How do you apply Earned Schedule and Earned Value to agile or hybrid project management approaches?

1 What is Earned Schedule?

Earned Schedule (ES) is an extension of EVM that addresses the issue of schedule measurement. Unlike EV, which is based on the planned value of work done, ES is based on the planned time of work done. ES calculates the time equivalent of EV, which is the amount of time that should have been spent to achieve the current EV. ES also calculates schedule variance and schedule performance index in terms of time, rather than cost. By using ES, project managers can avoid the problem of misleading or unrealistic schedule indicators that may arise from using EV alone.

2 How to calculate Earned Schedule?

To calculate ES, you need to have the following data: the planned value (PV) of each work package or activity, the actual cost (AC) of each work package or activity, and the earned value (EV) of each work package or activity. You also need to know the planned duration (PD) of each work package or activity, and the actual duration (AD) of each work package or activity. The basic formula for ES is:

ES = PD x EV / PV

This means that ES is the planned duration multiplied by the ratio of earned value to planned value. For example, if a work package has a PD of 10 days, a PV of $1000, and an EV of $800, then its ES is:

ES = 10 x 800 / 1000

ES = 8 days

This means that the work package has earned 8 days of time, based on its EV. You can also calculate the ES for the whole project by adding up the ES of all the work packages or activities.

3 How to use Earned Schedule?

Once you have calculated ES, you can use it to derive other useful metrics, such as Schedule Variance in Time (SVt), Schedule Performance Index in Time (SPIt), Estimate at Completion in Time (EACt), Estimate to Complete in Time (ETCt), and To Complete Schedule Performance Index in Time (TSPIt). These metrics can help you assess how well your project is meeting its schedule objectives, how much time you need to complete the project, and how much you need to improve your schedule performance to meet your deadline. Additionally, by comparing ES and EV metrics, such as Schedule Variance (SV), Schedule Performance Index (SPI), Estimate at Completion (EAC), Estimate to Complete (ETC), and To Complete Schedule Performance Index (TSPI), you can gain a more comprehensive and balanced view of your project performance and progress.

4 How to apply Earned Schedule to agile or hybrid projects?

Earned Schedule can be applied to agile or hybrid projects by adapting some of the concepts and methods of EVM. For example, you can define the scope and deliverables of the project, break them into smaller units such as features or tasks, estimate their value, cost, and duration, and assign them to iterations or sprints. Additionally, track the actual cost and duration of each unit, measure their value using criteria such as acceptance tests or customer feedback, calculate the EV, PV, AC, PD, and AD of each unit, and aggregate them for the iteration or sprint. You can also calculate the ES, SVt, SPIt, EACt, ETCt, and TSPIt of each iteration or sprint. Furthermore, monitor and control the project performance with ES metrics and take corrective actions if needed. Finally review and adjust the project plan based on feedback and update the ES metrics accordingly. By using ES in an agile or hybrid project you can benefit from both the flexibility of agile methods and rigor of EVM.