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Earned Value Management: Transitioning from discouragement to a glimmer of hope

The ANSI/EIA 748 standard for an Earned Value Management (EVM) system notes that EVM “effectively integrate[s] the work scope of a program with the schedule and cost elements for optimum program planning and control”. Three projects at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) at the University of Colorado at Boulder have implemented versions of EVM, comprising processes that have evolved over four years, with each implementation applying lessons learned from the previous program. In retrospect EVM implementation has been unexpectedly challenging, in part a result of the anticipated objections to the cultural displacement of LASP's longstanding project management methodology. But what was not anticipated was the compounding of this resistance by the reticence of EVM to reveal much of the postulated ANSI/EIA 748 optimum at each step of the refinement. This paper examines LASP's process of accommodating EVM by describing the project approaches taken, issues encountered, and refinements made. The authors' review includes comment on the challenges experienced in this process, concluding with recommendations for implementation that relate specifically to projects within the university environment, and more generally to the broader community. Presently LASP's pathway to EVM certification appears better defined, and there are finally some hopeful indications of merit for expending the effort to do so.