How do you 'Baseline' a plan?

ptaylo1557451

In Microsoft Project you could 'baseline' your plan and then track against it with the ability to view both baseline and current plan on the Gantt.

I cannot see the same capability in Smartsheets.

Does anyone know how you would do this?

Andrée Starå

Hi,

It's not possible in Smartsheet, but a possible workaround could be to see the information, combined in the Gantt title.

Would that work for you?

I hope this helps you!

Best,

Andrée Starå - Workflow Consultant @ Get Done

ptaylo1557451

Hi,

Thank you for quick reply, but not sure what you mean by 'combine in the title'?

But an alternative suggestion given to me is to create extra columns in the plan i.e. start date, end date and duration and label them "baseline start date", "baseline end date" and "baseline duration" and merely copy the information

Andrée Starå

Yes, that is the usual "Baseline" solution in Smartsheet, but it will not show on the Gantt. What I meant by "combine" is that you could combine information in different cells to show the title + baseline start + baseline end.

Best,

Andrée

Robert Poddar

Hi, 

You are right that Smartsheet doesn't have Baseline feature like how MS Project has. 

What i do is that when i prepare the project plan, i have the "Start Date" and "Finish Date" columns. Once the project plan is completed and okayed by the Stakeholders, i add 2 new columns called "Trend Start" and "Trend Finish". 

I go to the Project settings and change the  Start date Column to " Trend Start" and Finish Date column to "Trend Finish". SInce the Predecessor is already entered, when this change is done, automatically the dates get populated in the "Trend Start' and "Trend Finish" columns.

Now i track each task against the "Baseline".. 

I am not sure if this is the best way, but for now, this is how i have been doing.. 

Robert 

john.kennedy74931

I have the same issue

So once I have an agreed schedule I just copy (duplicate) each schedule line

Label each new line baseline e.g.     Task Description (baseline)

     (the lower line is the baseline, the active schedule line is above the baseline)

Change the gantt color for each baseline line

Remove the dependencies for each gantt line

     (you need to be sure nothing mistakenly is dependent on your baseline lines)

Lock each gantt line

Yes it it tedious but not as difficult as it seems 

You just need the discipline not to mess with your gantt line dates, locking only protects someone else but not you

But if you keep a print you can always get back to it

Now you can visually see your progress against a baseline on the gantt 

You can show progress on the baseline or not but as you adjust your normal schedule you will see where the schedule veers from the baseline

John  

 

 

tgoldhammer

It's been a long time since I've seen a comment by Smartsheet on adding a Baseline capability without a workaround.  Is the Baseline functionality on the Smartsheet roadmap?

Thanks!

Ben Clohesy

Well, there goes SmartSheet as a possible MS Project replacement... I'm better off using a basic spreadsheet.

Tanner Mullin

Smartsheet, please add baseline functionality. This is critical in waterfall planning.The workaround recommended above will skew your percent complete and therefore throw off the project. Please allow the saving of a baseline.

Paul Newcome

There is an option that does not skew your % Complete where you create your baseline sheet then save a copy and use that as your actual sheet then reference both in a report.

Mohsin Ansari

At last year's Smartsheet convention, it was mentioned that Baseline functionality would be introduced in Jan 2021. I have not seen any further details on this topic. Baseline functionality is something I have used extensively in MS Project.

Paul Newcome

@Mohsin Ansari It hasn't been released yet.

Madyson Morris

Hi all,

We just released baselines within Smartsheet! Here is an article with information on how to get started: https://help.smartsheet.com/articles/2482093-baselines. Please let us know your thoughts!

-Madyson

Mohammed Shamsuzzoha

This is good feature which is displayed (Gantt view) on plan sheet but this baseline mark is not displayed (Gantt view) on report. How can we bring this (baseline details) on report and ultimately on dashboard. Appreciate your help.