How to measure real project progress, read CPI and SPI in a steering committee, and set up a PMO that doesn't run on spreadsheets. Written by people who've sat in your seat.
Percent-complete is an opinion. Earned value is a fact: it compares what's been produced against what's been spent and planned. With a real example.
8 min read EVM · GovernanceThe four-quadrant matrix, tolerance bands, the SPI trap at closeout, and the three questions the committee should ask.
9 min read EVM · ForecastingCPI tells you where you are; the board wants to know where you'll end up. Formulas, the three EAC variants, and a board-ready example.
9 min read PMO · ReportingThe six sections a committee reads in two minutes, how to make the status color actually mean something, and the "boiling frog" pattern: green, green, green… red.
8 min read PMO · ToolingExcellent for coordinating a team's work. To govern a portfolio — earned value, baseline, closeout forecast, change control — there are five things they don't do.
9 min read Schedule · FundamentalsThe approved snapshot of the plan everything else is measured against. When to freeze it, when NOT to touch it, when to genuinely re-baseline, and why there's no earned value without it.
8 min read PMO · SetupWeek by week: inventory, a two-page standard, loading real data, and the first portfolio review. What NOT to do in the first month.
10 min read Risk · PracticeThe columns that actually get used, how to score probability and impact with numeric anchors, the 5×5 banded matrix, the four responses, and why most risk registers are theater.
9 min read