You should rebaseline after a scope update, to show the remaining work matching each task’s new start and finish dates. Let’s take a look at this.
Updates to your original plan are inevitable. P6 Professional supports the scheduling of these changes and helps you provide an updated baseline to measure schedule progress moving forward. But it is also helpful to additionally display a baseline for the schedule prior to any progress or scope updates. P6 Professional supports displaying up to three baselines on the Gantt chart.
This article demonstrates how to rebaseline after a scope update, showing remaining work after progress and to display this new baseline juxtaposed against the original baseline.
Primers
Before you progress your schedule in Primavera P6 Professional, you need something similar to a static ruler to measure progress against. The baseline is a picture of the schedule in time that remains static and does not move as the schedule is progressed or the scope is adjusted. The following articles share the schedule baseline’s purpose, creation, assignment and updates for minor schedule changes.
Demonstration
Figure 1 shows our demonstration project schedule. This schedule was progressed during the first week of February, at which time scope changes were made. The yellow bars show the baseline that was set prior to progressing the schedule or these scope changes.
In Figure 2, we rebaseline after a scope update; we choose Project | Maintain Baselines.
In the Maintain Baselines dialog box, Figure 3, we click the + Add button to generate a new baseline.
In the Add New Baseline dialog box, Figure 4, we select the default “Save a copy of the current project as a new baseline” and click OK.
With this setting, Figure 4, P6 Professional takes a picture of the schedule in time, then attaches this static schedule copy to the current schedule to make it the respective schedule’s baseline.
In our demonstration, P6 Professional creates a baseline picture copy of the project named Wellmont Substation – B4, Figure 5.
Note that Wellmont Substation – BL and others identified by B1, B2 and B3 are baseline copies of the schedule before any progress updates or scope changes. In Figure 5, for documentation purposes, we assign our newly created B4 baseline the Baseline Type “What-if Project Plan Baseline.”
We then rename the baseline by amending to include the date of the scope changes, Figure 6.
Now that we have our newly created and labeled baseline, we want to assign it as a secondary baseline. We choose Project | Assign Baselines, Figure 7.
In the Assign Baseline dialog, Figure 8, we assign our newly created baseline as the “Secondary” baseline, Figure 8.
Before defining the Secondary Baseline bar definition, we first review the Primary Baseline Bar definition, Figure 9.
We note that the Primary Baseline is toggled to display, and in the Bar Style tab, we find that it is located on row two, its shape is medium thickness, and its position is high, Figure 9.
We proceed and scroll down to display the Second Baseline, which we toggle on to display, Figure 10.
Note that the default shape is thin and high, color yellow, and pattern striped. In Figure 11, we have the updated Bar Style settings for the Second Baseline.
The bar definition also appears in row two. Because the Primary Baseline secured the medium thickness and high position, we assign the Second Baseline to medium thickness and low, Figure 11.
Figure 12 displays the Gantt chart with two baselines: (1) yellow, the initial project plan, and (2) light blue, after progress and a scope update.
This Gantt chart in Figure 12 looks good, but there is a gap between the remaining work current bars and the light blue baseline, which is the updated baseline for progress and scope modifications.
The original yellow baseline bar should fill this gap, but the project has fallen significantly behind the original plan, and the yellow baseline bar is offset from the remaining work’s current plan. It makes sense then to adjust the shape of the yellow baseline and light blue baseline to remove this gap for aesthetics and clarity.
In Figure 13, we set the shape of the Primary Baseline bar (yellow) to medium thickness and low.
In reverse, the Second Baseline bar (light blue) is set to medium thickness and high, Figure 14.
The final Gantt chart with two baseline bars appears in Figure 15.
Now, in Figure 15, the Second Baseline, colored light blue, is in the adjacent position immediately below the current bars.
It is apparent that the light blue bar definition aligns with the current schedule, and with no gap, which reduces clutter on the Gantt chart. The bottom yellow baseline is the schedule prior to the progress and scope updates.
Summary
It is likely that as the project progresses, you will likely need to rebaseline after a scope update and new information.
P6 Professional supports the inclusion of up to three baselines on the Gantt chart. Often, two baselines are sufficient: (1) one showing the original plan and (2) a second after progress and a material scope change. If medium-thickness bar definitions are assigned, then row two can have one high bar and one low bar.
A third bar definition would have to go on row three, where a medium thickness and high bar would eliminate any gap between the row two and row three baseline bars. Elimination of gaps between baseline bars reduces clutter and enhances clarity. This article’s demonstration may seem nuanced, but I always say the Gantt chart is the heart and soul of scheduling software, so the more you know about P6 Professional Gantt chart graphics features, the better you can present the true scheduling situation to team members and other stakeholders.