Adding Context to Your EVM Reports

Reporting on your project efforts, whether to an executive team or as part of an audit, can be a stressful process. As a project leader, you are in the thick of it every day, and some data, information and tactics are second nature to you. But those same things might read like a foreign language to someone who isn’t in the trenches of everyday project work. This is particularly true for projects leveraging the practice of earned value management, which is a less common approach than options like scrum, agile and waterfall. Where you may see a strong, exciting report, the executive you report to may see a jumble of numbers. They won’t see the work your team has been putting in, the challenges you’ve worked through, and the nuances that affect every single data point. And without that context, data can say whatever you – or anyone else – wants it to. 

When reporting time comes, you can present your progress and successes in a way that resonates and showcases the best of your team while being honest and transparent. Adding context to your EVM reports can also make your presentations more efficient, cutting down on basic questions and leaving more time for the important discussions. Consider these tips when planning your next report presentation: 

Don’t assume what your audience does or does not know 

Assuming that your audience knows and understands certain intricacies about the EVM process can doom your presentation from the start. By not delving into important definitions or background information, you may leave out vital context, without which your audience may draw incorrect conclusions about your data. On the other side, if you spend precious presentation minutes breaking down basic concepts that your audience knows well, they may feel insulted. To avoid wasting their time and yours, get to know your audience’s background well beforehand, if at all possible, perhaps by asking questions about their background knowledge in advance. When in doubt, default to providing more context and background information, but keep it brief and offer to circle back to topics during the question-and-answer period if needed. 

Keep explanations to a fifth-grade level 

When explaining concepts and data points, try to keep your information to a fifth-grade level. This can be a bit tricky as some parts of EVM aren’t necessarily simple. However, it can be useful to think about how you would explain those concepts to a fifth grader – by focusing on the most important pieces, getting descriptive and making comparisons to help get your point across. Breaking down data points into simple buckets that a child could understand helps you get to the heart of the matter when presenting to even a knowledgeable executive team. 

Consider your visuals 

Data, when illustrated, can often be understood more easily. Data in visual form is also much easier to present than a spreadsheet, since you can highlight the nuances. You can see curves and dips when using a line graph and see percentages more easily when they’re presented in a pie chart. These visuals give you the opportunity to add important context to the events that caused it. Perhaps a dip in productivity coincides with a major tropical storm in your area, or an increase in productivity aligns with your team being given an unexpected bonus on their paychecks. Numbers can tell you a lot, but without context they can leave out the people behind them. 

Adding context to your EVM reports doesn’t have to be a headache. With recent updates to The Hammer Solutions, we’ve made it easier than ever to add context to your reporting and get the data you need more easily. Learn more here.