after 3 work periods. You are 2 work periods behind, SV = $-2,000.

Question 8

What is BAC?

Answer 8

Budget at Completion is the sum of all work period budgets (Total BCWS).

Question 9

What is ACWP?

Answer 9

Actual cost of work performed is not in terms of budget, it is the realistic cost of work performed.

Question 10

What is CV?

Answer 10

Cost variance is the difference between the theoretical cost of work, and the realistic cost of work.

CV = BCWP - ACWP. (negative means overcost)

Question 11

What is the purpose of the 5 elements of EVMS?

Answer 11

It allows us to think of work performed over time in terms of money (Schedule variance). It also considers the budget and the actual cost of getting the job done (Cost variance).

Question 12

What is EAC?

Answer 12

Estimate at Completion is the estimated price of completing the job once the job has started. BAC on the other hand is the budget or how much money is allocated to the job before it has begun.

Question 13

What is VAC?

Answer 13

In is the difference in total budget and the estimated cost of completing the job once it has begun.

VAC = BAC - EAC

Question 14

How does EVMS help with Project Management?

Answer 14

Allows the project manager to see the progress of the project in terms of cost (budget), schedule (timeline), and scope (work requirements).

Question 15

What are the 3 steps to planning?

Answer 15

1. Define work and organize teams
2. Schedule work
3. Allocate budgets

Question 16

What are the 3 steps to organizing work in the EVMS process?

Answer 16

1. Work breakdown structure (WBS) - breaking down the project into a hierarchy with the leaves being work packages
2. Define organizational structure - mapping WBS hierarchy to the hierarchy of employees -> Responsibility Assignment Matrix (RAM)
3. Assign each piece of the hierarchy to a single person (CAM or RE).

Question 17

The customer helps define the upper levels of the WBS (T or F)

Answer 17

T

Question 18

The contractor breaks down work packages into actionable tasks (T or F)

Answer 18

T

Question 19

What is a control account?

Answer 19

A Control Account is a management point where a specific portion of the project work is planned, tracked, and controlled. In other words it’s the overhead for one or many node(s) in the WBS hierarchy.

Question 20

Earned value can be quantitative or qualitative (T or F)

Answer 20

F - discrete values are favored when determining earned value (units completed, weighted milestone, 0 or 100 complete)

(Percent complete undesirable because subjective)