Project Baselines in Workzone: Compare Schedule Slip, Workload, and Budget Variance

Project Baselining is a new Workzone Enterprise feature that saves a project’s schedule at a point in time so you can compare the current state of the project to where it stood before. It shows schedule slip, workload variance, and budget variance directly inside the project, whether you’re checking a project mid-flight or running a post-project review. You’ll find it in the Baseline tab of the project tray.

Here’s why it matters and how it works.

Why do projects need a baseline?

Dates slip. Workload creeps. Budgets shift. It happens across the life of every project.

Managing those changes is the easy part. The hard part is answering for them later. When a stakeholder asks why the project is landing weeks late or over budget, “things came up” is not an answer. You need to know which tasks moved, by how much, and when.

Most teams try to reconstruct that from memory, a spreadsheet somebody stopped updating months ago, and a status deck that contradicts the last one. That’s how project reviews turn into arguments about what the plan even was.

A baseline saves the plan as it stood, so the comparison is on the screen instead of in someone’s memory.

What data does a project baseline save?

A baseline captures a snapshot of the project schedule at the moment it’s created, including:

• Project and task duration
• Project and task workload
• Project and task planned time
• Project planned expenses (expense budget)
• Task actual time
• Task actual expenses

Workzone compares that saved snapshot against the current state of the project whenever you analyze it.

How do you create a baseline in Workzone?

Any Administrator or Manager can create a baseline at any time from the Baseline tab by clicking Create Baseline.

Workzone also creates a baseline automatically the first time a task is marked complete, or the first time a task gets a time or expense entry. So even if nobody sets one manually, the project has a reference point from the moment work starts landing against it.

You can create as many baselines as you want. Each one is stamped with the date it was created and the person who created it, so you always know which version you’re looking at.

Who can see and manage baselines?

Every user type can see and analyze baselines. Only Administrators and Managers can create them, and only Administrators and Managers can delete them from the more menu.

How do you analyze a baseline?

Every saved baseline is listed in the Baseline tab. Click Analyze on any of them and Workzone compares that snapshot to the current state of the project today. The analysis has a few parts.

Project baseline overview

The overview at the top shows the headline movement, with increases in red and decreases in green:

• Schedule slip: how many days the project schedule has grown or shrunk
• Workload variance: how many hours the project workload has grown or shrunk
• Actual time: hours logged by users on tasks in the project
• Budget variance: how many dollars the expense budget has grown or shrunk
• Actual expenses: monetary expenses logged on tasks in the project

Task Timeline

Below the overview, the Task Timeline shows every task whose dates or duration changed since the baseline was created. Gray bars are the original dates, blue bars are the current dates, and dashed lines mark the old end date against the new one. It’s an at-a-glance read on what moved.

Planned Workload by Task

This view compares the workload saved in the baseline (gray bars) against the current workload (blue bars), task by task, so you can see where the hours shifted.

Top Task Changes

Three tiles surface the tasks with the most drastic duration and workload changes, with an expandable list underneath showing every task-level change across the project. That’s the reason attached to the number, not just the number.

If a task was renamed after the baseline was saved, an info icon appears next to it. Hover to see the old and new names, so a rename never gets mistaken for a different task.

Who should use Project Baselines?

Project Baselines earns its keep for PMOs, operations teams, agencies, marketing teams, professional services organizations, delivery leaders, resource managers, and finance and reporting teams. If your org runs large projects, shifting timelines, or budget forecasts you have to answer for, baseline comparison gives you a firmer grip on all of it.

Project Baselines is a Workzone Enterprise feature. To learn about upgrading, see Workzone Enterprise or contact the Workzone team.

Frequently asked questions

What is Project Baselines in Workzone? Project Baselines is a Workzone Enterprise feature that saves a project’s schedule at a point in time and compares it to the current state, so teams can see schedule slip, workload variance, and budget variance inside the project.

What data does a project baseline save? A baseline saves project and task duration, project and task workload, project and task planned time, project planned expenses, task actual time, and task actual expenses.

How do you create a baseline? An Administrator or Manager clicks Create Baseline in the Baseline tab. Workzone also creates one automatically the first time a task is marked complete or gets a time or expense entry.

Can teams create multiple baselines? Yes. You can create as many baselines as you want for a project, and each is stamped with its creation date and creator.

What is schedule slip? Schedule slip is how many days the current project schedule has grown or shrunk compared to the saved baseline. An increase shows in red, a decrease in green.

What is workload variance? Workload variance is how many hours the project workload has grown or shrunk compared to the baseline.

Who can create and delete baselines? Any user can view and analyze baselines. Only Administrators and Managers can create or delete them.

Where do I find Project Baselines in Workzone? In the Baseline tab of the project tray in the Projects module. It’s an Enterprise-level feature.

Welcome to Project Baselining in Workzone

Projects move. Priorities shift. Forecasts slide. Project Baselining gives your team a durable way to hold onto the commitment, track how far the project has moved, explain it with evidence, and keep executive reporting honest across the entire project lifecycle.

Learn more:

• Workzone Project Management Software
• Workzone Reporting Features
• Workzone Resource Management