Project Start Up Establishing a Standard Process for Implementing an EVMS

Revision February 26, 2025

This article discusses strategies to implement an EVMS on a new project with the assistance of a core integrated program management (IPM) support team to ensure the efficient and consistent implementation of standard project control practices and tools on all projects. Implementing a standard repeatable process for the project start up phase is an effective and efficient approach for establishing an executable performance measurement baseline (PMB) as quickly as possible.

Introduction

The approach for implementing an EVMS on a new project immediately following contract award or authorization to proceed is a critical success factor because it establishes the foundation for how the project will be managed for the duration of the contract. A successful strategy for establishing an effective and efficient project start up approach includes these tactics:

1. Documenting a proven and standard repeatable start up process that all project teams follow to implement the EVMS and to establish a project’s PMB. This standard process provides a common foundation that includes allowances for project unique requirements.
2. Producing templates and other assets for project teams to quickly implement the EVMS and set up the new project in the schedule, cost, and risk software tools using a standard configuration framework with options for project unique requirements. This includes establishing standard interfaces with other business systems such as accounting and M/ERP as well as Agile tools to ensure a single source of data and data traceability.
3. Establishing a team of proficient IPM personnel trained on the EVM System Description requirements, start up process, and how to implement the applicable software tools on a new project. This cross-functional core IPM support team works with the project start up and execution team to ensure consistency and provides an opportunity to train and mentor project personnel.

Objectives

The primary objectives for implementing a standard start up process for new projects include ensuring project teams:

• Consistently implement the established EVMS processes and procedures.
• Have qualified individuals for each key role in place immediately following contract award or authorization to proceed.
• Have the necessary source data, project directives, templates, and tools in place to immediately begin the start up activities and to produce the EVMS artifacts.
• Establish the baseline schedule and time phased budget plan as quickly as possible based upon a common understanding of the scope of work, technical requirements, accomplishment criteria, and identified/assessed risks and opportunities.
• Can demonstrate they have established an executable schedule and budget plan to accomplish the contractual scope of work within the contractual period of performance and negotiated contract cost in alignment with the contract’s funding profile.

Prerequisites

Establishing a standard repeatable process requires a level of management commitment as part of a corporate business culture where excellence in integrated program management is a priority. Examples that demonstrate this commitment include the following process components.

Well Designed and Maintained EVMS

A well designed EVMS is the result of thoroughly verifying the processes, workflow, inputs, outputs, and responsibility for specific actions to validate the effectiveness of the system and to ensure ownership in the system. It also requires a well organized EVM System Description project personnel can easily and quickly reference for guidance or to verify requirements on a specific topic or issue they are encountering. Equally important is that the EVM System Description, procedures, templates, and training courses are routinely reviewed for updates and improvements in process and software tools. Establishing an EVMS self-surveillance program is a proven approach to ensure the EVMS is continuously maintained as the result of internal review findings.

Training and Retention Program

Establishing a program with a defined training and career path to guide and mentor talented technical, estimating, scheduling, and cost management personnel is a proven method to develop proficient control account managers (CAMs), master schedulers, and project control analysts. Personnel are cross trained in different disciplines required for a best in class EVMS to increase their skill levels and knowledge base. Successful CAMs that chose to follow an advancement path then move up to higher management roles such as project managers, business managers, and corporate EVMS directors because they learned how to successfully handle increasingly complex project control challenges from the ground up. They also develop an internal professional network they can call upon when needed.

A recommended approach is to provide a training course road map that project personnel are expected to complete. Start with the scheduling and EVM basics, step up to more advanced or targeted training, and encourage professional certifications for motivated personnel to formally recognize their level of proficiency. Routine self-surveillance also provides an opportunity to identify targeted training workshops to address areas where project personnel need additional mentoring such as producing clear and specific variance analysis report (VAR) narratives or how to effectively perform a schedule risk assessment (SRA).

Examples of professional certifications include the Project Management Institute (PMI) Project Management Professional (PMP), the Association for the Advancement of Cost Engineering (AACE) International targeted certifications such as their Certified Cost Professional (CCP), Certified Estimating Professional (CEP), and Earned Value Professional (EVP). More advanced course work often includes the H&A Advanced Earned Value Management Techniques (AEVMT), CAM Certification, or Project Controls/Analyst (PC/A) Certification. These H&A certification courses culminate in an exam and certificate similar to the PMI or AACEI certification process.

Cross-Functional Start Up Team

It is imperative that the right resources are available to assist the project manager and start up team immediately following contract award or authorization to proceed. Establishing a corporate or cross-functional core IPM support team is one means to provide the necessary guidance and support. Their role is to ensure the efficient implementation of the business systems as well as the EVMS processes and tools. This support team provides the applicable subject matter experts from systems engineering, technical disciplines, risk management, finance, contracts, scheduling, cost estimating, EVMS, material management, subcontract management, manufacturing, and Agile to launch the project’s start up activities following a disciplined process.

This core IPM support team is responsible for establishing a consistent corporate level project management approach starting with the decision to bid on a contract, producing the proposal, initiating the start up and definition phase after contract award, providing assistance as needed throughout the execution phase, and conducting EVMS self-surveillance for continuous EVMS improvements. Figure 1 illustrates the IPM continuity they provide for the entire project life cycle.

Figure 1: A cross-functional support team fosters integrated program management consistency across functional disciplines and projects.

Expected Outcomes

It is more cost effective to establish a proven standard repeatable start up process with the support of a cross-functional core IPM support team for all projects because it ensures efficiency and reduces the time required to stand up a new project. It also improves the quality of the schedule and cost data. The core IPM support team promotes a level of discipline in defining, planning, scheduling, and budgeting the work as well as structuring the data to ensure visibility and control. A standard process eliminates ad-hoc implementations that often result in unreliable data or unrealistic schedule and cost baselines. The core IPM support team also provides guidance to project teams so they learn how to handle challenging situations such as when exploratory or development work scope may evolve and how to account for those risks until the work scope and requirements can be further defined.

Standardized procedures allow for seamless coordination across diverse locations and increase operational efficiency. A disciplined start up approach fosters consistent project outcomes, enhancing a corporation’s reputation for reliability and excellence. Staff can be interchangeably deployed to any location, ensuring continuity and flexibility in project execution. This reduces training costs and also attracts new business, as prospective customers are assured of the corporation’s ability to deliver high-quality results under rigorous scrutiny. In a fiercely competitive market, such standardization is a cornerstone for sustaining a competitive edge and fostering long-term success.

Project Start Up Planning and Execution

A standard and repeatable process ensures a smooth transition from the proposal phase to project execution after contract award. It reduces the time required to establish the PMB because the core IPM support team ensures continuity between the various functional organizations. The core IPM support team along with the proposal team establish the foundation for the project execution team to implement the EVMS on the project. This includes artifacts such as the statement of work (SOW), work breakdown structure (WBS), who will be performing the work, schedule, resource requirements, risk/opportunity assessments, and the resulting cost estimates to do the proposed work.

After contract negotiation and award, the proposal SOW, WBS, schedule, and cost estimate data as well as the integrated master plan (IMP), integrated master schedule (IMS), and basis of estimate (BOE) documentation are provided to the core IPM support team, project manager, and project execution team as part of the project start up activities.

The IMS and BOE documentation provide useful information for the project execution team to gain an understanding of the rationale, assumptions, risk/opportunity assessments, and other details used to produce the proposal schedule and cost estimate. This source data and documentation are updated to reflect the agreed upon contractual scope of work and assist the project team to produce a realistic schedule baseline and PMB in a short time frame. It also assists the project manager in establishing schedule margin tasks and management reserve set aside based on identified and assessed risks or opportunities.

Implementation Plan

The first priority of the core IPM support team, project manager, and project team is to create and publish an EVMS implementation plan as the road map for the start up phase. Figure 2 illustrates the typical project start up activities following contract award and authorization to proceed. These are often concurrent activities.

Figure 2: Example project start up activities. 

Success Factors

Factors that help to ensure the project team establishes a realistic and credible PMB include:

• Conducting a kick-off meeting with the customer as soon as possible after contract award. The objective is to arrive at a common understanding of the scope of work, technical requirements and any TBD requirements, expected deliverables, major milestones and accomplishment criteria, major assumptions, resources required, roles and responsibilities of the various organizations, timing and sequence of activities, time frame to complete the work effort, target budget, and identified risks/opportunities.
• Producing and publishing the project directive as quickly as possible. This is a prerequisite activity that immediately follows the kick-off meeting and must be completed before anyone begins the work definition, planning, scheduling and budgeting activities. This document provides the guidance to the project team on how to implement the EVMS and to configure the standard tools to support the project’s unique project control requirements. It establishes the project’s data architecture to be able to produce the required outputs, reports, and data submittals. Typical content describes the level of data detail required, unique data coding requirements, unique integration points between business systems, use of specific scheduling techniques such as schedule visibility tasks or schedule margin tasks, including or excluding level of effort (LOE) tasks in the IMS, earned value method or technique requirements, rolling wave planning window, subcontract data integration requirements, and variance analysis thresholds.
• Proficient personnel are assigned immediately after contract award. This is a culmination of planning ahead, core IPM support team functions, and the training program. The core IPM support team tracks the probability of winning a contract and when the award will occur to ensure corporate management has planned ahead to assign personnel for each key role. The training program is designed to ensure there is a cadre of proficient project managers, CAMs, master schedulers, and project control analysts available for assignment to the project. The core IPM support team provides coaching or mentoring as needed to ensure an effective and consistent implementation of the EVMS as well as to broaden the knowledge base of project personnel assigned to the new project.
• Performing recurring data quality checks throughout the start up phase. The objective is to ensure the IMS has been properly constructed and integrated with the time phased cost data to provide timely and reliable information for proactive decision making. The data must be properly structured to ensure top down and bottom up traceability and to ensure traceability between business systems.
• Conducting an internal baseline review at the conclusion of the start up activities to verify the project team has established all the necessary EVM artifacts and is ready to transition to the execution phase. For example, this internal review verifies:
  • The content in the WBS dictionary is clear and concise and reflects a common understanding of the scope of work, technical requirements, and accomplishment criteria.
  • The project team has established an executable PMB for the entire contractual scope of work that accurately reflects how they plan to accomplish the work within the contractual period of performance and negotiated contract cost. The schedule and budget plans are realistic and integrated (budget time phasing reflects the schedule activities and resource requirements). Each CAM has a manageable scope of work. The team has selected appropriate earned value methods and techniques to ensure objective and meaningful project performance can be measured and reported.
  • The required resources have been identified and assigned to the project to accomplish the project’s objectives. The staffing plan accurately reflects the sequence of work and skill mix as well as resource availability and demand.
  • Subcontractor data integration requirements have been clearly identified and communicated. Major subcontractors have been identified and the applicable EVM requirements have been flowed down. The IMS and time phased budget accurately incorporate the subcontractor data.
  • Project technical, schedule, and cost risks/opportunities have been identified and assessed. Risk mitigation actions have been incorporated into the PMB to reduce known negative risks or threats to an acceptable level. This is often the most valuable component of the review to ensure the project team has an understanding of the identified risks/opportunities, assumptions, and risk mitigation or opportunity capture plans.

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