Any size project? Sure, sounds great! But any project? Eh, probably not. Sham Dayal, PMP, has written a comprehensive, yet succinct guide titled "Earned Value Management Using Microsoft Office Project: A Guide for Managing any Size Project Effectively." The book would be awesome for a small business, or even a larger business that would like to begin reaping the benefits of a formal EV system. However, for large projects that have the US Department of Defense for a customer, many of the suggestions will be superseded by more stringent constraints imposed by the customer.

The book comes with a CD that allows a Program Manager or Financial Analyst to begin their foray into EV immediately. Some basic tenets of EV are explained, always in the language of Microsoft Project (MSP). One of the strengths of the book is that each chapter patiently explains several concepts (e.g., Assigning Resources, or Baselining a Schedule), followed by the discrete steps necessary to implement the concepts. Even a seasoned MSP user might learn a new capability of the software, such as creating recurring tasks.

A few months ago I had the opportunity, with a few others, to spend about three hours with Dick Rutan at the Mohave Spaceport. One of the participants had won a charity auction for a 1 hour flight lesson from Dick. The rest of us were there for lunch and I listened as Dick gave the student a brief lecture on the physics of flying. As a pilot I was interested in how Dick, who flew around the world nonstop in Voyager in 1986, would discuss these familiar topics. Then he talked about the pilot's "task box".

We all have a finite "task box" that determines how much we can do in parallel.(Not multitasking. Only about 5% of the population can truly multitask without significant loss of quality.) Individual tasks occupy some of the task box, but may leave space for other tasks. Usually one task is, or should be predominate. Once the box is filled, that's it. Add one more task and something has to go. For pilots that means (1) fly the plane, (2) navigate, (3) talk on the radio. Yes, FAA controllers are #3. (No controller ever fell out of their chair waiting to hear from a pilot.) As skills and familiarity develop, our tasks need less and less space. In the first hour of flying a student's box is 100% just flying the plane. Later this pilot will also be managing the aircraft systems, talking on the radio, conversing with passengers, and watching the world go by, with space in the task box leftover.

How is your task box? Full? Of course. But are the right items in your task box? Do they have the right amount of space in the box? If EVM is new to you, or your CAMs, allocate a large part of the task box to doing it and doing it right. Maybe remove some items from the box. Later EVM can occupy less and less of the box. (Doing EVM data collection weekly will quickly bring people up to speed. Imagine 52 times a year instead of 12.) If EVM is not getting done, or done poorly, take an inventory. Is the task box overstuffed? Keep key priorities in mind.

One: pilot (manage/lead) your project or team.

Two: navigate per the schedule or network.

Three: communicate (attend meetings and write memos.)

Without doing number one effectively there is no way to do number two well, and without doing number two well you don't want to have to do number three.

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