# Assessing the Variance Between Actual Data and Baseline Data

When you create a baseline plan and then update your schedule, you can compare the baseline plan to your actual progress to identify variances. Variances alert you to areas of the project that are not going as planned. Some variances you should look for when comparing your updated schedule to the baseline plan include:

- Tasks that are not starting or finishing on time.
- Tasks that are not progressing at their expected rate.
- Tasks that require more or less work than scheduled.

As the project progresses, you can identify cost variances by comparing baseline costs to scheduled costs. Scheduled costs reflect the latest cost picture for the project. With this information you can make cost projections, which will help you catch potential cost overruns before they become critical.

Variances in your schedule can highlight good as well as bad news, depending on the type and severity of the variance. A task starting or finishing ahead of schedule, for example, is normally good news (although it may indicate that your resources are not allocated efficiently). You can show variances by displaying progress lines, which visually represent the progress in your project.

When you find variances in your schedule, you have many choices for how you can adjust your schedule to accommodate the differences between your original estimates and the actual progress. For example, armed with this knowledge you can:

- Adjust task dependencies.
- Assign additional resource hours.
- Reassign resources.
- Delete or combine some tasks.
- Adjust your budget.
- Increase task duration estimates.
- Extend deadlines.

For more information about adjusting and refining your schedule, see chapters 10 through 13 in Part 3, "Making Your Schedule Lean and Mean."

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