Baseline Strategy, yes. Baselines, no.

Why Baseline Strategies Beat Baselines Every Time

Let’s start with some Builder’s Code: Don’t wait to plan. Waiting to plan is the same thing as failing. Projects don’t go wrong; they start wrong. And they start wrong because of a lack of planning. A master builder can begin and complete a good portion of planning from a napkin sketch.

Now, on to today’s topic: baselines versus baseline strategies.

Why I Don’t Like Baselines

In theory, a baseline is the set plan or target created before signing the prime agreement or receiving the Notice to Proceed. Owners and scheduling consultants often use it for baseline comparisons later on.

The problem? Baselines lock you in. You either turn activities into level-of-effort summaries, an art form in itself, or you lock in all the activity IDs. Then, when real life happens and you need to change something, you get told you can’t because it won’t match the baseline anymore.

Baseline comparisons, slippage reports, float trends… they’re all flawed if you’re working without buffers in CPM. You’re basically behind schedule on day one, and now you’re stuck with a static plan you can’t improve without breaking the rules.

Enter the Baseline Strategy

A baseline strategy is completely different. It’s not a frozen schedule; it’s your initial strategy at the macro level, usually in the form of a TAC plan.

It informs:

• Your contractual promise
• Your slowest allowable speed
• How to optimize each phase
• Trade partner awareness during bidding
• Strategic decision-making during the job

The key? It’s meant to evolve. As you move into construction, pull plans will refine it. Your norm-level TAC plan will improve it. Your look-ahead and weekly work plans will sharpen it even further.

The goal is vertical alignment, keeping everything in sync with milestones while staying flexible enough to adapt. That’s how you deliver.

The Rules of a Baseline Strategy

Do:

• Use it for communication and strategic decisions
• Track progress against milestones
• Summarize up to a master program schedule if needed

Don’t:

• Lock yourself into activity IDs that you can’t change
• Refuse to adjust the schedule because “we already have a baseline.”
• Waste time on baseline comparisons that don’t help execution

A baseline strategy is about mapping what’s possible and improving it from there, not predicting the future with a rigid, brittle schedule.

Key Takeaway:
Ditch rigid baselines and embrace baseline strategies. Use your initial macro plan as a living guide to hit milestones, adapt to reality, and keep your team aligned without locking yourself into a plan that will fail on day one.