Too many programs think EVMS is just about reporting metrics. But real performance insight depends on spotting the early signs that your system is off track.
Here are 5 red flags you can’t afford to ignore:
1. 🚫 Cost and Schedule NOT Integrated
→ If your schedule shows slippage but your cost data doesn't, your EVMS is blind in one eye.
✅ Fix: Integrate and ensure the IMS drives the cost tool. Without integration, performance data becomes disconnected and misleading.
2. 🌀 Excessive LOE (Level of Effort)
→ LOE overuse masks true performance. If more than ~25–30% of your baseline is LOE, you're likely distorting true progress.
✅ Fix: Convert to discrete where possible. Measure real work.
3. 📉 TCPI vs. CPI Gap Exceeds 10%
→ If your TCPI is more than 10% higher than your actual CPI, your EAC is likely unrealistic.
✅ Fix: Recalculate your EAC using current performance trends. Don’t prop it up with wishful targets.
4. 🔁 Recurring Root Cause in a VAR Month After Month
→ If the same root cause appears month after month in a VAR, that’s not control—it signals unresolved issues, not meaningful analysis.
✅ Fix: Implement closed-loop corrective actions—track issues from root cause to resolution and verify completion.
5. 👤 CAMs can’t explain their baseline or ETCs
→ If Control Account Managers can’t walk through their budgets, schedules, or how their ETCs were developed, your EVMS has become a paperwork exercise. Worse, if ETCs are being adjusted just to make EACs “look good,” you’ve lost performance integrity.
✅ Fix: Re-engage CAMs with full ownership of their baselines. ETCs must reflect the remaining effort—not backsolved math. A credible system starts with informed, accountable CAMs.
👉 At Elixir Value Management Systems, Inc., we help government contractors turn EVMS from a reporting obligation into a performance-driving asset—fully aligned across scope, cost, and schedule.
📞 Let’s Talk!
📧 karlo.menoscal@elixirvms.com
📱 949-351-8896
🌐 www.elixirvms.com
#EVMS #Aerospace #Defense #Space #ProjectControls #ProjectManagement
