Unit 21 · Phase 1

Check Your Work

The first real progress review

Pulse Works conference room, Wednesday afternoon. Saki has traveled across town for the project's first formal progress review. She's set up a laptop projecting a spreadsheet dense with numbers. Ren and Hina sit on the other side of the table with printed status reports Hina assembled that morning.

Saki (咲希) "Let's walk through the progress review (a formal evaluation of project progress against the planned baseline). I've compared your actuals against the scope baseline and cost baseline we agreed on."

→ A progress review compares where the project actually is against where it should be according to the approved baselines. It's how PMs separate perception from reality.

Ren (蓮) "Okay, give it to us straight. How bad is it?"

Saki (咲希) "Mixed. The schedule variance (the difference between planned and actual schedule progress) shows you're about four days behind schedule (when actual progress falls short of the planned baseline). But your spending is under the cost baseline — you're at 92% of planned value."

→ Schedule variance measures the gap between where you planned to be and where you are. Being behind schedule doesn't always mean the project is in trouble — it depends on which activities are late and whether they're on the critical path.

Hina (陽菜) "Um, so we're late but we saved money? Is that… good?"

Saki (咲希) "It means you haven't spent as much as planned — but you also haven't delivered as much as planned. The question is whether the delay is on the critical path or on tasks with float."

Ren (蓮) "The delay is mostly in the environment setup — Tetsu's tasks. Those are definitely on the critical path. So... not great."

→ When critical-path tasks slip, the entire project schedule is at risk. Tasks with float can absorb some delay, but critical-path delays propagate directly to the finish date.

Hina (陽菜) "Should I update the schedule to show the new dates? Or do we try to recover?"

Ren (蓮) "Both. We adjust the forecast and figure out how to pull those four days back. Maybe we can shift some of Tetsu's non-critical work to free up his throughput."

Saki pulls a printed variance chart from her folder at the same moment Ren reaches for it. Their hands brush over the paper. Neither acknowledges it. Across the table, Hina bites her lip to keep from grinning.

Saki (咲希) "The numbers tell us what happened. Our job is to decide what happens next. I'd classify us as on track (when actual progress matches the planned baseline) on budget and recoverable on schedule — if we act this week."

Progress Review

Definition A formal evaluation of project progress against the planned baseline.

Components Baseline comparison, variance analysis, trend identification, corrective action recommendations.

Related baseline, variance, performance measurement, earned value.

Example Saki's review compared Pulse Works' actual progress against the approved scope and cost baselines, revealing a four-day schedule gap.

Schedule Variance

Definition The difference between the planned schedule and actual schedule progress.

Components Planned completion dates, actual completion dates, variance calculation (EV − PV in EVM terms).

Related cost variance, baseline, critical path, float.

Example The XR project showed a negative schedule variance of four days — driven by Tetsu's critical-path environment setup tasks.

On Track

Definition When actual progress matches or exceeds the planned baseline.

Components Schedule alignment, budget alignment, scope delivery, quality compliance.

Related behind schedule, baseline, variance, performance measurement.

Example Saki classified the project's budget as on track (92% of planned value spent) even though the schedule was behind.

Behind Schedule

Definition When actual progress falls short of the planned baseline.

Components Negative schedule variance, delayed milestones, critical-path impact assessment.

Related on track, schedule variance, critical path, float.

Example The four-day delay on Tetsu's tasks put the XR project behind schedule — and because those tasks sit on the critical path, the delay directly threatens the launch date.

Review Corner

1 The Phase That Wasn't (Unit 1)

Hina (陽菜) "Ren, looking at the numbers — do you think we rushed through the planning phase? The milestones we missed are all setup tasks we barely discussed."

Ren (蓮) "Yeah. We jumped to execution like I always do. Saki warned us about that at the very first meeting."

→ Project lifecycle & phases (Unit 1): Skipping or compressing the planning phase creates gaps that surface later as schedule variance. Phase gates exist to catch these gaps early.

2 The Scope That Grew (Unit 6)

Saki (咲希) "Two of the delayed tasks weren't in the original scope baseline. They were added after Director Kudo's feature requests. If we'd held the scope statement tighter, the schedule might still be on track."

Ren (蓮) "So every time we said 'sure, we can add that,' we were borrowing time from the critical path."

→ Scope definition & WBS (Unit 6): Scope changes that bypass the baseline directly impact the schedule. The scope baseline isn't bureaucracy — it's the reference point that makes progress reviews meaningful.

3 The Roadmap Reality Check (Unit 19)

Hina (陽菜) "Remember the roadmap we presented to Director Kudo? The milestones looked so clean. Now half of them have shifted."

Ren (蓮) "A roadmap is a snapshot. The baseline is what we measure against. Next time we present, we show both — the plan and the reality."

→ Progress reviews (Unit 19 → 21): Roadmaps communicate intent; baselines measure performance. Presenting both builds stakeholder trust by being honest about variance while showing you have a recovery plan.

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