The history

How late things have actually run — the organisation’s own record rather than a general assumption about optimism.

The deliverable

What it is

Every organisation runs late in a characteristic way. The pattern is specific, stable and measurable, and almost none of them measure it.

Planned duration against actual duration, for the last twenty things finished, is enough to size a buffer properly.

One level in

Each element is a constituent part of the component. Follow one to see the attributes it carries.

The record
Planned against actual.
3 attributes: Work · Planned · Actual
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The baseline
Which plan is being measured against.
3 attributes: Baseline set · Rebaselines · Reason
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The coverage
How much of the work is in the record.
3 attributes: Coverage · Includes cancelled · Period
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Measure against the first committed plan. Against the current plan, everything is on schedule and everything is late.

Actual over planned, as a single number — the most useful figure in planning and one almost nobody has.

Where the delay reliably comes from — because it is the same few sources every time.