Earned value analysis was a popular topic at the PMI Rocky Mountain chapter 2008 Spring Symposium. People in the audience nodded knowingly as presenters chanted the EVA mantra. But I've heard plenty of folks managing projects ask what earned value analysis is all about. The first step is understanding earned value measures and how they convey project performance. Then, if you use Microsoft Project, there's the challenge of making the program report earned value the way you want.
Those pesky project sponsors, customers, and stakeholders are always asking where a project stands. Earned value analysis is the darling of project management circles because it goes a long way toward providing answers. And if you analyze earned value before you're asked, you may be able to correct course and sidestep delivering bad news.
